DISCUSSION POINTS

1) What is the minimum length of time you need to spend with somebody to know whether you are attracted to them?

2) What would turn you off somebody immediately?

3) If you could ask just three questions to find out whether somebody is your type of person, what would your questions be?

4) Have you ever spent a whole evening on a date with somebody you didn’t like?

5) What do you think speed dating is?

READING

Read the article about a speed dating session.

SPEED DATING

Your dream partner … in five minutes!

The idea is simple – why devote a whole evening to one blind date when you can meet five potential mates in less than half an hour? Five men and five women are introduced by a master of ceremonies or chaperone. Each “couple” is given five minutes to get to know each other before moving on to the next candidate. At the end of the session, if the attraction is mutual, they can walk off together into the sunset (or at least swap telephone numbers).

We went along to a Speed dating night where these five women and five men had signed up for the event, all hoping to meet their dream partner, safe in the knowledge that if they hate each other on sight, the suffering will last only five minutes or three hundred excruciating seconds.

Craig, 21: a student

Ideal date: I’m looking for someone who makes me laugh and someone I can learn something from. She has to be a brunette though.

Best date: Claire – she’s a brunette with a great personality. She made me laugh, and I’d like to see her again.

Worst date: Erica - ugh! Awful manners and jokes. She is very absorbed with herself: totally self-centered.

Kevin, 31: a telecom salesman

Ideal date: I’ve had a few serious relationships, but at the end of the day, nothing materialized. My ideal date is a lively, pretty girl who is amusing and good to talk to.

Best date: Sindy – bubbly and lively. I’d definitely like to see her again.

Worst date: Lara – didn’t seem to be on the same planet as the rest of us. Too spaced out for me.

Adam, 21: a party planner

Ideal date: I broke up with my girlfriend of a year three months ago so now I’m after someone who is a good laugh but who you can get on a deeper level with.

Best date: Karen – stayed very enigmatic, which I liked. Very attractive. I’d like to see her again.

Worst date: Erica – a bit dizzy, I prefer somebody a bit more down-to-earth.

Jim, 25: a computer consultant

Ideal date: I didn’t come into this thinking I was going to meet the ideal girl. I just wanted a bit of a laugh. I wouldn’t use this technique to find my future girlfriend.

Best date: Sindy – sensible and fun. The sort of woman I’d take home to meet my parents.

Worst date: Claire rather stand-offish and just not interested. She didn’t ask any questions about me, and the five minutes went by very slowly.

Tony, 23: a journalist

Ideal date: I rarely pull when I’m out and about unless I know the girl first, as I’m quite shy. I’d like to meet someone who’s good fun and easy to chat to.

Best date: Sindy – lovely girl, a superb laugh. I felt really comfortable with her. I’d definitely like to see her again. Name the date.

Worst date: Lara – rambled on too much about her home town in Ireland. A relief when the five minute were up.

Karen, 26: a student

Ideal date: My ideal date is someone with intelligence, good looks, sexiness, a family man. He’s got to be sensitive and trustworthy. In other words, I’m looking for the ideal man!

Best date: Craig – really cute, young, friendly and good-looking.

Worst date: Tony – harmless, but slightly boring and much too quiet.

Lara, 23: a piano tutor

Ideal date: I like people who are open-minded and different.

Best date: Adam – I found him charming, young and really sexy.

Worst date: Jim – he was polite, but a bit too straight for me.

Sindy, 23: a florist

Ideal date: My ideal man is someone interesting, amusing and full of life. I love being outgoing and friendly, so this was the perfect dating game for me.

Best date: Tony – wonderful, interesting and fun.

Worst date: Adam – a very cool bloke but not someone I’d date. Too young.

Erica, 22: an actress and singer

Ideal date: I like tall mature men who are quite a lot older than me.

Best date: Adam – a bit young, but by far the coolest and most laid-back.

Worst date: Kevin – laddish and unambitious.

Claire, 25: an editorial assistant

Ideal date: I always manage to go out with very intense men who get very obsessive even tough I’m just looking for fun.

Best date: Adam – sexy, exotic: a really pretty boy. Yes!

Worst date: Tony – sweet but not vey inspiring. A bit drippy.

Comprehension check

a) Who were the most and least popular men?

b) Who were the most and least popular women?

c) Which two men had the same taste in women?

d) Which couple fell for each other?

Vocabulary Tasks

1 Decide if these words usually have positive or negative meanings.

a) self-centered e) stand-offish i) straight

b) enigmatic f) sensitive j) mature

c) down-to-earth g) trustworthy k) laid-back

d) sensible h) open-minded

2 Choose words from the above list in 1 which best replace the words in bold in these sentences.

a) My ideal partner would have to be someone caring, good-looking and dependable.

b) I think I’m quite a level-headed sort of person. I haven’t done anything crazy yet!

c) I’d say I feel relaxed about work – I never let things worry me.

d) People think I’m unfriendly, but actually, I’m just really shy.

e) My parents are extremely conventional. I wish they were more tolerant.

f) I prefer to go out with people older than me. You can have more interesting conversations with somebody who’s experienced and grown-up.

g) I know somebody who likes to think she’s mysterious. In fact, she’s very boring.

h) My friend’s very wealthy, but you’d never know it because he’s so unpretentious.

i) I’ve got a friend who’s rather selfish – probably because her parents spoilt her when she was a child.

