大学英语听说教育教案3Unit4Marriage

Unit 4 Marriage

Part A

Pre-listening Task

Questions for Discussion

1.What do you think of marriage? Do you think a happy marriage is the most important thing in

your life?

2.What kind of person do you want to marry? What are your standards in choosing a life

companion?

3.What do you think is crucial for a happy marriage?

4.What usually causes troubles in a marriage?

5.Do you think differences between husband and wife are unavoidable? If you do, could you

suggest some ways for them to deal with the problem?

6.Have you heard of marriage agreements? Do you think a couple should sign a marriage

agreement before getting married?

Additional Question for Discussion

Do young men and young women have the same standards in choosing a spouse? If not, why not?

Language Focus

Here are some sentences and structures that you may find useful in discussing the above questions.

●Both men and women consider marriage a very important part of their lives.

●Most men would like their spouses to be young and beautiful. Others consider inner beauty

more important.

●When a woman chooses her spouse, she often puts emphasis on his character / temperament /

education / profession / income / appearance / family background.

●Some young women today consider … of great importance in choosing a boyfriend / life

companion.

●Happiness in marriage does not depend on material wealth.

●Marriages based on mutual love create a happy and harmonious atmosphere in the family.

●Mutual respect and understanding between husband and wife contribute much to a happy

marriage.

●Education is an important condition for a good marriage because a couple whose educational

levels do not match may not have much to say to each other / have constant arguments over family issues, big or small.

● A marriage based on romantic love alone will not necessarily last long, for a sense of

responsibility is also essential to a successful marriage.

●I would marry someone who loves me and cares for me most.

●I would marry someone who is generous / intelligent / ambitious / broad-minded / considerate

/ good-looking / kind-hearted / humorous.

●I wouldn’t like to marry someone who is too money-conscious / stingy / selfish /

hot-tempered / narrow-minded / rude / impolite / possessive.

●Each individual is unique and differences between husband and wife are therefore

unavoidable / a rule rather than an exception.

●It’s very important for husband and wife to show appreciation of each other / talk and get to

know what his or her partner expects.

● A marriage agreement sounds too practical / lacks romantic flavor / reduces marriage to mere

business.

●I think a written marriage agreement shows how much you and your partner are going to

respect each other’s needs and expectations / promises a harmonious relationship in married life.

●Trouble starts in a marriage when one partner keeps complaining about small things, making

the other feel resentful.

●Constantly criticizing your partner and his or her family gives rise to troubles in / may

destroy a marriage.

●Lack of understanding / tolerance over differences may bring troubles to a marriage / cause a

marriage to fail.

Part B

Listening Tasks

Conversation 1

A Marriage Agreement (Part One)

Word Bank

outline v. to describe briefly with few details 概述

spouse n. a husband or wife 配偶

pet a. denoting a thing that one feels particularly strongly about 格外的，极其的peeve n. sth. that annoys you 惹人生气的事物

bug v. (American slang) to annoy, to irritate 激怒

article n. a section of a legal agreement that deals with a particular point 协议的条款

pet peeve sth. that you strongly dislike because it always annoys you 格外惹人生气的事

Script:

(Tom and Linda have signed a marriage agreement. Both agree not to break the rules outlined in the agreement. John, a reporter, is talking to them about the agreement.)

John: Tom, Lin da, first I’d like to ask you why you decided to write this unusual agreement. Tom: We found that many problems are caused when a person has different expectations from his or her spouse. We wanted to talk about everything openly and honestly before we started living together.

Linda: Also we both know how important it is to respect each other’s pet peeves. Like, I can get very annoyed if others leave stuff — clothing, papers, everything! — lying around on the floor. It really bugged me, so we put that in the agreement.

John: This is mentioned in Article 1: Cleaning Up, isn’t it? It says, “Nothing will be left on the floor overnight. Everything must be cleaned up and put away before going to bed.”

Tom: Then I’ll know clearly what Linda’s expectations are.