Before You Read

Work in pairs. Ask and answer these questions about the picture.

(Làm việc theo cặp. Hỏi và trả lời những câu hỏi sau về bức tranh.)

1. Where is the family?

(Gia đình này ở đâu?)

2. What is each member of the family doing?

(Mỗi thành viên trong gia đình đang làm gì?)

3. Is the family happy? Why (not)?

(Gia đình này có vui vẻ không? Tại sao (Tại sao không)?)

While You Read

Read the passage and do the tasks that follow.

(Đọc bài và làm bài tập theo sau.)

I come from a family of five people: my parents, my two younger brothers and I. My mother works as a nurse in a big hospital. She has to work long hours and once a week she has to work on a night shift. My father is a biologist. He works from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in a lab, but sometimes when there is a project, he doesn’t come home until very late at night. Although my parents are very busy at work, they try to spend as much time with their children as possible. It is generally believed that “men build the house and women make it home”, but in my family, both parents join hands to give us a nice house and a happy home.

My mother is a very caring woman. She takes the responsibility for running the household. She is always the first one to get up in the morning to make sure that we leave home for school having eaten breakfast and dressed in suitable clothes. In the afternoon, after hospital, she rushes to the market, then hurries home so that dinner is ready on the table by the time Dad gets home. Dad is always willing to give a hand with cleaning the house. Unlike most men, he enjoys cooking. Sometimes, at weekends, he cooks us some special dishes. His eel soup is the best soup I have ever eaten.

I am now in my final year at the secondary school, and in my attempt to win a place at university, I am under a lot of study pressure. However, being the eldest child and the only daughter in the family I try to help with the household chores. My main responsibility is to wash the dishes and take out the garbage. I also look after the boys, who are quite active and mischievous sometimes, but most of the time they are obedient and hard-working. They love joining my father in mending things around the house at weekends.

We are a very close-knit family and very supportive of one another. We often share our feelings, and whenever problems come up, we discuss them frankly and find solutions quickly. We always feel safe and secure in our family. It is a base from which we can go into the world with confidence.

Task 1. Choose the sentence A, B or C that is nearest in meaning to the sentence given.

(Chọn câu A, B, C gần nghĩa nhất với câu đã cho.)

1. He doesn't come home until very late at night.

A. He never comes home late at night.

B. He comes home late at night. 

C. He sometimes comes home late at night.

2. "Men build the house and women make it home."

A. Both men and women are good at building houses.

B. Men and women have to live separately.

C. Men’s responsibility is to work and support the family and women’s job is to look after the family.

3. Our parents join hands to give us a nice house and a happy home.

A. Our parents work together to give us a nice house and a happy home.

B. Our parents take each other’s hands when they give us a nice house and a happy home.

C. Our parents shake hands when they give us a nice house and a happy home.

4. The boys are mischievous sometimes.

A. The boys are well-behaved sometimes.

B. The boys enjoy playing tricks and annoying people sometimes.

C. The boys miss their parents sometimes.

5. We are a very close-knit family.

A. Members of our family have very close relationships with each other.

B. Members of our family need each other.

C. Members of our family are never close to each other. 

Task 2. Answer the questions. 

(Trả lời câu hỏi.)

1. How busy are the parents in the passage?

(Bố mẹ của nhận vật trong bài đọc bận rộn như thế nào?)

2. How caring is the mother?

(Người mẹ ân cần chu đáo như thế nào?)

3. How do the father and the daughter share the household chores?

(Người bố và con gái chia sẻ việc nhà như thế nào?)

4. What is the daughter attempting to do after secondary school?

(Người con gái đang nỗ lực làm gì sau khi học xong trung học?)

5. Why do the children feel they are safe and secure in their family?

(Tại sao những đứa trẻ cảm thấy an toàn và yên tâm trong gia đình của chúng?)

After You Read