ENGLISH CORNER
Words Used To Describe People Character And
The Sign Of The Zodiac
Hello readers MEdIK! Senang berjumpa lagi dengan
anda peminat English Corner. Pada edisi ini, pengasuh English
Corner akan menghadirkan ke hadapan readers sebuah topik
yaitu Word bank. Words Bank adalah sebuah kumpulan katakata yang berkaitan dengan topik tertentu. Word Banks akan
membantu anda memperbanyak kosakata dan menulis dalam
bahasa Inggris dengan benar. Word Banks memuat topiktopik umum dan menyajikan kosa kata yang anda perlukan.
Pada kesempatan ini, pengasuh akan membahas Word
Banks yang berkaitan dengan words used to describe people’s
character, and the signs of the zodiac. Bahan diambilkan dari
Longman Essential Activators.
A. Words Used to Describe Someone’s Characters
Adventurous / әdvent∫∂rəs / (adj) always ready to try to
different and exciting things, event if they are dangerous:
For the more adventurous members of the group, there are
activities such as rock climbing and scuba diving.
Aggressive /a ’gresiv / (adj) someone who is aggressive
behaves in an angry way and seems to want to fight or argue:
He suddenly becomes aggressive and started shouting
Artistic / a:r tistic / (adj) good at painting and drawing, and at
making and designing things using your skill and imagination:
She comes from a very artistic family – her mother’s an
interior designer and her brother’s an architecture.
Calm /ka:m / (adj) not getting angry or upset, even in a
difficult situation: Dr. Weir answered their questions in a
calm, professional manner.
Cheerful / ʧier f∂l / (adj) always happy, smiling and cheerful
in spite of the bad weather.
Conceited / kәnsi: tiəd / (adj) too confident about your own
abilities and achievement, in a way that annoy people: They
are an awful couple - so snobbish and conceited
Critical / kritikəl / (adj) someone who is critical always says
negative things about other people’s work or the things they
do and say: Mr. Black wasn’t popular teacher. He was too
critical
Cruel /kru:əl / (adj) deliberately trying to hurt or upset
people, and not caring if this makes them unhappy: ‘How
could anyone be so cruel ‘ She said and burst into tears.
Energetic /enər’ʤetik / (adj) very active and able to work
hard and do a lot of things without getting tired: If you’re
feeling energetic, we could go out for a run
Fussy / f ʌsi / (adj) someone who is fussy is difficult to please
because they only like a few things and will only accept
exactly what they want: Teenagers are often very fussy about
what they eat.
Hardworking / ha:rd ‘wз:kiŋ / (adj) always working hard in
your job or schoolwork : Jane’s teacher said she was a sensible
hardworking girl.
Helpful / helpfəl / (adj) always ready to help people, for
example by giving them useful advice or information: The
staffs at the museum were very helpful
Impatient / impei∫әn / (adj) someone who is impatient gets
annoyed if they have to wait for something : I’m coming.
Don’t be so impatient!
Indecisive / indi’saisiv / (adj) someone who is indecisive is
not good at making decisions quickly and keep changing their
mind about what they want to do: The President’s opponents
described him as weak and indecisive.
Insensitive / insensietiv / (adj) not realizing that someone of
the things you say or do are likely to upset or offend people
: Carol’s husband is an insensitive brute. He is insensitive to
anyone’s feeling but her own.
Kind / kaind / (adj) someone who is kind always tries to help
people and make them happy or comfortable: We’d like to
thank all the doctors and nurses at St. James’s Hospital for
being so kind.
Loyal / ‘lɔiəl / (adj) always ready to help and support your
friends, family etc. : We’d like to thank all our fans who ‘ve
been so loyal to the team.
Materialistic / məti∂riə’listik / (adj) thinking that money and
possessions are more important than anything else: A lot of
young people nowadays are rebelling against the materialistic
values of their parents
Moody / mu;di / (adj) often getting angry or annoyed, even
though there seems to be no reason to feel like this : What’s
wrong with Janet? She’s not usually so moody.
Optimistic / ɒptiemistik / (adj) someone who is optimistic
always expects good things to happen and believe that they
will eventually get what they want: Donna hasn’t managed to
find a job yet, but she still very optimistic.
Organized / ɔ:rgənaizd / (adj) good organizing your life and
making plans so you are always well prepared for things you
have to do: You have to admire Helen-She is so organized.
Passionate /pæ∫∂niet / (adj) someone who is passionate has
strong sexual or romantic feeling: Todd put his arms around
her and gave her a passionate kiss.
Patient /pei∫n / (adj) able to wait calmwithout becoming
annoyed or bored: “Are we going home now Mum?” . “No,
not yet, you’ll just have to be patient. Try to be patient with
her. She’s doing her best.
