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Height may be the key to a happy marriage (7th December, 2015)

The Reading / Listening - Level 6

Researchers have discovered what they believe is one of the keys to a happy marriage. A difference in height between the two partners could be a secret ingredient for marital bliss. Professor Kitae Sohn of Konkuk University in South Korea has discovered that the taller a woman's husband is, the happier she is. Mr Sohn said: "A greater height difference in a couple was positively related to the wife's happiness." However, he said the attraction and benefits for a woman having a tall husband do not last forever and diminish over time. Sohn said the appeal of a taller husband "gradually weakened over time". He said he was surprised to find that it took around 18 years of marriage for this appeal to disappear.

Professor Sohn said he was intrigued as to why women seemed to prefer taller men. He said: "Although it has been known that women prefer tall men in mating for evolutionary reasons, no study has investigated whether a taller husband makes his wife happier." His study included analysing data from 7,850 Indonesian women who expressed a preference for taller men. The women said they did not know exactly why they preferred a taller mate. Sohn wrote: "Women simply like tall men, while unable to say why." He added: "This is similar to people favoring fatty, salty and sugary foods without knowing exactly why." However, the BBC noted that shorter men can be more stable, better husbands.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Level 4 or Level 5

Sources

http://www.myfoxboston.com/story/30670636/a-tall-husband-may-be-the-key-to-a-happy-marriage
http://mic.com/articles/129663/science-says-women-care-quite-a-bit-about-their-partners-height#.WC13q53Ui
http://voicetelegraph.com/2015/12/04/the-secret-to-a-happy-marriage-its-all-in-your-height.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 :-)

The 40 Lesson Activities on the PDF Handout

WARM-UPS

1. MARRIAGE: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about marriage. 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?

researchers / happy marriage / secret ingredient / marital bliss / couple / forever / intrigued / evolutionary / investigated / preference / sugary foods / tall men / husband

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

3. MARITAL BLISS: How can marriages be better? Complete this table and share what you wrote with your partner(s). Change partners often.

	The perfect situation	What is (would be) your situation?
Romance
Talking
Money
Friends
Housework
Jobs

4. TALL: Students A strongly believe it is better to be taller; Students B strongly believe it is better to be shorter. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

MY e-BOOK

ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers

See a sample

5. HAPPY MARRIAGE: Rank these with your partner. Put the things that most make a marriage happy at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

• flowers

• restaurant dinners

• shared hobbies

• separate bank accounts

• shared housework

• saying "I love you"

• children

• expensive presents

6. HEIGHT: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "height". 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.	Researchers found a key that leads to a happy marriage.	T / F
b.	The researcher in the article works at a university in South Korea.	T / F
c.	The researcher said being tall helps a husband forever.	T / F
d.	The researcher said people fall more in love after 18 years of marriage.	T / F
e.	There have been many studies into why women prefer tall men.	T / F
f.	The study only looked at women from Indonesia.	T / F
g.	The researcher said women like husbands who prefer sugary foods.	T / F
h.	The BBC said shorter men can be better husbands.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	keys	a.	decreases
2.	bliss	b.	appeal
3.	related	c.	fascinated
4.	attraction	d.	joy
5.	diminishes	e.	reveal
6.	intrigued	f.	secrets
7.	investigated	g.	secure
8.	express	h.	looked into
9.	exactly	i.	connected
10.	stable	j.	precisely

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

1.	one of the keys	a.	weakened
2.	a secret ingredient for marital	b.	difference in a couple
3.	A greater height	c.	and sugary foods
4.	does not last forever and diminishes	d.	a preference
5.	gradually	e.	over time
6.	he was intrigued	f.	be more stable
7.	analysing	g.	to a happy marriage
8.	women who expressed	h.	as to why
9.	people favoring fatty, salty	i.	bliss
10.	shorter men can	j.	data

GAP FILL

Researchers have discovered what they (1) ____________ is one of the keys to a happy marriage. A difference in (2) ____________ between the two partners could be a secret ingredient for marital (3) ____________. Professor Kitae Sohn of Konkuk University in South Korea has discovered that the taller a woman's husband is, the happier she is. Mr Sohn said: "A (4) ____________ height difference in a couple was positively related to the wife's happiness." However, he said the (5) ____________ and benefits for a woman having a tall husband do not last forever and (6) ____________ over time. Sohn said the appeal of a taller husband "(7) ____________ weakened over time". He said he was surprised to find that it took around 18 years of marriage for this (8) ____________ to disappear.

