1.2. CLOTHES (DON’T) MAKE A MAN

1.2. CLOTHES (DON’T) MAKE A MAN

1.2.1

Introduction

What does the word inference mean? Do inferences

help or prevent us from having an objective opinion

of a person? For example, what inferences can you

draw when you meet:

a. a man who wears one or more earrings?

b. a girl with heavy piercing?

c. a man with long hair, a beard and moustache?

d. someone wearing an evening dress and a lot of jewellery in the morning?

e. someone who is always laughing?

f. someone who bites his / her nails?

Quiz

Here is an activity that helps you to become aware of

inferential thinking and to realize how subjective and

inaccurate inferences can be.

Questionnaire 1

Do not put your name on the paper (and change

your handwriting!). Answer the following questions,

giving your first reactions:

1. What is your favourite TV show?	6. What is your favourite movie?
2. What is your favourite song?	7. What is your favourite saying?
3. What is your favourite colour?	8. What is your favourite sport?
4. What is your favourite book?	9. What is your favourite smell?
5. What is your favourite sound?	10. What is your favourite type of weather?

Questionnaire 2

You have some information about a classmate. You are to

use this information to make inferences about the person

as you answer the following questions. Draw the best

conclusions you can and state your reasons.

1. Is your classmate male or female? Why do you think so?

2. Describe your classmate’s physical appearance. Why do you think so?

3. What is your classmate’s favourite food? Why do you think so?

4. What is your classmate’s favourite pastime? Why do you think so?

5. Describe how your classmate’s bedroom would be decorated. Why do you think so?

6. What are his or her favourite things? Why do you think so?

7. How much money does he or she have at their disposal? Why do you think so?

8. Can you guess any features of his/her character?

Interaction

Report to the class. Listen to your classmates’ reports.

Say, how accurate their inferences are.

1.2.2

Reading

Read the text and learn the words and expressions in

bold. Answer the questions below.

Looking Good Gets the Goodies

If it weren’t for other people would anyone ever anxiously fug for their sweater down, peer at an imaginary blemish in the mirror and ask ‘Do I really look all right?’

Whereas intelligence can be tested on paper, looks are tested only by your experiences with other people. Your appearance affects how other people behave towards you and probably how you behave in return.

From childhood we are constantly measuring our own looks against those of other people. Meanwhile as they measure themselves other people are giving us messages about how we look.

Certain qualities are attributed to looks such as the stereotype of the fat, jolly person or the tall powerful man. If you are fat and sad or tall and insecure people have to readjust their first false impression before they try to cheer you up or reassure you.

Yet, the inferences made about such characteristics as sallow complexion (hostility), blond hair (goodness and virtue), high forehead (intelligence) are not generally supported by scientific testing of their owners. (Although some people do fit the stereotype: for example short-sighted people do tend to average higher IQ scores.)

Attractiveness is the key word. Time and again in experiments people judged as attractive by their peers prove to have the edge over others. People sometimes said they preferred intelligence and charm to looks, but when their behaviour was tested they showed preferences for attractive people as friends, dates, sex-partners and spouses. In most cases they are favoured by juries in mock trials, and even attractive mental patients get preferential treatment from nurses.

One group of scientists arranged a blind-date dance for students at the University of Minnesota and found that they could predict how much someone would like his or her partner and want to see them again according to the partner’s attractiveness.

And the old cliché that looks don’t bring happiness seems to be untrue at least for women. For, while an international happiness survey in the mid-seventies found no relationship between physical attractiveness and self-esteem (no one factor or small set of factors seems to determine happiness), another study found that attractive women were psychologically healthier.

But what is attractive? In scientific terms it’s usually measured by experiments in which photographs are shown to peers who then rate them. Outside the laboratory you only have to look at people whose raw material doesn’t fit the stereotype (for example Barbara Streisand) to see that many people can be attractive by virtue of self-confidence, talent and self-projection.

Clothes and make up play their part, too: a woman deliberately dressed and made-up to look physically attractive influenced the opinion of a male audience more than when she appeared before them as her unadorned self.

Is it worth the effort? If you are someone who feels good when they look good (and not everyone does), people probably respond to your glow. Then your self-esteem goes up and while it’s high you beam out more welcome signals that elicit more positive responses and so on. In reverse gear, when depression sets in, your keep off signs which deflect people, you feel worthless and you’re in a downward spiral.

Discussion

Discuss the following:

‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder’

1. Do you think this proverb is true or are there certain norms of beauty?

2. Are we born with an innate sense of beauty or do we acquire it?

3. Is physical attractiveness easier to identify and more important in women or men?

4. Do most people overestimate or underestimate their own beauty?

5. What influence does someone’s physical appearance have on their personality? And vice versa?

6. Is beauty only a physical quality?

Aristotle said, ‘Beauty is a greater recommendation than any letter of introduction’.

