IV. Use these words to complete the expressions with ‘age’ below:

same less (younger) look as

under more (older) of ( 2 times) than

1. Our son is the _____ age _____ the boy next door. They’re in the same class.2. Is their daughter _____ age yet? - No, she is still ____ age. She’ll come ____ age next year. 3. She doesn’t ____ her age. 4. Every woman wants to look ____ than her age. 5. Hardships make people look ____ than their age. 6. You’re not really 50, are you? I don’t believe it. You look less _____ your age.

V. Read the short conversations and match the phrases in bold type with the meanings below.

1. Disagreement 2.Surprise 3.Doubt

a)

• How old is Johnny Depp?

• What Johnny Depp?

• Johnny Depp, an actor.

• Well, I’m not sure… He might be about 40.

b)

• Do you know that Madonna is in her fifties?

• Is she really? I can’t believe it!

• Yes, she is 55 this year.

c)

• Lady Gaga is in her forties, I suppose.

• Actually, she is under thirty.

VI. Practise the dialogues in Exercise V for good reading and learn them by heart.

VII. Make up short conversations of your own. Follow the given models (a), (b) and (c). Make use of the phrases in bold type.

VIII. Read the conversation and pay attention to the meanings it expresses (e.g. agreement, disagreement, doubt, surprise etc.)

• Have you heard of Meryl Streep?

• What Meryl Streep?

• Meryl Streep, an American actress.

• Of course, I have.

• Do you know how old she is?

• Well, I’m not sure… She might be in her forties.

• Actually, she is over 60.

• Is she really? I can’t believe it.

• Yes, she is 64.

• Anyway, she looks much younger, doesn’t she?

• No doubt, she does.

IX. Think of a new dialogue in which the speakers express their surprise, agreement, disagreement etc. about someone’s age. Get ready to act it out.

BUILD

fat

stout

plump

overweight

well-built

stocky

thin

slim

skinny

lanky

of small/medium/powerful/athletic build

broad-shouldered

Vocabulary notes

build n [C; U] shape and size, especially of the human body, e.g. a powerful build/ My brother and I are of the same build. We can also use the word figure, when we consider the human shape from the point of view of being attractive, e.g. She has a good figure.

fat adj weighing too much because you have too much flesh on your body. It is a very direct word. You might use it about yourself but it will usually cause offence if you use it about somebody else, e.g. I’m so fat at the moment. Syn. stout, plump, overweight. Saying that somebody is stout, plump, or overweight is more polite than saying they are fat. e.g. He is slightly overweight. She is 10 kilos overweight. He was a plump red-faced man. My teacher was a stout old lady. Plump is often used to talk about women and children meaning fat and rounded in a pleasant way, e.g. a plump baby/ The nurse was a cheerful plump woman.

well-built adj having a big strong body. It is a fairly polite way to describe somebody with a large, strong or fat body, e.g. John was a powerful, well-built man.

stocky adj thic k, short and strong, e.g. He was short and stocky.

thin adj having little fat on the body. It is a general word and is usually, but not always, disapproving, e.g. thin arms/legs/lips etc She looked thin after her illness. Teenage girls all seem to want to be thin. Syn. slim, skinny, lanky. Slim means thin in an attractive way, e.g. her lovely slim figure/ a slim young woman/ a slim waist/ I wish I were as slim as you. Skinny is a fairly informal word meaning very thin, which is usually disapproving, e.g. Some supermodels are far too skinny. Lanky means tall and thin and moving awkwardly, e.g. a lanky young man

EXERCISES