[A] The sun was rising. A woman got up from a straw mat on the floor of her simple two-room family cottage. Her husband and their four children were still asleep on mat. (There were five other children: the couple gave two of them to a family with too few workers; the other three died long ago.)The woman pushed aside the family goats. When she started the fire for cooking, the man and the children got up. While the daughter helped with the housework, the sons went outside to work in the fields with their father. They could see a castle, not far away. The family lived under the protection of the lord and master of the castle. They weren’t his slaves or servants, but they paid him taxes. There was no schooling, so they couldn’t read or write or get jobs in cities. During the long workday, they took breaks only for meals. Occasionally, they went to the village center, where they laughed and talked and played games. At night, people of the community got together around big fires; they told stories about the past. Most families used to live this way in England over eight hundred years ago.

[B] In the first half of the twentieth century, the Japanese family was much more “traditional” than the typical American family. Young people didn’t even use to date; in other words, they didn’t go out together as couples. Instead, their parents arranged their marriages. Maybe they fell in love after they got married, and maybe they didn’t. Either way, the wife had children and stayed home with them while the husband supported the family financially. He rarely helped in the household; he seldom spent time with the children. He used to make all the rules, and then his family followed them. When they got older, the children had to work on the farm or in the family business. Often, the husband and wife and their children lived in an extended family situation—three generations in the same crowded house. Because marriage was not an individual matter, family life didn’t use to be much fun. It was hard work.

[C] Where I grew up, the community on our street was like an extended family. There was no space between our row houses, and they all had front steps. All the children in the neighborhood used to play ball on those steps; on the warmest evenings, the neighborhood used to sit outside on the steps to talk. For these reasons, even at an early age I knew about everyone’s family forms and situations. For instance, our next-door neighbors were two women with an adopted son. To the left lived an older couple, married over forty years; they took care of their grandchildren. Two families lived in the same house across the street: a single mother with her ten-year-old daughter and an unmarried couple with a small baby. Next to them lived a successful businesswoman. She was married, but she didn’t live with her husband because he had a better job and a new life in another country. Now I’m married and live with my family in another neighborhood. Even so, I will never forget the families of my community when I was young.

[D] A few years ago, a young woman left her family, married again, and moved far away with her new husband. For this reason, a thirty-six-year-old divorced father had custody of his two children, eleven and eight years old. He usually has to work weekends as a waiter, so he can’t spend much time with his son and daughter. Even so, he still takes theme to movies when possible. On his days off from work, he goes to a local community college. He’s studying to improve his job skills so he can make more money for his family; at night he does his homework at the same table as the children. But who takes care of them when their father is working or going to school? His “extended family”—his mother, other relatives, and his girlfriend—help out as much as they can. The children used to go to the college child-care center; now they sometimes stay and play at the community sports center. Because this hard-working father loves his family very much, he believes their lives will get better and better.

Notes to the Text

1.straw mat: a mat weaved by straw草垫.

2.two-room family cottage: The house of the whole family is a small cottage, which only has two rooms for six persons. It indicates that this is a poor peasant family, life for which is quite difficult.

3.While the daughter helped with the housework, the sons went outside to work in the fields with their father. In the countryside, the life for farmers and peasants was very hard as there was a lot of work to do all year around. They needed more hands to help with the work. Therefore, they usually had many children, so that when they grew up, the children would share some of burden. As the families were poor, they could not afford their children to go to school. Then they could not read or write or get jobs in cities, but just stayed at home to help. In the past, male power or authority was respected in the family. Therefore, it was the man and sons’ responsibility to work in the fields to pay taxes and support the family, while girls helped their mother with the housework, such as cleaning, washing, cooking, feeding the livestock, etc.

4.The family lived under the protection of the lord and master of the castle: The poor, hard-working peasants did not own the land. They worked on the lands and fields of their lord or master and pay them taxes every year. If they turned in the taxes on time, the lord would let them work on the lands for the next year; otherwise, they would be driven away and went on a wandering life. The lords or masters belonged to the noble class and they are the landed class permitted by the law and the queen of England. In contrast with the peasants’ busy, hard life and poor living conditions, these landlords did not have anything to do but seek pleasure and have fun every day and lived in splendid big castles, which formed a sharp contrast to the two-room cottage mentioned earlier at the beginning of this paragraph.

5.Most families used to live this way in England over eight hundred years ago. Eight hundred years was around the 1200s when England was under the reign 统治 of Queen Elizabeth I. The sharecropping system 佃农制was popular at that time as the country then was strictly ruled by a highly hierarchical system等级制度. At the top of the society was the leisure noble class that owned large areas of land and enjoyed privileges, while at the other end was the poor struggling peasants who had nothing of their own and was always placed under oppression and threat. The only fun they had, if that could be called real fun, was the talking, drinking and games that they could have at night after a tiring day.

6.the Japanese family was much more “traditional”: Japanese concept of family is quite conservative, or traditional, a typical example of the patriarchal system 父权制. In their culture, the individual’s interests must obey the interest of the whole family. Therefore, personal sacrifice was a must. A hierarchy within the family had been long established. Children should listen to their parents and follow their order and arrangements without any consideration of their own liking or will. Wives should obey complex rules and virtues prescribed 规定by the tradition l and follow the leadership of their husband. The right place for women was the home, and their sole responsibility was to take care of the house and children while their husbands were outside working.

7.their parents arranged their marriages: No free will was allowed in marriage, which involved the fame and interest of the whole family. It was taken as a big serious matter without regard for love or the children’s feelings. It was purely the family’s business to make sure that their children married a good family, instead of a good husband. Marriage meant the combination of two families; therefore, it was an effective social means to strengthen the family’s social bond and reputation.

