Unit 3

Character and Personality

1. Transcribe the following words.

hypocritical jealous stubborn
vulgar wise patient
haughty conceited frank
deceitful envious cunning
modest moody gentle
quiet cheerful courageous

2. Underline the stressed syllable/syllables in these words and mark the sound phenomena under study.


di so be di ent (disobedient)
well -bred (well-bred)
ob sti na te (obstinate)
com mu ni ca ti ve (communicative)
un ba lan ced (unbalanced)
scrup ul o us (scrupulous)
de ter mi ned (determined)
rest less (restless)
pre ten ce (pretence)
strong- min ded (strong-minded)
pos ses sive (possessive)
au tho ri ta ti ve (authoritative)
in stant (instant)
sec re ti ve (secretive)
re ven ge (revenge)

3. In each line circle the word with a different sound in the stressed syllable.


outrageous lazy brave arrogant
bossy stocky boastful snobbish
excellent intelligent serious sense
burst burden virgo various
sunny stout ugly dgement

4. Listen to three people who have lived in England answering the question “Are English people too polite?” Do they answer yes or no? If yes, what do they think the English should do?

  1. Laszlo, an English teacher from Hungary.
  2. Paula, a businesswoman from Argentina.
  3. Melik, an economist from Turkey.
  4. Renata, a student from Germany

Listen again and answer the questions below.

  1. Why were Laszlo and his friends in London?
  2. Did he and his friends think they were going to pass or fail? Why?
  3. What happened in the end?
  4. What do Latin people think when English people are polite?
  5. How does Paula describe Latin people?
  6. What does Melik think about the English people he has met in his job?
  7. What kind of English people does he say aren’t polite?
  8. What happened to Renata when she was in London?
  9. What did she say to the last person? Why?

Listen again and fill in the gaps.


1. I think sometimes they need to say what they think, to be more .
2. I mean we are very and and so when they are and we think that they don’t like us, that they are being .
3. And I think they are much more than we are, both in the way they talk and also in the way they other people’s opinions.
4. Please stop saying , and just be more .
5. So in to your question, I English people are .

Look through the sentences again and underline the functional words which are reduced.