Attitudes towards other people

Enjoying others' company: sociable gregarious

Disagreeing with others: quarrelsome, argumentative

Taking pleasure in others' pain: cruel, sadistic

Relaxed in attitude to self and others: easy-going, even-tempered

Not polite to others: impolite, rude, ill-mannered, and discourteous

Telling the truth to others: honest, trustworthy, reliable, sincere

Unhappy if others have what one does not have oneself: jealous, envious

One person's meat is another person's poison

Some characteristics can be either positive or negative depending on your point of view.

Determined - obstinate stubborn pig-headed

Thrifty/economical -

Miserly mean tight-fisted

Self-assured - self-important arrogant full of oneself (colloquial)

Assertive - aggressive bossy (colloquial)

Original - peculiar weird eccentric odd

Frank/direct/open - blunt abrupt brusque curt

Broad-minded - unprincipled permissive

Inquiring - inquisitive nosy (colloquial)

Generous - extravagant

Innocent - naive

Ambitious - pushy (colloquial)

Exercise № 24. Match these words with their opposites.

Do you think that the speaker likes or dislikes the people s/he is talking about?

1 Di's very thrifty. 2 Dick's quite bossy. 3 Molly’s usually frank. 4 I find Dave self-important. 5 Liz’s quite broad-minded 6 Don’t you think Jim’s nosy? 7 Sam can be aggressive. 8 Jill is very original.

Reword the sentences above to give the opposite impression. Example: Di's very stingy.

Magazines often publish questionnaires which are supposed to analyse your character for you. Look at the words below and then match them to the question, which aims to decide whether a person is like that.

Example: If you arrange to meet at 7 p.m., do you arrive at 7 p.m.? Reliable

Pessimistic argumentative sensitive sociable, extravagant, assertive, inquisitive.

1 Do you prefer to be in the company of other people?

2 Look at the picture. Do you think 'my glass is half empty'?

4 Do you always look out of the window if you hear a car draw up?

5 Do you often buy your friends presents for no particular reason?

3 Do you find it easy to tell your boss if you feel he or she has treated you badly?

6 Do you frequently disagree with what other people say?

7 Do you lie awake at night if someone has said something unkind to you?

Exercise № 25.What questions could you ask to try to find out whether a person is the following:

1) thrifty 2) sensible 3) even-tempered 4) obstinate 5) blunt 6) intelligent 7) original

Can you complete each of these word forks?

Self-........,......-tempered;.....-minded

Exercise № 26. Write a sentence to illustrate the meanings of each of your words. Choose five or six adjectives from the list below, which you think best describe either your own or a friend's character. How do you or your friend demonstrate these characteristics?

Example: sociable - I am sociable because I love being with other people.