Describing people: look, look like, look as if (as though)

Make three sentences about each of the following, using the information given in brackets.

1. Alan (pale, a ghost, has had some bad news).

2. Kate, (pretty, a film star, is going to a party).

3. That man (rich, a millionaire, has a lot of money).

4. That young couple (happy, Romeo and Juliet, are in love).

5. Our new neighbours (pleasant, my aunt and uncle, will be easy to get on with).

Now make similar sentences about the people in the pictures.

 

Describing people: compound adjectives

Compare these sentences:

June has blue eyes and fair hair.

June is blue-eyed and fair-haired.

June is a blue-eyed, fair-haired girl.

Change the sentences below to make two more sentences, using the other forms given.

1. Bob has brown eyes and dark hair.

2. Paul is a broad-shouldered, bald-headed man.

3. Julia is thin-faced and red-haired.

4. Caroline is straight-backed and long-legged.

5. Kevin has a pale face and thin lips.

 

Use the chart from Ex. 3 (Section Listening 1) to make similar sentences about the faces, eyes and hair of the people in the pictures.

 

IV. LISTENING

Listening 1. You are going to hear descriptions of four people, two female and two male.

1. Decide which of the six pictures on the right correspond to the four people described.

2. Write the information you hear in note form in columns 1- 4 in the table below.

3. Then, using the list of questions in the table, complete column 5 by describing in note form a friend or relative of yours. When you have finished, see if another student can draw a picture of him/her, following your description.

 

Person
Age?
Colour of Eyes?
Shape of Face?			square
Hair?				curly/dark
Complexion?		sallow
Special Features?	dimples in cheeks

 

V. CONVERSATIONAL PRACTICE

Task 1. Listen to the dialogues and practise them. Pay special attention to the underlined structures.

Will You Do Me A Favour?

Alice: Hello, Mike! Have you been waiting long? I’m so sorry I’m late.

Mike: Now when you’re here it’s all right..

Alice: I say, Mike, I’ve just had a wire from Mary. She’s coming by the five-twenty train. And I have a meeting at five. Will you do me a favour and meet her at the station?

Mike: Certainly. But I’ve never seen her. How shall I recognize her?

Alice: Oh, it’s quite easy. She’s just like her mother.

Mike: Most helpful, I’m sure. But the problem is that I’ve never seen her mother either

Alice: No, you haven’t. But I’m afraid I haven’t any photos of her.

Mike: Try to describe her. What does she look like?

Alice: A tall, slim girl of eighteen with an oval face.

Mike: Complexion?

Alice: Rather pale.

Mike: Hair?

Alice: Fair and curly. Light-gray eyes, a small snub nose, a big mouth with white even teeth and a pleasant smile.

Mike: I’m sure there’ll be at least a dozen girls like that at the station.

Alice: Oh, Mike, we’ve been discussing it for the better part of an hour and I see no end to it.

Mike: But how am I to recognize her in the crowd?

Alice: Oh, I forgot. There’s a dimple in her left cheek, she’s so lovely that you’ll fall in love with her at first sight.

Mike: That’ll help me to be sure. Go to a meeting, promise to be on a platform at five sharp, looking for a tall, slim, fair-haired, lovely girl with a dimple in her cheek.

After the Party

Bess: I say, who’s the boy I’ve been dancing with most of the time? He introduced himself but I didn’t catch the name.

Julie: Do you mean the lean stooping fellow with an awkward gait, a piercing look and a mop of sandy hair?

Bess: The one I mean isn’t like that at all. He’s tall and slender with a graceful carriage, earnest eyes and smooth blond hair.

Julie: So that’s the way he strikes you, isn’t it? Well, that’s Will, my first cousin.

Bess: Is he? Julie, say honestly, do you really find him as plain as you’ve made him out?

Julie: I was just joking. Will takes after his father, my uncle Alex, who is still very handsome, even though bald and rather stern-looking.

Bess: And as to his stooping, it was natural when dancing with a small person like myself, so much shorter than he, wasn’t it?

Julie: Well, it’s funny, but Will came up to me and asked: ‘Who’s that little bright-eyed girl with dimples in her cheeks?’

Bess: He didn’t!

Julie: He did. And he said you were the prettiest girl here.

Bess: He can’t possibly have meant it. Jane was certainly the beauty of the party.

Julie: Jane? Don’t make me laugh. Perhaps she wouldn’t look so bad if she hadn’t put on so much weight. As it is, she’s positively fat and looks rather old for her age.

Bess: No, not fat, she’s just plump. And she has wonderfully regular features and a lovely complexion.

Julie: Lovely complexion indeed! With all that powder and lipstick on you don’t see much of her natural complexion. Anyhow, I quite agree with Will that you’re much more attractive than Jane, especially now, when you wear your hair shoulder length parted in the middle.

Bess: Nice of you to say that.

Julie: Would you care to come and see me next Saturday? I’ll invite Will and two or three other girls and boys.

Bess: I’d love to, I’ll be looking forward to it. And now I’m off. Goodbye for the present.

Julie: See you again soon.