6A. Use this skeleton story and turn it into a real one by adding more details. Use the words and word combinations from the box: rotten, silly, to mean no harm, to cheat, to care for, terrific, smart, to mind, to fix sb up, dumb. The Optimist. The optimist sees the doughnut, the pessimist — the hole. There is a story of identical twins. One was a hope-filled optimist. The other twin was a hopeless pessimist. At school the optimist did much better than his twin brother, who was always sad and jealous. The worried parents of the boys brought them to the psychologist. He thought of a plan to balance the twins’ personalities. He advised the parents to give the pessimist the best, the optimist the worst presents for their next birthday. The parents followed these instructions. When in the morning they looked into the pessimist’s room, they heard him saying, “I don’t like the colour of this computer ... I hate this game ... I know someone who’s got a bigger toy car than this ...” The little optimist, anyhow, was happily looking through his pile of old torn magazines, laughing and saying, “That’s exactly what I have always wanted to read!”

The Optimist

The optimist sees the doughnut, the pessimist — the hole. There is a story of identical twins. One was a hope-filled optimist. The other twin was a hopeless pessimist. At school the optimist did much better than his twin brother, who was always sad and jealous. The optimist was smart and friendly, while his brother often behaved in a silly way and seemed rather dumb.

The worried parents of the boys brought them to the psychologist. They asked him how they could care for both boys and help them get on better with each other. The psychologist thought of a plan to balance the twins’ personalities. He advised the parents to fix the pessimist up with the best presents and give the optimist the worst presents for their next birthday.

The parents followed these instructions. They bought the pessimist a new computer, an exciting game and a terrific toy car. They gave the optimist a pile of old, torn magazines and a box of broken toys. They did not mean any harm; they only wanted to change the boys’ attitudes.

When in the morning they looked into the pessimist’s room, they heard him saying, “I don’t like the colour of this computer ... I hate this game ... I know someone who’s got a bigger toy car than this ...” He even accused his brother of trying to cheat him and shouted that the presents were rotten. His parents asked him not to mind the colour and to try to enjoy the things he had received, but he continued complaining.

The little optimist, anyhow, was happily looking through his pile of old torn magazines, laughing and saying, “That’s exactly what I have always wanted to read!” He did not mind the broken toys either. He said that he could repair them and make up a new game. The parents understood that a positive attitude could make even an ordinary present seem wonderful.