Никоненко Тамара Петрівна

   Belonging to a family is one bond almost everyone in the world shares, but family patterns vary from country to country. What are families like in the United States?
   Nine out of ten people in the USA live as members of families and they value their families highly. Most of the Americans say that family is very important to them. “Families,” they say, “give us a sense of belonging and a sense of tradition, families give us strength and purpose. Our families show us where we are. The things we need most deeply in our lives – love, communication, respect and good relationships – have their beginnings in the family.” Families serve many functions. They provide conditions in which children can be born and brought up. Families help to educate their members. Parents teach their children values (that is what they think is important) as well as daily skills. They also teach them common practices and customs, such as respect for elders and celebrating holidays. But the most important job for a family is to give emotional support and security.
   When Americans speak about families, many of them mean a “traditional family”. A traditional American family is one in which both parents are living together with their children. The father goes out and works and the mother stays home and brings up the children. There are two children in a traditional American family: an elder daughter (called “Sis”) and a younger brother (“Buddy” or “Junior”). This does not mean that such size of family or order of birth is statistically more common in the United States than in other countries, but this is the typical structure when a traditional American family is pictured in illustrations or advertisements.
   But most American families today do not fit this image. The biggest change is that in many families both parents work outside the home.

   This happened many years ago when I lived in Paris and was very poor. A lady had read a book of mine and wanted to have a talk with me. She asked me to give her a small luncheon at a restaurant, which she named. I was very young and I couldn’t say “no” to a lady. I had only eighteen francs, all the money till the end of the month. “A small luncheon will not cost more than fifteen francs”, I thought.
   So we met at the restaurant, which she had chosen. She was a woman of forty, and she talked a lot. When the waiter brought the menu, I saw that the prices were very high, but she said, “I never eat much for luncheon”. And she ordered a piece of salmon. “Will you have anything while we are preparing it?” asked the waiter. “No”, she answered, “I never eat more than one thing. I want caviar”. I knew that I had not enough money to pay for caviar, but I couldn’t tell her that. For myself I ordered the cheapest thing on menu, a beefsteak. “What will you drink?” I asked her. “My doctor lets me drink only champagne!” It seemed to me that my face became white…
   She ate the caviar, and ate the salmon, she drank champagne and took a peach, which was not in season. She talked of art, literature and music… But all I wanted to know was what the “small” luncheon would cost me.
   “You know”, she said as she was eating the ice-cream, “I usually don’t eat luncheon. I have a cup of coffee in the morning and then dinner. But if I must eat luncheon, then I never eat more than one thing”.
   The bill came, and when I had paid it, I had the whole month before me and not a penny in my pocket. I am not a bad man. But I’m glad that today she weighs more than three hundred pounds (about 130 kilogrammes). So I had my revenge at last.
Vocabulary
a luncheon – пізній сніданок
salmon – лосось
champagne – шампанське
caviar – ікра
I had my revenge – Я був відомщений.

   It’s hard to believe that the first personal computer, the prototype of the computer now found in homes and offices around the world, was developed less than thirty years ago. The original PC, as it’s known, came in a form of an electronic kit, a piece of hardware strictly for the hobbyist. The software for that machine – the language that allows us to tell the computer what we want it to do – was developed by William Gates.
   Bill Gates was born in 1955 in Seattle. He became interested in computers when he was 13 years old. Bill attended Harvard University. There he began to develop the computer language called Basic. Later William returned to Seattle where he established the Microsoft Company in 1975. It employed only three workers at first. Microsoft developed software for established American companies like General Electric, City Bank and International Business Machines company, known as IBM. In 1981 IBM began selling a personal computer that used Microsoft products as part of its operating System. By then Microsoft had already 129 workers.
   Today four of five of the world’s personal computers run on Microsoft software, on what is called Microsoft DOS or on its latest incarnation – Windows. Windows system makes it much easier to use a computer. It’s through the Windows system that we may gain access to the Internet, the global computer network.
   Microsoft does thousands of millions of dollars in business each year. It now has more than 16 thousand workers in 48 countries. Microsoft produces computer programmes in  30 languages and sells them in more than 100 countries.
   Thanks to the success of his company, William Gates has earned about seven billion dollars. He is one of the richest men in the world.
Vocabulary
an electronic kit – електронний конструктор
hardware – апаратне забезпечення
software – програмне забезпечення
an incarnation – втілення
an access – доступ