A listening comprehension exercise with a wedding crashing drunk elephant

Listen to the article and decide if the statements are TRUE or FALSE.

1) Sir Richard Branson’s wedding was a disaster.

2) The billionaire hired elephants for his son’s wedding.

3) Branson’s son and his wife got married at an open-air wedding party.

4) The wedding guests were terrified of the drunk elephant.

5) The guests included famous people and even some royalty.

Answers: 1) F, 2) F, 3) T, 4) F, 5) T

Now try to answer the questions!

1) The wedding reception
a) was held in an animal-friendly environment
b) began with a sacred African ceremony
c) was guarded by rangers.

2) The elephant
a) was not expected at the reception
b) had to be shot
c) drank all the alcohol at the party

3) The guests
a) thought the drunk elephant was funny
b) were all drunk when the elephant appeared
c) didn’t want the elephant to leave

4) The wedding
a) was a simple garden party
b) was almost as fancy as a royal wedding
c) was ruined by the elephant

5)
a) The guests felt lucky the wedding was so much fun.
b) The majority of the guests saw the drunk elephant.
c) Kate Winslet was present as part of the family.

Answers: 1)a, 2) a, 3) a, 4) b, 5) c

Tycoon Sir Richard Branson had a jumbo headache at his son’s wedding – when an elephant gatecrashed it drunk. 

The Virgin billionaire’s heir Sam wed society beauty Isabella Calthorpe at an idyllic South African game reserve. But the happy couple tied the knot under a sacred marula tree, the fruit of which ferments into alcohol when ripe. Their uninvited guest had already packed his trunk with the stuff and was tipsy by the time he reeled out of the bush and into the open-air reception. He immediately began scoffing the wedding cake, which was elaborately decorated with strawberries and pieces of exotic fruit. Then he smashed and upturned tables and chairs at the immaculately decorated venue before rangers managed to shoo him away. An onlooker said: “It was hilarious. He was really enjoying himself. “He didn’t want to leave and couldn’t get enough of the cake.” The marriage of Sam, 27, and Isabella, 32, was such a high society affair it had been dubbed “the nearly royal wedding”. The glamorous guest list was topped by actress Kate Winslet, who is married to Sir Richard’s nephew Ned Rocknroll, and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie. The reception was held on a hill called Nelson’s Koppie at the Inyati Game Reserve. Most of the guests had just toddled off to bed when the boozy elephant ambled in around 5am – but his antics were the talk of the breakfast tables later. One guest said: “It was lucky he didn’t arrive any earlier. He would have been quite a handful.”

source: The Sun

tycoon – (ipar)mágnás
jumbo – óriási
to gatecrash – betolakodni
drunk – részeg
heir – örökös
to wed – házasodni
game reserve – állatvédelmi rezervátum
to tie the knot – házasodni
sacred – szent
to ferment – erjedni
ripe – érett
uninvited – hívatlan
trunk – (itt) ormány
tipsy – becsípett
to reel out – kitántorogni
open-air reception – szabadtéri fogadás
to scoff – falni
elaborately – választékosan
to smash – összetörni/zúzni
to upturn – felfordítani
immaculately – hibátlanul
ranger – vadőr
to shoo away – elhessegetni
onlooker – néző
hilarious – nevetséges, röhejes
high society affair – magasröptű/elit esemény
to dub – (el)nevezni
glamorous – pompás, fennkölt
to top – vezetni
to toddle off – eltotyogni
boozy – oiás, részeges
to amble in – bebandukolni/ballagni
antics – bohóckodás
handful – nehezen kezelhető