The Browns and The Smiths

Theme: About Myself. Family Life

Topical Vocabulary

Family and Relationships: brother elder / older brother, cousin, daughter, father, grandchild, granddaughter / son, grandfather / mother, grandparent (s), great-grandchild, husband, ex-husband, in-laws (son-in law etc.), niece, nephew, parents, sister, son, step-father (daughter, son etc.), twin, twin-sister/ brother, aunt, uncle, widow (woman), widower (man), wife, ex-wife

Family and Relationships - Marital Relationships: divorced, engaged, married / unmarried, separated, single, widowed

Family and Relationships – Verbs: get divorced (from), get engaged (to), get married (to), get on (well) with someone, marry someone, start / end a relationship with someone

Family and Relationships - Other Related Words: acquaintance, boss, colleague, employee, employer, fiancé, fiancée, friend, best friend, neighbor

Professions and Jobs – People: accountant, actor, air steward, architect, assistant, personal assistant, shop assistant, author, baker, barman / barmaid / bar person, builder, businessman / businesswoman / executive, butcher, caretaker, chef, civil servant, clerk, computer operator / programmer, cook, decorator, dentist, designer, director, company director, film director, doctor, driver bus / taxi / train driver, garbageman (refuse collector), economist, editor, electrician, engineer, farmer, fisherman, fishmonger, flight attendant, hairdresser, head teacher, jeweler, journalist, judge, lawyer, lecturer, manager, miner, musician, news reader / news presenter, nurse, optician, painter, photographer, pilot, plumber, police officer, politician, porter, printer, prison officer / warder, receptionist, sailor, salesman / saleswoman /salesperson, scientist, secretary, soldier, solicitor, surgeon, tailor, teacher, telephonist, telephone operator, travel agent, TV cameraman, TV presenter, vet, waiter, writer

Appearance: attractive, good-looking, beautiful, handsome, pretty, cute, nice; plain, plain-looking, unattractive, ugly; well-dressed, nicely dressed, casually dressed, poorly dressed; neat, clean, untidy, dirty.

Height: tall, very tall, quite tall, six feet tall, not very tall, short; average height, medium height, middle height; he is average height; she is of middle height.

Weight and Build: thin, quite thin, slim, slender, skinny, medium-build, overweight, fat; strong, muscular, athletic.

Hair: dark, fair, black, red, brown, blond, chestnut brown, white, gray; long, short, medium-length, shoulder-length; straight, curly, wavy, thick, thinning, bald; shiny, smooth, neatly combed; dull, tousled, disheveled.

Eyes: blue, green, gray, brown, light-blue, dark-gray, grayish-blue, dark; big, bright, expressive, with long lashes.

Age: baby, a new-born baby, a small child, a baby in arms, an infant, a toddler; teenager, young, adult, middle-aged, elderly, senior, old; twenty years old, in her thirties, about forty; under (over) 17, at an early (late) age, at the age of 30, to come of age.

Character: pleasant personality, good-tempered, good-natured, easy-going; terrible character, bad-tempered, ill-natured; friendly, sociable, outgoing, unfriendly, hostile, unsociable; strong, tough, independent, mature, weak, immature; dependable, reliable, trustworthy, honest, unreliable, dishonest; reasonable, sensible, unreasonable, unpredictable, impulsive; ambitious, hard-working, energetic, lazy; disciplined, organized, careful, accurate; undisciplined, disorganized, careless, inaccurate, inattentive; attentive, alert, perceptive, observant, insightful, thoughtful, considerate; aggressive, pushy, self-centered, selfish, egoistical, inconsiderate; self-confident, shy, timid, modest, humble; haughty, arrogant, impudent; stubborn, obstinate; moody, melancholic, self-conscious, touchy, sensitive; humorous, amusing, funny, interesting, dull, boring; generous, unselfish, kind, kind-hearted; economical, thrifty, stingy, miserly, greedy; formal, official, informal, relaxed, casual; strange, odd, weird, eccentric, crazy.

Mind: intelligent, broad-minded, sharp, keen, bright, quick, agile, wise, clever; foolish, stupid, narrow-minded, silly.

Related Phrases:

What does she look like?

She is young and good-looking, with dark eyes and long red hair. He is tall and thin, with brown hair. He is twenty-five years old. She is average height, dark-haired, quite thin, and wears glasses. She's about fifty. He is old, short, medium-build, with gray hair and a beard. She has dark eyes, wavy blond hair, and a nice figure. She looks great. He is a handsome middle-aged man. She is a pretty young girl.

How do I look?

