Text 17 you and your handwriting

1. Read the following text and underline the most important sentences.

Size

The size of а person’s handwriting symbolizes the person's assessment of hil11 or herself. The average of "normal" size of а smaller letter is 3 mm. Larger letters may indicate such positive characteristics as seriousness, pride in one's work and generosity, or they may indicate negative characteristics such as arrogance, conceit and boastfu1ness. The positive aspects of а small script are devotion, humility and tolerance. Alternatively it can mean shyness, lack of self-confidence, fear or faint-heatedness.

Slant

Writing that slants to the right shows an extroverted and outward going personality which, in its positive aspects, is active, friendly and sympathetic but might also be restless, hasty or even hysterical. An upright script indicates а self-sufficient and reserved nature; the head rules the heart, occasionally to such an extent that the writer may be accused of rigidity and coldness. А left-sloping script with an angle of less than 85 degrees can be interpreted to mean self-control. When the slope is less thaI1 60 degrees, it can mean shyness, withdrawal or fear of the future.

Width and narrowness

In normal writing the distance between the down-strokes of small letters is equal to the height. Wide writing indicates а warm and vivacious person, whereas narrow writing shows timidity and perhaps inhibition in personal relationships.

Connectedness

When four or more letters are written with one stroke the writing is considered to be connected. Breaks for dotting 'i's and crossing’t’s do not count. It generally means а co-operative nature, but can mean over-adaptability and а tendency to follow the crowd.

In disconnected script, less than four letters are written with one stroke of the pen. It tends to mean an intuitive, self-reliant and individualistic personality. The negative aspects of such characteristics are egocentricity, inconsistency or loneliness.

Directness of lines

Does your writing slope upwards? This may mean you are an ambitious and optimistic person, or alternatively that you often lose your temper or are rather frivolous. If your writing slopes downwards over the page it indicates а pessimistic and over- sensitive nature. But take heart! The direction of the lines is one of the least permanent aspects of our writing and probably only reveals а passing mood.

Loops

Full round loops in the upper zone of the writing ('fs, 'I's, etc.) mean vision, imagination and colorful speech. An absence of loops indicates an analytical mind and strong moral tendencies. Loops in the lower zone tend to indicate erotic fantasies and behavior sensuousness, materialism and country interests. Small loops - or no loops at all - show а business mind and realism, but sometimes also pessimism and an obsession with money.

Signatures

Signatures are significant in as much as they differ in size from the rest of the text. А much larger signature shows а person who has an overblown opinion of him or herself. А much smaller signature indicates а shy and retiring personality. Differences of size, angle and width between the Christian name and the family name symbolize relationship between the writer and his or her family.

А number of studies on handwriting have shown that even somebody with no training in graphology whatever has more than chance success in detecting the sex of the writer.

2. Work in pairs. Tell your partner why you have chosen those sentences .Give your reasons.

3. Learn the words and phrases by heart.

arrogance	зарозумілість
conceit	пиха, гонор
humility	покірливість, скромність
faintheartedness	малодушність
slant	нахил
outward going	відвертий, щирий
self-sufficient	самовпевнений
rigidity	жорстокість, суворість
to slope	мати нахил
withdrawal	замкнутість
stroke	мах, рух
vivacious	жвавий
inhibition	стримування
co-operative	готовий прийти на допомогу
self-reliant	упевнений
inconsistency	непослідовність
temper	настрій
frivolous	легковажний
Take heart!	кріпиться!
loop	петля
obsession	одержимість
overblown	надмірно завищений
retiring	схильний до усамітнення

4. Work in pairs. Discuss the information you have learned from the text above with your partner.

5. Write out the most important 10 sentences from the text on a separate sheet of paper. Cut your paper into 10 pieces so that each piece should contain one sentence. Mix them and ask your partner to put the sentences into the correct order to make a summary of the article. Trade roles.

6. Compose a short plan for retelling.

7. Retell the text according to your plan.