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Le portrait physique
Quelques idées
With summer approaching, people are literally bom-
barded with ads and commercials
1
for slimming
2
products. Every trick
3
of the trade is used to make us,
poor plain
4
creatures, spend a fortune on trying to
look like the empty-headed
5
good-looker “on dis-
play”
6
.
“I used to be overweight
7
. Look how slim
8
I am. My
friends can’t believe their eyes,” the smashing
9
crea-
ture tells us. She goes on: “It’s hight time to think of
remedying the disastrous effects of past overindul-
gence
10
at the table. Do something about that
unsightly
11
triple chin
12
of yours, that pot belly
13
and
those rolls of flesh
14
. Now! Tomorrow might be too
late. You’ll only have yourself to blame if you find
yourself the butt of
15
everyone’s jokes on the beach.
So why wait any longer?”
Each year millions of us fall for it
16
. However, to judge
by the result, some products may not work miracles
17.
Vocabulaire complémentaire
1. réclames et
publicités
2. amincissants
3. ficelles,
astuces
4. pas très beaux
5. sans cervelle
6. «exposé»
7. trop gros
8. mince
9. superbe
10. excès
11. laid
12. menton
13. bedaine
14. bourrelets
15. en butte à
16. se font avoir
17. faire des
miracles
– a figure (une silhouette) – hairy (poilu)
– a complexion (le teint) – bald (chauve)
– a gait (une démarche) – to lisp (zézayer)
– good-looking (beau) – to stammer (bégayer)
– plain (physique ingrat) – to limp (claudiquer)
– ugly (laid) – to lurch (tituber)
– plump (dodu) – all dressed up
– slender (svelte) (sur son trente et un)
– skinny (très mince) – slovenly dressed (négligé)
– fat (gros, gras) – to squint (loucher)
– deaf (sourd) – wrinkles (rides)
– dumb (muet) – pimples (boutons)
– blind (aveugle) – warts (verrues)
– squat (trapu) – weight and height
– sturdy (robuste) (poids et taille).
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Le portrait psychologique
Quelques traits de caractères
•Généralités
•Attitude vis-à-vis de l’argent
– intelligent, clever (intelligent) – stupid, dumb (bête)
– smart (malin) – slow-witted (lent).
– bright (brillant)
– extravagant (dépensier) – thrifty (économe)
– to be greedy for money – stingy (avare).
(être avide d’argent)
•Attitude vis-à-vis des autres
–to be anxious to discover (être – inward-looking (renfermé)
impatient de découvrir) – bigoted (sectaire, intolérant)
–to be broad-minded (avoir les – uncooperative, reticent
idées larges) (réservé)
–to be outgoing (être extraverti) – forbidding (sévère)
–easy-going (facile à vivre) – fussy (difficile, tatillon)
–sociable, courteous (courtois) – moody (lunatique)
–narrow-minded(étroit d’esprit) – gross (grossier)
–self-centred (égocentrique) – to be suspicious of other people
–selfish (égoïste) (se méfier des autres).
•Attitude vis-à-vis de soi-même
–to be conceited (suffisant) – shy(timide)
–boastful, bragging (vantard) – self-conscious(timide)
–cocksure (être sûr de soi) – to have a complex about
(faire un complexe de).
•Attitude vis-à-vis des événements
– fatalistic (fataliste) – superstitious (superstitieux)
– God-fearing(très croyant) – gullible(crédule).
•Attitude vis-à-vis de la loi
–to be law-abiding – rebellious (rebelle)
(respectueux de la loi) – a non-conformist (dissident),
–to be fashion-conscious to be saucy (impertinent)
(qui suit la mode) – to live on the fringes of
–to be class-conscious (faire society (vivre en marge de la
des distinctions sociales) société).
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Les étapes de la vie
Quelques idées
Flicking through
1
your family album, you live some
of the most memorable instants of your past existence
over
2
again. The camera has immortalized them.
Here is the old house where you were born and where
you grew up
3
until you and your parents moved
4
to
Paris. Here is a snapshot
5
of you. You were still a tod-
dler
6
at the time. And here you are with your second
form
7
classmates
8
. Remember the girl next to you?
You had a crush
9
on her. That was back in 1990.
Remember the tricks
10
you would play on Miss Smith,
the maths teacher? It seems as if it were yesterday.
Doesn’t time fly?
You’re now about to sit for
11
the baccalauréat, that
much dreaded
12
exam à la française which everyone
is talking about at this time of year. Good luck!
