Focus 2, Unit 1, Lives People Live,Test

Read the texts. Match the people Christopher (C), Anita (A) and George (G) to the questions 1-5. Some texts have two matching questions.

Optimist, Pessimist or Realist?

Christopher

I’m definitely an optimist. Optimists always see the positive side of a situation, even when things go wrong. For example, last year I went on holiday with my friends. I was so excited and imagined all the fun we’d have. When we finally went, it rained every day, our hotel was very uncomfortable and my friend lost his wallet and mobile phone. While my friends were complaining, I was still cheerful. I was saying things like ‘at least we’ve got somewhere to sleep’, and ‘it’s lucky there wasn’t much money in your wallet’. They got quite annoyed with me. Most people want to be optimistic, but it’s not always best. Sometimes my teachers get angry with me because I don’t think about how to improve. When I get a bad mark, I don’t worry about it and just keep smiling. Perhaps if I thought more like a pessimist, I’d be more hard-working and get better results. But I’m happy with the way I am so I don’t think I’ll change just yet.

Anita

I think I’m a realist. Realists look at facts and are generally very sensible people. I don’t worry too much about the future because I don’t imagine that it will be amazing or terrible. I know that everything will be OK and that some days will be better than others, but overall things will be fine, and if not I’ll find a way to deal with them. I think I’m quite different to my friends. Last year, Claudia, Jessica and me organised a party. Claudia wanted to buy more and more food because she was expecting the whole school to come. Jessica, on the other hand, was very stressed because she thought nobody was going to come. They kept arguing about it and almost drove me mad! I just sent an email to all our friends asking who was coming, and did the shopping myself. It was a great party in the end. Some people couldn’t make it, but I think most of us had fun.

George

I’ve always been a bit of a pessimist. Pessimists think bad things are going to happen, but that doesn’t mean they are miserable all the time. I don’t know why people are so negative about pessimists. When you think the worst is going to happen, it’s a nice feeling when things don’t go wrong. I always think I will fail exams, but when I get results I usually do very well, and this makes me feel really happy. I think pessimists are usually very successful people. We focus on the things that go wrong, and make sure we don’t make the same mistakes in the future. I am trying to be more positive though. Sometimes people don’t want to work with me because they think I look for problems. They’d rather connect with someone more positive. I don’t want people to think I’m too serious.

Question 1

Who took control of a situation?

Read the texts. Match the people Christopher (C), Anita (A) and George (G) to the questions 1-5. Some texts have two matching questions.

Optimist, Pessimist or Realist?

Christopher

I’m definitely an optimist. Optimists always see the positive side of a situation, even when things go wrong. For example, last year I went on holiday with my friends. I was so excited and imagined all the fun we’d have. When we finally went, it rained every day, our hotel was very uncomfortable and my friend lost his wallet and mobile phone. While my friends were complaining, I was still cheerful. I was saying things like ‘at least we’ve got somewhere to sleep’, and ‘it’s lucky there wasn’t much money in your wallet’. They got quite annoyed with me. Most people want to be optimistic, but it’s not always best. Sometimes my teachers get angry with me because I don’t think about how to improve. When I get a bad mark, I don’t worry about it and just keep smiling. Perhaps if I thought more like a pessimist, I’d be more hard-working and get better results. But I’m happy with the way I am so I don’t think I’ll change just yet.

Anita

I think I’m a realist. Realists look at facts and are generally very sensible people. I don’t worry too much about the future because I don’t imagine that it will be amazing or terrible. I know that everything will be OK and that some days will be better than others, but overall things will be fine, and if not I’ll find a way to deal with them. I think I’m quite different to my friends. Last year, Claudia, Jessica and me organised a party. Claudia wanted to buy more and more food because she was expecting the whole school to come. Jessica, on the other hand, was very stressed because she thought nobody was going to come. They kept arguing about it and almost drove me mad! I just sent an email to all our friends asking who was coming, and did the shopping myself. It was a great party in the end. Some people couldn’t make it, but I think most of us had fun.

George

I’ve always been a bit of a pessimist. Pessimists think bad things are going to happen, but that doesn’t mean they are miserable all the time. I don’t know why people are so negative about pessimists. When you think the worst is going to happen, it’s a nice feeling when things don’t go wrong. I always think I will fail exams, but when I get results I usually do very well, and this makes me feel really happy. I think pessimists are usually very successful people. We focus on the things that go wrong, and make sure we don’t make the same mistakes in the future. I am trying to be more positive though. Sometimes people don’t want to work with me because they think I look for problems. They’d rather connect with someone more positive. I don’t want people to think I’m too serious.

Question 2

Who says things don’t always happen the way they expect?

Read the texts. Match the people Christopher (C), Anita (A) and George (G) to the questions 1-5. Some texts have two matching questions.

Optimist, Pessimist or Realist?

Christopher

I’m definitely an optimist. Optimists always see the positive side of a situation, even when things go wrong. For example, last year I went on holiday with my friends. I was so excited and imagined all the fun we’d have. When we finally went, it rained every day, our hotel was very uncomfortable and my friend lost his wallet and mobile phone. While my friends were complaining, I was still cheerful. I was saying things like ‘at least we’ve got somewhere to sleep’, and ‘it’s lucky there wasn’t much money in your wallet’. They got quite annoyed with me. Most people want to be optimistic, but it’s not always best. Sometimes my teachers get angry with me because I don’t think about how to improve. When I get a bad mark, I don’t worry about it and just keep smiling. Perhaps if I thought more like a pessimist, I’d be more hard-working and get better results. But I’m happy with the way I am so I don’t think I’ll change just yet.

Anita

I think I’m a realist. Realists look at facts and are generally very sensible people. I don’t worry too much about the future because I don’t imagine that it will be amazing or terrible. I know that everything will be OK and that some days will be better than others, but overall things will be fine, and if not I’ll find a way to deal with them. I think I’m quite different to my friends. Last year, Claudia, Jessica and me organised a party. Claudia wanted to buy more and more food because she was expecting the whole school to come. Jessica, on the other hand, was very stressed because she thought nobody was going to come. They kept arguing about it and almost drove me mad! I just sent an email to all our friends asking who was coming, and did the shopping myself. It was a great party in the end. Some people couldn’t make it, but I think most of us had fun.

George

I’ve always been a bit of a pessimist. Pessimists think bad things are going to happen, but that doesn’t mean they are miserable all the time. I don’t know why people are so negative about pessimists. When you think the worst is going to happen, it’s a nice feeling when things don’t go wrong. I always think I will fail exams, but when I get results I usually do very well, and this makes me feel really happy. I think pessimists are usually very successful people. We focus on the things that go wrong, and make sure we don’t make the same mistakes in the future. I am trying to be more positive though. Sometimes people don’t want to work with me because they think I look for problems. They’d rather connect with someone more positive. I don’t want people to think I’m too serious.

Question 3

Who thinks their personality type is the most popular?