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Vocabulary BC2

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Chapter 5: The Body Beautiful

Passage 2:

Being Beautiful: How far would you go?

Ancient Beauties
Appearance has been important throughout the centuries. Cleopatra and other ancient
Egyptians had a practical beauty regime. Some women shavedtheir heads to keep cool.
Heavy black eye make-up was thought to be beautiful and act as protection against eye
disease. Men had clean-shaven faces as facial hair was looked down on as a sign of
laziness. Elizabethan women 'painted' their faces white with highly dangerous lead-based
make-up in imitation of their pale-skinned Queen. Ladies also shaved their hairline to give
the appearance of a high forehead like the Queen's. Men and women have been wearing
wigs and corsets for centuries.
Cut it out!
To recreate the look of your favorite star, using make-up or copying their eyebrows using
stencils, seems quite tame compared t o having hair sewn into your head, silicon put into
your body, or having parts of your body reshaped or even removed to improve your
appearance. Everyone knows about (and has noticed!) the changing face of Michael
Jackson. However, the rumor that Cher had her bottom two ribs removed to make her
waist thinner seems too crazy to be true. An American woman, Cindy Jackson, has spent
hundreds of thousands of dollars having cosmetic surgery - 27 times so far! She wanted t
o bring Leonardo da Vincis idea of classically proportioned face to life. Did it work? Her
nickname is 'the human Barbie doll', so it's probable.
Is beauty in the eye of the beholder?
As the number of people having cosmetic surgery increases, fewer people now regard it
as 'unnatural'. As ancient history shows, those in the public eye and in positions of power
and wealth were often perceived as the most beautiful people around. The situation
hasnt changed much. Experts say that these days we are constantly shown images of
beauty 'perfection' through the media, and told that those who achieve beauty achieve
success and happiness. Presumably then, the longer your life will be successful and
happy, too.
Everlasting youth and life?
The Ancient Egyptians believed that by preserving the body (if you could afford it) you
were assured of immortality. These days the process, called cryogenics, is a bit more hitech, but the idea is similar. Most popular in America, people are paying huge amounts of
money to have their bodies drained of blood and frozen in liquid nitrogen when they die.
This is so that they may be revived in the future when science has found a way to bring
1
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them back to life. There are no guarantees that this process will work, but the desire to
live on is so strong that they are prepared t o spend thousands of dollars on something
that might never happen.

I.

VocabularyinContext:

Matchthefollowingtermsfromthetexttothecorrectdefinitions
Terms

Definitions

1. Beauty regime
2. Elizabethan
3. Stencil
4. Tame
5. Proportioned
6. Beauty is in the
eye of the
beholder
7. To afford
8. Cryogenics
1

II.

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

To have enough money t o buy something

Ordinary, not extreme
A routine for looking after the skin and body
Balanced
A period of time in the1500s-1600s named after Queen Elizabeth
I.
f.The process of freezing a dead body until science has found a way
to bring it back t o life
g. Different people see beauty in
h. Different waysa shape cut out of paper or plastic
i. That allows you to cut an exact shape
3

ComprehensionQuestions:

Answerthefollowingquestionsbaseonthereadingabove
1. Describe the processes that people have done to improve their appearances.
A:
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________
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__________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________
2. Describe the reasons why people have done all those processes to stay beautiful.
A:
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________
Chapter 6: The Piracy Business
A. Fill in the gaps
Use words in the box to fill in the gaps below

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

Counterfeit, pirated, fake, designer labels, genuine, piracy, quality,

harmful, stall owner, download, cheaper, expensive, logo, copyright,
unfortunately
Rita is a Spanish student in the faculty of arts. This New Year, she is planning to visit
her family in Barcelona and she wants to bring some gifts. At the market, she decides
to buy a ____________________bag for her mother and an________________________ Rolex
watch for her dad. After shopping, she goes to the coffee shop to relax. Then, she
takes a look at all shopping bags. She realizes that all the products are
_____________________.
Brian is an IT student who loves to ____________________ new programs and games
from the Internet. Usually, he gets all the programs for free because they are
____________________.
If you want to spot __________________ products, you can take a look closer at the
___________________ of the products and the price is ___________________ than the
_____________________ one.
A few days ago, Michael bought an IPod from a local stall in the market. After using it
for three days, the IPod broke down, so he brought it back to the shop.
___________________________, his IPod is fake, so its _____________________ was poor, and
the _______________________ refused to give back the money.
In some countries, ______________________ business is seen as normal. However, it is a
serious issue in the countries that exercise a strict ___________________________ law.

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Although counterfeit goods are cheaper, they are _______________________ to the users
because the safety of products hasnt been checked.
B. Grammar
Put the verb into the correct first conditional form:
a.

If I __________________ (go) out tonight, I __________________ (go) to the cinema.

b.

If you __________________ (get) back late, I __________________ (be) angry.

c.

If we __________________ (not / see) each other tomorrow, we __________________ (see) each

other next week.

d.

If he __________________ (come), I __________________ (be) surprised.

e.

