INSPIRED 2
Culture
Teenage life
1 Reading
Read the interviews with two teenagers below. Do you dress like either of them?
• EXTREME FASHIONS •
Dan, also known as Misery Shadow, is 16 Yumi is 15 years old and comes from
years old and a goth. He comes from Seattle Hiroshima, Japan. She is a “ganguro girl”
in the U.S. which means “black face girl” because she
has a very dark suntan.
Q Can you describe to me what you are
wearing? Q Can you describe to me what you are
A I’m wearing black, baggy trousers, a black wearing?
Marilyn Manson T-shirt, and black boots. A I’m wearing a pink miniskirt with a
I’m also wearing black eyeliner, black nail matching pink top and knee-high, suede
varnish, and black lipstick. platform boots. I am wearing false
eyelashes, white eye shadow, some glitter
Q When did you start dressing like this? on my cheeks, and pink lipstick.
A I started wearing black, baggy trousers
with a friend at school when I was 14. We Q When did you start dressing like this?
saw some goths hanging around, and they A About a year ago. My best friend started
looked really cool with white faces and to dress like this and I thought she looked
black makeup, so I saved up my allowance really cool.
and bought eyeliner and lipstick.
Q What do your parents think?
Q What do your parents think? A My mother thinks it is awful. She doesn’t
A My parents don’t really like me wearing like the way I look or dress. I like to have
these clothes, but they don’t stop me. I can’t a dark suntan, but most Japanese women
wear makeup when we go out as a family, like to have very pale skin. When I colored
though. I changed my name to Misery my hair blond a couple of months ago,
Shadow, but my parents and teachers still my parents wouldn’t speak to me for
call me Dan. three days!
Q Do you spend a lot of money on your Q Do you spend a lot of money on your
clothes? clothes?
A No. I don’t have many clothes, and when I A Yes. I love shopping for clothes and
do need to buy something, I usually get it makeup. And I spend a lot of money at the
from a thrift store. hairdresser’s.
This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/inspiration
© Macmillan Publishers Limited 2012. This sheet may be photocopied and used within the class.
2
Culture Teenage life
2 Comprehension
Write Yumi or Dan at the beginning of each sentence. Two sentences are true for both teenagers.
1 likes to wear bright colored clothes.
2 ’s parents don’t like what he/she wears.
3 likes to have a suntan.
4 wears black clothes.
5 spends a lot of money on clothes.
6 likes to wear makeup.
7 doesn’t buy a lot of clothes.
8 started wearing these clothes two years ago.
3 Vocabulary
Match the words 1–8 with their definitions a–h.
1 baggy a you use this to paint your finger nails different colors
2 eyeliner b these go up to your knees
3 false c a place where you can buy cheap, second-hand things
4 nail varnish d your parents give you this to spend or save
5 allowance e two things that go together
6 thrift store f big and shapeless (clothes)
7 knee-high boots g something that is not real, for example, “… teeth”
8 matching h you use this to draw a line around your eyes
4 Speaking
Ask your partner the questions from the interviews in the magazine.
5 Writing
Write an interview about an extreme fashion in your country.
Use the interviews in exercise 1 to help you.
This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/inspiration
© Macmillan Publishers Limited 2012. This sheet may be photocopied and used within the class.
2
