People’s personalities
1 SHARE YOUR IDEAS
People’s personalities
How many adjectives can you think of to describe people’s personalities? Make two lists on the board.
Positive:
- friendly
- kind
- ...
Negative:
- selfish
- ...
- ...
2 READING
A Reading skills Understanding new words
Listen, and read the questionnaire.
FRIENDS
How important are they?
1 For me, friends are
a more important than my family.
b as important as my family.
c less important than my family.
2 In my opinion, the quality that’s most important in a friend is
a loyalty.
b a good sense of humour.
c honesty.
3 I don’t get on well with people who
a are secretive.
b are unkind.
c try to control your life.
4 My parents
a know all my friends really well.
b know some of my friends, but not all of them.
c haven’t met many of my friends.
5 My friends and I
a agree about nearly everything.
b sometimes have different opinions.
c often have different opinions.
6 I think most people want friends who
a always support them.
b give them good advice.
c respect their opinions.
7 At the weekend I enjoy
a playing sport or going shopping with my friends.
b doing different things each week.
c spending time with my family or on my own.
8 When I go to a party,
a I usually spend most of the time chatting to my friends.
b I talk to people I know, but I like making new friends too.
c I always have a good time. It doesn’t matter who is there.
9 Generally speaking,
a I spend a lot of time texting people, or connecting with my friends on social media.
b I check my Facebook page occasionally, but not all the time.
c I’m happy doing my own thing and I rarely use social media.
Key
If your answers are mostly a:
You like spending a lot of time with your friends or using social media. Don’t forget that your family, your school work, and having a variety of hobbies and interests are all important too. And it’s good to do your own thing sometimes.
If your answers are mostly b:
You’re a sociable person, but your friends don’t rule your life. Be sensitive to others, especially if they aren’t as confident as you.
If your answers are mostly c:
Friends aren’t as important to you as other things in your life. You’re a strong, independent person. But remember, it isn’t good to do everything on your own!
Find the meaning of the words and expressions below. You can:
- guess the meaning from similar words in your language.
- guess the meaning from English words that you know.
- look at the rest of the sentence and the sentences before and after it.
- use your dictionary.
Remember!
My friends are more important than my family.
They’re as important as my family.
They’re less important than my family.
B Comprehension check Read the questionnaire again and choose your answers.
Then check your score in the key. Do you agree with the description?
C What do you think? Compare your results. Have you and your classmates got the same opinions about friendship?
3 WORD WORK
Nouns describing personal qualities
A Look at the examples. Then complete the nouns with the right ending: -ty, -ence or -ness.
Erica’s a loyal friend. Her loyalty is very important to me.
Mark’s an independent person. I admire his independence.
Sue’s really kind. She believes that kindness is the most important quality of all.
B Put the ten nouns in order of importance to you.
C If you have time Work in pairs and compare your opinions.
4 WRITING
About friendship
Use what you know
What sort of person are you? Are friendships important in your life? Write two paragraphs.
Paragraph 1
Describe what you’re like.
I’m quite a sociable person. For example, …
Paragraph 2
Describe the qualities that are important to you.
In my opinion, the most important qualities in a friendship are …
I like people who …
I don’t get on well with people who …
WRITING GUIDE
Expressing an opinion
- To express your personal opinion, you can say:
In my opinion, …
For me, the most important thing is …
I think … / I don’t think … - If you want to give an example, use:
For example, …
For instance, … - If you disagree with other opinions, you can say:
Some people think that ... , but I don’t agree. / I disagree.