Guided Reading
практические задания к сборнику современных рассказов на
английском языке
Москва - 2014
Рекомендовано кафедрой
теории и практики английского языка
ИЛиМК МГОУ
Рецензенты:
2
ПРЕДИСЛОВИЕ
Учебное пособие по домашнему чтению адресовано студентам романо-
германского факультета, изучающим английский язык.
Пособие соответствует программе подготовки бакалавров по дисциплине
«Практический курс иностранного языка» и применяется на занятиях по
домашнему чтению.
Пособие состоит из одиннадцати разделов, каждый из которых рассчитан
на одну/две неделю (две недели, если в разделе два рассказа одного
писателя) изучения и последующего обсуждения в аудитории.
Задача пособия – облегчить и организовать работу студентов при чтении
оригинальной литературы на иностранном языке.
Пособие способствует формированию у студентов профессионально
значимых компетенций определяемых Государственным образовательным
стандартом высшего профессионального образования.
В пособии предлагаются сведения об авторе и поурочные разработки.
Каждый раздел содержит лингвострановедческий комментарий, активный
словарь и задания для проверки понимания прочитанного и развития
навыков устной речи и письма. Рекомендуется знакомство с текстом и
выполнение отдельных видов упражнений выделять в качестве домашнего
задания с последующей проверкой в аудитории. Аудиторные задания
предполагают перевод и перефразирование отдельных трудных отрывков
текста, комментарий по поводу различных идей, высказанных автором или
персонажами рассказа, обсуждение вопросов и проблем, выходящих за
рамки текста рассказа. Выделенный для активного усвоения словарь
проверяется в переводах. На заключительном уроке предлагается
проведение общего обсуждения рассказа и затронутых в нем проблем по
вопросам, предложенным в пособии.
Работа с пособием способствует развитию у студентов аналитической,
коммуникативной, лингвострановедческой компетенций.
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Содержание
I. Roald Dahl 5
1.1 The Hitchhiker 6
1.2 The Umbrella Man 11
II. Katherine Mansfield 16
2.1 Frau Brechenmacher Attends a Wedding 18
2.2 How the Pearl Button was Kidnapped 22
III. Rose Tremain 26
3.1 The Bellows of the Fire 28
IV. Bernard MacLaverty 33
4.1 The Miraculous Candidate 35
V. Ishani Kar-Purkayastha 39
5.1 The Sky is Always Yours 39
VI. John Waddington-Feather 44
6.1 The High Master and Little Billy Clough 45
VII. John Kendrick Bangs 50
7.1 The Water Ghost of Harrowby Hall 53
VIII. Truman Capote 57
8.1 A Christmas Memory 59
8.2 A Diamond Guitar 65
IX. Ernest Hemingway 73
9.1 The Light of the World 76
9.2 The Capital of the World 80
X. James Thurber 85
10.1 The Catbird Seat 87
XI. Virginia Woolf 94
11.1 The Man Who Loved His Kind 97
11.2 The New Dress 101
Questions about the authors 106
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I. Roald Dahl: His Life and Work.
Read the text and then answer the questions that follow it.
Roald Dahl was born on 13th September, 1916 in Llandaff, South Wales. Dahl's
parents were Norwegian. His father died while Roald was still a child.
Dahl attended Llandaff Cathedral School for just two years. Then from the ages
of nine to thirteen he attended St. Peter's Preparatory School in Weston–super–
Mare, England. He did not enjoy the school because many of the teachers were
cruel and often caned the students. Dahl was good at cricket and swimming, but
he performed poorly in class. One of his main hobbies was reading, and some of
his favourite novelists were the adventure writers Rudyard Kipling and H. Rider
Haggard.
When Dahl was thirteen his family moved to Kent in England, and he was sent
to Repton Public School. Sadly, Repton was even harsher than his old school.
The headmaster enjoyed beating children and the older students used the
younger ones as servants. However, there was one good thing about the school.
Every few months, the chocolate company, Cadburys, sent boxes of chocolates
to Repton for the students to test. This happy memory gave Dahl the idea for his
most famous novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
After school, Dahl decided that he wanted to travel. He got a job with the Shell
Oil Company and two years later was sent to East Africa. In his autobiography,
Going Solo, he recounts some of the exciting adventures there, including the
time a black mamba entered his friend's house and a snake catcher had to be
called in.
In 1939, World War II started. Dahl joined the RAF (Royal Air Force) and
learned to fly warplanes. Unfortunately, on his first flight into enemy territory he
ran out of fuel and crashed in the Libyan desert. He fractured his skull but
managed to crawl out of the burning plane.
Dahl started writing in the 1940s while based in the USA. His first story was a
newspaper account of his air crash. In 1945 he moved back home but in the
early fifties returned to America, where he met his first wife, the actress Patricia
Neal. They had five children together but got divorced in 1983. Dahl remarried
soon after. The last years of his life were very happy and he wrote some of his
best books during this period: The BFG, The Witches and Matilda. Roald Dahl
died on 23rd November 1990 in Oxford, England.
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Questions
Vocabulary
6
body (n.) кузов
fine (adj.) изысканный
aerial (n) антенна
pop up (ph.v.) появляться
growl (v.) [graul] рычать
grunt (v.) ворчать, хрюкать
haymaking (n.) сенокос
buttercup (n) лютик
thumb a lift «голосовать»
blank (adj.) белый, бледный
mug (n.) зд. болван, балбес
flat out (adv.) на максимальной скорости
leap (v.) прыгать, перепрыгивать
sting (stung,stung) жалить, жечь
slack off (ph.v.) снижать скорость, ослаблять
lamely (adv.) нескладно, запинаясь
prop stand подпорка, подставка
keep mum помалкивать
goggles (n.) защитные очки
smouldering (adj.) тлеющий
dash (v.) рвануть, мчаться
gob of spit плевок
snap (v.) резко говорить
dreaded (adj.) [dredɪd] страшный, ужасный
fish (v) искать на ощупь
spell (n.) промежуток времени, срок, период
smack (v.) причмокивать, смаковать
clink (n.) разг. тюрьма
hefty (adj.) большой, изрядный
summons (n.) судебная повестка
daft (adj.) глупый, безрассудный
smith (n.) кузнец
snort (v.) фыркать
cardsharper (n.) карточный шулер
racket (n.) мошенничество
flabbergasted (adj.) ['flæbəgɑːstid] изумленный, ошарашенный
huffily (adv.) обиженно, раздраженно
nick (v.) разг. стащить, стибрить
stubby (adj.) зд. маленький
coarse (adj.) грубый
lift money красть деньги
amateur (n) ['æmətə] любитель, не профессионал
swerve (v.) [swɜːv] сворачивать в сторону
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Find English equivalents for the following expressions.
1. The radio aerial popped …. when I switched …. the radio, and disappeared
when I switched it …. .
2. The engine growled and grunted impatiently …. slow speeds, but at sixty
miles an hour the growling stopped and the motor began to purr ……
pleasure.
9. The secret of life is to become good …. something that is very hard to do.
12.He pulled to the side of the road and I pulled ….. behind him.
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Match the adjectives to the nouns.
skilled, crummy, sainted, blue, enormous, guilty, meaty, mocking, speed, breast,
license, carbon, hod, fancy, whopping, crafty, peculiar, plain, deep, miserable,
brass, ratty, superior, decent, delicate
……………………… buckle ……………………… suck
……………………… fine ……………………… eyes
……………………… quality ……………………… clothes
……………………… carrier ……………………… look
……………………… racket ……………………… car
……………………… trade ……………………… copy
……………………… memory ……………………… plate
……………………… voice ……………………… limit
……………………… pocket ……………………… fingers
……………………… aunt ……………………… jobs
……………………… red face ……………………… hand
……………………… trade
……………………… schoolboys
Comprehension
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Discussion
Which words does the narrator use to describe his car? What does it tell us
about the narrator’s personality?
Search the story for descriptions of the hitchhiker and the policeman.
Personality
Actions
Speech
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4. Ни карточный шулер, ни вор-карманник не могли объяснить полиции,
откуда у них столько кошельков.
5. Своими изысканными манерами и умными словами ты никого не
удивишь здесь, а только насмешишь. Они ведь всю жизнь прожили в
деревне!
6. Дилеры всегда говорят, что у их машин отличный разгон и прекрасные
ходовые свойства. Но зачем машине набирать скорость 220 км/ч, если
максимальная разрешенная скорость – 90 км/ч?
7. Ученик говорил резко, отрывисто, и не все поняли, что же он имел в
виду. На дополнительные вопросы он не ответил и завалил зачёт.
8. Полицейский оштрафовал нарушителя на внушительную сумму, а через
неделю он получил еще и повестку в суд. Никто не верил в его вину, но
помощь адвоката ему понадобилась.
9. Друзья попытались пожарить картошку на тлеющих углях, но
отвлеклись и сожгли ее.
10.Грубые манеры, запинающаяся, неубедительная речь – вот причины, по
которым его не приняли на работу.
Vocabulary
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titled (adj.) ['taɪtld] титулованный
dodge (v.) [dɔʤ] увертываться, уклоняться (от удара)
nimbly (adv.) ['nɪmblɪ] проворно, ловко, легко
still (adj.) неподвижный
stiff (adj.) окостеневший
bustle (v.) торопиться, спешить
sidestep (v.) уступать дорогу, отходить
be up to something замышлять что-то, задумывать
scuttle (v.) ['skʌtl] поспешно бежать, удирать
pelt down колотить, лить, барабанить (о
дожде)
snug (adj.) уютный, защищенный от непогоды
plate glass зеркальное стекло
huddle (v.) жаться друг к другу
in the first place вообще
clutch (v.) схватить, сжать
tumbler (n.) ['tʌmblə] бокал без ножки
counter (n.) прилавок
scurry (v.) ['skʌrɪ] бежать стремглав
trot (v.) спешить, торопиться
1. I’m going to tell you about a funny thing that happened … my mother and
me yesterday evening.
