Read the following passage about weddings in Britain and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 23 to 30.
Weddings are important occasions in British life. They can be very expensive and take a long time to organise. There are also many traditional aspects of weddings that are important for people who get married. However, many traditions have become less common in recent years, and marriage in Britain is changing.
Marriage is legal from the age of 18, but this can be lowered to 16 if the couple have their parents’ permission. The average age of people who get married in the UK is about 30. People can marry in a civil ceremony, at a registry office, or they may have a religious ceremony in a church, mosque or other place of worship. All couples must sign a marriage certificate.
In the past, a traditional marriage in the UK meant a couple first got engaged. This was when the man formally asked the woman to marry him with a ring. It was also customary for the groom to ask the bride’s father if he agreed. The wedding commonly took place at the bride’s local church with about a hundred guests. It was a tradition for the groom’s father to buy the flowers and champagne but for the bride’s father to pay for everything else. The two families sat on different sides of the church and the bride’s father gave away his daughter
to the groom. The new bride took her husband’s surname.
These days, however, many people do not always follow tradition so closely. It is now common for the woman to ask the man to marry her, and not many men ask the woman’s father for her hand in marriage. People frequently marry in a town hall. A few even marry on a beach in a hot country. The couple tend to pay for the wedding themselves but still expect both families to help them pay for the reception. These days, not every woman wants to change her surname, so she might keep her maiden name or take both names.
(Adapted from Unlock)
