English in Madrid

Source: You Tube  (AFP News Agency) Key Words: Mr. Ugly Zimbabwe Uproar as Zimbabwe's Mister Ugly winner deemed 'too handsome' Crowd favourite claims the man who beat him to the title only won because he has missing teeth and is not ‘naturally ugly’ Judges have crowned a new winner of Zimbabwe’s 4th annual Mister Ugly contest, upsetting supporters of the crowd favourite and prompting violence at the event. Judges on Saturday chose 42-year-old Mison Sere , citing his numerous missing front teeth and a wide range of grotesque facial expressions, over William Masvinu, who had held the title since 2012. Masvinu and his supporters mobbed the judges upon hear ing their decision, claiming that Sere was “too handsome” to win and his ugliness wasn’t natural since it was based on missing teeth. “I am naturally ugly. He is not. He is ugly only when he opens his mouth,” maintained Masvinu, gesturing at his rival . “Do we have to lose our teeth to win? This ...

Source: Anastase Maragos on Unsplash Body image concerns more men than women, research finds Anxiety about body image has led to some men conceding they would exchange a year of their life for the perfect physique More men worry about their body shape and appearance – beer bellies, "man boobs" or going bald – than women do about how they look, according to research. More than four in five men (80.7%) talk in ways that promote anxiety about their body image by referring to perceived flaws and imperfections, compared with 75% of women. Similarly, 38% of men would sacrifice at least a year of their life in exchange for a perfect body – again, a higher proportion than women. "These findings tell us that men are concerned about body image, just like women. We knew that 'body talk' affected women and young people and now we know that it affects men too," said Dr Phillippa Diedrichs, from the centre of appearance research at the University of the West of E...

A social networking site for ''beautiful people'' has been hit by a ''Shrek'' virus which allowed tens of thousands of ''ugly'' applicants to sign up. Members of BeautifulPeople.com must traditionally pass a strict '' rating '' stage where existing users vote on whether someone is attractive enough to be accepted into the online community. But this screening process was brought down last month, allowing anyone to join, regardless of their looks. Owners today apologised to more than 30,000 ''unfortunate'' people who were ''wrongly admitted'' to the site and subsequently banished . Source: Daily Telegraph What do you think of this website and the people who want to join it? How do you think the people who were kicked out feel? Would you ever try to join such a club? Don't you think it is all just a publicity stunt?   Vocabulary : to s___ __ - to become invol...

A. What does she look like? How old is she? Where's she from? B. What does he look like? Does he look friendly? What does he do? C. What does she do? Does she look like her famous mother? How old is she? Where's she from? D. Where's he from? What does he do? Does he look like a politician? E. How old is he? What does he look like? Does he look like his famous sister? F. Where's he from? Does he look Spanish? What does he do? G. Where's she from? How old do you think she is? What does she do? H. Does he look English? Does he look like his famous sister? What do you think his job is? I. How old do you think he is? Could he be French? Does he look like his famous daughter? We use "look" and "look like" to talk about appearances. "look" is followed by an adjective: She looks tired. You look wonderful tonight. He looks Italian. "look like" is followed by a noun: She looks like a kind ...

Think women are the only ones having plastic surgery these days? Think again. “More and more men are going under the knife in an attempt to look younger. New statistics released today by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons show face lifts for men rose 14% in 2010. Liposuction, ear surgeries and wrinkle filler procedures also rose among men last year.” (WFLX) Overall , men underwent more than 1.1 million cosmetic procedures last year. (That’s a 2 percent jump from 2009.) One plastic surgeon has the who and why. “...it’s baby boomers that are driving the numbers up. Millions are now reaching retirement age and with the economy stabilizing, they’re splurging . “The wanna look good and they wanna look good now. So, when they have the financial means to do it, I think they do do it and I think it does reflect a little bit of an uptick in the economy.” (ASPS) Speaking of economy -- media outlets like BNET and Daily Mail report men are choosing surgery to change their lo...

Perfect face dimensions measured Scientists believe they have worked out the dimensions of the most attractive female face. They say the key to the ideal arrangement of female facial features is the measurements between the eyes, mouth and ears. Applying their results, the Canadian pop singer Shania Twain was rated as having the perfect visage. The study, led by the University of Toronto, appears in the journal Vision Research. The researchers asked students to rate the attractiveness of colour photographs of the same woman's face, laid out side by side . Using photoshop, the researchers altered the vertical distance between the eyes and mouth, and the horizontal distance between the eyes in each image. The features themselves never changed, just the distance between them, and the woman's face was only compared to her own. Following a series of experiments, the researchers came up with the most attractive length and width ratios between features. On len...

Man sets out to buy 'perfect face' A 32-year-old man from Staffordshire has set up a website in order to find sponsors to fund his quest for a perfect male face. Tim Whitfield-Lyne, who is unemployed, estimates he will need at least £20,000 to realise his dream. But one plastic surgery expert has said seeking to attain model looks is " ill-advised ". Mr Whitfield-Lyne, who insists he is not mentally ill, said anyone who did sponsor him would be able to have a say in how his face was changed. He is also willing to have his surgery filmed for a TV documentary. Mr Whitfield-Lyne, a former public schoolboy, said: "I am happy with myself as an individual but I'm not happy with the exterior of my face when I look in the mirror. "I want to restructure my face rather than keep the one that nature gave me. "We all have choices in this world, and mine, as a unique individual, is to alter my appearance." He added: "I am no...

Photo Sources: Caltagirone Group  (Wikipedia) Michael Vadon  (Wikipedia) Dmitry Rozhkov  (Wikipedia) Mark Freeman  (Wikipedia) VisitCopenhagen  (Wikipedia) Malta Today I bet you don't know anything about the people above but they are in fact famous in their country. Describe their appearance. What do they look like? Can you guess their nationalities? There is an American, an Australian, a Russian, an Italian, an Englishman, an English woman and a Frenchman or woman. How old do they look? What do they do? Among them there is a businessman or woman, a princess, a writer, a politician, a journalist, an actor or actress and a chef. Also three of them have relatives who are much more famous than they are - do you see any resemblance? e.g. The woman in the centre is very pretty. She's got long, dark hair and dark brown eyes. She has a pale complexion . I think she looks French . She looks in her late twenties . She looks like an ...

This is a pic of my Mum.  Do you think I look like her ? What does she do for a living ? She doesn't work now; she's retired. She keeps busy about the house. What's she like ? She's quite reserved and very kind. She's a great Mum. What does she like doing in her spare time ? She loves gardening. She is hooked o n a couple of soap operas.  She isn't so keen on  cooking now. Do I take after my mother? I suppose so. We are both quite stubborn at times. Do I have any brothers or sisters? I have one brother but we seldom see each other. We don't * get on . We are like chalk and cheese . Have a look at Grammar Challenge from the BBC Learning English site. It practices questions (as above) with "like". It is divided into 4 parts. First, listen to Lorenzo doing the Grammar Challenge and then read Find Out More. Do practice quizzes 1 and 2. Finally, read the descriptions of a well-known international person. Write a descr...