bliss
believe
diminishes
attraction
appeal
greater
gradually
height

Professor Sohn said he was intrigued as to why women (9) ____________ to prefer taller men. He said: "Although it has been known that women prefer tall men in mating for evolutionary (10) ____________, no study has investigated (11) ____________ a taller husband makes his wife happier." His study included analysing (12) ____________ from 7,850 Indonesian women who expressed a preference for taller men. The women said they did not know (13) ____________ why they preferred a taller mate. Sohn wrote: "Women simply like tall men, while (14) ____________ to say why." He added: "This is similar to people (15) ____________ fatty, salty and sugary foods without knowing exactly why." However, the BBC noted that shorter men can be more (16) ____________, better husbands.

data
reasons
favoring
whether
exactly
stable
seemed
unable

LISTENING - Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)	Researchers have discovered what they believe is one of the keys to _____
	a. a happy marriages b. a happy marriage c. a happily marriage d. a happily marriages
2)	A difference in height between the two partners could be a secret ingredient _____
	a. from marital bliss b. of marital bliss c. free marital bliss d. for marital bliss
3)	the taller a woman's husband is, the ______
	a. happiest she is b. happier he is c. happiest he is d. happier she is
4)	having a tall husband does not last forever and ______
	a. diminish is over time b. diminishes overly time c. diminishes over times d. diminish over time
5)	it took around 18 years of marriage for this ______
	a. appeal to disappearance b. appeal to disappearing c. appeal to disappear d. appeal to disappears
6)	Sohn said he was intrigued as to why women seemed to ______
	a. preference taller men b. preferred taller men c. prefers taller men d. prefer taller men
7)	it has been known that women prefer tall men in mating for ______
	a. evolution are free reasons b. evolutionary reason c. evolutionary reasons d. evolutionary reasonings
8)	His study included analysing data from 7,850 Indonesian women who ______
	a. expressed the preference b. expressed a preference c. expressed any preference d. expressed a preferences
9)	Women simply like tall men, while unable ______
	a. to stay why b. to say why c. to say which d. to speak why
10)	However, the BBC noted that shorter men can be more ______
	a. stable, better husband b. staple, better husbands c. staple, better husband d. stable, better husbands

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

Researchers have discovered what they believe (1) ___________________ keys to a happy marriage. A difference in height between the two partners could be a secret ingredient (2) ___________________. Professor Kitae Sohn of Konkuk University in South Korea has discovered that the taller a woman's husband is, (3) ___________________. Mr Sohn said: "A greater height difference in a couple was positively related to the wife's happiness." However, he (4) ___________________ and benefits for a woman having a tall husband do not last forever and (5) ___________________. Sohn said the appeal of a taller husband "gradually weakened over time". He said he was surprised to find that (6) ___________________ 18 years of marriage for this appeal to disappear.

Professor Sohn said he was intrigued (7) ___________________ women seemed to prefer taller men. He said: "Although it has been known that women prefer tall men (8) ___________________ evolutionary reasons, no study has investigated (9) ___________________ husband makes his wife happier." His study included analysing data from 7,850 Indonesian women who expressed a preference for taller men. The women said they did not know exactly (10) ___________________ a taller mate. Sohn wrote: "Women simply like tall men, while unable to say why." He added: "This is similar to people favoring fatty, salty (11) ___________________ without knowing exactly why." However, the BBC noted that shorter men (12) ___________________, better husbands.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1.	What is a height difference the secret ingredient for?
2.	In which country does professor Sohn teach?
3.	What did a greater height difference in a couple relate to for the wife?
4.	What did professor Sohn say weakened over time?
5.	How long did it take for the appeal of a taller man to disappear?
6.	How many women did professor Sohn look at in the study?
7.	Where were the women in the study from?
8.	What were the women unable to say?
9.	What did Sohn compare not knowing why women liked taller men to?
10.	What did the BBC say shorter men can be?

