Module 4. Life stories

WRITING

Write a descriptive essay describing a person you really admire.

Writing assignment:

1. Activate words and collocations from your student’s book:

admire	go to university	look like
attitude	get a job	make a lot of money
be brought up	get divorced	major
be completely different from	get a degree	matter
be linked by	get engaged	move house
become very successful	get married	opinions and attitudes
change a job	get promoted	personality
coincidence	important influence	profile
exceptionally	incredible	redundant
facial expressions	influence someone	remarkable
fail your exams	leave home	self-confidence
fall in love	leave school	separate

2. Memorize extra vocabulary: proverbs / idioms

After storm comes a calm.	Any port in a storm.
A picture is worth a thousand words.	It’s easy to be wise after event.
Hasty climbers have sudden falls.	Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around.
Forbidden fruit is sweet.	Fortune is easily found but hard to be kept.
A drowning man will clutch at a straw	Hatred is blind as well as love.
A famous person is someone who works hard all his life to become known, then wears dark glasses so that nobody will recognize him (Fred Allen)

3. Make up as many sentences as you can using words and phrases suggested above.

4. Perform the following pre-writing tasks:

Pre-writing task 1

Read the article. Fill in the topic sentences, then give the paragraph outline.

a

During the years I worked with her, my admiration for Miriam steadily increased.

b

Her ability to deal with several matters at once seemed almost miraculous.

c

My first impression of her was one of politeness verging on stiffness.

d

All in all, Miriam is the most admirable person I’ve ever met.

e

The most striking thing about Miriam, though was her sensitivity towards others.

f

On my first day of work at Acrol Assurance I arrived nervous, soaking wet – and nearly half an hour late.

The person I admire

1

I had forgotten to take my umbrella, had missed the bus and was now ready for a good scolding. It was then that I met Miriam Bellings, the Managing Director, who was to have an enormous influence on my life and career.

2

She was a small, birdlike woman, her appearance giving an impression of a nervous, easily flustered person. I soon learnt, however, that her true character was calm, warm and kind, yet unbendingly professional. After reminding me that lateness would not be tolerated in the office, she laughingly confessed to me that she had been over an hour late on her first morning because she had lost her way. It was typical of her sympathetic character. She then proceeded to explain the workings of the office to me with such clarity and accuracy, and with such patience to my rather naïve questions, that I was left with the impression that she was a sort of superwoman of office management.

3

No crisis in the office ever caught her off-guard, and on the rare occasions when she could not answer a question, she would make sure that she had an answer for you within the hour.

4

I remember on one occasion when nearly everyone in the office had gone down with he flu, Miriam managed to keep the office running smoothly without seeming stressed or harassed in the least. We sometimes used to joke that if everyone in the office had been absent on the same day, Miriam would not even have noticed!

5

Although she had never married, she seemed to have a deep understanding of family relationships, and could always tell when an employee was having problems at home. She was not a “pull-yourself-together” sort of boss at all. If she sensed that something was wrong she would call you into her office and encourage you to talk. Not only was she a good listener, but the advice she offered was always sound as well.

6

I lost touch with Miriam after her retirement, but I will always remember her as the “guiding light” in my working life, the woman who – through her example, help and advice – enabled me to be as successful as I am today.

Pre-writing task 2

Read the following beginnings and endings and match them. Which belong to an argumentative composition expressing opinion? Think over the whole story.

BEGINNINGS

1

Spending one’s summer holiday climbing in the mountains of Tibet or white-water rafting may not be everyone’s idea of fun, but adventure holidays are becoming extremely popular. They have both their good and bad points.

2

Becoming a vegetarian is a choice that many people are making after recent health scares. The question is, does being a vegetarian have a positive or negative effect on one’s health? I believe that it can do more harm than good.

3

A scene unfolds before one’s eyes of yet another miracle of nature: a baby elephant being born. If it were not for television, this is something we might never see and for this reason I feel that TV plays an important role in education.

ENDINGS

A

To sum up, I believe that television should continue to play a role in education. Well-made programmes can give us a broader view of the world and can teach us about things which are outside our everyday experience.

B

All in all, whether you will enjoy an adventure holiday or not depends on the type of person you are. Taking holidays of this kind should be carefully considered, because they are not for the faint-hearted!

C

In conclusion, I feel that vegetarians could suffer from health problems if they do not have a healthy, nutritious diet. However, everyone must decide for themselves which lifestyle choice suits them best.

Pre-writing task 3

Read the article and label the paragraphs with the headings below.

final comments/feelings; personal qualities; reasons to admire her; person’s name and reason you chose her

Para 1_________________________

Para 2_________________________

Para 3_________________________

Para 4_________________________

The person I admire most from the twentieth century is Mother Teresa. I regard her as one of the kindest and most caring people the world has ever known.

Mother Teresa was a selfless person. She devoted all of her time to others and never put her own needs first. She was also very courageous and never thought about the risks she was taking when looking after people who were sick or dying.

What I admire most about Mother Teresa are her achievements. Her entire life was devoted to charity work. For example, in 1952 she opened a centre in Calcutta for the terminally ill, where patients could be cared for and die with dignity. She also won many awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. She donated the money from her awards to fund other centres. Even though Mother Teresa is no longer with us, these centres still operate, offering help to those in need.

I admire Mother Teresa not only because she was a generous and kind-hearted person, but also because her accomplishments have influenced people all over the world. It is hardly surprising that since her death in 1997she has been regarded as a true saint.

Pre-writing task 4

Mark the main parts of the text (introduction, main body, conclusion) and put them in the correct order. Give a headline to the whole text.

Brad Pitt is a complicated person whose character has many sides. He is intelligent, responsible and ambitious with good sense of humour. But sometimes he tends to be self-centred and reserved. Though he is often in the public eye, he dislikes the crowds and noise of Hollywood parties and he doesn’t lead the glamorous life.

Brad’s lifestyle is quite simple. When he has free time, he does enjoy spending it with his family, a wife, famous actress Angelina Jolly and their children. Brad also likes reading about architecture, enjoys listening to music and he has a huge CD collection.

He is tall and slim. His beautiful blue eyes, broad grin on his face and good looks are impossible t to forget.

It is a real pleasure to meet an actor who remains down-to-earth and sincere in a world where fame and success can often harm one’s character. We are sure to see a lot more of him in the future!

Brad Pitt is one of Hollywood’s brightest stars. He is a very successful actor who has starred in many films, such as Interview with the Vampire, Twelve Monkeys, Mr and Mrs Smith, Troy and others.

Pre-writing task 5

Use the notes below to write a profile of Bill Gates, one of the most successful people in the world

Introduction	Bill Gates / one of the richest and most successful people in the world / became the world’s youngest billionaire at the age of 31
Main body:
Early life	very intelligent, especially good at Maths and Science parents sent him to Lakeside, a private school first began to use computers spent all his time writing computer programs
Later life	went to Harvard started Microsoft in 1975 (with his friend Paul Allen) left Harvard company produced most of the world’s leading PC software married Melinda French, Microsoft employee wrote best-selling book “The Road Ahead”
Character	intelligent, broad-minded, ambitious, industrious, reliable, strong-willed, generous, sometimes bossy
Likes	puzzles, golf, reading science fiction, spending time with family, travelling
Conclusion	lovely family, prosperous business / enjoys his life