Navigate Upper-Intermediate / Life Stages / slide 118, ex. 10, ex. 11a

ex. 10 / Complete the second sentence in each pair so that it has the same meaning as the first.

  1. My brother emigrated to New Zealand, so our kids don’t see each other much. If my brother hadn’t emigrated to New Zealand, our kids would be closer now.
  2. I had no idea how physically exhausting bringing up kids was, and I had them late. If I had had them, I might have had an idea how physically exhausting bringing up kids was.
  3. I didn’t have children because I really value my independence. If I didn’t really value my independence, I might have children.
  4. We need a big house because we’re such a large family. If we weren’t such a large family, we wouldn’t need a big house.
  5. Maybe having no siblings has made me an independent person. If I’d had siblings, I might not be as independent as I am.

ex. 11a / You are going to ask your parent the questions. Complete the questions with the correct form of the verbs in brackets.

  1. How would your life be different if you had 3 siblings?
  2. If you had been brought up in Armenia, how would your life have been different when you were a child, and how is it different now?
  3. What would you do in your free time if you lived in Middle ages?
  4. If you were a member of the opposite sex, would people treat you differently as a child? Would you have a different job/goals now?

Watch the Vox Pop Life Stages and answer the questions in written form

Who do you take most in your family? In what ways?

If we look at the issue from another perspective, I can mention the impression my family members make on me. For example, my sister and brother remind me of the sense of responsibility and the sweetness of life, time spent with my family is happiness, and my parents play the role of leaders and educators.

What do you think is the ideal family size? Why?

I don’t think there is an ideal family or any standard family. It’s a personal opinion, which is subjective, for one it consists of related families (uncle, aunt, etc.), and for another it’s just the parents and one child model. In my opinion, the most common in Armenia is the two-parent-three-child model.