听力背景知识50篇：9.The Modern Family

9. The Modern Family 现代家庭 [00:02.38]Father leaves for work in the morning after breakfast. [00:06.47]The two children take the bus to school, [00:09.56]and mother stays home cooking and cleaning [00:12.70]until father and the kids return home in the evening. [00:16.45]This is the traditional picture [00:19.02]of a happy family living in Britain. [00:21.88]The past 20 years have seen enormous changes [00:26.18]in the lives and structure of families in Britain. [00:29.46]The biggest change has been caused by divorce. [00:33.46]As many as 2 out of 3 marriages now end in divorce, [00:38.38]leading to a situation [00:40.30]where many children live with one parent [00:43.18]and only see the other at weekends or holidays. [00:46.48]There has also been a huge rise [00:49.92]in the number of women with children who work. [00:52.76]The large rise in divorces has meant [00:56.01]many women need to work [00:57.84]to support themselves and their children. [01:00.59]Even when there is no divorce, [01:03.01]many families need both parents to work in order to survive.