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Exercise 7.You are going to read a newspaper article in which a father gives his opinion about bringing up his three children. Read and translate the first paragraph.
WHAT THESE KIDS NEED IS DISCIPLINE
Jonathan Myers tells Ann McFerran why he has decided to be as strict with his children as his father was with him
I'm a very old-fashioned and strict parent, like my own father. He wanted me to become a barrister, like him, but I used to say to him that he'd made me secure enough not to worry about having a proper job. He was very disappointed when I said I was going to be a writer, but I think that was out of anxiety: he didn't know how 1 would survive in the world. As a child I was really proud of my father. I have an image of him, 6ft 5in and broad- shouldered. wearing a smart suit and tie and behaving maturely - an image 1 feel I should live up to. My father had status in other people's eyes. I worry that 1 didn't give my children that. They don't see me wearing a suit and going out to work or having status: they see me slobbing around at home in shorts and no shoes.
I think children want to feel proud of their parents because it makes them feel secure in a Darwinian sense. The one time that my children knew how to rate my professional life was when I was nominated for an Oscar for my adaptation of The Canterbury Tales - my lucky break. Briefly, I was elevated in their eyes. When 1 didn't win I felt that I had let them down, which is ridiculous. I had one little cry because I felt I had failed.
I have inherited from my father a strong sense of the importance of doing the right thing. And, like him. I am strict, even though I lack the sort of authority bubble he had around him. In the right context, my children are allowed to be rude to me - they might call me 'fat face' in a jokey way, when I would never have dared.
Bin I'm also very authoritarian: I believe strongly in proper bedtimes, that chores have to be done and that certain times of the day - when Julie and 1 have an evening drink arc reserved for adults, which the children are not allowed to interrupt.
Exercise 8. Answer the questions.
1.Why does Jonathan want to be like his father ?
2.Why is Jonathan strict with his children?
3.What does Jonathan fear in the world?
4.What was Jonatan nominated for an Oscar for?
5.What has Jonatan inherited from his father?