You look good. You look great. You look nice. You look terrible. You look awful.

What is he like?

He is friendly and dependable. He is interesting and amusing. He is smart and honest. He also has a good sense of humor. I like him. She is careless and lazy. You can't depend on her. She is serious, organized, hard-working, and tough. He is old, sick, and lonely. She is a nice clever girl. His character is terrible. He is hostile and bad-tempered. He doesn't have many friends. She is knowledgeable and broad-minded, and she likes to help young people.

Who does he take after, his mother or his father?

He takes after his father in appearance, but he is like his mother in character. He looks like his mother, but he takes after his father in character. Like his father, he is tall and handsome.

What does he like?

He likes ice cream and chocolate. She likes apples and oranges. She likes modern music. He likes old movies and classical music. She likes to read. He likes to play with his dog.

What are you interested in?

I'm interested in medicine. He is interested in politics. She is interested in history. I'm interested in sports. I'm into computers. I'm a movie fan. I like rock music.

Other related words:

a bookworm, a history buff, a sports fan, a music fan, a movie fan, a TV addict; a computer whiz kid, a computer freak, a number-cruncher; a fashion-monger, a fashion plate, a dandy; a junk collector, a pack rat, a miser, a squanderer; a homebody, a couch potato, lazybones, a workaholic, a Jack of all trades; an adventurer, a thrill seeker, an oddball, a weirdo; a prude, a hypocrite, a chronic liar, a gambler, a smooth operator, a city slicker, a simpleton; a superachiever, an underachiever, a winner, a loser, a tough guy, a softy; a woman-chaser, a womanizer, a lady's man / a ladies' man, a lady-killer; a black sheep, a scapegoat, a scarecrow, a white crow, a night owl.

Weight: 1 pound (lb.) = 0.4536 kilograms (kg). He weighs 170 pounds. He weighs 77 kilograms. Her weight is 132 pounds. Her weight is 59.9 kilograms. Her weight is about 60 kilograms.

Height: 1 inch (in.) = 2.54 centimeters (cm). 1 foot (ft.) = 12 in. = 30.48 cm = 0.3048 m. He is six feet tall. He is 183 centimeters tall. She is five feet three inches tall. She is five foot three. She is 160 centimeters tall. Her 12-year-old son is about 5 feet tall and weighs about 88 pounds. Her twelve-year-old son is about a hundred and fifty centimeters tall and weighs about forty kilograms.

NB! Mind the word order of adjectives:

quality size age shape color origin made of type +noun

beautiful long wavy brown hair

old red French car

I. Read, translate the text and do the exercises on it.

The Browns and The Smiths

The Browns and the Smiths are relatives. Mr Peter Brown and Mrs Helen Smith are brother and sister, the children of senior citizens, Jack and Jill Brown. They are one of those families where all the members look alike. They have dark brown hair, brown eyes and a dark­ish skin. Their faces are long and thin. Jill looks old and tired now but Jack still has a twinkle in his eve. He was a circus clown by profession, but some of the tricks he did were quite dan­gerous and wore Jill out with worry.

Helen is the oldest of their two children. She married her husband, John, when she was twenty-two and he was twenty-five. John works as a teacher of foreign languages at a compre­hensive school. He dislikes his job because the pupils he teaches have no interest in his subject. He envies Helen who stays at home all day. She does her work as a freelance translator of German and French in private. He wants to join her but he doesn’t make enough money doing the same. Their children, Mary, aged twenty-two, and Charles, aged nineteen, decided to fol­low in their parents’ footsteps. Mary is a University graduate. She studied foreign languages. The only difference is that while Mary’s parents studied West European languages, Mary her­self is more interested in Eastern Europe and studied Russian and Czech. Charles has little interest in other countries, but he wants to be a teacher of physical education.

Peter Brown is two years younger than his sister, who is forty- seven. He is a doctor, and because of his circus background he chose to be a doctor to circus performers. This means that he travels around a lot so it is impossible for his wife, Ally, to have a job. It also means that their fifteen-year-old daughter, Judy, attends a boarding school. However, Judy does not like living away from her parents and causes them a lot of anxiety by frequently getting into trouble. She smokes and hangs out with a bad crowd. She rarely looks at her books, although she is very gifted, especially in music. Peter tries to encourage her but he has so little time as his work keeps him very busy. Ally is at a loss when it comes to her daughter. She doesn’t remember what it feels like to be a teen-ager.

Despite the difference in their ages and interests, the cousins get along very well and both families are regular visitors at each other’s homes.

