1.3 PICTURE PERFECT: SPECULATING; USE VAGUE LANGUAGE

 0    48 flashcards    josehbaltazar
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Question English Answer English
Portrait A: The girl in the blue apron: character/appearance:
apron: a piece of clothing that you wear to protect your clothes, especially when you are cooking (avental)
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looks nice, mid-thirties, friendly, something in her eyes, about to laugh, serene, you'd get on with her
to get on (with sb) BrE dar-se bem (com alguém)
Portrait A: The girl in the blue apron: job
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in a bakery or a posh deli because of the white marks on her apron
Posh deli, fois gras, caviar, animal feed posh deli: mercearia fina
Portrait B: The young guy: character/appearance
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looks happy, pretty cool, big smile, bright T-shirt, creative, looks like a laugh, cool hair
Portrait B: The young guy: job
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creative, something to do with computers, graphic design, something cool, design bags, marketing, receptionist at a gym
Portrait C: The older lady: character/appearance
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looks dignified, intellectual, she's seen a lot, pretty, snazzy outfit, nice make-up
a woman or girl who is pretty is attractive; a set of clothes that you wear together; bright, fashionable, and attractive;
Portrait C: The older lady: job
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a lecturer in a university, something brainy, a model, something to do with fashion
In which portrait do they say the person has something about him/her which says (sort of) creative?
we are creative
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Portrait B: The young guy
In which portrait do they say the person looks quite serene?
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Portrait A: the girl in the blue apron
In which portrait do they say the person gives the impression of being very intellectual?
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Portrait C: The older lady
In which portrait do they say the person has something in his/her eyes that makes you think he's/she's about to laugh?
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Portrait A: the girl in the blue apron
In which portrait do they say the person might have something to do with fashion?
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Portrait C: the older lady
In which portrait do they say the person looks pretty cool?
Pretty cool
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Portrait B: the young guy
I (?) it might rain later. Yes, it (?) as though it could.
sure, seems, wonder, guess, give, reckon, say, hazard, looks
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I reckon it might rain later; Yes, it looks as though it could.
reckon, looks
How much do you think that painting is worth? I'd (?) a guess at about $500. Not quite. It's worth $1.2 million.
sure, seems, wonder, guess, give, say, hazard
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How much do you think that painting is worth? I'd hazard a guess at about $500. Not quite. It's worth $1.2 million.
hazard
What time do you think they'll arrive? I'm pretty (?) they'll be here by six.
sure, seems, wonder, guess, give, say
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What time do you think they'll arrive? I'm pretty sure they'll be here by six.
sure
What do you think it's supposed to be? I (?) it could be an animal of some sort.
seems, wonder, guess, give, say
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What do you think it's supposed to be? I guess it could be an animal of some sort.
guess
I (?) if she'll remember we're coming. If not, we'll surprise her.
seems, wonder, give, say
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I wonder if she'll remember we're coming. If not, we'll surprise her.
wonder
If I had to make a guess, I'd (?) it was that day. It (?) to me that we're lost.
seems, give, say
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If I had to make a guess, I'd say it was that day. It seems to me that we're lost.
say, seems
Have you seen that Rafael and Lina have got a smart new car? Yes, they (?) the impression of having plenty of money.
give
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Have you seen that Rafael and Lina have got a smart new car? Yes, they give the impression of having plenty of money.
give
I guess she's a bit lonely.
it/seems/me
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It seems to me that she's a bit lonely.
it/seems/me
It looks as though he's angry
gives/impression
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He gives the impression of being angry.
gives/impression
I think she's probably an actress.
reckon
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I reckon she's probably an actress.
reckon
If you asked me, I'd say she was happy with her life.
had/make/guess
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If I had to make a guess, I'd say she was happy with her life.
had/make/guess
I'd definitely say that he's not telling us everything.
pretty
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I'm pretty sure he's not telling us everything.
pretty
I think she could be an only child.
hazard/guess
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I'd hazard a guess she's an only child.
hazard/guess
Why do the speakers use vague language? Does it sound formal or casual?
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Vague language sounds casual.
"Remeber that thing we thought was a thing? It's not a thing. But here's the thing, that other thing? Totally thing!"
To sound fluent in English, avoid pauses in your speech
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by using fillers like er or erm.
Vague language
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sort of, kind of, you know
and hedges
to avoid giving a direct answer
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I'd say, I reckon, I suppose
I'll be there soon. I just have a couple things to do.
a couple things
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I'll be there soon. I just have a couple of things to do.
a couple of things
Why don't you meet at exactly eight-ish?
exactly
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Why don't you meet at about eight-ish?
about
I left a lot of stuffs at the hotel, but I can pick it up later.
stuffs
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I left a lot of stuff at the hotel, but I can pick it up later.
stuff
Don't worry. We've got a plenty of time.
got a plenty of
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Don't worry. We've got plenty of time.
got plenty of
We've sort finished the accounts.
sort finished
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We've sort of finished the accounts.
sort of finished
There'll be about forty and so people attending.
forty and so
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There'll be about forty or so people attending.
forty or so
I reckon
Match the sentences halves. Guido's probably obsessive about keeping his house tidy.
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I reckon Guido's probably obsessive about keeping his house tidy.
If I had to make a guess
I'd say that Monika is a conscientious student.
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If I had to make a guess I'd say that Monika is a conscientious student.
I wonder
if Alex has a solitary side to his nature.
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I wonder if Alex has a solitary side to his nature.
She gives the impression
of being a little apathetic about politics.
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She gives the impression of being a little apathetic about politics.
I'd hazard
a guess that Felix has a tendency to be a little absent-minded.
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I'd hazard a guess that Felix has a tendency to be a little absent-minded.
There's something
mysterious about Martha.
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There's something mysterious about Martha.
It looks to me
as if Nataly has an artistic streak.
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It looks to me as if Nataly has an artistic streak.
streak: veia [traço de personalidade]
I'm pretty
sure that Olga is a fitness fanatic.
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I'm pretty sure that Olga is a fitness fanatic.
Vague nouns: things, stuff, bit
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There's something in her eyes.
10 alternatives to "a thing": an issue, a subject, a topic, an item, a trait, a feature, a point, an attribute, a matter, a detail
Quantifiers: one or two, a few, a couple of, a lot of, plenty of, loads of, a bit (of)
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There's a bit of flour.
Vague numbers: around, about fifty, more or less, fifty or so
Numbers and approximators: about, around, approximately. Round numbers: ninety-nine per cent, a couple of. Non-numerical vague quantifiers: lots of, a bit of, several.
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He's about forty-ish.
Generalisers: sort of, kind of, you know
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He looks sort of creative.
List completers: and stuff, and so on, or something (like that)
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She could be a model, or something like that.

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