4. When she cuts top …. a boiled egg she pokes ……… inside it with her
spoon.
6. My mother’s chin was up and she was staring down …. him along the full
length of her nose.
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7. Most people go ….. pieces completely when she gives it to them.
8. I’m not …. the habit of stopping ladies in the street and telling them my
troubles.
10.She fished ….. her purse and took ….. a pound note.
11.We watched the little man as he dodged …. and ….. of the traffic.
14.He said he was too tired to walk any further and he’s practically running us
….. our feet.
15.He was edging his way ……… the crowd towards the bar.
16.The barman didn’t give him any change ……. the pound.
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e) ___________ = a drinking glass with straight sides
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
b) Just before leaving the pub, the man casually took one of the umbrellas
hanging on the coat-rack.
d) The lady thought it was better to simply give him the taxi-fare.
f) After the dentist and the café, the two women wanted to go home.
h) He wanted to sell them his umbrella in return for taxi-fare back to his
home.
l) The two women couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw the man
quickly cross the street and hurry away.
Discussion
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Consider the way the mother is presented in this story through what she says
and does.
What are the similarities of con men in The Hitchhiker and The Umbrella
Man?
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– Я-то знаю, жаль только, что об этом не знают соседи и их друзья по
даче.
Read the text and then answer the questions that follow it.
By 1902 her farther, realizing his daughter’s many talents, sent her to Queen’s
College in London for the next three years. The school magazine published
many of her stories and poems and she eventually became its editor. Described
by her teachers as being rebellious and full of ideas she was considered to be a
girl of great vitality, impulsive and strong will.
On her return to New Zealand in 1906 she expressed dismay being home in a
letter to her school friend. “The idea of sitting and waiting for a husband is
absolutely revolting. I just long for the power of circumstances!” She was
accomplished at playing the cello, gifted in writing short stories and poetry. By
18 she had taken on the penname of Katherine Mansfield. In 1908, determined
to become a writer, she pleaded her father to allow her to go to London. “I feel
absolutely ill with grief and sadness here! It’s a nightmare! I don’t understand
how people may wish to live here!”
She left Wellington for the last time and arrived in London intent on literary
career. There she lead an erratic, bohemian existence, which she later described
as a wasted period, publishing one story and one poem in fifteen months. After
an unhappy marriage in 1909 to George Brown, whom she left a few days after
the wedding, Mansfield toured for a while as an extra in opera. Before the
marriage she had an affair with Garnett Trowell, a musician, and became
pregnant. In Bavaria, where Mansfield spent some time, she suffered a
miscarriage. During her stay in Germany she wrote satirical sketches of German
characters, which were published in 1911 under the title In a German Pension.
In 1912 Mansfield met John Middleton Murry, who edited her stories. Her story
“The Woman at the Store” was chosen as the first one published in the
magazine. That year she visited Manet and Post-Impressionists exhibition. “It
told me about writing that was queer: a kind of freedom or rather a shaking
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freedom.” It provided the stimulus she was searching for and gave her the
courage to write in the manner she had never thought of before.
After divorcing her first husband in 1918, Mansfield married Murry. In the same
year she was found to have tuberculosis.
Questions
a) ___________ = disgusting
b) ___________ = having a lot of money
c) ___________ = to desire
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d) ___________ = fear, worry, sadness
e) ___________ = behaving in an unacceptable way, undisciplined
f) ___________ = very good at something
g) ___________ = unpredictable, bizarre
h) ___________ = a person who plays an unimportant part in a play, film
i) ___________ = difficult situation that is full of problems
j) ___________ = improve, make something better
k) ___________ = pseudonym
2.1 Frau Brechenmacher Attends a Wedding
Vocabulary
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fill out округляться, толстеть
petticoat (n.) (нижняя) юбка
beer mug пивная кружка
mumble (v.) бормотать
froth (n.) [frɔθ] пена
lodge (v.) поселить, сдавать квартиру
saliva (n.) [sə'laɪvə] слюна
splutter (v.) разбрызгиваться
assent (v.) [ə'sent] соглашаться
wedge (v.) втискиваться
wrench (v.) [ren(t)ʃ] вырывать
cradle (n.) люлька
dandle (v.) качать на руках (ребенка)
heave (v.) [hiːv] подниматься, вздыматься
stumble (v.) идти спотыкаясь, ковылять
forsaken (adj.) брошенный, покинутый
smear (v.) намазывать, размазывать
wriggle (v.) изгибать, извиваться
worsted[ ‘wustId] socks шерстяные носки
lurch (v.) идти шатаясь
2. You must look ……… the children and not sit ….. later than half past eight.
4. Rosa dragged it …. her mother’s shoulder and wound it carefully ………. her
own, tying the two ends …… a knot.
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7. Herr Brechebmacher’s colleagues greeted him ….. acclamation.
8. The bride was in a white dress trimmed …… stripes and bows of coloured
ribbon, giving her the appearance of an iced cake.
9. Their parents and relations sat with a fine regard ….. dignity and precedence.
10.A girl in a crumpled muslin dress with a wreath of forget –me-nots perched
….. on a stool ….. the bride’s right hand.
12.The Frau wedged ….. between these two fat old women.
tin, satin, vacant, fir, festive, official, silk, waist, little, roughened, crumpled,
free-born, plain, nervous, worsted
Comprehension
b) In what season does the story take place? How do you know?
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c) What was Herr Brechebmacher’s job?
d) How did the Frau train her little girl for female servitude?
e) Why did Herr Brechebmacher ask his wife to go and dress in the passage?
g) What feelings did Frau Brechebmacher have toward the bride? Was she
happy for her?
h) Why did the Frau think that everybody was laughing at her?
Discussion
What did the Frau mean when she asked the question: “What is it all for?”
2. Не видев Антона целых 8 лет, сестра заметила, какой грузной стала его
походка и как округлились у него щеки. В кресло он не просто сел, а
взгромоздился. Он стал совсем другим: важно и много говорил, кивал
богатым друзьям, изредка поглядывая на Инну.
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5. Моя бабушка, воспитанная по старым порядкам, заставляла меня в
детстве заниматься рукоделием. Тогда я и подумать не могла, как мне
это пригодится! Я прекрасно вышиваю и всегда сама делаю стежки на
порвавшейся одежде.
Before you read the story you should know that in 1907 nineteen-year-old
Kathleen Mansfield Beauchamp went on a camping trip through the Urewera
district and recorded in her diaries her impressions of Maori, whose distance
from colonial bourgeois culture she found deeply attractive. She preferred the
Maori of “the utter backblocks” to the Anglicized Maori whom she encountered
nearer civilization. In her early story, “How Pearl Button Was Kidnapped”
(1912), Maori figure as romantic people unlike those leading a colonial
bourgeois life. It’s vague in the story who the kidnappers of the white child
might be: gypsies or Maori. Mansfield herself, in London, dressed in a fashion
described as both Maori and gypsy.
Vocabulary
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dangle (v.) болтаться, свободно свисать
bury (v.) прятать, скрывать, погружаться
feather (n.) перо
flick (v.) слегка ударять, бросить резким
движением
hobble (v.) качаться
spill/spilt/spilt проливать
pat (v.) похлопывать
whip (n.) хлыст
cart (n.) телега, повозка
briar (n.) шиповник
purr (v.) мурлыкать, урчать
paddock (n.) загон, огороженный участок земли
coax (v.) убеждать
foam (n.) пена
shriek (v.) визжать, пронзительно кричать
dabble (v.) брызгаться
paddle (v.) плескаться
1. The winds blew Pearl Button’s pinafore frill ….. her mouth and they blew
the street dust all …. the House of Boxes.
2. So Pearl got down from the gate and she slipped out …. the road.
4. The woman who had carried Pearl took ….. her hair ribbon and shook her
hair loose.
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Find words in the text with the following meanings:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
a) A man across the room rolls a peach towards her. Pearl asks if she may eat it.
b) Below, the big piece of blue water creeps over the land.
c) But when they stop on a hilltop Pearl’s happiness ends abruptly.
d) Looking towards the land, Pearl Button sees men in blue coats who have
come to take her back to the House of Boxes.
e) One of the women takes the ribbon from Pearl Button’s hair and shakes it
loose. They kiss her on the neck.
f) Pearl Button pops off and rolls free and is lost.
g) Pearl is scared to walk on the sand but is coaxed by the women.
h) She eats it and spoils her clothes with the juice. Nobody seems to mind.
i) The people journey to the sea in carts. During the trip, Pearl cuddles in the
arms of one of the women.
j) The people laugh but Pearl Button cannot hear it.
k) The women bring her to a log room full of people, with a feeling of great
vitality and freedom.
l) Two gypsy women in flamboyant dress arrive and entice Pearl Button away
with them.
Comprehension
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b) What does Pearl Button look like? Are Pearl and the two women of the same
culture? Prove it.
c) What do you learn about Perl’s mother? Why was Pearl alone?
Discussion
The house of boxes symbolizes the constrictions of life. What does the sea
symbolize in the story?
2. Если у животного идет пена изо рта, его надо срочно отвезти к
ветеринару.
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7. Еще 20 лет назад передник был обязательным атрибутом одежды у
школьниц. Коричневый был для постоянной носки, а белый – часть
праздничной формы.
8. У меня уже несколько лет есть такая мечта – завести ослика или пони.
