Traditional Wedding Customs around the World / Life Saving Inventions

Unit 6 is about customs and inventions, and about getting things done. Reading I describes wedding customs in India, Japan, Jamaica and Wales (the text inside the book is titled Traditional Marriage Customs around the World). Reading II describes three simple inventions that save lives in poor places: the Hippo-roller, LifeStraw and the AidPod. The grammar is causative verbs (have, get, make, let) and subject–verb agreement. In writing you describe a ceremony and paraphrase a paragraph.

6.1 Reading I: Traditional Wedding Customs around the World

Paragraph by paragraph

Para	Heading	Main points
1	Introduction to marriage	Marriage is a legally recognised relationship between two people, also recognised by social norms and rituals; partners are spouses. Ancient societies began marriage to secure a safe environment to have offspring and pass on property.
2	Indian wedding	lasts for days; pre-wedding ceremonies: the engagement (exchange of rings) and the Mehendi (bride's palms, wrists and feet decorated); on the wedding day bride and groom exchange flower garlands, a symbol of the bride's acceptance of her husband.
3	Japanese wedding	the bride changes costumes several times; san-san-kudo: bride and groom each take three sips from three sake cups (sake = Japanese rice wine); parents do the same, bonding the families; money is given in a special envelope; the couple gives guests small gifts (sweets, candles).
4	Jamaican wedding	the whole community helps plan; on the wedding day villagers go out to see the bride and review her looks, and she goes home to improve her appearance; lots of dancing; traditional black cake of dark fruits and rum, served by the bride.
5	Welsh wedding	a man carves a wooden spoon for the bride; the bride may be "kidnapped" by her own family before the wedding, and the groom's family must find and rescue her.

Vocabulary (Exercise A)

a. rituals b. offspring c. symbol (or symbolises) d. review e. rescue

Comprehension (Exercise B) — model answers

a. Why did ancient people start the marriage ritual? To secure a safe environment in which they could have children and pass their property on to them.

b. What are the two pre-wedding ceremonies in India? The engagement ceremony and the Mehendi ceremony.

c. What is sake? A Japanese alcoholic drink made from rice.

d. Why is the community important during a Jamaican wedding? Because the whole community takes part in nearly every stage: everyone in the village helps to plan the wedding and comes out to see the bride.

e. Who reviews the bride's looks in Jamaica? Everyone in the village, out in the street.

f. Why do Welsh traditions seem strange? Because the groom must carve a wooden spoon, and the bride's own family "kidnaps" her before the wedding so that the groom's family has to rescue her.

Exercise C (headings): Para 1 – Introduction to Marriage; 2 – Indian; 3 – Japanese; 4 – Jamaican; 5 – Welsh.

6.2 Reading II: Life Saving Inventions

Invention	Problem	Solution and result
Hippo-roller (engineers Pettie Petzer and Johan Jonker)	African women and children spent 3–9 hours a day carrying water in heavy 20-litre buckets on their heads → back and neck injuries	a rolling wheel that carries 90 litres; women have more time for families, children more time at school, fewer injuries
LifeStraw (Swiss company Vestergaard)	780 million people lack clean, safe drinking water	a thin plastic tube that cleans water as it passes into the mouth; light; cleans up to 1,000 litres before replacement; used after the Haiti earthquake and floods in Pakistan and Thailand
AidPod (Simon Berry, British social entrepreneur)	in Zambia, Coca-Cola reached the remotest villages but medicines did not; one in five children died before their fifth birthday	a triangular medicine packet that fits between bottles in a Coca-Cola crate; still being tested in Zambia; he hopes to use it in other African countries

Vocabulary (Exercise A)

a. replace b. delivered c. experimented d. invention e. injuries f. passes (through)

True / False / Not Given (Exercise B)

a. True (3–9 hours a day carrying water). b. True (90 litres against 20). c. False — it is a plastic tube. d. False — it must be replaced after about 1,000 litres. e. False — the inventors were from a Swiss company, a British entrepreneur and engineers working in Africa; nothing is Japanese. f. Not given. g. False — it is still being tested in Zambia.

