Read about this report and watch a video on BBC News and answer the following questions: 1. RAISING CHILDREN: How can parents make savings? Complete this table:
Savings
|
Easy or difficult (and why)
| |
| Education | ||
| Food | ||
| Toys | ||
| Going out | ||
| Childcare | ||
| Entertainment |
| • sports equipment • mobile phone • brand clothes • candy and soda | • video games • music • club activities • parties |
3. LANGUAGE CLOZE
Families in the U.K. now pay more on childcare than on their mortgage. The (1) ____ costs of raising children are now (2) ____ yearly housing loan repayments. This is according to a survey conducted by Britain's Family and Childcare Trust. The organization says that in some (3) ____ of the country, nursery fees have risen by 13 per cent in the past year. The cost for babysitters and child-minders has risen by an average of four per cent. The report's author Jill Rutter told the Nursery World website that her (4) ____ showed that childcare in the U.K. is becoming (5) ____ and less affordable for families. She also said an insufficient (6) ____ of places in nurseries shows the U.K.'s system isn't working.
The report could well make would-be parents think (7) ____ about starting a family, or about the number of children they have. A family of four with one child (8) ____ a nursery and another in an after-school club spends an average of $12,571 a year. This compares to the average yearly housing loan payments of $12,000. Families are now spending (9) ____ quarter of their income on childcare. This does not include the costs of (10) ____, clothing and entertaining children. There are also the costs of toys, books and electronic gadgets on (11) ____ of that. The chief executive of the Trust warned that when many parents have to spend more than a quarter of their income on childcare, it's clear that the system "isn't fit for (12) ____ ".
Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.
| 1. | (a) | annulled | (b) | analysis | (c) | annual | (d) | annul |
| 2. | (a) | outstripping | (b) | outstanding | (c) | outsourcing | (d) | outstaying |
| 3. | (a) | parties | (b) | parts | (c) | partners | (d) | departs |
| 4. | (a) | proof | (b) | doodles | (c) | scribbles | (d) | findings |
| 5. | (a) | fewer | (b) | smaller | (c) | less | (d) | lower |
| 6. | (a) | palette | (b) | number | (c) | criteria | (d) | flow |
| 7. | (a) | twice | (b) | too | (c) | few | (d) | second |
| 8. | (a) | attendant | (b) | attends | (c) | attendance | (d) | attending |
| 9. | (a) | the | (b) | two | (c) | a | (d) | full |
| 10. | (a) | foodstuffs | (b) | foodies | (c) | fodder | (d) | feeding |
| 11. | (a) | place | (b) | top | (c) | list | (d) | demand |
| 12. | (a) | purpose | (b) | reason | (c) | excuse | (d) | rationale |
Read more:http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1403/140306-childcare.html#ixzz2xZChacIu
No comments:
Post a Comment