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At the beginning of the twentieth century, many people thought that the American family was falling apart. A century later, we know that this was not the case. However, although the family is still alive in the United States, its size and shape were very different 100 years ago.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, there were mainly two types of families in the United States: the extended and the nuclear. The extended family usually includes grandparents, parents, and children living under the same roof. The nuclear family consists of only parents and children.
Today there are many different kinds of families. Some people live in traditional families, that is, a stay-home mother, a working father, and their own biological children. Others live in two-paycheck families, single-parent families, adoptive or foster, families, blended families (where men and women who were married before marry again and combine the children from previous marriages into the new families），child less families, and so on.
在第二十世纪初，许多人认为美国家庭正在崩溃。一个世纪后，我们知道，这不是个案。然而，尽管这个家庭在美国还活着，但它的大小和形状在100年前是很不一样的。
19世纪末20世纪初，美国有主要的家庭两类：扩展和核。大家庭通常包括祖父母、父母和孩子在同一屋檐下生活。核心家庭由父母和孩子组成。
今天有许多不同种类的家庭。有些人生活在传统的家庭，即一个呆在家里的母亲，一个工作的父亲，和他们自己的亲生孩子。另一些人则生活在家庭、单亲家庭、收养或抚养、家庭、混合家庭、子女家庭等等。
What caused the structure of the family to change? In the early 1900s the birthrate began to fall and the divorce rate began to rise. Women were suddenly choosing to go to college and take jobs outside the home. In the 1930s and 1940s, many families faced serious financial, or money problems during the Great Depression, when many people lost their jobs. During World War II，5000000名妇女被单独留下来照顾他们的家庭和他们的孩子。因为许多人在战争中，成千上万的这些战争寡妇不得不去外面工作，他们的家。
在接下来的十年里，形势发生了变化。有更少的离婚和结婚的人，在年轻的时候，有更多的儿童比上一代。母亲在孩子们成长的过程中在外工作，这是不寻常的。家庭开始离开城市搬到郊区的单户住宅。传统家庭似乎还在回归。
In the years between 1960s and 1990s, there were many important changes in the structure of the family. From the 1960s to the early 1970s, the divorce rate doubled and the birthrate fell by half. The number of single-parent families tripled, and the number of couples living together without being married doubled again. In fact, the single-parent household, once unusual, has replaced the traditional family as the typical family in the States. If we can judge from history, however, this will probably change again in the twenty-first century.
The Changes of the American Family
在20世纪60年代和90年代之间，家庭结构发生了许多重大变化。从60年代到70年代初，离婚率翻了一番，出生率下降了一半。单亲家庭的数量翻了三倍，夫妻生活在一起的夫妻数量又一次又一次。事实上，单亲家庭，一旦不寻常，已取代了传统的传统家庭为典型的家庭在美国。但是，如果我们能从历史上判断，这可能会在第二十一世纪发生改变。
美国家庭的变化
1. kinds/ types 2. main 3. namely 4. more 5.periods 6. lack 7. birthrate 8. fewer 9. occurred 10. temporary