2.9 Zapp Ingles Listening Describiendo Apariencias

7/26/2019 2.9 Zapp Ingles Listening Describiendo Apariencias

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English Listening / Level 2

Unit 9 - Describing Appearance

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Introduction

In this unit the topic is appearance, so you’ll be developing your ability to understand natural

speech as you hear descriptions of people.

Listening Task 1

Do you think what you look like is important? Do you think men or women care more about their

appearance? Listen to this conversation. Do the speakers think appearance is important? Do they

think appearance should be important?

KATIE: Well sitting here in the park today, you both look very lovely! (laughter) Is...is what you look

like important to you?

ALEC: Erm...(laughter)

KATIE: Or is what...is what other people look like imp...Do you think appearance, is important?

ALEC: Mmm...sadly...in society, in general, unfortunately...

KATIE: Mmm.

ALEC: ...I think...appearance is...too important.

KATIE: Mmm.

ALEC: Erm...and...too much, time...is...taken up...

KATIE: Mmm.

ALEC: ...worrying...about, what we look like, what other people look like...

KATIE: Yeah.

ALEC: ...and how that affects...our...day to day living.

KATIE: Mmm.





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ALEC: Erm...and, the media, is a big problem, related to that...erm...so yes, erm...currently I’m

sporting a big curly moustache so...

KATIE: (laughter)

ALEC: ...obviously appearances aren’t that im...important to me but...

KATIE: Yeah. I think you’re right and do you think...Kim do you think that...erm...women care more

about appearance than men or is...is that not true?

KIM: Erm...I think...it’s changing. But still, probably yes women...erm...as Al was...mentioning, the

media...puts pressure on...women especially, to look a certain way. Erm, but I think more and more

men are...erm...it’s becoming more acceptable socially for men to care about their...

KATIE: Yeah.

KIM: ...appearance as well.

KATIE: Yeah.

KIM: Yeah. Maybe go to the er...go to the beautician once in a while. Or...(laughter) I don’t

know...have a fake1 tan

2. Things like that.

KATIE: Yeah. I mean I always...it’s one of those things, I always say, Oh I don’t care...you

know...appearance is not important, to me...But then...I will still spend five minutes going, Oh I’ve

got nothing to wear! What shall I wear?

KIM: Yeah. (laughter) But a...actually I think erm...it’s a small part of how you express yourself. Isn’t

it? What you choose to, wear and...how you choose to present...yourself to the world.

KATIE: Yeah.

KIM: Not a very important part, but still.

KATIE: Yeah. I mean how you have your hair...or, you know, if you have tattoos3 or...

ALEC: Mmm hmm.

KIM: Yeah.

KATIE: ...all of those kind of things are quite...and I think weight, probably is a big, thing that people

think about...with appearance.

ALEC: Mmm hmm.





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KIM: Yeah. And again, that’s all over the media, all the time isn’t it? Not just because of

appearance, but because of health issues...

KATIE: Mmm.

KIM: ...related to that.

ALEC: Mmm.

Listening Task 1 - Answers

Do the speakers care about appearance? Well, they do a little, but they think the media thinks it’s

more important than they do, and it shouldn’t be too important.

Listening Task 2

Do you think you can tell what someone looks like from their voice? Listen to each voice. What do

you think the person looks like? How old do you think they are? Then listen to them describe

themselves and see if your ideas were right.

MIKE: Hello, I’m Mike.

MIKE: OK, I am in my early forties. OK, to be exact forty two. Erm, I’m tall...er... my height is one

metre eighty two, centimetres. Er, I weigh about seventy five kilos so, I’m quite thin. Erm...I

wouldn’t say I’m muscular. Er, because I don’t really do any sport...erm...I have very short hair,

which is going white...with a little...well grey. OK. Erm...I’ve got brown eyes...erm...and a st...brown

eyes and...and...a large nose!

-----

SYBIL: Hello I’m Sybil.

SYBIL: So I am female to start off with, I’m about five foot seven. I’m not a small tiny woman, I’m

rather a big, muscular kind of woman. And, every once in a while, I’m a little anxious because I put

on weight around the middle. So depending on whether it’s winter or summer, I might

be...(laughter)...a little bit fat, or a little bit thin. I really go between the two. It’s a bad,

characteristic. OK. I have white hair. And I have got some black streaks in it. I have er...a fair number

of wrinkles in my face now, because er, I am over sixty years old. Erm, and I’ve been out in the sun





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a lot...in my life. So I’m also, lightly tanned I would say. I swim a lot, so I have...big shoulders and big

arms. I think...bigger than most women sometimes. Er...let’s see. What else can I describe myself? I

have very ugly feet. I really don’t like people to look too hard at my feet and then compare them to

all the beautiful little feet I see around me in Thailand. My feet have walked...a lot. And they look it.

(laughter) Also my hands. My hands, are not, young looking hands anymore because I have done so

much work with them over my life. I think my hands...look like an old farmer’s hands. (laughter)

-----

GREG: Hello my name’s Greg.

GREG: I am, quite tall, I’m about six...th...two, which translates to, about a hundred and eighty six

centimetres...er, so I’m relatively thin, not as thin as I used to be...and um...I have...short...dark

hair, which used to be black, but is quickly greying...and erm...I don’t have a beard or a

moustache...and erm...hmm...I guess I’ve got a quite a big nose. (laughter)Yeah...yeah... a...blue, no

grey...grey eyes. Greyish green.

KATIE: And how old are you?

GREG: Oh and I am in my fortieth year, I’ll be forty in...four months time. Five months.

