Методическая разработка по домашнему чтению на английском языке для студентов 3 курса

МИНИСТЕРСТВО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ И НАУКИ

 РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ

ОБЛАСТНОЕ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОЕ БЮДЖЕТНОЕ  ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНОЕ УЧРЕЖДЕНИЕ СРЕДНЕГО ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ

ИРКУТСКИЙ АГРАРНЫЙ ТЕХНИКУМ

Stories for Discussion

Методическая разработка

по домашнему чтению на английском языке

 для студентов 3 курса

Иркутск 2012

     Данная методическая разработка  содержит материалы по  домашнему чтению и состоит из рассказов современных авторов, заданий и упражнений к ним. Пособие предназначено как для аудиторных занятий, так и для самостоятельной работы студентов. 

Выполнила: Рудакова Марина Валентиновна  преподаватель ОБГОУ СПО

                                                                    «Иркутский аграрный техникум»

Рецензент: преподаватель

высшей категории

ОБГОУ СПО «Иркутский  техникум кино

и телевидения»                                                                Н.Ю.Юркина

Рассмотрено на заседании ЦК

ОГ дисциплин

Протокол № 7 от 20 марта 2012

Рассмотрено на заседании НМС

Протокол №     от

С О Д Е Р Ж А Н И Е

ВВЕДЕНИЕ……………………………………………………………………..4

      I. ОСНОВНАЯ ЧАСТЬ……………………………………………………. 5      

1.1   The broken boot by John Galsworthy………………………………  5

1.2   Mr.Know-all by W.Somerset Maugham……………………………14

1.3   Lost on dress parade by O.Henry…………………………………...25

1.4   Rachel by Erskine Caldwell………………………………………...36

      II. ЛИТЕРАТУРА………………………………………………………….46

Введение

      Чтение на иностранном языке – один из важнейших обучающих элементов. Оно расширяет кругозор студентов, знакомит их с произведениями зарубежных авторов, развивает мышление и воображение, создает дополнительную мотивацию к изучению языка и многое другое. Всего этого можно достичь, введя регулярные уроки домашнего чтения в процесс обучения. Такие уроки позволят учителю разнообразить формы работы, обеспечить практическое применение изученного на традиционных уроках иностранного языка, развивать навыки устной речи при обсуждении текста, формировать различные навыки чтения, существенно расширять лексический запас учащихся.

     Основной целью обучения студентов английскому языку в среднем профессиональном учебном заведении является достижение ими практического владения этим языком,  что предполагает формирование умения самостоятельно читать литературу  с целью извлечения информации из иноязычных источников.

       Использование художественных текстов на уроках домашнего чтения неотделимо от страноведческого аспекта преподавания иностранных языков. Наряду с решением основных речевых и лингвистических задач домашнее чтение, построенное на произведениях художественной литературы, может способствовать осуществлению важной образовательной цели – введение студентов в мир культуры страны изучаемого иностранного языка.

        При организации уроков домашнего чтения я преследую следующую главную цель: студент должен уметь извлечь из текста требуемую информацию, преодолевая возможные барьеры в процессе чтения, с возможным переходом к продуктивным видам речевой деятельности: говорение и письмо.

           Данная методическая разработка предназначена для студентов третьих курсов, которые имеют элементарный уровень владения английским языком, и имеет своей целью подготовку студентов к пороговому, базовому уровню владения иностранным языком (по общеевропейской шкале уровней владения иностранным языком).

Основная часть

1.1 THE BROKEN BOOT

by John Galsworthy

The actor, Gilbert Caister, who had been "out" for six months, emerged from his east-coast seaside lodg­ing about noon in the day, after the opening of "Shoot­ing the Rapids1", on tour, in which he was playing Dr. Dominick in the last act. A salary of four pounds a week would not, he was conscious, remake his fortunes, but a certain jauntiness had returned to the gait and manner of one employed again at last.

Fixing his monocle, he stopped before a fishmonger's and, with a faint smile on his face, regarded a lobster. Ages since he had eaten a lobster! One could long for a lobster without paying, but the pleasure was not solid enough to detain him. He moved upstreet and stopped again, before a tailor's window. Together with the ac­tual tweeds, in which he could so easily fancy himself refitted, he could see a reflection of himself, in the fad­ed brown suit wangled out 2of the production of "Marmaduke Mandeville" the year before the war. The sunlight in this damned town was very strong, very hard on seams and buttonholes, on knees and elbows3! Yet he received the ghost of aesthetic pleasure from the reflected elegance of a man long fed only twice a day, of an eyeglass well rimmed out from a soft brown eye4, of a velour hat salved from the production of "Educat­ing Simon" in 1912; and in front of the window he re­moved that hat, for under it was his new phenomenon, not yet quite evaluated, his meche blanche5. Was it an asset, or the beginning of the end? It reclined back­wards on the right side, conspicuous in his dark hair, above that shadowy face always interesting to Gilbert Caister. They said it came from atrophy of the—some­thing nerve, an effect of the war, undernourished tis­sue. Rather distinguished, perhaps, but—!

        He walked on, and became conscious that he had passed a face he knew. Turning, he saw it also turn on a short and dapper figure—a face rosy, bright, round, with an air of cherubic knowledge, as of a getter-up of amateur theatricals.

       Bryce-Green, by George!

    "Caister? It is! Haven't seen you since you left the old camp. Remember what sport we had over “Gotta-Grampus6”? By Jove! I am glad to see you. Doing any­thing with yourself? Come and have lunch with me."

       Bryce-Green, the wealthy patron, the moving spirit of entertainment in that south-coast convalescent camp. And drawling slightly, Caister answered:

       "I shall be delighted." But within him something did not drawl: "By God, you're going to have a feed, my boy!"

       And—elegantly threadbare, roundabout and dap­per—the two walked side by side.

      "Know this place? Let's go in here! Phyllis, cocktails for my friend Mr Caister and myself, and caviare on biscuits. Mr Caister is playing here; you must go and see him."

      The girl who served the cocktails and the caviare looked up at Caister with interested blue eyes. Pre­cious7! - he had been "out" for six months!

       "Nothing of a part," he drawled, "took it to fill a gap." And below his waistcoat the gap echoed: "Yes, and it'll take some filling."

      "Bring your cocktail along, Caister, we'll go into the little further room, there'll be nobody there. What shall we have—a lobstah?"

       And Caister murmured: "I love lobstahs."

"Very fine and large here. And how are you, Caist­er? So awfully glad to see you—only real actor we had." "Thanks," said Caister, "I'm all right." And he tho­ught: "He's a damned amateur, but a nice little man."

"Sit here. Waiter, bring us a good big lobstah and a salad; and then—er—a small fillet of beef with potatoes fried crisp, and a bottle of my special hock! Ah! and a rum omelette—plenty of rum and sugar. Twig8?"

And Caister thought: "Thank God, I do."

They had sat down opposite each other at one of two small tables in the little recessed room.

"Luck!" said Bryce-Green.

       "Luck!" replied Caister; and the cocktail trickling down him echoed: "Luck!"

       "And what do you think of the state of the drama?" Oh! ho! A question after his own heart. Balancing his monocle by a sweetish smile on the opposite side of his mouth, Caister drawled his answer: "Quite too bal­ly awful9!"

       "H'm! Yes," said Bryce-Green; "nobody with any genius, is there?"

       And Caister thought: "Nobody with any money."

       "Have you been playing anything great? You were so awfully good in 'Gotta-Grampus'!"

       "Nothing particular, I've been—er—rather slack." And with their feel around his waist his trousers seemed to echo: "Slack!"

       "Ah!" said Bryce-Green. "Here we are! Do you like claws?"

       "Tha-a-nks. Anything!" To eat—until warned by the pressure of his waist against his trousers! What a feast! And what a flow of his own tongue suddenly released— on drama, music, art; mellow and critical, stimulated by the round eyes and interjections of his little provin­cial host.

       "By Jove, Caister! You've got a meche blanche. Nev­er noticed. I'm awfully interested in meches blanches. Don't think me too frightfully rude—but did it come suddenly?"

       "No, gradually."

       "And how do you account for it?"

        Try starvation,' trembled on Caister's lips.

       "I don't," he said.

       "I think it's ripping10. Have some more omelette? I often wish I'd gone on the regular stage myself. Must be a topping life, if one has talent, like you."

        Topping?

       "Have a cigar. Waiter! Coffee, and cigars. I shall come and see you tonight. Suppose you'll be here a week?"

        Topping! The laughter and applause—“Mr. Caist­er's rendering left nothing to be desired; its—and its— are in the true spirit of—!”

        Silence recalled him from his rings of smoke. Bryce-Green was sitting, with cigar held out and mouth a lit­tle open, and bright eyes round as pebbles, fixed— fixed on some object near the floor, past the corner of the tablecloth. Had he burnt his mouth? The eyelids fluttered; he looked at Caister, licked his lips like a dog, nervously and said:

        "I say, old chap, don't think me a beast, but are you at all—er—er—rocky11? I mean—if I can be of any ser­vice, don't hesitate! Old acquaintance, don't you know, and all that—"

        His eyes rolled out again towards the object, and Caister followed them. Out there above the carpet he saw it—his own boot. It dangled slightly, six inches off the ground—split-right across, twice, between lace and toecap. Quite12!  He knew it. A boot left him from the role of Bertie Carstairs, in "The Dupe," just before the war. Good boots. His only pair, except the boots of Dr. Dominick, which he was nursing. And from the boot he looked back at Bryce-Green, sleek and concerned. A drop, black when it left his heart, suffused his eye be­hind the monocle; his smile curled bitterly; he said:

       "Not at all, thanks! Why?"

       "Oh, n-n-nothing. It just occurred to me." His eyes— but Caister had withdrawn the boot. Bryce-Green paid the bill and rose.

       "Old chap, if you'll excuse me; engagement at half past two. So awfully glad to have seen you. Good-bye!"

       "Good-bye!" said Caister. "Thanks." He was alone. And, chin on hand, he stared through his monocle into an empty coffee cup. Alone with his heart, his boot, his life to come... 'And what have you been in lately, Mr Caister?' 'Nothing very much lately. Of course I've played almost everything.

