course 7-4

Reading phobias 

Phobias Everyone is afraid of something. Some of us are afraid of dogs, snakes, darkness and even babies. This kind of fear is called Phobia. A phobia is a very strong irrational fear or hatred of something. You can see lots of people having a kind of phobia. Maybe you have one. Some phobias are very interesting. Some of them are: Ailurophobia- Fear of cats, Anglophobia-Fear of England, Aurophobia-Fear of gold, Bibliophobia –Fear of books, Chaetophobia – Fear of hair, Chionophobia- Fear of snow, Ecophobia – Fear of home, Logophobia – Fear of words, Nomatophobia –Fear of names. The names of these phobias are also very interesting, aren’t they? Some phobias can change our lifestyles. For example, if you have Dendrophobia (fear of trees), you cannot walk around in the forest or even in the garden. Or , if you have Heliophobia (fear of the sun), how can you go outside in the daylight? Or, if you are afraid of speaking (Lalophobia), can you make a presentation in the class? So, some phobias affect some people in an unpleasant way. Once I have met a man, Adam. He has Cynophobia (Fear of dogs). I asked some questions about the reason of his phobia. He told his story. He said, “When he is a student, he goes home on foot. There aren’t school buses then. So, one day he is walking home. Tom and Mary are with him. On their way, they see a dangerous big dog. It begins to bark at them. They are afraid of the dog. So, they begin to run. The dog follows them. He falls over and cuts my knee. And that big dog comes and bites his leg Since then he is afraid of anything barking. And he is not a friend with Tom and Mary anymore.” I wonder if there is a phobia about the English language. Perhaps that’s grammar phobia. 1. according to the previous reading answer the following questions:

 

reading and writing 

Hi! I’m Adriana, I like __________ (a) and going to the gym, I also enjoy ____________(b) the cinema, but not alone, I hate ______________ (c) alone to the cinema, I think it has no sense to watch a movie alone with no one to talk about it or to ask any questions when I miss a part of the movie. I also like ___________(d) horror movies at home at night, in my home theater system, it sounds like the real cinema, but again not alone. Not because of the movie genre or being alone, But because of the dark. I am afraid of darkness, this fear is called “Achluophobia” . To be honest I would like _____________ (e) this phobia, because I want ____________ (f) a normal person who is able to stay alone at night in her house with no lights, even with a terrible storm outside and why not with a horrible and scary doll sitting next to my bed. I wonder if there is a phobia about a fear of creepy dolls. Adriana Hincapie.


 1.  complete the paragraph above with the correct form of the verb






2. Write a similar paragraph talking about yourselves, likes, dislikes or even your phobias (if you have one). Use the appropriate form of the verbs when using the following expressions: I like, I want, I love, I would like, I hate, I´m thinking of, etc. and some other expressions we dealt with in the last class.