IELTS Vocabulary: Từ vựng IELTS chủ đề Family (Gia đình) [Phần 2]

Tiếp nối bài viết về Từ vựng IELTS chủ đề Family [Phần 1], hôm nay chúng ta cùng học tiếp phần 2 nhé! Chủ đề Gia đình là chủ đề phổ biến trong phần thi IELTS Speaking, vì vậy việc ôn tập các từ vựng về chủ đề này là việc rất cần thiết. Chúc các bạn học tốt!

8. The Generations – Các thế hệ

- older generation – people of middle-age and older: thế hệ già

- younger generation – young adults, teenagers and children: thế hệ trẻ

Ví dụ: The older generation are often stuck in their ways, while the younger generation welcome change.

- generation gap – a difference of opinions between one generation and another regarding beliefs and attitudes, often leading to a lack of understanding between them: khoảng cách thế hệ

Ví dụ: It’s a skilled politician who can bridge the generation gap.

- teenager – a person aged between 13 and 19 years: thiếu niên

Ví dụ: My lovely little boy turned into a rebellious monster when he was a teenager but now he’s a lovely young man.

- adolescent – a young person who is developing into an adult: thanh niên

Ví dụ: Many adolescents develop emotional problems as they try to find their place in the world.

9. Other vocabulary – Các từ vựng khác

- sibling rivalry – the feeling of competitiveness that often exists between brothers and sisters: anh chị em ruột

Ví dụ: There was huge sibling rivalry between my two brothers and they were always fighting but they are the best of friends now that they’re adults.

- run in the family – a common feature in a family; something which is passed from parents to children: tính cách chung mà tất cả các thành viên trong gia đình đều có

Ví dụ: Artistic ability seems to run in the family.

- hereditary – passed from the genes of a parent to a child: di truyền

Ví dụ: Diabetes is hereditary in our family so I make sure that I eat healthily and keep fit to lessen my chances of getting it.

- childhood – the time when someone is a child: thời thơ ấu

Ví dụ: Many children in the world do not have a happy childhood.

- family background – the details of a person's family regarding education, social status, etc.: nền tảng gia đình

Ví dụ: We want our son to marry a girl from a good family background.

- family gathering / family get-together – an informal event where family members meet up: sum họp gia đình

Ví dụ: We’re having a family get-together to celebrate my mother’s birthday.

• close-knit – involving groups of people in which everyone supports each other: gần gũi

Ví dụ: We’re a close-knit family and know that we can rely on each other when one of us needs help.

- family ties – the sense of connection between family members: quan hệ gia đình

Ví dụ: Family ties aren’t as strong as they used to be in my country because relatives often live many miles apart and even in different countries.

- to care for – to provide the things someone needs, especially someone who is young, old, or ill: chu cấp

Ví dụ: In my country, sons and daughters are expected to care for their elderly parents.

- a widow – a woman whose husband has died: góa phụ

Ví dụ: Her husband died young and she has been a widow for almost thirty years now.

- a widower – a man whose wife has died: người đàn ông góa vợ

Ví dụ: My mother died last year so my father is now a widower.

- to desert – to leave someone without help or in a difficult situation and not come back: bỏ rơi

Ví dụ: My father deserted us when I was young and my mother has brought me up on her own.

10. Idioms

- get on with / get along with – to like someone and have a friendly relationship with them: có mối quan hệ tốt đẹp

Ví dụ: I used to fight with my siblings when we were young but I get on with them really well now that we’re adults.

- to fall out with / to have a falling out – to have a disagreement which ruins a relationship with that person: tranh cãi với ai

Ví dụ: I fell out with my sister when she started dating my boyfriend.

The two brothers had a falling out over the broken toy.

- on speaking terms – friendly enough to talk: quen biết ai có thể chuyện trò với nhau được

Ví dụ: My parents had a big argument and are not on speaking terms at the moment.

- to look alike – to look very similar to someone else: giống nhau

Ví dụ: My twin sister and I look alike and people often call us by each other’s names.

- to take after (someone) – to be very similar to an older family member: giống ai đó trong gia đình

Ví dụ: Mila was excellent at drawing. She took after her mother who was a famous artist.

- a chip off the old block – the person is very similar (in character and personality) to one of their parents: rất giống bố hoặc mẹ

Ví dụ: Sanjay is always cracking jokes, just like his father. He’s a real chip off the old block.

- to follow in someone’s footsteps – to do the same thing as someone else did previously, especially someone in your family: tiếp nối truyền thống gia đình

Ví dụ: I want to follow in my father’s footsteps and become a doctor like he is.

- spitting image – to look extremely similar to someone: phiên bản giống hệt

Ví dụ: Cher is the spitting image of her mother.

- wears the trousers – to be the person in a family who holds the authority and makes decisions: người có quyền lực trong gia đình

Ví dụ: My dad likes to thinks that he’s in charge but it’s my mother who wears the trousers in our house.

