Take Away English-The Modern Family 现代家庭

Many mothers in Britain have to juggle1 their work and home life.

Father leaves for work in the morning after breakfast. The two children take the bus to school, and mother stays home cooking and cleaning until father and the kids return home in the evening. This is the traditional picture of a happy family living in Britain. But is it true today?

The answer is no! The past 20 years have seen enormous² changes in the lives and structure³ of families in Britain.

The biggest change has been caused by divorce⁴. As many as 2 out of 3 marriages now end in divorce, leading to a situation where many children live with one parent and only see the other at weekends or holidays.

There has also been a huge rise in the number of women with children who work. The large rise in divorces⁵ has meant many women need to work to support themselves and their children. Even where there is no divorce, many families need both parents to work in order to survive. This has caused an increase in childcare facilities, though it is very expensive and can be difficult to find in many areas.

In addition, women are no longer happy to stay at home raising children, and many have careers earning as much or even more than men, the traditional breadwinner.

There has also been a sharp increase in the number of single mothers, particularly among teenagers. Some people have blamed this increase for the rise in crime⁶. They feel the lack of a male role model has damaged these children in society.

However, these changes have not had a totally negative effect. For women, it is now much easier to have a career and good salary. Although it is difficult to be a working mother, it has become normal and is no longer seen as a bad thing for the children.

As for children themselves, some argue that modern children grow up more independent and mature⁷ than in the past. From an early age they have to go to childminders or nurseries⁸, and so are used to dealing⁹ with strangers and mixing with other children.

GLOSSARY 词汇表
divorce 离婚 support 支持；援助 raising 养育；抚养 sharp 急剧的；明显的 blamed 谴责；归咎 male role model 男性角色模范 dealing with 与…相处	huge 巨大的 childcare facilities 儿童福利机构,设施 breadwinner 养家糊口的人 single mothers 单身母亲 lack 缺乏 nurseries 托儿所 mixing with 与…融合

 

1 juggle   

v.变戏法，纂改，欺骗，同时做；n.玩杂耍，纂改，花招

参考例句：

• If you juggle with your accounts,you'll get into trouble.你要是在帐目上做手脚，你可要遇到麻烦了。
• She had to juggle her job and her children.她得同时兼顾工作和孩子。

2 enormous   

adj.巨大的；庞大的

参考例句：

• An enormous sum of money is injected each year into teaching.每年都有大量资金投入到教学中。
• They wield enormous political power.他们行使巨大的政治权力。

3 structure   

n.结构，构造，建筑物；v.构成；

参考例句：

• Doctors study the structure of the human body.医生研究人体构造。
• A flower has quite a complicated structure.一朵花的结构相当复杂。

4 divorce   

n.离婚；分离；vi.离婚；vt.离婚；脱离

参考例句：

• Did he divorce his wife or did she divorce him?是他要和妻子离婚，还是妻子要和他离婚？
• None of us like the divorce of word and deed.我们都不喜欢言行不一。

5 divorces   

n.离婚( divorce的名词复数 )；分离v.与…离婚( divorce的第三人称单数 )；分离；与（某人）离婚，判（某人）离婚

参考例句：

• "As for Bettie's marriages and divorces,'said Shen-ming, "I've talked with him about them. 慎明道：“关于Bertie结婚离婚的事，我也和他谈过。 来自汉英文学 - 围城
• He's getting married again, after two divorces, so he obviously hasn't profited by his experiences. 他两次离婚之后又结婚，显然没有吸取以往的教训。 来自辞典例句

6 crime   

n.犯罪，罪行，罪恶

参考例句：

• You'll have to pay for your crime.你得为你的罪行付出代价。
• Crime in our big cities is on the increase.在我们大城市里犯罪率正在增长。

7 mature   

adj.成熟的，到期的，充分考虑的；vt.使成熟；vi.成熟，到期

参考例句：

• This is a dress shop for mature women.这是一家成年妇女服装店。
• It's a mature plan.这是个深思熟虑的计划。

8 nurseries   

婴儿室( nursery的名词复数 )； 苗圃； （供游戏的）儿童室

参考例句：

• The two nurseries have 200 children. 这两家托儿所有200个孩子。
• Social services also have responsibility for the regulation of nurseries. 社会福利部门也有责任对托儿所进行管理。

9 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。