People’s appearance

DIALOGUE

Alice: Hallo, Mike, have you been waiting long? I’m so sorry I’m late.

Mike: Now that you are here it’s all right.

Alice: I say, Mike, I’ve just had a wire from Mary. She is coming by the 5.20 train. And I have a meeting at 5. Will you do me a favour and meet her at the station?

Mike: Certainly, but I’ve never seen her. How could I possibly recognize her?

Alice: Oh, it’s quite easy. She’s just like her mother.

Mike: Most helpful I’d say, but the trouble is I’ve never seen her mother either.

Alice: No, you haven’t. And I’m afraid I haven’t any photos of her.

Mike: At least try to describe her. What does she look like?

Alice: A tall slim girl of 18 with an oval face.

Mike: Complexion?

Alice: Rather pale.

Mike: Hair?

Alice: Fair and curly. Light grey eyes, a small snub nose, a big mouth with even teeth and pleasant smile.

Mike: I’m sure there’ll be at least a dozen girls like that at the station.

Alice: Oh, Mike, we’ve been discussing it for the better part of an hour and I see no end to it.

Mike: But how am I to recognize her in the crowd?

Alice: Oh, I forgot. There’s a dimple in her left cheek. She is so lovely, you’ll fall in love with her at first sight.

Mike: That’ll help me, to be sure. Go to your meeting. I promise to be on the platform at 5 sharp looking for a tall slim fair-haired lovely girl with a dimple in her cheek.

Vocabulary 3

~ sociable;

~ warm and friendly;

~ warm, kind, unkind;

~ nice, pleasant, unpleasant;

~ generous (happy to give/share);

~ optimistic;

~ cheerful (happy and smiling);

~ relaxed and easy-going;

~ strong;

~ sensitive, insensitive;

~ honest, dishonest;

~ cold and unfriendly;

~ horrible;

~ mean (never gives to others);

~ pessimistic;

~ miserable (always seems unhappy);

~ tense (nervous, worries a lot);

~ weak;

~ easy-going;

~ hard-working;

~ punctual;

~ reliable (unreliable);

~ bright, clever, stupid;

~ ambitious, lazy;

~ inquisitive;

~ flexible (inflexible);

~ self-confident;

~ reserved;

~ emotional;

~ initiative;

~ sensible (has a lot of common sense);

~ obstinate;

~ cruel;

~ trustworthy;

~ ill-mannered;

~ jealous;

~ envious.

Training exercises:

Ex. 1. Answer the questions:

1. What traits of character do you appreciate (value) most?

2. What person can you see as your spouse? Describe him or her.

3. What kind of person are you?

4. What kind of person are you? Your best friend (mother, father, brother, etc.)?

5. What might a good businessman look like?

6. What traits of character should a salesperson (a taxi driver, water, etc) possess?

Ex. 2. Describe anybody you like best.

Ex. 3. Describe a person you might hate.

Ex. 4. Read and translate the text.

The Brothers

(abridgedfrom "A Woman of Substance" by Barbara T.Bradford)

"Come along, boys, this is Emma Harte. Mrs Harte" She led them to Emma, her face radiant. "This is David," she said, introducing the taller boy, "and this is Victor." The Kallinski boys shook hands with Emma, extended their greetings, and thanked her for coming to their father's aid. They crossed the room to the sofa and sat down together.

David and Victor Kallinski were as different in every way as two brothers could be. David, who was the elder at nineteen, was tall like his mother and well built. He had been blessed with her lovely blue eyes, and his face, handsome and open, had a suggestion of her Slavic bone structure. He had the same of black wavy hair his father's had once been and he had also inherited the older man's outward-going manner. David was a mover, a doer, ambitious, clever and driven. If there was a faint hint of cynicism in his alert blue eyes it was somewhat counteracted by generosity of his wide mouth and his friendly demeanour. David was intelligent, intuitive, and excessively motivated towards one goal: success. He lived by one rule and one rule alone - the survival of the fittest. He not only intended to survive, but to survive in style and with wealth.

Victor, who was sixteen, was small, almost birdlike, and in this he resembled his father to some extent. He had his mother's straight shiny black hair, but otherwise he did not appear to physically favour either of them. His large eyes were soft and hazel in colour and his face was smooth and bland without any emphatic features, but he was pleasent-looking. His sober face mirrored his character, for Victor Kallinski was a gentle and reflective boy; and in one way his temperament was similar to his father's, he had a great forbearance and a deep understanding of human frailties, an understanding that was mature and remarkable in one so young. He was a thinker and a dreamer, and he had the soul of a poet. Victor was happiest when he was alone reading, or gazing at great paintings in the museum, or listening to the music of Mahler and Beethoven. He was reserved of nature to a point of shyness and not given to conversing easily with anyone, especially strangers. Victor was looking at Emma from under his long dark lashes, a quiet smile playing around his mouth, thinking what a compassionate girl she must be, and how her actions today only reinforced his inherent belief that essentially mankind was good. Like his father, Victor was utterly without bitterness.

Ex. 5. Watch the video film “Family Album, USA” (Episode 1-3). Follow the directions in the Appendix “Traditions and Habits of American People.” Describe the characters of the film. Use as many words as you can, from the lists, given above in this unit. Here is the text “Meet the Stewarts” to help you to describe the Stewarts family.