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ

1.	What is a height difference the secret ingredient for?	6.	How many women did professor Sohn look at in the study?
	a) divorce b) a love cake c) disaster d) marital bliss		a) 7,580 b) 8,570 c) 7,850 d) 5,780
2.	In which country does professor Sohn teach?	7.	Where were the women in the study from?
	a) Italy b) South Korea c) Brazil d) South Africa		a) Indonesia b) South America c) all over the world d) the USA
3.	What did a greater height difference in a couple relate to for the wife?	8.	What were the women unable to say?
	a) 14cm b) more money c) higher shoes d) her happiness		a) how much taller b) their own height c) why they preferred taller men d) the words "I love you"
4.	What did professor Sohn say weakened over time?	9.	What did Sohn compare not knowing why women liked taller men to?
	a) our heart b) romance c) the attraction of a tall man d) love		a) travelling b) food c) music d) sport
5.	How long did it take for the appeal of a taller man to disappear?	10.	What did the BBC say shorter men can be?
	a) the blink of an eye b) not long c) a lifetime d) around 18 years		a) better husbands b) more romantic c) taller d) more intelligent

ROLE PLAY

Role A – Flowers

You think flowers are the best things to keep a marriage happy. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least effective of these (and why): shared hobbies, children or restaurant dinners.

Role B – Shared hobbies

You think shared hobbies are the best things to keep a marriage happy. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least effective of these (and why): flowers, children or restaurant dinners.

Role C – Children

You think children are the best things to keep a marriage happy. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least effective of these (and why): shared hobbies, flowers or restaurant dinners.

Role D – Restaurant dinners

You think restaurant dinners are the best things to keep a marriage happy. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their things aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the least effective of these (and why): shared hobbies, children or flowers.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words 'secret' and 'ingredient'.

secret

ingredient

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:

believe
secret
happier
related
however
18

intrigued
reasons
data
simply
salty
shorter

MARRIAGE SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about marriage 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.

MARRIAGE 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 you think about what you read?
4)	What do you think are the secrets to a happy marriage?
5)	Is height important to you in a partner?
6)	Who is the happiest couple you know? Why are they so happy?
7)	Why might a woman be happier with a taller man?
8)	Does it matter if the woman is much taller than the man?
9)	Why do you think it takes 18 years for the appeal of a taller husband to disappear?
10)	How happy are you with your height?

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

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

11)	Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
12)	What intrigues you about marriage?
13)	Why do men grow taller than women?
14)	Why might it be important to know if a taller man makes a woman happier?
15)	Do you think the findings in this study are typical worldwide?
16)	What makes a great husband or wife?
17)	When is tall too tall?
18)	What is the perfect height for a partner, and why?
19)	What do you think of what the BBC said about shorter men?
20)	What questions would you like to ask the researcher?

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

Researchers have discovered what they believe is one of the (1) ____ to a happy marriage. A difference (2) ____ height between the two partners could be a secret ingredient for marital (3) ____. Professor Kitae Sohn of Konkuk University in South Korea has discovered that the taller a woman's husband is, the happier she is. Mr Sohn said: "A greater height difference in a couple was positively (4) ____ to the wife's happiness." However, he said the attraction and benefits for a woman having a tall husband do not last forever and diminish over time. Sohn said the appeal of a taller husband "gradually (5) ____ over time". He said he was surprised to find that it took around 18 years of (6) ____ for this appeal to disappear.

Professor Sohn said he was intrigued (7) ____ to why women seemed to prefer taller men. He said: "Although it has been known that women prefer tall men in (8) ____ for evolutionary reasons, no study has investigated whether a taller husband makes his wife happier." His study included analysing data from 7,850 Indonesian women who (9) ____ a preference for taller men. The women said they did not know exactly why they preferred a taller mate. Sohn wrote: "Women (10) ____ like tall men, while unable to say why." He added: "This is similar to people favoring fatty, salty and sugary foods without knowing (11) ____ why." However, the BBC noted that shorter men can be more (12) ____, better husbands.

