UNIT 7: FIRST IMPRESSIONS

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1. DESCRIBING PEOPLE
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VOCABULARY PRACTICE: PHYSICAL FEATURES
straight hair curly hair
round-faced dark-skinned
thin-faced
tall
bald wrinkles
blonde
dark-haired plump
slim young overweight
well-built/muscular
short
middle-aged
handsome
untidy-looking
beautiful
old
unattractive good-looking
1. Put the adjectives in the box under the following headings:
height, hair, age, complexion, general impression
2. Use the following nouns to describe physical features:
beard, glasses, hair, moustache, eyes
3. From these jumbled words, find combinations for describing people, as in the example.
Example: good-looking
looking

long
good

weight legged

over
mixed

round

red

haired well

complexion

aged

middle

faced

build dressed

tanned

LISTENING AND READING PRACTICE

A police officer is questioning a witness to a robbery. Check the photographs of the man and
woman she describes. Make lists of the words that helped you with your choices, one list for the man
and one for the woman.

BEING A GOOD OBSERVER

CHARACTER
intelligent/bright/clever
earth
arrogant
rude

sensitive

talented

stupid

optimistic

tense

frank/direct/open

cruel

foolish

silly sensible relaxed

stubborn ambitious

tight-fisted

generous

reliable sociable

determined

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down-tobroad-minded

envious

anorexic

4. Match these words with their opposites:

1 clever

introverted

2 extroverted

tight-fisted

3 rude

courtois

4 cruel

sociable

5 generous

kind-hearted

6 unsociable

half-witted

5.Look at the words below and then match them to the question which aims to decide whether a
person is like that.
Example: If you arrange to meet at 7 p.m., do you arrive at 7 p.m.? Reliable
argumentative, sensitive, sociable, assertive, inquisitive, extravagant

Do you prefer to be in the company of other people?

Do you find it easy to tell your boss if you feel he or she has treated you badly?

Do you always look out of the window if you hear a car draw up?

Do you often buy your friends presents for no particular reason?

Do you frequently disagree with what other people say?

Do you lie awake at night if someone has said something unkind to you?

6.Decide which are good and bad characteristics in this list:

confident

generous

bad-tempered

determined

sensible

reliable

shy

honest

responsible

silly

patient

ambitious

imaginative

lazy

hard-working

mean

7. Look at the pictures and think of a word to describe how the people are feeling. What do you
imagine has made them feel this way?

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LISTENING AND READING PRACTICE

1.A police officer is questioning a witness to a robbery. Check the photographs of the man and
woman she describes. Make lists of the words that helped you with your choices, one list for the man
and one for the woman.

2. Look at the questionnaire below. Say what you often, sometimes, usually, rarely, or never do in
these situations:
Example for a): I never shout angrily. I dont do any of these things, I usually smile.
a) When you miss a bus or train, do you:
A. shout angrily?
B. wait happily for the next one?
C. blame someone else?
b) When you think about the future, do you:
A. dream of impossible success or wealth?
B. plan your future career carefully?
C. worry about what will go wrong?
c) When someone asks you a question and youre not sure of the answer, do you:
A. admit you dont know?
B. give an answer you think may be right?
C. try to change the subject?
d) When you forget to do something important for a friend or member of your family, do you:
A. hope they wont notice?
B. feel guilty?

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C. try to do something else for them?

e) When you have to wait for a long time at a station, do you:
A. read the book you always carry?
B. keep checking the time?
C. talk to the other people there?
f) When your boss or teacher is away, do you:
A. work hard as usual?
B. do not work at all?
C. start laughing and joking?

3. Look at these ten qualities of a friend. Choose the five most important.

keeps promises and secrets

always tells the truth

always cheerful and makes you laugh

serious and sensible

popular with others, has lots of friends

doesnt get upset easily

doesnt talk about you to others

always listens to you problems and gives you advice

always ready to share and lend things, money, etc

understands you and has similar interests

Check whether you agree with other students.

2. DESCRIBING OBJECTS, BUILDINGS AND PLACES

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2. Read the following description of Romania. There is one extra incorrect word in each sentence.
Try to find the word.
Romania's name itself suggests that what makes it different from its neighbours. The connection is
with the Imperial Rome and coming from that is a language which sounds as like Italian. The country
where is about the size of Great Britain and has a population of 23 million, of whom ninety percent
there are Romanians.
The scenery is varied: mountainous areas with a summer and winter resorts, a very marvelous
stretch of the Danube as it descends towards the Iron Gates, not to be mention castles, palaces and
monasteries with so impressive frescoes. There are also historic towns from the 13th of century, Black
Sea beach resorts and with the astonishing bird-life of the vast Danube delta. And if this is not enough,
there are no more fewer than 160 spas offering cures for nearly of every illness known to man.
Romania is perhaps the most famous abroad for being the home of Dracula the famous creation of
the Irish writer, the Bram Stoker. However, while the story is being fiction, the character is based on a

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Romanian prince is called Vlad Dracula (son of Dracul) or Tepes (the Impaler) because of such his
cruelty towards his enemies. On one occasion he is supposed to have been sat down to a meal to enjoy
himself the spectacle of some prisoners having their arms and legs cut them off. He asked for their
blood to be collected and brought to him so as a.dip for his bread.
So, when you visit Romania you may be like to visit Bran Castle which was having built in 1377
and is the castle most closely identified with Dracula. But, if you do, don't forget to how much else
there is for to see in Romania.
3. Find three adjectives in the box below which could collocate with each of the nouns in these
sentences and put them in the sentence in the order which sounds natural to you.
1 I like your shoes.
2 Can you see a rug?
3 I've got some software.
4 Have you read this novel?
5 Look at that tree.
6. It's an armchair.
rectangular

Russian

old

beautiful

large

oak

19th century

striped

weird

Italian

scruffy

new

Internet

blue

suede

running

lovely

leather

exquisite antique

brilliant

4. Describe something you can see in the room or out of the window. See if other students can
guess what you are describing.
5. What do you think happened next? Write the last paragraph of the story.
Lexis.
1. Refer to the text and answer these two questions:
a) Why did the writer stop writing to his penfriends? What happened?
b) What happened to his feelings as the day of Eddie's arrival got nearer?
6. Here are some more examples of this use of get. Invent ways to complete the sentences and
then compare with another student.
For example: I got angry because he kept me waiting for half an hour.
a) I got depresses because d) I got upset because
b) I got bored because
e) I got involved in crime because
c) I got confused because
7. Read the ends of the expressions the parts you invented to other students. See if they can
guess which sentences they belong to.

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