Which of the following do you agree with?

If you are good-looking you’re more likely to:

7. have a pleasant personality and have more friends.

8. study humanistic / artistic subjects.

9. be treated more leniently if you’re in the wrong.

10. get a job with higher status.

11. find a partner and get married.

12. be generally happier.

Interesting Facts

* University professors often give good-looking girls better marks in exams; male students tend to overestimate the intellectual qualities of pretty female students.

* In court cases attractive people get lighter sentences, unless they made conscious use of their beauty to get their own ends, in which case they might be more severely punished.

* Beautiful girls rarely become scientists; they tend to choose subjects such as languages, law and medicine.

* Women who have beautiful bodies often have less self-confidence – they worry too much about keeping their body perfect.

* Short men are less likely to get jobs than tall men and they receive lower starting salaries. In US presidential elections, the taller candidate nearly always wins.

* There may even be a connection between height and intelligence, as it seems that the same genes are involved in both aspects.

* Fact: People form 90% of their opinion of someone in the

first 90 seconds.

‘It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearance.

The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.’

Oscar Wilde

What do you think Oscar Wild meant? Do you agree with him? Why?

1.2.3

Collocation

Complete the grid below (the first line is completed for you).

1.2.4

Comprehension

Read a magazine article and find out:

Which of the men

1. sometimes tries to surprise people through the clothes he wears?

2. admits that his clothes are generally untidy?

3. buys clothes which last a long time?

4. is used to being criticized for the clothes he chooses?

5. likes to get a good deal when buying clothes?

6. needs help with clothes for less formal occasions?

7. needs to have the right clothes to get work?

8. needs help in choosing his clothes?

9. needs different clothes for different types of work?

10. admits he doesn’t look after his clothes very well?

11. prefers to take his time when choosing clothes?

12. relies on personal judgement when choosing what to wear?

13. tends to avoid clothes in bright colours?

14. used to work in a job where clothes were provided?

15. wants to change his appearance completely?

16. wants to buy clothes which are suitable for his age?

You are what you wear

A Alan

I would like to be taller. I have a long body and short legs, but I have no problems in dressing for work – smart suits, shirts and ties are the order of the day, and I do invest in good quality suits that keep going for years. My appearance is important for the work I do and I now know what labels to buy for suits that are going to fit well. What I have trouble with is casual wear for weekends – you know, the right sort of informal look for supper with friends, or taking the kids out. I’d like to find the perfect casual jacket, but I hate ties and wouldn’t wear one out of work. I want to look casual and stylish even though I’m in my forties. I don’t like to see older men wearing trainers, but I don’t know what type of casual shoes to buy, for example.

B Barry

Being an actor, the way I look can affect my opportunities and the parts I get. I’ve got used to wearing my hair long, but I know it’s time for a change now. But how short do I go, and what style should I choose? That’s the problem because I want it to look dramatic, I want a new look. My style of dressing is simple and stylish, especially for rehearsals when I’ll go in jeans and T-shirt. But I also work part-time at a film-sales company and, although I work mostly on the telephone, I have to look smarter. I don’t mind shopping for clothes, but I’m not very good if I have anyone with me because I like to browse at my own pace, you know, try lots of things on. I find I buy a lot of things in black and white. It’s simple and stylish and easy to put together.

C Chris

I hate shopping for clothes and will only do so when it’s absolutely necessary – about once every six months. My girlfriend usually comes with me because she has better taste than I do! I’d describe my style of dress as very casual, perhaps bordering on scruffy. I try to avoid wearing smart clothes, and this may be something to do with the fact that I’m hopeless at keeping things smart. Ironing’s a skill I’ve never really mastered, for example. Also, as I was in uniform for about twelve years when I was in the army, I never really had to think about all this somehow. I know I should be smarter for work, but it’s a pretty relaxed office and so jeans and T-shirt is the norm. It’s very rare for me to wear a suit, but as I’ve got about three friends’ weddings coming up, perhaps I ought to think about a new one.

D Des

I would describe my style of dressing as individual. I know what I like and I know what will suit a particular occasion. I’m very worried about the effect clothes have on the way other people react on you. I’ll wear a suit if I think it will make a meeting more productive or my oldest jeans if I want to shock people. I like shopping and I like clothes, but I don’t like shopping for clothes. Where I shop depends on where I am and as I travel abroad a lot, I’m also looking for bargains in the sales wherever I go. One problem is that my wife is a fashion designer and so I always get a reaction to the things I buy, although she’s long since given up trying to influence me.

Speaking

Using the words in bold speak about you manner of dress

and what kind of things you like to wear.

1.2.5

Preparation

In English there are two proverbs about clothes, which

contradict one another: ‘Clothes make a man’ and

‘Clothes don’t make a man’. Can you explain their

meaning? How important are clothes to you?

