Now we are ready to start.
Speaker A
Can you imagine it – the average American spends more than
$ 100 on Valentine’s Day! And men spend almost twice as much on Valentine’s Day
as women do! A survey I read shows that more than one-third of men would prefer
not receiving a gift. At the same time just less than 20 percent of women feel
the same way. The reason for this is partly that the holiday seems just too
expensive.
Speaker B
As far as I know on Valentine’s Day no one saves money on
flowers. No wonder flowers may cost up to 30 percent more that day! Some people
even buy and send flowers to themselves on Valentine’s Day. The most popular
flower is still the rose followed by lilies and violets. The colours of flowers
are very important as they speak about your feelings and emotions, but many
people just don’t pay attention to that and buy whatever they find nice and
suitable.
Speaker C
I was surprised to learn that Valentine cards have a very
long history. Some scientists believe that the tradition was probably started
by Charles, Duke of Orleans, because the oldest surviving Valentine dates back
to him, to the year of 1415. It was a beautiful poem written by the Duke to his
wife. However some historians trace the roots of the holiday back to the Roman
times and their pagan celebrations or early medieval times.
Speaker D
Do you know, that one billion Valentine cards are sent
each year worldwide, making it the second largest card-sending holiday of the
year behind Christmas? I’ve heard Hallmark, a big card producer, even employs
research staff to analyze the sales pattern of previous Valentines. They
analyze customer interviews and in-store observations to find out which
cards’ve been a sell-out this or that year and which age group chooses which
type of cards and which is the best poem on the card and so on.
Speaker E
BBC reports that India has spoken out against Valentine’s
Day calling it "an attack on local culture for commercial purposes”. So I guess
they do take it seriously and there’re people not in favor of this holiday. The
Catholic Church, for instance, struck St. Valentine’s Day from its official
calendar in 1969. There even have been times when Valentine’s Day was close to
being forbidden.
Speaker F
The University of Maryland has a team of academic experts
educating the media about Valentine’s Day no matter what angle they wish to
cover. There I’ve read that many people choose Valentine’s Day for getting
married. Can you imagine? The list of celebrities who’ve done this includes
Elton John and Meg Ryan. And quite a lot of famous people have been born on that
day!
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A B C D E F
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