2
Feelings Feeling sorry for yourself?
1 Imagine yourself in the position of the people in the photos. How does that make you feel?
excited afraid nervous embarrassed angry proud depressed
2
1.05 Listen and read this extract from an interview with a teacher and answer the questions.
1 Which of the situations above does the text mention? 2 What is unusual about John?
A
B
I’ve been teaching for about 25 years now and one thing I have learnt is this: a good teacher is always ready to learn. About 10 years ago, I was teaching students with learning difficulties in a school in Bristol. My classroom had become famous in the school as I had got a reputation for success by encouraging students to believe in themselves. One day, the head told me that a trainee teacher had arrived in school and had asked to observe my classes. As we were going to meet John, the head told me that the student was disabled. As John was approaching, I noticed that he had prosthetic legs – and he had no hands. At first, I felt nervous but John’s friendly eye contact made me feel relaxed and created a warmth and respect between us. I had prepared my pupils for John’s visit – I had told them that it was rude to stare, but they still felt embarrassed and could not help staring… John sat quietly in the corner and watched me teaching. He had been watching me for about half an hour, when suddenly he asked if he could show the children something on the blackboard: he took a piece of chalk between his ‘arms’ and began to write – in better blackboard writing than mine. A year later, I moved to Ireland. I’ve been living there ever since; but I once returned to Bristol for a few months to run a bookshop. After I had been back for about a week, I was opening the shop one morning when John appeared. He had heard that somebody was coming from Ireland to run the shop and had guessed it was me. ‘Have you been teaching all this time?’ I asked. He told me that he had given up teaching as it had got too difficult. ‘I’ve been doing lots of exciting things.’ ‘Like what?’ I asked. ‘Have you seen that furniture shop up the road?’ he said. ‘Oh, so you run a shop too?’ ‘No, my wife runs it. I make all the furniture!’ John hadn’t changed! Since I last saw him, he had become a furniture maker and he had taken up skiing. I was stunned. Since then every time I’ve felt sorry for myself, I’ve thought about John and his incredible life...
3 Read the statements and write T (true) or F (false). 5 Match these definitions with the words in bold. Then correct the false statements. 1 impolite ___________ 1 The writer has been teaching for ten years. ___ 2 unable to use part of the
2 A new pupil joins the writer’s class. ___ 3 John is a student with learning difficulties. ___ 4 The writer of this text is a university teacher. ___ 5 The writer and John got on well. ___ 6 John took part in the writer’s lesson. ___ 7 The writer went to Ireland for a short holiday. ___ 8 John’s new job is making furniture. ___
4 Look at the words in bold in the text: are they nouns, verbs or adjectives?
16
body or brain fully 3 to give someone confidence or hope 4 the things people say about us, good or bad 5 to control or organise 6 to come closer
___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________
FLASH FORWARD Read the last paragraph again: how do you ‘cheer yourself up’? What advice do you give to friends who are ‘feeling sorry’ for themselves?