Surprising News Aletter providing gossip of an unexpected engagement. Site ketene | 1. Take a few minutes to skim the letter and say what the surprising news is. 2. Recall some surprising news that you yourself once heard. | 3. Do you like surprises? Why or why not? READ AND UNDERSTAND. PERE Now read the letter below. You can look up the meanings of the words and idioms in bold in the Vocabulary Study section that follows. 25/5102 ‘Dear Kay, ; / j iidn’t wait sting this in a hury before I g0 to work, 1 Jus oo ope oe ae musing news. You over guess WHOW RE surpri a arias ‘pares and Mark Wilson! There, T bet ta engag you! it e's birthday party. Tt was & We er sha ska one ema fantastic PTY Ww iiant time, when Mark suddenly £912 aaena i ig. It took him a while to get everyone oo ae him, but he announced that he had a a vnonest woman of Rose and that be ad baa = a the previous evening. He talked some morehappy Rose had made him by agreeing to become his wi ‘waxed lyrical about how wonderful she is. By this time, hardly anyone was listening. Most of us Were gobsmacked. 1 didn’t know that they were even friends, because T don't see either of them very often. Pam said that ‘with the benefit of hindsight she 1d have realized that there Was something going on between Rose shoul ‘and Mark, because they had seemed to be joined at the hip in recent ‘weeks. However, they and Pam work in the same firm and she thought business was bringing tem together a lot. and Mark are chalk and cheese and the idea of ‘As you know, Rose impossible. Besides, we all thought that them tying the knot seem: ‘Mark was a confirmed bachelor Jill says that she is quite certain i _ of course, she is a well-known c¥iS but that it will all end in tears. T think there is some truth in what she says. Apparently there are g with all the already signs of trouble. Rose wants & huge weddin§ trimmings. Mark wants them {0 8° abroad and get married quietly on ‘beach somewhere. Wateh this space! Pit have to go now oF 1 be late for work, Write soon and Tet me know how you're getting on at coleBe: T'm looking forward to Easter when you'll be home for the holidays and we can ave a £008 chat. ‘Much love, Jenny man Susuding z(nn eee iS bachelor, a confirmed ater the event abo used in exaggerated way, «forma = bachelor (cliché) connection with this idea. ‘sounding expression but 5 «man who seems unikely widely used. Lirly, wax e | evertomary.havng been een at me ie ‘means to grow ond ‘ica 2 | garage ite 010 yo peop, 1 be fgeher meas eesrg ces 3 ios of he time. The ree 2 chalk and cheese (cliche) Suggestions that wo people Pree May IU RN MG 3 10 be completely different; ‘are wolking so cose to each oe 3 | used in a wide variety of other that they look as though Same meaning contexts to emphasize ‘hey are joined to each other question, pop the question 1 diference,ofen between at he ip. Aclché conveying (ctiché) ‘people n orig, the cliché is athe same meaning as this to ask someone to marry you: "Teference to the foc thot chalk, colloqualism's be (or live) in used in informal contexts ‘which is vually tasteless, ond each other's pockets. ‘space, watch this spacel cheese, whichis dstncven honest, make an honest (clické) frvour are very different in woman of someone (cliché) used fo nccate tha here is : | faste.Sometimes the cliché of a man, o marry a woman, likely to be news about what {aks the form of ike chalk often citer they have been has been talked about. In ‘and cheese. together for quite some time; origin, it refers to a statement : ‘gobsmacked (colloquationy USE informal humorous on blank poster which is | Stremoy sured anazad, coniex.n gh the kh about fo omounce anew x | Gee nveryeormator song ‘efts foc woman who was prod i contexts. b's a slang term —_sither seduced by a mon ‘ear, it will all end in tears : | meaning the mouth, ond so before martage or who had 4g) 4 | Gobemacked meansas edwin. BED Gang ht someting ‘though you had been struck ‘married, thereby baving done likely to have an unfortunate {onthe mouth someting eparded 0 beng ering. rg the che wrong or uniawiu. The moder ers to an old waming to | hindsight, with the benefit ccneisnoresticedn this hen when ployig gomes lich | Ganfatnatert nena <2 to incicate they might get hut of knowledge or understanding ‘knot, tie the knot or start quarreling, ‘of asituation or event which is (dame) trimming, with all the | obtained only after it has ‘Tolgstimarried; used ial trimmings (cliché) happened and which might ME Test formal oF contexts eying gil the extra things well have affected your lyrical, wax lyrical (cliché) which are traditionally ‘actions, had you had this ‘to speck in a very associated with a special Imawledge and understanding complimentary or adrriing occasion, before the situation or event way about someone or occured. The cliché be wise someting, offen in on soe 10Ee Maeno 1, What was the piece of news that Jenny wanted to give Kay? 2. What was the reaction of the party guests when they heard Mark's announcement? 3. Give the three reasons for Jenny's reaction to Mark's news. | 4. Give one example of how Rose and Mark are different. ‘Do you think that Jenny was in support of the marriage of Rose and Mark? Give evidence for your answer. 2. Jenny used several idioms that made her letter interesting, Paraphrase these sentences using plain language. (a) He waxed lyrical about how wonderful she is. () Rose and Mark are chalk and cheese. (©) The idea of them tying the knot seems impossible. (@ Rose wants a huge wedding with all the trimmings. men Bulsidins %3. Summarize the main points of Jenny’s letter in 70 words. Begin your summary with this sentence: “Mark gave a party with lots of food, drink and good music.” 1. Pick out some features that indicate this was @ friendly letter. (Hint: Look at the salutation, the complimentary close, the relationship between the writer and addressee, the subject matter of the letter and the way it was expressed.) (a) (b) © @ ©. Write a letter of 250 words to a friend to tell hinvher of some surprising news. Try to use at least three of the idioms found in Jenny's letter. Your letter could deal with such points as: + how and when you heard the news + details of the happening that surprised you + how you felt about the situation