Comprehension (Exercise C) — model answers

a. Why was life tough with plastic buckets? The 20-litre buckets were heavy and carried on the head for hours, which often caused back and neck injuries.

b. Who made the lives of African women easier? The engineers Pettie Petzer and Johan Jonker, with their Hippo-roller.

c. How does LifeStraw work? It is a long thin plastic tube; the water is cleaned as it passes through the tube into the person's mouth.

d. Where was LifeStraw used during disasters? After the earthquake in Haiti and during floods in Pakistan and Thailand.

e. What made Simon Berry design the AidPod? In Zambia he saw that Coca-Cola was sold in the remotest villages, but there were no medicines, and one in five children died before the age of five.

f. What does he hope to achieve? To use the AidPod in other African countries too and save thousands of lives.

6.3 Grammar I: Causative verbs

A causative shows that someone causes another person to do something, or arranges for something to be done.

Pattern	Meaning	Example
have + person + base verb	arrange for someone to do it	Ruksar is having the mechanic service her scooter.
make + person + base verb	force	Teachers made us take extra classes.
let + person + base verb	allow	Our teachers let us play football after 4:00.
get + person + to + verb	persuade / arrange	Ahamad gets his parents to buy him a gift.
have / get + thing + past participle	someone (not named) does it for you	Shyanden got his hair cut. Samrat had his bedroom cleaned.

In the passive, make takes to: They were made to dance at the party.

Textbook answers

Grammar I A (columns): lets/has/makes + person + verb → a, f; get + person + to + verb → e; had/got + thing + past participle → b, c, d.

Grammar I B: a. service b. take c. open d. to buy e. cleaned f. to clean g. cut h. to do i. play j. washed

Grammar I C: a. Indra made Kamini book tickets. b. I got my clothes washed yesterday. c. Hamid's mother let him use her mobile phone. d. Did you have a painter paint your house? (or Did you have your house painted?) e. Kripa's mother lets her go to school on her scooter. f. I get the boy to type my documents. g. The police made the prisoners raise their hands. h. The lady had a mechanic mend her car.

6.4 Grammar II: Subject–verb agreement

The verb must agree with its subject in number: singular subject → singular verb (attends, has, is, was); plural subject → plural verb (attend, have, are, were).

Rule	Example
Two subjects joined by and → plural	Aayusha and her friend decorate… / Mr. Karki and Mr. Mandal were…
either…or / neither…nor → verb agrees with the nearer subject	Either my brother or my father does not let us… / Either the child or the parents need…
with, along with, including, as well as do not change the subject	Utsav with his friends has… / The story, including all the songs, attracts…
a gerund subject is singular	Writing an e-mail needs a lot of care.
sums and amounts seen as one unit → singular	Two plus three makes five. Five thousand rupees is enough.
scissors, trousers, glasses → plural	Were the scissors working?
a collective noun as one group → singular	A team of players receives medals.
both → plural	Both of them have returned.

Textbook answers

Grammar II A (correct ones): a. i b. ii c. ii (it should also read come to the meeting) d. i e. i f. ii

Grammar II B: a. needs b. makes c. were d. pass (years passing one by one; but Five years is a long time when the period is one amount) e. need f. Were g. go h. receives i. have j. does not like

6.5 Writing I: Describing a ceremony

Describe the ceremony in time order: before → main day → after. Use the present simple (it is a custom that happens every time) and passive or causative forms where natural (the bride gets her hands decorated).

Model answer — A wedding in my community

Problem. How do people celebrate a wedding in your culture? Write a short description.

Solution. In my community, a Hindu wedding usually lasts two or three days. First, the families fix an auspicious date with the help of a priest, and the engagement is held, where rings or gifts are exchanged. On the wedding day the groom goes to the bride's house with the janti, a procession of relatives and friends, often with a panche baja band playing.