If we __________________ (wait) here, we __________________ (be) late.

f.

If we __________________ (go) on holiday this summer, we __________________ (go) to Spain.

g.

If the weather __________________ (not / improve), we __________________ (not / have) a

picnic.

h.

If I __________________ (not / go) to bed early, I __________________ (be) tired tomorrow.

i.

If we __________________ (eat) all this cake, we __________________ (feel) sick.

j.

If you __________________ (not / want) to go out, I __________________ (cook) dinner at home.

Chapter 7: Accessories of Life
Passage 3:
Metropolitan Museum

New Exhibit on Men's Skirts Opens at the

Throughout Western history, women have borrowed men's clothing. Women wear pants,
ties, and even men's suits. However, men have rarely worn women's clothing. One of the
strongest taboos is against men wearing skirts. Skirts are considered inappropriate for
men. A new exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art called "Brave hearts: Men in Skirts"
looks at this question.
David Thorndike, sociologist at the Modern Social Research Institute, says, "Men think if
they wear a skirt, they will look feminine. That is absurd. Roman gladiators were very
masculine and they wore skirts. "He continues, "At one time, only men wore pants.
However, today pants are unisex clothes. They are appropriate for both men and
women. Women wear them all the time. If a man wants to wear masculine clothing, he
should put on a real Scottish kilt."
The exhibit has examples of men's skirts in history. In addition, there are a number of
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skirts from well-known clothing designers. There is even a photograph of movie star
Brad Pitt in a skirt. One male visitor said, 'That skirt looks really comfortable. If Brad Pitt
can wear it, why can't I?" The exhibit will continue through February 8.
Write true (T) or false (F) for each statement about the readings
1. The exhibit focuses on women wearing pants, and men wearing
skirts.
2. According to an expert, men think that skirts are feminine.
3. There are skirts by modern designers in the exhibit.
4. Roman gladiators wore skirts.
5. No one complains when women wear men's clothes.
Match the bold words in the text to correct their synonyms in the table below
Words
1. Rarely
2. Inappropriate
3. Taboos
4. Appropriate
5. Feminine
6. Masculine
7. Well-known
8. Unisex
9. Absurd
10.
Put on

Answer
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Synonyms
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.

Famous
Forbids
Gender-neutral
Manly
Ridiculous
Seldom
Suitable
To wear
Unsuitable
Womanlike

Look at the following phrases and write in which type you think they are. Then
fill the gaps.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

They (may/must).......................... be away for the weekend but I'm not sure.
He (can/could).......................... be French, judging by his accent.
They (can't/may).......................... still be out!
With luck, tomorrow (can't/could).........................be a sunny day.
You (can/might).......................... be right but I'm going to check anyway.
The exam (can't/might).......................... be easy. You never know.
It (may/can't).......................... be true about a sauropod dinosaur living in Lake Tel

in the Congo.
8. It's impossible.Dave reckons she's from The States but I think she
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(can't/might).......................... be from Scandinavia.

9. I (can't/might).......................... go to the party but I'm not sure yet.
10.
This (must/could).......................... be the right answer but we'll have to check
with your teacher to make sure.
11.
She (can't/could).......................... steal things from shops. She's rich and
famous.
12.
I really think Real Madrid (can't/could).......................... lose the final of the
King's Cup.
13.
She's been revising 10 hours a day for 3 weeks. She
(could/must).......................... be exhausted.
14.
Nobody's answering. They (can't/must).......................... be out.
15.
He (can't/may).......................... be from the USA. He doesn't speak English.

Chapter 8: Fashion
i.

Fill in the gaps

Choose words in the box to fill in the gaps

Fusion, confusion, conservative, difficulty, miniskirt, sneakers, get dress, strict,
ignore, casual
Shave, dye, trendy, behave, amazed
1. In the past, many university students in Cambodia dressed in a
_____________________________uniforms and cut their hair in simple style.
2. Now a day, most of female students would wear ________________________ and
__________________________their hair in different shades of color.
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3. Japanese students would wear a ______________________ of style between school

uniform and fashionable clothes with colorful ___________________.
4. In some private schools, the students are required to follow a very
______________________ dress code and they will have _________________________ when
entering school if they wear _________________________outfits.
5. You will be ______________________ to see their performance since some of the actors
will ___________________ their heads on stage.
6. The ______________________ between horse and donkey is a laughable issue.
7. James wakes up and _______________________ in a _____________________ clothes for the
party this evening.
8. I suggest you should ______________________ them if they ______________________ rudely
toward you.
ii.

Grammar

Choose the correct words to complete each sentence.

1 Why did people _______________ mend their clothes?
a) used to

b) use to

c) didnt use to

2 I _______________ like watching football, but now I do.

a) used to

b) use to

c) didnt use to

3 What did you _______________ like doing when you were young?
a) used to

b) use to c) didnt use to

4 John _______________ like Mary, but he doesnt now.

a) used to

b) use to

c) didnt use to

5 People _______________ produce as much rubbish as we do nowadays.

a) used to

b) use to

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c) didnt use to