Continue the sentences using your imagination and creativity. TEXT 3. DRESS FOR SUCCESS

TEXT 3. DRESS FOR SUCCESS

Work with a partner and discuss these questions.

How could you explain the term non-verbal communication?
Do we dress for comfort or warmth or there are other reasons?
Does our appearance play any role in our life?

Now read the text and check your answers.

Most people say they wear what they do for practical reasons such as comfort or warmth. But the truth is more complex. Like it or not, our clothes are personal statements - and we might not always mean what they say. Those of us who live surrounded by strangers - which in Britain in the 20^th century is increasingly the norm - have to develop our skills of non-verbal communication in what the sociologist Irving Goffman has called The Presentation of Self in Eveiyday Life. Just as people have differing abilities in most things, there are obviously experts in this art - the geniuses of the street who can spot a genuine Rolex or a pair of original Levi 501s at 100 yards. But it is also true that all of us require basic skills to enable us to read the messages of the walking billboards around us and, just as importantly, to select appropriate items for use in our own personal image management.

These personal advertisements are not necessarily “legal, decent, honest and truthful”. If asked to check out the claims made by our walking billboards, the Advertising Standards Authority would probably take most of us to court. We dress to impress, to confuse and to deceive (if only ourselves). Whether we utilize the skills of an undercover cop to blend into our surroundings or those of a pop star to stand out, there is generally a considerable gap between what we project in our appearance and the reality of our situation in life. It may be only when dressing for, say, a job interview or a first date that we are aware of our capacity for visual deceit but we are, in fact, at it all the time.

Dressing for effect is a game we all play. It is also a very serious business - not just in the sense that the clothing and make-up industries are big business (clothing manufacture is Britain's fourth biggest employer) but also because our own personal, economic, social and romantic relationships so often derive from effective image management. Except for the minority of people who live out their lives in small, rural communities where everyone knows everyone else, we inevitably build our relationships upon a foundation of fleeting initial visual encounters. It is a cliche that “Appearances Matter” but it is none the less true. At a party, on the street, in the office, at a disco, when visiting a bank manager, verbal communication is only one aspect of our interaction - and frequently (perhaps surprisingly) it is often the least important source of information. How many important relationships in all our lives would have never developed to the verbal level if we had not surmounted the initial hurdle of visual compatibility?

The other side of the coin is our ability to interpret the appearances of others in order to avoid unpleasant or even dangerous encounters. On a dark, sparsely populated street the distant glimpse of a “doggy looking character” may make us cross to the other side or even retreat in the opposite direction - often without justification. Our prejudices about appearances frequently interfere with our logic. Muggers, pick-pockets, rapists and con-men rarely, in real life, look like the stereotypes we expect. Usually it is only very subtle inconsistencies of style and manner that are the clues we should look out for.

And if the interpretation of appearances is a complex game, the task of projecting to the world our own personal self-advertisement is no less so. Buying a new wardrobe - or even a pair of socks - is no easy matter, but the choices we make (yes, even in socks) are among our most important decisions. Many people who have abundant skills at anything from computer programming to writing pop songs are held back in life because they have never taken the time to develop their skills of image management. Yet it is not difficult to do so.

The first point to grasp is that items of clothing, make-up, hairstyles, etc. are symbols. Just as in learning the vocabulary of a foreign language, one has to learn the meanings of these everyday style symbols. Unfortunately there are no dictionaries of these things (their meanings are too ephemeral for that) but simply by taking note of what other people are “saying” with what garments, you can become fluent enough to begin to evaluate what you are communicating through your own appearance.

The messages which we think we are transmitting are often not the ones which others actually read in our appearance. Get someone else to evaluate you. Then, independently evaluate yourself and compare your appearance profiles. Do not expect the message which you are sending out to correspond to your real life situation. The presentation of self is the act of creating a public fiction about a character who happens to have your name. The only thing that matters is whether the fiction which you project is the one which you want the world to read.

3. Read the text again and complete the chart below:

We dress to...	impress, to confuse and to deceive (if only ourselves).
Dressing for effect is ...but it is also...
Verbal communication is only one aspect of our interaction, while...
The other side of the coin is our ability to interpret...
Our prejudices about appearances...
The interpretation of appearances is a complex game...
The items of clothing, make-up, hairstyles are...just as
The presentation of self is... The only thing...

