Lesson57 Family Life

British and American families are small. In fact, the populations of both Britain and the USA have       1  .

The typical family has a father, mother and two children.

Grandparents come to visit, but do not usually live with their children.

Most people get married between the ages of       2    , but many marriages end in divorce. This means that in both countries there are a large number of "single parent families", one father or mother looking after their children
alone.

The typical British family has a car, a colour TV set, a       3    , and a cat or dog as well. They start the day at about 7 o'clock, have breakfast at 8, and are off to work by 8:30. Most women now go out to work as well as men. The children have lunch at school at about 12:30, and come home at 4 in the afternoon. Their parents are usually home by 6 o"clock, and the family eats together. After the dinner the father may       4     for a drink, or stay at home and watch TV with the others. Children go to bed early, at about 8 o'clock, two or three hours before their parents.

The typical American family has more money than a British family. Many have two or three cars, large modern kitchens and more electrical goods. They eat more meat and spend more on clothes, but their daily program is nearly the same. Like British children, American children eat lunch       5    , come home mid-afternoon, and go to bed earlier than their parents.