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IN A NUTSHELL 0 / 2
Y O U R W E E K L Y D I S C U S S I O N B O O S T E R 1
TILL DEATH WHEN YOU DO US PART BELIEVE
Marriages less popular. Mariah Carey, the queen What about divorces? of charts © Zbigniew Stępień, Andrei Makhnach
L E V E L 1
B 1 - B 2
Till death do us part RETELL Proposing to your partner is one of the most serious d ecisions you make in your life. Those who believe in love at first sight will say it should not include any cold Is the number of marriages worldwide rising or falling? calculation and its consequences like buying a house Why are China and Russia an exception? together or having children should not be considered at this stage. However, data about marriage numbers Do people get married earlier or later in life? across the world seems to suggest that fewer and fewer Are divorces getting more popular? people share this view. What is the average length of a marriage before divorce in the UK?
By and large, especially in rich countries, the number of couples who decide to get married has been falling since the 1970s. In the USA, for example, marriage rates have fallen by 50% over that period. However, countries like China or Russia prove the trend is not universal as today more people organise weddings there than in previous decades. DISCUSS
What is more, those who decide to be wives and husbands become ones later in life. Statistics from If you really love your partner, England and Wales analysed by Our World in Data you should get married at some point. show that while 83% of men born in 1940 got married before they were 30, only 25% of those born in 1980 did the same. There are still countries like Niger where the average age of a woman entering holy matrimony is 17 years of age, but there are exceptions. ARGUMENT BANK On a positive note, divorce rates show something Will this help your partner feel you surprising. Globally, the number of people who end want to be with him or her for good? their relationship is growing, but in many countries Will this make some formalities like getting a mortgage easier? something opposite is happening. There was a steady growth in divorces until the 1990s, but since then Will it make it less likely for you to split up after a simple argument? places such as the USA, Norway, South Korea and many Will it automatically improve your relationship? others have observed a steady decline in split-ups. Is it easy to spend your whole life with one person?
Is it possible that the person you love today will never change? And those who break up, wait with the decision. In the
UK the average length of a marriage before divorce shortened from 12 years in the 1970s to just 9 years in the 1980s — now couples again manage to make it until their 12th anniversary. Make notes!
DEFINITIONS Write down 5 arguments FOR. Put the right numbers next to the definitions...... A) to propose (to sb); B) love at first sight; C) marriage; D) by and large; E) couple; F) on a positive note; G) divorce; ...... H) relationship; I) decline; J) anniversary ......
1) on the whole ...... –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 2) the way in which two or more people are connected –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ...... 3) to ask a person to marry you ...... –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 4) the day on which an important event took place –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ...... 5) when you feel an instant romantic attraction for a stranger ...... –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 6) a decrease –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ...... 7) the legal dissolution of a marriage –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ...... 8) two people who are married; two people who are in a romantic relationship –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 9) with an optimistic tone –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 10) a legal union of two people as partners Write down 5 arguments AGAINST.
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...... GAPS ...... Say/Write full sentences by filling in the gaps with the correct forms of the phrases from the exercise above...... 1) Brian ______to Karen in May and in August they already ...... had a wedding.
2) Ornithologists observed a serious ______in the numbers ...... of sparrows......
3) They are such a nice ______! They look beautiful together...... 4) I’m stunned by the increasing number of ______these days. Is marriage going to die out? ......
5) There were a couple of things I didn’t like about the film, but ______it was quite gripping.
6) Their ______was long and fulfilling till their dying day. Write down the words you will 7) We used to celebrate our wedding ______with a lot of guests in a posh restaurant. use in your essay/speech.
8) I’d never believed in ______until it happened to me.
9) The book is a boring read. ______it has a beautiful cover...... 10) We had a bumpy ______, but we couldn’t live without each other, though...... © Zbigniew Stępień, Andrei Makhnach
L E V E L 2
C 1 - C 2
When you believe RETELL Mariah Carey – a household name in the United States and a recognized pop / R&B icon in the whole wide world – has been reigning in the music industry for three consecutive decades Who is Mariah Carey? and is still standing tall and strong. What is special about Mariah’s voice?
Although the younger generation may experience difficulty What Guinness record does she hold? figuring out who the heck she is since their attention has been Why was her childhood difficult? effectively arrested by the omnipresent k-pop bands, true music fans go ape over the sheer name of Mariah. Hailed as How did she become a singer? the best singer in the world, boasting a 5-octave voice – a rarity that only a handful of vocalists were bestowed with – Mariah Carey holds the Guinness world record for most number 1 songs in music history ever. Her songs topped the vertiginous Billboard charts 19 times leaving such musical titans as Elvis Presley, Whitney Houston and Madonna behind. Not only does she perform her songs but she also has a unique knack for writing her own lyrics and composing her own music thus earning herself a reputable image of a jack- DISCUSS of-all-trades.