1. Answer the following questions.

1. What do the Browns look like? 2. How do Jill and Jack look? 3. What was Jack’s pro­fession? 4. What wore Jill out with worry? 5. Who is the oldest of the Browns’ two children? 6. When did Helen marry her husband? 7. What’s John’s occupation? Does he like his job? 8. Why does John envy Helen? 9. How old are John’s children? What do they do? 10. What is Mary interested in? 11. What is Peter Brown? 12. Why does Peter travel a lot? 13. Why is it impossible for his wife to have a job? 14. Where does Judy study? 15. Why does Judy cause her parents much anxiety? 16. Why is Ally at a loss when it comes to her daughter? 17. Do the cousins get along very well?

2. Confirm or deny the statements. Make use of the following phrases: That’s it! Precisely. Very true! I fully (quite) agree with you. I’m afraid not. You are not quite right, lam sorry to say. Far from it.

1. Jack looks old and tired. 2. Peter is the oldest of the Browns’ two children. 3. John works at a comprehensive school. 4. John likes his job. 5. Helen envies John. 6. Mary is inter­ested in foreign languages. 7. Charles is interested in other countries. 8. Peter is a circus per­former. 9. Ally travels a lot. 10. Judy is a gifted girl. 11. Peter’s work keeps him very busy.

3. Choose two characters of the text and discuss with your fellow-students their differences and likeness.

4. Make up short conversations in the following situations (use the wording of the text “The Browns and the Smiths”:

· Mary comes back after her visit to her relatives. Her parents are interested to know everything about their life.

· You are at a party. One of the guests (Charles) attracts your attention. You ask the hostess about him, his family and relatives.

· Ally and Judy are talking about the girl’s friends. The mother is rather critically dis­posed towards them. The girl is indignant and says that the elder generation can never under­stand the young.

5. Answer the following questions about your family.

1. Do you come from a large family? 2. How many brothers and sisters have you got? 3. Do you have any other members of the family living with you? Say who they are. 4. Do you spend much time with your family? 5. Who looks after the children? 6. Who looks after very old rel­atives? 7. Are you homesick? 8. You are fond and proud of your family, aren’t you?

6. Minitalks:

1. Large families are happy families. 2. Nowadays people have quite small families. 3. Traditions in my family. 4. My family life. 5. Something about myself I’m trying to change.

II. Translate into English:

1. У неї є чотирирічна дитина. 2. Їй майже сорок років. 3. Він – неповнолітній юнак. 4. Це клас для дітей шести років. 5. Вона пішла до школи у віці семи років. 6. Мій дідусь помер у віці восьмидесяти років. 7. Вона – людина похилого віку.

III. Say what sort of person he/she is. Give your reasons.

1. He is willing to give money, spend time in order to help people or give them pleasure. 2. She is fair and sensible. 3. He’s unwilling to talk proudly about his abilities and achievements. 3.She can be trusted or depended on. 5. She’s determined to be successful and rich. 6. She’s trying to make people think she’s important. 7. He’s unreasonably refusing to change his ideas or behaviour, even though people try to persuade him. 8. He’s sure that he can do things well, that people like him. 9. He’s speaking in a way that is not polite. 10. He behaves badly, he’s rude and disobedient. 11. He behaves in a polite, kind, generous and honorable way, esp. towards women. 12. She spends a lot of time thinking about her own problems and interests and finds it difficult to talk to other people. 13. She’s tending to do things as soon as she thinks of them, without considering the possible problems or dangers. 14. She’s sensible, she bases her decisions on what is possible and what will really work.

IV. Say what you think about these people and why you think so.

1. Kate loves to be admired. 2. Diana is too proud of her appearance, always calling attention to herself. 3. Jack loves arguing. 4. Mike has a strange gift of attracting friends. 5. John loves to boast. 6. Denis is good at borrowing but bad at giving back. 7. Money bums Betty’s fingers. 8. Money counts with Brian more than anything. 9. Ben falls for every pretty face he sees. 10. Mark can make money but he cannot keep it. 11. Bob keeps bad company. 12. Beatrice keeps in with all the right people. 13. The Browns live honestly. 14. Charles lives on his parents. 15. Nora is always looking in the mirror, admiring herself. 16. Mary always seems to be acting. 17. Jim is devoted to his wife and family. 18. Nothing helps when Vallery becomes angry and trying to calm her down just adds fuel to the flames. 19. Norman is above talk­ing behind somebody’s back. 20. Bill has too high an opinion of himself. 21. Donald cares only for himself. 22. Earnest is practically married to his work. He lets nothing come between himself and his work. 23. Don takes a rose-coloured view of the world. 24. Nick is a two-faced person.