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

1.	(a)	locks	(b)	keys	(c)	chains	(d)	securities
2.	(a)	to	(b)	in	(c)	on	(d)	as
3.	(a)	kiss	(b)	hiss	(c)	remiss	(d)	bliss
4.	(a)	partial	(b)	related	(c)	ended	(d)	divorced
5.	(a)	weakening	(b)	weak	(c)	weakened	(d)	weaken
6.	(a)	marital	(b)	married	(c)	marriage	(d)	marrying
7.	(a)	as	(b)	for	(c)	oh	(d)	at
8.	(a)	meeting	(b)	meting	(c)	mating	(d)	matting
9.	(a)	assessed	(b)	digressed	(c)	compressed	(d)	expressed
10.	(a)	simply	(b)	easy	(c)	partial	(d)	prefer
11.	(a)	exactly	(b)	exact	(c)	exacted	(d)	exacts
12.	(a)	stable	(b)	unmoving	(c)	unchanging	(d)	stout

SPELLING

Paragraph 1
1.	the keys to a happy raargiem
2.	a secret tniedigrne
3.	ysliteopvi related to the wife's happiness
4.	the irtntoaact and benefits
5.	mhseidnii over time
6.	udgllyraa weakened
Paragraph 2
7.	Professor Sohn said he was rteuindig
8.	for rialevoytnuo reasons
9.	expressed a ecpferenre
10.	did not know ecxylat why
11.	fatty, salty and auygrs foods
12.	more bltase, better husbands

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( )	South Korea has discovered that the taller a woman's husband is, the happier she is. Mr Sohn said: "A greater height
( )	to people favoring fatty, salty and sugary foods without knowing exactly
( )	husband makes his wife happier." His study included analysing data from 7,850 Indonesian
( )	known that women prefer tall men in mating for evolutionary reasons, no study has investigated whether a taller
( )	height between the two partners could be a secret ingredient for marital bliss. Professor Kitae Sohn of Konkuk University in
( 1 )	Researchers have discovered what they believe is one of the keys to a happy marriage. A difference in
( )	of a taller husband "gradually weakened over time". He said he was surprised to
( )	difference in a couple was positively related to the wife's happiness." However, he said the attraction
( )	Professor Sohn said he was intrigued as to why women seemed to prefer taller men. He said: "Although it has been
( )	and benefits for a woman having a tall husband do not last forever and diminish over time. Sohn said the appeal
( )	why." However, the BBC noted that shorter men can be more stable, better husbands.
( )	find that it took around 18 years of marriage for this appeal to disappear.
( )	women who expressed a preference for taller men. The women said they did not know exactly why they preferred
( )	a taller mate. Sohn wrote: "Women simply like tall men, while unable to say why." He added: "This is similar

PUT THE WORDS IN THE RIGHT ORDER

1.	in partners height between A the difference two .
2.	happier the , is husband woman's a taller The is she .
3.	Benefits a for tall a husband woman having .
4.	appeal gradually of weakened a taller The husband .
5.	it that find to surprised was He years 18 around took .
6.	as women prefer Intrigued why to men to seemed taller .
7.	expressed men a preference Women for who taller .
8.	said not why women did exactly The they know .
9.	why say to unable while , men tall like simply Women .
10.	better Shorter be , can stable husbands men more .

CIRCLE THE CORRECT WORD (20 PAIRS)

Researchers have discovered / discovering what they believe is one of the keys to a happy / happily marriage. A difference in height between the two partners could be a secret / secreted ingredient for marital bliss. Professor Kitae Sohn of Konkuk University in South Korea has discovered that the height / taller a woman's husband is, the happier she be / is. Mr Sohn said: "A greater height different / difference in a couple was positively related to the wife's happiness." However, he said the attractive / attraction and benefits for a woman having a tall husband do not last / list forever and diminish over time. Sohn said the appeal of a taller husband "gradually / gradual weakened over time". He said he was surprised to find that it took around 18 years of marriage for this appeal to / for disappear.

Professor Sohn said he was intriguing / intrigued as to why women seemed to prefer / preference taller men. He said: "Although it has been knowing / known that women prefer tall men in mating for evolutionary reasons, no study has investigated whether a taller husband makes his wife happily / happier." His study inclusive / included analysing data from 7,850 Indonesian women who expressed a preference / preferring for taller men. The women said they did not know exact / exactly why they preferred a taller mate. Sohn wrote: "Women simply / simple like tall men, while unable to say why." He added: "This is similar to people favoring / flavoring fatty, salty and sugary foods without knowing exactly why." However, the BBC noted that shorter men can be more stable / stability, better husbands.

