B2 Reading Comprehension

Making a new man of himself

I. Inspired by the doll-like looks of Cindy Jackson, known as the 'Queen of Plastic Surgery' because of the amount of surgery she has had, Miles Kendall has spent £40,000 turning himself into a real-life boy doll.

'Sorry I'm not looking my best. I had a late night — I didn't get to bed until 5.00 a.m.,' laughs Miles Kendall at the beginning of our interview. He needn't apologise because it's impossible to tell whether he's had a late night or not.

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His status as a celebrity is due to the fact that he has had plastic surgery, and lots of it. Thanks to the encouragement of his good friend the plastic surgery queen Cindy Jackson, he has spent £40,000 sculpting and reshaping his face. It's hard to say exactly what he looks like now. At first sight he strikes you as a pleasantly good-looking chap, but at the same time there's something not quite right about his appearance.

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II. Miles' self-transformation began when he saw Cindy talking about her experiences of plastic surgery on television. 'I looked at her and thought, "Why can't my life be like hers: glamorous and full of celebrity parties and things?" So l emailed her and told her, "I want to be a male version of you." '

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Together, the three of them planned a new face for Miles that would make him feel more acceptable to society. Miles then underwent a series of operations to make this dream a reality. 'Look at this,' he says, showing me a photograph of his face before the operations. 'See! That's what I looked like before - I looked awful.'

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'I don't think I'm incredibly handsome now,' he says, 'but I do think I'm above-average looking. I'm the same person underneath but the way people treat me now is completely different. I went to a business lunch the other day and people turned to look at me, and a couple of women even came up to me and said: "Oh God, you're gorgeous."

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III. His life, says Miles, has altered immeasurably. Whereas in his former life he used to be a computer programmer, he has now taken on a new venture - he runs a bar called Bar Miles. Cindy Jackson was guest of honour at the opening. 'She's great,' he says enthusiastically. 'I'm really, really happy because running a bar was my life's ambition. And my social life is fantastic because Cindy's introduced me to all these celebrities. Before, I was totally bored the whole time. I never did anything but work. I didn't have any friends and I never went out.'

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Perhaps surprisingly, Miles and Cindy have never been romantically involved. 'I'm not really her type as she's into older men. We've talked about having a relationship but we've never even kissed.'

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He flashes me a final, dazzling smile. 'People think we're shallow, but really, we're not,' he says.

1. Seven paragraphs have been removed from the article. You have to choose from the paragraphs A-H the one which fits each gap (1-7). There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use.

A 'After that we got to know one another a bit. Then when she was sure that I really meant it, and it wasn't just a crazy idea, she took me to meet her plastic surgeon and told him what I wanted,' he explains.

B 'If things had been different, I'd have loved to, of course. But anyway, she's a great friend and really beautiful inside as well as out,' says Miles.

C 'It's true I had originally chosen to live my life like that; he explains, 'but then I also chose to do something about it. And I couldn't have changed my life or had what I've got now if I hadn't changed my looks.'

D I've been so unused to being attractive that it's a bit strange, but that sort of thing happens all the time now. Society treats good-looking people much better, and I've basically done it to be treated better.'

E Well, actually he didn't. He appeared to be unhappier, certainly, and perhaps slightly more stressed - but he wasn't particularly unattractive.

F Maybe this impression is due to the fact that his new face is curiously immovable. When he smiles his eyes almost disappear and his teeth gleam at you, ruler-like in their straightness. His surgeon has given him Brad Pitt's nose, George Clooney's lips and Russell Crowe's chin, but the overall effect has been to transform him into a rather shark-like ex boy-band member.

G Because of these concerns, Miles has no plans to have surgery on any other part of his body. ''If I want to change my body, I can go to the gyrn.'

H In fact, it's hard to work out anything at all from his face. For Miles Kendall, who says he will be '35 this July', facial expressions are few and far between

2. In the main text find the words for the definitions.

1. a quantity of something (I) _______________

2. to make a particular shape from wood, stone, clay etc (I) _______________

3. a man you know and like (I) _______________

4. attractive, exciting, and related to wealth and success (II) _______________

5. a famous living person (III) _______________

6. to smile or look at someone quickly and for a short time (III) _______________

3. Fill in the gaps with one of the words from the paragraphs A-H. Change the form if necessary.

1. What do you _______________ for your birthday? (A-B)

2. The place looks completely _______________ now. (A-B)

3. I don't mind which one we have - you _______________. (C-D)

4. She felt there was something _______________ about Dexter's voice. (C-D)

5. The sun had _______________ behind a cloud. (E-F)

6. This ingredient also has the _______________ of making your skin look younger. (E-F)

7. The cost of living is becoming unbearable for retired people in our _______________ of the world. (G-H)

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