[IELTS 5.] Unit 20.2 - Reading & Listening

Complete the sentences below. Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.

Recycling is principally the responsibility of 1.1.

The second stage in the cycle relates to 1.2 in general.

Harvesting includes cutting down trees and 1.3.

Chemical processes create 1.4.

A significant proportion of the 1.5 stage is unnecessary.

Complete the flow chart. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.

36. 2.1

37. 2.2

38. 2.3

39. 2.4

40. 2.5

Listening recording and choosing the correct answer.

 Where are the speakers having this discussion? 

 How has Chloe spent the morning? 

According to Bill, what does the experiment show? 

 Bill's assignment is about the stages in a child's _____.

Listen to the recording and complete the summary. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer. 

Chloe started the psychology course in the 7.1 year. Previously she studied law. She enjoyed studying the 7.2 branch of that subject. The worst thing was having to remember lots of 7.3 and 7.4. She found 7.5 especially technical. She did not enjoy spending her time reading about 7.6 in the library. The part of the psychology course she likes best is experimental psychology, because it involves 7.7 activities.

Read the following paragraphs. Write the letter A-C in each blank.

A. Almost half of all grandparents lose all contact with their grandchildren after a marriage ends, according to a new report. It found that 42 percent never see their grandchildren again after the break-up. Even more - 67 percent - are prevented from providing any sort of childcare or taking their grandchildren on outings, even when they had done so regularly in the past.

B. The value of grandparents to children should not be underestimated. The report shows the need for the government to address the importance of grandparents in future policy and legislation. It also demonstrates the need to amend the Children Act 1989 to remove the obstacle that requires the biological family to ask permission prior to making an application to the court for contact. Especially when a family is going through difficulties, it is important that the children can turn to someone who is not directly involved and is calm and relaxed, and that person is often a grandparent.

C. To have a society that is family-friendly, anti-discrimination laws will need to be introduced. Parenting would become a school subject, staircases would be rebuilt so that buggies and prams could access any building, and advertising for sweets and non-educational toys would be forbidden. Companies would be forced to only employ people who can travel to work in less than 40 minutes and there would also be a 35-hour working week and more holidays. In a world like this, there would be less divorce and crime, but we would be earning and producing less.

Which paragraph A - C?

1. state cause and effect: 8.1

2. develops an argument: 8.2

3. gives information/ a description: 8.3

Choose the correct heading for sections A - E from the list of numbered headings i-ix below. Write the correct number next to each section.

List of headings

i. New families: beneficial or harmful?

ii. The government reaction

iii. The typical western family

iv. Political families

v. The disappearance of the traditional model

vi. Families: then and now

vii. The first criticism of 'family'

viii. The 'happy family' model

ix. The function of families

Section A: 9.1
The family has often been regarded as the cornerstone of society. In premodern and modern societies alike, it has been seen as the most basic unit of social organization and one which carries out vital tasks, such as socializing children.

Section B: 9.2
Until the 1960s few sociologists questioned the importance or the benefits of family life. Most sociologists assumed that family life was evolving as modernity progressed and that the changes involved made the family better suited to meeting the needs of society and of family members. A particular type of family, the nuclear family (based around a two-generation household of parents and their children), was seen as well adapted to the demands of modern societies.

Section C: 9.3
From the 1960s, an increasing number of critical thinkers began to question the assumption that the family was necessarily a beneficial institution. Feminists, Marxists, and critical psychologists began to highlight what they saw as some of the negative effects and the 'dark side' of family life. In the following decades, the family was not just under attack from academic writers. Social changes also seemed to be undermining traditional families, as more marriages were ending and many people were choosing not to marry. Other trends all suggested that individuals were basing their lives less and less around conventional families.

Section D: 9.4
Some have seen these changes as a symptom of greater individualism within modern societies. They have welcomed what appears to be an increasing range of choices for individuals. People no longer have to base their lives around what may be outmoded and, for many, unsuitable conventional family structures. Others, however, have complained about the changes and worried about their effect on society. Such changes are seen as both a symptom and a cause of instability and insecurity in people's lives and in society as a whole. This view has been held by traditionalists who want a return to the ideal of the nuclear family. For them, many of society's problems are a result of increased family instability.

Section E: 9.5
Alongside these developments in society and sociology, family life has become a topic of political debate. Politicians have become somewhat more willing to comment on families. Sometimes they have devised policies to try to deal with perceived problems surrounding the family. In short, the family has come to be seen as more problematic than it was in the past. The controversies that have come to surround families and households are the subject of this chapter.