V. Say what his/her profession is, comment on it and say if you find it interesting/ exciting / challenging / useful / noble / dull / monotonous / difficult / easy / well-paid / badly-paid / underpaid. 1. Someone whose job is to design buildings. 2. A person who builds or repairs buildings. 3.Someone whose job is to give beauty treatments to your skin, hair, etc. 4. A professional performer, esp. in music, dance, or the theatre. 5. Someone who produces art, esp. paint­ings and drawings. 6. Someone who writes books, stories etc., esp. as a job. 7. One of the peo­ple who works for an organization, business etc. and are below the level of a manager. 8. A man/woman who serves food and drink at the tables in a restaurant. 9. A secretary whose main job is to type letters. 10. Someone who works in a bank in an important position. 11. Someone who is in charge of a local bank. 12. A man who works at a fairly high level in a company. 13. Someone whose job is to teach. 14. Someone who works in an office typing letters, keeping records, arranging meetings etc.. 15. Someone who works on a ship. 16. Someone who writes music. 17. Someone who is trained to prepare drugs and medicines, who works in a shop; or a scientist who has a special knowledge in chemistry. 18. A person who gives some instructions to a computer in order to make it do a particular thing. 19. A member of the army of a country, esp. someone who is not an officer. 20. Someone whose job is to treat people’s teeth. 21. Someone who drives a car, bus etc. 22. A doctor who does operations in hospital. 23. Someone who designs the way roads, bridges, machines etc. are built. 24. Someone who has an impor­tant job as a manager in a company or business. 25. Someone whose job is to advise people about laws, write formal agreements, or present people in court. 26. A person who plays a musical instrument, esp. very well or as a job. 27. Someone who is skilled at repairing motor vehicles and machinery. 28. Someone who operates the controls of an aircraft or spacecraft. 29. A person whose job is to make sure that people obey the law, to catch criminals and to protect people and property. 30. Someone whose job is to repair waterpipes, baths, sinks etc.

VI. Match the words from the right column with the descriptions in the left column.

1. plump, skinny, slender 2. silky, smooth, curly 3. pale, good-humored, long 4. hazel, mischievous, warm 5. snub, straight, bulbous 6. chestnut, silvery, fair 7. bob, crew-cut, plaits 8. double, pointed, decided

a. hair styles b face c. hair colour d. figure e. hair f. nose g. eyes h. chin

VII. Look at pictures. Say what people look like and how they look.

VIII. Give Ukrainian equivalents to the following: mischievous almond hazel eyes; turned up nose; pointed chin; short, dark, curly hair; wavy shoulder-length hair; good-humored round face; darken eyelashes with mascara; slanting eyes; skinny figure; deep scar; short curly fringe; hair fastened with barrettes; a man with a long moustache; charming smile; wrinkled face; expressive features; silvery hair; to have a long face; to wear a wig; fashionable stubble.

IX. Read the following text and use it to describe the appearance of each member of your family.

My father is tall. He has large hands and his feet are size 45. He has short, dark, curly hair and a small beard. His arms, legs and chest are hairy. He's a cheerful person and when he laughs, you can see even white teeth. He wears spectacles (glasses) and you can't see his eyes, but I know they are steel gray. He's 43. He usually wears jeans and checked shirts or sweaters. But for work he wears a suit and a tie and looks every inch a teacher.

My mother is a very different person. She's short and plumpish. She has small hands and feet. She has long, strong, fair hair. She has dimples and rosy cheeks. She has long eyelashes which she darkens with mascara. She likes pink nail-varnish, high-heeled shoes and fashionable clothes. Her favourite colours are red and light blue.

My 20-year old sister likes to be well-dressed. She used lots of make-up, is always going to the hairdresser's and has fantastic hairstyles. She's tall and slim, with slender arms and elegant legs. Her full lips are always red. She's open-minded and nice. She is married and has a baby.

My baby nephew is still just a toddler; he can't speak yet, but he's very selfish and bores me.

My boss is an elderly man, rather short and stout. His hair is grey and thin and he's bald on top. He's clean-shaven. He has a double chin. He's always immaculately dressed: a white shirt, a dark well-creased suit with a matching tie and black leather shoes. He's a serious and punctual man, doesn't talk much and seems to be not overgenerous.

X. Describe your friends / groupmates / some famous people. The others will try to guess who you are describing.

XI. You meet your friend after: a disease; a span of time; holidays; plastic surgery. Dramatize a conversation about him/her. Use conversational phrases.