Pessimistic /pesiemistik / (adj) someone who is pessimistic
always expects bad thing s to happen, and thinks that if
anything can go wrong it will go wrong: I wish you’d stop being
so pessimistic
Quiet /kwaiət / (dj) someone who is quiet does not usually
say very much: Her husband was a quiet, sensitive man
Reckless /rekləs/ (adj) behaving in an irresponsible or
Nomor 3. September - Desember 2009 - MEdIK - 53
dangerous way, and not caring whether you harm yourself
or other people: We want our leaders to be strong but not
reckless
Romantic /rəmæntik/ (adj) someone who is romantic treats
the person they love as someone very special, for example by
buying them present and giving them flowers: “Phil’s taking
me to Parish for weekend .” “How romantic”.
Self-confident /self kɔnfied∂nt / (adj) someone who is selfconfident is very confident about their abilities ,and is not
shy or nervous in social situation: She always seems so self
confident when she’s giving lectures.
Selfish / selfi∫ / (adj) someone who is selfish only thinks
about what they need or want and never thinks about how
other people feel: Don’t be so selfish! Leave some cake for
your sister.
Sensible / sensieb∂l / (adj) always behaving in responsible
way, making good, and not doing anything stupid or risky : He
was sensible enough to realize he wouldn’t pass the exam
without doing any work. She’s a sensible driver.
Shy /∫ai/ (adj) someone who is shy feel nervous and
embarrassed about talking to other people, especially people
who they do not know: He was very shy when he was a
teenager.
Sociable /səu∫əb∂l/ (adj) someone who is sociable is friendly,
and enjoy being with other people and meeting new people :
Maria was a sociable and popular member of the class
Sympathetic/ simpə’ θətiek /(adj) ready to try to understand
people’s problems and to help them if you can: Tell Frank how
you feel – I’m sure he’ll be so sympathetic
Vain / vein/ (adj) very proud of yourself, especially because
you think that you look very attractive or beautiful: The girls at
school used to leave her for being so vain
Witty /witi / (adj) someone who is witty always says clever and
amusing things: Edberg’s witty remarks keep us all amused.
B. The sign of the Zodiac
Some people believe that the time of year that you were
born have an effect on your character because of the position
of the stars and planets . They divide the year into 12 periods
of time, and these are known as ‘sign of the zodiac’.
People born under different signs are thought to have
different characters.
Aquarius 20 January – 18 February
People born under the sign of
Aquarius are very loyal, but they can
be a little insensitive at times.
Pisces 19 February – 20 March
People with this sign of Pisces can
be very romantic, and are always
sympathetic if you have a problem,
but they also can be extremely pessimistic.
Aries 21 March – 19 April
People born under the sign of
Aries are extremely energetic and
adventurous, but they also can be
aggressive.
Gemini 21 May – 20 June
People born under the sign of
Gemini are very witty, but they
tend to be a little impatient
Cancer 21 June – 22 July
People with the sign of Cancer are
very kind and helpful, but they can
sometimes be very moody
Leo 23 July – 22 Augustus
People born under the sign of Leo
are very sociable, but can often be
vain as well.
Libra 23 September - 22 October
People born under the sign of Libra
are usually artistic, but they also
tend to be indecisive.
Scorpio 23 October – 21 November
People born under the sign of
Scorpio are often passionate, but
sometimes a little cruel.
Sagittarius 22 November – 21
December
People born under the sign of
Sagittarius are always cheerful and
optimistic , but they often tend to
be reckless as well
54 - MEdIK - Nomor 3, September - Desember 2009
Taurus 20 April – 20 May
People born under the sign of Aries
are always calm, and patient, but
they also very materialistic.
Virgo 23Augustus – 22 September
People born under the sign of Virgo
tend to be hardworking, but also a
little fussy and critical.
Capricorn 22 December - 19 January
People with the sign of Capricorn
are sensible and organized, but are
sometimes conceited.
1. Choose the correct word
Complete the text below. Choose one word or phrase
from the list below into each gap. You will not need to use all
the words.
Words: hard-working,
sympathetic, vain
materialistic,
romantic,
shy,
Differences
My friends and I often talk to each other about boyfriends.
It's interesting that we mostly agree on what kind of boy we
like best. We all like boys who are quite self-confident - not /
/ or nervous when we speak to them. We also like boys who
help us with our problems and who aren't afraid to talk about
them. Boys who are /
/ like that are quite hard
to find at our school! Girls in my class also like their boyfriends
to be good-looking, but we hate it if they're /
/ and
looking at themselves all the time. That's often the problem
with handsome boys, and pretty girls as well, I suppose. Most
of us like boys who are /
/ too. It's great to be sent
a love letter or to be given a present like a box of chocolates!
