成人高等教育英語(yǔ)教材4 04

[00:00.00] UNIT 4
[00:03.68]Overseas Students
[00:08.05]Integrated Skills Development
[00:12.59]Passage Au Pair
[00:20.35]"Au pair" is an arrangement under which a girl
[00:26.59]who is not less than seventeen years old comes to United Kingdom
[00:32.84]primarily to learn the English language
[00:37.38]and to live for a while as a member of a resident English-speaking family.
[00:44.25]She recevies her keep,
[00:48.20]entertainment and pocket money(5 to 7 a week is not unreasonable)
[00:55.67]and is expected to help with the housework and the care of any children.
[01:02.62]The relationship between the girl and her hostess
[01:08.39]is a personal one depending for its success both on the willingness of the hostess
[01:15.65]to help the girl in her studies and amusement,
[01:20.69]and on the readiness of the girl to play her part in the life of the household.
[01:27.85]The "au pair" girl should be told what facilities will be afforded her
[01:35.43]for learning English at part-time classes,
[01:40.57]or under private tuition,
[01:44.41]and about the amount of time she may expect to be able to set aside each day
[01:51.18]for study and amusement.
[01:55.44]The reasonable maximum time during which an "au pair" guest
[02:01.29]may be expected to perform domes-tic tasks,
[02:06.43]or to be on call for household duties
[02:11.29](in-cluding baby-sitting and the care of children)
[02:16.05]is about five hours daily;
[02:20.49]and she should be give at least a day a week free.
[02:25.84]It is important that the "free time" should be really free,
[02:31.48]that the girl should be at liberty to meet her friends
[02:36.21]and to go sight-seeing and to concerts,cinemas,etc.,
[02:41.96]and that she should have the time and opportunity for religious observance.
[02:49.12]In return for keep and what the host family does,
[02:55.67]an "au pair" girl is expected to help her hostess
[03:01.24]with household duties on a partnership basis,
[03:06.80]and to do her share of any kind of housework which the hostess herself does.
[03:14.74]Where however the hostess employs other help for heavier housework,
[03:22.00]she should expect the "au pair" girl only to help with such jobs as bed making,
[03:28.95]washing up,
[03:32.19]tidying and dusting,baby-sitting,
[03:36.95]taking children to and from school and looking after them in the house;
[03:44.03]she should not in that case be asked to do heavy housework.
[03:50.19]The "au pair" guest will normally expect a bedroom to herself.
[03:57.35]She should be treated as a daughter of the house,
[04:02.52]taking her meals with the family and sharing their amusements.
[04:08.76]Under a proper "au pair" arrangement the relationship between the hostess
[04:16.13]and the girl involves acceptance of social equality
[04:21.90]and is not founded on a mistress-servant basis.
[04:28.36]Where the "au pair" arrangement is made with a girl who is still abroad,
[04:34.99]she should be given precise travelling directions
[04:40.14]and should wherever possible be met on arrival.