Я даже знаю, где буду его держать – у нас есть отличный загон.
Проблема только в том, что содержание такого животного недешево
обходится!
Read the text and then answer the questions that follow it.
Rose Tremain was born Rosemary Jane Thomson on August 2, 1943 in London
and attended Francis Holland School, then Crofton Grange School from 1954 to
1961; the Sorbonne from 1961–1962; and graduated from the University of East
Anglia in 1965, where she taught creative writing from 1988 to 1995.
She married Jon Tremain in 1971 and they had one daughter, Eleanor, born in
1972, who became an actress. The marriage lasted about five years. Her second
marriage, to theatre director Jonathan Dudley, in 1982, lasted about nine years.
Now Rose Tremain lives in North London and Norwich, with the biographer
Richard Holmes (she’s has been with Richard Holmes since 1992). Her books
have won many prizes. When Rose Tremain won the 2008 Orange Prize for The
Road Home, her overriding emotion was relief.
‘I’ve got very near to winning these big prizes in the past and I’ve never won
them,’ she says with a laugh in her Norfolk house, which on this particularly
gloomy afternoon is flooded in grey, milky light.
Tremain says that her husband and she write in separate corners of the house and
she adds that she always knew she’d be a writer.
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She even produced little stories when she was a child and implies that writing is
a form of sanctuary. ‘I was very lucky - I knew what I wanted to do as a kid. If
ever I quarreled with friends, I’d get over it by going to write instead.’ This love
to writing might have been triggered by her “exile” to boarding school at the age
of eleven, after her parents split up and her mother married someone else and
they moved out of London. At a stroke, she lost her father, her house, all her
school friends and also – and worst of all - her beloved Nanny who had cared for
her all her life till then. ‘So perhaps my interest in “place and belonging” subject
stems from that – from an acute fear of losing all that is precious to me from one
day to the next and finding myself once again in a world whose rules are hard to
comprehend. But I note that exile almost invariably involves a journey of some
kind, both internal and external, and of course the journey is an elementally
good starting point for a novel, mirroring the act of embarkation on the book,
freighted with possibility but also with a high degree of danger.”
In a sense, her writing has always been informed by people trying to find
somewhere they belong.
Questions
2. How many times was she married? What is her husband’s job?
1943
1956 Her parents…
1965
1971
1972 Her daughter was born
1988
1992 Got married to …..
2008
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a) ___________ = dark, dreary
b) ___________ = severe, intense
c) ___________ = living in a foreign country because you can’t live in your own
one, usually for political reasons
d) ___________ = the most important, supreme
e) ___________ = a place where people who are in danger from other people
can go to be safe
f) ___________ = originated, caused by
g) ___________ = constantly
h) ___________ = start, beginning
i) ___________ = burdened with
Pre-reading activity
The two things I cared about most in the world until this morning were my dog,
Whisper, and the bungalow under the viaduct.
Now read this excerpt from the story and say what you have learned about the narrator and who the
narrator is talking to? What can you say about this person?
“You can be the bellows of the fire, Susie. That means you have to blow on it and
your breath keeps it going.” This didn’t seem like a nice job to me. Blowing out
cake candles was horrible enough. So I thought, I’m not going to breathe on their
fire. I’m going to be absolutely quiet and hardly breathe at all. I’m going to be as
silent as a stone.
Vocabulary
28
roam (v.) бродить, странствовать
drown (v.) тонуть
long for sth. желать сильно
bag (v.) зд. сделать своей собственностью
bags детск.;разг.; чур!Чур-чура!
Bags light the fire! Чур, я разжигаю огонь!
misery (n.) страдание, невзгода, нужда
puny (adj.) ['pjuːnɪ] маленький, тривиальный
crappy (adj.) дрянной, паршивый
arcade (n.) пассаж, ярусный торговый центр
fire raiser разг. поджигатель
Girl Guide девочка-скаут
track sb. down следить за кем-л.
burn to the ground сжечь до основания
save one’s breath беречь слова, не иметь желания
говорить
despise (v.) презирать
arsonist (n.) поджигатель
to be on the safe side на всякий случай
1. The two things I cared ….. most in the world until this morning were my
dog, Whisper, and the bungalow ……. the viaduct.
2. …..rainy days, I hardly stop ….. the viaduct to look at the bungalow, because
down there in the mist and drizzle it looks a bit sorry ….. itself.
3. The sea is second … my list of places I like, except that the sea does
something to me: it makes me long …. things.
4. But …. the car, ….. the way to Dartmoor, my brothers bagged all the good
jobs ….. advance.
29
6. Noise and mess spills ….. all over the puny little gardens and all over the
street.
7. Seven fires had been raised and the bingo Palace had burned … the ground.
9. I knew I’d made an impression … the person who had asked me to read it.
10.You just have to work at it all, slowly and carefully, like Dad made that fire
catch on Dartmoor … the rain, one stick …. a time.
In which context do you come across these props? Reconstruct the story with
the help of these props.
Comprehension
a) What are the two things Susie cares most about? Why?
d) What impact does the sea make on Susie? Do you feel the same near the sea?
e) What do you learn about Susie’s family: her mum, dad, brothers?
f) Why did she remember her sixth birthday best of all? How old is she now?
g) Where does she live? What kinds of people live there? Does Susie feel that
she belongs to this community? Prove it.
h) What is the plot of the film where Susie is going to play? Who are its
characters? What is Susie’s role? Does it appeal to her? Does Susie have any
acting experience?
Discussion
Talk about Susie from the point of view of another member of the family.
Why didn’t Susie want to be the bellows of fire at the age of six? Has she
changed her opinion?
What is the symbol of the bellows and of the fire?
Rose Tremain’s idea of “place and belonging” is depicted from teenager’s
point of view. What does the narrator feel about place and belonging to this
place? What about you? What do you think about the place where you live
now? Do you belong to it? Do you wish to escape it?
It dawned on Susie that never before she had longed for something she could
actually have. The film gave her a real stimulus and she understood what she
wanted from her life. Do you think she will achieve success?
Can you work “slowly and carefully like Susie's Dad made that fire catch on
Dartmoor in the rain, one stick at a time”?
31
3. Что за неинтересная идея! Давайте лучше все вместе подумаем над
гербом для нашей школы!
32
IV. Bernard MacLaverty: His Life and Work
Read the text and then answer the questions that follow it.
MacLaverty has lived nearly half his life in Scotland. But the inspiration for
nearly all of his writing comes from his early life in the forties, fifties and
sixties, when he grew up in North Belfast.
One of the best things for a young boy growing up in North Belfast was that he
could climb up on the big basalt shoulders of the Cave hill and make the world
look small and less significant. For a young MacLaverty and a spirited gang of
friends North Belfast proved to be an adventure playground, and a place for
cementing friendships that have lasted a lifetime.
MacLaverty attended St Malachy's College, the favoured place for the education
of bright, young Catholic boys who passed the 11-Plus. However, in his most
recent book, The Anatomy School, MacLaverty is scathing about his time at St
Malachy's. He criticises the quality of the teaching, the oppressive atmosphere
and the staff's attitudes towards the pupils.
But in the late Fifties, MacLaverty and his friends had other distractions from
school and study. Skiffle music was the big beat that the kids were going for.
33
study. But while he was working in the labs, MacLaverty was sharpening his
skills as a writer...
But although MacLaverty was uncertain about his writing ability, his work was
beginning to attract the attention of others - including Phillip Hobsbaum, a
lecturer in English at Queens. He ran a writer's course for some of his most
promising students and asked the young lab technician to join. In 1970, when he
was in his late twenties, MacLaverty finally hung up his white coat and enrolled
to study English literature in Queens. He eventually qualified as a teacher.
MacLaverty's love of Ireland still persists - though when asked what his idea of
earthly paradise would be, his answer encompassed both Ireland and Scotland.
Questions
34
6. What was his childhood like?
10. Complete the following timeline of MacLaverty's life (fill in all the blanks!):
1942
19 His father died
1960
1970
1975 Moved to Scotland
1981
a) ___________ = something that turns your attention away from something you
want to concentrate on
b) ___________ = corpse
c) ___________ = difficult to bear
d) ___________ = officially join and pay a fee for it
e) ___________ = criticize or denounce something severely
1. Now …. the morning of his Science exam he felt his stomach light and
wooly, as if he had eaten feathers ….. breakfast.
36
2. Some of the boys fenced …… new yellow rulers or sat drumming them ….
their knees.
3. Senior and ‘A’ levels stood …. groups all looking very pale, one turned now
and again to spit …… his shoulder to show that he didn’t care.
4. She had also pinned a Holy Ghost medal …… his lapel where it wouldn’t be
seen.
5. The doors were opened and they all filed … their places.
6. One of the boys who couldn’t do any of the questions drew a face …. biro on
his finger and put it …. through the hole and waggled it … John.
7. The invigilator held up a brown paper parcel and pointed … to the unbroken
seal.
8. St Joseph was so close to God that sometimes when he prayed he was lifted
up …. the ground.
9. It was all he was fit …., God help him – the one line.
10.Others sat sucking their pens or doodling …. their rough-work sheets.
11.He had no control …… his limbs.
12.The invigilator hunkered …. beside him and whispered confidentially.
unbroken, wee, shining, stringy, fine, white, rough-work, cloven, tiled, Holy,
alarming, light and wooly
Comprehension
37
1. Why was John worried about the effects of his sanctity?
2. What did John’s grandmother do every Sunday night?
3. Why is St Joseph of Cupertino the patron saint of exams?
4. How did John feel on the morning of his Science exam?
5. What did Granny give him on the day of the exam?
6. What had he been promised if he passed the exam?
7. What was strange about the invigilator?
8. What was John’s reaction when he saw the exam questions?
9. What were the other boys doing?
10.What did John do?