2. Underline the extra words
Read the text below. Eight words are unnecessary. Find
the eight extra words and underline them.
The station platform was been crowded with reporters
and photographers as the train approached with Australia's
most famous celebrity couple on board. Tony Banks and
Jemima Straw arrived in London yesterday for to promote
their latest film. The actor and actress fell in love during the
filming of the movie and are going to get married in Hawaii
in the next summer. Tony and Jemima are the very different
characters. He is a rather quiet and very calm person. He is
generally optimistic and very hard-working. Jemima, on the
other hand, may be such passionate about her career but she
has a quick temper and can be quite aggressive with reporters.
She can also be very critical of other actresses. But when they
already stepped off the train, it was obvious that they are a
very much in love. They held their hands for photographers
then answered all those burning questions. Turn to page four
to read the full article.
3. Write an email
Write an email to a new pen friend. Think of three
adjectives to describe something positive about your
character and three adjectives to describe negative aspects of
your character. Include these in your letter. Explain why you
describe yourself like this. Write about 250 words.
Key answer
Exercise 1:
shy, sympathetic, vain, romantic
Exercise 2:
been, for, next, the, such, already, a, their
Exercise 3:
Dear Steven,
Thank you very much for your email. It was really interesting
to read all about your town, and your school and friends. It was
fun to read about you too. You sound like a really optimistic
and cheerful kind of person.
You asked me about my star sign and about what kind
of person I am. Well, my birthday is on the 18th June. That
means I'm a Gemini. According to a book I read, this means
I'm quite witty. I do make my friends laugh with things that
I say, so perhaps that's true. I think I can be quite conceited
though. I know that's bad, but I do find it difficult sometimes
not to tell everyone if I've done well in a test or something. My
twin brother is exactly the same!
We're both quite adventurous too. We like doing quite
dangerous sports. He is excellent at skateboarding and I do a
lot of climbing in the hills near our home town. I can be quite
fussy about some things. I know that's not good, but I am only
really fussy about my room. I don't like people coming in and
changing anything. I'm not fussy about what I eat, for example.
I'm very sociable - I've got lots of friends and I love going
out, but I can be quite shy too. I find it difficult to go to a party
if I don't know anyone there.
Anyway, I've got to go now.
Write back again soon.
Clara.
Beberapa Tip mahir
berbahasa inggris
1. Enjoy Sajalah Dalam Belajar. Memang sangat sukar untuk
mempelajari Bahasa Inggris jika kamu sendiri tidak merasa
ENJOY dalam beajar. Bagaimana mungkin kita bisa menikmati nya kalau diri kita sendiri tidak senang atau tidak suka
dengan Bahasa Inggris. Oleh karena itu cobalah untuk bersenang-senang dengan Bahasa Inggris. Cobalah menganggap
belajar sebagai Tantangan daripada sebuah Beban. Cukup
Jelas bukan?.
2. Menjadi anggota sebuah Klub Bahasa Inggris. Memang ini
sudah banyak terbukti. Jika kamu punya waktu dan ada kemauan, sebaiknya kamu aktif menjadi salah satu klub Bahasa
Inggris yang ada di sekitar mu. Dengan seringnya bertemu
dan berlatih dalam Klub Bahasa Inggris tentu akan banyak
memberikan kamu kesempatan untuk banyak berlatih dan
banyak pengalaman praktek. Selain itu pula dalam suasana
yang menyenangkan, kamu bisa dapatkan dari teman-teman
dalam Klub Bahasa Inggris kamu. Boleh juga dicoba ya.
3. Jadilah Anggota yang Aktif. Untuk mempelajari Bahasa Inggris cobalah untuk selalu AKTIF dan BERSEMANGAT dalam
sesi Berbicara (Speaking) dan banyak berlatih mendengar
(listening). Jangan hanya duduk diam termangu menunggu
bulan jatuh dipangkuan mu. Hehehe. Jadilah member yang
aktif dan selalu bersemangat. Maju terus ya
4. Sudah merasa Mahir? Beberapa siswa peminat Bahasa
Inggris berpikir bahwa semakin cepat gaya (style) dia berbicara Bahasa Inggris di depan umum menandakan dia mahir
(fluent). Benarkah demikian?. Jika temanmu terbengong-bengong mendengar kan kamu bicara, berarti kamu sama sekali
tidak benar benar mahir. Itu saja ukurannya. Mudah sekali
bukan?
Nomor 3. September - Desember 2009 - MEdIK - 55