[originaltext]M: I suppose that in Britain, too, family life has changed a lot

M: I suppose that in Britain, too, family life has changed a lot in the last century, hasn ’t it?
W: Oh yes, very much so. I think families used to be much larger. My great grandmother was one of the fourteen children! Very few people nowadays care to have such large families.
M: I suppose that’s why in the old days very few women took up careers outside the home. They were too busy bringing up their families.
W: Yes, but rich families had servants to do the housework and even nannies to look after the children.
M: Would you like to have lived then, Betty?
W: Not particularly! Women then weren’t as free as they are today. For example, they often had to marry men they didn’t like and they were financially dependent on their parents or their husbands. I think we are much better off today, don’t you?
M: Well, I suppose we have more freedom of choice and we’re more independent, but, you know, some arranged marriages were very successful. Women seemed to be more content with their husbands. Besides, there was something rather charming about courtship in the old days.
W: Really? Such as what?
M: Well, the custom of asking a girl’ s father for permission to marry her, for example.
W: And supposing the father didn’t give his permission? No, thank you. I think family life is much pleasanter today because it is freer and more informal. At least today we are free to marry whoever we like and to take up a job, if we wish.
M: That’ s true. But I still think that family life in the old days must have been very pleasant and secure.
Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
1. Which country do they talk about?
2. How many brothers and sisters did Betty’ s great grandmother have?
3. Why did few women take up careers in those days, as supposed by the man?
4. Which of the following does not show that women were less free than they are today, according to Betty?