Listening

Listening activities.

1. Listen to the interview (Tapescript 25 from Headway Up­per-Intermediate) with an Indian lady, who is called Raj by the interviewer. In the interview Raj recollects the day when she was introduced to her future husband. While listening find the answers for the following questions:

1) What is Raj's attitude towards her marriage being ar­ranged by her parents?

2) What was primarily important for Raj's father in choosing Raj's husband?

3) How did they use to contact each other before the wed­ding?

4) Was Raj's marriage a successful one?

2. Decide which of these statements are false or true.

1) Raj met her husband at the age of 16, when she was preparing for her exams with a private tutor.

2) While choosing a husband for Raj, her father saw up to a hundred men.

3) Raj's husband was very wealthy but not very well edu­cated. When he came to meet Raj's father he was dressed like a prince.

4) First Raj's family talked to the man and then they called Raj in, and the young talked for four or five minutes. Raj left the choice to her father.

5) After the engagement party, they used to be on the phone every day, and they would see each other regularly, but always with a chaperon.

6) Raj is sure there are a lot of divorces between couples whose marriage has been arranged, because they don't have mutual understanding and patience.

7) If a girl gets married at the age of 20 she is too old to be integrated into her new family, so the average age for marriage is 16 or 17.