UNIT 5
Making the most of yourself lead-in
Why do you think people take up doing something new / challenging / adventurous?
You may find these word combinations useful:
learning new skills, breaking into new areas, breaking stereotypical roles, overcoming fears and anxieties, to get to the top, the excitement of a challenge, to gain qualification or experience, to realize a goal, to realize one’s potential, be anxious to do
Complete the passage using the following words:
search |
salary |
conditions |
prospects |
impression |
agency |
image |
anxious |
experience |
stressful |
interview |
post |
vacancy |
qualifications |
applicants |
notified |
Getting a job is not an easy business. First there’s the difficulty of deciding what you want to do and getting the right ………….. (1) and training. Then you have to find out where there is a ………….. (2), and apply for a particular …………… (3). Some people look at advertisements in a newspaper, others use an employment …………….. (4). There is usually an application form to complete with all the details about your previous ……………. (5).
The company selects the ……………. (6) it is interested in and invites them to attend an ……………. (7). This often a …………….. (8) experience, not least because most people have to find something suitable to wear, and then get very ……………. (9) about what sort of questions they should ask and what kind of ………………… (10) they should present. You are more likely to make a good ………………. (11) at the interview if you have found out something about the organization you want to work for. Most applicants for jobs want to know more about the working ……………… (12), the …………….. (13) of promotion and the ……………. (14). Unsuccessful applicants are usually ………………. (15) by post and then their ………………. (16) for a job starts all over again.
Choose the correct word or phrase for the gap in each sentence.
high earner |
risks |
aspire |
improve |
challenge |
skills |
achieve |
goal |
potential |
sacrifices |
Sarah’s ____________ in life is to be a research scientist.
Mary was keen to develop her photography ____________ and took a course at the local college.
The whole family was prepared to make ____________ so that their mother could return to study.
What do you hope to ____________ as a result of gaining this qualification?
My father was an intelligent man but he was never able to realize his ____________.
John decided early that his main aim in life was to be a _____________.
Tom is successful because he has never failed to accept a ______________.
Most politicians don’t just want to be members of parliament – they all ___________ to high office.
Tony is a good enough worker but he is not prepared to take any _____________.
Shirley went on an intensive course to _____________ her driving.
What qualities do you think a fashion model needs?
Are the same qualities required of male and female models?
Who do you think are more competitive – male or female models?
Now read the text where two models speak about their experiences. Seven sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from sentences A – H the one which fits each gap (1 – 7). There is one extra sentence that you do not need to use.
BEING A FASHION MODEL
Claire Adams, 16, describes what it’s like being a fashion model.
Last summer I was walking through Covent Garden and a woman from a modelling agency came up to me. I had little spectacles on, huge Doc Marten boots and my hair was pulled back in a bun. She asked if I’d ever thought of modelling, and I said, ‘No, never.’ But I was signed up and started modelling in the school holidays. I decided to go into it full-time this year. My parents supported the decision, though they would rather I’d stayed on at school and gone to university. But they are fairly keen on show business themselves. (1) …………… . I think I’ve grown up a lot. You have to be very self-disciplined: eating the right things, exercising, looking your best when you get up in the morning. It sounds easy but it’s hard work. But I hate being typecast as the innocent redhead. Sometimes you want to be wild and wicked but I’m usually the English rose.
It’s a very competitive profession. When you go on castings all the models look you up and down; but a lot of them are very friendly. I would say male models are more vain: all the ones I’ve met seem terribly in love with themselves. (2) ……………. . I spend most of my time with my boyfriend, who’s a computer programmer, or with old friends. Modelling’s a lot of fun but it’s not something I want to do as my career. (3) …………… . I know people say models always go on to acting and singing and can’t do it, but if I’m making the money I don’t really care what they say.
Matt Jones, 20, describes what’s like being a male model.
About two years ago, when I was living in a small town, one of my ex-girlfriends took me to a fashion show in London, and straightaway modelling scouts came up to me. I was in complete confusion; I’d never thought of modelling. (4) …………… . At the end of the show, they had a competition for the best-looking guy in the place, and I won. I was going to walk out, I was so embarrassed, I was saying, ‘No, no, no. I don’t want to get into modelling.’ I wanted to do the same thing I still want to do – technical illustration – which is what I was studying. (5) …………… . I was a naughty boy. After all these compliments and stuff, I just thought: why not have a go? There’s a bit of money to be made here and I’m not going to lose out. So I went down to London and joined an agency.
