8. Read the two interviews below and working with a partner answer the questions that follow. Pay attention to the use of phrasal verbs. Add them to the list of topical vocabulary.

1.

I – Interviewer

H – Hellen

I: How did you meet your husband?

H: It was on a blind date, actually. A friend invited me to meet someone she knew. She said he was very nice, so I went along, and as soon as I met him, I fell for him. I thought he was wonderful. We started to go out with one another, and then I invited him home to meet my parents, and they took to him immediately – they thought he was a lovely person.

I: So meeting him was an important event?

H: Oh, yes, it was a turning point in my life. You see, whereas I’d always had my head in the clouds, he was very practical and realistic – he had his feet firmly on the ground.

I: Do you remember when he asked you to marry him?

H: Yes, very clearly. We were walking in the park and he proposed to me completely out of the blue. I really wasn’t expecting it.

I: How did you feel about marrying him?

H: I was over the moon. I thought it was the most wonderful thing that could ever have happened to me.

I: And do you still feel that way today?

H: Oh, yes, we’re devoted to one another.

I: What do you think has made your marriage such a success?

H: The fact that we’ve always supported and helped one another.

I’ve always stood by him and he’s never let me down once. We’re a partnership.

I: So you never have any arguments?

H: Well, we have our ups and downs now and then – everybody does – but I know that underneath it all we were made for each other.

2.

G-George

I: How did you meet your wife?

G: We worked for the same company. She was about the same age as me, and she struck me as a very nice person. As time passed I came to look on her as a friend. We spent some time together and then we started going out with one another.

I: What did your parents think of her?

G: When I introduced her to my mother she said she couldn’t understand what I saw in her. She thought she was very ordinary and not at all the right person for me.

I: Do you think your mother’s opinion influenced you in any way?

G: I think it made me have second thoughts about marrying her, but we still got married a few months later.

I: What was life like after you got married?

G: Things were all right for a while but then we began to quarrel. We always kissed and made up in the end, but there were still problems between us.

I: Why was that?

G: I think the main thing was that we weren’t really suited to one another. After we got married we started to see one another in a different light. We spent less and less time together, we became interested in different things, and gradually we grew apart.

I: What happened then?

G: We started having terrible arguments and I behaved very badly towards her. I tried to make up for it, but she couldn’t forgive me. In the end we split up. I suppose it was inevitable really.

I: And how did this experience affect you?

G: I think it changed my outlook on life. I certainly don’t see it through rose-coloured spectacles any more.

I: Would you marry again?

G: I would, but it would have to be the right person, and there would have to be a lot more give and take. Otherwise I don’t think it would work.

Questions:

1. How did Helen and George meet their parents?

2. What did they think of their partners when they first met them?

3. What did their parents think of their partners?

4. How did Helen and George feel about their partners?

5. Why was one marriage a success and the other a failure?

6. What generally makes some relationships between couples break up?

7. What qualities do you think are needed for a lasting relationship?