Unit 01: The Family Tree

Exercise 01: Look at the Masons family tree below and read the text Who am I? that follows.

Who am I? My grandparents names are William and Mary Mason. They had only one child together; my father, Henry. This means that I have no cousins from my fathers side. When my father was twenty-four, he married my mother Diana and together they had four children, me and three others. Both my sister and my brothers are older than me, which makes me the youngest sibling. My eldest brother Paul was the first one to get married. He married Anne Smith. Six years after Paul got married, I married Sandra. Isnt she pretty? We have two wonderful children, Peter and Emily. My other two siblings, Amelia and John, never got married. Amelia still lives with my parents. She takes care of them and helps them around the house. On the other hand, my brother John went to live abroad. My family and I dont get to see him that much anymore, but we still talk to each other over the phone. Unlike Paul and I, both Amelia and John have no children. This does
pg. 1

not mean that my children, like me, have no cousins because they do. They have two cousins from my side, Sarah and Jack. They are Pauls children. They are wonderful cousins for my children to have. So who do you think am I? Exercise 02: The text below is related to the text which you have just read. Fill in the gaps about the speaker by using some of the words below. Some of the words can be used more than once. Brothers William George Siblings Cousins Jack Nephew Sister Daughter Father Paul Sandra Niece Mary Children Son Auntie Sarah Uncles

The speakers name is (1) ____________________ . He is the youngest son of (2) __________________ and Diana. Amelia, Paul and John are Georges (3) _____________________ . He is married to (4) _________________, and together they have a (5) ____________________ named Peter and a (6) ____________________ named Emily. This makes Georges (7) ___________________, Paul and John, Peter and Emilys (8) _________________, while Georges (9) _________________, Amelia is Peter and Emilys (10) ____________________. Peter is therefore the (11) ___________________ of his fathers siblings, while Emily is the (12) __________________ of her fathers siblings. The only (13) ___________________ that Peter and Emily have are Sarah and Jack. They are the (14) _________________of Anne and Paul. Both Sarah and Jack are older than Peter and Emily. Like Peter, Jack is the (15) ____________________ of Amelia and John. But unlike Jack, he is also the nephew of (16) ___________________. Unlike Peter, Jack is not the nephew of (17) ___________________, because Paul is his (18) ___________________. On the other hand, his sister (19) __________________ is the (20) ____________________ of Amelia, John and George.

Exercise 04: Finish the following sentences with the appropriate words from the box. Great-grandchildren Grand-son parents Great-grandfather Grand-father Grand-mum Great-grandchild Grand-daughter Great-granddaughters Great-grandmother
pg. 2

Great-grandparents

Grand-

Grand-sons

Grand-mother

Grand-dad Great-grandson s

Grand-children

1. William and Mary are Georges ____________________________. 2. George refers to William as his __________________________ or ____________________________. 3. George refers to Mary as his ________________________ or __________________________. 4. George and his other siblings; Amelia, Paul and John, are William and Marys ____________________________. 5. George, Paul and John are William and Marys __________________________. 6. Amelia is William and Marys only ___________________________. 7. William and Mary are Peter and Emilys______________________. 8. Peter and Emily refer to William as their _______________________. 9. Peter and Emily refer to Mary as their _________________________. 10.Peter, Emily, Sarah and Jack, are William and Marys ___________________________. 11.Emily and Sarah are William and Marys ______________________. 12.Peter and Jack are William and Marys ________________________.

Exercise 05: Complete the following text entitled Emilys story with the appropriate words.

Step-father

Step-mother Step-daughter

Step-brother Step-son

Step-sister

Emilys Story

pg. 3

Hi, my name is Emily. I am eleven years old. My fathers name is George. He is currently married to Sandra. But although my father is married to Sandra; Sandra is not really my mother. My mothers name is Kate. Kate is the one who gave birth to me and not Sandra. Sadly, my mum and dad did not get on really well with each other and so they got a divorce when I was only two years old. Two years after the divorce my dad met Sandra. They got married after three years. Therefore Sandra is not my biological mother, but rather she is my (1) ______________________. And I am not her biological daughter, but rather, I am her (2) _______________________.

Like my father, Sandra was married before she met my father. But like my father, George, she too got a divorce. She had a son named Peter with her first husband. Since Sandra is now married to my father, people think that Peter is my biological brother. But Peter is really my (3) ______________________and I am his (4) ____________________, since we are not related by blood. Therefore, my father, George, is not Peters biological father, but really he is his (5) _____________________. This makes Peter, my fathers (6) ________________________.

But despite the fact that we are not all blood related, we still get along with each other very well and we all love each other to bits. Both George and Sandra love Peter and I equally. And both Peter and I love our parents equally. Moreover, both Peter and I love each other. We are all a family after all and thats what a family should do; love each other.

Exercise 06: George and his wife Sandra have some other relatives which are not mentioned in the Masons family tree. Read the text entitled The in-laws and fill in the blanks with the appropriate words in the box.

Father-in-law

Mother-in-law Sister-in-law Son-in-law

Brother-in-law Daughters-in-law

Brothers-in-law Wives

The-in-laws
pg. 4

Sandra and Anne are not Henry and Dianas daughters, but rather they the (1) _____________________ of their sons. Therefore, Sandra and Anne the (2) _____________________________ of Henry and Diana. Since Henry is father of Sandra and Annes husbands, than he is Sandra and Annes (3) ______________________________. Similarly, Diana is Sandra and Annes (4) ______________________________. If Henry and Dianas daughter, Amelia married, then her husband would be Henry and Dianas (5) ________________________________.

are are the

was

Sandra has a sister named Lilly. Lilly is not Georges (Sandras husband) sister, but rather she is his (6) ____________________________. On the other hand, George is Lillys (7) ___________________________. Similarly, Anne has a brother named Mark. Mark and Paul (Annes husband) are not brothers, but rather they are (8) __________________________.

Exercise 07: Discuss the following questions with your partner.

1. Do you always get on with the people in your family? 2. Which family member do you get on with the most? 3. Which member of your family do you argue with the most? 4. What was the last thing you argued about with your parents? 5. Is it better to have brothers and sisters or to be an only child? 6. Who in your family do you turn to when you need advice? 7. What is your happiest family memory? 8. Which member of your family do you think has influenced you the most?

pg. 5

9. How often do you see the rest of your family (uncles, aunties, grandparents, cousins and so on)? 10.Have you ever lied to your parents?

pg. 6