At the bride's house the couple exchange flower garlands, and the bride's parents perform kanyadan, giving their daughter's hand to the groom. The groom puts sindur in the parting of the bride's hair and a pote (bead necklace) round her neck. Relatives bless the couple with tika and gifts, and a big feast is served to all the guests.

Finally, the bride says an emotional farewell to her family and leaves for the groom's house, where she is welcomed with rituals. A wedding is not only the union of two people but also of two families.

(Customs differ between communities; describe the ones you have actually seen.)

6.6 Writing II: Paraphrasing

To paraphrase is to rewrite a passage in your own words without changing its meaning. Change words to synonyms, change sentence structure (active ↔ passive, join or split sentences), keep every idea, add nothing new, and keep it about the same length.

6.7 Speaking, pronunciation and project work

Getting things done (speaking): I get my clothes washed. I have my hair cut at a barber's. My mother makes me brush my teeth after each meal. In the library: The librarian doesn't let us eat food there; she makes us keep quiet.

The -s/-es ending has three sounds.

Sound	Rule	Words from the unit
/ɪz/	after /s, z, ʃ, ʒ, tʃ, dʒ/ — adds a syllable	spouses, establishes, symbolizes
/s/	after voiceless sounds /p, t, k, f, θ/	rights, suggests, parents
/z/	after voiced sounds and vowels	palms, laws, days, obligations, societies, sisters, involves, brides, ceremonies

British and American words (Extra bit): biscuit/cookie, lift/elevator, lorry/truck, petrol/gasoline, holiday/vacation, rubbish/trash, ground floor/first floor, postbox/mailbox (the textbook table prints this pair the wrong way round: postbox is British, mailbox American).

Project work: collect pictures and information about five useful inventions and make a classroom collage.

Chapter summary

• Weddings: India (engagement, Mehendi, garlands), Japan (costume changes, san-san-kudo with sake, money in envelopes), Jamaica (whole village, review of the bride, black cake), Wales (wooden spoon, "kidnapped" bride).
• Inventions: Hippo-roller (90 L), LifeStraw (cleans up to 1,000 L), AidPod (medicine in Coca-Cola crates, tested in Zambia).
• Causatives: have/make/let + person + base verb; get + person + to + verb; have/get + thing + past participle; passive be made to.
• Agreement: and → plural; either/or → nearer subject; with/including do not change the subject; gerunds and sums → singular.
• Paraphrase = same meaning, new words and structures, nothing added.

Practice questions

Reading

1. Answer briefly. [5]aWhat are married partners called?bHow many sips are taken in san-san-kudo, and from how many cups?cWhat is the Jamaican wedding cake made from?dHow much water can a Hippo-roller carry?eWhat shape is an AidPod?

Answers — Reading

1. (a) Spouses. (b) Three sips from each of three cups. (c) Dark fruits and rum. (d) Ninety litres. (e) Triangular.

Grammar

2. Complete with the correct form. [5]aI had the tailor (stitch) my shirt.bShe got her room (paint).cFather let me (go) to the party.dWe got the plumber (fix) the tap.eThe thief was made (confess).
3. Choose the correct verb. [5]aNeither the teacher nor the students (was/were) present.bThe captain, along with his players, (has/have) arrived.cSwimming (is/are) good exercise.dMy trousers (is/are) dirty.eRam and Sita (play/plays) chess.

Answers — Grammar

2. (a) stitch (b) painted (c) go (d) to fix (e) to confess

3. (a) were (b) has (c) is (d) are (e) play

Writing

4. Describe how Dashain or Tihar is celebrated in your home. [5]
5. Paraphrase: Trees give us oxygen, food and shelter. Without them, life on earth would be impossible. [2]

Answers — Writing

4. Time order (preparations → main days → end), present simple, specific rituals and foods, a closing sentence on the meaning of the festival.

5. e.g. We get the air we breathe, things to eat and places to live from trees. Life could not exist on our planet if there were no trees.