Essential Vocabulary

comfort [ kAinfst]	отдых, расслабление; ободрение, улучшение настроения; комфорт
complex ['kumpleks]	трудноразрешимый, сложный; запутанный
statement [ steitmant]	заявление, утверждение; изложение, формулировка
non-verbal communication [,пг>п'уз:.Ьэ1 ka.mjuini'keifn]	невербальная коммуникация
obviously [nbvissli]	явно, ясно, очевидно, понятно
genuine [ d3enjuin]	истинный, подлинный, неподдельный; реальный
appropriate [a'praupriat]	подходящий, соответствующий; должный
impress [im'pres]	привлекать, вовлекать
confuse [kan'fju:z]	приводить в замешательство; смешивать, спутывать
deceive [di'si: v]	обманывать; сознательно вводить в заблуждение
utilize [ ju:ti.laiz]	использовать, утилизировать, расходовать; применять
considerable [kon'sidarebl]	значительный; важный, заслуживающий внимания, существенный
gap [gaep]	пролом, брешь; пробел, пропуск; промежуток, интервал
appearance [o'piorons]	внешний вид, наружность
date [deit]	(разг.) свидание
capacity [ka'paessti]	способность (что-л. делать)
visual deceit ['vi3ual di'si:t]	зрительный обман
derive [di'raiv]	выводить
inevitable [in'evitabl]	неизбежный, неминуемый
hurdle ['Ьз:.dI]	барьер, препятствие
verbal communication ['v3:.bal ks.mjuim'keijn]	вербальная коммуникация
interaction [.in.ta'raekjbn]	взаимодеиствие; взаимосвязь
retreat [ri'tri:t]	отказываться (от обещания); отступать (от обязательств); брать обратно (слово)
prejudice [ pred3udis]	предубеждение, предвзятое мнение; предрассудок
interfere [, intn'fior]	вмешиваться во (что-л.), повлиять на (исход ч-л.)
grasp [gra:sp]	схватывание; крепкое сжатие; хватка
evaluate [i'vaelju.eit]	оценивать; устанавливать стоимость

4. Use dictionaries to study the meaning of the following vocabulary items:

impress, interaction, statement.

1. Write out common collocations with them.

2. Find derivatives formed from impress, interaction

5. Match the words with their definitions. There are two extra definitions:

1. complex 2. appropriate 3. utilize 4. prejudice 5. interfere 6. appearance 7. genuine 8. considerable 9. derive 10. retreat 11. gap 12. hurdle 13. inevitable

a) the way that someone or something looks b) real, rather than pretended or false c) something that has a lot of details or small parts that make it difficult to understand or deal with d) to receive or obtain something from something else e) to avoid a dangerous, unpleasant, or embarrassing situation, especially by moving away from it f) a large difference between things or groups g) one of several problems that you must solve before you can do something successfully h) suitable or right for a particular situation or purpose i) impossible to avoid or prevent j) to deliberately become involved in a situation and try to influence the way that it develops, although you have no right to do this k) to use something l) to take and hold something or someone very tightly m) an unreasonable opinion or feeling, especially the feeling of not liking a particular group of people n) the name and number of a particular day or year o) large in size, amount, or degree

6. Fill in the blanks with words from the word-box. There is one extra vocabulary item:

non-verbal communication	date	visual deceit
grasp	verbal communication	appropriate

1. Good_______ is vital in a large organization.

2. Luke took her arm in a firm_______ and led her through the gate.

3. Deaf people often use_______in sign language, and many can lip-read what other people are saying.

4. She was happy and confessed that it was her dream_______.

5. He lit another lamp just to check that who he had seen really did exist, but, unfortunately it was______.

7. Supply the necessary derivative/compound related to the italicized word the complete each sentence.

comfort	With difficulty, she rolled her body into a more______position
capacity	Today, though, we can say with confidence that we are quite_______of handling this challenge.
confuse	His speech flung the meeting into_______
deceive	She imagined the scene when he should discover her little________
evaluate	We need to carry out a proper__________ of the new system.
obviously	Teaching is an________ choice of career if you like working with children.