蒙大英语国家-美国概况教案06 American Family Life

1、PAGE PAGE 6 Lecture Six American Family Life ( by Yang Jian )Warming-Up Questions: 1 What is a nuclear family? 2 How do you understand the generation gap?A list of new words and expressions: ailment n. 失调，问题stifling a. 沉闷的stimulating a. 振奋人心的，有刺激性的recreational a 娱乐的suburbia n. 大都市郊区anonymous a. 无名的，

2、不知名的trailer n. 拖车dictatorship n. 专政desertion n. 遗弃pediatrician n. 儿科专家assortment n. 各色各样advent n. 出现appliance n. 器械，用器barbecue vi. vt. 烧烤busybody n. 爱管闲事的人obsolete a. 过时的In the United States, the family is still very much alive，despite its many ailments1. The vast majority of Americans live with peo

3、ple to whom they are related by blood or marriage2. There are about 53 million American families (including married couples that do not have children living with them). Most American couples have two or three children, though larger families are not unusual.I. Type of community A. About three-fourth

4、s of American families live in areas classified as urban.B. Less than five percent of Americans live on farms.C. About 50 million Americans live in communities smaller than twenty-five hundred. D. More than two-thirds of Americans live in or near cities of fifty thousand or more. E. A greater number

5、 of Americans live in suburbs (about 37 percent of the population) than in cities (about .31 percent).II. Virtues and limitations of each type of communityIntimate, slow-paced rural and small town living often seems dull and stifling, especially to young, single people. Suburbs offer the advantages

6、of small town living with the facilities of the big city nearby. But suburban living is often criticized for its sameness because the people of suburbia are predominantly white, middle-class, and under fifty years of age.C. Big city life is varied, exciting and culturally stimulating. However, the n

7、ations big cities are also overcrowed, crime-ridden, overcast with air pollution, short on public recreational facilities3, and lacking in neighborhood spirit. The city dweller is often an anonymous figure unknown to the person living next door.III. Types of homeApartment buildings:1. Range in size

8、from walk-ups containing from two to six apartments to high-rise elevator buildings4 that may have more than 100 apartments. 2. Some high-rise apartments are very expensive and elegant, but many are built for moderate or even low-income families.B. Mobile homes (once called house trailers):1. More t

9、han 7 million Americans live in mobile homes.2. They are living quarters built with wheels.3. They can be moved, but generally they are brought to a site that is intended to be more or less permanent. Then the wheels are removed, and the home is fastened to the ground. 4. Because they cost much less

10、 than conventional homes, mobile homes are especially popular among young couples and elderly retired couples.IV. Types of family structureNuclear family (mother, father, and dependent children) 1. About 87 percent of American families are headed by a married couple. 2. Ideally, Mother and Father ha

11、ve an equal voice in decision-making, and, on certain matters, the children, too, have a vote (perhaps at weekly family council meetings).3. Many families still live by the old principle that Fathers word is law. One-parent familyThere are about 3 million households (with about 8 million children) i

12、n which one parent is absent as a result of separation, divorce, or desertion. 2. Almost 90 percent of these households are headed by women whose children spend relatively little time with their fathers. In these families, Mother is boss.V. Parental roles in American familyA. Family in which the chi

13、ldren seem to be in charge1. Some parents are reluctant and perhaps even afraid to say no to their children for fear of stifling their personalities or losing their love. 2. Children and their possessions take over most of the house, and the youngsters make excessive demands upon their parents time

14、and money.3.The adults often suffer in silence, believing that they are doing “the right thing” for their children. The children suffer, too, lacking the security of strong decisive parents who set appropriate limits and provide intelligent guidance.B. Child-centered culture5 The ambitions of Americ

15、an parents are more often related to their childrens lives than to their own6. 1. American parents try to give their youngsters many opportunities to develop skills and worthwhile interests. 2. When school lets out for the summer, parents try to give their children other kinds of learning experience

16、s through camping or travel. C. Parental roles have altered somewhat since the advent of the working mother. 1. Today, about 10 million American mothers with children under eighteen years of age have jobs. 2. When a working mother has no household help, her husband often takes a more active part in

17、housekeeping and child-rearing. VI. Conflicts in American familyThe various tensions, arguments, and hostilities which exist within the family are reflected in the well-known expression: God gives us our relatives; thank God we can choose our friends.7A. Insufficient family income1. The median famil

18、y income in the United States is about $ 11, 000 a year. This is not a lot of money when one realizes the tremendous number of American needs.2. In addition to the need for possessions, there are a great many costly services which most parents want to give their children.B. Power struggle1. As child

19、ren enter adolescence, they begin to demand greater freedom to go where they please, do what they please, and make decisions without parental interference.2. Parents want to maintain a friendly relationship with their teenagers and also want to guide them so that their behavior will be whatever the

20、parents consider proper and constructive.C. The generation gap”VII. Mobility of the populationToday, Americans are extremely mobile. Every year about 40 million Americans change residences. That statistic suggests that everyone moves every five or six years! Young people from farms and small towns c

21、ome to the big cities for excitement and job opportunities. Couples with young children move from cities to suburbs to provide a safer, more spacious environment for their children and a better school system. Southern blacks and Appalachian whites move to northern industrial areas like Chicago and Detroit in search of full-time employment and higher wages. All this shifting around puts a great burden upon family members sharing one household. They must supply the psychological support that was once provided by a much larger group, and many families cannot do it.Cultural Notes: the f