Listening

Listen to the story of the Emperor’s new clothes. Make a

note of the multi-word verbs that are used and what you

think they mean. Then discuss the questions below with

a partner.

1. Why did the Emperor want the two men to make the clothes?

2. Why did the Emperor send his old and honest minister to see the two men?

3. Why did one of the two men ask the Emperor to try on the invisible clothes?

4. Why didn’t anyone say the Emperor was wearing nothing?

5. Why did the Emperor go through with the procession?

6. Why was the little boy the first person to say ‘The Emperor has nothing on’?

7. Why did the Emperor carry on with the procession?

8. What do you think the story is trying to say?

1.2.6

Definition

Match the multi-word verbs with their definitions:

1. to take something off	a. to dress oneself in clothes or jewellery
2. to have (got) (something) on	b. to put on a piece of clothing to see if it fits and looks nice
3. to try something on	c. to do something difficult or unpleasant
4. to carry on (with something)	d. to fasten something (a button or a zip)
5. to go through with something	e. to continue with something, in spite of difficulties or interruptions
6. to wear out	f. to be wearing a piece of clothing
7. to dress up	g. to remove clothes, to undress
8. to put something on	h. to put on clothes without difficulty because they aren’t too small
9. to do something up	i. to wear smart clothes for a special occasion
10. to get into something	j. to become useless because it has been used so often

Drills

Listen and respond as the situation requires.

1.2.7

Practice

Working in groups, take turns telling one another the

story of the Emperor’s clothes. The following prompts

may help.

- the Emperor

- the two dishonest men

- the magical clothes

- making the clothes

- the Emperor sends his minister

- the minister’s visit

- the Emperor’s visit

- the Emperor tries on the clothes

- the procession

- the little boy

1.2.8

Listening

Listen to four situations in which people are talking

about clothes. Decide what the situation is and

who is talking.

1.2.9

Word use

Put the following expressions in the sentences below.

1. I’m sorry, madam, we don’t have any of these jumpers in size 14. We are completely _______. I don’t think we’ll be getting any more of them till next year.

2. I’m afraid you’re ______, sir. We’ve sold all the tickets for the plays you would like to see.

3. It was the best play I’ve ever seen. The production was absolutely fantastic. It was ________.

4. I can’t use this passport any more. It’s _____. I’ll have to get a new one.

5. He doesn’t worry about his appearance or what is in fashion. He always wears clothes that are _______.

1.2.10

Idiom

Look at the expressions below. Which ones are similar in

meaning? How would you express the same idea in

Russian / Belarusian?

1. A wolf in sheep’s clothing.	4. You can’t go by appearances.
2. There’s no arguing about tastes.	5. One man’s meat is another man’s poison.
3. Beauty is only skin deep.	6. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

Activate

Which of the above expressions could you use in the

following situations?

1. You think a piece of modern sculpture is ugly but your friend thinks it’s beautiful.

2. Your sister is in love with a man who seems very nice and friendly, but you think that underneath he’s a horrible, selfish person who only wants her money.

3. You meet someone who gives the impression of being very poor. You find out later that in fact this person is very rich.

4. You meet an attractive looking person who seems very nice, but you later find out this person is unkind and unfriendly.

1.2.11

How multi-word verbs work

The particle up can be used with some verbs to give the idea of completion.

For example:

We’d better drink up. The bar closes in five minutes.

In this sentence, drink up = finish drinking. Several verbs use

up in this way.

Word Use

Use the multi-word verbs above to correct the sentences:

1. Look at all these dirty dishes. I really don’t like doing them. Could you eat them up?

2. My room looks like a bomb hit it. I can’t find anything. I must dry it up.

3. ‘Tidy up all your vegetables or you won’t grow big and strong,’ my mother used to tell me.

4. After the party her friends offered to help her wash up the mess.

5. I’ll wash the dishes if you clean them up.

C 1. Write down the opposite of the following:

- out of fashion____________

- out of date ______________

- out of luck ______________

- out of stock __________________

- to take something off __________

- to do something up ____________

2. What is the difference between to go through with something and to carry on with something?

3. What is the difference between to take off and to take something off?

1.2.12

Translation

Translate the following passage into Russian.

… In the middle of the room, rising from a computer work-station, was the most stunningly gorgeous woman Roy had ever seen, blond and green-eyed, so beautiful that she took his breath away, so beautiful that she set his heart to racing and sent his blood pressure soaring high into the stroke-risk zone, so achingly beautiful that no words could adequately describe her – nor could any music ever written be sweet enough to celebrate her – so beautiful and so incomparable that he couldn’t breathe or speak, so radiant that she blinded him to the dreariness of that room and left him surrounded by her magnificent light.

1.2.13

Discussion

What is beauty for you? What and who do you consider

really beautiful? How important is beauty in our life?

1.2.14

Writing

Write an essay on the topic ‘Beauty is only skin deep’.