Episode 55

EPISODE 55
LEVEL A1.2/A2.1

 

 

READING COMPREHENSION 

 

RELATIONSHIPS

 

Everybody needs a lot of love. We like being in love and we want to be with somebody. When a man sees a woman whom he likes he tries to chat her up ( = talk to her in a way that shows them that you are sexually attracted to them). Then if she likes him too, they start to go out ( = to have a romantic relationship) with each other. After some time they fall in love ( = they start to love each other) and they move in ( = they start to live in the same flat) with each other. A bit later, they meet their parents and they get engaged ( = he gives her a ring). After getting married, they decide to have children and the woman gets pregnant ( = after nine months they will have a baby). Then they either live happily ever after or they have rows ( = they have many arguments) and finally they split up ( = they are not together any more). If they split up officially, they get divorced (= officially they are not married and they can get married again).

 

More contexts for the new words: 

• They fancy each other. (= are sexually attracted) 
• They got separated last month. (= before people get divorced, they sometimes decided to get separated. They are not together, but they are still officially married) 

 

EXERCISE 1 

Put the sentences below into a logical story. Think about the order people usually do things in.

 

• A few months later they got engaged.
• After a few months they split up.
• He chatted her up in a bar.
• Now they want to get divorced.
• Then they moved in together.
• They wanted a child, so she got pregnant.
• They went out together for a year.
• Unfortunately, they started having rows.

 

EXERCISE 2 

Complete the questions, then answer them.

 

1. Do you think it is ok for a couple to move ……………………. together before getting married?
2. How long should two people go ………………………. with each other before they …………………… engaged?
3. Why do married couples usually split ……………………..?

 

 

ENGLISH IN USE  

 

 

Let’s revise countable and uncountable nouns. What are they? If you look at something and you can say how many things you see, the noun is countable. If you cannot say how many exactly, this is uncountable.

Here there are some more examples of countable nouns:
– a book/ two books
– a key/ two keys
– a boy/ two boys
– a dog/ two dogs

and some uncountable nouns:
– milk
– butter
– money
– information

The sentence I would like you to look at is this:

„Everybody needs a lot of love”

„A lot of” is the same as „many, much” and we can use it with both countable and uncountable nouns.

I have a lot of friends.
I have a lot of money.

 

 

IDIOM CLOSE-UP 

 

 

A/ How long did it take him to POP THE QUESTION?

B/ They had been going out together for two years.

 

When you pop the question, you ask someone two marry you. If they agree, you are engaged.

 

PHRASAL VERBS CLOSE-UP

 

1. If you BREAK UP with someone, you split up.

 

They broke up last month

The marriage broke up just a few years later.

 

2. If you PICK someone UP, you start talking to them because you want to have sex with them.

 

She went home with some man she picked up at the disco.

He is very shy, so he isn’t very good at picking up girls.

 

EXERCISE 3 

Complete the conversation with words from the idiom/phrasal verbs you’re learned.

 

‘Have you heard about John? He’s just broken (1)…………………….with his girlfriend.’

‘Oh no, they looked so happy together! And he was even thinking of popping the (2)……………………….!’

‘Well, he did ask her to marry him. But she said no.’

‘Oh, poor chap. What will he do now?’

‘From what I’ve heard, he’s already picked (3)……………………… some blonde in a bar. So not to worry!’

 

 

NEWS

  

HOW TO PROPOSE?

 

Many men are trying to find a special way to propose to their girlfriends. They want the moment to be truly extraordinary, unlike anything the girl might have imagined. The long-lived classic of giving her the ring in a restaurant, with a small violin band playing soft music in the background, is simply no longer in vogue. So, you can propose on a bus, a tram or a boat you have hired for that purpose. You can do it while parachute jumping, or while scuba diving. Or you can take your sweetheart on a special Arctic holiday, where your love will melt all the ice around. But is it all worth it? Will the girl appreciate it? Most women don’t care about the surrounding circumstances, as long as you give them the ring. Oh, and don’t forget to ask the right question! 

 

GLOSSARY 

– propose – pop the question

– extraordinary – special

– in vogue – in fashion

– scuba diving – deep water diving with special equipment

 

 

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