Lesson 17

with the nicest smiie, " says Maria, "and he was just the right height for me! " They both realized immediately that they were just right for each other in lots of oth.cr ways too. Ten days later they were married and Maria came io live in England with her husband---"the best thing that's ever come to me through the post?she says.

                      3. Husband and Wife for ￡45 Eacb

    Attractive Kay Knight is expecting her first baby in a few months' time. She smiled happily at her husband Mike as she told us their story. "I woke up on my thirty-fifth birthday thinking, 'Help. I'm turning into a real old spinster schoolteacher. ' All my. friends seemed to be married with homes and families of their own. But where was I? I love my job-don't get me wrong. I've had a very satisfying career, but teaching other people' s children isn' t the same as bringing up your own."She'll make a wonderful mother," said Mike. "I can't think why she wasn't snapped up years ago. But I'm glad she wasn't, or I wouldn't have found her."

    How did they find each other? "Well," said Kay, "as a young woman I'd had a few boyfriends, but never anything serious. Then I realized I wasn't even meeting any men, not unmarried ones anyway. So I took a deep breat6 and wrote to a Marriage Bureau. " Iiay ha d to fill in a detailed form and then attend an interview. "It was very thorough, " she said. "They really wanted to make sure I was serious about wanting to get married, and they took a lot of trouble to find out what kind of person I was and the sort of man I thought I'd like to marry. I was told I'd be given three introductions to suitable men for a fee of ￡15. If I married one of them, I'd have to pay another ￡30. The first introduction was to another teacher, which she didn't think was a good idea, but the second was to Mike.

　

    Mike took up the story. "I got married when I was a young man of 22, but my wife was killed a year later in a car accident. I was completely shattered. I put all my energies into m.y work and spent many years abroad with my firm. Then I came back to England. to work at Head Office and realized how empty my life had become. 1 didn't just want to work; I wanted a wife and children. I needed someone to make my house into a home. I wasn't interested in young girls, but how cowld I find a mature, loving woman to share my life? I think my sister and brother-in-law must have g,uessed how I was feeling. They introduced me to a charming older couple one evening. After they'd. gone home I remarked how well-suited they seerned and my sister told me why--they'd met through a Marriage Bureau. `You should give it a try,' she said. So I did."

    Mike phoned a bureau the very next day and went for an interview the following week. He was given three names, including Kay's. He wrote to her first because he thought a school-teacher would probably like ch:ildren. Their first date was a disaster. "We agreed to meet for a picnic and it poured with rain, " he told us. "But we both saw the funny side of it, and from then on everything went right." Within'a month o# their first meeting he proposed and they got engaged. The wedding took place a year ago. "Speaking as a businessman, " said Mike, "this is the best deal I've ever made!"

                        4. Dating Pattens in the USA

    In the traditional dating pattern in the United States,much of the responsibility for a date falls to the young man. In this pattern, the young man must first call fhe girl he wishes to date on the telephone. Usually, this call is made quite early in a week. Most girls iwtraditional dating relationships expect to get a telephone call from a young man by Wednesday. Most dating occurs on weekends. Many young ,people do not have to get up early for school or work on Saturday and Sunday mornings, so Friday nights and Saturday nights are popular nights for dates. The young man must ask the girl for the date, and suggest some things that they might.do together. It is usually up to the young man to pay for all of the evening's activities.

    There are many things to do on dates. Many young people enjoy going to sports events, such as football and baseball games. These games may occur at a high school, college, or in a large sports arena in a city. A very popular place for young people to go on dates is the movies. Almost everyone enjoys a good movie, and almost every town has at least one movie theater. Young people may also enjoy going to a night club or coffee house. Here, they may listen to music and dance, and perhaps meet some of their friends. These

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