Unit 1: Shakespeare Speaks
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Session 12
Queen Elizabeth isn't very happy today! We show you how to use the phrase spotless reputation from William Shakespeare's Richard II - and bring you some useful expressions for talking about both good - and bad - reputations.
ድምር ነጥቢ ናይዚ ክፍለ-ስራሓት 12
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Activity 2
Spotless reputation - meaning and use
As the Queen says: "a spotless reputation is truly the most important and precious thing in any life." So, let's look at the meaning and use of spotless reputation.
To do
Listen to this extract from the animation to help you remember what the narrator said, and then do the quiz to check you understood.
ነቲ ድምጺ ብምስማዕ ነቲ ስራሕ ፈጽምዎ
Narrator
These days, the phrase spotless reputation describes a person or organisation that has a good, clean character and behaves decently and honestly. Take news website Scottish Herald, discussing the 2015 Volkswagen emissions data falsification scandal. It said:
Clip 1
Analysts have also asked whether the revelations will cause irreversible damage to Volkswagen's previously spotless reputation.
Clip 2
Another athlete caught taking drugs? I'm surprised at this one though – she always had a spotless reputation.
Now have a go at this quiz. Look at the transcript if you need extra help.
A spotless quiz
4 Questions
Answer the questions to check you've understood the meaning of spotless reputation.
ሓገዝ
Activity
Answer the questions to check you've understood the meaning of spotless reputation.
ኣመት
The suffix 'less' usually means ‘without’.Question 1 of 4
ሓገዝ
Activity
Answer the questions to check you've understood the meaning of spotless reputation.
ኣመት
The narrator explains what your reputation is - can you remember what she said?Question 2 of 4
ሓገዝ
Activity
Answer the questions to check you've understood the meaning of spotless reputation.
ኣመት
Remember that 'spotless' means: completely clean.Question 3 of 4
ሓገዝ
Activity
Answer the questions to check you've understood the meaning of spotless reputation.
ኣመት
Is her reputation still clean?Question 4 of 4
Excellent!Great job!ሕማቕ ዕድል!ዘመዝገብኩምዎ ነጥቢ ...:
How did you do?
3-4 correct - congratulations! You're spot on!
0-2 correct - oh dear! You didn't quite hit the spot! Try again.
Language note
The phrase spotless reputation is normally preceded by the article a or a possessive pronoun such as his, her, my or their:
- She has a spotless reputation
- It damaged their spotless reputation
The adjective spotless means 'completely clean'. It can be used in other contexts, for example:
- The kitchen was spotless
Spotless also means 'without faults'. As well as reputation, it can describe behaviour or character:
- He was famous for his spotless behaviour
Next
Of course, not everyone has a spotless reptutation, so go to the final page to learn some useful expressions for describing people with good or bad reputations.
Session Vocabulary
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Spotless reputation
Meaning
These days, the phrase spotless reputation describes a person or organisation that has a good, clean character and behaves decently and honestly.Example sentence
Another athlete caught taking drugs? I'm surprised at this one though – she always had a spotless reputation.___________________
Extra vocabulary
treason
the crime of betraying one’s country, especially by attempting to kill or overthrow the king or queenplot (verb)
to make a secret plan to do something wrong or illegal
to be spot on
to be completely accurate or correctto hit the spot
to be exactly rightto tarnish someone's reputation
to damage someone's reputationto have a good track record
to have a good reputation, based on the things that you have done
to be squeaky clean
to always behave in a completely moral and honest way
someone's name is mud
describes someone who has a bad reputation or who people are angry withto lose face
to lose your status and the respect of othersto give something / someone a bad name
to damage the reputation of something / someone__________________
Shakespeare Speaks is a co-production between:
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