Leçon 7 -- Text |
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A classroom, a professor, some students. |
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1. |
Now we are going to do the portrait of the young man of the story, Robert. |
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He's an American, a solid boy. |
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You mean (want to say) that he is going to be fat? |
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But no, not at all. He is solid, robust, husky, but he isn't fat at all. |
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He doesn't have a stomach: in fact, Robert is rather thin. |
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He is one meter 70 centimeters tall. (He measures 1 m. 70) --- 1 m. 70 = 5' 7" |
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And he weighs exactly 70 kilograms. -- 70 kilograms = 154 lbs. |
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He is taller than Mireille. Mireille is (makes) one meter 63 centimeters, |
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One meter 64, perhaps, not more. -- 1 m. 63 = 5' 4" |
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Robert is taller than she, or if you prefer, she is less tall than he, she is shorter than he. |
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2. |
He is very athletic: he does some water skiing, some surfing, some polo, |
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Some football (American, of course), some basketball, some volleyball, some handball, |
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Some hockey, some roller skating. |
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That's all? |
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Yes, it's necessary to leave him a little time for working. |
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Or for taking a nap. |
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3. |
Let's come back to our physical portrait. He isn't very tall. He is thin, but solid. |
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He has rather wide and rather square shoulders. He has a square chin. |
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Is he going to be blond, red-headed, brown-haired (chestnut), or brunette (dark-haired). |
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Blond. ... Ah! That's too bad, Madam. |
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I think (believe) that Robert is going to be brunette (have dark hair). He has black hair. |
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Me, I prefer white hair, or gray. It's more serious, more distinguished. |
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Yes, it's true. But Robert is a young man. He has black hair, and eyebrows ... |
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Blond. ... Blond eyebrows with black hair? But no. That won't do. (That doesn't go.) |
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That won't do at all. With black hair, on needs (it is necessary) black eyebrows. |
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Too bad. |
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4. |
Yes, but it's like that. Robert is going to have black and thick eyebrows. |
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... well, rather thick. But is he going to have a mustache? |
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You prefer Robert with or without a mustache? Without? Very well. |
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It's agreed. Robert isn't going to have a mustache. |
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Is he going to have a beard? What do you prefer, with or without? |
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So, what do you decide? A beard or no beard. ... No beard. |
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5. |
Good. Robert isn't going to have a beard? And the eyes? |
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Is he going to have blue eyes? No! Dark (black)? .... Not really. |
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He is going to have chestnut colored eyes. So. There it is. |
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Robert doesn't have a stomach, no beard, no mustache, no white hair, |
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but he has wide shoulders, black hair, black eyebrows, chestnut colored eyes. |
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That's it for the physical. |
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6. |
In terms of character, now. ... Is he, too, going to have a lively mind? (him also) |
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No, he's going to be stupid. ... But no, but no. He is going to be intelligent |
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and he, too, is going to have a quick mind. A bit less quick than Mireille perhaps, |
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but he's not going to be stupid. He is sociable, but he speaks less than Mireille. |
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Il is also less of a tease than she. He is more indulgent. |
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7. |
Summing up, they don't resemble each other very much. They are even rather different. |
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Mireille is rather short; Robert is taller. She is blond; he is brunette. |
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She does ice-skating: He does roller-skating. |
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She has blue eyes; he has chestnut eyes. |
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She is very much a tease; he is less a tease. |
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She is very lively, he is calmer. |
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What is their meeting going to bring? |
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Ah ... because ... in the story ... the young man is going to meet the young girl? |
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Yes, perhaps ... or rather the young girl is going to meet the young man. |
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Everything is possible. Chance is so vast (large, great). |