''Quite so. Perhaps you'll leave your address; can't say anything definite, I'm afraid."!—I should—er—be willing to re­hearse on approval; or—if I could the part? ''Thank you, afraid we haven't got as far as that. ''No? Quite! Well, I shall hear from you, perhaps.'' And Caister could see his own eyes looking at the manager. God! What a look!... A topping life! Cadging—cadging—cadging "for work! A life of draughty waiting, of concealed beg­gary, of terrible depressions, of want of food13!

         The waiter came skating round as if he desired to clear. Must go! Two young women had come in and were sitting at the other table between him and the door. He saw them look at him, and his sharpened senses caught the whisper;

       "Sure—int he last act. Don't you see his meche blanche?"

       "Oh! yes—of course! Isn't it—wasn't he—!"

        Caister straightened his back; his smile crept out, he

fixed his monocle. They had spotted his Dr. Dominick! 

        "If you've quite finished, sir, may I clear?"

        "Certainly. I'm going." He gathered himself and rose. The young women were gazing up, Elegant, with a faint smile, he passed them close, so that they could not see, managing—his broken boot.

1.     “Shooting the Rapids” (“Через пороги”) – the little of a play

2.     The actor had managed by some means or other to keep the suit he had been wearing when acting in a play called “Marmaduke Mandeville”

3.     The sunlight … was very hard on seams and buttonholes, on knees and elbows – The sunlight … mercilessly eхposed all the shabbiness of his suit.

4.     … an eyeglass well rimmed out from a soft brown eye – Through the glass of his monocle one could see his soft brown eye as if framed by the latter.

5.     meche blanche (Fr.) – a lock of white hair

6.     “Gotta-Grampus” – the name of a play

7.     Precious! (coll) – here: an exclamation

8.     Twig? (sl.) – See? Understand?

9.     Quite too bally awful (sl.) – too bad, terrible

10. ripping, topping (coll.) – splendid, excellent

11. Are you rocky? (coll.) – here: Are you in reduced circumstances?

12. Quite! – here: Of course! Absolutely!

13. a life of draughty waiting – a life full of waiting in draughty corridors and waiting rooms

14. They had spotted his Dr Dominick – They had recognized him as the actor who played the part of Dr Dominick

Word combinations

on tour – на гастролях

to be hard on smb. (smth.) – быть безжалостным к кому-либо (чему-либо)

to have sport (fun) – повеселиться, хорошо провести время

to fill a gap – заполнить брешь, пробел

It’ll take some filling. – зд. Нелегко будет заполнить пустоту (в желудке).

after one’s own heart – по душе

to account for – объяснять

to go on the stage – стать актером, пойти на сцену

to leave nothing to be desired – не оставлять желать ничего лучшего

to leave much to be desired – оставлять желать много лучшего

to  be of service – быть полезным

Exercises to the text

Paraphrase the following sentences. Say in which situations they occur in the text

1.     The actor, Gilbert Caister, who had been "out" for six months, emerged from his east-coast seaside lodging.

2.     The sunlight in this damned town was very strong, very hard on seams and buttonholes, on knees and elbows!

3.     It reclined backwards on the right side, conspicuous in his dark hair, above that shadowy face always inter­esting to Gilbert Caister.

4.     Remember what sport we had over "Gotta-Grampus"?

5.     And—elegantly threadbare, roundabout and dap­per—the two walked side by side.

6.     And what a flow of his own tongue suddenly re­leased—on drama, music, art.

7.     "I say, old chap, don't think me a beast, but are you at all—er—er—rocky? I mean—if I can be of any ser­vice, don't hesitate! Old acquaintance, don't you know, and ail that—."

8.     A drop, black when it left his heart, suffused his eye behind the monocle; his smile curled bitterly.

9.     They had spotted his Dr. Dominick!

//. Explain and expand on the following

1.     Together with the actual tweeds, in which he could so easily fancy himself refitted, he could see a reflection of himself, in the faded brown suit wangled out of the production of "Marmaduke Mandeville".

2.     A face rosy, bright, round, with an air of cherubic knowledge, as of getter-up of amateur theatricals.

3.     "Nothing of a part," he drawled, "took it to fill a gap." And below his waistcoat the gap echoed: "Yes, and it'll take some filling."

4.     "Nothing particular. I've been—er—rather slack." And with their feel around his waist his trousers seemed to echo: "Slack!"

5.     "And how do you account for it?" "Try starvation," trembled on Caister's lips. "I don't," he said.

6.     Topping! The laughter and applause—'Mr Caister's rendering left nothing to be desired; its—are in the true spirit of—!'

7.     'I—I should—er—be willing to rehearse on approv­al; or—if I could read the part?'

8.     A life of draughty waiting, of concealed beggary, of terrible depression, of want of food!

///. Form antonyms with the help of negative prefixes.

fit, conscious, conspicuous, balanced, concerned, to regard, to approve, to understand

IV. Translate into Russian

1.     A salary of four pounds a week would not, he was conscious, remake his fortunes, but a certain jaunti-ness had returned to the gait and manner of one em­ployed again at last.

2.     ... he stopped before a fishmonger's and regarded a lobster. Ages since he had eaten a lobster!

3.     One could long for a lobster without paying, but the pleasure was not solid enough to detain him.

4.     ... he removed his hat, for under it was his new phe­nomenon, not yet quite evaluated, his meche blanche.

5.     Have you been playing anything great?

6.     I often wish   I'd gone on the regular stage myself. Must be a topping life.

7.     Silence recalled him from his rings of smoke.

8.     Alone with his heart, his boot, his life to come...

9.     Was it (meche blanche) an asset, or the beginning of the end?

10. "Luck!" said Bryce-Green. "Luck!" replied Caister; and the cocktail trickling down him echoed: "Luck!"

11. Rather distinguished, perhaps, but—!

V. Explain the meaning of the following words and word combinations.

a) mellow fruit, a mellow autumn, a mellow light, mellow judgement, a mellow voice

b) crisp hair, crisp air, a crisp voice, a crisp answer, a crisp biscuit

c) slack trade, slack water, slack attendance, slack rope, a slacker

d) a fishmonger's, a cheesemonger's, an ironmonger's, a scandalmonger, a newsmonger, a warmonger.

VI. Use the following word combinations in sentences of your own.

a) to be of solid build; to have a solid meal; to be on solid ground; to have solid ground for; for a solid hour

b)    ready for any emergency, in case of emergency, a state of emergency

VII. Give English equivalents.

a) твердые тела; твердая пища; веские доводы; проч­ная основа; реальные основания; чистое золото; сплоченная партия; группа

b)    запасной выход; экстренный тормоз; вынужден­ная посадка; экстренный вывоз; чрезвычайные пол­номочия; неприкосновенный запас; чрезвычайное положение

VIII. Insert prepositions or adverbs wherever required.

Bryce-Green was keen ... theatrical art and wished he had gone ... the stage himself. He was glad to meet Ciaster, who was ... tour in that small seaside town, and invited him ... lunch. Here was somebody he could talk......old times ... their wine and food they would be able to talk .'.. things that were dear... him. He had been waiting long ... this chance and was now burst­ing ... excitement, anxious to hear what Caister had to say ... the state of the drama. However, he was sur­prised ... Caister's enthusiasm. He could not account ... his friend's reserve or his evident disinclination to talk. He felt conscious ... a change ... the man. He could no longer recognize ... him the old carefree man ... the world. Something must have gone wrong ... him, the world must have been hard ... him.

IX. Paraphrase the following using words and word com­bination from the text.

1. Her life's dream was to become an actress. 2. Your work is up to the mark, nobody is likely to find fault with it. 3. It was such fun going to the fancy-dress ball. 4. This is treating him rather severely, don't you think? 5. The proposal is very much to my liking. 6. This is no trifling matter, it won't be so easy to explain things. 7. She was anxious about her son's future. 8. She is ever attracting attention, the way she bustles about. 9. This is my own affair. 10.! hope they won't keep you too long today.

Topics for Oral and Written Practice

I. Answer the following questions.

1. What was Gilbert Caister?

2. What changes did a salary of four pounds a week bring into his manner?

3. Describe Caister's appearance.

4.  What did the sunlight bitterly expose?

5. What can you say about Caister's clothes?

6.  What new phenomenon, not yet quite evaluated, appeared in Caister's looks?

7. Do you agree that white hair sometimes makes people look distinguished?                  

8. Whom did Caister meet?

9.  What was Bryce-Green?

10.  How does the author describe his appearance?

11.  How do you understand the expression "with an air of cherubic knowledge"?

12.  Compare the looks of Caister and Bryce-Green.

13.  Where did they go?

14.  What did they order?

15. What was Bryce-Green's reaction to Caister's meche blanche?

16.  What were Caister and Bryce-Green talking about?

17.  What did Bryce-Green notice?

18. Why did Caister refuse to acknowledge the fact that he was in reduced circumstances?

19.  What was Bryce-Green's reaction to Caister's mis­ery?

20.  How did Caister feel after Bryce-Green left?

21.  How did Caister imagine his future?

22.    How does the story end?

//. Retell the text as it would be told by

T) Caister; 2) Bryce-Green; 3) the waiter.

///. Write a summary of the story.

IV.  Compose the dialogue between Caister and Bryce-Green. Work in pairs.

V. Write out all the words and expressions the author  uses to describe the main characters.

VI. Discuss the main characters of the story.

VII. Prove the following fact:

The poor think more about money than the rich. They can think of nothing else.

VIII. Speak on the following:

1.  Modern drama.

2. The life of an actor as reflected in literature.

3.     A play you have seen.

1.2 MR. KNOW-ALL

by W. Somerset Maugham

I was prepared to dislike Max Kelada even before I knew him. The war had just finished and the passen­ger traffic in the ocean-going liners was heavy. Accom­modation was very hard to get and you had to put up with whatever the agents chose to offer you. You could not hope for a cabin to yourself and I was thankful to be given one in which there were only two berths. But when I was told the name of my companion my heart sank. It suggested closed portholes and the night air rigidly excluded. It was bad enough to share a cabin for fourteen days with anyone (I was going from San Francisco to Yokohama), but I should have looked upon it with less dismay if my fellow passenger's name had been Smith or Brown.