Talk about the connection between each pair of words in italics, and why the correct word is correct.

INSERT THE VOWELS (a, e, i, o, u)

R_s__rch_rs h_v_ d_sc_v_r_d wh_t th_y b_l__v_ _s _n_ _f th_ k_ys t_ _ h_ppy m_rr__g_. _ d_ff_r_nc_ _n h__ght b_tw__n th_ tw_ p_rtn_rs c__ld b_ _ s_cr_t _ngr_d__nt f_r m_r_t_l bl_ss. Pr_f_ss_r K_t__ S_hn _f K_nk_k _n_v_rs_ty _n S__th K_r__ h_s d_sc_v_r_d th_t th_ t_ll_r _ w_m_n's h_sb_nd _s, th_ h_pp__r sh_ _s. Mr S_hn s__d: "_ gr__t_r h__ght d_ff_r_nc_ _n _ c__pl_ w_s p_s_t_v_ly r_l_t_d t_ th_ w_f_'s h_pp_n_ss." H_w_v_r, h_ s__d th_ _ttr_ct__n _nd b_n_f_ts f_r _ w_m_n h_v_ng _ t_ll h_sb_nd d_ n_t l_st f_r_v_r _nd d_m_n_sh _v_r t_m_. S_hn s__d th_ _pp__l _f _ t_ll_r h_sb_nd "gr_d__lly w__k_n_d _v_r t_m_". H_ s__d h_ w_s s_rpr_s_d t_ f_nd th_t _t t__k _r__nd 18 y__rs _f m_rr__g_ f_r th_s _pp__l t_ d_s_pp__r.

Pr_f_ss_r S_hn s__d h_ w_s _ntr_g__d _s t_ why w_m_n s__m_d t_ pr_f_r t_ll_r m_n. H_ s__d: "_lth__gh _t h_s b__n kn_wn th_t w_m_n pr_f_r t_ll m_n _n m_t_ng f_r _v_l_t__n_ry r__s_ns, n_ st_dy h_s _nv_st_g_t_d wh_th_r _ t_ll_r h_sb_nd m_k_s h_s w_f_ h_pp__r." H_s st_dy _ncl_d_d _n_lys_ng d_t_ fr_m 7,850 _nd_n_s__n w_m_n wh_ _xpr_ss_d _ pr_f_r_nc_ f_r t_ll_r m_n. Th_ w_m_n s__d th_y d_d n_t kn_w _x_ctly why th_y pr_f_rr_d _ t_ll_r m_t_. S_hn wr_t_: "W_m_n s_mply l_k_ t_ll m_n, wh_l_ _n_bl_ t_ s_y why." H_ _dd_d: "Th_s _s s_m_l_r t_ p__pl_ f_v_r_ng f_tty, s_lty _nd s_g_ry f__ds w_th__t kn_w_ng _x_ctly why." H_w_v_r, th_ BBC n_t_d th_t sh_rt_r m_n c_n b_ m_r_ st_bl_, b_tt_r h_sb_nds.

PUNCTUATE THE TEXT AND ADD CAPITALS

researchers have discovered what they believe is one of the keys to a happy marriage a difference in height between the two partners could be a secret ingredient for marital bliss professor kitae sohn of konkuk university in south korea has discovered that the taller a woman's husband is the happier she is mr sohn said "a greater height difference in a couple was positively related to the wife's happiness" however he said the attraction and benefits for a woman having a tall husband do not last forever and diminish over time sohn said the appeal of a taller husband "gradually weakened over time" he said he was surprised to find that it took around 18 years of marriage for this appeal to disappear

professor sohn said he was intrigued as to why women seemed to prefer taller men he said "although it has been known that women prefer tall men in mating for evolutionary reasons no study has investigated whether a taller husband makes his wife happier" his study included analysing data from 7850 indonesian women who expressed a preference for taller men the women said they did not know exactly why they preferred a taller mate sohn wrote "women simply like tall men while unable to say why" he added "this is similar to people favoring fatty salty and sugary foods without knowing exactly why" however the bbc noted that shorter men can be more stable better husbands

