How would you describe a person in each of these situations?

1. He never bought me a drink all the time we were together.

2. He often promises to do things but half the times he forgets.

3. She’s always here on time.

4. I don’t think he does any work, he rests all the time.

5. She finds it difficult to meet new people and talk to strangers.

6. She’s aware of what other people feel or think.

7. Bob always makes people angry or upset because he doesn’t consider their feelings.

8. He wants to become the boss of our department as soon as possible.

9. She thinks only of her own interests.

10. He always hopes for the best and keeps smiling.

11. She never says the truth.

12. He is not nervous or worried, that is why it is easy to deal with him.

13. You can tell him any secret, he won’t let the cat out of the bag.

14. He keeps rebuking others all the time.

15. She will never speak about her achievements, she speaks little but does much.

16. He is happy and cheerful.

17. She is very unwilling to change her mind, even when she knows she is wrong.

18. He has good manners and behaves in a way that is socially correct and not rude to other people.

19. They talk too proudly about something that they have done or that they own.

 

Use the following model to speak about your ideas of traits of character.

Ø I think that if a person is ………., ……….., because ………..

Example: I think that if a person is selfish, people wouldn’t like him, because he thinks only of himself. I think if a person is kind, people would like him, because he thinks a lot about others and is always ready to help them.

Discussion.

1. Describe yourself using positive and negative qualities from the table. Is there a quality you do not have but would like to have? What, in your opinion, is the worst quality?

2. How would you describe persons in the situation represented in the picture below?

Compare and discuss your opinion with a partner.

* * *

R e a d i n g

Pre-text exercises

31. Check if you remember the following verbs from the text:

to introduce, to finish, to try, to think, to say, to know, to find, to give, to swim, to walk, to take, to enjoy, to meet, to watch, to play, to agree, to change.

 

32. State to what part of speech the following words belong:

weigh, student, seventeen, am, always, should, passionate, skin, myself, boring, at, you, music, have, completely, years, take after, TV, a, dark-haired, my, watching.

33. Form the derivatives from the following words:

technology, interest, optimism, plays, overweight, person, conserve, outgoing, every, rely.

34. Read the following ideas of teenagers about their features of character and choose a person you would like to make friends with.

Alex

Let me introduce myself. I am Alex Sidorov. Alex is my first name and Sidorov is my surname. I am seventeen years old. In spring I finished school and now I am a student at Kazan National Research Technological University. This is my first year, I enjoy studying here and I do my best to get only “fives”.

I think I take after my father. I'm tall and medium build, in fact I am 1 metre 80 and I weigh about 75 kilos. I have got short red hair, brown eyes and freckles.

People say I am warm and friendly. I hope I am. I also think I am polite, cheerful and optimistic. I always try to be in a good mood.

 

Jane

I’m about one metre seventy, or something like that. So I am medium height. I’m overweight I think though my friends say I am not. I don’t know how much I weigh, ‘cause I always find it too depressing to weigh myself. I don’t think I take as much exercise as I should. I used to go to a gym, but I found it really boring. My main exercise is walking – I walk everywhere – and swimming, which is fine for giving you good stamina and it’s good for your heart, spine and lungs.

I have got dark skin and long straight black hair which I wear loose. I am calm. My hobbies are music and literature.

 

Oscar

I have quite an outgoing personality, really. I make friends very easily. I can mix quite well with people that I’ve never met before and with people from different walks of life. I like to be friendly to the people around me. My friends and I often spend time together watching movies and playing outdoor games.

I have a passionate interest in sports, especially football. I play football with my friends every weekend, and I watch all matches of my favourite football team Barcelona on TV.

I am a dark-haired guy with black eyes. I am honest and reliable and I value these qualities highly. I am a second-year student at Medical University.

Kate

Well, actually it is very difficult to speak about yourself, but I will try. I think that I am home-loving, kind and patient. I can get on well with people, because I always try to help them and they trust me. I am very active, although my parents say that I am lazy, because I don’t like to do the things they want me to do. Also I am very conservative, they say, and I completely agree with it. I never change anything in my life: ideas, principles, friends. And the proverb “Old friends are best friends” is my motto.

V o c a b u l a r y S t u d y

do one’s best	сделать всё возможное
take after	быть похожим на (своего близкого родственника)
freckles	веснушки
used to	имел обыкновение
stamina['stæmɪnə]	the ability to sustain prolonged physical or mental effort
loose	зд. распущенные (волосы)
mix with	общаться
walk of life	общественное положение
value ['væljuː]	Ø ценность, важность Ø дорожить, ценить
actually ['ækʧuəlɪ]	фактически, на самом деле, в действительности
get on well with	хорошо ладить
conservative [kən'sɜːvətɪv]	консервативный, противящийся новому
motto	девиз, лозунг