Moods

Reading

Here are some ofthe most common adjectives we use to describe the way we feel. Each one has a clue with it, to help you understand the mood, and to allow you to test yourself later. Some of the clues contain useful phrases about the weather.

Have you ever had a year like this? Read on.

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Moods

You will notice that amongst the clues above you have the most common expressions relating to the weather - an important topic in England!

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Moods

Practice

1 There are six people in the Bracewell family: grandfather, aged 86.

Mr and Mrs Bracewell.

Jenny, their 21-year-old daughter. Tommy, their 19-year-old son. Timmy, their 14-year-old son.

Imagine how each member of the family felt on these six days of a week at the end of last year. Write one or two adjectives to describe each person's mood per day.

On Monday, Grandfather felt sad but pleased for his grandson.

Mr Bracewell was depressed and easily annoyed.

Mon: Tommy announced he was going to Australia for a few years to find work. Tues: It was the second anniversary of Grandmother's death.

Wed: Mrs Bracewell came back from a shopping spree during which she had bought

2Discuss or write the answer to this question. How do the items below affect your moods?

1the weather and temperature

2your health

3work

4the world situation

5the time of day or week or year?

3Describe to a partner or in writing, in as much detail as you can, how you have been feeling over the past few days. Think in terms of hours, minutes, even seconds, rather than 24-hour periods.

4Describe a typical year's weather in your country for someone who has never been there. Comment on each season and particular months.

5Write an article with the title: 'People with stable temperaments are boring".

•Below you might like to note:

1 other adjectives or expressions you meet which describe our moods. 2 further words or expressions about the weather.

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Attitudes and

relationships

Reading

Read through the text below to check on some ofthe language we use to describe our feelings for other people — from adoring them to tolerating them to hating them.

Tim and Lenny can't stand each other. They loathe each other, hate the sight of each other. Lenny seems to envy Tim his stripes and Tim is envious of Lenny's spots.

We allhavegreatrespectforLeo; respect mingled with fear.

Sammy frightens everyone. Even Tim and Lenny keep out of his way, and Leo admits to being slightly afraid of him. The chickens are terrified of him and the rabbits are petrified; they nearly have a heart attack ifyou just go up behind them and hiss.

Clarence always seems to have a chip on his shoulder - as ifhe has a grudge against the whole animal kingdom. The others ignore him.

Everyone looks up to George.

Zoe and Pat are very close. They seem to enjoy each other's company and get on very well together. I suppose they have a lot in common, same taste in clothes etc. Penny, who has a love-hate relationship with Pat, is gettingjealous, though.

Percy makes everyone feel a bit uneasy; none of us can really relax in his company.

We all remember past pricks and so are wary of him.

Nobody trusts Charlie; they say you never know what he's thinking.

Dear Henry is amused by everything and

*everybody.

Everyone keeps their distance from Ronny.

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Attitudes and relationships

Everyone admires hardworking Sarah. She impressed us all last autumn particularly.

Oswald is very badly treated. Everyone looks down on him; even wise old Orville regards him with contempt. The poor chap, he's developed quite an inferiority complex, just because he can't fly.

There's general sympathy for Harry. I'm not sure whether we pity him for his ugliness or feel sorry for him having to carry all that weight around.

We're all very fond of Donna, but she seems quite indifferent to us. (I get the feeling that she's only in love with herself, just sitting around all day singing protest songs about Love and Peace and things.) It's difficult to get through to her.

Gordon is fascinated by the butterflies, absolutely captivated. They seem to find him pretty intriguing, too.

To a man, we're all bored stiff by, fed up with and sick to death of Polly, who goes on all day about nothing in particular.

We detest and despise Valerie for giving us all a bad name.

Everybody despairs of Lou and his friends, throwing themselves off cliffs like that.

We resent Bruin's and Bunny's popularity with children; their dressing up in people's clothes is definitely frowned on.

Secretly, I think we all still miss Dudley.

Practice

Use each of the expressions below to say or write a true statement about the way you relate (or have related in the past) to people you know or to particular groups of people. You will need to add a preposition with each expression.

be in love I've been in love with Carlos since we were children.

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Attitudes and relationships

Discuss or write the answers to these questions.

1 How did you feel towards the members of staff (individually) in your last school?

2What are some of the problems that often occur between teenage children and their parents?

3What problems can occur between management and workers in a big company?

4'Most divorces are avoidable.' Do you agree?

Write part of a letter to a friend, describing how a close friend and you have fallen out. Explain what went wrong and why. Say how you felt about it.

You are a lawyer in a divorce case. Write part of your final speech, explaining why, in this case, a divorce should (or should not) be granted.

Add any other words about relating to other people as you meet them.

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