11.Why did the invigilator think that John was cheating?
12.How did John get back to his seat?
13.Why did the invigilator apologise?
14.Why was John offered extra time to finish the exam?
15.What was different about John’s final prayer?
Discussion
Are you well versed in the lives of the saints? Find out more facts about the
catholic St Joseph of Cupertino. Who is an orthodox saint for examinations?
What do you know about him?
The saying goes “God helps those who help themselves”. How is it
illustrated in the story? Give examples.
How do you approach exams? Can you come up with some exam guidelines?
38
5. Лавочка была занята усталыми пассажирами, и мне пришлось сесть на
корочки. Поезд прибыл вовремя, но там тоже не было свободных мест.
10.У меня лихорадочно бился пульс, а в голове была только одна мысль:
«Я должен успеть, я должен прибыть первым!»
Not much is known about Ishani Kar Purkayastha because she isn’t a fulltime
writer. She works in London as a doctor in the field of public health. She has
won commendations for her writing from the jury of the STA and the Guardian
Young Travel Writer Award. Ishani has also won the 2010 Lancet Wakley Prize
for her essay, 'An Epidemic of Loneliness'.
Pre-reading activity
Of course, I have never said a word. Not even to Amal’s father. Instead I
have capitulated to Amal’s needs. When, in the summer, Delhi got too hot for
him to study, I persuaded Amal’s father to buy him an air-cooler. When, in
the winter, Delhi got too cold, we bought him a heater. When he needed
money for the college excursion, we found it.
Vocabulary
40
inconspicuously (adv.) неприметно
reams (n.) [riːm] большое количество, куча
squat (v.) селиться самовольно на чужой
земле
dissect (v.) анализировать, разбирать
критически
indignity (n.) унижение
commemorate (v.) почтить память, отметить,
праздновать
overarching (adj.) всеохватывающий, всеобъемлющий
ambler (n.) иноходец
bevy (n.) группа
whim (n.) прихоть, причуда
chivy along ['ʧɪvɪ] подгонять, подстегивать
frivolous (adj.) легкомысленный, ветреный
reciprocate (v.) отвечать взаимностью
lithe (adj.) [laɪð] гибкий
evolve (v.) развиваться, изменяться
console (v.) утешать
stack up зарабатывать
distraught (adj.) [dɪ'strɔːt] обезумевший, потерявший рассудок
entitle (v.) давать право на что-л.
recede (v.) удаляться
1) Despite the passing years, I still have not adjusted ….. the climate.
3) Never interested … having his own children, but circumstance has moulded
him …… a surrogate parent.
41
5) Amal’s father also grafts ….. children.
6) As I finalize the ingredients for tonight’s meal, I veer …….. the greengrocer.
9) My head had been pounding from how easily the verdict had tripped …. the
judge’s tongue.
11) In their uniforms, entitled to stroll and sit on benches, …. a par with the
natives.
с) ___________ = analyse
d) ___________ = celebrate
42
e) ___________ = keep telling somebody to do something that they don’t want
to do
Comprehension
1. How long has the narrator been in England? Whose initiative was it to
immigrate? Why did they overstay?
2. How many children has she got? How long hasn’t she seen them? What can
you say about them?
3. Who is Bhaiya? What can you say about him?
4. What do Amal’s parent do to earn a living? How do they feel about it? Why
don’t they complain about their destiny?
5. What makes the little London Borough of- feel like home, like a mini-India?
6. Why is Amal coming to London?
7. Who is Lucy? What role does she play in this story?
8. Why can’t the narrator see her son at the airport?
Discussion
What did the narrator mean by “always look up because wherever you are,
the sky is always yours”?
Why does the situation at the airport (“Give my love to Amal, I say. He nods.
And Anu … my … He struggles with his sentence”) give the narrator strength
to peel herself away from her husband, Lucy and England?
43
5. Фигурист обязательно должен быть гибким, иначе ему не удастся
выполнять все элементы, необходимые для победы. Фигурное катание
развивается все быстрее, но большинство связок не изменилось с
середины 20 века.
6. Никто никогда не хочет работать на складе, так как это тяжелая работа.
10. Наоми Кэмпбелл постоянно унижали в школе, так как она была самой
уродливой и тихой девочкой. Но какая красивая и стройная женщина
она теперь!
Read the text and then answer the questions that follow it.
He now lives in Shrewsbury where he taught, and has ministered in the prison
there for the past thirty years.
44
Questions
3) Complete the following timeline of John Waddington's life (fill in all the blanks!):
1933
1954 graduated in English at Leeds university
1989
1999
2002
Pre-reading activity
Talk about the following statements in pairs/groups. Do you agree with them?
In pairs / groups, talk about the following English accents. What are your
experiences of listening to these accents? Which do you like or dislike?
45
Queen’s English (RP) Chinese English
Regional British accents Spanish English
Standard American French English
The story you are going to read looks into the issue of accents and their
effect on our life. Yorkshire accent is in the centre of its attention. You may
find a lot of videos on the Internet to make it clear what the Yorkshire
accent is like.
Here are some tips on how to speak with the Yorkshire accent:
All use of "the" and "to" is replaced with "t'." EG: "I'm going into the
woods"/Ah'm goin' int' woods" (note: the g and the end of "ing" is also
dropped.)
The 'th' at the end of 'with' is dropped. 'I was going with him'/I wa' goin' wi'
'im." This also applies to "was"
The letter T is always dropped at the end of words eg- that becomes tha
Vocabulary
46
forbear (n.) прародитель, предок
47
старой дружбы (широко
используется бывшими
выпускниками привилегированных
частных средних школ)
1) The dialects of the farmlands in the North and East of the country are derived
….. the Angle and Danish-Viking settlers.
48
4) They had passed it …. as a joke but there was no escaping their sinister
undertone.
5) She nagged and nagged …. Clifford till he gave … and they selected a top-
drawer, public school down South.
8) The High Master was asked how Billy was faring …. his speech.
a) ___________ = practical
b) ___________ = a person who is successful in business
c) ___________ = ancestor
Comprehension
49
8) How old was Billy when he was sent to a very select school in Berkshire?
Was it hard to get Billy signed in there?
9) What was the High Master mostly proud of at his school?
Discussion
Why do you think in the end the high Master started speaking with the
Yorkshire accent? What message did the author want to make ending the
story this way?
Why was it so important for Billy’s mother to teach her son to speak upper-
crustian English?
Do you look down on people who are from Odessa, Uzbekistan and other
former Soviet republics?
Read the text and then answer the questions that follow it.
John Kendrick Bangs was born in Yonkers, New York, in May, 1862. His
father, Francis N. Bangs, was a prominent New York lawyer, in fact, one of the
most prominent lawyers the New York bar has ever known.
In 1883, after receiving such an education as any New York boy of a well-to-do
family, young Bangs was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy
from the School of Political Science of Columbia University, New York. For a
year and a half afterward he studied law in his father's office. Gradually his
fondness for literature smothered his zeal as a student of law. So, between dips
into his father's dry volumes, he wrote little sketches in his characteristic vein.
These tentative works introduced him favorably to the managers of “Life”, and,
late in 1884, he became associated with Mr. Mitchell in the editorship of that
entertaining periodical. In addition to his editorial work he undertook to
maintain the attractive "By the Way" page, and to this valuable feature of life he
contributed an extraordinary amount of original matter.
In 1887, while still connected with “Life”, and shortly after his marriage, young
Bangs went abroad, and during this absence from editorial work his first book,
"Roger Camorden, a Strange Story," was published. It was an unusual and very
promising tale of hallucination, and its success was encouraging. That same
year, in collaboration with his friend and class-mate, Frank Dempster Sherman,
he produced a series of satirical and humorous pieces.
Soon afterward he resigned from “Life”, in order to devote more time to larger
work.
51
The first product of the rising author's independent career was a travesty on "The
Taming of the Shrew" called "Katherine". It followed the Shakespearean
construction rather closely, and, with its many quips and gags and jolly songs,
made a first-rate libretto for a comic opera. The popularity of the travesty
advertised the fame of Bangs from one end of Manhattan Island to the other.
The following year, for the same organization, he wrote another travesty,
"Mephistopheles, a Profanation "; and this, too, won much popularity and
further brightened its author's name.
The happy results of his experience as the father of three boys were noticeable in
the book which Mr. Bangs published in 1891, "Tiddledywink Tales," the first of
a series of amusing stories for children.
A novel, "Toppleton's Client," appeared in 1893, and in that year also appeared
his first widely successful work, "Coffee and Repartee," a collection of Idiot
papers. Those were not enthusiastic literary days, and yet in a few years fifty
thousand copies of the little book were sold. "Coffee and Repartee" was
followed at regular intervals by "The Water-Ghost," "The Idiot," "Mr. Bona-
parte of Corsica," and by the other books whose names have at sometime, been
on every liberal reader's tongue,
In 1894 Mr. Bangs was nominated by the Democrats for Mayor of Yonkers, but
he didn’t win. Mr. Bangs spoke of that defeat as the greatest blessing that he
ever met. '' In later years," he says, ''when I saw how I would have been forced
to abandon my chosen profession for politics, when I learned that the mayoralty
would have taken every moment of my time, I was glad that I had been
defeated.”
