FINDING FAMILY
Ever wondered if you had a relative you knew nothing about? It's not as rare as you
might think.
STARTER ACTIVITY
You are going to read a magazine article about people who discovered they had a relative they
didn't know about. Read the texts quickly and decide if the statements are true (T) or false (F)..
All the people are unhappy about what happened to them.
All the people only met recently.
MAIN ACTIVITY
For questions 1-10, choose from the people (A-D). The people may be chosen more than once.
Which two people …..
1 live near one another?
2 do the same work?
3 met thanks to someone else?
4 blame someone else for what happened to them?
5 plan to meet for the first time soon?
6 had a good relationship before they found out the truth?
7 were not equally knowledgeable about their family history?
8 plan to publish something about their experience?
9 were at the same event when they were very young?
10 were the victims of a cruel experiment?
A Harry and Samuel Quintana
Harry Quintana and his cousin Samuel have a lot in common, even if they didn't know that
until they met again recently after fifty years. Samuel grew up ln South Africa and only visited
the USA, where his cousin Harry lived, once as a very small child. Both children attended a
family wedding. After that neither boy's parents talked about their relatives overseas. As a
result, the cousins grew up on different sides of the Atlantic Ocean, unaware of each other
and the parallel lives they were leading. Harry Quintana graduated in dentistry and decided
to specialise in the treatment of children. Until he saw Samuel's name In a conference
programme, he had no idea that over in South Africa his cousin had already become well
established in exactly the same profession. When the cousins met recently they found out
they like the same foods and have both recently taken up golf.
B Andrea Ives and Sandy Dixon
They look alike and sound alike, wear similar Clothes and have often been taken for sisters.
But it still came as a huge shock to Andrea Ives and Sandy Dixon when, more than fifteen
years into their friendship, they discovered that they really are related. Ives was adopted as
a child but earlier this year learnt the identity of her biological parents. She realised at once
that her father had the same name as her best friend's dad. A DNA test later confirmed that
he was in fact the same man. The women, who live a mile apart, met through a mutual friend.
They soon became so close that Andrea was a bridesmaid at Sandy's wedding. When
confirmation of the test result came through, Ives sent Dixon a text saying 'Hi. Sis!' 'It was a
shock,' Dixon said, 'but I had always longed for a sister, and what better sister could I have
than my best friend?'
C Petra Holmes and Elisa Manning
Petra Holmes and Bisa Manning have lived very similar lives. Both born in New York, they
edited their high school newspapers and studied the same thing at university. It was only at
the age of thirty-five that they discovered each other and just how similar they were:
Identical twins who had been separated as babies and gone to live with new families as part
of a scientific study of child development. The truth came out when Elisa decided to try to
trace her birth mother. She was able to look at the records and saw that she had an identical
twin, Petra. When she finally found her sister. they put the pieces of the story together.
'Nature intended for us to grow up together, so we think it is a crime we were separated.'
said Bisa. They have taken this up with the psychologist responsible, but according to the
twins ha didn't even apologlse. The sisters are working on a book about their experience.
D Brenda Mclaughlin and Allison Burroughs
Brenda Mclaughlin had spent years compiling an extensive family tree in which she had
recorded all her father's relatives' names along with the dates they were born, when they
married and when they died. Brenda, who lives in Sydney, Australia, knew about their various
offspring, including the children of her father's youngest cousin, Irene. Meanwhile, Allison
Burroughs, Irene's daughter, was living on the other side of the country In Perth. Although
Brenda knew about her and her younger brother, there had been no contact. Then, out of
the blue, she received an email from Allison who had also been looking into the McLaughlin
family and had found Brenda's name on a website devoted to genealogy. Allison knew
virtually nothing about the family and was amazed and delighted with Brenda's research.
'We've arranged to have a family reunion next Christmas,' says Brenda. 'Better late than
never is what I say.'
CLOSURE
Find phrasal verbs in the texts A-D in Activity 2 with the same meanings as the underlined
words and phrases in sentences 1-8 below. There are two phrasal verbs in each of the texts.
1. I've been investigating ways of getting from Barcelona to Montpellier and the train seems
the best option.
2. As children get older, their interests often change.
3. Finally, the real reason Tom had run away from home emerged. He had always hated his
stepfather.
4. The student representative has raised the issue of access to the computer room with the
school director.
5. Tamara had always wanted a dog and now she had one - a gorgeous Golden Retriever
puppy.
6. When her exam results arrived, she was overjoyed to see that she had passed everything.
7. I've just started doing yoga. I love it.
8. William discovered that the person he had thought was his uncle was actually not related
to him at all.
KEY
Starter Activity
F
F
Main Activity
B
A
B
C
D
B
D
C
A
C
Closure
1 looking into 2 grow up 3 came out 4 taken up 5 longed for 6 came through 7 taken
up 8 found out
