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8 negative qualities
A Character and personality
Chinese astrology organises years into cycles of 12, and asserts that the year you are born in affects
your character. Each year is named after an animal.
1
animal year characteristics using situations for own benefit
2
RAT 1972, 1984, imaginative, charming, generous, quick- systematic, careful
3
1996, 2008 tempered, opportunistic1 too patriotic
4
BUFFALO
become too excited and lose control
5
1973, 1985, conservative, methodical2, conscientious, ready to help
1997, 2009 chauvinistic3, a born leader 6
not caring about serious things
7
not confident, uncertain about your own
TIGER
abilities
1974, 1986, sensitive, emotional, tends to get carried 8
someone who is not satisfied if things are
1998, 2010 away4, stubborn, rebellious, courageous
not 100% perfect
9
inclined to say things that upset or offend
RABBIT 1975, 1987, affectionate, obliging5, sentimental,
people
1999, 2011 superficial6, often insecure7 10
understanding instinctively
DRAGON
1976, 1988, fun-loving, popular, a perfectionist8, 11
hard-working
2000, 2012 gifted, may sometimes be tactless9 12
calm, does not easily become excited or
angry
SNAKE 1977, 1989,
charming, intuitive10, stingy 13
personality that attracts people to you
2001, 2013 14
not trusting, suspicious of others
HORSE 1978, 1990, diligent11, independent, placid12, 15
having good judgement
2002, 2014 outgoing, can be selfish and cunning 16
gives help or encouragement
17
GOAT 1979, 1991, elegant, artistic, always ready to complain, spends too much money or uses too much
2003, 2015 over-anxious of something
18
practical and sensible
MONKEY
1980, 1992, witty, magnetic personality13, good 19
thinking of others rather than yourself
2004, 2016 company, can be distrustful14 20
gloomy
ROOSTER 1981, 1993, industrious, shrewd15, supportive16, 21
inclined to speak in a severe and critical way
2005, 2017 decisive, extravagant17 22
without enough experience of life, trusting
DOG 1982, 1994, down-to-earth18, altruistic19, morose20, too easily
2006, 2018 sharp-tongued21
PIG
1983, 1995, intellectual, tolerant, naive22, often
2007, 2019 materialistic
8.3 Fill the gaps with words from the opposite page. You are given the first letter(s) and
clues to the meaning in brackets.
1 He’s rather o . He always tries to use situations to his own advantage. (devious)
2 She has an i approach to life rather than a rational one. (instinctive)
3 My father was a somewhat quick-tempered and m sort of person. (gloomy)
4 He was a very altruistic person, almost to the point of being n . (too trusting)
5 Aisha has a m personality. Everyone is drawn to her. (attractive)
6 Rob is a very conscientious and m worker. (careful, systematic)
7 I find Eva a bit b and rude. (speaks in a quick and rude way)
8 She’s fun-loving but she can be a bit s at times. (doesn’t care about serious things)
9 I think Max is i . (doesn’t have much confidence, not really sure of himself)
10 I’m always happy to go out for a meal with Kerstin. She’s such g c .
(pleasant and entertaining to spend time with)
11 She was very c in speaking out against corruption. (brave, unafraid to speak or act)
12 Owen’s a p . He’s never happy if he doesn’t get an A-grade in every test.
8.4 Find adjectives on the opposite page related to these abstract nouns.
1 altruism 4 placidity 7 distrust 10
unscrupulousness
2 parsimony 5 industriousness 8 terseness
3 diligence 6 rebellion 9 naivety
8.5 The adjectives you found in the exercise above are more common in formal contexts.
Give a synonym for each word that would be more likely to be used in informal
situations (e.g. a friendly, informal conversation). Use a dictionary if necessary.