Task 2: “In many countries today, people in cities either live alone or in small family units, rather

than in large, extended family groups. Is this a positive or negative trend?”

ANSWER
These days, in many countries, there has been a growing trend of people either living alone or in small
family units instead of living in an extended family groups. In my opinion, this is a completely negative
trend.

For one thing, living alone or in small family units can lead people to feelings of isolation. As humans are
intrinsically social animals, we often need to interact and communicate with others on a regular basis in
order to sustain a healthy mental well-being. However, the act of living by oneself or with only a few
members of the family significantly reduces the opportunity a person has to meet and communicate
with another. As a consequence, such increased distancing can lead to boredom and stress in the short
term and cause serious mental health issues like depression in the long run.

Moreover, the case with smaller family groups is that the young children are more likely to be neglected
than those growing up in an extended family group. Indeed, with the hectic pace of modern life, parents
have to spend increasingly more time and effort in their work in order to secure and maintain a stable
income for their family. However, this also means that children often have noticeably less time to see
their busy parents, thus receiving inadequate supervision and care at the age when they need to be
cared for the most. This problem would not happen to those living in an extended group, simply because
there are usually more elderly members, such as grandparents, who are not as preoccupied with
working as parents and thus can spend more meaningful time to take care of the children.

In conclusion, I am convinced that the recent trend of either living alone or with a few members rather
than with an extended family group is entirely negative, since it may lead family members to feel
isolated and children to be neglected.

(319 words)

Small:
 1. Feelings of isolation
- Not come into contact with family members on a regular basic
- Long-term: anxiety
1. Whereas: extended more easy to provide care for each other
- Live close to each other, more time together to share.
- Notice
-

No care for baby

1. Neighbours