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Unhappy marriages can break the heart (21st

November, 2014)

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26-page lesson (40 exercises)
2-page MINI lesson

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North American & British English
20 questions
5-speeds
Listen & spell
Dictation

READ
3-speed reading
Jumble 1
Jumble 2
No spaces
Text jumble

GRAMMAR
Gap fill
The / An / A
Prepositions
Word order

SPELL
Consonants
Vowels
Missing letters
Initals only
No letters

WORDS
Word pairs
Missing words
Gap fill

The Reading / Listening - Level 3

A new study shows that people in unhappy marriages have a

higher risk of getting a broken heart. A bad marriage is riskier for
older women. They get more heart disease than men because of
the stress of being in a relationship gone wrong. The study is from
Michigan State University in the USA. Lead researcher Dr Hui Lui
said the stress of being in an unhappy marriage has a big impact
on the health of our heart. Dr Lui said one reason for older women
having more heart problems is because they are generally more
caring. A wife is more likely to provide support and care for her
sick husband than the other way round. Also, if a wife is sick and
cannot look after her husband, she can get stressed about this.

Dr Lui's team studied the health of 1,200 married men and women
aged 57 to 85 over a five-year period. The researchers asked the
married couples questions about their marital quality. They asked
about whether they spent free time with or apart from their partner.
They also asked if they could trust and rely on their spouse, and
whether their spouse asks them to do too many things and is
unfair. The doctors looked at the quality of the marriages to see
who was happy and who was not. They then compared this with
the number of heart attacks and strokes people had. People in
bad marriages were more depressed, more obese and had higher
blood pressure.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Level 0, Level 1 or Level 2

Sources
http://www.medicaldaily.com/marital-problems-lead-heart-troubles-particularly-
older-women-true-broken-heart-311398
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2841109/How-bad-relationship-quite-
literally-break-heart-trapped-bad-marriage-increases-risk-heart-
disease.html#ixzz3JaLfGJuI
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/health/an-unhappy-marriage-can-literally-
break-your-heart-30759272.html

Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading
and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice, drag and
drop activities, crosswords, hangman, flash cards, matching
activities and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

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The 40 Lesson Activities on the PDF Handout

WARM-UPS

1. BROKEN HEARTS: Students walk around the class and talk to

other students about broken hearts. Change partners often and
share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, talk about these topics or words from

the article. What will the article say about them? What can you say
about these words and your life?

unhappy marriages / broken heart / riskier / stress / impact /

caring / sick / husband / health / couples / quality / free time /
heart attacks / depressed / blood pressure

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners
frequently.

3. MARITAL STRESS: How can we help couples stressed about

these things? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change
partners often and share what you wrote.

What kind of How to solve them

problems?

Money

Housework

Communication

Love

Other friends

Bad habits

4. HAPPIER: Students A strongly believe married people are

happier than single people; Students B strongly believe the
opposite. Change partners again and talk about your
conversations.

MY e-BOOK

See a sample

5. LOVE: Rank these with your partner. Put the best ways a spouse
can show his/her love at the top. Change partners often and share
your rankings.

• a kiss • go for a walk together

• share the housework • thank them

• say, "you look nice" • say, "You make me happy"

• buy presents • hold hands

6. RISK: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words
you associate with the word "risk". Share your words with your
partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into
different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true
(T) or false (F).

a. An unhappier marriage gives men more health problems. T / F

b. The study is from Cambridge University in the U.K. T/F

c. A researcher said husbands are a little more caring than T/F

wives.

d. A wife can get stressed if she is too ill to look after her T/F
husband.

e. The study looked at 1,200 married people in their 40s and T / F

50s.

f. The couples were asked about how much time they spent T / F
together.

g. Researchers compared the quality of marriage to heart T/F

attacks.

h. Unhappily married people were more overweight. T/F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the

article.

1. risk a. mostly

2. impact b. sad

3. generally c. care for

4. likely d. time frame

5. look after e. depend

6. period f. chance

7. quality g. overweight

8. rely h. probable

9. depressed i. effect

10. obese j. condition

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is

possible.)

1. have a higher risk a. wrong

2. A bad marriage is riskier b. period

3. being in a relationship gone c. apart from their

partner

4. a big impact d. round

5. the other way e. on the health of our

heart

6. over a five-year f. strokes

7. marital g. of getting a broken

heart

8. time with or h. pressure

9. heart attacks and i. quality

10.higher blood j. for older women

GAP FILL

A new study shows that people in unhappy marriages wrong

have a higher (1) ____________ of getting a broken risk
heart. A bad marriage is riskier for older women. They round
get more heart (2) ____________ than men because impact
of the stress of being in a relationship gone (3) disease
____________. The study is from Michigan State stressed
University in the USA. Lead researcher Dr Hui Lui unhappy
said the stress of being in an (4) ____________ generally
marriage has a big (5) ____________ on the
health of our heart. Dr Lui said one reason for older
women having more heart problems is because they
are (6) ____________ more caring. A wife is more
likely to provide support and care for her sick husband
than the other way (7) ____________. Also, if a wife
is sick and cannot look after her husband, she can get
(8) ____________ about this.