PUT A SLASH ( / ) WHERE THE SPACES ARE

Researchershavediscoveredwhattheybelieveisoneofthekeystoahap
pymarriage.Adifferenceinheightbetweenthetwopartnerscouldbease
cretingredientformaritalbliss.ProfessorKitaeSohnofKonkukUniversi
tyinSouthKoreahasdiscoveredthatthetallerawoman'shusbandis,the
happiersheis.MrSohnsaid:"Agreaterheightdifferenceinacouplewasp
ositivelyrelatedtothewife'shappiness."However,hesaidtheattraction
andbenefitsforawomanhavingatallhusbanddonotlastforeveranddi
minishovertime.Sohnsaidtheappealofatallerhusband"graduallyw
eakenedovertime".Hesaidhewassurprisedtofindthatittookaround18
yearsofmarriageforthisappealtodisappear.ProfessorSohnsaidhewas
intriguedastowhywomenseemedtoprefertallermen.Hesaid:"Althou
ghithasbeenknownthatwomenprefertallmeninmatingforevolutionar
yreasons,nostudyhasinvestigatedwhetheratallerhusbandmakeshis
wifehappier."Hisstudyincludedanalysingdatafrom7,850Indonesian
womenwhoexpressedapreferencefortallermen.Thewomensaidthey
didnotknowexactlywhytheypreferredatallermate.Sohnwrote:"Wom
ensimplyliketallmen,whileunabletosaywhy."Headded:"Thisissimilar
topeoplefavoringfatty,saltyandsugaryfoodswithoutknowingexactly
why."However,theBBCnotedthatshortermencanbemorestable,bett
erhusbands.

FREE WRITING

Write about marriage for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

ACADEMIC WRITING

What are the advantages and disadvantages of being tall? Would you like to be taller? Why?

_____________________________________________________________________________

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about height and marriage. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. MARRIAGE: Make a poster about marriage. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. HEIGHT: Write a magazine article about height. Include imaginary interviews with people who think it is better to be tall, and with people who think it is better to be short.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.

6. LETTER: Write a letter to an expert on marriage. Ask him/her three questions about marriage. Give him/her three of your ideas on how to have a happy marriage. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

A Few Additional Activities for Students

Ask your students what they have read, seen or heard about this news in their own language. Students are likely to / may have have encountered this news in their L1 and therefore bring a background knowledge to the classroom.

Get students to role play different characters from this news story.

Ask students to keep track of this news and revisit it to discuss in your next class.

Ask students to male predictions of how this news might develop in the next few days or weeks, and then revisit and discuss in a future class.

Ask students to write a follow-up story to this news.

Students role play a journalist and someone who witnessed or was a part of this news. Perhaps they could make a video of the interview.

Ask students to keep a news journal in English and add this story to their thoughts.

Also...

Buy my 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers eBook. It has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for:

News
Warm ups
Pre-reading / Post-reading
Using headlines
Working with words
While-reading / While-listening
Moving from text to speech
Post-reading / Post-listening
Discussions
Using opinions
Plans
Language
Using lists
Using quotes
Task-based activities
Role plays
Using the central characters in the article
Using themes from the news
Homework

Buy my book

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ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE (p.4)

a

T

b

T

c

F

d

F

e

F

f

T

g

F

h

T

SYNONYM MATCH (p.4)

1.	keys	a.	secrets
2	bliss	b.	joy
3.	related	c.	connected
4.	attraction	d.	appeal
5.	diminishes	e.	decreases
6.	intrigued	f.	fascinated
7.	investigated	g.	looked into
8.	express	h.	reveal
9.	exactly	i.	precisely
10.	stable	j.	secure

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS (p.8)

1.	Marital bliss
2.	South Korea
3.	Her happiness
4.	The attraction of a tall man
5.	Around 18 years
6.	7,850
7.	Indonesia
8.	Why they preferred a tall mate
9.	Favoring fatty, salty and sugary foods
10.	More stable and better husbands

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ (p.9)

1.

d

2.

b

3.

d

4.

c

5.

d

6.

c

7.

a

8.

c

9.

b

10.

a

ALL OTHER EXERCISES

Please check for yourself by looking at the Article on page 2.
(It's good for your English ;-)

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Height may be the key to a happy marriage (7th December, 2015)

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