The family who eats together

What’s the price of a family meal? For many families in the world’s wealthiest countries, the answer seems to be, ‘too much’. For instance, in the United States,【小题1】is often a trendsetter in such things, the majority of families report eating a single meal together fewer than five days a week. In fact, the frequency of shared meals【小题2】 (decrease) in American families by 33 per cent over the last twenty years. The meals【小题3】 (they) have shortened too: from an average of 90 minutes to just 12 minutes.

So perhaps we’re better off asking ourselves【小题4】the cost of not eating together is. Once again, we could turn to the figures. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has found that 15-year-olds who reported not regularly【小题5】(share) family meals were twice as likely to be absent from school. In Europe, research has suggested that children who don’t eat dinner with their parents at least twice a week face a 40 per cent higher risk of fatness.Another study,【小题6】 (conduct) by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (滥用) at Columbia University, found that kids who eat dinner with their parents five or more times a week are【小题7】 (likely) to have problems with drugs and alcohol.

But those numbers, impressive【小题8】they seem, may be beside the point. After all, having a meal together is more than just a preventive measure【小题9】future misfortune. The primary cost of the family meal is also the very thing that makes it important: time.

The time spent together over food leads to all the positive outcomes that are measured in the studies.That time spent together has less noticeable — but no less real — effects too. So often, 【小题10】is at the family meal that the family as such — the family as an organic unit with shared memories and feelings and ambitions — is made.

Although sometimes it may seem impossible 【小题1】 (get)along as family, you can take action to improve the situation. The key to 【小题2】 (keep)the peace is regular and honest communication. When you have 【小题3】 (argue)with your parents, take a minute to calm 【小题4】 and try to understand the situation from their point of view. Perhaps they have experienced something similar and do not want you to go through 【小题5】 same pain. After you have thought it through, explain your actions and feelings 【小题6】 (calm), listen carefully, and address their concerns. Through this kind of healthy discussion, you will-learn when to back down and when to ask your parents to relax their control.

Just remember that it is completely normal to struggle 【小题7】 the stress that parent-child tensions create, and 【小题8】 you and your parents can work together to improve your relationship. The good news is that this 【小题9】 (storm)period will not last. Everything 【小题10】 (tun out) all right in the end, and the changes and challenges of your teenage years will prepare you for adulthood.

Family values are principles that help to define us as human beings. These values are learned, usually passed down 【小题1】 one generation to another. However, they can also change over time, 【小题2】 (depend) upon the circumstances in which families find themselves. They shape the way we behave, they help families stick together, and they give us our identity.

We always admire a person 【小题3】 treats the elderly with respect, or helps people in need, or is always honest with others. Such 【小题4】 (admire) behavior is usually a direct result of the values that person was taught by his family.

These values or principles—respect, fairness and 【小题5】 (honest) among many others—also help hold the family together in times of trouble. When problems arise, the family is able to withstand them because they share 【小题6】 same idea about

【小题7】 is important. When family members feel pressure from the outside world, they know they can come into their family for a comforting connection.

Finally, family values make us who we are. 【小题8】 we talk about our personal character and what 【小题9】 (influence) our decisions, we do so based on the values

【小题10】 (give) to us by our family.