When I went on board I found Mr. Kelada's luggage already below. I did not like the look of it; there were too many labels on the suit-cases, and the wardrobe trunk was too big. He had unpacked his toilet things, and I observed that he was a patron of the excellent Monsieur Coty¹; for I saw on the washing-stand his scent, his hair-wash and his brilliantine. Mr. Kelada's brushes, ebony with his monogram in gold, would have been all the better for a scrub. I did not at all like Mr. Kelada. I made my way into the smoking-room. I called for a pack of cards and began to play patience. I had scarcely started before a man came up to me and asked me if he was right in thinking my name was so and so.

"I am Mr. Kelada," he added, with a smile that showed a row of flashing teeth, and sat down.

"Oh, yes, we're sharing a cabin, I think."

"Bit of luck, I call it. You never know who you're go­ing to be put in with. I was jolly glad when I heard you were English. I'm all for us English sticking together when we're abroad, if you understand what I mean."

I blinked.      

"Are you English?" I asked, perhaps tactlessly.

"Rather. You don't think I look like an American, do you? British to the backbone, that's what I am."

To prove it, Mr. Kelada took out of his pocket a pass­port and airily waved it under my nose.

King George² has many strange subjects. Mr. Kelada was short and of a sturdy build, clean-shaven and dark-skinned, with a fleshy hooked nose and very large, lus­trous and liquid eyes. His long black hair was sleek and curly. He spoke with a fluency in which there was noth­ing English and his gestures were exuberant. I felt pretty sure that a closer inspection of that British pass­port would have betrayed the fact that Mr. Kelada was born under a bluer sky than is generally seen in En­gland.

"What will you have?" he asked me.

I looked at him doubtfully. Prohibition³ was in force and to all appearance the ship was bone-dry. When I am not thirsty I do not know which I dislike more, gin­ger ale⁴ or lemon squash⁵. But Mr. Kelada flashed an oriental smile at me.

"Whisky and soda or a dry martini, you have only to say the word."

From each of his hip pockets he fished a flask and laid it on the table before me. I chose the martini, and calling the steward he ordered a tumbler of ice and a couple of glasses.

"A very good cocktail," I said. "Well, there are plenty more where that came from, and if you've got any friends on board, you tell them you've got a pal who's got all the liquor in the world."

Mr. Kelada was chatty. He talked of New York and of San Francisco. He discussed plays, pictures, and poli­tics, He was patriotic. The Union Jack⁶ is an impressive piece of drapery, but when it is flourished by a gentle­man from Alexandria or Beirut, I cannot but feel that it loses somewhat in dignity. Mr. Kelada was familiar. I do not wish to put on airs, but I cannot help feeling that it is seemly in a total stranger to put "mister" before my name when he addresses me. Mr. Kelada, doubtless to set me at my ease, used no such formality. I did not like Mr. Kelada. I had put aside the cards when he sat down, but now, thinking that for this first occasion our con­versation had lasted long enough, I went on with my game.

"The three on the four," said Mr, Kelada.

There is nothing more exasperating when you are playing patience than to be told where to put the card you have turned up before you have had a chance to look for yourself.

"It's coming out, it's coming out," he cried. "The ten on the knave."

With rage and hatred in my heart I finished. Then he seized the pack. "Do you like card tricks?" "No, I hate card tricks," I answered.

"Well, I'll just show you this one." He showed me three. Then I said I would go down to the dining-room and get my seat at table.

"Oh, that's all right," he said. "I've already taken a seat for you. I thought that as we were in the same state­room we might just as well sit at the same table." I did not like Mr. Kelada.

I not only shared a cabin with him and ate three meals a day at the same table, but I could not walk round the deck without his joining me. It was impossible to snub him. It never occurred to him that he was not wanted. He was certain that you were as glad to see him as he was to see you. In your own house you might have kicked him downstairs and slammed the door in his face without the suspicion dawning on him that he was not a welcome visitor. He was a good mixer, and in three days knew everyone on board. He ran everything. He man­aged the sweeps7, conducted the auctions, collected money for prizes at the sports, got up quoit and golf matches, organized the concert and arranged the fancy-dress ball. He was everywhere and always. He was certainly the best hated man in the ship. We called him Mr. Know-All, even to his face. He took it as a com­pliment. But it was at mealtimes that he was intole­rable. For the better part of an hour then he had us at his mercy. He was hearty, jovial, loquacious and argu­mentative. He knew everything better than anybody else, and it was an affront to his overweening vanity that you should disagree with him. He would not drop a subject, however unimportant, till he had brought you round to his way of thinking. The possibility that he could be mistaken never occurred to him. He was the chap who knew. We sat at the doctor's table. Mr. Kelada would certainly have had it all his own way, for the doc­tor was lazy and I was frigidly indifferent, except for a man called Ramsay who sat there also. He was as dog­matic as Mr. Kelada and resented bitterly the Levantine's⁸ cocksureness. The discussions they had were acrimonious and interminable.

Ramsay was in the American Consular Service and was stationed at Kobe. He was a great heavy fellow from the Middle West, with loose fat under a tight skin, and he bulged out of his ready-made clothes. He was on his way back to resume his post, having been on a flying visit to New York to fetch his wife who had been spend­ing a year at home. Mrs. Ramsay was a very pretty little thing, with pleasant manners and a sense of humour. The Consular Service is ill-paid, and she was dressed always very simply; but she knew how to wear her clothes. She achieved an effect of quiet distinction. I should not have paid any particular attention to her but that she possessed a quality that may be common enough in women, but nowadays is not obvious in their demeanour. You could not look at her without being struck by her modesty. It shone in her like a flower on a coat.

One evening at dinner the conversation by chance drifted to the subject of pearls. There had been in the papers a good deal of talk about the culture pearls⁹ which the cunning Japanese were making, and the doctor remarked that they must inevitably diminish the value of real ones. They were very good already; they would soon be perfect. Mr. Kelada, as was his habit, rushed the new topic. He told us all that was to be known about pearls. I do not believe Ramsay knew anything about them at all, but he could not resist the opportu­nity to have a fling at the Levantine, and in five minutes we were in the middle of a heated argument. I had seen Mr. Kelada vehement and voluble before, but never so voluble and vehement as now. At last some­thing that Ramsay said stung him, for he thumped the table and shouted:

"Well, I ought to know what I am talking about. I'm going to Japan just to look into this Japanese pearl busi­ness. I'm in the trade and there's not a man in it who won't tell you that what I say about pearls goes. I know all the best pearls in the world, and what I don't know about pearls isn't worth knowing."

Here was news for us, for Mr. Kelada, with all his lo­quacity, had never told anyone what his business was. We only knew vaguely that he was going to Japan on some commercial errand. He looked round the table triumphantly.

"They'll never be able to get a culture pearl that an expert like me can't tell with half an eye." He pointed to a chain that Mrs. Ramsay wore. "You take my word for it, Mrs. Ramsay, that chain you're wearing will never be worth a cent less than it is now."

Mrs. Ramsay in her modest way flushed a little and slipped the chain inside her dress. Ramsay leaned for­ward. He gave us all a look and a smile flickered in his eyes.

"That's a pretty chain of Mrs. Ramsay's, isn't it?"

"I noticed it at once," answered Mr. Kelada. "Gee, I said to myself, those are pearls all right."

"I didn't buy it myself, of course. I'd be interested to know how much you think it cost."

"Oh, in the trade somewhere round fifteen thousand dollars. But if it was bought on Fifth Avenue 10I shouldn't be surprised to hear that anything up to thirty thou­sand was paid for it."

Ramsay smiled grimly.

"You'll be surprised to hear that Mrs. Ramsay bought that string at a department store the day before we left New York, for eighteen dollars."

Mr. Kelada flushed.

"Rot. It's not only real, but it's as fine a string for its size as I've ever seen."

"Will you bet on it? I'll bet you a hundred dollars it's imitation."

"Done¹¹."

"Oh, Elmer, you can't bet on a certainty," said Mrs. Ramsay.

She had a little smile on her lips and her tone was gently deprecating.

"Can't I? If I get a chance of easy money like that I should be all sorts of a fool not to take it."

"But how can it be proved?" she continued. "It's only my word against Mr. Kelada's,"

"Let me look at the chain, and if it's imitation I'll tell you quickly enough. I can afford to lose a hundred dol­lars," said Mr. Kelada.

"Take it off, dear. Let the gentleman look at it as much as he wants."

Mrs. Ramsay hesitated a moment. She put her hands to the clasp.

"I can't undo it," she said. "Mr. Kelada will just have to take my word for it."

I had a sudden suspicion that something unfortunate was about to occur, but I could think of nothing to say.

Ramsay jumped up.

"I'll undo it."

He handed the chain to Mr. Kelada. The Levantine took a magnifying glass form his pocket and closely examined it. A smile of triumph spread over his smooth and swarthy face. He handed back the chain. He was about to speak. Suddenly he caught sight of Mrs. Ramsay's face. It was so white that she looked as though she were about to faint. She was staring at him with wide and terrified eyes. They held a desperate appeal; it was so clear that I wondered why her husband did not see it.

Mr. Kelada stopped with his mouth open. He flushed deeply. You could almost see the effort he was making over himself.

"I was mistaken," he said. "It's a very good imitation, but of course as soon as I looked through my glass I saw that it wasn't real. I think eighteen dollars is just about as much as the damned thing's worth."

He took out his pocketbook and from it a hundred-dollar bill. He handed it to Ramsay without a word.

"Perhaps that'll teach you not to be so cocksure an­other time, my young friend," said Ramsay as he took the note.

I noticed that Mr. Kelada's hands were trembling. The story spread over the ship as stories do, and he had to put up with a good deal of chaff that evening. It was a fine joke that Mr. Know-All had been caught out. But Mrs. Ramsay retired to her state-room with a head­ache.

Next morning I got up and began to shave. Mr. Kelada lay on his bed smoking a cigarette. Suddenly there was a small scraping sound and I saw a letter pushed under the door. I opened the door and looked out. There was nobody there. I picked up the letter and saw that it was addressed to Max Kelada. The name was written in block letters. I handed it to him. "Who's this from?" He opened it. "Oh!" He took out of the envelope, not a letter, but a hun­dred-dollar bill. He looked at me and again he red­dened. He tore the envelope into little bits and gave them to me.

"Do you mind just throwing them out of the port­hole?"

I did as he asked, and then I looked at him with a smile.

"No one likes being made to look a perfect damned fool," he said.

"Were the pearls real?"

"If I had a pretty little wife I shouldn't let her spend a year in New York while I stayed at Kobe," said he.