In 1903 Agnes Hyde Bangs, his wife with whom he had three sons, died. Bangs
then married Mary Gray. In 1907 they moved from Yonkers to Ogunquit,
Maine. John Kendrick Bangs died from stomach cancer in 1922 at age fifty-
nine. Mr. Bangs said that he had his own medicine to cure this disease. He
firmly believed that humor sweetens life. "Show me a man who does not
appreciate humor," he said once, "and I will show you a man who is morbid,
cynical, unresponsive to every fine impulse of nature. Such a man is worse than
a pessimist, and more to be pitied.”
Questions
1862
graduated from the School of Political Science of Columbia
1883
University
1884
his first book, "Roger Camorden, a Strange Story," was
1887
published
1891
1893
1894 nominated by the Democrats for Mayor of Yonkers
1903
1907
1922
53
7.1 The Water Ghost of Harrowby Hall
Pre-reading activity
Ghost stories have been with humankind for thousands of years. There are
written accounts from the Chinese and Greeks, for example, which make up
some of the earliest writings of hauntings. But do people in our modern,
well-educated civilization actually believe in ghosts? Do you know any ghost
stories, or stories about the strange and supernatural? Get into pairs, and
briefly tell a story about ghosts or the supernatural.
Do you believe in ghosts? How about other monsters, like vampires or
mummies? Why/not?
Do you know anyone who has seen, or think he/she has seen, a ghost? If yes,
please explain.
What would you do if you saw a ghost?
How much do you think TV and movies affect your opinions and beliefs?
Please explain.
What are some of your favorite ghost and/or horror movies from Hollywood?
Why do you like them so much?
Vocabulary
54
daunt (v.) устрашать, запугивать
apparition (n.) видение, призрак
get a ducking сильно промокнуть
ward off держать кого-л. на расстоянии
asperity (n.) решимость
infernal (adj.) адский
disagreeable (adj.) неприятный
nay нет
indignation (n.) негодование
repartee (n.) остроумный ответ
impertinence дерзость, нахальство
inexorable (adj.) неумолимый, безжалостный
spectre (n.) привидение, призрак
spite (v.) донимать, раздражать
allotted time выделенное время
divulge (v.) разглашать, раскрывать
douse (v.) заливать, смачивать
wager (n.) пари, ставка
obliterate (v.) стирать, удалять
onslaught (n.) стремительная атака, нападение
evaporate (v.) испаряться
withering (adj.) иссушающий
wellnigh [ˈwelnaɪ] (adv.) возвыш. почти
ingenious (adj.) изобретательный, находчивый
don (v.) уст. надевать
jersey (n.) свитер, вязаная кофта
tormentor (n.) мучитель
rivulet [ rɪvjʊlɪt] ручеёк, речушка
delectable поэт. прелестный, восхитительный
beseech (v.) умолять, заклинать
snowdrift (n.) снежный сугроб
fetters (n.) ножные кандалы, плен
congeal [kənˈdʒi:l ](v.) замораживать
55
Fill in the correct preposition/particle where necessary.
The ghost didn’t content itself ….. merely appearing at the bedside of the
afflicted person who saw it, but persisted … remaining there for one mortal hour
before it would disappear.
And then he swooned …. and was found later saturated …. seawater and fright.
The only thing he could do to ward …. the evil effects of his encounter was to
swallow ten two-grain quinine pills.
Harrowby Hall was closed, and the heir … the estate was in London.
He was felicitating himself … the ingenuity of his plan.
I think we would better sit down here on this snowdrift and talk matters …. .
Comprehension
1) What was the problem with Harrowby Hall?
2) When did the ghost appear? How long did it remain?
3) What did the owners of Harrowby Hall undertake to rid of the dewy lady?
4) What did the ghost look like?
5) Why was she doomed to be the Water Ghost?
56
6) What made her commit suicide?
7) What did she do if there was no one in the guest chamber?
8) Why was it not possible to stay dry in the ghost’s presence?
9) What did Henry Hartwick Oglethorpe implore the ghost to do?
10) Who was the last heir to the estate?
11) How was the heir’s life affected by the regular ghost’s appearance?
12) What ideas did the heir come up with to get rid of the ghost? Which idea
did he finally decide on? Did it work well?
13) How was the ghost finally conquered?
Discussion
Do you think the Water Ghost will remain an icy work of art forever?
Do ghost stories possess a grain of truth? How about fairy tales? Why/not?
Why do some people believe in the paranormal? Might it provide a means of
escape from the mundane?
Do you agree or disagree? If a person has unfinished business when they die,
he/she will become a ghost. Why?
57
7. На торгах собственник заявил, что не намерен уступать в цене. Его
слова расстроили мои планы, так как у меня не хватало денег на всю
коллекцию картин.
Read the text and then answer the questions that follow it.
Truman Capote ['trumən kə'pəuti:] was born in New Orleans in 1924 and was
raised in various parts of the South. His parents divorced when he was only four
and he was brought up by his mother’s relatives. He formed a close link with
Nanny Rumbley Faulk who was his mother’s distant relative.
Capote started writing pieces of fiction at the age of 11; he was given the
nickname Bulldog, pun of "Bulldog Truman" to the fictional detective Bulldog
Drummond popular in films of the mid-1930s.
When his mother eventually remarried and summoned the adolescent Truman to
her homes in Connecticut and New York, she changed his legal surname from
Persons to the name of her second husband, Joe Capote, a Cuban. The physically
odd boy – whose startlingly obvious effeminacy of voice and manner greatly
distressed his mother – attended good Northern schools where he performed
poorly in virtually all subjects but reading and writing.
58
He left school when he was fifteen and determined on a writer’s career, he also
decided against a college education. Capote started working for the New Yorker
which was his first – and last – regular job.
Recognition came to him in 1936 when he wrote an early work from The
Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.
One of his short stories, Miriam, attracted attention of Bennett Cerf who Capote
concluded a treaty with. The writer was charged a $1,500 fee and began Other
Voices, Other Rooms. In 1948 the novel was published to international critical
acclaim, assuring Capote a place among the prominent postwar American
writers. The main character of the novel, Idabel, is the prototype of his neighbor
and best friend Harper Lee. By-turn, Capote was Lee’s inspiration for Dill
Harris in her Pulitzer-prize winning novel “To kill a mocking bird”.
Lee Harper was Capote’s help in research for writing In Cold Blood (1966). A
common journalistic research absorbed several years of his life. Capote never
finished another novel after In Cold Blood.
In 1958 the collection Breakfast at Tiffany’s: A Short Novel and Three Stories
was published. Holly Golightly was Capote’s favorite personage; he based the
character of Holly on several different women who were all either his friends or
surroundings.
On a par with Ernest Hemingway Capote is a master of short stories, these two
writers managed to become American household names. Capote left not only a
crime narrative but also a quantity of early fiction: three brief novels and a
handful of short stories.
Questions
59
1. When and where was Truman Capote born? Was his childhood happy?
2. Which schools did he attend?
3. Was he married? What was the reason for it?
4. Enumerate his most outstanding works.
5. Complete the following timeline of Truman Capote’s life:
1924
1936
1939
1948
1984
Vocabulary
60
rocking chair (n.) кресло-качалка
to commence [kə'men(t)s] (v.) начинать, начинаться
sprightly (adj., adv.) радостный, веселый, оживленный
timid ['tɪmɪd] (adj.) робкий
in memory of в память о
buggy ['bʌgɪ] (n.) детская коляска; тележка
cartwheel ['kɑːtwiːl] колесо тележки
dilapidated [dɪ'læpɪdeɪtɪd] (adj.) ветхий, обветшалый
Pecan tree (n.) орех пекан
wicker ['wɪkə] (n.,v.) лоза
unraveled (adj.) распутанный, вышедший из строя
fern [fɜːn] (n.) папоротник
fishing pole (n.) удочка
truck (n.) тележка
to haul (v.) перевозить
distemper (n.) собачья чумка
to trot (beside) (v.) идти, бежать рядом
to hull [hʌl] (v.) очищать от шелухи/скорлупы
mound [maund] (n.,v.) насыпь
ivory ['aɪv(ə)rɪ] (n.) слоновая кость
to sneak (v.) давать украдкой
mite (n.) маленький кусочек, немножко чего-то
to mingle with (v.) смешиваться
to toss (v.) зд. ставить
ginger (n.) имбирь, корень имбиря
flavouring (n.) приправа, специя
skinflint (adj., n.) скупой; мизерный
sacrilegious [səkrı'lıʤəs] (adj.) кощунственный, святотатственный
to conduct [kən'dʌkt] (v.) вести, проводить
Stereopticon [ˌstɛrɪ'ɒptɪk(ə)n] (n.) диапроектор
rummage ['rʌmɪʤ] (n.) хлам
to take in (v.) зд. собирать, запасать (деньги)
loose [luːs] (adj.,v.,n.) плохо прикрепленный, шатающийся
to withdraw [wɪð'drɔː] (v.) извлекать, вытаскивать
hoe [həu] (n.,v.) мотыга
pebble (n.) галька, булыжник
to wallow in (v.) наслаждаться (чем-то плохим)
on the safe side на всякий случай, для пущей верности
on errand по поручению, заданию
odour ['əudə] (n.) запах, аромат
61
пользоваться косметикой; загорелое лицо; воодушевлять; распродавать
ненужные вещи; волосы, обесцвеченные перекисью; коротко остриженные
волосы; идти рядом, жаться к кому-либо; приступ жадности; трава по пояс;
разматывать воздушный змей; размашистый, неразборчивый почерк;
щекотать пальцы; везти тележку; дразнящий аромат; терять счет;
подержанный свитер.
1. We feel our kites twitching … the string as they swim into the wind.
2. If you start practicing Maths every day, you may get a head … figures.
3. I never took pride… my charity work as all good must be heartfelt.
4. If I were his wife, I would never let him wallow … grief.
5. Wealth and fame have never had power … me.
6. The criminal escaped from prison and managed to leave the city mingling
… the crowd.
