The Family

The structure of a family takes different forms around the world and even in the samesociety. The family's form changes as it adapts to changing social and economic influences.

Until recently the most common form in North America was the nuclear family, consisting of amarried couple with their minor children. The nuclear family is an independent unit. It must beprepared to fend for itself. Individual family members strongly depend on one another. There islittle help from outside the family in emergencies. Elderly relatives of a nuclear family are caredfor only if it is possible for the family to do so. In North America, the elderly often do not livewith the family; they live in retirement communities and nursing homes.

There are many parallels between the nuclear family in industrial societies, such as NorthAmerica, and of families in societies such as that of the Inuits, who live in harsh environments.The nuclear family structure is well adapted to a life of mobility. In harsh conditions, mobilityallows the family to hunt for food. For North Americans, the hunt for jobs and improved socialstatus also requires mobility.

The nuclear family was not always the North American standard. In a more agrarian time,the small nuclear family was usually part of a larger extended family. This might have includedgrandparents, mother and father, brothers and sisters, uncles, aunts, and cousins. In NorthAmerica today, there is a dramatic rise in the number of single-parent households. Twice asmany households in the United States are headed by divorced, separated, or never-marriedindividuals as are comprised of nuclear families. The structure of the family, not just in NorthAmerica, but throughout the world, continues to change as it adapts to changing conditions.

Another good title for this passage would be______.

A.What Makes a Family

B.Life of Inuits

C.Living with Hardship

D.The Failure of the Nuclear Family

37、 A nuclear family is defined as______.

A.a married couple with their minor children

B.a single father with minor children

C.parents, grandparents, and children

D.parents, children, and aunts and uncles

38、 The information in this passage would most likely be found in ______.

A.an anthropology textbook

B.a biology textbook

C.a mathematics textbook

D.geography textbook

39、 The information in the first paragraph is presented mainly through______.

A.listing statistics

B.telling a story

C.pointing out similarities

D.pointing out differences

40、 The word "mobility" means______.

A.money

B.readiness to move

C.organization

D.skill

（責任編輯：liushengbao）

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