- •Московский государственный гуманитарно-экономический институт
- •Introduction
- •Unit One. Building Your Vocabulary
- •American Words
- •Unit 2. Describing People
- •2.1 Describing people - appearance
- •Height and build
- •General appearance
- •In order to create a picture of a person in the mind of the reader four things must be used.
- •Some idiomatic expressions describing appearance:
- •My Next-door Neighbour
- •2.2. Describing people - character
- •Intellectual ability
- •Attitudes towards life
- •Attitudes towards other people
- •Intelligent, bright, clever, smart, shrewd, able, gifted, talented, stupid, foolish, half-witted, simple, silly Some idiomatic expressions to help to characterize people:
- •Types of relationships
- •Phrases and idioms for relationships
- •Some idiomatic expressions to help to characterize relationships:
- •Honest, reserved, outgoing, frank, tactless, persuasive, trustworthy, fussy
- •Manners and Mannerism
- •Unit 3. A Descriptive Composition
- •Points to consider
- •Writing descriptive essays
- •Organization
- •Descriptive language
- •Not descriptive
- •Descriptive
- •Self-assessment
- •Adjectives to describe people.
- •Describing People
- •Points to consider
- •Unit 4. Paragraph Structure
- •Unit 5. Parts of a Paragraph
- •5.1. Description of process in essays Process indicators in English.
- •Devout content placid a goody-goody bold innocent a dreamer an extrovert strapping self-conscious quick-minded
- •5.2. Cause and Effect sentences in Essays
- •Sample Cause and Effect Sentences
- •5.3. Comparison and Contrast sentences in essays
- •Comparison Paragraphs Organized by Similar Points
- •Direct Opposition Subordinators
- •Comparison Paragraphs Organized by Subtopic
- •Similes and Metaphors
- •Comparison Conjunctions
- •5.4 Argumentative essays
- •Unit 6. Types of writing
- •Unit 7. Letter writing General Format
- •Model letter
- •Writer’s Address
- •Envelope Address
- •Body of the Letter
- •Closing Signature
- •Impact on the Reader
- •Social letter samples
- •Invitation (informal)
- •Business Letters
- •Informal letters:
- •Informal language (e.G. I haven’t written you for ages, Don’t worry, By the way, It’s a piece of cake, I’ll pick you up at the airport, I can give it a try and so on)
- •Informal style is characterized by:
- •Semicolon
- •Full stop
- •Contrast and Addition Structures:
- •Supposition:
- •Instructions
My Next-door Neighbour
Mavis has been my neighbour for six years. I first met her when she knocked on my door and asked for a spade because she hadn't yet unpacked hers. She had only moved in two days before.
Physically, Mavis looks younger than most other women in their late sixties. She is of average height, neither fat nor thin. Her plump round face is framed by a mass of wavy white hair and her sparkling blue eyes show her humour and friendliness. She prefers wearing casual, comfortable clothes. I don't think I have ever seen her in a perfectly ironed suit.
As for her personality, Mavis's most striking characteristic is her generosity. My house, as well as most of our neighbours', nearly always has a vase of flowers from her garden in the living room. Mavis is very good- natured and always has time for a chat. She is also patient. She hardly ever gets annoyed about anything, except when children pick her favourite roses and lilies. However, she tends to be quite stubborn — once she has made a decision, nothing can change her mind.
Mavis always seems to be busy doing something. She spends a lot of her time looking after her garden and often participates in local flower shows. When she is not in her garden she is usually off somewhere raising money for one charity or another.
All in all, Mavis is the perfect next-door neighbour. Since the day she moved in, we have grown very close and I am very fond of her, even if I am woken up by the noise of her lawnmower early in the morning!
2.2. Describing people - character
Avoid beginning all sentences in the same way as it will make your composition boring. Use a variety of structures, trying to link the sentences together.
Instead of writing: She is a pretty girl. She has an oval face., you can write: She is a pretty girl with an oval face.
Look at the examples suggested below:
He has wrinkles. They make him look older.
He has wrinkles which make him look older.
She is a beautiful woman. She wears designer clothes.
She is a beautiful woman who wears designer clothes.
She has long hair. She wears her hair in a pony-tail.
She wears her long hair in a pony-tail.
He has a big garden. He grows vegetables in the garden.
He has a big garden where he grows vegetables.
Exercise № 22. Rewrite the sentences by linking them together as illustrated in the examples above.
Richard was well-built. He had fine wrinkles around his eyes. They showed when he laughed.
Jack is in his mid- twenties. He has an oval face and long curly hair. He ties it back in a pony-tail. He has a big kitchen. He likes to cook for his friends.
Helen is dark-skinned. She has beautiful almond-shaped eyes. She dyes her hair. It makes her look younger than she is.
Marcy’s mother is an attractive woman. She has long blond hair. She wears her hair in a bun.
In a number of cases, character description becomes absolutely important and defines personality much more vividly.
Intellectual ability
Ability: intelligent, bright, clever, smart, shrewd, able, gifted, talented, brainy (colloquial)
Abilities: stupid, foolish, half-witted, simple, silly, brainless, daft, dumb, dim (the last four are colloquial words)
Clever, in a negative way, using brains to trick or deceive: cunning, crafty sly
Exercise № 23. Make a list of three people who’s known to you and describe them in 3 sentences in formal and informal ways.