-----

WILLIAM: Hello there. I’m called William.

WILLIAM: I’m...nearly six foot tall. Erm...of ginger...complexion, in so many words, I’m a bit ginger,

er quite pale. Erm...quite heavily built. I think. And...I’m thirty-seven years old. I’m bald. Er my hair’s

fallen out quite a long time ago. And I generally have, a beard.


So – were your ideas right? Could you guess about their appearance from their voices? Only you

know the answer to that one.

Listening Task 3

What kind of person do you find physically attractive? Listen to our speakers talking about what

kind of appearance they think is attractive. Do they both talk about bodies? Do they both talk aboutfaces?





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SYBIL: What do I find physically attractive about people? I guess the first thing...I don’t know quite

which I look at first, the eyes or the mouth. But I think the eyes, are always...the gateway to

the...the soul. So I think a person’s eyes, if they will make direct eye contact and then you knowsomething right away. Er, whether you’re attracted or not, I suppose. Er...teeth are very important,

people need to keep their...their teeth...I think it...it says a lot about a person. Their smile,

their...the way they feel free to...to smile and laugh. That’s very important. Erm, other things

maybe are...k...I think I notice personal...style...whether somebody has got, an artistic look to

them...or not. Something a little off-beat. Something that is absolutely not, like you’re going to see

in a...in an advertisement in a magazine. No. That wouldn’t appeal to me at all. A person has to

have some character. And er, yeah, a little...it...it doesn’t have to be something very consciously

done, it’s probably more unconsciously done. Er...it’s very nice for me to see somebody who is in

good condition of course. Lean4 is nice. If we’re talking about the opposite sex er...long black hair’salways been attractive to me. (laughter) A...a ponytail

5 on a man, or a braid, I...I don’t know, that

just does something to me, I...I can't tell you why. (laughter)

-----

TOM: The type of girls I’m into. Well...I think I like all types of women actually. And...erm, there’s

not one particular...type, that I’m particularly attracted to. Er...in the last few years, I’ve

preferred...darker skinned...er women...kind of Asian types and, Latin American...er...women.

And...I’ve had some very tall girlfriends, some blonde girlfriends...dark-haired girlfriends...erm...Itend to like...smaller women, rather than bigger women, normally, although I have had...have made

a couple of exceptions to that. Erm, but yeah, I love all girls. They’re wonderful!


So do they both talk about bodies? Yes. Do they both talk about faces? No. Only Sybil talks about

faces.

Summary

Well done. You should now be better at listening to people describing appearance and have

reviewed some of the vocabulary for this topic too. That’s great.





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Extra Materials

Listening

If you want to practise your listening skills even more, here are some extra questions for you. The

answers are at the end of this document. If you get any wrong, you can look at the transcript to

check why.

Listening 1

Do they think women care more about their appearance than men?

Which of these things do they talk about? Hair? Clothes? Weight?

Listening 2

How many people talk about their nose?

How old is the youngest person?

Listening 3

Does Sybil prefer men with long or short hair?

Has Tom always had thin girlfriends?

Vocabulary - Getting the meaning from context

When you listen to natural speech, there are lots of spoken expressions you can learn. Complete

the following exercises, which will help you learn and remember these words and expressions, as

well as helping you learn the skill of guessing words you don’t know.

First, look at the words in bold. Try and decide if they are nouns, verbs, adjectives or phrases and

what they mean.





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1) KIM: Erm...I think...it’s changing. But still, probably yes women...erm...as Al was...mentioning,

the media...puts pressure on...women especially

2)

SYBIL: I have er...a fair number of wrinkles in my face now, because er, I am over sixty years old.

3) WILL: Erm, I’m of ginger...complexion, in so many words, I’m a bit ginger, er quite pale.

4) SYBIL: Er...it’s very nice for me to see somebody who is in good condition of course.

Now match a word to a definition below.

a) (adjective) – a colour that describes naturally red or orange hair

b) (phrase) – makes people feel they should do something or makes them feel they have less choice

c) (phrase) – physically fit and looking good

d) (noun) – lines on the skin from old age

Extra Materials - Answers

Listening

Listening 1

Do they think women care more about their appearance than men? Yes, although they think men

are starting to care more than they did in the past.

Which of these things do they talk about? Hair? Clothes? Weight? They mention all of these things.

Listening 2





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How many people talk about their nose? Two. Both of them say they have a big nose.

How old is the youngest person? Thirty-seven.

Listening 3

Does Sybil prefer men with long or short hair? Long hair. She loves pony tails.

Has Tom always had thin girlfriends? No not always.

Vocabulary

1) KIM: Erm...I think...it’s changing. But still, probably yes women...erm...as Al was...mentioning,

the media...puts pressure on...women especially

b) (phrase) – makes people feel they should do something or makes them feel they have less choice

2) SYBIL: I have er...a fair number of wrinkles in my face now, because er, I am over

sixty years old. d) (noun) – lines on the skin from old age

3) WILL: Erm, I’m of ginger...complexion, in so many words, I’m a bit ginger, er quite

pale. a) (adjective) – a colour that describes naturally red or orange hair

4) SYBIL: Er...it’s very nice for me to see somebody who is in good condition of course.

c) (phrase) – physically fit and looking good

Vocabulary Glossary

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fake (adjective) – falso

2

tan (noun) – bronceado

3

tattoos (noun) – tatuajes

4





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lean (adjective) – esbelto

5 ponytail (noun) – cola de caballo (peinado)

2.9 Zapp Ingles Listening Describiendo Apariencias

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