8.the wife had children and stayed home with them: Under the patriarchal system, the proper role of women was the housewife, who stayed home and looked after children. They were not allowed to show their opinions or make decisions about family matters, which was the men’s business.

9.He used to make all the rules, and then his family followed them. As male authority was advocated in the patriarchal society, naturally men were heads of households and made the rules and decisions.

10.the community on our street was like an extended family: In the past before people moved into walled apartment buildings, they lived in close neighborhood, where they knew each other well and helped each other when in difficulties. Children from different families often played together, and adults often stopped to have a good and intimate chat with each other whenever they had time. The relationship and the atmosphere in the neighborhood were harmonious. People were nice and kind to each other as if they were family members. That’s why the author say that the community was like an extended family.

11.row houses: one of a series of identical houses joined by common walls. In this kind of building, people live right ext door to each other. They are so close that they get along very well and have the mutual understanding between each other.

12.I knew about everyone’s family forms and situations. Since people lived so close to each other, they had chance to observe and communicate a lot every day. They knew people in the community as well as the lines in their palms. The various family forms given in the paragraph is an epitome 缩影of the general family situation in the society then.

13.custody: the right especially granted by a court of guarding the children 监管权.

14.He usually has to work weekends as a waiter, so he can’t spend much time with his son and daughter: This is a truthful depiction of many single-parents’ life. On the one hand, they have to work hard to support the children financially and provide them with better life. On the other hand, time is limited. If they want to earn more money, the time for the children is less. No matter what they do, it seems that they cannot do the two jobs well at the same time. They are stuck in this dilemma 进退两难的境地, desperate for help.

15.help out: help someone with his difficulties帮助(某人)解决困难.

16.Because this hard-working father loves his family very much, he believes their lives will get better and better. It is well known that single-parents are undergoing a hardest time. What helps them make through? Definitely it is their love for the children. This love keeps them moving ahead towards a better life. The love makes them cherish the time with their children more.

Vocabulary

Nouns

straw: stalks of grain that can be used for weaving mat or baskets 禾杆，稻草.

cottage: a small, single-story house, especially in the countryside. 乡舍

neighborhood: the surrounding area 附近地区. The suffix –hood, suggesting “a kind of relationship, condition or state” is usually added to the end of a noun, such as in brotherhood, manhood, etc.

custody: the right especially granted by a court of guarding the children 对孩子的监管权.

Verbs

push aside: push away. 推向一边, 推开

arrange for: 安排，准备. E.g. The friends have arranged for a surprise party to celebrate Mary’s homecoming. 朋友们准备了一个惊喜聚会来欢迎玛丽回家。

Adjectives

next-door: close or near隔壁的,邻近的.

This way of word formation is worth noticing. In English, one can create an adjective by putting an adjective and a noun together often with a hyphen in between and the noun at the end, like white-collar, blue-ribbon, etc.

Phrases

take breaks: have short rests.

either way: any way随便哪一种方式

row houses: one of a series of identical houses joined by common walls联立房屋.

the front steps: the doorsteps.

Cultural Note

Family structure has changed dramatically over the last 50 years. The "Leave it to Beaver" family is no longer the standard, and several variations on family have been created. There are six specific types of family structures identified by society today.

1.Nuclear Family

The nuclear family is the traditional type of family structure. This family type consists of two parents and children. The nuclear family was long held in esteem by society as being the ideal in which to raise children. Children in nuclear families receive strength and stability from the two-parent structure and generally have more opportunities due to the financial ease of two adults. According to U.S. Census data, almost 70 percent of children live in a nuclear family unit.

2.Single Parent Family

The single parent family consists of one parent raising one or more children on his own. Often, a single parent family is a mother with her children, although there are single fathers as well. The single parent family is the biggest change society has seen in terms of the changes in family structures. One in four children is born to a single mother. Single parent families are generally close and find ways to work together to solve problems, such as dividing up household chores. When only one parent is at home, it may be a struggle to find childcare, as there is only one parent working. This limits income and opportunities in many cases, although many single parent families have support from relatives and friends.

3.Extended Family

The extended family structure consists of two or more adults who are related, either by blood or marriage, living in the same home. This family includes many relatives living together and working toward common goals, such as raising the children and keeping up with the household duties. Many extended families include cousins, aunts or uncles and grandparents living together. This type of family structure may form due to financial difficulties or because older relatives are unable to care for themselves alone. Extended families are becoming increasingly common all over the world.

4.Childless Family

While most people think of family as including children, there are couples who either cannot or choose not to have children. The childless family is sometimes the "forgotten family," as it does not meet the traditional standards set by society. Childless families consist of a husband and wife living and working together. Many childless families take on the responsibility of pet ownership or have extensive contact with their nieces and nephews as a substitute for having their own children.

5.Step Family

Over half of all marriages end in divorce, and many of these individuals choose to get remarried. This creates the step or blended family which involves two separate families merging into one new unit. It consists of a new husband and wife and their children from previous marriages or relationships. Step families are about as common as the nuclear family, although they tend to have more problems, such as adjustment periods and discipline issues. Step families need to learn to work together and also work with their exes to ensure these family units run smoothly.

6.Grandparent Family

Many grandparents today are raising their grandchildren for a variety of reasons. One in fourteen children is raised by his grandparents, and the parents are not present in the child's life. This could be due to parents' death, addiction, abandonment or being unfit parents. Many grandparents need to go back to work or find additional sources of income to help raise their grandchildren.