I. Before the Wedding:

1. The American viewpoint:

Marriage base on the feeling of love rather on practical considerations.

2. The current marriage situation:

Americans are marrying at an older age. Many young adults want to get their careers well established before marriage. Also, many couples live together without (or before) marrying. (cohabitation or trial marriage)

3. The engagement:

?What are three American engagement customs?

1) It is traditional for the man to give his fiancée a gift – a diamond engagement ring.

2) It is common for engaged couples to go to a department store bridal registry and fill out a list of the items they would like to receive, such as particular patterns of dishes, silverware and glassware, plus cooking utensils, appliances, and lines. Wedding guests can choose gifts from this list before the wedding and have them mailed to the bride-to-be's home.

3) A shower is a party just for women at which each guest gives the bridge-to-be something useful for her new home. Shortly before the wedding, the groom and his close friends and relatives celebrate at an all-male party called a bachelor or slag party. On this occasion, the groom often receives gifts, too.

II.The Big Day:

?List five American wedding customs:

1) The bride wears a long white gown and a veil and the groom usually wears a tuxedo. (part 7)

2) Bridge and groom exchange identical wedding rings. (part 9)

3) The couple's car is decorated, which tin cans, paper streamers or old shoes, along with "just married" sign. (part 10)

4) The bridge throws a bouquet of flowers backwards over her head to a group of single women, the groom throws his bridge's garter to the single man. (part 12)

5) The newlyweds usually take a vacation called a honeymoon. (part 16)

III.The Contemporary American Marriage:

?How has women's liberation affected American marriage?

Change women's thinking, equality between men and women, women can go to work.

Advantages:

- Two-income family make a better lìe

- Enjoy being out in the working work

Problem:

- the husband expects his working wife to be the perfect homemaker that his stay-at-home mother was.

- there may be arguments if the wife expects her husband to help with the household chores but he is unwilling to do so

The characteristics:

-Sharing money-making and housekeeping responsibilities provide a better life for both parents.

-A relationship of equality and shared decision making.

IV.Divorce and Alternative Lifestyles:

1. The percentage: In 1970, the figure was 53%. For every 100 marriages that take place today, there are about 50 divorces. The U.S. divorce rate is twice that of Europe and three times higher than Japan's.

2. The reasons:

?Why do so many Americans get divorces?

-They seek physical, emotional, and intellectual compatibility. It is because Americans expect so much from marriage that so many get divorces.

-They end one marriage hoping that the next will be happier.

-No-fault divorce laws in many states make it easier than ever to get a divorce.

3. Term related to "divorce":

-alimony: tiền trợ cấp

-child custody: quyền nuôi con

-child support: tiền trợ cấp nuôi con. The mother or the father provides for the children

-visitation right: quyền thăm con. Mother/father has the right to visit the children

-Alimony: after divorce, man gives his former wife a monthly sum of money.

The woman has supported her husband during the marriage -> the court may decide that the wife continued to support the husband.

- re-marriage: the problem of re-marriage -> blended family:" a family consisting of a couple and their children from this and all previous relationships.

4. Alternative Lifestyles:

*Unmarried couples: cohabitation/trial marriage

*Gay/Les population: same-sex relationship

V. Happy Anniversary!:

-Going out for a romantic dinner for two or by sharing the occasion with family members or close friends.

-25th (silver anniversary) and 50th (golden anniversary)– are considered more important. A particular type of gift is traditional for each anniversary (clocks for 1st, crystal or glass for the 3rd, silverware for the 5th, and so on.)

-A couple celebrates golden wedding anniversary with their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren around them.

AFTER YOU READ:

I. Getting the Message:

a. Answer these questions, write the full answers.

1. What are three good things that paragraph 1 says about marriage?

Marriage halves our griefs, doubles our joys, decrease loneliness

2. What are two bad things that paragraph 1 says about marriage?

Decreases freedom and quadruples our expenses.

3. Compare American wedding customs to wedding customs in other countries'. Which are the same or similar? Which are different?

4. What are two alternative styles are discussed in this chapter?

-Unmarriage couples (living together).

-Gay/Les couple.

b. Chronological order.

4 wedding day 5honeymoon

6 silver anniversary 2 engagement

3shower for the bridge – to – be 1marriage proposal

II. Building Your Vocabulary :

1. In order to get married, the engaged couple must get a marriage license.

2. The traditional bridge walks down the aisle wearing a long white gown and a(n) veil over her face.

3. During the ceremony, the bride and groom exchange identical wedding rings.

4. This exchange of rings symbolized endless love.

5. Many contemporary wedding customs come from old superstitions about protecting the bridal couple from bad luck.

6. Some couples elope. They get married secretly, with no family or friends at the ceremony.

7. Newlyweds usually take a vacation called a(n) honeymoon.

8. The typical married American woman wears two rings: a(n) engagement ring and a(n) wedding ring.

9. When a married couple gets divorced, the man usually pays alimony to help support his ex-wife.

10. A wedding ceremony marks the beginning of a marriage.

11. With typical American optimism, divorced people usually remarry.

12. A golden wedding anniversary celebrates 50 years of marriage.