蒙大英語國家-美國概況課件06 American Family Life

1、Lecture SixAmerican Family LifeContentsWarm-Up 1Language Study2Detailed Study 3Extension4Warm-Up Discuss the Following Questions What is a nuclear family? How do you understand the generation gap? ailment n. 失調，問題Language Study stimulating a. 振奮人心的，有刺激性的 recreational a 娛樂的 suburbia n. 大都市郊區(qū) anonymou

2、s a. 無名的，不知名的 trailer n. 拖車 dictatorship n. 專政 stifling a. 沉悶的 desertion n. 遺棄Language Study assortment n. 各色各樣 advent n. 出現 appliance n. 器械，用器 barbecue vi. vt. 燒烤 busybody n. 愛管閑事的人 obsolete a. 過時的 pediatrician n. 兒科專家In the United States, the family is still very much alive，despite its many ailmen

3、ts1. The vast majority of Americans live with people 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 u

4、nusual.Detailed StudyA. About three-fourths 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 f

5、ifty thousand or more. E. A greater number of Americans live in suburbs (about 37 percent of the population) than in cities (about .31 percent).Detailed StudyI. Type of community A. Intimate, slow-paced rural and small town living often seems dull and stifling, especially to young, single people. B.

6、 Suburbs offer the advantages 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 cultural

7、ly stimulating. However, the nations 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.Detailed StudyII. Virtues

8、 and limitations of each type of communityA. Apartment buildings:1. Range in size 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

9、or even low-income families.B. Mobile homes (once called house trailers):1. More than 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 a

10、re removed, and the home is fastened to the ground. 4. Because they cost much less than conventional homes, mobile homes are especially popular among young couples and elderly retired couples.Detailed StudyIII. Types of homeA. Nuclear family (mother, father, and dependent children) 1. About 87 perce

11、nt of American families are headed by a married couple. 2. Ideally, Mother and Father have 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.

12、 B. One-parent familyThere are about 3 million households (with about 8 million children) in 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 th

13、ese families, Mother is boss.Detailed StudyIV. Types of family structureA. Family in which the children 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 possessio

14、ns take over most of the house, and the youngsters make excessive demands upon their parents time 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 appr

15、opriate limits and provide intelligent guidance.Detailed StudyV. Parental roles in American familyB. Child-centered culture5 The ambitions of American parents are more often related to their childrens lives than to their own6. 1. American parents try to give their youngsters many opportunities to de

16、velop skills and worthwhile interests. 2. When school lets out for the summer, parents try to give their children other kinds of learning experiences through camping or travel. Detailed StudyC. Parental roles have altered somewhat since the advent of the working mother. 1. Today, about 10 million Am

17、erican 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 housekeeping and child-rearing. Detailed StudyThe various tensions, arguments, and hostilities which exist within the family are reflected

18、 in the well-known expression: God gives us our relatives; thank God we can choose our friends.7Detailed StudyVI. Conflicts in American familyA. Insufficient family income1. The median family income in the United States is about $ 11, 000 a year. This is not a lot of money when one realizes the trem

19、endous 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.Detailed StudyB. Power struggle1. As children enter adolescence, they begin to demand greater freedom to go where they please, do what the

20、y 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 parents consider proper and constructive.Detailed StudyDetailed StudyC. The generation gap”Today

21、, 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 come to the big cities for excitement and job opportunities. Couples with young children move from c

22、ities 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.Detailed StudyVII. Mobility of the populationExtension Cultural Note