At that moment I did not entirely dislike Mr. Kelada. He reached out for his pocketbook and carefully put in it the hundred-dollar note.

1.        He was a patron of the excellent Monsieur Coty — He used the scent of Coty, the famous French perfume firm.

2.        KingGeorge V(1910—1936).

3.        Prohibition — "Сухой закон". The Prohibition Law, the eigh­teenth amendment to the US Constitution, repealed by the twenty-first.

4.        ginger ale — aerated ginger, a flavoured drink

5.        lemon squash — a drink of lemon juice and soda water

6.        The Union Jack – the British flag

7.        He managed the sweeps - He organized lotteries.

8.        Levantine — an inhabitant of the Levant, the Eastern part of the Mediterranean with its islands and neighbouring countries

9.        culture pearl — a pearl that grows in an oyster-shell after a piece of grit has been deliberately forced into the shell

10.      The most expensive and fashionable shops are concentrated on Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue, New York.

11.      Done. - Agreed.

Word Combinations

to put up with — терпеть, мириться с чем-л.

to choose to do smith. — захотеть, пожелать сделать что-л.

ту heart sank—у меня сердце замерло

to be all for ~ быть всецело за

to all appearance — no всей видимости

to set one at one's ease — успокоить, приободрить

to dawn upon (on) — прийти в голову, осенить

to (in) one's face — (сказать) прямо в лицо, в глаза

to get up a game (performance) — устроить, организовать игру (спектакль)

to have someone at one's mercy—держать кого-л. в своей власти;

to be at one's mercy— быть в чьей-л. власти

to drop a subject — прекратить разговор на данную тему, переменить тему разговора

to bring someone round to one's way of thinking — убедить кого-либо

кого-л. to have it(things, something) one's own way — делать все по своему, добиваться своего

except for — если не считать

to look into a matter — заняться вопросом

to go on an errand — отправиться по поручению

to take one's word for it — поверить на слово

to bet someone smth. —держать пари с кем-л. на что-л.

Exercises to the text

/. Paraphrase the following sentences. Say in what situations they occur in the text.

1.     Accommodation was very hard to get and you had to put up with whatever the agents chose to offer you.

2.     Mr. Kelada's brushes would have been all the better for a scrub.

3.     I'm all for us English sticking together when we're abroad, if you understand what I mean.

4.     He was a good mixer.

5.     For the better part of an hour then he had us at his mercy.

6.     He would not drop a subject, however unimportant, till he had brought you round to his way of thinking.

7.     Mr. Kelada would certainly have had it all his own way ... except for a man called Ramsay.

8.     She achieved an effect of quiet distinction.

9.     The doctor remarked that they (the culture pearls) must inevitably diminish the value of real ones.

10.  At last something that Ramsay said stung him, for he thumped the table and shouted...

11. He had to put up with a good deal of chaff that evening.

//. Explain and expand on the following.

1.       When I was told the name of my companion my heart sank.

2.       It (the name) suggested closed portholes and the night air rigidly excluded.

3.       I should have looked upon it with less dismay if my fellow passenger's name had been Smith or Brown.

4.       "Are you English?" I asked, perhaps, tactlessly. "Rather. British to the backbone, that's what I am."

5.       King George has many strange subjects.

6.       Prohibition was in force and to all appearance the ship was bone-dry.

7.       The Union Jack is an impressive piece of drapery, but when it is flourished by a gentleman from Alexandria or Beirut, I cannot but feel that it loses somewhat in dignity.

8.       I do not wish to put on airs, but I cannot help feeling that it is seemly in a total stranger to put "mister" be­fore my name when he addresses me.

9.       "I'd be interested to know how much you think it cost." "Oh, in the trade somewhere round fifteen thou­sand dollars. But if it was bought on Fifth Avenue I shouldn't be surprised to hear that anything up to thirty thousand was paid for it."

III. Translate into Russian

1.       The war had just finished and the passenger traffic in the oceangoing liners was heavy.

2.       I felt pretty sure that a closer inspection of that British passport would have betrayed the fact that Mr. Kelada was born under a bluer sky than is generally seen in England.

3.       It was impossible to snub him.

4.       In your own house you might have kicked him down­stairs and slammed the door in his face without the sus­picion dawning on him that he was not a welcome visi­tor.

5.       The discussions they had were acrimonious and in­terminable.

6.       She possessed a quality that may be common enough in women, but nowadays is not obvious in their demeanour.

7.       He could not resist the opportunity to have a fling at the Levantine, and in five minutes we were in the middle of a heated argument.

8.       I had seen Mr. Kelada vehement and voluble before, but never so voluble and vehement as now.

9.       I'm in the trade and there's not a man in it who won't tell you that what I say about pearls goes.

10.   You take my word for it, Mrs. Ramsay, that chain you're wearing will never be worth a cent less than it is now.

11.   Mr. Kelada flashed an oriental smile at me.

IV. Give synonymous words and word combinations.

a) to put up with, to resume, to exasperate, to diminish, to prohibit, to retire, to chaff

b) rigid, jovial, sleek, inevitable, vehement, entire

V. Paraphrase the following using words and word com­binations from the text.

1. I like him all the more for his being straightforward. 2. A swim will not do you any harm. 3. You'll have to believe me that it was really so. 4. I shall attend to it at once. 5. It never occurred to him that he wasn't wanted. 6. They organized all kinds of shows and par­ties. 7. I felt indignant  at such familiarity. 8. The fact that he has been ill will lessen his chance of winning. 9. You may be sure he will do it. 10. I don't know how he tolerates such things. 11. Mr. Kelada was not to be rebuffed by the fact that people did not want his com­pany. 12. You can't always expect things to be done the way you want. 13 How much will the whole lot amount to? 14. It seems to be an easy task. 15. I told him quite openly what I thought of him. 16. Let us say no more about it. 17. He was in a very bad state af­ter the accident. 18. The boy was sent with a mes­sage to the chemist's. 19. I know that he will readily support our plan.

VI. Translate the following into English using words and word combinations from the text.

1. Ему пришлось мириться с этим. 2. Не так легко будет убедить ее. 3. Он всегда настоит на своем (сделает по-своему). 4. Мне придется поверить вам на слово, 5. Вам не мешает побриться. 6. Его само­уверенность была невыносима. 7. Он ничуть не пострадал от этого. 8. Ему вдруг пришло в голову, что ее самолюбие было задето. 9. Мы тут же орга­низовали игру в теннис. 10. Миссис Рэмзи была в полной зависимости от мистера Келада. 11. Держу с вами пари на плитку шоколада, что он сделает по-своему. 12. У меня замерло сердце, когда я услы­шал эту новость.

VII.  In what situations the following words and word combinations can be used.

1) to resume, to assume, to presume 2) accommoda­tion, accommodate, accommodating 3} to retire (on pension, from the army, etc.), a retired life, a retiring pension, a retired officer, to retire into oneself, in a retired spot (place), to live in retirement

VIII. Find the best way of translating the word combinations in italics into Russian.

(a) 1. Mr. Kelada's brushes would have been all the bet­ter for a scrub. 2. There is hardly a single person in the House of Commons worth painting, though many of them would be the better for a little whitewashing. 3. He looks none the worse for his adventure. 4. The floor will be all the better for a scrub. 5. He was very much the worse for drink. 6, The vase is none the worse for being old.

(b)  1. Gee, I said to myself, those are pearls all right. 2. She knows them all right, but she doesn't want to admit it. 3. It is a valuable picture all right. There's no doubt about that. 4. They are in for an unpleasant af­ternoon all right. I can see it by the grim expression on her face. 5. I saw him all right, though he didn't see me. 6. She looks the part all right.

(c)  1. Mr. Kelada would certainly have had it all his own way, except for a man called Ramsay. 2. Except for him, we wouldn't be here. 3.1 have finished the book except for a few pages. 4. Except for this one point there's not much to be said in his favour. 5. There was no one in the park except for a few children.

Topics for Oral and Written Practice

/. Comment on the title of the story.

 II. Answer the following questions.

1) Why was the author dismayed at the thought of shar­ing a cabin with Mr. Kelada?

2) What did he find so exasperating about Mr. Kelada?

3) Why was Mr. Kelada the best hated man in the ship?

4)  What was the cause of heated argument at the doctor's table?

5) How did the conversation touch the matter of culture pearls?

6) Describe the behaviour of Mrs. Ramsay during the con­versation.

7) How did Mr. Kelada manage to avert the scandal?

8) What role did he play in Mrs. Ramsay's life?

9) Why did the author change his attitude to Mr. Kelada?

10)  Think of the motives Mr. Kelada was guided by in behaving in such a way. Was it easy for him?

11) Do you agree that the first impression is always the right one?

///. Describe Mr. Kelada's appearance and character.

IV. Retell the text

1) as it is;

2) as it would be told by;

a) Mr. Kelada;

b) Mrs. Ramsay.

V. Say everything you can about Mrs. Ramsay:

1) appearance; 2) character; 3) her past; 4) her future.

VI. Analyse the main idea of the story.

VII. Think of the story from life or literature that proves the proverb:

"Appearances are deceptive"

1.3 LOST ON DRESS PARADE

by O. Henry

Mr. Towers Chandler was pressing his evening suit in his hall bedroom[1]. One iron was heating on a small gas stove; the other was being pushed vigorously back and forth to make the desirable crease that would be seen later on extending in straight lines from Mr. Chandler's patent leather shoes to the edge of his low-cut vest. So much of the hero's toilet may be entrusted to our confidence. The remainder may be guessed by those whom genteel poverty has driven to ignoble expedient. Our next view of him shall be as he descends the steps of his lodging-house immaculately and correctly clothed; calm, assured, handsome in appearance - the typical New York young clubman setting out, slightly bored, to jinaugurate the pleasures of the evening.

Chandler's honorarium was $18 per week. He was employed in the office of an architect. He was twenty-two years old; he considered architecture to be truly an art; and he honestly believed—though he would not have dared to admit it in New York—that the Flatiron Building[2] was inferior in design to the great cathedral in Milan.

Out of each week's earnings Chandler set aside $1. At the end of each ten weeks with the extra capital thus accumulated he purchased one gentleman's evening from the bargain counter of stingy old Father Time[3]. He arrayed himself in the regalia of millionaires and presidents; he took himself to the quarter where life is brightest and showiest, and there dined with taste and luxury. With ten dollars a man may, for a few hours, play the wealthy idler to perfection. The sum is ample for a well considered meal, a bottle bearing a respectable label, commensurate tips, a smoke, cab fare, and the ordinary etceteras.