Vocabulaire complémentaire
1. En feuilletant
2. revivez
3. avez grandi
4. ont déménagé
5. un cliché
6. un tout petit
7. classe de 5e
8. camarades
de classe
9. aviez le
béguin
10. jouiez des
tours
11. passer
12. redouté
–Early childhood –to date somebody
(petite enfance) (sortir avec quelqu’un)
–adolescence or teenage years –to get engaged (se fiancer)
(adolescence) – to break up (rompre)
–the awkward age (l’âge ingrat) – to make it up (se réconcilier)
–adulthood(âge adulte) – to get married (se marier)
–old age (vieillesse) – a pleasant memory
–fatherhood (paternité) (un souvenir agréable)
–motherhood(maternité) – a painful experience
–to be expecting (une expérience pénible)
(attendre un enfant) – graduation (U.S) (cérémonie
–to be pregnant (être enceinte) de remise de diplôme dans
–puppy love (premier amour) un lycée ou une université)
–love at first sight –prom (U.S.) (bal de l’année dans
(le coup de foudre) un lycée ou une université).
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Le sort, le destin,
la superstition
Quelques idées
• Who are you?
Are you a rationalist through and through
1
?
Or are you rather superstitious?
Do you believe in charms
2
?
• Do you ever read your stars
3
?
Have you ever consulted a fortune-teller
4
?
If so, was it ...
– for the fun of it
5
?
– because you really believed you’d get a clear
picture of what fate had in store for you
6
?
When in front of a painter’s ladder, do you ...
– systematically walk round
7
it to avoid ruining your
new suit?
– walk underneath to defy danger?
– walk round it to avoid tempting fate
8
?
• Do you believe some people are born under a lucky
star
9
and others are jinxed
10
?
• Do you feel that a black cat is:
– just a cat that happens to be black?
– a bad omen
11
?
In short, are you like millions of other people who
deny
12
being superstitious and yet are always looking
for signs that luck still favours
13
them?
Vocabulaire complémentaire
1. un rationaliste
pur et dur
2. objets fétiches,
porte-bonheur
3. votre
horoscope
4. une diseuse de
bonne aventure
5. pour rire
6. ce que vous
réservait
votre destin
7. faites le tour
8. tenter
la Providence
9. nés sous une
bonne étoile
10. ont la poisse
11. un mauvais
présage
12. nient
13. la chance
leur sourit encore
–to be lucky –to be dogged by misfortune
(avoir de la chance) (être poursuivi par
–to be unlucky la malchance)
(ne pas avoir de chance) – her luck ran out
–fortunately (la chance l’a abandonnée)
(par chance) – to be a lucky devil
–unfortunately (être un sacré veinard)
(malheureusement) – luck smiled on him
–by chance (par hasard) (la chance lui souriait)
–by a quirk of fate –to keep fingers crossed
(par un caprice du destin) (croiser les doigts)
–by a curious coincidence –to ward off ill fortune
(par un curieux hasard) (conjurer le sort).
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Les réactions
face à un événement
Un exemple
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong, an American astro-
naut was to become the first man ever to walk on the
moon. The event which was watched on live televi-
sion by a half billion dumbfounded
1
people filled the
whole US nation with immense pride
2
. America had
at last caught up
3
with the Russians and taken the
lead
4
.
At Mission Control everyone was overwhelmed
5
with
joy when Eagle, the lunar module, landed on Tran-
quillity Base, some 240,000 miles away from our plan-
et. But the highlight
6
of the day was when Armstrong
set foot on lunar soil.
Loud applause broke out
7
as the astronaut proclaimed
his first tentative step onto the moon, a “giant leap for
mankind”.
Soon, however, silent concentration prevailed
8
again.
Perilous operations remained to be carried out
9
, such
as lift-off
10
from the moon and rejoining Columbia.
It was only when the crew
11
splashed down in the
Pacific on July 24 that everyone felt both proud and
relieved
12
. They had made it to the moon and had
returned safely.
Vocabulaire complémentaire
1. stupéfait,
interloqué
2. fierté
3. avait rattrapé
4. l’avance,
la tête
5. était
débordant
6. le clou
7. un tonnerre
d’applau-
dissements
éclata
8. régna
9. être
accomplies
10. décoller
11. l’équipage
12. soulagé
–to be all smiles –to have mixed feelings about
(être tout sourire) (avoir des sentiments mitigés)
–to radiate happiness –to feel miserable
(rayonner de bonheur) (se sentir malheureux)
–to be on cloud nine –to be in despair (désespérer)
(être aux anges) – to be at a loss
–to feel at home with (être déconcerté)
(se sentir à l’aise avec) – to feel ill-at-ease
–to be delighted (être ravi) (être mal à l’aise)
–bliss(le bonheur, la félicité) – to be upset (être bouleversé)
–glee(la joie, l’allégresse) – to frown at something
–to relish one’s triumph (froncer les sourcils)
(savourer son triomphe) – to sulk (bouder)
–to feel relieved (être soulagé) – to be stunned (être abasourdi).
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