- black sheep (of the family)– someone who brings shame to their family by being different or doing something wrong: người khác biệt với các thành viên trong gia đình

Ví dụ: My brother first started getting into trouble with the police when he was a teenager and he’s become the black sheep of the family.

II.Từ vựng chủ đề Family mô phỏng trong IELTS Speaking

Part 1-style questions

1) How many people are there in your immediate family?

Four people make up my immediate family – my dad, my sister and my two bothers. They all live close to me except for my youngest brother who moved away because of his work.

2) Do you get along well with your family?

Most definitely. I used to argue with my brothers and sister a lot when we were. It was sibling rivalry I guess but we get on really well now.

3) Which member of your family are you closest to?

I’d have to say my sister but we’re a close-knit family and we all get along just great.

4) How much time do you spend with your family?

We used to go to my parent’s house for Sunday tea every few weeks but since my mother died, my oldest brother, my sister and I take turns to spend time supporting our father. This means that we don’t all get together so often. However, we still have family gatherings on special occasions.

5) When did you last have a family party?

Just a few weeks ago. It was for my father’s birthday. We had a get-together at his house and we all took along cakes and snacks to share.

Part 2-style task

Describe a family celebration that you attended.

You should say:

• where this celebration was held
• why it was held
• what you did at the event

and explain what you enjoyed about the celebration.

One of the most memorable family events of recent years was my father’s 80^th birthday. We wanted to have a special celebration for him but decided to keep it a secret so as to surprise him on the day.

My youngest brother, who lives two and a half hours drive away from the rest of my immediate family, told Dad that he’d come down with his family so we could all go out for a meal together. What we actually did was to invite members of our extended family to come as well without my father knowing. Most of them live a long way away, like in London or Scotland, so we don’t see them very often. They came down the day before and stayed in local hotels.

There was a lot to arrange and it was difficult to sort everything without Dad guessing what we were up to. There were several times when I thought he must know something was going on but was just playing along and pretending he didn’t.

We booked a table at a local restaurant and on the day, my sister decorated it with balloons and other party bits and pieces. It looked amazing. It was a very long table as in the end there were more than twenty family members at the meal. So, as well as my parents and my siblings, there were also nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and cousins. I think it was probably the biggest family gathering we’d ever had.

We arranged for Dad and Mum to be the last to arrive so that everyone else could be seated at the table waiting for them. I’ll never forget Dad’s face when he walked into the restaurant. He hadn’t guessed what we were arranging and it was a real surprise to him to see everyone there.

We had a lovely meal together but the best thing was spending time with all our relatives. It made me realize what a close-knit family we are even though we don’t see each other very often. I think that Dad enjoyed it too and I hope it showed him how much he means to our whole family.

Part 3-style questions

1) In what ways can people in a family be similar to each other?

Both immediate and extended family members often have a lot of similarities. For example, they can look alike. My brother Steve is the spitting image of our cousin Peter, while my sister takes after our mother in the way she both looks and talks.

Also, relatives may be good at the same things or do similar types of work. Most of my extended family are either teachers or scientists.

Specific interests often run in the family. In my family, we all love the outdoors and nature, particularly the older generation. Younger family members do like to go out walking as well but now that my nieces and nephews are all teenagers, they spend a lot of time on their electronic gadgets.

The final way that people in a family can be alike is in their personality, and especially in their sense of humour.

2) In terms of personality, are people influenced more by their family or by their friends?

In my opinion, personality is mostly hereditary. I think that the main traits of a person’s character are passed down from parents to their offspring. Some people are more like their father, others more like their mother but most of us can recognise characteristics of both parents in our own personality. For example, I’m quiet like my dad and have my mum’s creativity.

How children are raised also affects the way they think, feel and behave as they grow up. Kids from a happy, stable family background generally have a normal personality. However, an unhappy childhood, which may include some form of abuse, will definitely affect a child’s mental development and their character later in life.

This suggests that personality can change so it’s probably true that the people we spend time with as friends and colleagues also influence the way we think, feel and behave. However, I don’t think that they alter our deepest character.

So in conclusion, I’d say that an understanding of personality is quite complex and involves both hereditary and social factors.

3) How has the role of elderly people in the family changed in recent times?

In the past, the older generation was highly respected in most cultures. They were considered to be wise because of all the things they’d learnt in their long lives. Elderly family members would have been family leaders, teachers and spiritual guides to the younger generation. They helped to maintain the structure and stability of the family.

One of their most important roles was to pass on the old traditions and to maintain traditional culture. The other vital job they did, especially the grandmothers, was to provide childcare for their grandchildren. They would certainly have played an important role in their upbringing.

In my country, most of this changed when it became normal for adult children to move away to study and get better jobs. Family ties are no longer so strong and elderly people aren’t respected as they once were. Grandparents aren’t the people we usually go to for advice these days. To be honest, many elderly people don’t have a significant role in most families any more. However, many do still look after the grandchildren if they live close to them.