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Unit 1: The Experiment

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  1. 1 The Experiment

Session 2

The Experiment is a collection of short series that are a little different to our usual programmes - but still help you improve your English.

Our first series, We say - You say, shows how YOUR language can help you remember English expressions.

Session 2 score

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    Activity 1

Activity 1

We Say - You Say

We say...

Don't judge a book by its cover. It means you shouldn’t judge the value of something or someone based on their appearance.

Examples:

Maria is only fifteen years old, but she is very mature and knowledgeable, so it shows you can’t judge a book by its cover.

When we arrived, the hotel looked amazing – but once we got inside the rooms were dirty and damp. Well it just goes to show, don't always judge a book by its cover!

 

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Sian
Don't judge a book by its cover means you shouldn’t judge the value of something or someone based on their appearance.

Examples:

Maria is only fifteen years old, but she is very mature and knowledgeable, so it shows you can’t judge a book by its cover.

When we arrived, the hotel looked amazing – but once we got inside the rooms were dirty and damp. Well it just goes to show, don't always judge a book by its cover!

You say…

Giang
You say 'don't judge a book by its cover', so in Vietnamese we have the same saying - Tốt gỗ hơn tốt nước sơn – meaning, take the quality of the wood instead of its veneer.

Famil
In English you would say 'don't judge a book by its cover'. In Russian it would sound like this Встречают по одежке, провожают по уму – which basically means, you meet someone and judge them first by what they wear, but your final judgement is by what is in their head.

Liston
You say 'don't judge a book by its cover', Indonesians say Jangan nilai buku dari sampulnya – which means you don't judge people from what they wear or how they look but it is more from how they behave.

Sian
So, those are a few examples of 'don't judge a book by its cover' in other languages. What do you say?

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You say...

In Vietnamese - Tốt gỗ hơn tốt nước sơn – which means, 'Take the quality of the wood instead of its veneer.'

In Russian - Встречают по одежке, провожают по уму –  which means, 'You meet someone and judge them first by what they wear, but your final judgement is by what is in their head.'

In Indonesian - Jangan nilai buku dari sampulnya – which means, 'You don't judge people from what they wear or how they look; it is more from how they behave.'

What do you say in YOUR language?

To do

Try our quiz to see what you've learnt about the meaning of today's expression:

 

How well do you know this phrase?

4 Questions

Decide if these examples correctly use the phrase 'don't judge a book by its cover'

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