Text 2. The Average British Family: a Stereotype

Task 7. Read the text and pay attention to Present Indefinite,3d person

The Average British Family lives in a semi-detached house with a garden in the south of England. They own their house, which is situated in the suburbs of a large town. The house has three bedrooms. On average they have two children and a pet. The family drives a two-year-old Ford.

He works in the office of an engineering company for 40 hours a week and earns 200 pounds per week. He starts at 9.00 in the morning and finishes at 5.30 in the evening. He goes to work by car. It takes him 20 minutes to get to work. He doesn’t particularly like his job, but there are chances of promotion.

She works in a service industry for three days a week and earns 95 pounds per week. She works locally and goes there by bus. She likes her job as it gets her out of the house, she meets people, and it is close to the children’s school.

The children go to a state school which is a few miles from home. A special bus comes to pick them up every day. They are at school from 9.00 to 3.30.

The most popular evening entertainment is watching television or video, which is the average person does for two and a half hours a day. After that, the next most popular activity is visiting friends, going to the cinema or a restaurant, or going to the pub. The most popular hobby is gardening and the most popular sports are fishing, football and tennis.

1. What tense are all the verbs in this profile? Why?

Ask and answer questions about this family.

Use:

Do…? / Does…? Where? / What? / When? / How? / How much? / How many?

Example:

Question: Does the family live in the south?

Answer: Yes, the family (it) lives in the south of England. / Yes, it does.

Question: Where does the family live?

Answer: The family lives in the south of England.

2. Compare the British family with an average family from your country. Think of the following: house / jobs / hours of work / school / transport / entertainment

Example:

In my country most people live in flats. School starts at 8.00, not at 9.00, and finishes at 1.00.