Unit 2 Page 19 Lesson D2A

Page 19:

Lesson D:

Personal style:

2: listening and speaking

What’s your thing?

A: listen to four people talk about their tastes.

Which two topics does each person talk about?

1: Charlie:

I have pretty ordinary taste in things, I think.

I mean, I’m not really into keeping up with the latest trends or anything.

I’m not one of those people that goes through the men’s magazines to see what’s in, or what next season’s stuff is going to be.

Or trying to keep up with what other guys are wearing.

I guess I just like basic stuff, you know?

Casual stuff, … anything that’s clean, really!

I don’t really care.

I’m pretty choosy about what I listen to, though.

Like, I wear my earphones everywhere, and I’ve always got four or five CDs with me.

I change them all the time.

And I download a lot of tunes as well.

Mainly rock, you know, a broad range of rock bands.

I like to hear the latest recordings.

I guess I’m pretty knowledgeable about that.

2: Louisa:

I suppose I do have pretty expensive tastes.

Well, that’s what my husband says.

I love getting those home catalogs and looking through them to see what they have.

I love to buy things for our home - you know, I want it to look nice.

So I look for really nice fabrics, but I also like really well-made items.

It’s not worth paying money for poor quality things - for example, for sofas or chairs that aren’t comfortable.

For real comfort, you usually have to pay a lot more for things, so they’ll last longer and still look nice.

It’s like they say - you get what you pay for.

It’s the same with everything.

I prefer to pay more, and know I’m getting the best.

Like when I go to the hairdresser’s - OK, the stylist costs twice as much as at other places - but I know I’m going to look good when I come out.

It’s always worth it.

3: Frankie:

I used to spend a lot of time with my dad when I was a kid, and his hobby was fixing up old ones and getting them back on the road, so he taught me a lot about that.

We were always out in the garage working on something.

I’ve always been interested in fifties design, which I think is a classic era in American design.

I have two Thunderbirds.

They’re almost antiques, but if you look after them carefully, they’re still OK.

The hardest thing is getting parts.

I spend a lot of time, too, looking for the old manuals, so I can look up things about them.

My uncle has a garage - he’s a specialist dealer - and he’s got a collection of old manuals going back to the thirties.

They’re the main thing I read - it’s kind of sad, don’t you think?

But they’re so interesting.

I learn a lot.

4: Hugo:

For me, the first thing I notice is the appearance and the colors.

If it doesn’t look right and pleasing to the eye, then I think the whole thing fails.

If a customer doesn’t say “Wow” as I put it down in front of them, I feel disappointed, because I know how hard the chef has worked to make it look really special.

Call me old-fashioned, but I don’t like dishes that are too fancy - you know what I mean?

I like the things I serve to be straightforward and honest, you know, simple, but fresh and delicious.

I guess you could say the same thing about the people I hang out with, too.

Not too fussy or complicated, just regular folks.

Straightforward and honest.

No surprises.

That’s what I like.