Family
Interactive questions and answers
1. How many people are there in your family? There are four in my family.
2. Do you have any children? Yes, we have a son.
3. Where is your spouse? My husband is in New York on business.
4. How many brothers and sisters do you have? I’m the only child in my family.
5. Do you have any brothers and sisters? I have three brothers and one sister.
6. Are you the oldest? No, I’m the youngest.
7. Do you look like your father or your mother? I’m the spitting image of my father.
8. Does your brother look like you? No, he looks like my mother.
9. Your son looks extremely intelligent. It runs in the family.
10. Do you live with your parents? No, I live alone.
11. Do you like your family? Of course. I like them very much.
12. What is a generation gap? It refers to a lack of understanding between parents and children.
13. Chinese people like a small family, composed of two parents and one child. They call is a nuclear family.
Frequent Sentences
Blood is thicker than water.
We are all family.
Wash one’s dirty linen at home.
The family that prays together stays together.
He is the chip off the old clock.
She is the spit and image of her mother.
She is her mother all over again.
He ’s got his father’s features.
He ’s got his father’s nose.
He ’s following in his father’s footsteps.
Like father, like son.
East or west, home is best.
Every bird likes its own nest.
Home is home, be it ever so humble.
Home is where the heart is.
There is no place like home.
Situational Dialogues
Dialogue 1
A: How many people are there in your family?
B: Four, my parents, my elder brother and I.
A: Do you get on well with your family?
B: Yes, we’re quite harmonious.
A: Do your parents care about you?
B: Of course. They often talk to me like a friend.
A: Do your parents like children?
B: Yes, they like my brother’s two children very much.
A: Do they live with your parents?
B: No, they have their own house.
Dialogue 2
A: Kate, what are you holding?
B: It’s my family photo album.
A: Can I have a look at it?
B: Certainly. Here you are.
A: Is this old gentleman your grandfather?
B: Yes.
A: Is this lady sitting beside him your grandmother?
B: Yes, you’re right.
A: Can you show me a photo of your parents?
B: Just turn two pages and you’ll see it.
A: Oh, what a handsome man your father is! And your mother is a good match for him. How many brothers and sisters do you have?
B: I have two elder sisters and one younger brother.
A: Do your grandparents live with you?
B: No. they live in the countryside.
A: Oh, Kate, how I envy you! You have such a happy, harmonious family!
Dialogue 3
A: Tell me about your family, Simon. Are you from a big family?
B: No, my immediate family is quite small. There are only five of us, my parents, my younger brother and my younger sister. But my parents both come from large families.
A: How many people are there in your extended family?
B: There are too many to count. I suppose well over 100 people.
A: Do you get to see your family often?
B: I see my immediate family every weekend, and I see my extended family about once or twice a year. We usually see each other for Christmas, Easter, and other big celebrations, like weddings.
A: Are many of your relatives divorced?
B: Let me think. I believe just one uncle. He’s always been a rebel. My grandmother was very religious, so most of my relatives are too scared to get divorced!
A: Do you have any relatives who are single mothers?
B: I have only one. Her father is the one who got divorced. Their family is sort of the black sheep of our extended family.
Dialogue 4
A: The world changes and family changes too.
B: What do you mean?
A: People in China now prefer a small family, composed of two parents and one child. B: That is called a nuclear family.
A: I don’t like a family like that.
B: What kind of family do you like?
A: I like a family with lots of people. It should include grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, and children…
B: That is a traditional family, but it might be too large to live very well.
A: We can live just fine, I think.
Useful Words
aunt daughter husband relative niece in-law cousin uncle nephew the only child
Brilliant Paragraphs
A well-mannered mom
A mother and son were washing dishes while the father and daughter were watching TV in the living room. Suddenly, there was a crash of breaking dishes, then complete silence. The girl looked at her father and said: “It was Mom.” “How do you know? ” “She didn’t say anything.”