7. The shop assistant was discontent with being paid … dimes and pennies.
8. The dog squatted … the foot of the tree scenting the polecat.
62
………………… pin
1. to irritate
2. tanned
63
3. to put into the fire
4. to take pictures
5. closely cropped
6. a pile
7. to bustle about
- faithful
to dilapidate
purpose
relative
carefree
to scald
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
a) Mr. Haha’s café is a dangerous place and even Queenie sticks by.
b) The friends find a wonderful Christmas tree and bring it home.
64
c) The friends look out of the window and see it is fruitcake weather.
d) The aunt is happy and thinks she has seen the Lord. She shares her
impression with Buddy.
e) They unwrap the presents and the boy is disappointed.
f) Queenie dies and the aunt remains alone.
g) The friends recollect the people they are going to bake cakes for.
h) To be on the safe side the friends toss a thirteenth penny out the window.
i) They find things to go to the orchard.
j) The two relatives scold the friends and drive the boy’s aunt to tears.
k) Celebrating the purchase the friends taste whiskey and provoke other
people’s anger.
l) Buddy and the aunt make presents and Christmas-tree decorations.
m) Buddy feels his aunt has passed away long before getting a piece of news.
n) Mr. Haha turns out to be a pleasant person and gives the friend the bottle
for free.
o) The friends remove the purse hidden under the floor and count the money.
p) Buddy is taken to military school; he is unhappy and misses home.
Comprehension
2. Why is fruitcake season so important both for the boy and his aunt? Does
joint action help unite people?
3. Why do they send cakes to people they have never met or met just once or
twice in their life?
4. Why does Buddy at the beginning say his aunt is still a child?
5. What makes Mr. Haha give the friends whisky for free?
7. Why does the narrator mention the kites and the sky so many times?
8. Was the story written from the point of view of a child or a grown-up? What
confirms it?
9. Can you ground the fact the boy disliked other relatives? Does the boy
mention their names?
Do you believe the guitar was really diamond? Why did Tico Feo claim it
was diamond?
Why did Mr. Schaeffer not let anyone play the guitar after Tico Feo’s
escape?
Vocabulary
66
attenuated [ə'tenjueɪtɪd] (adj.) худой, исхудавший
truck (n.,v.) грузовик
handcuff ['hæn(d)kʌf] (n.,v.) наручники; надевать наручники
to mope around (v.) бродить, слоняться без дела
to lag (v.) плестись, медленно тащиться
to stud with (v.) усеивать, усыпать
nimble ['nɪmbl] (adj.) шустрый, проворный
eternity [ɪ'tɜːnətɪ] (n.) вечность
to rot away (v.) зд. выцветать
stale [steɪl] (adj.,v.) несвежий, затхлый
advent ['ædvənt] (n.) пришествие Христа (здесь –
появление в тюрьме Тико Фео)
garish ['geərɪʃ] (adj.) ослепительный
freighter ['freɪtə] (n.) грузовой корабль, грузовой самолет
rosary ['rəuz(ə)rɪ] (n.) четки
to whimper [wɪmpə] (v.) хныкать, ныть
to lean on (v.) зд. рассчитывать на/получать
помощь
thread [θred] (n.,v.) нить; тонкая струйка
ether ['iːθə] (n.) эфир
to churn [ʧɜːn] (v.,n.) перемешивать, трясти
to churn up бередить душу
to screech (v.,n.) пронзительный крик, кричать
пронзительно
to bullfight (v.,n.) бой быков; участвовать в корриде
to keep after smb (v.) не давать покоя
to tantalize (v.) дразнить, мучить
67
to saunter about (v.) прогуливаться
firecracker ['faɪəˌkrækə] (n.) фейерверк, шутиха
meticulously [mə'tɪkjələslɪ] (adv.) дотошно, тщательно, мелочно
tricky (adj.) хитрый, коварный
to grudge (v.,n.) испытывать неприязнь; смотреть с
завистью
Find English equivalents of the following word combinations in the text:
2. Both party of the right and left look … … this politician. He is said to be
extremely honest with his electors.
4. Tico Feo was sentenced to two years in prison for cutting … a man’s ear.
5. At night the sky was studded … stars and we watched the fall of the brightest
of them.
8. The witch was believed to have put a curse … the house. No one inhabited it
and local children never tried to get in through the windows.
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rutted, silvering, dull, nimble, worldly, pocket, subtle, smooth, gigolo, tricky,
pulled-out, glass, gold, tropic, gloomy, long swaying, jingling, winter-stiffened,
falling-asleep, skimming
………………… colour
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show; hang; wear; arouse
1. For many days Tico Feo had been drawn into himself – silent as a robber
waiting in the shadows.
2. A razory stone ripped open the palm of his hand as he slid off the slippery
embankment into the water.
3. He had the tricky eyes of a cardsharp; you could not really tell where he
was looking.
5. He rolled a cigarette … and the smoke from his cigarette lingered in the
cold, darkening air.
What do the following statements mean? Decode them and say which one you
agree with.
***
Friendship is a pretty full-time occupation if you really are friendly with somebody. You can’t
have too many friends because then you are just not really friends.
T.Capote
***
70
I don’t trust him. We are friends.
Bertolt Brecht
***
Jason Fon
Please, divide the following words connected with positive and negative
aspects of friendship into two columns. Translate the words and learn them.
Make three sentences with positive characteristics and also three with
negative ones.
A B
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Comprehension
1. Why does Tico Feo become Mr. Schaeffer’s friend? Do you believe he was a
loyal friend to him?
3. Why does Tico Feo seem so childish to Mr. Schaeffer? Is Mr. Schaeffer right
in his judgment?
5. Why did Tico Feo choose Mr. Schaeffer to complete the plan? Was there
anybody more suitable for it?
6. Why did the guard declare Mr. Schaeffer was trying to prevent the escape?
7. The guitar is an important item in the story. How many times was the word
“guitar” mentioned? What does it mean? Why does Mr. Schaeffer keep it so
carefully?
Discussion
When did you understand that Tico Feo used Mr. Schaeffer as a blind
smokescreen?
Why did Mr. Schaeffer not understand the real plan till the escape?
Was he embarrassed/shocked/confused afterwards?
Do you think it is right to make friends in prison? Do you know three
postulates of prisoners’ life towards each other?
Scan the story again for descriptions of Tico Feo and Mr. Schaeffer.
Give quotations from the text!
Appearance
72
Personality
Actions
Speech
73
8. Горничная распахнула шторы, и ослепляющий белый свет залил
комнату. Было 9 часов утра, но постоялец уже выехал, оставив
скромные чаевые на тумбочке.
9. Этот сорванец не дает мне покоя уже вторую неделю! Вчера он
разлил томатный сок на пол, и до сих пор пол липкий. А сейчас он
бегает по дому с пронзительным криком и гоняет кота.
10.Мы раскрошили черствый хлеб птицам и наблюдали, как они
подлетают к кормушке и клюют кусочки.
He was married four times and also had a lot of love affairs. He was a great
writer, a hard drinker, a hunter, a fisherman, a soldier and a traveler, a person
who proved all his life that he was a man worthy of that name. He proved it. To
live longer was of no interest for him.
Read the text and then answer the questions that follow it.
Ernest Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago in 1899.
His father was a doctor and his mother was a musician. Hemingway was the
second of six children. His parents were well-educated and respected in the
conservative community. Hemingway disliked his name and said he associated
it with a naïve and foolish character of Oscar Wilde “The importance to be
Ernest”.
In childhood mother made him learn to play the cello and later he confessed that
he hated her. Hemingway preferred his father’s society who taught him to hunt
and fish and often took the boy with when left the city. From 1913 until 1917,
Hemingway attended Oak Park and River Forest High School. As a senior
student he didn’t play the cello any more. He was much more interested in
sports, especially boxing.
Ernest did not go to the University although his parents believed it was better
for him. Instead in 1917 he joined the Kansas City Star as a cub reporter as poor
eyesight did not let him go to the front. The following year he volunteered to
work as an ambulance driver on the Italian front. He was trying to save a
wounded sharpshooter when the Austrians fired at him and killed the sniper.
Hemingway was badly wounded but twice decorated for his services. He
74
returned to America in 1919 and married in 1921. His wife Hadley Richardson
was 8 years senior.
In 1922 he reported on the Greco-Turkish War, then two years later resigned
from journalism to devote himself to writing. The couple settled in Paris where
Hemingway renewed his earlier friendship with such fellow-American
expatriates as Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein. Their criticism and
encouragement were to play a valuable part in the formation of his style.
Hemingway’s first two published works were Three Stories and Ten Poems and
In Our Time. He sent to his parents In Our Time but his father was only angry
with Ernest and the book.
In 1927 Hemingway married again, Pauline Pfeiffer was his second spouse. The
marriage produced two sons, Patrick and Gregory.
In 1933 Hemingway and Pauline went on safari to East Africa. The 10-week trip
provided material for Green hills of Africa and for the short story The Snows of
Kilimanjaro.
He visited Spain during the Civil War and described his experiences in For
whom the Bell Tolls (1940). At the same time Hemingway divorces Pauline and
in 1947 marries Martha Gellhorn, a journalist, who had also worked for Vogue
in Paris. Martha was ambitious and self-reliant and did not change her family
name to her husband’s.
During World War II Hemingway patrolled the sea coast on his famous Pilar. In
1947 he was awarded a Bronze Star for his bravery during the War.
In 1948 in Venice the writer fell in love with a 19-year-old Adriana Ivancich.
