Read the following passage, and answer the questions.
Describing Appearances
There are a lot of words we use in the English language to compliment someone or describe someone’s appearance. There is a saying, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” This means that everyone has a different opinion of what is beautiful. To say a woman is very attractive, one can say that she’s gorgeous, beautiful, or stunning. A man is usually described as handsome. Men and women can both be described as good looking or charming. It is also okay to say that a man or woman is cute or adorable. However, these terms are used to describe animals and children.
They are not always used as a compliment for an adult. If you know a person and their family, then you can describe them by comparing them to their relatives. You could say, “You’re just like your mother,” “She acts just like her sister,” or “He takes after his father.” These expressions all show that the person is very similar to their relatives in
appearance or character.
To describe a person’s character, you could say someone is an extrovert or introvert. An extrovert is very outgoing, talkative, and assertive. An introvert is more quiet or shy.
1 compliment: to praise; to say good things about
3 beholder: a person who looks at something
5 gorgeous: very beautiful
8 adorable: cute; charming
15 extrovert: one who has more interest in others than in oneself
16 introvert: one who has more interest in oneself than in others
1. According to the reading passage, what are two ways to describe a person’s appearance?
describe, directly, adjective, compare, relative
Your answer may begin like: First, we can describe a person’s appearance directly by ....
2. Describe the appearance of a person near you.
young, age, smile, face, aunt, gray, weight, exercise
Your answer may begin like: My English teacher, Ms. Smith, is in her mid-50s but she looks ....
