Text "Forms of Address" 5-11 классы

Forms of Address

In most English speaking countries people use first names when they meet other people and only use titles in more formal situations or with older people.

The way someone introduces himself or herself to you usually indicates what name to call them. For example, if someone introduces himself like this, “My name’s Brown. Bill Brown“, then you should call him Mr. Brown. However, if a person says to you “My name’s Richard, Richard Jones”, then you can call that person Richard.

It is not so common to introduce yourself with a title such as “I’m Mr. Schmidt” or “I’m Ms. Harner”. This practice is usually for introducing other people. For example, you could introduce your boss by saying “This is Ms. Moore”.

The title for a man is “Mr.”. Titles for women include “Miss” for unmarried women and “Mrs.” for married women. If in doubt, use the title “Ms.” which indicates that her marital status is not relevant or is unknown.

Finally, do not use titles with first names. It’s not very common to say “Mr. John” or “Ms. Elisabeth”, unless you are a young child.

Glossary

meet: познакомиться

older people: пожилые люди

to call: называть

however: однако

such as: как например

practice: обычай

if in doubt: в случае сомнений

1. Read the text Forms of Address. Then, decide if the following sentences are True or False. The first one is done for you.

1. Always address people by their first names. True\ False

2. Titles are used in formal situations. True\ False

3. If you introduce yourself with the title “Mr.” or “Ms.”, True\ False

it is considered unusual.

4. Single women use the title “Mrs.”. True\ False

5. If you don’t know a woman’s marital status, then use True\ False

the title “Ms.”.

6. It is very common to put “Mr.” or “Ms.” before a True\ False

person’s first name.

2. Read these introductions. Then underline the best title for the person. The first one is done for you.

1. “Good morning, my name is Carter, John Carter.”

a) John. b) Mr. Carter. c) Ms. Carter.

2. “Hi, I’m Julie, Julie Jenkins. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

a) Ms. Julie. b) Mrs. Jenkins. c) Julie.

3. “This is Mr. and Mrs. Collins. George and Janet have been friends of ours for many years.”

a) Mr. and Mrs. Collins b) George and Janet.

4. “Hi I’m Sandra and this is my business partner Jason.”

a) Mr. Jason and Ms. Sandra. b) Sandra and Jason.

5. “Good morning, what’s your name, please?”

a) I’m Mr. Smith b) I’m Tom Smith. c) I’m Mr. Tom.

6. “Hello, James, nice to see you again. I’d like to introduce you to my wife,………… .”

a) Angela. b) Mrs. Angela Robins. c) Ms. Robins.

Keys

1.

1. False. Most English-speaking countries use titles in formal situations or with older people.

2. True

3. True

4. False. Single women use title “Miss”.

5. True

6. False. It’s not common to use titles before first names.

2.

1. b

2. c

3. a

4. b

5. b

6. a