This one delectable evening culled from each dull seventy was to Chandler a source of renascent bliss. To the society bud comes but one debut[4], it stands alone sweet in her memory when her hair has whitened, but to Chandler each ten weeks brought a joy as keen, as thrilling, as new as the first had been. To sit among bon vivants[5] under palms in the swirl of concealed music, to look upon the habitues[6] of such a paradise and to be looked upon by them—what is a girl's first dance and short-sleeved tulle[7] compared with this?

Up Broadway Chandler moved with the vespertine dress parade. For this evening he was an exhibit as well as a gazer. For the next sixty-nine evenings he would be dining in cheviot and worsted at dubious table d'hotes, at whirlwind lunch counters, on sandwiches and beer in his hall bedroom. He was willing to do that, for he was a true son of the great city of razzle-dazzle[8] and to him one evening in the limelight made up for many dark ones.

Chandler protracted his walk until the Forties began to intersect the great and glittering primrose way[9], for the evening was yet young, and when one is of the beau monde[10] only one day in seventy, one loves to protract the pleasure. Eyes bright, sinister, curious, admiring, provocative, alluring were bent upon him, for his garb and air proclaimed him a devote to the hour of solace and pleasure.

At a certain corner he came to a standstill, proposing to himself the question of turning back toward the showy and fashionable restaurant in which he usually dined on the evenings of his special luxury. Just then a girl scuttled lightly around the corner, slipped on a patch of icy snow and fell plump upon the sidewalk.

Chandler assisted her to her feet with instant and solicitous courtesy. The girl hobbled to the wall of the building, leaned against it and thanked him demurely.

"I think my ankle is strained," she said. "It twisted when I fell."

"Does it pain you much?" inquired Chandler.

"Only when I rest my weight upon it. I think I will be able to walk in a minute or two."

"If I can be of any further service," suggested the young man, "I will call a cab, or—"

"Thank, you," said the girl, softly but heartily. "I am sure you need not trouble yourself any further. It was so awkward of me. And my shoe heels are horridly commonsense[11], I can't blame them at all."

Chandler looked at the girl and found her swiftly drawing his interest. She was pretty in a refined way; and her eye was both merry and kind. She was inexpensively clothed in a plain black dress that suggested a sort of uniform such as shop-girls wear. Her glossy dark-brown hair showed its coils beneath a cheap hat of black straw whose only ornament was a velvet ribbon and bow. She could have posed as a model for the self-respecting working girl of the best type.

A sudden idea came into the head of the young architect. He would ask this girl to dine with him. Here was the element that his splendid but solitary periodic feasts had lacked. His brief season of elegant luxury would be doubly enjoyable if he could add to it a lady's society. This girl was a lady, he was sure—her manner and speech settled that. And in spite of her extremely plain attire he felt that he would be pleased to sit at table with her.

These thoughts passed swiftly through his mind, and he decided to ask her. It was a breach of etiquette, of course, but oftentimes wage-earning girls waived formalities in matters of this kind. They were generally shrewd judges of men; and thought better of their own judgement than they did of useless conventions. His ten dollars, discreetly expended, would enable the two to dine very well indeed. The dinner would no doubt be a wonderful experience thrown into the dull routine of the girl's life; and her lively appreciation of it would add to his own triumph and pleasure.

"I think," he said to her, with frank gravity, "that your foot needs a longer rest than you suppose. Now, I am going to suggest a way in which you can give it that and at the same time do me a favor. I was on my way to dine all by my lonely self when you came tumbling round the corner. You come with me and we'll have a cozy dinner and a pleasant talk together, and by that time your game ankle[12] will carry you home very nicely, I am sure."

The girl looked quickly up into Chandler's clear, pleasant countenance. Her eyes twinkled once very brightly, and then she smiled ingenuously.

"But we don't know each other—it wouldn't be right, would it?" she said, doubtfully.

"There is nothing wrong about it," said the young man candidly.

"I'll introduce myself—permit me—Mr. Towers Chandler. After our dinner, which I will try to make as pleasant as possible, I will bid you good evening, or attend you safely to your door, whichever you prefer."

"But, dear me!" said the girl, with a glance at Chandler's faultless attire. "In this old dress and hat!"

"Never mind that," said Chandler, cheerfully. "I'm sure you look more charming in them than any one we shall see in the most elaborate dinner toilette."

"My ankle does hurt yet," admitted the girl, attempting a limping step. "I think I will accept your invitation, Mr. Chandler. You may call me—Miss Marian."

"Come then, Miss Marian," said the young architect, gaily, but with perfect courtesy; "you will not have far to walk. There is a very respectable and good restaurant in the next block. You will have to lean on my arm—so—and walk slowly. It is lonely dining all by one's self. I'm just a little bit glad that you slipped on the ice."

When the two were established at a well-appointed table, with a promising waiter hovering in attendance, Chandler began to experience the real joy that this regular outing always brought to him.

The restaurant was not so showy or pretentious as the one further down Broadway, which he always preferred, but it was nearly so. The tables were well filled with prosperous-looking diners, there was a good orchestra, playing softly enough to make conversation a possible pleasure, and the cuisine[13] and service were beyond criticism. His companion, even in her cheap hat and dress, held herself with an air that added distinction to the natural beauty of her face and figure. And it is certain that she looked at Chandler, with his animated but self-possessed manner and his kindling and frank blue eyes, with something not far from admiration in her own charming face.

Then it was that the Madness of Manhattan, the Frenzy of Fuss and Feathers[14], the Bacillus of Brag, the Provincial Plague of Pose seized upon Towers Chan­dler. He was on Broadway, surrounded by pomp and style, and there wee eyes to look at him. On the stage of that comedy he had assumed to play the one-night part of a butterfly of fashion and an idler of means and taste. He was dressed for the part, and all his good angels had not the power to prevent him from acting it.

So he began to prate to Miss Marian of clubs, of teas, of golf and riding and kennels and cotillions and tours abroad and threw out hints of a yacht lying at Larchmont. He could see that she was vastly impressed by this vague talk, so he endorsed his pose by random in­sinuations concerning great wealth, and mentioned familiarly a few names that are handled reverently by the proletariat. It was Chandler's short little day, and he was wringing from it the best that could be had, as he saw it. And yet once or twice he saw the pure gold of this girl shine through the mist that his egotism had raised between him and all objects.

"This way ol living that you speak of," she said, "sounds so futile and purposeless. Haven't you any work to do in the world that might interest you more?"

"My dear Miss Marian," he exclaimed—"work! Think of dressing every day for dinner, of making half a dozen calls in an afternoon—with a policeman at eve­ry corner ready to jump into your auto and take you to the station, if you get up any greater speed than a don­key cart's gait. We do-nothings are the hardest workers in the land."

The dinner was concluded, the waiter generously feed, and the two walked out to the corner where they had met. Miss Marian walked very well now; her limp was scarcely noticeable.

"Thank you for a nice time," she said, frankly. "I must run home now. I liked the dinner very much, Mr. Chandler."

He shook hands with her, smiling cordially, and said something about a game of bridge at his club. He watched her for a moment, walking rather rapidly eastward, and then he found a cab to drive him slowly homeward.

In his chilly bedroom Chandler laid away his evening clothes for a sixty-nine days' rest. He went about it thoughtfully.

"That was a stunning girl," he said to himself. "She's all right, too. I'd be sworn, even if she does have to work. Perhaps if I'd told her the truth instead of all that razzle-dazzle we might but confound it. I had to play up to my clothes."

Thus spoke the brave[15] who was born and reared in the wigwams of the tribe of the Manhattans[16].

The girl, after leaving her entertainer, sped swiftly cross-town until she arrived at a handsome and sedate mansion two squares to the east, facing on that avenue which is the highway of Mammon and the auxiliary gods[17]. Here she entered hurriedly and ascended to a room where a handsome young lady in an elaborate house dress was looking anxiously out the window.

"Oh, you madcap!" exclaimed the elder girl, when the other entered. "When will you quit frightening us this way? It's two hours since you ran out in that rag of an old dress and Marie's hat. Mamma has been so alarmed. She sent Louis in the auto to try to find you. You are a bad, thoughtless Puss."

The elder girl touched a button, and a maid came in a moment.

"Marie, tell mamma that Miss Marian has returned." "Don't scold, Sister. I only ran down to Mme Theo's to tell her to use mauve insertion instead of pink. My costume and Marie's hat were just what I needed. Every one thought I was a shop-girl, I am sure." "Dinner is over, dear; you stayed so late." "I know, I slipped on the sidewalk and turned my ankle. I could not walk, so I hobbled into a restaurant and sat there until I was better. That is why I was so long."

The two girls sat in the window seat, looking out at the lights and the stream of hurrying vehicles in the avenue. The younger one cuddled down with her head in her sister's lap.

"We will have to marry some day," she said, dreamily—"both of us. We have so much money that we will not be allowed to disappoint the public. Do you want me to tell you the kind of a man I could love, Sis? "

"Go on, you scatter-brain," smiled the other.

"I could love a man with dark and kind blue eyes, who is gentle and respectful to poor girls, who is hand­some and good and does not try to flirt. But I could love him only if he had an ambition, an object, some work to do in the world. I would not care how poor he was if I could help him build his way up. But, Sister dear, the kind of man we always meet—the man who lives an idle life between society and his clubs—I could not love a man like that, even if his eyes were blue and he were so kind to poor girls whom he met in the street."

Word Combinations

to intrust (Am.) = entrust smth. to smb. —доверить что-л., вверять

to be driven to smth., to be driven to do (doing) smth. — быть доведенным до, быть вынужденным сделать что-л.

to be inferior to — быть хуже чем, уступать в чем-то, быть более низкого качества

to set aside — откладывать (деньги, планы и т.д.)

to be in the limelight — быть в центре внимания, быть на виду

to make up for— возмещать, компенсировать

to sit (be) at table — быть за столом (обедать, ужинать)

to pass through one's mind — промелькнуть в голове

a breach of etiquette — нарушение этикета

nevermind that — это неважно

Exercises to the text

I. Paraphrase the following sentences. Say in which situations they occur in the text.

1. Our next view of him shall be as he descends the steps of his longing-house immaculately and correctly clothed.

2.The sum is ample for a well considered meal, a bottle bearing a respectable label, commensurate tips, a smoke, cab fare, and the ordinary etceteras.

