Advanced English Conversations (2) - Robert Allans, Matt Edie, A. Mustafaoglu 2020

Set 90 - maintaining a happy family

Interviewer: We all know that good parents want their kids to stay out of trouble, do well in school, and go on to do well as adults. Is there a set recipe for raising successful children?

Simon: Unfortunately not. But there is a range of practices and techniques to raise a child well-equipped for adulthood like spending time with your child, letting your child make decisions, and maintaining a happy family.

Interviewer: Do you think having both parents in the same household, in a loving relationship, leads to success in a child's adult life?

Simon: Absolutely. Much of a child's development comes down to the parents. Children in high-conflict and dysfunctional families, whether intact or divorced, tend to fare worse than children of parents that get along.

Interviewer: What’s the importance of developing our children’s social skills?

Simon: Studies show that socially competent children can easily cooperate with their peers without prompting, helpful to others, understand their feelings, and resolve problems on their own.

Vocabulary;

a recipe for: something which is likely to lead to a particular outcome.

a range of: a set of different things of the same general type.

well-equipped: (adjective) having sufficient equipment, supplies, or abilities.

maintain: to continue to have; to keep in existence, or not allow to become less.

come down to: (of a situation or outcome) to be dependent on.

dysfunctional: not behaving or working normally.

intact: (adjective) whole; undamaged; complete and in the original state.

fare: to progress or to be in a particular condition.

prompting: the act of trying to make someone say something.

Exercise;

Fill in the gaps with the appropriate phrases or words;

1. Individuals in .......... environments often become dysfunctional in other aspects of their lives, with their organizations ultimately footing the bill.

2. Middle-income families will .......... better under the new tax laws.

3. Well-.......... gyms will have a large selection of leg machines designed to isolate the various muscle groups.

4. Amazingly - without any .......... - my husband actually said how nice I looked in my new dress!

5. It's difficult to emerge from such a scandal with your reputation still ..........

6. With rents skyrocketing, it all .......... down to how much you want to keep living in this part of town.

7. Despite living in different countries, the two families have .......... close links.

8. Sound engineers utilize a .......... of techniques to enhance the quality of the recordings.

sky-high interest rates are a recipe for inflation and disaster.

1. dysfunctional 2. fare 3. equipped 4. prompting 5. intact 6. comes 7. maintained 8. range