Big Families

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

• only child
• used to
• non-existent
• open to

• single mother
• brood
• price tag
• in this day and age

• sibling rivalry
• overpopulation

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Recently, an American woman named Nadya Suleman gave birth to octuplets. Octuplets! That’s eight babies. And she already had 6 other children at home. Can you imagine how exhausted you’d be if you were a single mother with 14 children?

Nadya and her brood may be an extreme example, but lots of people want to have big families. For one thing, having more kids means more chances that at least one of them will turn out OK. But children are also a lot of work. And from diapers to college tuition, each one comes with a high price tag. According to one estimate, it costs an average American family over $250,000 to raise a child!

Marni is surprised that Ella wants to have a lot of children. Listen to them talk about the ideal family size.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Marni

Ella

Marni:  So that woman who recently had 8 babies, it’s made me really think about the nature of big families and how it’s pretty unnecessary in this day and age to have that many children.

Ella:  Well, I don’t know, like, it could work. I mean, we have an overpopulation problem. But if I have kids, I think I want four.

Marni:  Four. Really.

Ella:  Well, okay. So, one would be an only child. Two, what would happen if they hated each other? There’s a problem there. Then you have three, there’s the whole “I’m the middle, I’m the youngest.” So four would be just right.

Marni:  So you really think that four is the perfect amount?

Ella:  Yeah, I just, I’ll figure the finances later. But I don’t know, it’d be fun!

Marni:  Fun? But really, you have to think about the expense of it. And like you said, there is an overpopulation problem. We don’t need four children in this day and age. People used to have big families to do farm work and stuff like that, and that’s pretty much non-existent.

Ella:  I’ll live on a farm.

Marni:  You’ll live on a farm. OK. So, if you really want four children do you think maybe you’d consider the Brad and Angelina Jolie route, adopting and having your own?

Ella:  Yeah, totally! Maybe half my own and the other half help some other kids that need help.

Marni:  OK…

Ella:  Yeah, I’m open to anything.

Grammar Point

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Lesson MP3

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