第8章美国人的家庭生活I.Explain the following in English:1.Mobile home【答案】(1)Mobile homes are living quarters built with wheels.They can be moved.(2)But generally they are brought to a site that is intended to be more or less permanent.(3)Because they cost much less than conventional homes,mobile homes are especially popular among young couples and elderly retired couples.(4)More than seven million Americans live in mobile homes.2.Nuclear family【答案】(1)It refers to the family consisting of father,mother and dependent children.(2)In the United States,the typical family is a nuclear family.Middle-aged and elderly people generally do not live with their unmarried children.(3)The nuclear families lack the psychological support that was once provided by a much larger group.3.A child-centered culture【答案】(1)Americans are so devoted and permissive toward their children that they create a child-centered culture.(2)The ambitions of parents are more often related to their children’s lives than to their own.(3)American parents try to give their youngsters many opportunities to develop skills and worthwhile interests.(4)During the summer,parents try to give their children other kinds of learning experiences through camping or travel.4.The working mother【答案】(1)It refers to American mothers with children under eighteen years of age who have jobs.(2)There are about10million working mothers in the US.(3)In some families,the working mother is a necessity because the father is unable to find employment or cannot earn enough for all the families’basic needs.(4)In other households,the mother may work to supplement the father’s income so the family can enjoy a higher standard of living.(5)Some women want to work because they find it boring to stay home alone all day.5.The generation gap【答案】(1)As children enter adolescence,they begin to demand greater freedom to go where they please,do what they please and make decisions without parentalinterference.(2)Parents want to guide them so that their behavior will be whatever the parents consider proper and constructive.(3)But in a society of rapidly changing social and moral values,parents and children often disagree about what is important and what is right,hence leading to generation gap.(4)However,recent studies show that the“generation gap”is narrowing.The vast majority of teen-agers share most of their parents’values and ideas.II.Fill in the blanks:1.The communities can be roughly divided into three types,_____,_____and_____.【答案】rural;small town living;big city life【解析】美国人的团体生活大致可以分为三类：乡村生活、小城镇生活以及大城市生活。

2.In recent years increasing numbers of apartment buildings have become cooperatives,meaning that_____.【答案】each resident owns his own apartment【解析】近年来，越来越多的公寓大楼的成为合作共有的建筑，意味着每个居民都拥有自己的公寓。

3.American society worships_____and often deprives the aged of important psychological forms of support—_____.【答案】youth;a feeling of being respected,wanted,and needed【解析】美国社会崇尚青春，通常会剥夺老年人支撑的重要心理形式——一种被尊重、渴望和需要的感受。

4.Walk-ups refer to_____.【答案】apartment without elevator【解析】“Walk-ups”指的是没有电梯的公寓大楼。

III.Answer the questions:1.What are the virtues and limitations of each type of community?【答案】Rural and small town living often seems slow-paced and intimate,but dull and stifling,especially to young people.Suburbs offer the advantages of small town living with the facilities of the big city nearby,but they are predominantly occupied by white,middle class people who are under fifty years of age.Big city life is varied, exciting and culturally stimulating,but often overcrowded,crime-ridden,and there are other limitations.2.Discuss different types of family structure(the nuclear family,the one-parent family).【答案】The nuclear family:(1)It refers to the family consisting of father,mother and dependent children.(2)In the United States,the typical family is a nuclear family. Middle-aged and elderly people generally do not live with their unmarried children.(3)The nuclear families lack the psychological support that was once provided by a much larger group.The one-parent family:It refers to the family in which one parent is absent as a result of separation,divorce,or desertion.Almost90percent of these households are headed by women whose children spend relatively little time with their fathers. In these families,Mother is boss.3.What is the impact of the working mother on the family?【答案】In some families,the working mother is a necessity because the father is unable to find employment or cannot earn enough for all the family’s basic needs. In other households,the mother may work to supplement the father’s income so the family can enjoy a higher standard of living.Then,too,some women want to work even if the family does not need extra income.Once their children are attending school,many women find it boring to stay home alone all day.Being a homemaker is no longer a full-time job for women who have access to modern household appliances and prepared foods.Many working mothers employ a cleaning woman one or more days a week to help with housework and child care, but few have live-in servants.4.What is the major problem facing the young?【答案】They are required to do many things,occupied by a lot of tasks given by their parents and teachers.5.What is the general situation of the aged in the U.S.?What factors have contributed to this situation?【答案】For the elderly,life is often quite trying.In addition to the medical problems that inevitably come with old age,there are great economic and social problems. The difficulties of older Americans have been getting more attention in recent years as the elderly have increased in number.There are now21million Americans sixty-five years or older.Of the nation’s elderly,about40percent live in poverty or near-poverty.Many struggle along on the meager monthly income they get from the government by living in rundown hotels and eating mostly soup,potatoes,and bread.There are several government programs to supply free food and necessary services to the elderly.However,these programs do not reach anything close to the number of people who need help.As a result,there are probably millions of elderly Americans who live in starvation and misery.There are three factors contributing to the plight of the elderly poor.Firstly,in many stable societies,older people are highly respected because of their experience and wisdom.But in a rapidly changing industrial society like America, the skills and knowledge of the elderly often become obsolete.Secondly,the elderly Americans,commonly have to retire from their jobs at age sixty-five,and they are left with too much leisure time and too little stly,and most importantly,the American society worships youth.In this society,the elderly are sometimes ignored or even avoided.American society provides a monthly income。