Language in Use Read the text about a barber talking about his job. Put the verbs in brackets into their correct form. Example: (0) wanted When I was eleven, I (0)… … (want) to be…

Language in Use Read the text about a barber talking about his job. Put the verbs in brackets into their correct form. Example: (0) wanted When I was eleven, I (0)… … (want) to be an astronaut, but there's not much need for them where I (7)… (live)! My dad's a hairdresser, so I started (8)… …(come) into the shop on weekends and then, from the time I was about 14, I knew this (9)… … ( be) what I wanted to do. I did a basic course, then some training with Vidal Sassoon and then I did an advanced course in 1983. You do need the gift of the gab to do this job. For a start, it's really important the channels of communication are open, so the client (10)… … (feel) as though they can tell you the haircut's going the way they want it to. Apart from that, most clients do like to chat. I talk about a wide range of subjects with people, including their problems and mine! Meeting people is one of the main enjoyments of the job. We get a real cross-section of the community - women, men and people from every race and culture. Business-wise, this is also important because long hair suddenly becomes fashionable, we (11)… (not lose) all our customers as a lot of them (12)… … (not follow) fashions like that. There are four of us working here. I've personally got around 1,000 customers. As long as you give people what they want at the right price, they (13)… … (come) back. Everybody's got a hairdressing nightmare story, but I think we're so popular because we listen to what people want - lots of hairdressers don't. To be a good hairdresser, you do need to be able (14)… (work) three dimensionally and see what a finished style might look like before you start. I suppose the thing I like most about my job is being able to express myself artistically and also (15)… (meet) so many people. I work long hours, six days a week, but I never get bored with the job. It's very satisfying to see an end result. The worst thing about this job has got to be the early morning. It still annoys me that I have (16)… (get) up when it's dark. When I (17)… (not work) I do a lot of sport weight- training and cycling mostly. I also enjoy cinema and theatre and I'm very fond of my food so I like going to restaurants. I (18)… (never think) about changing my job because I like it so much. There aren't too many nice jobs about, so if you've got one you should keep it. (Adapted and abridged from Interview with a Barber by Linda Pressly BBC English, February 1993, p. 36) 75