3.Up Broadway Chandler moved with the vespertine dress parade.

4.... he was a true son of the great city of razzle-dazzle, and to him one evening in the limelight made up for many dark ones.

5.Chandler protracted his walk until the Forties began to intersect the great and glittering primrose way.

6.She could have posed as a model for the self-respecting working girl of the best type.

7.His brief season of elegant luxury would be doubly enjoyable if he could add to it a lady's society.

8.It was a breach of etiquette, of course, but oftentimes wage-earning girl waived formalities in matters of this kind.

10.His ten dollars, discreetly expended, would enable the two to dine very well indeed.

11.I will bid you good evening, or attend you safely to your door, whichever you prefer.

12.It was Chandler's short little day, and he was wringing from it the best that could be had, as he saw it.

II. Explain and expand on the following.

1.     So much of the hero's toilet may be intrusted to our confidence. The remainder may be guessed by those whom genteel poverty had driven to ignoble expedient.

2.     He purchased one gentleman's evening from the bargain counter of stingy old Father Time

3.     For the next sixty-nine evenings he would be dining in cheviot and worsted at dubious table d'hotes, at whirlwind lunch counters.

4.     My shoe heels are horridly commonsense.

5.     Then it was that the Madness of Manhattan, the Frenzy of Fuss and Feathers, the Bacillus of Brag, the Provincial Plague of Pose seized upon Towers Chandler.

6.     And yet once or twice he saw the pure gold of this girl shine through the mist that his egotism had raised between him and all objects.

7.     We do-nothings are the hardest workers in the land.

8.     Thus spoke the brave who was born and reared in the wigwams of the tribe of the Manhattans.

9.     She arrived at a handsome and sedate mansion two squares to the east, facing on that avenue which is the highway of Mammon and the auxiliary gods.

III. Translate into Russian

1.    She was pretty in a refined way.

2.     They were generally shrewd judges of men; and thought better of their own judgement than they did of useless conventions.

3.     He endorsed his pose by random insinuations concerning great wealth.

4.     Her lively appreciation of it (the dinner) would add to his own triumph and pleasure.

5.     On the stage of that comedy he had assumed to play the one-night part of a butterfly of fashion and an idler of means and taste.

IV. Give synonyms that have wider usage.

to array, to accumulate, to protract, to prate, to ascend, bliss, countenance, gait, solace, immaculate, ingenuous, renascent, ignoble, commensurate, delectable, vespertine, demure, glossy, futile, idle

V. Insert prepositions or adverbs wherever required.

... a while I dressed and went downstairs. I asked :"… the main dining-room. It was rather early … dinner; the place was almost empty, but... one or two diners. The maitre d'hotel led me ... a table ... the window. "Would you like to sit here, sir?" "Anywhere will do," I said ... my best English voice.Suddenly an industry of waiters whirled ... me, delivering ice water, the menu, the butter and bread. I was too emotional to be hungry. However, I went ... the gestures and ordered consomme, roast chicken and vanilla ice-cream ... dessert. The waiter offered me a wine list, and ... careful scrutiny I ordered a half-bottle ... champagne. I was too preoccupied living the past to enjoy the wine or the meal. ... I had finished, I tipped the waiter a dollar which was an extraordinary generous tip ... those days. But it was worth it ... the bowing and attention I received Li. my way… … no apparent reason I returned to my room, washed my hands and went … ..............................

(Charles Chaplin)

VI.    Complete the following sentences. Choose the correct word or word combination from those given below.

1. I ... a little every month so as to be able to go away for my holidays. 2. He ... the task of building the monu­ment. 3. When he had ... all the facts he began to write. 4. She enjoyed ... with everybody speaking about her. 5. I don't know when I shall be able ... the lessons I've missed. 6. He gave me a very ... view of the whole affair. 7. ... that I had seen him somewhere before. 8. They gave us a ... welcome when we arrived. 9. He gave me a ... handshake when he saw me.

_____________________________________________________________

to be entrusted with; to be in the limelight; to make up for; to set aside; to accumulate; commonsesne; cordial; vigorous; never mind; to pass through one's mind

VII. Insert prepositions or adverbs wherever required.

1. When the young man saw the girl slip and fall he immediately approached ... her asking if the could be ... any service ... her. 2. Though dressed in the shabby clothes of a poor American working girl, her manners were ... criticism and she did not seem inferior ... any of the ladies present. 3. The young man said that he was ... her service. 4. The girl was not surprised ... her companion's talk: she knew that type of rich young man (as she though him to be) ... perfection. 5. When Chandler set ... to enjoy his one pleasant evening out of the sixty-nine, he looked so handsome that many glances were cast ... him. 6. Chandler set ... a certain sum of money, so that he could spend one evening ... ... sixty-nine ... luxury. 7. He introduced himself ... the girl and said it would add greatly ... his joy if he could have the pleasure ... her company ... dinner. 8. If Chandler had entrusted his secret... the girl and had admitted that he was a poor architect, she would have found him more ... her liking, for she did not care ... men who had no ambition ... the world, and led an idle life.

Topics for Oral and Written Practice

I. Using words and word combinations given below describe a dinnerparty, a reception or a visit.

to make a call, to pay a visit; to entertain guests; an informal dinner; formal dress; a formality, to waive formalities; a breach of etiquette; courtesy; courteous; solicitor; cordial welcome; hospitality; conventional; unconventional; to introduce; thank you for a nice time; thank you for having me (us); to attend smb. to the door; to see a person to the door; to see a person out; to see someone home

II. Make a written translation of the extract trying to keep close to the style of O'Henry.

Я работаю, — объявил м-р Паркенстэкер, — в одном ресторане.

Девушка слегка вздрогнула (to give a start, to look, somewhat startled).

— Но не в качестве официанта? — спросила она почти умоляюще.

— Нет, я не официант. Я кассир в ... — Напротив, на улице, идущей вдоль парка (facing the park), сияли электрические буквы вывески «Ресторан». — Я служу кассиром вон в том ресторане.

Девушка взглянула на крохотные часики на браслетке тонкой работы и поспешно встала.

—Почему вы не на работе? — спросила девушка.

—Я сегодня в ночной смене (night shift), — сказал молодой человек. — В моем распоряжении еще целый час. Но ведь это не последняя наша встреча? Могу я надеяться? ...

-Не знаю. Возможно. Я должна спешить. Меня ждет званый обед, а потом ложа в театре. Вы, вероятно, когда шли сюда, заметили автомобиль на углу возле парка? Весь белый?

—И с красными колесами? — спросил молодой человек, задумчиво сдвинув брови.

—Да. Я всегда приезжаю сюда в этом авто.

III. Answer the following questions and use them as a plan for retelling.

1.What was Mr. Chandler doing?

2.Describe Mr. Chandler's appearance when he left his lodging-house.

3.Where was Mr. Chandler employed?

4.How much did he earn?

5.What did he think of architecture? Do you agree with him?

6.What did he do at the end of each ten weeks? Where did he go?

7.How did he spend the next sixty-nine evenings?

8.How did the evening described in the story begin?

9.How did Mr. Chandler happen to make the girl's acquaintance?

10.How did the girl look like?

11.What idea came into the young architect's head?

12.What showed that the girl was a lady?

13.What did Mr. Chandler suggest they should do?

14.Why did the girl hesitate?

15.Describe the restaurant the went to.

16.How did the girl look at Chandler?

17.How did the atmosphere influence Towers Chandler?

18.What did he begin to tell the girl?

19.What was the girl's reaction?

20.Why did such a way of living sound futile and purposeless to her?

21.Comment on the sentence "We do-nothings are the hardest workers in the land."

22.What happened after the dinner was concluded?

23.What was Chandler thinking about in his chilly bedroom?

24.Where did the girl go to after the dinner?

25.How did she explain her long absence?

26.What did she tell her sister about the kind of a man she could love?

27.Could she have loved Chandler if she had known the truth?

IV.    Comment on the title of the story.

V.      Retell the story as it would be told by

1) Towers Chandler; 2) the girl.

VI. Compose the dialogues between

1. Chandler and the girl;

2. the girl and her sister.

Work in pairs.

VII. Write out all word combinations that describe the personages and say how they characterise them.

IX. Speak on the Following.

1.Give your impression of Towers Chandler. Were his evenings out a form of escape from dull routine of everyday life?

2.What other forms of escape can you think of?

3.Recall situations from literature or life in which people's behaviour can be considered a form of escape.

1.4 RACHEL

(by Erskine Caldwell)

Every evening she came down through the darkness of the alley, emerging in the bright light of the street like the sudden appearance of a frightened child far from home. I knew that she had never reached the end of the alley before eight o'clock, and yet there were evenings when I ran there two hours early and waited beside the large green and red hydrant until she came. During all those months I had known her she had been late only two or three times, and then it was only ten or fifteen minutes past eight when she came.

Rachel had never told me where she lived, and she would never let me walk home with her. Where the alley began at the hydrant, was the door through which she came at eight and the door which closed behind her at ten. When I had begged her to let me walk with her, she always pleaded with me, saying that her father did not allow her to be with boys and that if he should see us together he would either beat her unmercifully or make her leave home. For that reason I kept the promise I had given, and I never went any farther than the entrance to the alley with her.

"I'll always come down to see you in the evening, Frank," she said and added hastily, "as long as you wish me to come. But you must remember your promise never to try to find where I live, or to walk home with me."

I promised again and again.

"Perhaps some day you can come to see me," she whispered, touching my arm, "but not now. You must never go beyond the hydrant until I tell you that you may."

Rachel had told me that almost every time I saw her, as if she wished to impress upon me the realization of some sort of danger that lay in the darkness of the al­ley. I knew there was no physical danger, because around the corner was our house and I was as familiar with the neighbourhood as anyone else. And besides, during the day I usually walked through the alley to our back gate on my way home, because it was a short cut when I was late for supper.