Dr Lui's team studied the health of 1,200 married men rely

and women (9) ____________ 57 to 85 over a five- aged
year (10) ____________. The researchers asked the number
married couples questions about their marital quality. apart
They asked about whether they spent free time with pressure
or (11) ____________ from their partner. They also period
asked if they could trust and (12) ____________ on depressed
their spouse, and whether their spouse asks them to unfair
do too many things and is (13) ____________. The
doctors looked at the quality of the marriages to see
who was happy and who was not. They then
compared this with the (14) ____________ of heart
attacks and strokes people had. People in bad
marriages were more (15) ____________, more
obese and had higher blood (16) ____________.

LISTENING - Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1) people in unhappy marriages have a higher risk of ______ heart

a. setting a broken
b. letting a broken
c. wetting a broken
d. getting a broken

2) more heart disease than men because of the stress of being in a

relationship ______

a. been wrong
b. done wrong
c. gone wrong
d. hone wrong

3) the stress of being in an unhappy marriage has a big ______

health

a. impact on the
b. impact in the
c. impact to the
d. impact up the

4) … older women having more heart problems is because they

are ______

a. general be more caring

b. general lie more caring
c. generalise more caring
d. generally more caring

5) more likely to provide support and care for her sick husband
than ______

a. the other way rounded

b. the other weigh round
c. the other way round
d. the other why round

6) studied the health of 1,200 married men and women aged 57 to

85 over ______

a. a five-year periods
b. a five-year periodical
c. a five-year period
d. a five-year peer he had

7) The researchers asked the married couples questions about

their ______

a. marital qualities
b. marital quality
c. marital qualify
d. marital qualifies

8) They also asked if they could trust and ______ spouse

a. rely on their
b. relay on their
c. re-lie on their
d. really on their

9) They then compared this with the number of heart attacks and
______

a. strokes people had

b. stroke people had
c. stokes people had
d. stoke people had

10)more depressed, more obese and had ______

a. higher bloody pressure

b. higher blooded pressure
c. higher bloods pressure
d. higher blood pressure

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

A new study shows that people (1) ___________________ have a

higher risk of getting a broken heart. A bad marriage is riskier for
older women. They get more heart disease than men because (2)
___________________ in a relationship gone wrong. The study is
from Michigan State University in the USA. Lead researcher Dr Hui
Lui said the stress of being in an unhappy marriage (3)
___________________ the health of our heart. Dr Lui said one
reason for older women having (4) ___________________ is
because they are generally more caring. A wife is more likely to
provide support and care for her sick husband than (5)
___________________. Also, if a wife is sick and cannot look after
her husband, she can (6) ___________________.

Dr Lui's team (7) ___________________ 1,200 married men and

women aged 57 to 85 over (8) ___________________. The
researchers asked the married couples questions about their
marital quality. They asked about whether they spent free time (9)
___________________ their partner. They also asked if they could
(10) ___________________ their spouse, and whether their
spouse asks them to do too many things and is unfair. The doctors
looked (11) ___________________ the marriages to see who was
happy and who was not. They then compared this with the number
of heart attacks and strokes people had. People in bad marriages
were more depressed, more obese and had (12)
___________________.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. Who has a higher risk of getting a broken heart?

2. Who is a bad marriage riskier for?

3. What do unhappy marriages have a big impact on?

4. Who is likely to be more caring?

5. Who gets more stressed if they cannot look after their spouse?

6. How many people did the researchers look at?

7. How long did the study take?

8. Who did researchers want to know if the people trusted?

9. What did researchers compare marital quality to (apart from

strokes)?

10. What was higher with people in bad marriages?

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ

1. Who has a higher risk of 6. How many people did the

getting a broken heart? researchers look at?

a) people in their 40s and 50s a) 2,100

b) husbands b) 12,000
c) newlyweds c) 1,200
d) people in unhappy d) 2,200
marriages

2. Who is a bad marriage riskier 7. How long did the study take?
for?

a) newlyweds a) 5 years
b) older women b) 6 years
c) husbands c) 9 years
d) lawyers d) 10 years

3. What do unhappy marriages 8. Who did researchers want to

have a big impact on? know if the people trusted?

a) society a) their lawyer

b) money b) their doctor
c) statistics c) their spouse
d) our heart's health d) their counsellor

4. Who is likely to be more 9. What did researchers

caring? compare marital quality to
(apart from strokes)?

a) husbands a) age
b) younger women b) heart attacks
c) wives c) salary
d) older men d) weight

5. Who gets more stressed if 10. What was higher with people
they cannot look after their in bad marriages?
spouse?

a) husbands a) blood pressure

b) newlyweds b) divorce
c) spouses c) newlyweds
d) wives d) electricity bills

ROLE PLAY

Role A – A kiss

You think a kiss is the best way to show your love to your spouse.
Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't
so good. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why):
a present, a "Thank you" or a compliment.

