Unit 2 Cultural diversity Reading

Trust built on love: Significantly, more Asian students than American students agree that a husband is obliged to tell his wife where he has been if he comes home late.. The Asians wife [r]

Dak Glong High School

Presented by Nguyen Dinh Hao

Look at these pictures and answer the fellowing questions.

1 What are these pictures about?

3 Have you ever attended a wedding

ceremony?

2 What can you see in these picture?

4 Do you think Americans and Asians have the same opinions about love and marrige?

Work in pairs Discuss the question: Which of

the following factors is the most important for

a happy life? Why?

money parents’ approval

good health

a good job

a nice house/flat

Traditionally, Americans and Asians have very different ideas about love and marriage Americans believe in ‘romantic’ marriage – a boy and a girl are attracted to each other, fall in love, and decide to marry each other Asians, on the other hand, believe

in contractual marriage – the parents of the bride and the groom decide on the marriage; and love – if it aver develops – is supposed to follow marriage, not precede it.

To show the differences, a survey was conducted among American, Chinese and Indian students to determine their attitudes toward love and marriage Below is a summary of each group’s responses to the four key values.

Physical attractiveness: The Americans are

much more concerned than the Indians and the Chinese with physical attractiveness when choosing a wife or a husband They also agree that a wife should maintain her beauty and appearance after marriage

Confiding: Few Asian students agree with the

American students’ view that wives and husbands share all thoughts In fact, a majority

of Indians and Chinese think it is better and wiser for a couple not to share certain thoughts A large number of Indians men agree that it is unwise to confide in their wives

Partnership of equals: The majority of an

Indian students reject the American view that marriage is a partnership of equals Many Indian students agree that a woman has to sacrifice more in a marriage than a man

Trust built on love: Significantly, more Asian

students than American students agree that a husband is obliged to tell his wife where he has been if he comes home late The Asians wife can demand a record of her husband’s activities The American wife, however, trust her husband to do the right thing because he loves her not because he has to

The comparison of the four values suggests that young Asians are not as romantic as their American counterparts.

II While reading

Read the passage and do the tasks that follow

Task 1 Explain the meaning of the italicized

words/phrases in the following sentences

1 Love is supposed to follow marriage, not preceded it.

2 A survey was made to determine their attitudes toward love and marriage.

3 They agree that it is unwise to confide in their wives.

4 An Indian woman has to sacrifice more in a marriage than a man.

5 A husband is obliged to tell his wife where he has been

precede = happen or exist before

Discuss the following question.

Do American and Asian students have the same opinions about love and marriage?

To know some more about this problem and to answer this question, let’s move to task 2,

Task 2 Answer the following questions

You are to read the passage again and answer the questions in the book.

Before reading the passage again, you should skim the five questions and underline the key words

1 What are the four key values in the survey?

2 Who are much more concerned with physical

attractiveness when choosing a wife or a husband, the young Americans or the young Asians?

3 What are the Indian students’ attitudes on a

partnership of equals?

4 Why does the American wife trust her husband to

do the right thing?

5 What is the main finding of the survey?

1 What are the four key values in the survey?

- They are physical attractiveness; confiding;

partnership of equals; trust built on love.

2 Who are much more concerned with physical

attractiveness when choosing a wife or a husband, the young Americans or the young Asians?

- The young Americans are much more concerned than

the young Indians and the Chinese with physical attractiveness when choosing a wife ot a husband.

3 What are the Indian students’ attitudes on a partnership of equals?

• The Indian students agree that a woman has to sacrifice more in a marriage than a man

4 Why does the American wife trust her husband to do the right thing?

• The American wife trust her husband to do the right thing because he loves her not because he has to

5 What is the main finding of the survey?

• The main finding of the survey is that

young Asians are not as romantic as their American counterparts

Work in groups Discuss and talk about the differences between a traditional Vietnamese family and a modern Vietnamese family based on the cues bellow.

- Number of children

- The house they like to have

- The head of the family

Each modern Vietnamese family often has 1 or

2 children.

…….

Example.

THE END