I knew Rachel and her family were poor, because she had been wearing the same dress for nearly a year. It was a worn and fragile thing of faded blue cotton. I had never seen it soiled and I knew she washed it every day. It had been mended time after time; carefully and neatly. I wished to offer to buy her a dress with the few dollars I had saved in my bank, but I was afraid to even suggest such a thing to her. I knew she would not have allowed me to give her the money, and I did not know what we would do when the dress became completely worn out. I was certain that it would mean the end of my seeing her. It was only the constant attention that she gave it and the care with which she laundered it each day that could have kept the dress whole as it had been.

Each evening when she came out of the black alley I met her there, and together we walked down the bright­ly lighted street to the corner where there was a drug­store. On the opposite corner there was a moving-pic­ture theatre. To one or the other we went each evening. I should have liked to have taken her to both the show and to the drugstore, but I was never able to earn enough money for both in the same evening. The twenty cents I received every day for delivering the afternoon paper on a house-to-house route was not enough to buy ice cream at the drugstore and seats at the picture show, too. We had to take our choice be­tween them.

When we stood on the corner across from the drug­store and across from the theatre we could never de­cide at first whether to see the show or to eat ice cream. The good times we had there on the corner were just as enjoyable to me, as anything else we did. Rachel would always try to make me tell her which I would rather do before she would commit herself and of course I wished to do that which would please her the most.

"I'm not going a step in either direction until you tell me which you would rather do," I would say to her. "It doesn't matter because being with you is everything I want."

"I'll tell you what let's do, Frank" she said touching my arm, and pretending not to be serious. "You go to the drugstore and I'll go to the movies,"

That was Rachel's way of telling me which she pre­ferred, although I didn't believe she ever suspected that I knew. But when she suggested that I go to the movies while she went to the drugstore, I knew it to mean that she would much rather have a dish of ice cream that evening. The enjoyment of the show lasted for nearly two hours, while the ice cream could never be pro­longed for more than half an hour, so all but two or three evenings a week we went to the theatre across the street.

There was where I always wished to go, because in the semidarkness we sat close together and I held her hand. And if the house was not filled, we always found two seats near the rear, in one of the two corners, and there I kissed her when we were sure no one was look­ing at us.

After the show was over, we went out into the bright street and walked slowly towards the green and red hydrant in the middle of the block. There at the entrance to the alley we stopped awhile. If here were no other people in the street, I always put my arm around Rachel's waist while we walked slowly to the dark en­trance. Neither of us spoke then, but I held her tighter to me, and she squeezed my fingers. When at last, after delaying as long a s possible the time for her to go, we walked together a few steps into the darkness of the alley and stood in each other's arms; when she was about to disappear into the darkness of the alley I ran to her and caught her hands in mine.

"I love you, Rachel," I told her squeezing her fingers tighter as she withdrew them.

"And I love you, too, Frank," she said turning and running into the alley out of sight for another day.

After waiting awhile and listening until she had gone beyond hearing distance, I turned and walked slowly up the street towards home. Our house was only a block away: half a block to the corner, and another half block from there. When I had reached my room, 1 went to the window and stood there looking out into the night and listening for some sound of her. My window faced the alley behind the house and the street lights cast a dim glow over the house tops, but I could never see down into the darkness of the alley. After waiting at the win­dow for an hour or more I undressed and went to bed. Many times I thought I heard the sound of her voice in the darkness, but after I had sprung from bed and had listened intently at the window for a long time I knew it was some other sound I had heard.

Near the end of summer I received five dollars as a birthday present from my aunt. As soon as I got it, I began making plans for Rachel and me. I wanted to surprise her that evening with the money, and then to take her downtown on a streetcar. First we would go to a restaurant, and afterwards to one of the large the­atres. We had never been downtown together, and it was the first time I had more than fifty cents at one time. That afternoon as soon as I could deliver all the papers on my route I ran home and began thinking about the plans I had made for the evening.

Just before dark I went downstairs from my room to wait on the front porch for the time to come when I could meet Rachel. I sat on the porch steps, not even remembering to tell my mother that I was going down­town. She had never allowed me to go that far away from the house without my first telling her where I was going, with whom and at what time I would come back. I had been sitting on the porch for nearly an hour when my older sister came to the door and called me, "We have a job for you, Frank," Nancy said. "Mother wants you to come to the kitchen before you leave the house. Now, don't forget and go away."

I told her I would come right away. I was thinking then how much the surprise would mean to Rachel, and I did forget about the job waiting for me in the kitchen for nearly half an hour. It was then almost time for me to meet Rachel at the hydrant, and I jumped up and ran to the kitchen to finish the task as quickly as I could. When I reached the kitchen Nancy handed me a small round box and told me to open it and sprinkle the powder in the garbage can. I had heard my mother talking about the way rats were getting into the gar­bage so I went down to the back gate with the box with­out stopping to talk about it. As soon as I had sprinkled the powder on the refuse I ran back into the house, found my cap, and ran down the street. I was angry with my sister for causing me to be late in meeting Rachel, even though the fault was my own for not hav­ing done the task sooner. I was certain though, that Rachel would wait for me, even if a few minutes late in getting to the hydrant. I could not believe that she would come to the hydrant and leave immediately.    

I had gone a dozen yards or more when I heard my mother calling me. I stopped unsteadily in my tracks.

"I'm going to the movies," I told her. "I'll be back soon."

"All right, Frank," she said. "I was afraid you were going downtown or somewhere like that. Come home as soon as you can."

I ran a few steps and stopped. I was so afraid that she would make me stay at home if I told her that I was going downtown that I did not know what to do. I had never told her a lie, and I could not make myself start then. I looked back and she was standing on the steps looking at me.

"Mother, I am going downtown," I pleaded, "but I'll be back early."

Before she could call me again, I ran with all my might down the street, around the corner, and raced to the hydrant at the alley. Rachel was not within sight until I had reached it and had stood for a moment panting and blowing with excitement and exertion.

She was there though, waiting for me beside the fence, and she said she had just got there the second before. After we had started towards the corner where the drugstore was, I took the money from my watch pocket and showed it to her. She was even more ex­cited than I had been when 1 first saw it.

After she had looked at it awhile, and had felt it in the palm of her hand, I told her what I had planned for us to do that evening.

We heard a streetcar coming and we ran to the cor­ner just in time to get aboard. The ride downtown was too fast, even though it took us nearly half an hour to get there. We got off near the theatre.

First I had planned for us to go to a small restaurant, and later to a show. Just as we were passing a drugstore Rachel touched my arm.

"Please, Frank," she' said. "I'm awfully thirsty. Won't you take me into that drugstore and get me a glass of water?"

"If you must have a drink right away, I will," I said, "but can't you wait a minute more? There's a restau­rant a few doors below here, and we can get a glass of water there while we're waiting for our supper to be served. If we lose much time we won't have the chance to see a complete show."

"I'm afraid I can't wait, Frank," she said, clutching my arm. "Please—please get me a glass of water. Quick!" We went into the drugstore and stood in front of the soda fountain. I asked the clerk for a glass of water, Rachel waited close beside me, clutching my arm tighter and tighter.

In front of us, against the wall, there was a large mir­ror, I could see ourselves plainly, but there was some­thing about our reflection, especially Rachel's that I had never been aware of before. It's true that we had never stood before a mirror until then, but I saw there something that had escaped me for a whole year. Rachel's beauty was revealed in a way that only a large mirror can show. The curve of her cheeks and lips was beautiful as ever and the symmetrical loveliness of her neck and arms was the same beauty I had worshipped hundreds of times before; but now for the first time I saw in the mirror before us a new and unrevealed charm.

"Quick, Frank!" Rachel cried clutching me desper­ately. "Water, please!"

She clutched my arm again breaking as one would a mirror, the reflection of my thoughts. The clerk had filled the glass with water and was handing it to her but before he could place it in her hands, she had reached for it and jerked it away from him. He looked as sur­prised as I was. Rachel had never before acted like that. Everything she did had always been perfect.

She grasped the glass as if she were squeezing it, and she swallowed the water in one gulp. Then she thrust the glass toward the clerk holding her throat with one hand, and screaming for more water. Before he could refill the glass, she had screamed again, even louder than before. People passing the door paused, and ran inside to see what was taking place. Others in the store ran up to us and stared at Rachel.

"What's the matter, Rachel?" I begged her catch­ing her wrist and shaking her. "Rachel, what's the mat­ter?"                         

Rachel turned and looked at me. Her eyes were turned almost upside down, and her lips were swollen and dark. The expression on her face was horrible to see.

A prescription clerk came running towards us. He looked quickly at Rachel, and ran back to the rear of the store. By that time she had fallen forward against the marble fountain, and I caught her and held her to keep her from falling to the floor.

The prescription clerk again came running towards us, bringing a glass filled with a kind of milk-while fluid. He placed the glass to Rachel's lips and forced the liq­uid down her throat.

"I'm afraid it's too late," he said. "If we had known ten minutes sooner we could have saved her."

"Too late?" I asked him. "Too late for what? What's the matter with her?"

"She's poisoned. It looks like rat poison to me. It's probably that, though it may be some other kind."

I could not believe anything that was being said nor could I believe that what I saw was real.

Rachel did not respond to the antidote. She lay still in my arms, and her face was becoming more contorted and darker each moment.

"Quick! Back here!" the clerk said, shaking me.

Together we lifted her and ran with her to the rear of the store. The clerk had reached for a stomach pump, and was inserting the tube in her throat. Just as he was about to have the pump started, a physician ran be­tween us and quickly examined Rachel. He stood up a moment later motioning the other man and myself aside.

"It's too late now," he said, "we might have been able to save her an hour ago, but there is no heart action now, and breathing has stopped. She must have taken a whole box of poison—rat poison, I guess. It has al­ready reached her heart and blood."

We attempted to revive her by means of artificial respiration. During all of that time the doctor behind us was saying: "No, no. It's of no use. She's too far gone now. She'll never live again. She has enough rat poison in her system to kill ten men."

Some time later the ambulance came and took her away. I did not know where she was taken and I did not try to find out. I sat in the little brown paneled room surrounded by white-labeled bottles, looking at the prescription clerk who had tried hard to save her. When at last I got up to go, the drugstore was empty save for one clerk who looked at me disinterestedly. Outside in the street there was no one except a few taxi drivers who never looked my way.

In a daze I started home through the deserted streets. The way was lonely and tears blinded my eyes and I could not see the streets I walked on. I could not see the lights and shadows of the streets, but I could see with a painful clarity the picture of Rachel, in a huge mirror, bending over our garbage can, while the reflection of her beauty burned in my brain and in my heart.

