Business english writing - Masterclass International School 2020
Activities describing people and things
One common situation when speaking English is having to describe something or someone or asking questions to know about something or someone. This may either be a person or a thing, and in both cases we should be familiar with question words and adjectives. The verb to be will be extremely important too
Look at picture 1. You don’t know the man portrayed so you might ask some typical questions such as:
What’s his name?His name is John Tennet
How old is he?He’s 63 (years old)
What does he do?He’s an entrepreneur
What is he like?He’s very kind and friendly
Where is he from?He’s from Norwich
When was he born?He was born in 1950
Where was he born?He was born in London
Suppose you are talking to a friend about his boss and you don’t know exactly if you have ever met him. You could ask your him some questions to get some more details which might help you remember. You could ask?
What does he look like?He’s quite tall and corpulent
How tall is he?He’s (about) 1 m 78
How much does he weigh?He weighs (approximately) 85 kg
Remember: when we ask about someone’s character and personality we say What is he/she/Mr Brown like? When we want to know about someone’s physical traits we say What does he/she/Mrs Doodley look like?
Physical features
Attractive
Bald
Beautiful
Blonde
Curly (hair)
Dark haired
Dark skinned
Fair-haired
Fat
Fit
Flabby
Good looking
Gorgeous
Handsome
Large
Medium build
Medium height
Muscular
Obese
Plain
Scruffy
Short
Skinny
Slender
Slim
Smart
Stout
Straight (hair)
Tall
Tanned
Thin
Wavy (hair)
Well-built
Psychological features (positive)
adaptable
adventurous
affable
affectionate
agreeable
ambitious
amusing
brave
bright
broad-minded
calm
careful
charming
convivial
creative
decisive
determined
diligent
diplomatic
discreet
easygoing
emotional
enthusiastic
extroverted
faithful
frank
funny
generous
hard-working
helpful
honest
impartial
intelligent
intuitive
inventive
kind
loyal
modest
optimistic
passionate
patient
pioneering
polite
powerful
practical
pro-active
quiet
rational
reliable
reserved
resourceful
self-confident
sensible
sensitive
shy
sincere
sympathetic
tidy
tough
versatile
willing
witty
Psychological features (negative)
aggressive
arrogant
boastful
boring
bossy
changeable
compulsive
conservative
cowardly
cruel
cynical
deceitful
detached
dishonest
domineering
flirtatious
fussy
greedy
gullible
impatient
impolite
impulsive
inconsistent
indecisive
indiscreet
inflexible
interfering
intolerant
introverted
lazy
machiavellian
materialistic
mean
moody
narrow-minded
nervous
obsessive
obstinate
overcritical
pessimistic
pompous
quarrelsome
resentful
rude
ruthless
sarcastic
selfish
self-centred
silly
stingy
stubborn
superficial
tactless
touchy
unreliable
untidy
vague
vengeful
vulgar
Exercise:
Fill in the blanks with the required word or one which make sense:
1)
Andrew -My girlfriend’s name is Sarah.
Bob-What ___________ like?
Andrew-She is ___________, well… good-looking! She is tall and _______.
Bob-How ______ is she?
Andrew-She is about 1 metre 70.
Bob-_________ does she weigh?
Andrew-This is not a kind question for a woman! Anyway, she ________ about 50 Kilos. She’s fair-________. Her hair ________ long and curly. She has blue eyes.
2)
Anna -This morning we met our new managing director.
Brenda - Did you? And what’s he _________?
Anna- As a matter of fact, he just stayed few minutes with us, but I got quite a good impression of him. He looks __________ and friendly, __________ and easy-going.
Brenda- So, nothing to do with Mr. Robertson, your old boss. He was so __________ and unkind. He was __________, nervous and even looked miserable.
Activity 1 (Speaking)
Work in pairs and take turns answering the following questions:
1.What are your main qualities?
2.What are your main flaws?
3.What are the qualities you appreciate the most in a person?
4.What are the qualities you appreciate the most in a friend/colleague/boss?
5.What are the worst flaws in a person?
6.Do you think you could eliminate your flaws? If so, by doing what?
