{"id":30652,"date":"2025-07-01T11:59:58","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T09:59:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/?p=30652"},"modified":"2025-07-14T14:20:18","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T12:20:18","slug":"venice-divided-over-bezos-wedding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2025\/07\/venice-divided-over-bezos-wedding\/","title":{"rendered":"Venice Divided Over Bezos Wedding"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

B2 – Upper Intermediate<\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The extravagant 3-day wedding party of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sanchez in Venice had just come its conclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While what was dubbed as \u201cthe wedding of the year\u201d was thought to bring glitz and glamour and the much-needed high-quality tourism to the delicate city on the water, some citizens feel that billionaires come to Venice and turn the city into their \u201camusement park\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, as the wedding festivities took place, Venetians took to the streets to protest against issues such as over-tourism, climate change, and capitalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the article about Jeff Bezos\u2019 lavish wedding in Venice and what the Venetians make of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c5ylk5nznkyo<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vocabulary Questions:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. What does \u201ca drop in the lagoon [ originally ocean ]<\/strong>\u201d mean? “As for the 30 million euros the wedding might net the city in other ways – activists call that “a drop in the lagoon”<\/strong> for one of the richest men on earth.”<\/em> Use this idiom in a sentence. Give 2 synonyms\/similar expressions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. What does \u201cwhat<\/strong> to make of someone\/something<\/strong>\u201d mean? \u201cSpotted heading into Harry’s Bar for lunch on Saturday, Bezos blew kisses towards the cameras when a local journalist asked <\/em>what he made of the protests<\/em><\/strong>.\u201d<\/em> Use this expression in a sentence. Give 2 synonyms\/similar expressions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. What does \u201cto bring something to a halt<\/strong>\u201d mean? \u201cIt seems, however, that talk of this wedding <\/em>bringing the city to a halt<\/em><\/strong> was overblown.\u201d<\/em> Use this phrase in a sentence. Give 2 synonyms\/similar expressions.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Discussion Questions:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. What are your thoughts on the Venetians protesting Bezos\u2019 wedding?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. What do you think about rich people choosing a specific city to hold big events such as their weddings? What impact do you think it has on the city?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. How would you feel about your city being chosen as a venue for a very important event? What could this event bring to your town?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    4. Share your insights on this, \u201cThe fears of Venice becoming a tourist playground, forcing locals out of town, are no exaggeration.<\/em>\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    5. According to one resident of Venice, “I think there should be more people like Bezos here. Right now, we get trash tourism and Venice doesn’t deserve that.<\/em>\u201d What do you think about her statement?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      B2 – Upper Intermediate  The extravagant 3-day wedding party of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sanchez in Venice had just come its conclusion. While what was dubbed as \u201cthe wedding of the year\u201d was thought to bring glitz and glamour and the much-needed high-quality tourism to the delicate city on the water, some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[291,292,496,289,293],"class_list":["post-30652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-homework","tag-b2-upper-intermediate","tag-first-certificate-fce","tag-people-and-human-interest","tag-reading","tag-text"],"yoast_head":"\nVenice Divided Over Bezos Wedding | phone english blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2025\/07\/venice-divided-over-bezos-wedding\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Venice Divided Over Bezos Wedding | phone english blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"B2 – Upper Intermediate  The extravagant 3-day wedding party of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sanchez in Venice had just come its conclusion. 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