People think that if you are a model, you love yourself and you’re dumb. That’s all down to the Press, isn’t it? (6) ……………. . I know that for a fact. Most models are doing the job because it’s silly money. Most of my friends are models, not because I only want to hang around with models, but five days of the week I’m with them and we talk and say ‘How’s it going?’ and ‘What clubs do you go to?’ – that sort of thing. (7) …………….. . If you do a job with a girl who is a big model and you’re trying to be nice, she says, ‘Huh, who do you think you are?’
I mean, people had said at school and college, ‘Oh, he looks like a model,’ but I took it as an insult, really.
It’s always been my ambition to be rich and famous, but what I really want to do is to be a singer.
The money is the main justification for doing the job – you get a chance to put something behind you so in a few years’ time you’ve got the money to do what you want.
My mum used to be an actress and my dad was also an actor and now writes film scripts.
I’m not thick.
But I didn’t finish my studies.
With male models we’re all friends, we help each other out; women are more competitive.
They’re not the people I see at weekends.
* Covent Garden was once the fruit and vegetable market of London but was converted in 1980 into a fashionable shopping area in central London.
Doc Marten boots – brand name of heavy boots popular and fashionable with young people since the seventies.
English rose - a girl who looks typically English, rather pale and innocent
castings – competitive auditions for modelling jobs
Find synonyms or explain the following words and word combinations. Give your own examples. Translate into Russian:
to have a go
to lose out
be down to
be thick/ dumb
to hang around/about with smb
wicked
silly money
to be typecast
Find English equivalents to the following word-combinations.
нанимать(ся) на работу
начинать заниматься ( чем-л. в качестве профессии, должности, занятия )
поддержать чье-либо решение
страстно чем-либо увлекаться
мне всегда хотелось
смерить взглядом
тщеславный
быть в полном замешательстве
принять за оскорбление
в конце показа
быть смущенным
попробовать, попытаться
Summarize the text.
Retell the text
ENGLISH IN USE:
Complete the sentences with like, as, as if or alike.
like – you want to say that two things or people are separate but similar in some way (You two are behaving like children. Ben looks like his brother.)
as – you refer to one thing or person; you describe what someone’s job, duty or position is; you describe the way something is being used or considered (He works as a doctor. They used an old blanket as a tent.)
as if – you want to say that something appears to be true, though may not be true (She looks as if she knows what she is doing.)
alike – almost exactly the same, similar (These two houses look alike.)
Lucy works ……… a receptionist in a dentist’s surgery.
This film stars Roger Moore ……… James Bond.
You look …….. you’ve seen a ghost!
I hate to be rude, but William really does look …….. a horse.
……… his father before him, Neil entered the legal profession.
……… headmaster, Mr Myers is responsible for the health and safety of all the children in the school.
The little cottage was just ……… I had expected it to be.
We decorated our new house exactly ……… our old one.
Jill and her sister look ……… .
The students looked ………. they knew the answer – but they didn’t.
She looks ……… her great-grandmother when she was young.
Bob plans to get a job …….. a managing director.
Paraphrase the sentences using about to. Translate them into Russian.
EXAMPLE: The parachutist is standing in the open doorway of the aircraft.
- He is about to jump.
John is standing right on the edge of the diving board.
The President has taken the microphone in his hand.
The racing drivers are revving up their engines.
The election is over and all the votes have been counted.
The patient has rolled up his sleeve and the doctor has the syringe ready.
We were going to leave, when Jerry arrived.
Paraphrase the sentences using bound to. Translate them into Russian.
EXAMPLE: All four engines of the aircraft are on fire.
- It is bound to crash.
Marjorie is 50 meters ahead of all the other runners.
The burglar left his fingerprints everywhere.
Mrs Richards is driving the wrong way down the motorway.
Peter has eaten a kilo of strawberries and a plate of hot curry.
The yacht has a large hole below the water-line.
She’s such a nice girl that I’m sure she will make a lot of friends there.
H ow do people’s lives change when they become famous?
What are some of the disadvantages of being famous?