The girl was the prototype of Renata in the novel Across the River and Into the
Trees.
In 1952 Hemingway won the Pulitzer Prize and in 1954 he was awarded a Nobel
Prize for Literature, following the publication of The Old Man and The Sea.
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In summer 1961 Ernest Hemingway committed a suicide. The press announced
that his death had been accidental.
Questions
4. What are his famous works? When were his first works published?
5. How can you characterize his laconic style? (There is a special term! If you
don’t know it, do all the exercises attentively, there will be the answer!)
6. Did he serve in the Army? What contribution did he make to the victory in
World War II?
8. Who was Ernest Hemingway’s favorite writer? (Hemingway loved all men’s
activities, such as hunting, traveling and in childhood he read lots of stories
about them. Who of American writers wrote about Gold Rush and all mentioned
above things?)
10. Did his ability to play the cello help him in writing any piece of fiction?
76
1899
1913-1917
1926
1927
1946
1947
1961
The story is simple, the author used the same words and a lot of phrases
were repeated many times within the course of the story. Can you name
them?
Did the story impress you? Do you think the characters are frank with
themselves and the surroundings?
What is the Light in the story? Love/friendship/truth?
Vocabulary
77
punk (n.) неопытный молодой человек
1. The man slid the beer … me and asked the other girl what she was going to
drink.
2. Please, stop interfering … my business! You have your family to support and
give advice!
3. The detective has sworn the girl … silence, she was radiant with joy and
happy about all secrecy and her important mission.
4. Walking side … side in Neskuchny Garden the poets were discussing the last
poetry contest.
5. The smoke … the stove filled the kitchen, it smelled of meat and garlic.
If a writer knows enough about what he is writing about, he may omit things that
he knows. The dignity of movement of an iceberg is due to only one ninth of it
being above water.
E.Hemingway
Comprehension
a) The story abounds in dialogues, they are short and coded. What is their role in
the story?
b) Who are the young lads and what are they doing in the country?
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c) Why does the conversation begin? How can you characterize the cook and the
two prostitutes?
d) What is your attitude to the conflict between the women? Who do you
sympathize with?
Additional questions
The author repeats the prostitute was nice and had a lovely voice. Why
does he repeat it? Why does he rivet our attention to it? Remember that
Hemingway like Chekhov never used an excess word in his works of
literature!
Who of German contemporaries also described prostitutes as wise and
kind women?
80
9. Когда-то у мальчика был мишка, набитый опилками. Сейчас мягкие
игрушки делают из современных материалов, которые прочнее и
лучше.
10. Крестоносец дал клятву оставаться верным престолу и церкви и не
щадить ее врагов.
Vocabulary
82
1. The necessity … wage reform was obvious although the Union of state
employers was not ready to discuss it with the trade union.
2. Mother still feeling dizzy held … … Emy … the arm. She asked about granny
and wanted me to pick up the children from school.
3. The peasant children lost their way in the forest and huddled … trying to keep
warm. They watched the night coming and feared the wild animals.
4. … her debut as a cheerleader the girl was nervous and awkward. Having
rehearsed the dance many times she found it too quick and uncoordinated.
5. A new miracle cure will help you be fast … your feet. Taking only one pill
per day you will become vigorous and active.
7. The younger son taking … the business was too frivolous and spendthrift.
Although there were many well-to-do guests living … the pension nobody
wanted to see any changes and pay more for poor service.
83
…………………… fight ………….. auctioneer
Comprehension
84
3. Who lived at the pension and who above all attracted Paco’s attention?
4. Why did Paco crave for a career of a bullfighter? Was he unaware of reality in
bull ring?
5. Why did the dishwasher suggest playing bullfighting? Did the dishwasher’s
persuasions convince Paco?
7. What went wrong with the boys’ game? Why was Paco careless enough to be
wounded?
8. What changed after Paco’s death? Why is activity of the surroundings shown
in the course of the whole story?
9. Why does Hemingway mention Greta Garbo’s film several times? Why does
he say Paco had no time to be disappointed in the film?
85
8. Чистильщик сапог сидел рядом с художником и уличным
музыкантом. Они только обсудили газетную статью и смеялись над
шуткой музыканта, утверждавшего, что это утка.
9. Современные музыканты недолго популярны, их песни однообразны
и скучны. Но если распадается одна группа, появляется тут же пять
ее солистов-участников с таким же репертуаром и таким же стилем.
10.Охота на ведьм продолжилась, когда церковь заявила, что
рыжеволосые женщины и люди с родимыми пятнами на лице
являются помощниками дьявола. Только годы спустя эти ужасные
обычаи изжили себя, а население смогло вздохнуть спокойно.
James Grover Thurber was born in Columbus, Ohio, on 8 December, 1894. His
parents were Charles L. Thurber and Mary Agnes (Mame) Fisher Thurber.
He had two brothers one of whom playing a game of William Tell shot him in
the eye with an arrow due to which Thurber lost his eye. The injury was
complicated and Thurber could never recover and later it brought blindness.
Like many of the blind Thurber had a lively imagination which helped him in
writing.
From 1913 to 1918, Thurber attended the Ohio State University but he did not
get a degree on account of his disease. Only in 1995 he was posthumously
awarded a degree.
From 1918 to 1920 Thurber worked as a code clerk for the State Department in
Washington, D.C., and then in France, Paris. He returned to Columbus and
started his writing career. From 1921 to 1924 he worked as a reporter for the
Columbus Dispatch.
86
In 1927 he was appointed to a position of an editor of the New Yorker and three
years later he started a career as a cartoonist. Because of poor eyesight his
pictures had its idiosyncratic characteristics; Thurber drew them on large sheets
of paper with a crayon. Later they were painted for more seeing imagery.
Thurber wrote short stories (many of them were published in The New Yorker),
some prose for the New Yorker, fables, a hit comic drama The Male Animal
(1940), numerous humorous essays, the most famous of which are: The Secret
Life of Walter Mitty (1939), The Rabbits Who Caused All the Trouble (1939),
The Catbird Seat (1942), The Scotty Who Knew Too Much (1939).
His stories included several book-length fairy tales, such as The White Deer
(1945), The 13 Clocks (1950) and The Wonderful O (1957).
In 1947 Thurber wrote a five-part New Yorker series where he tried to explain
the radio soap opera phenomenon.
1) Where and when was James Thurber born? When did he die?
1894
1921-
1924
1927
87
wrote a series about soap opera phenomenon
1961
Vocabulary
89
голоса; требовать смертной казни (о прокуроре); проверять, заточен ли
нож; приложить указательный палец к губам; чокаться бокалами; приход к
власти; составить план; хорошая память на даты; идея созрела; писать
докладную, сообщать о чем-либо.
1. Polite people usually are not charged … aggression and rude behaviour.
3. The sportsman was swinging … the ball when the net tilted to the left.
4. Mortimer won his simple case … his employer and was paid the terminal
wage.
5. The applicants are supposed to write all the answers in the exam in a pencil to
rub … the mistakes easily.
6. Baiting … the neighbors in the communal flat the old man had not a clear
objective but amusement.
7. Her shock was wearing … and the relations never mentioned again her
husband’s loss.
8. His classmates always tricked him … They thought he was an ordinary boy
and could not see why he studied at private school.
9. The policeman was making … John when the alarm went off and they were
both red lit in the store.
10. The clergyman praised the lay brother’s speech … its ardour and sincerity.
91
6. The procedure would have made an awkward loop in the straight thread of his
casualness.
7. I’ll be coked to the gills when I bump that old buzzard off!
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Style
What stylistic devices are used in Mr. Martin’s speech and descriptions? Scan
the story attentively and highlight the most important phrases.
Comprehension
The struggle
In the story Mrs. Barrows clashes with Mr. Martin, the team (the people who
were fired under her pressure and those who were supposed to be fired later) and
Mr. Fitweiler. Everyone except for the bewitched Mr. Fitweiler is aware of the
situation. Although Mr. Martin is the quietest and unremarkable employee, he
manages to implement his plan.
93
Mr. Martin <=> Mrs. Barrows <=>the team
||
Mr. Fitweiler
a) Who are the main characters of the story? How can you characterize
them?
b) How did Mrs. Barrows get a position in the company?
c) Why was Mr. Martin so anxious and puzzled all the time?
d) What was Mr. Martin’s first plan? How did he change it?
e) When did Mr. Martin understand Mrs. Barrows was going to liquidate his
filing department?
f) Did Mr. Martin fulfill his plan up to scratch?
g) Why did nobody believe Mrs. Barrows?
h) Did Mrs. Barrows understand Mr. Martin’s trick?
i) Who of the two characters is more resourceful and calculating – Mr.
Martin or Mrs. Barrows?
j) Women are considered to be rancorous and vengeful. In our story a man
carries a tricky plan out. What do you think about it? And why did a man
turn out to be smarter than a woman?
Additional questions
Franklin D. Roosevelt once noticed: “I am not the smartest fellow in the world,
but I can sure pick smart colleagues”.
94
3. Музыкант легко выбросил из головы неправильный мотив и разучил
второй этюд. Композиции, трудные для понимания другим, ему
прекрасно удавались.
4. Вспоминая грешки спортсменок, тренер расстраивалась все больше и
больше: все элементы были проработаны много раз, но выступление
все равно было неудачным.
5. Хвастаясь своим новым автомобилем, Билл никому не сказал его
цену. Для него важнее было пустить пыль в глаза, чем совершить
выгодную покупку.
6. Герцог и герцогиня чокнулись бокалами с гостями и вышли на
балкон. Красочный фейерверк был дан в честь рождения наследника,
которого ожидала вся семья.
