Jake: Do you know what an extended family is?
Anne: Yeah. In the past, parents, their children, their children's children used to live together. This kind of family is known as an extended family.
Jake: What about a nuclear family?
Anne: Nowadays, only two generations, that is to say, parents and children live together.
Jake: How about a single parent family?
Anne: That's a family with only a mother or only a father.
Jake: So what is a blended family?
Anne: When two people who have been married and have children, remarry, and both groups of children live together. Why? You indeed asked me so many questions about family.
Jake: I just want to make a survey of public opinion on family ties.

讲解：

1. 对话中Jake在做一个关于对家庭关系的看法的调查，他问了Anne一些关于家庭类型的问题。那么在对话中出现了几种家庭类型呢？有extended family，就是“大家庭”，在过去呢，父母和他们的孩子以及孩子的孩子都住在一起，就是那种四世同堂的大家庭，不过随着时代的发展，这种大家庭已经很少了。

2. 另一种家庭类型就是nuclear family，核心家庭，也就是说，父母和他们的孩子住在一起，这是现在一种比较普遍的家庭类型。that is to say，作为插入语表示“换句话说；也就是说；更确切地说”。还有一种类型叫做single parent family，就是我们说的“单亲家庭”。就是家里面只有母亲或只有父亲。

3. 这种家庭类型主要是父母离婚的产物。对话中出现的最后一种家庭类型就是blended family，混合型家庭，就是指再婚后的家庭，男女双方的孩子都住在一起。marry前面加上前缀“re”表示“再婚”。make a survey of something，表示“对…作全面的调查”。

4. 这里再补充一种家庭类型，就是“丁克” 家庭。“丁克”的英文意思是：双份收入，没有孩子，double income, no kids。是近年来新兴的一种家庭模式，这种家庭中只有夫妻二人，不生孩子，既有家庭的温馨，又保持了“单身贵族”的潇洒。