Romance and Marriage Attitudes and relationships

 Reading

Read through the text below to check on some of the language we use to describe our feelings for other people – from adoring them to tolerating and to hating them.

Tim and Lenny can’t stand each other. They loathe each other, hate the sight of each other. Lenny seems to envy Tim his stripes and Tim is envious of Lenny’s spots. We all have great respect for Leo; respect mingled with fear. Sammy frightens everyone. Even Tim and Lenny keep out of his way, and Leo admits to being slightly afraid of him. The chickens are terrified of him and the rabbits are petrified; they nearly have a heart attack if you just goup behind and hiss.

Clarence always seems to have a chip on his shoulder – as if he has a grudge against the whole world. The others ignore him. Everyone looks up to George.

Zoe and Pat are very close. They seem to enjoy each other’s company and get on very well together. I suppose they have a lot in common: same taste in clothes, etc. Penny, who has a love-hate relationship with Pat, is getting jealous, though. Percy makes everyone feel a bit uneasy; none of us can relax in his company. We all remember his past pricks and so are wary of him.

Nobody trusts Charlie; they say you never know what he is thinking. Dear Henry is amused by everything and everybody.

Everyone keeps their distance from Ronny.

Everyone admires hardworking Sarah. She impressed us all last autumn particularly.

Oswald is very badly treated. Everyone looks down on him; even wise old Orville regards him with contempt. The poor chap, he’s developed quite an inferiority complex, just because he can’t fly.

There’s general sympathy for Harry. I’m not sure whether we pity him for his ugliness or feel sorry for him having to carry all that weight around.

We’re all fond of Donna, but she seems quite indifferent to us. (I get the feeling that she’s only in love with herself, just sitting around all day singing protest songs about Love and Peace and things.) It’s difficult to get through to her.

Gordon is fascinated by the butterflies, absolutely captivated. They seem to find him pretty intriguing, too.

To a man, we’re all bored stiff by, fed up with and sick to death of Polly, who goes on all day about nothing in particular.

We detest and despise Valerie for giving us all a bad name.

Everybody despairs of Lou and his friends, throwing themselves off cliffs like that. We resent Bruin’s and Bunny’s popularity with children; their dressing up in people’s clothes is definitely frowned on.

Secretly, I think we all still miss Dudley.

Exercise 1

Use each of the expressions below to say a true statement about the way you relate to people you know. You will need to add a preposition with each expression.

be in love I’ve been in love with Carlos since we were children.

1. feel sorry

2. hate the sight

3. be terrified

4. have great respect

5. can’t get through

6. be wary

7. get on well

8. have a lot in common

9. be fascinated

10. feel indifferent

11. be fed up

12. be very fond

13. look up

14. look down

Speaking

Discuss the answers to these questions in pairs:

1. How did you feel towards the members of staff (individually) in your school?

2. What problems can occur between management and workers in a big company?

3. “Most divorces are avoidable”. Do you agree?

 Writing

Write a letter to your friend, describing how a close friend and you have fallen out. Explain what went wrong and why. Say how you felt about it.

Here there’s an example of Mandy’s letter.

185 Beverly Hills

Hollywood,

Nr. Los Angeles,

California13th July 1998

Dear Fiona,

Thanks for all your news. Things are very much as normal here. Harry and I have split up – we both felt we had had enough of each other. He’s dating a girl who was going steady with Paul when you were here – I think they’re quite serious – and I’m seeing a film producer called Harvey who’s waiting for his divorce to come through. We’re more than “just good friends” but I don’t know how long it will last. My late husband’s former mistress is marrying his first wife’s third husband on Saturday. In fact it’s going to be a double wedding because her second son by her first marriage is getting married to the girl he’s been sharing his flat with for the past six months. You remember? That’s her half-brother’s ex-fiancée, the one who was going out with Jason.

Anyway how are you? Still the ideal couple over there in Eastbourne, are you? Do I hear wedding bells?

Lots of love now,

Mandy