Family
Interactive questions and answers
1. How many people are there in your family? There are four in my family.
2. Do you have any children? Yes, we have a son.
3. Where is your spouse? My husband is in New York on business.
4. How many brothers and sisters do you have? I’m the only child in my family.
5. Do you have any brothers and sisters? I have three brothers and one sister.
6. Are you the oldest? No, I’m the youngest.
7. Do you look like your father or your mother? I’m the spitting image of my father.
8. Does your brother look like you? No, he looks like my mother.
9. Your son looks extremely intelligent. It runs in the family.
10. Do you live with your parents? No, I live alone.
11. Do you like your family? Of course. I like them very much.
12. What is a generation gap? It refers to a lack of understanding between parents and children.
13. Chinese people like a small family, composed of two parents and one child. They call is a nuclear family.
Frequent Sentences
Blood is thicker than water.
We are all family.
Wash one’s dirty linen at home.
The family that prays together stays together.
He is the chip off the old clock.
She is the spit and image of her mother.
She is her mother all over again.
He ’s got his father’s features.
He ’s got his father’s nose.
He ’s following in his father’s footsteps.
Like father, like son.
East or west, home is best.
Every bird likes its own nest.
Home is home, be it ever so humble.
Home is where the heart is.
There is no place like home.
Situational Dialogues
Dialogue 1
A: How many people are there in your family?
B: Four, my parents, my elder brother and I.
A: Do you get on well with your family?
B: Yes, we’re quite harmonious.
A: Do your parents care about you?
B: Of course. They often talk to me like a friend.
A: Do your parents like children?
B: Yes, they like my brother’s two children very much.
A: Do they live with your parents?
B: No, they have their own house.
Dialogue 2
A: Kate, what are you holding?
B: It’s my family photo album.
A: Can I have a look at it?
B: Certainly. Here you are.
A: Is this old gentleman your grandfather?
B: Yes.
A: Is this lady sitting beside him your grandmother?
B: Yes, you’re right.
A: Can you show me a photo of your parents?
B: Just turn two pages and you’ll see it.
A: Oh, what a handsome man your father is! And your mother is a good match for him. How many brothers and sisters do you have?
B: I have two elder sisters and one younger brother.
A: Do your grandparents live with you?
B: No. they live in the countryside.
A: Oh, Kate, how I envy you! You have such a happy, harmonious family!
Dialogue 3
A: Tell me about your family, Simon. Are you from a big family?
B: No, my immediate family is quite small. There are only five of us, my parents, my younger brother and my younger sister. But my parents both come from large families.
A: How many people are there in your extended family?
B: There are too many to count. I suppose well over 100 people.
A: Do you get to see your family often?
B: I see my immediate family every weekend, and I see my extended family about once or twice a year. We usually see each other for Christmas, Easter, and other big celebrations, like weddings.
A: Are many of your relatives divorced?
B: Let me think. I believe just one uncle. He’s always been a rebel. My grandmother was very religious, so most of my relatives are too scared to get divorced!
A: Do you have any relatives who are single mothers?
B: I have only one. Her father is the one who got divorced. Their family is sort of the black sheep of our extended family.
Dialogue 4
A: The world changes and family changes too.
B: What do you mean?
A: People in China now prefer a small family, composed of two parents and one child. B: That is called a nuclear family.
A: I don’t like a family like that.
B: What kind of family do you like?
A: I like a family with lots of people. It should include grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, and children…
B: That is a traditional family, but it might be too large to live very well.
A: We can live just fine, I think.
Useful Words
aunt daughter husband relative niece in-law cousin uncle nephew the only child
Brilliant Paragraphs
A well-mannered mom
A mother and son were washing dishes while the father and daughter were watching TV in the living room. Suddenly, there was a crash of breaking dishes, then complete silence. The girl looked at her father and said: “It was Mom.” “How do you know? ” “She didn’t say anything.”