Listening Skills: Identifying words and expressions for describing people’s appearance

The listening skill in this unit is identifying words for describing people’s appearance. It is important because a good command of these words can make it easier to understand what people say when describing other people’s appearance. The following are several categories of words and expressions used to describe different aspects of a person’s appearance.

People’s appearance Expressions

general appearance pretty, cute, handsome, plain-looking, good-looking, beautiful

build (身材) (the size or shape) tall, short, overweight, underweight, fat, robust (强健的), thin, skinny, slim, slender（修长的）

hair or beard (colors/ length/ styles/ shapes) long / short hair, curly / straight / wavy hair, bald, grey / white beard

eyes (colors or shapes) blue / brown eyes, round / almond-shaped (杏眼) eyes, big / small eyes

age little, teenager, young, old, middle-aged, elderly, in his / her (early / late) 20s

face round, oval, square, with wrinkles (皱纹)/ freckles（雀斑）, pale

clothes casual, tidy, messy(邋遢的), shabby（衣衫褴褛的）, stylish（时尚的）, old-fashioned, fashionable

facial expression happy, excited, sad, tired, upset, curious, dark, thoughtful, worried

manners graceful, polite, elegant (优雅的), well-mannered, ill-mannered

personality bad-tempered, friendly, easy-going, introverted(内向的), extroverted（外向的）, shy, cruel, mean（吝啬的）, open-minded, outgoing, good-tempered

intelligence intelligent, bright, clever, dumb (愚蠢的), stupid, smart, wise

Please try to keep these words and expressions in mind. You will find it easier to understand what people say when describing other people’s appearance.

In the following, you are going to listen to a radio program where people talk about what they like about the appearance of some film stars. you will hear different categories of words and expressions for describing people’s appearance. Listen and answer the questions.