The Married Couple

An anecdote.

A husband and wife went for counseling after 25 years of marriage. When asked what the problem was, the wife went into an angry tirade, listing each and every problem they had ever had in the 25 years they had been married.
The wife went on and on giving a long list of unmet needs she had endured over the course of their quarter century of marriage: “Neglect, lack of intimacy, emptiness, loneliness, and feeling unloved.”
Finally, after allowing her to talk for a sufficient length of time, the therapist stood up, walked around his desk, and told the wife to stand up. He then embraced her and kissed her passionately on the mouth.
The woman shut up and in a daze, quietly sat down. The therapist turned to the husband and said, “This is what your wife needs at least seven times a week. Do you think you can do this?”
The husband thought for a moment and replied, “Well, Doc,
I can drop her off here on Mondays and Wednesdays, but on the other days, I play golf.”

COMPREHENSION (Answer these questions in complete sentences.)
1. Why did this couple go for counseling?
2. NOUNS ADJECTIVES
a. neglect neglected
b. emptiness _______________
c. loneliness _______________
d. length _______________

3. Why was the wife unhappy? How did she feel? (Answer with adjectives.)_________________________________________
4. How many years had they been married?
___________________________________________________
5. How many years is “a century”? ____________________
6. How many years is a half a century? ___________________
7. How many years is a quarter of a century? ______________
8. What did the therapist do?
___________________________________________________
9. What did the therapist tell the husband to do to solve this problem?___________________________________________
10.How did the husband respond to the therapist’s suggestion?
___________________________________________________
10. (Talk to your partner.) Do you think the therapist’s suggestion was good? If not, what would you suggest to help this married couple?
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
VOCABULARY
1, to go for counseling
The answer is given. Please write the question?
Q: _____________________________________________
A: I went for counseling at school so I could plan my college
courses. [I talked to a counselor.]

Q: _____________________________________________
A: The couple went for marriage counseling with the hope that
they could save their marriage.
2. What is another name for “a marriage counselor”?
______________________________
3. What’s an angry tirade?
a. a long, angry speech against something
b. a flat tire
c. an angry woman

4. I can drop her off. [to drop someone off]
a. to let something fall to the ground
b. to drive someone to a destination and then leave
c. to get angry with someone and then leave

5. neglect (can be a noun or a verb)
a. to feel sad
b. to think
c. to pay little or no attention to
d.
6. What’s another word for “embraced”? (past tense of to embrace)
He embraced her. _______________________________

7. In a daze The woman stood there in a daze.
a. in her bare feet
b. by herself
c. confused, not really knowing what’s going on

8. How many times is at least 7 ?
a. 7 b. 7 or fewer c. 7 or more
YOUR TURN Write a sentence using at least.
_______________________________________________________

GRAMMAR
1. How many past-tense verbs can you find? _______________
Underline (with two lines) all the past tense-verbs in the anecdote.


2. Embedded questions
The question word in the middle [who, what, where, when, why, how] makes the subject and verb follow in regular order.
I don’t know what time it is.
What is the real question?
What time is it? (The question turns the subject and verb around.)

A. Write the questions.
a. He asked what the problem was.
aa. _________________________________________
b. This is what your wife needs.
bb. _________________________________________
c. I don’t know where my keys are.
cc. _________________________________________
B. Write the answers.
d. How many teeth do you have?
dd. I don’t know how many______________________________
e. Where is the closest library?
ee. She told me where _________________________________
10. When will we be taking our test?
ff. I’m not sure when ___________________________________
C. Write your own “WH” question.
g._________________________________________________
gg. I don’t know ________________________________________