Part 2 Family Members and Family Tree 家庭成员
我们每个人都有很多亲属,那么我们应该怎样用英语来称呼他们呢?father,mother,dad,mom 的意思分别是“父亲”,“母亲”,“爸爸”,“妈妈”,前两个词为书面语,后两个词是孩子在家对“爸爸”,“妈妈”的称呼常用在中语中。还有daddy和mommy也是孩子们最喜欢的称呼语。
称呼还有husband,wife,son,daughter,brother,sister,uncle,aunt,nephew,niece,cousin。在father mother前面加上grand组成 grandmother和grandfather,就是祖父祖母或外公外婆,口语当中常用 grandma grandpa。这里哥哥,弟弟都用brother 来表示,sister可以同时表示姐姐、妹妹,这跟汉语是不同的,一般在西方家庭兄弟姐妹之间都可以直呼其名,那么当你必须说明你和你的兄弟姐妹之间的长幼关系时怎么办呢?可以在brother或sister前面加上elder这个词,elder brother 或elder sister,就表示哥哥、姐姐了,或者也可以加上big,这个词也能表示同样的意义。那么在brother 或者sister前面加上younger就可以表示“弟弟、妹妹”了,就是younger brother,younger sister。
英语中对亲戚的称呼跟中文也是有区别的,结婚以后,双方的直系亲属也就是immediate family就都变成了对方的姻亲in-laws,比如father-in-law就是指岳父或者是公公,mother-in-law指岳母或婆婆,sister-in-law嫂子、弟媳等等,brother-in-law指内兄、内弟、小叔子、姐夫、妹夫等等。一看中英文的对照,就知道英语对亲属的称谓比起中文要简单得多。中文按年龄、男方还是女方的关系等等为亲属冠之以不同的称呼,而西方人似乎不太在乎这位亲戚是父亲这边的(on the father's side)还是母亲那边的(on the mother's side),一视同仁,给一个称呼。
更有意思的是对distant relatives,也就是“远亲”的称呼。cousin一词不分男女,概括了所有“堂兄弟和堂姐妹或者表兄弟和表姐妹”。而“侄子或外甥”都是nephew;“侄女或外甥女”则都是"niece"。不过,尽管英语中的称谓不如中文的分工细致, "Blood is thicker than water"(血浓于水)是东、西方人都认同的。
那么,既然英语的家庭关系词汇不难,那我们来听听下面这段话,看你是否能根据这段话画出一张family tree。
还是先来解释一下什么是family tree 吧。family tree顾名思义就是“家谱图”,英文解释为A family tree is a diagram(表格)of the people in a family. 就是指家庭成员关系的图解描绘。感兴趣的朋友们可以根据下面这段话自己动手画一画。
听力材料:
Stephanie is the youngest in her family. Her elder brother Mark is married with a son Kevin. Her sister-in-law Rose used to go to the same high school with Stephanie. Her sister Kate married Thomas Hawkins last year and they've just had a baby daughter Millie. Stephanie adores her nephew and niece. Bart and Marie are Stephanie's cousins. They are children of Barbara and Peter. Aunt Barbara is the younger sister of Stephanie's father Gordon. Stephanie's mother Joy had a younger sister Liz who is divorced with a daughter Lily. Both grandparents on Stephanie's father's side have passed away. But her mother's parents Lucas and Nancy are living not far away from their house.
Part 3 Family Types 家庭类型
Jake: Do you know what an extended family is?
Anne: Yeah. In the past, parents, their children, their children's children used to live together. This kind of family is known as an extended family.
Jake: What about a nuclear family?
Anne: Nowadays, only two generations, that is to say, parents and children live together.
Jake: How about a single parent family?
Anne: That's a family with only a mother or only a father.
Jake: So what is a blended family?
Anne: When two people who have been married and have children, remarry, and both groups of children live together. Why? You indeed asked me so many questions about family.
Jake: I just want to make a survey of public opinion on family ties.
讲解:
1. 对话中Jake在做一个关于对家庭关系的看法的调查,他问了Anne一些关于家庭类型的问题。那么在对话中出现了几种家庭类型呢?有extended family,就是“大家庭”,在过去呢,父母和他们的孩子以及孩子的孩子都住在一起,就是那种四世同堂的大家庭,不过随着时代的发展,这种大家庭已经很少了。
2. 另一种家庭类型就是nuclear family,核心家庭,也就是说,父母和他们的孩子住在一起,这是现在一种比较普遍的家庭类型。that is to say,作为插入语表示“换句话说;也就是说;更确切地说”。还有一种类型叫做single parent family,就是我们说的“单亲家庭”。就是家里面只有母亲或只有父亲。
3. 这种家庭类型主要是父母离婚的产物。对话中出现的最后一种家庭类型就是blended family,混合型家庭,就是指再婚后的家庭,男女双方的孩子都住在一起。marry前面加上前缀“re”表示“再婚”。make a survey of something,表示“对…作全面的调查”。
4. 这里再补充一种家庭类型,就是“丁克” 家庭。“丁克”的英文意思是:双份收入,没有孩子,double income, no kids。是近年来新兴的一种家庭模式,这种家庭中只有夫妻二人,不生孩子,既有家庭的温馨,又保持了“单身贵族”的潇洒。
Part 4 Some Sentences about Family 跟家庭有关的句子
1. Tell me about your family.
告诉我你的家庭情况吧。
注释:用family,表示家庭成员的情况,一般不能用home.
2. How many people are there in your family?
你家有几口人?
3. Do your parents still work now?
你父母还在工作吗?
4. Do you have a brother or a sister?
你有兄弟姐妹吗?
注释:表示疑问,用or 而不用and。
5. What does your husband /wife do?
你丈夫(妻子)干什么的?
6. Where do your parents live?
你父母住在哪里?
7. How old is your daughter?
你女儿多大了?
8. Where does your son study?
你儿子在哪上学?
9. Learning to be an understanding, co-operating member of the family is the biggest sign of growing up.
成熟的最明显标志是做一个理解别人,合作的家庭成员。
10. Parents are old-fashioned.
父母很老土。
11. My daughter is too careless with money.
我的女儿花钱总是大手大脚。