本课简介
在Families这篇课文中，作者首先告诉我们对于不同的人来说“家庭”有不同的含义，但是家庭意味着某种归属这一点是所有人的共识。作者还对核心家庭和大家庭的演变进行了分析，从中我们更可以看出家庭成员在家庭中的角色和作用的变化。
本课语言点
1…a group of people related by blood or marriage，…
句子中的by常可与某些名词连用，在名词前面不加定冠词the，意思相当于“with regard to”，“according to”。请看下面的例句：
1)He is an Englishman by birth(他祖籍英国。)
2)He is a teacher by profession(他以医生为职业。)
relate是一个动词，在句子中的意思是“使联系”
relate还可解释为叙述;有关，涉及;相处得好
related可以做形容词用，意思是“有联系的，相关的。”
2…all those people descended from a common ancestor，…所有来自同一祖先的人们。
“descended from a common ancestor”是一个省略了that的定语从句，修饰people.descended from的意思是“传下，遗传”
descend to的意思是“屈尊，降低;转而说到”
common是一个形容词，意思是“共有的，共同的;普通的”
3Some people thank of a family as a mother，a father，and their children，…
think of…as…是一个很常用的词组，意思是“把…看作…”，如：
与think of…as…意思相近的词组在英语中还有很多。如：
regard…as look upon…as…
see…as…view…as…
consider…as…
4For others，having a family simply means having children.
本句中，having a family做主语，mean为谓语动词，having children做宾语。mean在句中的意思是“意味着”。当mean作“意味着”解释时，在它的后面应该跟名词或者动名词
当mean作“意欲，打算”解释时，在它的后面通常跟不定式
5Some families have long histories，while others know very little about their ancestors.
请注意while的用法，在本句中while是一个表示转折意味的连词，意思是“然而”。
6No matter if it is young or old，large or small traditional or modern，every family has a sense of what a family is.
no matter if连接让步状语从句，更常见的是用no matter whether.除了no matter whether以外，no matter wh-引导的让步状语从句还有：no matter what，no matter who，no matter whose，no matter which，no matter when，no matter where，no matter how等等。而用wh-ever引导让步从句也是十分常见的。请看下面的例句：
1)No matter what happens，please let me know(无论发生什么事，请让我知道。)
2)No matter who telephones，tell him I'm out(无论谁来电话，告诉他我出去了。)
3)No matter how hard I tried，I couldn't succeed(无论我多努力，我总不能成功。)
4)No matter whether you believe it or not，it's truth(无论你信不信，那总是事实。)
5)No matter where you go，I will follow you(无论你去哪里，我都跟着你。)
6)No matter which book you like you can have it(无论你喜欢哪本书，你都可以拿去。)
7)No matter whose money it is，we can't spend it so carelessly(无论是谁的钱，我们都不能这样随意地花)
上述某些句子可以用wh-ever表述如下：
1)Whatever happens，please let me know.
2)Whoever telephones，tell him I'm out.
3)However hard I tried，I couldn't succeed.
4)Wherever you go，I will follow you.
5)Whichever book you like，you can have it.
7It is that feeling of belonging，of love and security that comes from living together，helping and sharing.
本句中的it代指课文前一句中的a sense of what a family isfeeling of belonging意思为“归属感”。
security是一个名词，意思是“安全”。
that comes from living together，helping and sharing是定语从句，修饰that feeling of belonging，of love and security.
8However，with the change from an agricultural to an industrial society，many nuclear families moved away from the family home in order to find work.
本句中的however是一个表示转折意味的副词，有承接上文的作用，可以使这个句子和前面的句子连接得更紧密，有些接近连词。
句中的with是一个介词，意思是“随着”
句子中的in order to find work做目的状语，除了用in order to以外，还可以用so as to，也可以把in order，so as省去，只用不定式
9Therefore we can say that the nuclear family becomes more important than the extended family as the society industrializes
句子中的therefore是一个副词，通常用来表示后面将要表述的内容是前面已经表述的内容的结果，也可以用来引导一个结论。类似的表达还有：so，consequently，as a result等等
as the society industrializes随着社会的工业化。as是一个连词，表示“当…时”。
本课中还有：
1)The nuclear family is becoming smaller as parents want fewer children.
2)As social scientists study these two new family forms，they will be able to tell us more about the future of the nuclear family in the post-industrial age.
10social scientists now talk of two new family forms…
本句中的talk是一个不及物动词，在表达“谈论某人(某事)”时，talk后面应该用介词of或者about.
Text B The Changing American Family
短语表达
1all over
2provide for
They are trying to provide some guidance for the newcomers.
3be expected to
You are expected to be here before eight.
4take care of
The cat and the dog were taken good care of.
5on the other hand
6be considered to be
He is considered to be the best candidate for the job.
考试提醒 
