英国大使馆文化教育处

Steve and Debbie got married in2001 and had two children， Lily andAlex. Unfortunately， Steve and Debbie'smarriage didn't work out and they gotdivorced in 2006. The children live withDebbie.

In 2008， Debbie remarried. Her newhusband， Martin， has three children fromhis previous marriage and they visit Debbie， Martin， Lily and Alex at weekends. Then Debbieand Martin had a child， a boy who is half-brother to Lily and Alex and also to Martin's threeother children.

Confused？ Debbie's family arrangements might have seemed strange 30 years agobut nowadays this kind of mixed family is increasingly common in the UK. Almost half of allmarriages in Britain end in divorce and over 40 per cent of marriages are remarriages. Morethan 10 per cent of all British children live with one 'birth' parent and a step-parent - a parentwho isn't their biological mother or father. The traditional 'nuclear' family of two parents andtheir children is not so traditional any more.

What does all of this mean for the parents in these mixed families？

'There are difficulties and challenges，' says Debbie. 'Different families have differentroutines and it can be difficult for children to move between their two families. Birthdays andholidays can be tricky. Where do the children go？ Who should they spend their time with？Also， when my children are naughty it can be difficult for Martin to tell them off. Things thatmight be simple in a "traditional" family can be a bit more complicated.' And how about thechildren？ Martin's eldest child， Ella， is 12. 'I like my two families，' she says. 'I live with mymum but visit my dad quite often and I'm happy that my mum and dad get along OK. They'renot married any more but it's good that they can still be friends.'

Of course divorceand separation arenever easy but manyfamilies in the UK arefinding ways to makefamily life work in newways.

Activity 1

Can you explain the difference between the pairs of words？

1 get married / get divorced

2 marriage / remarriage

3 'birth' parent / step-parent

4 'nuclear' family / 'mixed' family

5 brother / half-brother