Touchstone 3
Unit 4
Family life
Lesson A Family gripes
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
gripe: a strong complaint
drama: a play in a theatre or on television or radio,
or plays and acting generally
pressuring (v): to try to force someone to do
something
embarrassing (adj.): feeling ashamed or shy
irritating: making you feel annoyed
a backseat driver: a passenger in a car who
continuously tells the driver how they should drive
junk food: food that is unhealthy but is quick and
easy to eat
demand (n): a strong request
1 Getting started A
1. Rob can’t use his parents’ car. He has to ask
them to drive him everywhere.
2. Kanako’s parents are always pressuring her
about school. They want her to study law.
She wants to study drama.
3. Luis has to be home before 11:00. His parents
won’t let him stay out late. They always make
him come home before 11:00.
4. Paulo thinks his kids watch too much TV. He
tries to have them do their homework before
dinner, but they usually watch TV instead.
5. Jong’s kids don’t help with the housework.
She can’t even get them to clean up their
own rooms.
6. Joanna’s husband holds the remote when
they’re watching TV. He never lets her
have it.
7. Chuck’s wife is nervous about driving.
She’s always telling him to slow down.
1 Getting started B
1. Rob’s parents don’t want him to use the car.
2. Luis’s parents make him come home before
11:00.
3. Paulo can’t get his kids to do their homework
before dinner.
4. Jong’s kids won’t help her clean the house.
5. Chuck’s wife always asks him to slow down,
even when he’s not driving fast.
2 Grammar A
1. When I was a kid, my parents never let me
walk / go to school by myself.
2. My parents made me go to bed at 8:00.
3. My mother couldn’t get me to eat any
vegetables.
4. My sister never lets me use / play games on
her computer.
5. My parents want me to spend more time with
them.
6. My wife’s always telling me to get more
exercise.
7. I always have my husband cook / make
breakfast on the weekends.
8. I think kids should help their parents (to)
clean the house.
3 Listening and speaking C
1. c
2. d
3. a
4. b
Lesson B Family memories
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
pocket: a small bag for carrying things in, which is
made of cloth and sewn into the inside or onto the
outside of a piece of clothing
niece: the daughter of your brother or sister, or the
daughter of your husband's or wife's brother or sister
nephew: the son of your brother or sister, or the son
of your husband's or wife's brother or sister
gigantic: extremely big
cousins: the child of your aunt or uncle
crawl: to move slowly or with difficulty, especially (of
a person) with the body stretched out along the
ground or on hands and knees
extended family: a family unit which includes
grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts and uncles, etc.
in addition to parents and children
•
•
•
•
•
•
blended: to mix or combine together
got divorced: to end your marriage by an
official or legal process
immediate family: includes your closest
family members, such as your parents,
children, husband or wife, and brothers and
sisters
stepfather: the man who is married to
someone's mother but who is not their real
father
hide-and-seek: a children's game in which
a group of children hide in secret places and
then one child has to go to look for them
broccoli: a vegetable with a thick green
stem and a tree-like dark green top
•
tease (v): to laugh at
someone or say unkind
things about them, either
because you are joking or
because you want to upset
them
• tic-tac-toe: a game in which
two players take turns putting
O's or X's in a pattern of nine
squares, trying to get three O's
or X's in a straight line
1 Building vocabulary and grammar B
Immediate family
Extended family
father
mother
greatgrandfather
greatgrandmother
brother
sister
grandfather
grandmother
husband
wife
uncle
aunt
son
daughter
cousin
cousin
nephew
niece
brother-in-law sister-in-law
Blended family
stepfather
stepmother
stepbrother
stepsister
stepson
stepdaughter
half brother
half sister
1 Building vocabulary and grammar C
• The activities and situations are finished.
Mi Soon: used to keep, she’d always give, used
to tease
Claudia: used to come over, would crawl
Melik: used to live, used to go over, we’d play
John: used to love, used to play, we would
always win
Lesson C If you ask me, …
•
•
•
•
•
definitely: without any doubt; certainly
absolutely: used for adding force to a strong
adjective which is not usually used with 'very',
or to a verb expressing strong emotion
get into trouble: causes oneself or other falls
into problem or trouble
be involved: to include someone or
something in something, or to make them take
part in or feel part of it
incomes: money that is earned from doing
work or received from investments
2 Strategy plus
1. B Definitely.
A That’s true.
2. B I agree.
A Absolutely.
3. B Oh, I know.
4. B That’s for sure.
A Exactly.
A You’re right.
Lesson D Childhood memories
•
•
•
•
•
•
safety devices: a piece of equipment that is
used for a safe purpose
implemented (v): to put a plan or system into
operation
recall: to bring the memory of a past event
into your mind, and often to give a
description of what you remember
yelled: to shout something or make a loud
noise, usually when you are angry, in pain
or excited
inevitably: in a way that cannot be avoided
athletic: strong, healthy and good at sports
•
•
•
•
tag: a game played by two or more children in
which one child chases the others and tries to
touch one of them. This child then becomes
the one who does the chasing
frustrated (adj.): to make someone feel
annoyed or discouraged because they cannot
achieve what they want
sibling bonding:
knee: the middle joint of the leg,
which allows it to bend
• roller-skate:
• helmets: a strong hard hat that covers and
protects the head
• knee pads: a piece of soft
thick cloth or rubber which
is used to protect a part of
your knee
• wrist guards:
1 Reading C
1. d [Second paragraph: I’m surprised my mom
never really implemented a policy.]
2. e [Second paragraph: She kind of left it up to
us.]
3. a [Second paragraph: Once in a while, she
would put her foot down and make us take
turns.]
4. f [Second paragraph: Otherwise, it was a
free-for-all.]
5. c [Fourth paragraph: So, we’d argue about it
until one of us gave in, …]
6. b [Fifth paragraph: For my brother and me,
fighting over the front seat was an important
part of our sibling bonding.]
1 Reading D
1. False. Rhonda and her brother usually
decided who would ride in the front seat.
2. True
3. False. If Rhonda yelled “I call the front!”
outside the house, she could ride in front.
4. False. Rhonda’s brother would usually touch
the car before Rhonda.
5. True
2 Listening and writing A



(cook a meal) (go on vacation) (go to the movies)
2 Listening and writing B
1. Now they have cable and satellite TV, so they
stay home.
2. The kids are older. They don’t want to go on
vacation with their mom and dad. They would
rather hang out with their friends.
3. She’s too tired these days. She doesn’t have
time.
Vocabulary notebook
• moustache: hair which a man grows above his
upper lip
• adopted: to take another person's child into
•
•
your own family and legally raise him or her as
your own child
ex-husband: A woman's ex-husband is a man
that she was married to but is not now married to
separated: to divide into parts, or to make
something divide into parts
1
was interested in old cars.
used to drink milk.
had a beard.
used to ear a brown hat.
always listened to the radio.