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Situation: The Rych family invite a lot of people to their villa to the engagement of their son and the
daughter of the Welthy family. The guests hardly know each other. They entertain themselves by discussing
the appearance and character of the people they see around. The host and the hostess circulate and hear what
different people say about each other.
Characters:
Card I—II — Christopher and Christine, the fiances.
Card III—IV — Mr and Mrs Rych, the owners of the villa. Card V—VI — Mr and Mrs Welthy,
Christine's parents.
Card VII—VIII — Franklin and Frances, newly-weds. Franklin is Christopher's cousin. He owns a textile
factory and is often away from home.
Card IX—X — Patricia and Clotilda — two middle-aged single women. They are Christine's aunts.
They never married because they could not find a good match.
Card XI—XII — Stephen and Stephanie, a married couple. Stephen is a distant relative to the Rych
family.
Card XIII—XIV — Clement and Clementine, a married couple. Clement is a distant relative to the
Welthy family.
WRITING
Exercise 1
Prepare to write a dictation. Learn the spelling of the italicized words and phrases from Introductory
Reading and exercise 1 on page 242.
Exercise 2
Write a short description of somebody's physical appearance and character.
> Use:
to be as/not so ... as somebody, to be very much the same in appearance, the very image of somebody, to
be as like as two peas, to be (very much) like somebody, to be not a bit alike, to take after/to look like/to
resemble somebody, to bear no resemblance to somebody, to behave like somebody, to appeal to somebody,
to take to somebody, to like/dislike the way one wears one's hair/walks/talks/speaks/behaves/dresses, to be
characteristic of somebody.
Begin with 'Here's the description of a man/woman/girl whom ...', "Fancy a woman ...', 'Imagine a man
...'.
Note:
Descriptions may be technical and suggestive. Technical descriptions just give an objective account of
the look or the structure of an object. They are characterised by the neutral style and vocabulary. Simple
wording and grammar are the best choice for the purpose of writing a technical description.
Suggestive descriptions convey the impression and the emotions evoked by the look of an object. The use
of emotionally coloured words and various grammatical structures help to gain the effect. The author does
not merely inform the reader, but appeals to the readers's feelings.
The description of a person may be either technical or suggestive.
Model paragraph of a technical description:
Here is the description of Mrs. White. She is in her eariy thirties. She is fairly slim and about average
height. She has got blonde shoulder-length curly hair. She's got dark-blue eyes. Her oval face is slightly
wrinkled. She's got a small upturned nose and finely-curved plump lips. Mrs. White is intelligent,
communicative and perfectly fit for her job.
Model paragraph of a suggestive description:
Fancy a girl in her late teens. She is a pleasant-looking young lady, with soft brown eyes and a straight
nose. I like the way she wears her long dark hair. It is parted in the middle, combed back and done in a knot.
A classical type. By the way, she is very much like her mother about her hair and eyes. They say, her mother
resembled her when she was 18. She was even as tall as her daughter. I took to the girl as soon as I met her. I
like the way she walks; she keeps herself erect. She is very slender and always looks fresh. Her manner of
talking also appeals to me. As for her character, I can't say anything definite. She seems to be mild and
gentle and she is
sure to have a way with her. But I think she may be also very energetic and self-
determined.
Exercise 3
Write a short description of two people different in appearance. Touch upon their face, general
appearance, clothes.