The Language of the Body (контрольная)

The Language of the Body
One of the best locations to study the body language is a political rally. Each speaker has lready worked out his verbal message, usually a string of highly predictable platitudes calculated to gain him applause. But while he is mouthing his utterances, his hands are busy too. He will not be aware precisely what they are doing, merely that they are beating time to his statements and helping to underline them. If we ignore his words and focus exclusively on his hands, it soon becomes clear that lie employs some major hand signals.
If he is making a powerful point, he will clench his fist, as if about to punch an invisible opponent. If he is trying to chop down a rival proposal, he switches instead to the hand-chop gesture, cutting down through the air as forcibly as possible with a flattened hand, its hard edge pointing down. With this action he transforms his hand into a symbolic axe.
For those who wish to appear forceful, but not too violent, there is a slightly milder hand gesture – the semi-clenched fist. With the thumb uppermost, on top of the bent forefinger, this half-fist is jerked in the air to emphasize point after point in the speaker's words. It is almost as if he is serving an invisible writ on liis audience. This gesture is favoured by politicians.
In a more dominant mood, the speaker introduces the palm-down hand posture, usually with a few slight downward movements. In this he is symbolically calming down his audience, as if it were composed entirely of unruly children. If lie is less sure of himself, he uses the opposite hand signal, with the palm up. This is a gesture of the beggar, reaching out his hand for help. This particular gesture is universal and can even be seen in wild chimpanzees when begging for food from companions.
If the speaker wishes his audience to embrace his ideas, he offers them a hint of an embrace in his hand gestures. He reaches out both hands, with his palms facing one another, as if trying...