Unit 6 : WRITING
WORKING MOTHERS
1. The following text about the advantages of being a working mother is missing the detailed explanations. Put the explanations (a-c) in the box in the appropriate blanks (1-3)
1.b
2.c
3.a
2. Read the text in 1 again. Complete the following outline.
A. 2. Life is getting expensive, so women’s salaries are becoming important.
B. 2. They discover strengths and weaknesses, become more knowledgeable and look for good ways to educate children.
C. 1. Children see parents work hard and share domestic responsibilities, and they learn from them.
3. Discuss with a partner how the following words are used in the text in 2.
First
Second
Finally
Clearly
These words are used to link/ connect or sequence the ideas in writing.
4. Write a similar text about the disadvantages of being a working mother.
Mothers should be strongly discouraged from working outside the home.
First, women have traditional roles as housewives and housekeepers. They should stay at home, doing housework and looking after their husbands and children. In extended families where more than two generations live together, women are also the main caregivers for elderly people.
Second, working mothers do not have enough time. Men’s work finishes at the office, but women‘s work is extended to their households. After an eight-hour working day, these exhausted women have to do household chores, take care of their husbands and children without having any time to relax.
Finally, working mothers cannot be good workers. Tiring and boring chores at home negatively affect women’s tasks in their working place. They cannot concentrate or work as effectively as those who do not have to worry about taking kids to school, picking them up after school and doing housework.
Clearly, mothers should not be encouraged to work outside the home.