Replace the underlined word with a word which is more suitable or more polite.

1. He told me he met a handsome girl in the disco last night.

2. She’s beautiful but her younger sister is really quite ugly.

3. I think Peter is getting a bit fat, don’t you?

4. I think she’s hoping to meet a few beautiful men at the tennis club.

5. Paul is very thin.

There are many ways to talk about physical appearance.

Colouring My sister is an English rose – she has fair hair and fair skin. She doesn't tan easily and has to be careful in the sun. My mother is blonde, also with a fair complexion. I am a red-head – with red hair. Like many other people with a pale complexion, I get freckles from the sun – small brown dots on my face and arms. In contrast, my father has dark-brown hair and he is quite dark-skinned. You are born with a colour – white or Caucasian, black or Asian. People whose parents are of different ethnic origin are mixed-race. Southern Europeans are sometimes described as Mediterranean.

9. Describe a person using these word and phrases:

a girl (nice, pretty, long\short haired, fair hair, blue eyes, slim, a peaky nose, overweight, long-legged, a pleasant smile, to dye one’s hair in blue)

a woman (good-looking, dark hair, over forty, medium height and build, to be going grey, to squint, straight nose, to have a sad look …)

a boy (young, strong, well-built, sunburnt, plumpish face, to wear one’s hair short, curved nose, curly hair …)

a man (handsome, well-built, dark/wavy/short hair, deep-set eyes, to wear glasses, to wear a beard / a moustache / whiskers, to keep fit

10. Look at the students of your group and say:

1) Who has the following type of hair:

a) Straight, long, short, curly, wavy;

b) Fair, dark, blonde, black, brown, grey.

2) whose constitution can be characterized as:

a) short, tall, of medium height;

b) slim, plump, very thin.

3) Whose complexion is: pale, dark, pink.

4) Who has: plump cheeks, hallow cheeks, cheeks with dimples.

There are many ways to talk about physical appearance.

Face Faces, like build, vary a lot. Some people have oval faces – their foreheads are much wider than their chins. Other people have heart-shaped, square or round faces. Features also vary. My grandfather has bushy eyebrows (he has lots of hair!), a hooked noseand high cheekbones. His eyes are large and set quite far apart. My mother has a broad nose, which she hates, as she prefers narrow noses. But she is lucky to haveeven or regular teeth. My sister corrected her crooked teeth by wearing a brace which straightened them. She has rosy cheeks, small ears and a snub nose, which goes up at the end. I have long, curly hair, though my sister is the opposite, with short, straight hair. Her hair isfineand doesn't weigh very much, but mine is thick and heavy. My mother's hair is wavy – in between straight and curly. It's cut in a bob and she also has a short fringe, where it is cut horizontally across her forehead. My father is losing his hair – in fact he is going bald, which makes him very sad. My brother looks like he is going to lose his hair too – it is receding.