People around you Look beyond your looks

People never seem to be satisfied with the way they look. Tall people want to be shorter; short people want to be taller. Slim people want to gain weight; heavy people want to lose weight.

Even if someone is satisfied with one body part, he or she might not be satisfied with another. For example, a boy who likes his eyes might hate his nose. It’s rare for a person to like everything about his or her body.

If you're dissatisfied with your body, you shouldn't try to change yourself by taking a bodybuilding drug or by having surgery to alter your appearance. Instead, learn to like yourself just the way you are. Short or tall, light- or dark-haired, each person is unique. We all have special talents and gifts, for instance, the skinniest girl might have the most beautiful singing voice. The shortest boy might be the smartest.

We don't always have what we want, but we each have qualities that make us special. It's up to each of us to figure out what our special qualities are and develop them to the fullest.

We sometimes think that being bigger, stronger, thinner, or taller will make us more popular. But think about it. When you really get to know someone, you probably don't even notice his or her appearance anymore. You find that it's what's on the inside that's important.

Notes

satisfied	удовлетворённый, довольный
surgery	хирургическая операция
to alter	изменять, переделывать, менять
unique	уникальный
skinny	тощий, «кожа да кости»
smart	толковый, сообразительный, способный, умный
to figure out	понимать, постигать, вычислять

Discussion Ex.1 Answer the following questions.

1. Do you agree that people are never satisfied with their appearance? What about you?

2. If you had a chance, would you change anything in the way you look? What exactly?

3. Would you like to have plastic surgery to alter your appearance now? When you are 50?

4. Is appearance really so important? Do you pay attention to it when you first meet a person?

5. What else can single you out besides your outward?

6. Can alterations in a man's exterior change his / her character? And life? Do you know such examples?

7. Do you think it’s fair or useful to have a stereotypical view of people from different culture if you don’t know them?

8. Do you think it’s fair for other people to have a stereotypical view of you if they don’t know you?

9. Do you think stereotypical views can ever be dangerous? What can happen?

10. How can we avoid negative stereotypical views?

Ex.2 Give your advice to the person who is dissatisfied with the way he / she looks. Work in pairs and make up a dialogue. Ex.3 Retell the text. School Reunions: Friends Reunited

Have you ever wondered what your old school-mates are doing now? Well plenty of people in Britain do. One of the most successful Internet ventures in Britain has shown how popular, and how lucrative, nostalgia can be.

The website Friends Reunited was started for fun in 1999 by a couple who were interested to know what their old school friends were doing. The project snowballed and by 2005, the site had 12 million members. One extraordinary fact is that Friends Reunited has never advertised, its success is entirely due to word-of-mouth.

You can search for a school, college or university and find a list of the members who were there in any year. You can also post a personal profile showing what you are doing now, and read other people’s details.

Steve Pankhurst, one of the founders of the site, thinks that one of the reasons for its success is that some people like to be anonymous. On Friends Reunited, you can snoop on other people’s lives without giving away anything about yourself if you don’t want to. It’s also an opportunity to bolster your self-esteem by showing off to everyone just how successful and happy you are now, even if you weren’t while you were at school.

Friends Reunited has also led to many successful school reunions, and people meeting up with each other after many years. In particular, many people use the site to look up their childhood sweethearts and many couples have actually rekindled relationships after contacting each other through the site.

There have even been Friends Reunited weddings and babies, and Friends Reunited now has a new site called Friends Reunited Dating especially for people who are looking for love. The company has also launched other sites, such as Genes Reunited, which helps people to find long-lost relatives and build their family trees online.

Notes

venture	рискованное, смелое предприятие; рискованная попытка; опасная затея, авантюра
lucrative	прибыльный, доходный, выгодный
snowball	расти как снежный ком, (постепенно) доводить до огромных размеров
entirely	всецело, вполне, совсем, совершенно
due to	из-за, по причине
word-of-mouth	устный, передаваемый в устной форме
profile	краткий биографический очерк
to snoop	совать нос в чужие дела; подглядывать, подсматривать
to bolster	поддерживать, укреплять
to show off	хвастать, представлять в выгодном свете, красоваться
sweetheart	возлюбленный, возлюбленная
to rekindle	вновь разгореться
to launch	начинать (действовать), пускать в ход

Comprehension

Ex.1 Decide if the following statements are true or false. Correct the false ones.

1. You can only see your own details on the Friends Reunited website.

2. In 2005, there were 12 million schools listed on the site.

3. Some couples have got married after reuniting via the website.

4. When Friends Reunited first began the founders wanted to create a lucrative business.

5. There are colleges and universities on Friends Reunited as well as schools.

Discussion

Ex.1 Answer the following questions.

1. What are the main functions of sites like Friends Reunited?

2. Have you ever used sites like these? Which ones?

3. Do you ever snoop on other people's lives without giving away anything about yourself? What for?

4. Do you know people who rekindled relationships after contacting each other through the site?

5. In general, do you have lots of friends you don’t see often, or a few friends that you are close to?

6. Where do you meet new friends?

7. How did you meet your closest friend?

8. If one of your friends invited you, would you join a website like this?

9. Do you think it’s easy to make new friends?

10. Have you made any new friends on the Internet?