How to ask for an opinion. What do you think of/about...? How do you find...?

How to save an opinion. Speaking personally, I think... In my opinion/ From my point of view...If you ask me/ If you want my opinion...As far as I am able to judge...

How to agree with the opinion: I'd go along with you on that. I take your point. I entirely agree with you. That's exactly how I see it. Perhaps, you are right.

XII. Expand the following statements giving the description of an imaginary person.

He looks like a bear.

She looks like a wild flower.

She is as ugly as a sin.

Sue is as pretty as a picture.

XIII. Read the text and do the exercises below.

Jack is popular with his fellow-students and most of his teachers. He works hard in his classroom, but sometimes he can be noisy. He is not deliberately disruptive, but he does find it difficult to sit still for long periods. He is full of energy. He is late for his classes more often than most students but he is always willing to help teachers and students.

Jack is generally good-tempered, but he has been in two fights since he left school. He is quite happy at school and doesn't seem to have any strong opinions about how things could be changed. He gets on well with his parents although he frequently quarrels with his younger sisters.

Jane plays netball for the school team for her year, she is very popular with her fellow students. She takes the lead in arranging extra netball practices and group parties. She has a lively personality and a sense of humour. Her teachers like her but they complain about her unpunctuality and sometimes lateness of her homework.

There is one particular teacher she does not like; she has been accused of being insolent to this teacher, but Jane denied it strongly.

She has strong opinions about how the university should be run. Out of school she is dressed in very up-to-date clothes and collects all the latest records. She is a keen sportsman.

Len is a very intelligent boy. He is not very good at games, in fact he shows little interest in sport in general. He is no weakling however. He reads book after book, plays chess well and is very good at Physics. He is a friendly person but perhaps does not make friends as easily as some of the other students.

Whatever he gives his mind on, he does with great determination. His parents are very proud of him. He lives in a flat on a housing estate near the University. He is not very talkative, but when he does speak, the other students tend to listen to him.

Maggie thinks there are many things wrong with the University. She has ideas about changing the rules; for instance, she rebels against doing homework and believes that being punished by detention is wrong.

Some of her teachers think she is a troublemaker. Some of her groupmates think she is loud and bossy; others think she is a very lively person. Maggie's mother is a councilor so she is accustomed to hearing her parents talk about important matters. She is intelligent, full of energy and seems to have opinions about everything.

1) Decide: who of these students you would like to make friends with and who might be the best group representative. Give your arguments. What do you like/dislike about these people?

2) Find the English equivalents for the following from the text.

Користуватися популярністю, порушувати дисципліну, запізнюватися на заняття, добре ладнати з кимось, скаржитися на не пунктуальність, захоплюватися спортом

3) Find the synonyms.

1. frank 2. clever 3. stupid 4. curly 5. slender 6. sad 7. ugly

a. silly b. wavy c. well-build d. intelligent e. honest f. awful g. boring

4) Find the antonyms.

1. weak 2. pretty 3. false 4. industrious 5. calm 6. sad 7. cruel

a. ugly b. lazy c. strong d. active e. honest f. kind g. cheerful

XIV. Cut out some pictures of people from magazines - pop stars, sportsmen, TV stars. Describe a person according to general characteristics: age, height and build. Next, move to details such as hair and any other prominent features, like the eyes or the nose, a beard, a moustache, glasses etc.

Age

		(very)	young
			middle aged
He / She	is	(quite)	old
			in his/ her twenties
			in his/ her fifties
			about forty years old

Height

		(not very)	short
He / She	is	(quite)	medium height
		^(very)	tall
Build
		(very)	thin
			medium build
He / She	is	(quite)	plump
			fat
			strong build

		Length	Colour	Type
		long	black	straight
He / She	has	short	blond	wavy	hair
			brown	curly
			red

		a	small	nose
		a	big	mouth
He / She	has		blue	eyes
		a		moustache
		a		beard
				glasses

Example

Ana is quite young, she is in her twenties, she's very tall and thin. She has long brown and curly hair and beautiful blue eyes.

XV. The following words describe appearance or personality. Put the words in the correct box – Appearance or Personality.

tall pretty crazy shy lazy kind handsome old intelligent moody happy slim ugly small young big fat short dull tanned wrinkled cheerful

XVI. Complete these sentences with your own information:

I like a person who is…

I don’t like a person who is…

I like people who are…

I can’t stand it when…

It bothers me when someone…

My best friend is someone who is…

I think a friend should be…

XVII. Read the description of Aunt Emily.

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