Main Body
The Big Five: Personality
Learning Goals
In this chapter, you will learn to:
- Use pre-reading strategies
- Set a purpose for reading
- Build your vocabulary
- Understand the main ideas and details of a text
- Draw conclusions
- Spell words with the suffix -ous
- Use commas with appositives
- Edit for shifting verb tense
- Write a descriptive paragraph
Get Ready to Read
Think about the questions below or discuss them with a partner.
- How do others see you?
- How do you see yourself?
- What do you like about your personality?
- If you could change one thing about your personality, what would it be?
Reading Strategy
Readers use texts for many different purposes. We read stories for enjoyment. We read the news to find out what is happening in the world. We read cookbooks to follow a recipe. We read instructions to find out how to put together or use something new. Before you read, think about your purpose for reading. It is easier to use a text when we know why we are using it. The next text you will read is called The Big Five: Personality. Below are some examples of purposes for reading this text:
- To find out more about your personality. As you read, you might ask yourself, “What words in this text describe my personality?”
- To learn what “the big five” are. As you read, you might circle the words that make up “the big five.”
- To find the vocabulary words and figure out what they mean.
- To enjoy yourself.
You may wish to re-read a text a few times, with a different purpose each time. This is a way to get as much information, enjoyment, and reading practice from a text as possible.
Try setting a purpose for reading The Big Five: Personality.
Vocabulary
Find these words in the text. Use the context to choose the best meaning.
| upbringing | bossy | fussy | curious | unpredictable |
| practical | closed-minded | stubborn | genes |
1. Someone who is _____________________ is able to deal with daily life in a way that makes sense.
2. Someone who is _____________________ is hard to please.
3. Someone who is _____________________ is not behaving as expected.
4. Someone who is _____________________ is not willing to listen to different ideas or opinions.
5. Someone who is _____________________ refuses to change their ideas or stop doing something.
6. Someone who is _____________________ tends to tell others what to do.
7. A _____________________ is the part of a cell that controls how a living thing looks and grows.
8. _____________________ refers to the way a child is raised.
9. Someone who is _____________________ wants to know about things.
Check Your Understanding
Answer these questions in complete sentences.
1. What are the five factors researchers use to describe personality.
2. What is the advantage of being an introvert?
3. What is the advantage of being less agreeable?
4. What is the disadvantage of being open?
5. What is the disadvantage of being conscientious?
6. What is the advantage of being less sensitive?
Antonyms are words t