Men hurt more in rocky relationships by Sean Banville

MEN & WOMEN: Who’s better at what? Complete this table. Better at… Who? Why? Parenting Being honest Romance Saving money Driving Teaching COPING: Student A strongly believe men are better at coping with relationship break-ups; Student B strongly believe the opposite – women are better. EMOTIONAL PAIN: Which of these are best for dealing with emotional pain? Could you rank them. talking to someone listening to music drinking alcohol spending time alone watching a movie pretending it isn’t there going shopping drugs Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘masculine’. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article. 1. affected a. talking more 2 rocky b. overstated 3. coping c. coped with 4. exaggerated d. shaky 5. brave e. conscious 6. dealt f. influenced 7. masculine g. needy 8. dependent h. managing 9. opening up i. manly 10. aware j. courageous PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.) 1. when a relationship hits a. face on problems 2 a new study on over b. on alcohol or drugs 3. men have a much c. we often think 4. Men are more sensitive than d. the ups and downs 5. men often put a brave e. the bottle 6. how differently men and women f. a rocky patch 7. turn to g. abuse 8. become dependent h. 1,000 break-ups 9. substance i. harder time 10. more sensitive to j. dealt with problems TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F). An article suggested men are hurt more in mountaineering accidents. T / F The study looked at details of more than 1,000 relationship break-ups. T / F The lead researcher said men are very insensitive. T / F The researcher said men try to cover up their real emotions. T / F Women deal with problems through tears and chats. T / F Men drink alcohol when they want to make emotional pain disappear. T / F The researcher said there is no link between break-ups and drug use. T / F The research said divorced men are more sensitive. T / F Men hurt more in rocky relationships Most people think women are more affected when a relationship hits a rocky patch. According to a new study on over 1,000 break-ups, it is the opposite. Research from the Wake Forest University in the USA suggests men have a much harder time dealing with the low points. Researchers say women have a harder time coping with a break-up. Lead researcher Robin Simon said: "Common wisdom says that women are more hurt by problems in a relationship, but we found that the…disadvantages of strain are exaggerated for the men." She added: "Men are more sensitive than we often think they are." Simon and her co-researchers discovered that men often put a brave face on problems they have with their partner but inside, they feel more emotional pain than women. The research also showed how differently men and women dealt with problems. Women show their feelings more by crying and talking about how they feel. Men find this hard to do because they need to be ‘masculine’ and men don’t cry. Instead, they turn to the bottle or look for escape by using drugs. Ms Simon said the more relationship problems a guy went through, the more likely he was to become dependent on alcohol or drugs. They make the pain go away through substance abuse rather than talking. Simon said things are changing and that more and more men are opening up. She said guys these days are more likely to have divorced parents "and this might make them more sensitive to the ups and downs of a relationship” and be more emotionally aware. CHAT 1: Decide which of these topics or words from the article are interesting and which are boring. relationships / rocky patches / break-ups / low points / wisdom / strain / a brave face / dealing with problems / masculine / drugs / dependent / divorce / ups and downs CHAT 2: Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently. GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text. Most people think women are more ____________ when a relationship hits a rocky patch. According to a new study on over 1,000 break-ups, it is the ____________. Research from the Wake Forest University in the USA suggests men have a much harder time ____________ with the low ____________. Researchers say women have a harder time coping with a breakup. Lead researcher Robin Simon said: "Common ____________ says that women are more hurt by problems in a relationship, but we found that the…disadvantages of ____________ are exaggerated for the men." She added: "Men are more sensitive than we often think they are." Simon and her co-researchers discovered that men often put a ____________ face on problems they have with their partner but ____________, they feel more emotional pain than women. strain dealing inside affected wisdom opposite brave points The research also showed how ____________ men and women dealt with problems. Women show their feelings more by ____________ and talking about how they feel. Men find this hard to do because they need to be ‘____________’ and men don’t cry. Instead, they turn to the bottle or look for ____________ by using drugs. Ms Simon said the more relationship problems a guy went through, the more ____________ he was to become dependent on alcohol or drugs. They make the pain go away ____________ substance abuse rather than talking. Simon said things are changing and that more and more men are ____________ up. She said guys these days are more likely to have divorced parents "and this might make them more ____________ to the ups and downs of a relationship” and be more emotionally aware. likely through crying escape sensitive differently opening masculine TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. Try to recall how they were used in the text: • affected • suggests • coping • strain • brave • pain • dealt • crying • cry • abuse • opening • ups VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.