Name: - Class
Name: - Class
Name: - Class
Name: ________________________
Class: ________________________
Dictation
1 [Track 2] Listen and write the sentences that you Listening
hear.
2 [Track 3] You will hear a conversation between Jenny
and Martin. Choose the correct answer, A, B or C.
1 What do we learn about Martin and Jenny’s local
college?
A Martin doesn’t get on well with the people who are
planning to go there.
B Most people think it isn’t very good.
C People come to it from all over the country.
2 What does Jenny say about old friends?
/10 A You can still keep your old friends and make new friends.
B You will forget about your close friends when you meet
new people.
B He isn’t sure about whether he wants to continue B this problem only affects George Clooney.
studying when he leaves school.
C you should be careful who you go out with.
C He hasn’t made his mind up about where to study yet.
D we are always pleased when we see our reflections.
/10
SELF IMAGES
As you get ready to go out, you glance in the mirror for a final
check of your look. You’re happy with what you see. The hair
is neat and nicely styled, your complexion is tanned and your
smile could make any Hollywood actor jealous. Later in the
evening, you are more than happy to pose when friends get
their phones out to take photos. The next day, however, when
the photos appear on social networking sites, you are horrified.
You don’t recognise the person you are looking at. How can
that be you? The nose looks far too big, the skin too white and
the hair is all over the place! So just why do we look different
in photos to how we imagine ourselves to be?
There isn’t just one reason. Firstly, people often look
better early in the evening than later on. You have probably
just come out of the shower, brushed your hair and put on your
elegant clothes. If there was something wrong, you would do
something about it and then admire yourself again. When the
photos are taken, you may be tired or perhaps full after a good
meal. Your hair may not look quite so good as it did. Often,
when people get home and look in the mirror, they think: “I
look terrible”. It’s just that, being home and alone, it doesn’t
matter.
Another reason is to do with angles. In the mirror, we see
our nose, mouth and chin from above. This is more flattering
than looking up from below. We also turn slightly and smile
trying to get the best look possible. Unfortunately, our friends
probably aren’t as careful. Photos are taken when we aren’t
ready, often from the wrong position. You could watch
carefully to see when someone is going to take a photo and
pose for it but, although the photos might look better, your
evening won’t be very relaxing.
Finally, we all have a tendency to measure and compare
ourselves against others. Why is it that other people always
look better in photos than we do? Even people who aren’t as
good-looking, or don’t wear such stylish clothes as you? The
reason for this is that you could see them all evening, so you
know exactly what they looked like. The photos of them are
not unexpected in any way. However, when you look at a
photo of yourself, you are comparing it not to how you really
looked that evening, but to your own idealized image of
yourself that you have in your own head. In that version of
yourself, your skin is clear and fresh-looking, your hair is
neatly in place, and your clothes flatter you.
So what can we do about it? On the one hand, for all the
reasons above, photos of ourselves will rarely please us.