3 Turn the adjectives into nouns adding the suffixes ity and ness.

4 Join word from box A to words from box B to make compound adjectives which are synonyms for the adjectives in box C.

5 What negative prefixes are used with these adjectives?

6 Choose the most suitable word or phrase underlined in each sentence.

a) Please don’t push. It’s very bad-tempered / rude / unsympathetic.

b) Jack hates spending money. He’s rather frank / greedy / mean.

c) Our teacher is very proud / strict / tolerant and won’t let us talk in class.

d) Helen never does her homework. She is rather gentle / lazy / reliable.

e) I didn’t talk to anyone at the party because I felt ambitious / lonely / shy.

f) When Harry saw his girlfriend dancing with Paul he felt jealous / selfish / sentimental.

g) I don’t like people who are noisy and aggressive / courageous / sociable.

h) Thank you for bringing us a present. It was very adorable / grateful / thoughtful of you.

i) Teresa never gets angry with the children. She is very brave / patient / pleasant.

j) Tom always pays for everyone when we go out. He’s so cheerful / generous / honest.

7 Match these words with the descriptions.

a) You always arrive on time. _____________

b) You are always happy. ____________

c) You do what you say you will do. _____________

d) You say exactly what you think. ______________

e) You don’t think about the needs of others. _____________

f) You have a strong wish to get what you want. _____________

g) You are unkind, or not willing to spend money. ____________

h) You easily become angry with others. ____________

i) You think about the needs of others. _____________

j) You tell the truth and obey the law. ___________

k) You understand the feelings of others. ___________

l) You try to avoid work if you can. ____________

8 Complete each sentence with a word from the list. Use each word once only.

a) I think I’ll stay here on my own, I’m not feeling very ________ today.

b) Diana wants to get to the top in her company. She is very __________.

c) It’s not _________ to stare at people and say nothing.

d) I think you have to be very __________ to write a novel.

e) Thank you for helping me. It was very _________ of you.

f) Peter refuses to change his mind, although he is wrong. He’s so __________

g) It was very _________ of Sheila to put out the fire on her own.

h) Our neighbours look down on us. They are a bit __________.

i) Don’t eat all the cakes! You are really becoming _________.

j) If you lend me the money I’ll be very __________.

k) I am very _________ of my new motorbike.

l) My parent don’t mind my crazy hair style. They are very _________.

9 Complete this text about the painting The Scream by Edvard Munch by changing the word in capitals into a suitable form.

If ever a painting lent itself to the character (1 ANALYSE) of its artist it is surely The Scream by Edvard Munch. It expresses the (2 MISERABLE) of a solitary figure in emotional crisis. Beneath this, it is the deep (3 HAPPY) of the artist that screams at us from the canvas. It is a (4 POWER), neurotic, hysterical picture. Yet, we should (5 SYMPATHY) with Munch, a Norwegian, born in 1863, whose tragic (6 CHILD) was marked by the (7 LOSE) of close family members. This experience transformed a natural (8 SENSITIVE) into an (9 OBSESS) with love, sickness and death. The Scream expresses the profound pessimism and (10 ANXIOUS) of its artist.

SPEAKING

1) Discuss if you would ever try speed dating. Give reasons for your decisions.

2) Make a list of all the ways you think people use to find a boyfriend or a girlfriend. Decide which ways are likely to be the most successful and number them in order.

3) Describe family members or friends using the words from the above vocabulary tasks. The listener then says whether he/she would like to ask them out on a date or not.

WRITING

1. This description of Mr McElroy comes from an account by Maya Angelou of her childhood in the 1930s. Read it to see how much information the writer gives us about Mr McElroy’s:

-relationship to her -clothes

-occupation -behavior

-appearance -character

2. Which two statements best describe the writer’s technique in giving a picture of Mr McElroy ?

a) She gives detailed information about the man’s appearance

b) She describes only a few aspects of the man’s appearance, choosing things which make him different from other people

c) She describes him objectively

d) She includes both her childhood and adult feelings about the man.

Mr McElroy, who lived in the big rambling house next to our Store, was very tall and broad, and although the years had eaten away the flesh from his shoulders, they had not, at the time of my knowing him, gotten to his high stomach, or his hands or feet.

He was the only Negro I knew, except for the school principal and the visiting teachers, who wore matching pants and jackets. When I learned that men’s clothes were sold like that and called suits, I remember thinking that somebody had been very bright, for it made them look less manly, less threatening and a little more like women.

Mr McElroy never laughed, and seldom smiled, and to his credit was the fact that he liked to talk to poor lame Uncle Willie. He never went to church, which my brother Bailey and I thought also he was a very courageous person.

I watched him with the excitement of expecting him to do anything at any time. I never tired of this, or became disappointed or disenchanted with him, although from the perch of age, I see him now as a very simple and uninteresting man who sold patent medicine and tonics to the less sophisticated people in villages surrounding the metropolis of Stamps.

One greeting a day was all that could be expected from Mr McElroy. After his “Good morning, child” or “Good afternoon, child”, he never said a word, even if I met him again on the road in front of his house or down by the well.

He remained a mystery in my childhood. A man who owned his land and the big many-windowed house with a porch that clung to its sides all around the house. An independent Black man. A near anachronism in Stamps.

Date: 2014-12-29; view: 2503