Post-listening activities.

1. Listen to the dialogue again. Complete the sentences us­ing the words in brackets, to reproduce the exact wording of the interview (I: - Interviewer, R – Raj).

I: And your father arranged your marriage, is that right?

R: Yes, that's right.

I: Could you tell me how h9 did that?

R: Yes. He [to look around, a suitable husband, to find out, education, background, to get information].

I: And did this take a long time?

R: In my case, no, but it depends you see, sometimes a fa­ther [see up to, see over a hundred men, difficult to decide].

I: And for you?

R: He saw only two, one in the morning and one in the eve­ning, and he chose the second one.

I: ... ... ! Tell me about that day.

R: Yes, well, in the morning the first man came. He [very wealthy, educated, good manners].

I: And the other one?

R: He [terribly wealthy, a good background, suitable, to study law].

I: And your father chose him?

R: Yes ... . I think he thought that money wasn't everything. [Education, to earn later]. Actually, Shyam, that's my husband's name, [to get married, to wait, to persuade, to be badly dressed, to refuse smb, to like smb to say 'yes'].

I: And did you meet him that day?

R: Yes. First [family, call smb in, to talk for four minutes, to decide immediately].

I: And did you agree?

R: Of course. My father had decided.

I: But did you prefer the second?

R: Wei! [to be sure, to leave smth to smb].

I: And what happened next?

R: Well, after a certain time, [a special day, a sort of en­gagement party, to be on the phone, a chaperon].

I: And how long have you been married?

R: Oh, for twenty two years now.

I: (a successful marriage)? [to be pleased]

R: Oh, yes, of course.

I: Now you have two sons, don't you, one twenty one and one fifteen. Are you going to arrange their marriages?

R: Yes [to plan, some suitable ones].

I: Do you think that a system of arranged marriages is a good one? I can see that you've had a good marriage, but what about other people? How common is this system of arranged marriages?

R: Well, most marriages in India [to be arranged, to work, to depend on, to enter the marriage, to expect too much]. Actually, there are many more divorces [to marry for love, to last].

I: And is sixteen the age when girls get married?

R: Well, my mother was married at thirteen, but [to con­sider, too young, too old, to be integrated, sixteen or seven­teen].