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Time for your Authentic Reading Lesson!
I am what I am ... Most of us are likely to say so at least once in our life, others tend to repeat that so many times. Does it mean people really know themselves? Or, maybe, we’re too lazy to discover more about our insight, maybe we’re afraid of getting to know the truth, the real answer to the apparently simple question What am I like? When did you last think of it? When did you last describe yourself? At least your way of being ... And why do we say sometimes I am what I am? Is that because we don’t feel like changing ourselves?
We all think over and over again about our lives. We ask ourselves: Was that a good decision? How successful am I? What should I do to be happier or just to get more from my life?
Now see if you can answer easily this sort of questions:
a)Do you think you’re self-confident?
b)Are you good enough? Do you care about it?
c)Are you honest? Do you think people should be faithful?
d)Do you know how others see you?
e)Who influenced your self-development the most?
f)How difficult is it to make you happy?
g)What do you need to relax after a bad day? Can you get better easily?
For Su Pollard giving an interview and caring probably mainly about her image it was quite possible to answer them all. Read the extracts of the interview and then match the actress’s responses to the questions given above.
Read, read, read!
I am what I am
Su Pollard, 57, is a comedy actress best known for playing Peggy in Hi-de-Hi! She is currently performing in Menopause the Musical. She lives in London...
- My dad always used to say to me, “You’re only going to be able to please half the people in life. If you do please half of them, how fabulous is that?” He always instilled positivity.
- Some people see me as a figure of fun because they don’t like anything slightly different. They don’t know how to react to it, so they get on the defensive, but that’s because they haven’t got the confidence. I’m so glad I’m in show business. I couldn’t live life in a straitjacket.
- Giles Deacon and Basso & Brooke have noticed in me an individual who has imagination and is able to mix and match in their own style. I should have had a fashion label years ago.
- I two-timed someone once. He was absolutely devastated when he found out. You have to be totally honest in a relationship – if not, it affects how much they trust the next person that comes along.
- My dad died last year. That was my big crisis. He was the one constant male in my life. Reliability is what I admire in men, but you don’t see much of it. Most men can’t see why it’s important to be there when we need them.
- I can’t stand negativity. I do get it, but I just say to myself, “Come on, you know you can do this. Don’t fall into that trap of ‘no’.” And I say that over and over again. My dad would say, “Just get on with it.”
- To wind down, I read The National Enquirer with a glass of chardonnay. It’s so astoundingly vacuous, it’s reassuring – unlike having to focus on something like the third world war descending on us. By the time I’ve read it, I’m fine again.
- I still think a cheap sandwich with brown sauce is the most marvellous thing. And a bit of Maldon salt.
Make sure you understand the article. Go through Your Help Guide and read again.
Your Help Guide:
please people - make people happy, make them pleased
fabulous - extremely good, almost unbelievable
instil positivity - introduce, arouse positivity, make people feel positive
get on the defensive - get ready to reject criticism
live life in a straitjacket - live a very careful life, taking no risk
two-time someone - deceive someone, esp. be unfaithful to your lover
devastate - waste, destroy
reliability - being worth somebody’s trust
fall into that trap - get deceived
over and over again - many times
get on with it - get used to it
wind down - relax
astoundingly - amazingly
vacuous - idle, mindless, demanding no thinking
reassuring - cheering up, encouraging
descend on us - arrive to us, bother us
marvellous - amazing, wonderful
Reading Task
Answer the following questions.
1.Is Su Pollard married or single? Perhaps she’s ...
2.Does she regret being unfaithful to her partner?
3.Is she afraid of risk?
4.Does she live very luxurious life?
5.Does she trust men easily?
6.Is she rather an optimist or a pessimist?
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