The key answer of exercise 1
The key to exercise solutions in chapter 8.3 - Have you got a minute? for the textbook Speakout Upper-Intermediate - Students' Book with authors Frances Eales and Steve Oakes from Pearson Education
Question
- Look at the pairs of adjectives. Are they similar (S) or different (D) in meaning? Use a dictionary to check.
- Which adjectives in Exercise 1A become opposites by adding / removing a prefix / suffix?
- Work in pairs. Which adjectives above describe your manner when.
Answer
a)
- D → Supportive and unhelpful are near opposites.
- S → Both mean you try to avoid hurting feelings or making people upset when you communicate with them.
- D → Sensitive means you are easy to hurt or that you understand what other people feel and care about their feelings. Sensible means you make good, rational decisions.
- D → These are near opposites. If you are confrontational, you like a fight, if you are collaborative, you like to work with others.
- D → Aggressive is negative and means you push too much in any situation. Assertive is more positive and means you have the confidence to give your point of view, for instance.
- S → These are similar. If someone is direct, they say what they mean clearly. If someone is focused, they are clear about what they want to say and are able to say it clearly.
b)
- supportive → unsupportive; unhelpful → helpful
- diplomatic → undiplomatic; tactful → tactless
- sensitive → insensitive; sensible → senseless
- confrontational → unconfrontational; collaborative → uncollaborative (These opposites exist but are not common.)
- aggressive → non-aggressive; assertive → unassertive
- direct → indirect; focused → unfocused
c)
- breaking bad news → sensitive, tactful, focused
- a friend is down → supportive, sensitive
- making a complaint → diplomatic, assertive, direct
- working on a project → supportive, diplomatic, collaborative, focused
- driving or cycling → sensible, focused
- sort out a problem → tactful, sensitive