7.Turn the following adjectives into nouns: ex. brave > bravery
Attractive — diplomatic — patient — versatile — stubborn — dishonest — unreliable — stout — sincere — optimist — cruel — kind
Activity 2 (Reading/Speaking)
Read the opinions posted on our website about successful entrepreneurs. You will notice that people use a lot of adjectives to describe the characteristics needed to become one of them. Underline both positive and negative adjectives:
As far as I see it, a good entrepreneur ought to be creative, enthusiastic and adventurous. I think you have to be ambitious, determined and intuitive. You also need vision for doing business and above all passion. (Jane, 1969)
I am convinced that an entrepreneur is made and not born. Entrepreneurs are highly motivated men and women in the sense of achieving targets. Money is not necessarily what motivates them, but it is very important. These people, I mean…good entrepreneurs also have a strong sense of initiative and like doing things on their own rather than involve other people. They are dedicated to their businesses and put as much time into them as they can. They work for themselves rather than for anyone else. They know the market very well and have strokes of genius. (Eddie, 1980)
I guess there are more than a few reasons that make someone a good entrepreneur. They are supposed to be motivated by their desire for moving up the ladder. Their life is not easy since they have to be hard-working and very pro-active. An entrepreneur has to be very goal driven as well, so they need to be organized. (Rachel, 1977)
If I were to open my own business and become an entrepreneur I am sure I would learn very soon that you need to network. Yes, networking is decisive. Of course I might encounter deceitful people, as well as quarrelsome and intolerant ones. Well, I don’t like being influenced…I’m neither naive nor gullible; of course there is nothing wrong with taking advice or opinions, in the end, but you must make decisions by yourself. (Sam, 1971)
Luck is not the reason why entrepreneurs become successful. Every successful entrepreneur is usually intelligent, creative and intuitive. As business models are constantly changing. Of course they have to be ready to change, I’d say adaptable, versatile. I think the most successful entrepreneurs know how fast trends change and they can anticipate what they will be like in the short term. (Peter, 1965)
Reading activity
Those are my principles
You and I have principles. And we also have opinions. I have opinions about what I think is right or wrong or good or bad. But they're only opinions - I COULD be wrong! I won't try to build my life around my opinions, but I WILL endeavor to stand by my principles.
A 15-year-old boy learned a valuable lesson about life principles. He wrote a letter to "Dear Abby" about finding a woman's wallet that contained $127 as well as the woman's identification. He hopped onto his bicycle and peddled over to her house - about a mile away. He told her he found her wallet and she gave him a big hug. She also gave him twenty dollars.
That evening the boy told his parents about the event and his father said, "I don't think you should have accepted $20 for doing what you should have done. A person shouldn't be rewarded for being honest."
He pondered his father's statement and decided he would return the money. He biked to the lady's home and gave her back the twenty dollars. She didn't want to take it, but he told her she had to - that his father pointed out something to him that he had never realized before. Her eyes filled with tears as she said, "This is one for Ripley."
The boy's question to Abby? "Abby, who is Ripley?"
Is a life built around principles so unusual that Robert Ripley should mention it in his column "Believe It or Not"? When ideals such as honesty and a personal standard of always doing the right thing guide our every action and decision, we actually change. These great principles shape our lives and make us into persons of character. They build self esteem and teach confidence. That boy is fortunate to be raised by a wise father who had the wisdom to say, "Those are my principles."
Martin Luther King, Jr. put it well: "The time is always right to do what is right." Those were his principles. Decide to always do what is right - today and every day - and you will find yourself building a life that matters.
From http://halife.com/inspiring/principles.html by Steve Goodier
Notes to the text
✵Dear Abby is the name of an advice column run by a woman who dispenses advice and maternal wisdom. It is undoubtedly the most popular column in the world.
✵The sentence This is one for Ripley refers to Ripley's Believe It or Not! It is a newspaper column, radio show, and television show, founded by Robert Ripley, about bizarre and unusual events from around the world.
Post-reading activity (Writing)
Answer the following questions:
1.Can you find three adjectives to describe the boy in the story?
2.What did he do after finding the wallet?
3.How did the woman react when she received her wallet back?
4.What did the boy’s father say about the reward his son had been given?
5.Why did the lady said that the boy was one for Ripley?
6.What is the author’s idea about the story?