Despite her tremendous coups as an artiste and numerous It would be great accolades she has relished in her singing career, living a lavish to live a life of a music star. life full of all the luxuries imaginable, her life was not always a bed of roses. Mariah Carey was born to a biracial family, which at the time was so taboo that it was against the law to marry a black person in some states in America. She had to go through lots of animosity and hardships caused by her mixed ethnicity, which took a heavy toll on her growing up and ARGUMENT BANK further formation as a person. As a child, she also experienced poverty and abuse as well as parental neglect, and music Is it financially rewarding? appeared to be her only saving grace. It was at a party, when she was 19 years old, that she accidentally bumped into Does it allow you to do what you love and see the whole world? Tommy Mottola, a renowned record producer at the time, Does it feel great to have a huge group of fans? who gave a listen to her demo record “Vision of Love” and was blown away by Mariah’s phenomenal vocal prowess. A year Does being in the spotlight have any dark sides? later she took the world by storm becoming the mega-star she Are endless concerts and rehearsals easy to cope with? is now. Can fierce competition make you quickly lose your position?
There are testimonials galore in which people share their sharp vicissitudes of life and how Mariah Carey’s songs helped them go through the toughest predicaments eventually making their “visions” come true. Make notes!
DEFINITIONS Write down 5 arguments FOR. Put the right letters next to the definitions...... A) omnipresent; B) to go ape (over); C) to bestow; D) (to have a) knack (for); E) jack-of-all-trades; F) to take its/a toll on; ...... G) animosity; H) prowess; I) galore; J) vicissitudes (of life/fortune) ......
1) usually unpleasant changes of circumstances ...... –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 2) widespread –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ...... 3) so much that it is unbelievable ...... –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 4) to become very excited –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ...... 5) superior skill or ability ...... –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 6) to give as a gift –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ...... 7) hostility –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ...... 8) to have a special talent for sth –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 9) someone who has skill in many different areas –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 10) to have a bad effect on someone Write down 5 arguments AGAINST.
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...... GAPS ...... Say/Write full sentences by filling in the gaps with the correct forms of the phrases from the exercise above...... 1) Elsa impressed the whole board of examiners with her ...... mathematical ______.
2) He possessed an uncanny ______for rousing public ...... speeches......
3) Today’s tastelessness in music is a glaring, ______facet of our society......
4) This award is the highest tier, and it is ______on only a ...... handful of people each year.
5) Quarantine and isolation have ______their ______her mental health.
6) Though he had many ______in life, nothing would stop Write down the words you will him from becoming a successful businessman. use in your essay/speech. 7) He was a pleasant young man who showed no hint of ______.
8) She’s sort of a ______, but at the same time, master of few...... 9) There are hiking trails ______in this part of the mountains...... 10) I’ve never understood Taylor Swift’s popularity, but her fans ...... ______over her music. How to use this magazine? THE TEACHER
CHOOSING THE LEVEL Use the right text with the right learners. The first article will THE LEARNER work with teenagers (grade 7 and higher) and adults at B1 - B2 levels. The second one is for high-schoolers and adults at C1 - C2 levels.
READING CHOOSE YOUR LEVEL Get the students to read the text at home. Pick one to retell Choose a text which is fairly easy for you to understand. the story in class. Reading in class is possible, but takes away Continue reading articles at this level until you are ready for precious time. more advanced reading.
READ THE TEXT CHECKING THE VOCABULARY Read the text and check if you can answer the questions in Ask your students to look up the bolded words before the the box. Try to retell the text to yourself or find someone you lesson. They can prepare definitions or translations. can talk to in English.
RETELLING THE STORY CHECK THE VOCABULARY At the beginning of class, a chosen student retells the story. Words are the essence of any language. Look them up on He or she should do it well, trying to use as many bolded your own. This extra effort pays off! Make your own notes. lexical items from the text as possible. Don't check every single word you don't understand.
DISCUSSION DISCUSS/WRITE Get your students to discuss the subject. Make them find at Find somebody to discuss the subject with. If you work alone, least 5 arguments for and 5 against. They should note the try to find arguments and write an essay about the subject. If arguments down for later use. you can get it checked by someone - perfect!
REVISE WRITING Never read a text only once. Always come back to it - next Ask your students to write an essay based on their day, after a week, after a month. Try to retell the text to arguments. Discuss it with them. Give constructive feedback. yourself using the bolded words. Make sentences with the bolded words. Practise, practise, practise!
REVISION During the next meetings, ask your students to retell the story in pairs. Also, they can try to write their own sentences with the bolded words. Practice is key, and there are many ways to do it!
EVERY WEEK
IN A NUTSHELL, a weekly discussion booster for teachers and learners of English. Authors: Zbigniew Stępień, Andrei Makhnach. stepien.edu.pl