SPEAKING FLUENCY

#119

Choosing Happiness
Here are the questions with answers. Pause the recording and speak out loud.
You dont have to be perfect. Just speak quickly and have fun.
Remember, if you want to improve your speaking, you have to speak a lot.

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#119

Choosing Happiness

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and nobody knows this better
than Lizzie Velsquez.
What do they say about beauty? They say beauty is the eye of the beholder. Who
knows this saying well? Lizzie Velsquez knows this saying well.
Born prematurely in 1989, Lizzie suffers from an extremely rare medical
condition that only two other people in the world have.
Was Lizzie born in 1998? No, she was born in 1989. Does she suffer from a common
medical condition? No, she suffers from an extremely rare medical condition. Do
many people have this same medical condition? No, only two other people in the
world have it. Do you have any medical conditions?
She has zero body fat, and cannot gain weight no matter how hard she tries. In
fact, she has never weighed more than 29 kilograms in her entire life.
Is Lizzie a heavy woman? No, shes not. Shes very light. How much body fat does
she have? She has zero body fat. What is the most she has weighed in her entire
life? 29 kilograms is the most she has ever weighed. How much do you weigh?
She's also blind in one eye and has limited vision in the other. She has a weak
immune system, and her skin looks like that of an elderly person.
Is Lizzie completely blind? No, she isnt. Shes blind in one eye and has limited vision
in the other. Does she have a weak immune system? Yes, her immune system is
weak. Does her skin look like that of a young person? No, it doesnt. It looks like that
of an elderly person. What does your skin look like?
This causes her appearance to be, well, let's say, strikingly different. In fact,
some have called her 'the world's ugliest woman'. But nothing could be further
from the truth.
Is Lizzies appearance normal? No, it isnt. Its strikingly different. Is she the worlds
ugliest woman? No, of course not. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Lizzie grew up just like any other normal child, but had to constantly deal with
people's reactions to her appearance. Life was hard, but with the support of
loving parents and inner strength, she was able to cope with her situation.
Did Lizzie grow up like any other normal child? Yes, she did, but she had to deal with
peoples reactions to her appearance. Was she able to cope with her situation? Yes,
she was. How did she do it? She did it with the support of her loving parents and inner
strength.
Deep English, 2011-2014 | www.deepenglish.com

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#119

Choosing Happiness

But at the age of 17, while surfing YouTube, she came across a video entitled
'The World's Ugliest Woman'. It was a video of her, and it already had over 4
million views.
What did Lizzie come across on You Tube when she was 17? She came across a
video of herself. Was the title of the video The Worlds Most Beautiful Woman? No, it
was called The Worlds Ugliest Woman. How many views did it have? It had over 4
million views.
Some of the comments told her that she should "please do the world a favor, put
a gun to her head, and kill herself". That video changed her entire life, but not
necessarily in the way you would imagine.
Did some of the comments tell Lizzie that she should love herself? No, they told her
she should kill herself. Did the video cause her to end her life? No, it changed her
entire life.
Yes, Lizzie felt devastated and greatly saddened by the video, as any of us
would.
How did Lizzie feel about the video? She felt devastated and greatly saddened. How
would you feel if you were her?
But at that point she realized that she had a choice to make. She could either
choose to give in to the cyber-bullies and allow their hatred to define who she
was, or she could choose to focus on her inner worth and all that was positive
about her situation.
Did Lizzie have a choice to make? Yes, she had an important choice to make. Did she
allow the hatred of the cyber-bullies to define her? No, she didnt. What did she choose
to focus on? She chose to focus on her inner worth and all that was positive about her
situation.

Deep English, 2011-2014 | www.deepenglish.com

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#119

Choosing Happiness

She realized that her life was in her own hands.

What did Lizzie realize? She realized that her life was in her own hands.
Not surprisingly, Lizzie chose the path of happiness and success. She focused
on her strengths and cultivated a sense of gratitude for all that was good about
herself.
Did Lizzie choose the path of sadness and failure? No way! She chose the path of
happiness and success. Did she focus on her weaknesses? No, she focused on her
strengths and developed a sense of gratitude. What did she cultivate a sense of
gratitude about? She cultivated a sense of gratitude for all that was good about
herself.
She decided to go to college and get a degree, which she did. She decided to
become a motivational speaker, and she did.
What did Lizzie do? She went to college and got a degree. What did she decide to
become? She decided to become a motivational speaker.
Lizzie also plans to marry and raise a family in the future. And Im sure she will.
What are Lizzies plans for the future? She plans to marry and raise a family. What
are your plans for the future?
Not only will she not allow her appearance to prevent her from accomplishing
her goals, but she decided to use the negativity it generates in others as
motivational fuel for her success.
Will Lizzie allow her appearance to prevent her from making friends? Well, not
exactly. She will not allow her appearance to prevent her from accomplishing her
goals. What will she use as motivational fuel for her success? She will use the
negativity her appearance generates in others as motivational fuel for her success.
Some say When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." We may have no
control over life's circumstances, but we certainly have full control over what
we do with them.
Do some people say, When life gives you oranges, make orange juice? Well, I dont
know, but some people do say, When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Do we
have control over lifes circumstances? No, we dont have control over lifes
circumstances. What do we have control over? We have control over what we do with
lifes circumstances.

Deep English, 2011-2014 | www.deepenglish.com

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#119

Choosing Happiness

What sort of lemons did life give you? And what kind of person do you choose
to be?

Photos / Credits:
Photo #1 (cover) by Fe Ilya: https://www.flickr.com/photos/renneville/2908748583/
Photo #2 "Supreme happiness" by Amber - supreme happiness. Licensed under Creative
Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/
wiki/File:Supreme_happiness.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Supreme_happiness.jpg

Deep English, 2011-2014 | www.deepenglish.com

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