aA, Describing character 92 A Opposites Many positive words describing character have cleat opposites with a negative meani Positive Negative warm and friendly cold and unfriendly kind unkind nice, pleasant horrible, unpleasant generous (= happy to give/share) mean (= never gives to others) optimistic (= thinks positively) pessimistic (= thinks negatively) cheerful (= happy and smiling) miserable (= always seems unhappy) relaxed and easy-going tense (= nervaus; worries a lot; not calm) strong weak sensitive insensitive (= does not think about others’ feelings) honest (= always tells the truth) dishonest Jane is very tense at the moment because of her exams, but she’s usually quite relaxed and easy-going about most things. I think the weather influences me a lot: when it’s sunny I feel more cheerful and optimistic; bur when it’s cold and raining I get very miserable. He seemed a bit unfriendly at first, but now I've got to know him I realise he’s very warm and kind, The shop assistant told me that the dress I tried on looked better on people younger than me. I thought that was very insensitive of her, but at least she was being honest, 1 suppose. Character in action People often talk about qualities of character that you may need in a work situation. Again, some of these words come in pairs of opposites: one positive and one negative. Positive Negative hard-working, lazy (= never does any work) punctual (=always on time) not very punctual: always late reliable unreliable (= you cannot trust / depend on someone like this} clever, bright (infml) stupid, thick (infml) flexible inflexible (= a very fixed way of thinkings unable to change) ambitious unambitious (= no desire to be successful and get a better job) Some pairs of opposites do not have a particularly positive or negative meanin, He is very shy when you first meet him because he finds it difficult to talk to people and make conversation; but when he knows people quite well he’s much more self-confident, People often say the British are very reserved (= do not show their feelings), but when you get to know them they can be very emotional like anyone else, Using nouns Some important qualites are expressed through nouns. One of her great qualities is that she uses her initiative. (= she can think for herself and take the necessary action; she does not need to wait for orders all the time) That boy has got no common sense (= he does stupid things and doesn’t think what he is doing). His sister, on the other hand, is very sensible. (= has lots of common sense} English Vocabulary in Use (presintermediate & intermediate)44.1 44.2 44.4 44.5 Exercises Organise these words into pairs of opposites and put them in the columns below. mean clever nice lazy relaxed hard-working, tense cheerful generous unpleasant — stupid miserable Positive Negative What prefix forms the opposite of each of these words? (You need three different prefixes.) kind flexible friendly honest us pleasant How would you describe the person in each of these descriptions? 1 He never bought me a drink all the time we were together. 2 Thave to tell her what to do every minute of the working day. She wouldn’t even open a window without someone's permission. 3. He often promises to do things but half the time he forgets. 4 She's always here on time. 5 I don’t think he’s done any work since he’s been here. 6 She finds it difficule ro meet people and talk to strangers. 7 He could work in any of the departments, and it doesn’t matter to him if he's on his own ot part of a team, 8 One of the great things about her is that she is soG@are what other people think or feel. 9 Bob, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. [le is always making people angry or upset because he just doesn’t consider their feelings. 10. The other thing about Bob is that he really wants to get the supervisor's job and then become boss for the whole department What nouns can be formed from these adjectives? Use a dictionary to help you. Example: kind kindness punctual optimistic reliable lazy confident generous. ambitious stupid sensitive strong flexible shy Choose three words from the opposite page which describe you. Is there one quality you do not have but would like to have? What, in your opinion, is the worst quality described on the opposite page? If possible, compare your answers with a friend. English Vocabulary in Use (pre-intermediate & intermediate) 9394 Human feelings and actions Feelings Nous Adjective(s) love (# hate) - happiness (# sadness) _ happy (# sad) anger angry fear afraid (of) / frightened (of) pride proud (of) jealousy jealous (of) embarrassment embarrassed/embarrassing (see Unit 30) Note: * Pride has different meanings, but the most common is the feeling of satisfaction you have because you (or people you are connected with) have done something well He was very proud when his wife became the first President of the organisation. * Jealousy is a feeling of anger and unhappiness you may have if (a) someone you love shows a lot of interest in others, or (b) if someone has something you want / don’t have. a) My boyfriend gets very jealous when I talk to other boys. b) He’s jealous of his brother because his brother is more intelligent and makes more money. * A common adjective is upset, which means unhappy, sad, and even angry, because something unpleasant has happened, e.g. He was very upset when we didn’t invite him. Ways of ... Ways of speaking whisper (v, n) (= speak very quietly) shout (v, n) (= speak in a very loud voice) Ways of looking stare (v, n) ( = look at someone/something in a fixed way for a long time) glance (at) (v, n) (= look at someone or something very quickly) Ways of walking stroll (v, n) (= walk in a slow casual way) march (v, n) (= walk quickly and with a clear purpose/reason) Things we do with our hands wave (goodbye) & wy point (at sth /sb.) press (a button) punch someone English Vocabulary in Use (presintermediate & intermediate)Exercises 45.1) What nouns can be formed from these adjectives? angry sad happy proud — jealous embarrassed 45.2. Find the logical ending on the right for cach of the sentence beginnings on the left. 1 He was very proud when a someone stole his money 2 He was very jealous when b his father appeared on TY with the Prime Minister. 3. He was very embarrassed when he heard that his aunt had died. 4 He was very angry when dhe saw those big dogs running towards him. 5. He was very sad when ¢ he bought her a birthday present on the wrong day. 6 He was very frightened when f his best friend went out with the gitl he really liked 45.3 Answer these questions. If possible, ask someone else the same questions. 1 Would you feel embarrassed or upset (or both) if you forgot your mother’s birthday or your father’s birthday? Do you ever feel frightened in a car (as a passenger) because you are going very fast? Do you get angry when other people want you to do things that you don’t want to do? If you made a stupid mistake in English, would you feel embarrassed? Is there any one thing that you are very proud of? Are there any common situations where you sometimes feel embarrassed? 45.4 What are these people doing? Describe their actions using words from the opposite page. 45.5 Replace the underlined words with a single verb that has the same meaning. 1 She stopped working and looked quickly at the clock 2 As we were in the library, he spoke very quietly in my ear 3 We walked casually along the beach and then stopped for a drink 4 He made us all walk quickly up the hill. 5 The man keptlooking ar Susan, bur she didn’t seem to notice. 6 Jim doesn’t know what happened, except that the man hit him hard on the side of his face. English Vocabulary in Use (presintermediate & intermediate) 95