Unit 17 Friends and family
2.Adjectives
1.What's your dad like?
He's all right.but he can be quite strict.
He always wants to know where I am
and he makes me come home before nine o'clock-even on a Saturday.
2.What's your brother like?Do you get on?
Not really.He's so fussy about everything!
For example,he won't eat any vegetables except peas.
If you suggest going somewhere,he never wants to.
He's just so difficult to please.I'm the exact opposite.
I'm really easy-going.
3.What's your gran like?Do you get on?
Yeah,I suppose so.She's OK.She's very independent.
She's eighty-five and she still lives on her own.
but she's very religious and I'm not.
She's always saying I should go to church or I'll end up in hell.
but then at the same time.She can be really generous.
She bought me a piano for my birthday once.
4.What're your parents like?
They're great.I'm quite lucky because they're quite liberal.
They let me do more or less whatever I want.
5.What's her boyfriend like?
He's gorgeous,really good-looking.He looks like a film star.
but he's quite quite.He doesn't really say anything.
6.What's her new boyfriend like?
He's awful!I don't know what she sees in him.He's really big-headed.
he's always showing off and saying how good he is at everything,and he's so mean!
Do you know what he bought her for her birthday?A bar of chocolate!
7.What's his girlfriend like?
Really nice.She's very chatty and out-going.
She's very easy to get on with.
She's also really sporty.She plays football and hockey.
She's really fit.Honestly,I don't know what she sees in that fat slob.
She should be with me!
6 Pronunciation:linking
No.I went with a friend of mine.
No.I went with some friends of Andrew's.
No.I went with a friend from university.
NO.I went with a couple of friends of mine.
No.I went with a couple of friends from work.
NO.I went with my flatmate.
No.I went with my girlfriend.
No.I went with an old friend of mine.
2.While you read
What's your type?
Alfonso(Mexico)
I'm really attracted to Scandinavian girls-tall.blonde,sporty.
out-going,the complete opposite of me!I used to like older girls.
but I've had a few bad experiences,
so now I'm looking for something different.
My ideal partner now would be five or six years younger than me.
I also want somebody who is independent.
who desn't always need to be near me.
and I think that the girls I've met from Sweden or Norway or Denmark
tend to be very strong-willed.
The only thing I'm worried about
is that perhaps they would find me a bit quiet and shy.
I'm not very confident about myself.so that could be a problem.
Rie(Japan)
I don't really have a type.
The most important thing for me is that my partner is nice and sensitive and caring.
I'd never go out with someone who was selfish or big-headed.
It doesn't really matter to me whether somebody is good-looking or not.
so long as they're not too ugly!
I'd never go out with a man who didn't look after himself.though.
It's important that he's healthy.
that he watches what he eats and that he's fairly fit!
Chiara(Ltaly)
I want someone who likes clothes.I work in the fashion industry in Milan,
so the way someone dresses is really important to me.
I'd never go out with someone who didn't care about the way they looked.
I used to like really good-looking men.
but I've changed my mind about that.
because they tend to be so big-headed!I also really love music,
so I'd never go out with someone who didn't like music.
If I'm honest,I'm also attracted to younger men.
so I'm looking for someone who's maybe in their early twenties.
Lauren(Cameroon)
I'm a married man,
so I'm the wrong person to ask a question like this to.really.
When I was single.I used to think I wanted somebody who was easy to talk to,
somebody who understood me and how I was feeling.
somebody who was serious and religious,like I am-and then I met my wife.
and she was everything I was looking for.and more!
I can't believe how lucky I've been,
but then I have to say that,or she'll kill me!
Thorsten(Germany)
To be honest,I'm too old now to be fussy,really.
I want anybody who will have me!
I used to worry about the kind of person that was right for me and I used to think I wanted somebody who was slim and sexy and intelligent
and who had her own money and her own job and things like that,
but now I've reached my forties and I'm still single.
I've lowered my standards!It's taken me a long time.
but I've realised that I'm not the best-looking man in the world or the richest.
and so I'd be happy just meeting someone who liked me!Sad,isn't it!
Seon-Hee(Korea)
I know this sounds strange,but all I really want is someone with nice hands!
I used to go out with this man who played the piano.
and he had really beautiful hands-long,slim fingers.but really strong as well,
Mm!I'd never go out with somebody who had short,fat,little fingers,I just couldn't.
1 Used to and would
You are going to hear the man in Picture 1
talking about how he has changed over the last fifteen years.
A lot of people don't believe it when they see pictures of me when I was younger,
because I used to look really,really different.
I used to have quite long hair.and I used to dress quite differently too.
I'd wear a lot of really loud clothes and a lot of bright colours.
I used to play bass in a band and we used to be kind of famous.
We made a few records and we'd go on tour quite a lot.
I got to see the world a bit.I used to be a bit wilder than I am.
I've really calmed down quite a lot,
but when I was eighteen or nineteen,
I'd be out every night,clubbing.dancing,drinking,you know.
It's funny,because even though I used to be much slimmer than I am now,
I think I'm quite a lot fitter now.
I used to smoke around twenty a day,
but I stopped a few years ago,and took up jogging instead!
I think getting married has helped me calm down a lot.too.
I used to be a bit of a ladies' man before I met my wife,
and I'd always have two or three girlfriends I'd see at any one time.
but those days are long gone.I'm a one-woman man now.
I'm much happier now,too.When I was that age,
I used to feel a lot angrier and more confused about life.
I'm so glad I'm not a teenager any more!