Other forms of address include:

Sir / Madam [sɜː] / ['mædəm]	are used to politely address a person whose name you don’t know
Officer	is used to address a policeman
Doctor	is used to address a doctor
Professor (with or without a surname)	to address a university lecturer
Dr. Brown	to address a scientist who has a PhD

Sometimes instead of addressing a person by name, the British prefer to say “Excuse me (please)?” (Извините). This phrase is also used to attract attention of a stranger.

Also to attract someone’s attention it is possible to say:

Pardon me….	Простите…
I say ….	Послушайте…
Look here…	Послушайте…(Минутку!)

To reply to any address you can simply say “Yes?” (Да? Я слушаю)

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1 B Personal details, please!

V o c a b u l a r y

Describing appearance

General

Positive: beautiful is generally used to describe women; handsome is used to describe men; good-looking is used for both; pretty is another positive word to describe a woman or a girl.

Negative: ugly is the most negative word to describe someone; plain is more polite.

Height and build

tall and slim medium height and build short and overweight very muscular

Hair

straight wavy curly

Speaking about the colour, we can say that the hair is blonde, light or dark brown, red, auburn, black and grey/white.

Adding some special features we can say if a person wears a beard or a moustache, has got a scar, a tattoo or a birthmark.

19. Complete these sentences in a suitable way. More than one answer may be possible.

1. She’s got blonde ……………………………………….. .

2. I would say he was medium …………………………… .

3. He’s got very muscular ………………………………. .

4. Both men were very good-……………………………. .

5. She’s not tall, she’s …………………………………… .

6. I can’t say he’s good-looking, he is …………………….. .

7. She eats too many cakes, that’s why she is ……………. .

20. Replace the underlined words in each sentence with a more suitable or polite word.

1. He told me he met a handsome girl yesterday.

2. She’s beautiful, but her younger sister is quite ugly.

3. I think Peter is getting a bit fat, don’t you?

4. I think she’s hoping to meet a few beautiful men at the tennis club.

21. Now answer these questions.

1. How would you describe your build?

2. How tall are you?

3. What kind of hair have you got?

4. What colour is your hair?

5. Can you think of a famous woman you would describe as beautiful?

6. Can you think of a famous man you would describe as handsome?

22. Discuss

English proverb says “Appearances can be deceiving” and Gaelic proverb adds “Do not judge by appearances; a rich heart may be under a poor coat”. Do you agree? Why/Why not?

23. Describe a person everyone knows in great detail. Speak about his/her general appearance (height, weight, hair) and special features, such as a beard or a moustache. Let other students in your group guess who the person is.

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