Role B – A present

You think a present is the best way to show your love to your
spouse. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their
things aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the worst of
these (and why): a kiss, a "Thank you" or a compliment.

Role C – A "Thank you"

You think a "Thank you" is the best way to show your love to your
spouse. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their
things aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the worst of
these (and why): a present, a kiss or a compliment.

Role D – A compliment

You think a compliment is the best way to show your love to your
spouse. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their
things aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the worst of
these (and why): a present, a "Thank you" or a kiss.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find

collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words
'broken' and 'heart'.

broken heart

Share your findings with your partners.

Make questions using the words you found.

Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down

some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

Share your questions with other classmates / groups.

Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this

exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the
activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In

groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their
meanings.

5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your

partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

unhappy 1,200
riskier whether
wrong rely
big see
likely number
sick blood

BROKEN HEARTS SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about broken hearts in the table. Do

this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own
paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their
answers.

STUDENT 1 STUDENT 2 STUDENT 3

_____________ _____________ _____________

Q.1.

Q.2.

Q.3.

Q.4.

Q.5.

Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what
you found out. Change partners often.

Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

BROKEN HEARTS DISCUSSION

STUDENT A's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

1) What did you think when you read the headline?

2) What springs to mind when you hear the word 'marriage'?

3) What do people need to do to stay happy in a marriage?

4) What do you think about what you read?

5) Why are women more affected by bad marriages?

6) What things make a marriage go bad?

7) How can couples repair a bad marriage?

8) Are wives more caring than husbands?

9) Why aren't husbands as caring as wives?

10) What experiences do you have of a broken heart?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

11) Did you like reading this article? Why/not?

12) Are you (would you be) a good husband/wife?

13) Is marriage more difficult today than it was in the past?

14) How much time should a married couple spend together?

15) What are the biggest things married couples argue about?

16) What roles do husbands and wives have in a marriage?

17) What would you do if your marriage gave you health problems?

18) How important is it to talk about marriage problems?

19) What one piece of advice would you give a married couple?

20) What questions would you like to ask the doctors?

DISCUSSION (Write your own questions)

STUDENT A's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

1.______________________________________________________

2.______________________________________________________

3.______________________________________________________

4.______________________________________________________

5.______________________________________________________

6.______________________________________________________

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

1.______________________________________________________

2.______________________________________________________

3.______________________________________________________

4.______________________________________________________

5.______________________________________________________

6.______________________________________________________

LANGUAGE - CLOZE

A new study shows that people in unhappy marriages have a (1)

____ risk of getting a broken heart. A bad marriage is riskier for
older women. They get more heart disease than men because of
the stress of (2) ____ in a relationship gone wrong. The study is
from Michigan State University in the USA. Lead researcher Dr Hui
Lui said the stress of being in an unhappy marriage has a big
impact (3) ____ the health of our heart. Dr Lui said one reason for
older women (4) ____ more heart problems is because they are
generally more caring. A wife is more (5) ____ to provide support
and care for her sick husband than the other way (6) ____. Also, if
a wife is sick and cannot look after her husband, she can get
stressed about this.

Dr Lui's team studied the health of 1,200 married men and women
(7) ____ 57 to 85 (8) ____ a five-year period. The researchers
asked the married couples questions about their marital quality.
They asked about whether they spent free time with or (9) ____
from their partner. They also asked if they could trust and rely on
their spouse, and whether their (10) ____ asks them to do too
many things and is unfair. The doctors looked at the quality of the
marriages to see who was happy and who was not. They then
compared this (11) ____ the number of heart attacks and strokes
people had. People in bad marriages were more depressed, more
obese and had higher (12) ____ pressure.

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1. (a) heighten (b) higher (c) highest (d) highs

2. (a) been (b) being (c) belong (d) be

3. (a) by (b) of (c) in (d) on

4. (a) has (b) having (c) had (d) have

5. (a) likes (b) likely (c) liked (d) likable

6. (a) long (b) square (c) round (d) up

7. (a) ages (b) aging (c) aged (d) ageless

8. (a) under (b) through (c) over (d) through

9. (a) part (b) parts (c) parted (d) apart

10. (a) foe (b) lovey- (c) praise (d) spouse

dovey

11. (a) with (b) as (c) for (d) on

12. (a) bloody (b) blooded (c) blood (d) bloods

SPELLING

Paragraph 1

1. A bad marriage is esirirk for older women

2. They get more heart essdiea than men

3. being in a esrthaiopnli gone wrong

4. has a big pticam on the health

5. they are eylgnaler more caring