UCLA Extension TESOL Program
Tommy LUI's Digital Portfolio

Bill/Suspect’s statement 
It was about midnight, I guess. I was coming home from a Christmas party with my friend Frank. It was very, very cold -absolutely freezing. There was thick ice everywhere and it had been snowing for several hours. Actually, maybe it was still snowing because we really couldn't see where we were going. The road we were walking down was on a really steep hill, too. so you can imagine, it was just so slippery, and we couldn't see a thing, so, well, we just kept falling over. We'd get up, and two seconds later, we fell over again. Not because we were drunk or anything, but just because it was so slippery. Anyway, for some reason, this all began to seem very funny, and we were laughing our heads off and colling to each other for help. y'know. We really didn't know how we were going to get down that hill. We weren't making any progress at all. Well, eventually we realized that the only way we could move at oil as if we held on to the cars that were parked in the street for support. So, that's what we did, and slowly we were managing to move along. Except suddenly this police car drew up and two police officers got out and started shouting at us. We tried to talk to them and find out what the problem was, but they wouldn't listen to us. They just pushed us in the back of the car and drove us to the nearest police station. To be honest. I can't remember much after that. but a few hours later, I woke up in a police cell, feeling absolutely terrified, not to mention freezing cold! 

 

The old woman/witness’s statement 
It all happened at about one o'clock in the morning. I would say. I had gone to bed at ten, as usual, but I had to get up to go to the bathroom. As I was getting back into bed, I heard this dreadful noise outside in the street ... men shouting ... so of course, J went to the window to see what was going on. Anyway. I looked out and saw these two young men just outside my house. They were swaying all over the place, shouting and swearing at each other. They had obviously been drinking, you could see they were drunk - very aggressive and nasty-looking types. Then I noticed that they were doing something to the cars. It was a very dear night, with a full moon, so I could see everything. They were bonging on all the car windows trying to break into them. Obviously as soon as 1 realized what was going on, J called the police straight away, and thank goodness, they came more or less immediately. and arrested them before they could do any damage. It was very lucky I happened to wake up and catch them, otherwise, I'm sure half the cars in the neighborhood would have been robbed, even stolen. This is a nice neighborhood. People have expensive cars with radios and CD players and all sorts. It was very lucky that I saw it all. 

 

 

 

 

 

aggressive

articulate

bossy

cooperative

emotional

intuitive

practical

Self-confident

stubborn

sympathetic

 

 

 

1. A(n) …............... person is always telling others what to do.

2. A(n) …............... person is quick to show their feelings, by laughing or by crying.

3. A(n) …............... person can express him/herself very accurately with words.

4. A(n) …............... person tries to understand other people’s problems.

5. A(n) …............... person refuses to change his/her mind.

6. A(n) …............... person is very good at repairing or making things.

7. A(n) …............... person is happy to work with or help other people.

8. A(n) …............... person is not shy or nervous in social situations.

9. A(n) …............... person relies on their feelings rather than facts when deciding things.

10. A(n) …............... person behaves in an angry or threatening way.

 

 

1. ‘I always cry during movies, even if they’re happy ones!’

2. ‘I was so sorry to hear about your exam results. I’m sure you’ll do better next time.’

3. ‘No, I refuse to apologize. I don’t care what any of you think!’

4. ‘I’ve done all the plumbing and electrical work on the house myself.’

5. ‘I had a very bad feeling about Susan when I first met her, so I wasn’t at all surprised to find out she’d been in trouble with the police.’

6. ‘Jo, you be the daddy. I’ll be the mommy. And Tim, you have to sit here.’

7. ‘I’m looking forward to my exams. I think I’m going to do really well.’

8. ‘Yes, of course, officer. I’ll do whatever you want me to.’

 

 

 

[1] There's a well-known joke: a woman is driving down a motorway and her husband phones her on her mobile. 'Darling, be careful! ' he screams, 'I've just heard there's a car driving the wrong way on the motorway near where you are.' ' It's not just one car,' she says, 'there are hundreds of them!'

[2] And here's another one: a man is driving his daughter and they are stuck in traffic. The little girl says, 'I have a question.' 'What is it?' asks her father.

'When you're driving, are YOU ever the stupid idiot?'

[3] Why do we laugh at these jokes? Is it because we recognize some truth in them? A lot of people seem to think that men and women do display quite different characteristics when it comes to driving, and in general, both male and female drivers tend to be quite critical of the opposite sex.

[4] 'Men are too confident in their own abilities. They never listen, they never need a map. They're always sure they know the way, ' says Cathy, whose husband rarely lets her drive the car. 'They tend to drive too close to the car in front and they're incredibly impatient. If there's a car in front they have to pass it even if it doesn't make a difference to their overall speed. I think it's some sort of territorial thing – you know, they have to be king of the road and everybody else on the road is an idiot.'

[5] Danielle, a businesswoman who drives a BMW, agrees: 'Men never indicate before they turn left and they tend to break at the very last minute. If I'm in a car with a man, I often feel quite nervous. I'd much rather be driven by a woman.'

[6] It seems as if insurance companies would agree. Apparently, whilst the number of accidents men and women have to tend to be about equal, the accidents which involve women are generally relatively minor and they are therefore less expensive to insure. In contrast, men tend to have more serious accidents,

and the worst offenders are young men, aged between eighteen and twenty-five.

[7] What do men think about women? Interestingly, one of their main concerns is about women as passengers: 'Women passengers can't keep quiet,' says Paul, a retired architect. 'You know: "You're going too fast", "Can you see that pedestrian?",

"Didn't you see that traffic light?" or "I feel sick. Can't you go straight?" There's always some comment.'

[8] Pete agrees: 'And women are hopeless with directions. I think it's because they're nervous about going to new places. I reckon men are better at finding new places and women are better at finding places they've been to before.'

[9] Certainly, it seems to be the case that if a man fails to follow directions it's because his female passenger did not convey them properly. But what about

women's driving? Pete again: 'My girlfriend has some strange habits, like switching on the windscreen wipers as a signal that she intends to turn right. Then

she gets annoyed when she's driving and I 'brake' - you know, put my foot down as if I'm braking – when she's going around corners. I mean, one of us has to!'

[10] Despite men's generally high opinion of their own driving skills, a report published in 2004 came down firmly in favor of women drivers. According to the report, women score more highly than men on almost all counts. These included driving within the speed limits, overtaking safely, and conducting different maneuvers successfully, including signaling in good time, reversing, and braking quickly. They also had a better awareness of other drivers on the road. There was only one aspect of driving where women did not perform as successfully as men and that was (no surprise here) the ability to park their cars.

[11] When it comes to driving, it seems that men and women may indeed come from different planets!