7. Служебная записка была передана лично в руки начальнику отдела,
он подписал ее и поручил секретарю уладить вопрос.
8. Непрофессиональный диагноз стал причиной неправильного
лечения. Если бы она вовремя обратилась к врачу, то болезнь не
прогрессировала бы так быстро.
9. Ребенок показывал язык сестре и выглядел смешно. Он гримасничал
и, казалось, получал от этого удовольствие.
10.Преступник намеренно вводил следствие в заблуждение, надеясь,
что улики против него так и не будут представлены. Свое алиби он
считал железным и был уверен, что в этот раз полиция останется ни
с чем.
If you do not tell the truth about yourself, you cannot tell it about other people.
Virginia Woolf
Read the text and then answer the questions that follow it.
Adeline Virginia Woolf [wulf] was born in London, 25 January 1882. Her
father, Leslie Stephen was an author, historian, and critic. He edited the
Dictionary of National Biography; this work influenced Virginia’s future
biographies. Virginia’s mother was a model for painters. The family was large
because for both spouses it was the second marriage; together Leslie Stephen
and Julia Stephen had four children.
Virginia was educated by her parents; the Victorian literary society influenced
the family much as there were many outstanding people among their guests.
95
The girl was only thirteen when her mother died and her half-sister Stella had to
run the house. Two years later Stella passed away and now elder Vanessa had to
be busy with domestic chores. Virginia suffered but found strength to take
courses of study.
In 1900 Virginia Woolf started writing professionally for the Times Literary
Supplement.
Virginia was fond of her sister Vanessa and they promised each other never to
get married. However, in 1907 Vanessa accepted Clive Bell’s proposal. Despite
her critical attitude to Jews in 1912 Virginia married Leonard Woolf. Her
marriage was a happy and long one, which is confirmed by the notes in her
diary. However, during their engagement she addressed him “penniless Jew”.
The couple founded family business – the Hogarth Press which published
Woolf’s works. In 1925 her first novel The Voyage Out was published. Woolf’s
works are best known for their stream of consciousness and disclosure of
psychological motives of the characters.
In 1927 Woolf finished To the Lighthouse where she showed the struggle in the
creative process.
Woolf was a member of the Bloomsbury Group – it included writers and artists.
There were such famous and outstanding people as Duncan Grant, Roger Fry,
Clive Bell. The morality of the Group was rather liberal and loyalty to the
spouse was not a common fact. Woolf started a relationship with Vita Sackville-
West and reflected it in Orlando (1928).
In Mrs. Dalloway (1925) Virginia Woolf describes Clarissa Dalloway and her
attempts to organize a party. Clarissa Dalloway is also the main character of
some of Woolf’s short stories.
Her next work was The Waves (1931). Flush: A Biography (1933) is partly
Virginia’s autobiography, it was written from the dog’s point of view. Between
The Acts (1941) was Woolf’s last work.
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And though she is best known as a novelist, Virginia Woolf is also a master of
short stories. In almost fifty sketches Woolf managed to update the narrative
models of her day with avant-garde style that distinguished her classic novels.
Her most known short stories are: Monday or Tuesday (1922); A Haunted
House and Other Short Stories (1944); Kew Gardens (1918).
All her life she suffered nervous disorder and often fell into a depression. During
the Blitz her London home was demolished, she could not concentrate on her
work, as she wrote in her last note to her husband. Woolf committed a suicide;
she drowned into the River Ouse.
Questions
1895 1
1. started writing professionally 1
1925
1927
1931
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• The title of the story can be interpreted in some ways. Think about the
meanings of the word kind and answer what Prickett Ellis loved – the human
kind/ his character/ descent.
• Prickett has prick in its root; it means to pierce sharply. All the time Prickett
Ellis says what he thinks; his speech hurts Miss O’Keefe’s feelings. Is Prickett
Ellis a speaking name?
Vocabulary
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muddled (adj.) смущенный, пораженный
muddy (adj.,v.) зд. смутившийся, растерявшийся
Find English equivalents for the following expressions:
1. Spring is drawing … and soon the gardens will be filled with birds’
singing.
2. The guerillas were slinking … the path and listening to the noise.
3. The rain was pouring down; she had matches but could not strike one …
the box – everything was wringing wet.
4. The boy sticks … in the class due to his brilliant mind and abilities for
exact sciences.
5. All the gymnasium students who were late were shut … … the classes.
……………………man
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Find words in the text with the following meanings:
Find the following sentences in the text. Explain the words and word
combinations in italics.
1. Not when people all day long wanted your help, fairly clamoured for help.
2. Dalloway was married, gave parties; wasn’t his sort at all.
3. …just the same knobbly, chubby little boy then, with prejudices sticking
out all over him…
4. He felt that these people whom he despised made him stand and deliver
and justify himself.
5. It was unpleasant that the sense of his goodness should boil within him.
6. …instead of picking her thorn out he had rubbed it in…
Paraphrase the following expressions using active word combinations and use
them in sentences of your own.
Comprehension
1. Was the meeting of the two classmates unexpected? Did they recognize
each other immediately?
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2. Why did Prickett Ellis decide to visit Mr. Dalloway? What were the
reasons not to go?
3. Did Prickett Ellis feel at ease? Were there his friends among the guests?
4. Why did Miss O’Keefe behave in such an abrupt way?
5. Miss O’Keefe remembered all the time the incident with the poor woman
and the children; she was not able to dismiss it but still she is represented
as a callous, selfish woman. Why is it so?
6. Although Prickett Ellis helps people for free, all the time he thinks and
speaks about his doings and despises the others for not being as
sympathetic as he is. Is he really so good and not indifferent? Can you
characterize him in a few words?
7. Did Prickett Ellis and Miss O’Keefe understand each other?
Questions
1. What struck you most about the story? Is the end of the story predictable?
2. What is the message of the story? (social/moral/political)
3. Where is the conflict in the story?
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9. «В пятницу администрация принимает важную персону –
представителя дипломатической миссии Ирана, и я буду освещать
это событие вселенского масштаба», - иронично рассказывал Ян.
10.Во время Великой Депрессии она боролась с трудностями и сама
обеспечивала семью. Теперь же ей надоело, что брат и сестры ждут
ее помощи и так сильно зависят от нее, не пытаясь ничего изменить
самостоятельно.
What makes Mabel Waring suffer at the party? Was the dress the only
reason for that?
Do you think Mabel Waring belonged in that society?
Vocabulary
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malice ['mælɪs] (n.) злоба
1. People around were looking her … which made her feel even more
nervous.
2. … shame the boy blushed and couldn’t say a word.
3. It was raining heavily and Michael pulled his pointed hat … his eyes.
4. Trying to beat the attack … the citizens were drawing back with
annoyance.
5. Sticking … her decision and ignoring her neighbor’s tricks were the best
things to do at their cold war.
6. The fortune-teller bore … … the girl who looked perplexed and sad.
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Match the adjectives to the nouns.
Find the following sentences in the text. Explain and expand on the following.
1. She felt like a dressmaker’s dummy standing there, for young people to
stick pins into.
2. Charles said nothing of the kind, of course. He was malice itself.
3. But in her yellow dress tonight she could not wring out one drop more;
she wanted it all, all for herself.
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4. They petered out respectably in seaside resorts; every watering-place had
one of her aunts even now asleep in some lodging with the front windows
not quite facing the sea.
5. Then in the midst of this creeping, crawling life, suddenly she was on the
crest of a wave.
6. And for ever after she would be perfectly clear about Charles Burt and
Miss Milan and this room…
Comprehension
1) Did Mabel have her dress sewn especially for the party at Mrs. Dalloway?
Did Mabel want to look fashionable? Where did she find the outline of
her dress?
2) Do you believe the old-fashioned dress was the real reason for her
disappointment? Did Mabel not exaggerate the surroundings’ attention to
her?
3) How can you characterize Mabel? She was a romantic person, wasn’t
she? Please, quote from the text!
4) What does the dress symbolize in the story? Do the flies (the
surroundings) mean anything? Do Mabel and the dress have anything in
common?
5) Why was Charles Burt’s support so important to Mabel? She knew he was
against her but asked him for help, why is it so?
6) Did she want to change her life – “she would go to the London Library;
she would be called Sister Somebody”?
7) Why is the repetition (“wrapped herself, round and round and round”)
used at the end of the story?
Questions
1. Have you ever found yourself in the described situation? What should a
person do in such a situation?
2. Do you think Mabel was right considering the people hostile and even
aggressive to her?
1. Все время до суда эта маленькая семья жила твердой верой матери и
убеждениями Клайда в письмах о своей невиновности.
2. Показная любезность клерка и его рьяное желание помочь
оттолкнули робкого клиента.
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3. Каждый раз проходя мимо витрин, Гортензия замирала у манекена в
модной шубке.
4. Бросив беглый взгляд на туриста, мошенник решил, что кошелек и
камера станут легкой добычей.
5. Тот факт, что костюмы для спектакля не соответствовали
исторической реальности, газета назвала печальным (прискорбным).
6. Ребенок хотел выскользнуть из дома во двор, но мать вовремя
заметила это.
7. Главным своим недостатком мужчина назвал нерешительность.
8. Мы пытались спасти чахлый цветок, но ни солнце, ни теплый воздух
не помогли.
9. Как посчитала Мейбел, ее платье было самым безвкусным.
10.Обывательские взгляды брата испугали Анну, и она даже не стала
пытаться убедить его, что он не прав.
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Questions about the authors.
We hope you not only remembered different facts about the writers and their
style/technique/themes/characters but also enjoyed the stories! To check your
memory skills, knowledge and ability to guess you can answer the following
questions. Good luck!