Retell the text as if you were

· Guy

· Carol

· Guy’s mother

· Carol’s father

· Richard

· school careers adviser

51. Complete the sentences with the proper forms of the Verb. 4

Always a source of affection, my grandparents _____________ (1 – to be) hugely important figures in my life. They would shower my sisters and me with sweets, indulgences and stories, telling tales about my parents as naughty children. When the last of them ____________ (2 – to die), we all wondered who __________________ (3 – to hold) the family together.

People ________________ (4 – to rely) on grandparents in Britain since the Industrial Revolution, when whole families ______________ (5 – to move) into cities from the country ________________ (6 – to get) work in the new factories, taking grandmother along _____________ (7 – to look) after the children. Despite the fact that more grandmothers _________________ (8 – to work) now, grandparents are still the backbone of childcare in Britain. They _______________________ (9 – to report/to provide) 44 percent of full-time care for pre-school children, which makes you _______________ (10 – to wonder) how the country would manage without them.

The traditional image of a grandparent is a smiling old person surrounded by happy children but it _________________________ (11 – not to seem/to match) the facts. What we have now is the so-called ‘beanpole family’, thinly stretched over several generations, with fewer family members in each and with growing number of single-parent families. Grandparents _________________ (12 – to get) younger – more than 50 per cent of grandparents __________________________ (13 – to report/to have) their first grandchildren by the age of 54.

For many of them, grandparenthood means giving up a job, involvement with grandchildren and, sometimes, the care of their own parents. It’s up to us ________________ (14 – to balance) the demands we make on them if we don’t want to wear them out. Grandparents ___________________ (15 – always/to be) such a valuable part of the family pattern that we __________________________ (16 – to be unlikely/ modal /to do) without them.

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES (8)