Julie and Dave are getting married next month. Match the beginnings of the phrases on the left with the endings on the right.

1.Julie has sent out	a. her wedding dress.
2. Dave has asked	b. a stag night on the Friday before the wedding.
3. They’ve booked	c. a wedding list.
4. Julie has bought	d. a hen night on the Friday night before the wedding.
5. They’ve bought each other	e. invitations to all the wedding guests.
6. They’ve made	f. wedding rings.
7. Julie’s going to have	g. the hotel for the reception.
8. Dave’s going to have	h. his brother to be a best man.

People at the wedding.

Use these words to describe this picture.

bride	groom	best man
clergyman	guests	bridesmaids

The two people getting married are the … and the …. They are being married by the …. The two little girls are the …. The man standing on the groom’s right is his …. The wedding … are watching the ceremony.

 

The vows.

Here are the marriage vows a man says in Britain. Complete them using these words.

health

death

worse

poorer

I (John Smith) take thee (Jane Brown) to be may wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for (1) …, for richer, for (2)…, in sickness and in (3) …, to love and to cherish, till (4) … us to part.

The wedding

The following events describe a traditional wedding. Put them in the correct order:

a. Their friends throw confetti at them.

b. They cut the cake and make speeches.

c. Her father walks down the aisle with her.

d. They leave for their honeymoon.

e. They spend ages taking photographs!

f. The bride arrives at the church late.

g. The couple makes their wedding vows.

h. They go to a hotel for the wedding reception.

i. They go couple walk back up the aisle, man and wife!

The corrects order is: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Do you know that …

In Britain people either have a church wedding or they have a civil ceremony in a registry office. They don’t have both as in some countries. If people get married in church they usually have a white wedding – the bride wears a traditional white dress.

They’re happily married.

Use these words and expressions in the text below:

silver wedding

get married

happily married

golden wedding

I’m Keith Barratt. I’m 21 and a student. I’m still single and probably won’t (1)……….. till I’m nearer 30.

My parents are very (2)…………………………...

They were married for 3 years before I was born, so next year they’re celebrating their (3) ………………… anniversary.

Last year my grandparents celebrated their (4) …………………….. – 50 years with the same person! That’s quite an achievement!

When things go wrong

Complete the following sentences with the words and phrases below:

a. destroy our marriage

b. broke up

c. get a divorce

d. left him

e. got custody of the children

f. saved our marriage

g. didn’t work out

h. separated

1. His wife … two years ago for another man.

2. I was so happy when I got married but things … and we split up three years ago,

3. Our marriage … after my wife discovered I’d been seeing somebody else.

4. My wife and I … last year. We hadn’t been very happy for a while. We’ve now decided that the best thing is to …..

5. A few years ago my husband started seeing another woman. I tried to forgive him but it was impossible. In the end it ….

6. Things started to go wrong after about three years. I guess we just got bored of each other. Then I had a baby and thing got much better. I think that’s what …

7. I got divorced five years ago. Unfortunately, my ex-wife … and now I only see them at the weekend and for a few weeks during the summer.

9. Discuss these questions:

1. What do you think is the average cost of a wedding in your country?

2. Who usually pays for the wedding in your country?

3. What do they spend money on?

A) Read the magazine article.

 

Ginny Bell looks at her friend’s chances of having a happy marriage.

When Olivia first started going out with Tony, I thought it would never last. Two months later, she told me they were getting married. I thought she should put the wedding off for a few months until she knew Tony better. “He really is the one”, Olivia told me. She’d add the same thing about her last three husbands, but I didn’t like to point this out to her.

When Olivia asked me to be her bridesmaid, I tried to get out of the whole thing because I didn’t want to see her make the same mistake again. However, I couldn’t come up with a good excuse, so there I was again; standing outside the church wondering how much Olivia’s parents had spent this time. A typical wedding costs about £ 16,000 and lasts six hours, so that’s about £ 2,600 an hour. Olivia must be a very expensive daughter to have.

At the church Olivia introduced me by saying, “This is Ginny. She’s been a bridesmaid at all my weddings”. And indeed I had. I wondered how long it would be before Olivia and Tony split up, adding £ 15,000 – the average cost of a divorce – to the cost of the wedding. Fortunately, Olivia got over her last three divorces quickly and is still friends with all her ex-husbands.

So what are their chances of a successful marriage? The day before the wedding I came across a newspaper report which said that the number of divorces in the UK is still going up, while the number of people getting married is falling. I looked some figures up and found out that in 1971 there were 499,000 weddings in the UK, bur in 2001 there were 286,000. And as for divorce, where you live makes a huge difference. For example, the divorce rate in the UK is 53%, but in Italy it’s only 12%.

When my husband and I were leaving the reception, Olivia said, “You two have never fallen out, have you? How can I make this marriage last?” Well, Olivia, what can I say? Move to Italy!

B) Choose the correct words in these sentences.

1. Tony is Olivia’s third/fourth husband.

2. Ginny went/didn’t go to Olivia’s wedding.

3. Ginny had/hadn’t been a bridesmaid for Olivia before.

4. Olivia has/hasn’t kept in touch with her ex-husbands.

5. More/Fewer people in the UK are getting married these days.

C) What does it say about these numbers? Did any of the numbers surprise you?

£16,000	six hours	£2,600	£15,000
459,000	286,000	53%	12%

 

D) Look at the phrasal verbs in bold in the article. Match them to their meaning 1-10. Write the infinitive of the verb.

1. avoid doing something you don’t want to do

2. feel better after you have been unhappy or ill

3. increase or rise

4. find some information in a book or on a computer

5. tell someone information you think they don’t know or have forgotten

6. decide or arrange to do something at a later time

7. argue with someone and stop being friendly with them

8. think of an idea, or a solution to a problem

9. end a marriage or relationship

10. find something by accident

11. Make a list of five things people need for successful marriage. Study the diagram and compare your result with the Pew Research Centre’s new study on what Americans think is important to a "successful" marriage.

 

 

Lesson 4.

 

General Appearance

He’s quite a big guy.

Match the pairs of sentences with the pictures on the right:

1. He isn’t very tall. He’s short and stocky.
2. She’s tall and slim. She’s got a lovely figure.
3. He’s quite a big guy. He’s quite well-built.
4. She’s a bit overweight. She’s quite plump, isn’t she?
5. He’s very fat. He’s absolutely enormous.
6. He’s very thin. He’s so skinny.