听播客学英语 177 家庭

 　　This podcast is about families, and the names which we give in English to the relationships between family members – names like mother, grandparent, cousin and uncle.

　　You will probably find it helpful to look at a diagram while you listen. I have uploaded two pdf files with this podcast. You can download them and then open them if you have Adobe¹ reader on your computer. If you can, print them.

　　On the files, you will see what we call a family tree. That means a diagram which shows how different people are related to each other. Lets start with the youngest members of the family. They are Lucy, who is 5 years old, and her little brother Benjamin, who is 3. Lucy and Benjamin are siblings²; but we don’t use the word siblings very much in English. Normally we would just say that Benjamin and Lucy are brother and sister.

　　Lucy and Benjamin’s parents are John and Mary. John is their father. Mary is their mother. Mary has a sister, called Joan, who is married to Harry³. Joan and Harry are Lucy and Benjamin’s aunt and uncle. Joan and Harry have two children of their own – a son called Max and a daughter called Judy. Max and Judy are Lucy and Benjamin’s cousins.

　　Lucy and Benjamin have another uncle, Uncle Lewis, who is their father’s brother. Uncle Lewis is not married and has no children.

　　Lucy and Benjamin have two sets of grandparents. Their father’s parents are James and Susan. They have retired⁴ and moved to Spain, where they live in a flat overlooking a building site with distant views of the sea. They are Lucy and Benjamin’s grandfather and grandmother. The other grandparents are of course their mother’s parents, Fred and Eileen. Fred’s parents, Jack⁵ and Edith are still alive. They are both over 90 years old, and live in an old people’s home. Jack talks for hours about what he did during the Second World War. Edith sits and says “Yes, dear” from time to time. Jack and Edith are Lucy and Benjamin’s great-grandparents.

　　Now look at the second pdf file. It shows the same family, but from the point of view of John and Mary. We already know about their children – their daughter Lucy and their son Benjamin. Mary has a sister, Joan, who is married to Harry. Harry is Mary’s brother-in-law. (“In-law” means the relationship is through marriage – Harry is her brother-in-law because he is married to her sister). You remember that Joan and Harry have two children – Max is John and Mary’s nephew, and Judy is their niece.

　　Fred and Eileen are Mary’s parents. They are also John’s father-in-law and mother-in-law. (We sometimes say “parents-in-law”, but like “sibling” it isn’t very common). Fred and Eileen call John their son-in-law. And, of course, John’s parents call Mary their daughter-in-law.

　　Incidentally, the plural⁶ of “daughter-in-law” is “daughters-in-law” not “daughter-in-laws”! And similarly with the other “in-law” relationships.

　　Complicated, isn’t it, even in a simple family like this one. Why not draw a diagram of your own family and practice talking about the relationships of the various family members. I shall find something a little more light-hearted for the next podcast.

1 adobe   

n.泥砖，土坯，美国Adobe公司

参考例句：

• They live in an adobe house.他们住在一间土坯屋里。
• Adobe bricks must drived dried completely before are used.土坯砖块使用前一定要完全干燥。

2 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

3 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

4 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

5 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

6 plural   

n.复数；复数形式；adj.复数的

参考例句：

• Most plural nouns in English end in's '.英语的复数名词多以s结尾。
• Here you should use plural pronoun.这里你应该用复数代词。