Word Combinations

a short cut to — кратчайший путь куда-л.

to take one's choice — сделать выбор

to commit oneself— 1. связать себя обещанием; 2. скомпрометировать себя

beyond hearing distance — так далеко, что уже не слышно

to run with all one's might— бежать изо всех сил

to be within sight — быть в поле зрения

to get aboard— сесть на трамвай {поезд, пароход)

to be aware of — знать, сознавать, отдавать себе отчет; (ant. to be unaware of)

to swallow (drink) smth. in one gulp (at a gulp) — выпить залпом

to keep smb. from doing smth. —удержать кого-л. от чего-л.

it looks like — похоже на...

by means of— с помощью, посредством

to be of no use (importance, significance, interest, value, etc.) — быть бесполезным (неважным, незначительным, неинтересным, неценным ит.д.)

Exercises to the text

I. Paraphrase or explain the following.

1. Rachel never agreed to allow Frank to walk home with her. 2. I knew the neighbouring places as well as anyone else. 3. During the day I usually walked through the alley to our back gate because it was a shorter way. 4. "I love you too, Frank," she said turning and running into the alley not to be seen till the next day. 5. After waiting awhile and listening until I could hear her steps no more I turned and walked slowly up the street. 6. Before she could call me again, I ran as fast as I could down the street. 7. We had to choose be­tween the drugstore and seats at the picture show. 8. We heard a streetcar coming and ran to the corner just in time to get in. 9. She grasped the glass as if she were squeezing it, and she drank the water at once with­out taking the glass off her lips. 10. "It seems to be rat poison," said the clerk.

//. Answer the following questions using the words in italics.

1. When did Frank take the short cut home? 2. Was the money Frank earned enough to go downtown every day? 3. Why was it difficult for Rachel and Frank to take their choice when they stood at the corner of the street thinking of where to go that evening? 4. People should always be careful about their promises not to commit themselves, shouldn't they? 5. What would you do to attract attention of someone who is beyond hearing distance! 6. Frank's mother was un­aware of her son's love for Rachel, wasn't she? 7, When would a person swallow something in one gulp! 8. Would Frank's mother have tried to keep her son from seeing Rachel if she had been aware of their love? 9. How would you paraphrase the sentence "It looks like rain"! 10. Why were all the attempts of the clerk and Frank to revive Rachel of no use?

III. Insert the words given in brackets.

(to commit oneself; service; to break; to serve; to delay; to face; to mend, neatly, suspicion)

 1. Annie ... her grandson's outgrown clothes as long as she could. 2. She proceeded on the same note of optimism choosing her words so as not to ... . 3. The ... that arose in him was so terrible that he refused to believe it. 4. She was always ... and smartly dressed. 5. "The ship didn't come in today," he said, "I wonder if it... by a storm." 6. The hotel ... the sea; it is a spa­cious but shabby building. 7. Having finished his edu­cation he did his military ... . 8. The front room ... as sitting-room, dining-room and at night as bedroom. 9. I was afraid it would ... our friendship.

IV. Give words and word combinations from the text that would fit the following definitions.

1. to cause to be late; to make slow; 2. a shorter way than by the main road or path; 3. a feeling of doubt or distrust; 4. to prevent a person from going away; 5. to repair, to put right, to restore to a good condition; 6. to be clean and in good order; 7. with the help of; 8. near enough to; 9. to talk about everything expect the most important point; to talk round a subject.

V. Translate the following into English; give examples based on the text “Rachel”.

прийти в голову; даю чеcтное слово; давно пора; нуждаться; не подать вида; охотно что-либо делать; быть очень удивленным; мило улыбнуться; затаить дыхание; для разнообразия; делай, как хочешь; поцеловать на прощание; время от времени; задержать кого-либо против его воли; помимо своей воли; я ничего с собой не могу сделать; заставлять кого-либо ждать; покачать головой; быть неприятной неожиданностью; сделать кому-либо знак; что случилось с; броситься, кинуться; сделать все возможное; быть без сознания; не приходить в себя; упасть замертво.

Topics for Oral and Written Practice

/. Speak on the following topics using words and word combinations from the text.

1.  Speak of Frank's home and family.

2.  Say what you can about Rachel's life and character.

3.  Describe the town Frank and Rachel lived in.

4.  Describe the way Frank and Rachel used to spend time.

II. Recall the stories of true love that ends tragically taken from literature or life.

III. Retell the text

1) as it is;

2) from the point of view of

a)     Frank; b) Rachel; c) Frank's mother; d) Rachel's fa­ther.

IV. Make the analysis of the text,

V. Compose the dialogues. Work in pairs.

1. Frank and Rachel.

2.  Frank and his mother.

3. Frank and his sister.

   Render the following in English.  Use the words and phrases giv­en below.

НЕСЧАСТНЫЙ СЛУЧАЙ ИЛИ  УБИЙСТВО?

Следствием по делу о смерти двенадцатилетнего Чарльза Ли было установлено, что он погиб в результате несчаст­ного случая — упал из окна своей квартиры в сад и раз­бился.

Грустное происшествие. Всегда тяжело на душе, когда умирают дети, которым только-только начал открываться мир. К сожалению, от несчастного случая никто не застра­хован. Но прав ли был следователь, квалифицировавший смерть маленького Чарли с Барфильдстрит (Лестер) как несчастный  случай?

Представляется, что нет. Произошло убийство. Более того, преднамеренное убийство. Попытаемся доказать это серьезное обвинение. На лице ребенка в момент рокового броска из окна была маска, вырезанная из мешка. За его плечами в виде плащ-накидки было укреплено какое-то старое отцовское тряпье. В таком виде хилый мальчик карикатурно напоминал Батмэна — сверхчеловека, со­зданного воображением американских теле­визионных дельцов. Да, конечно, Чарли копировал Батмэна, носящего романтическую маску и плащ, в которых он совершает все свои неповторимые по нелепости «подвиги».

Английская коммерческая телевизионная компания Ай-ти-ви за умопомрачительную сумму закупила батмэновскую серию и выпустила ее на экраны. По данным компа­нии, ее смотрит рекордное количество зрителей — около 200 миллионов человек. Игра в Батмэна становится все более популярной среди веснушчатых английских мальчишек. Отец Чарли прямо указал на телевизионного Батмэна как на причину нелепой смерти своего ребенка.

accident or murder; an inquest; 12 year-old Charles Leight; to jump from the window to meet one’s death; not to be protected against; a corner; to qualify smth. as; Barfield Street; Leicester; to commit murder; deliberate murder; to prove; a serious accusation (charge); a fatal jump; to wear a mask of sackcloth; on his back; a cloak; a puny boy; Batman; a superman; a brainchild; to imitate; to perform; absurd “feats”; the British commercial television company ITV; a fabulous price; the Batman series; a record number of televiewers; freckled English boys; a direct cause.

Литература

Книга для чтения на английском языке. Сборник английских писателей. -Из-во: Современный гуманитарный университет, 2008

РЕЦЕНЗИЯ

на методическую разработку по домашнему чтению для студентов 3 курса “Stories for discutions”, выполненную преподавателем ОГБОУ СПО «Иркутский аграрный техникум» Рудаковой Мариной Валентиновной.

      Данная методическая разработка рассматривает домашнее чтение как форму самостоятельной работы в изучении иностранного языка, которая решает одну из основных задач преподавателя – воспитать определенную культуру самостоятельной работы и, рационально направляя ее, сформировать у студентов  разнообразные речевые умения при овладении языковым материалом.

       Методическая разработка решает задачи обучения чтению как самостоятельному виду речевой деятельности, которые  заключаются в следующем: научить учащихся извлекать информацию из текста в том объеме, который необходим для решения конкретной речевой задачи, используя определенные технологии чтения.  В разработке подобраны аутентичные тексты с разнообразным литературно-художественным содержанием, что способствует развитию устной речи, обогащает словарный запас, знакомит с культурой и литературой страны изучаемого языка, развивает аналитическое мышление. Поэтому уроки домашнего чтения необходимы в учебном процессе. Эти уроки бесспорно ценны: во-первых, потому, что студент соприкасается с современным живым языком, а не условно-учебным; во-вторых, есть возможность высказать свое мнение и дать оценку произведению, героям и ситуациям.  

      Следует  отметить, что автор уделяет  особое внимание послетекстовой работе с прочитанным литературным произведением для дальнейшего развития умений иноязычного говорения, что  является  важной задачей домашнего чтения на среднем уровне обучения на уроке домашнего чтения. Так как в целях сохранения реально коммуникативного характера речевой деятельности даже в учебно-речевом общении на занятиях по домашнему чтению одна из основных задач - научить студентов обсуждать прочитанное.

Рецензент: преподаватель немецкого

                   языка высшей категории

                   ФГОУ СПО «Иркутский

                   техникум кино и телевидения»                                 Н. Ю. Юркина

Рассмотрено на заседании

ЦК общих гуманитарных и

социально-экономических дисциплин

Протокол №____ от ___________2012

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[1]  hall bedroom (Am.) — a one-room apartment

[2] the Flatiron Building — A house on Broadway, the father of skyscrapers, built in 1902

[3] Father Time — Personification of time, usually depicted as a very old man.

[4] debut (Fr.) — the first appearance in society, or on the stage

[5] bon vivants (Fr.)— those found of good living

[6] habitues (Fr.) — usual customers of visitors, frequenters

[7]  tulle — a tulle dress worn at parties

[8] the city of razzle-dazzle — here: New York, full of excitement and bustle

[9] the great and glittering primrose way — here: Broadway lit by pale yellow lights: a street where people come in pursuit of pleasure

[10] beau monde (Fr.) — Ihe best of society, the elite

[11] horridly commonsense — here: not elegant, but low and comfortable

[12] game ankle — an injured, sprained ankle

[13] cuisine (Fr.) — kitchen; here: cooking

[14] Fuss and Feathers — bustle and finery

[15] brave — a North American Indian warrior

[16] the tribe of the Manhattans '— an Indian tribe which inhabited the island until it was sold to the Dutch in 1626. Now Manhattan is one of the 5 boroughs of New York City, con­taining the chief business district, financial and theatre centre.

[17] the highway of Mammon and the auxiliary gods — the place where dwells Mammon, god of riches, and the