Uther`s
Promise.
A few years passed, and in time the Queen gave birth to a son. Uther had
completely forgotten his promise to Merlin until the day Merlin came to claim what
was his. He entered the chamber where the Queen was playing with her baby son.
Uther followed behind. His face was deathly pale. The Queen saw by her husband's
expression that something terrible had happened. She rose to greet him.
"What is it
Uther? You do not look well."
He explained the promise he had made to
Merlin. Igraine, the Queen, was furious.
"You fool! You would give up your own child for the
price of a sword?"
Uther turned to
Merlin.
"Please Merlin, I beg you, don't take our child! I'll give
you anything else you ask."
"You gave me your
word of honour. The child is mine."
And with that, he took the baby from Igraine's
arms. She screamed
for the King to take the child back, but Uther was weak against
Merlin's powers. Merlin cast a spell over the King and Queen, which kept
them from moving. When Merlin was gone, the spell went with him, so the King
took Excalibur to the forest to find Merlin and his son.
Heavy clouds came over the sky, and it began to rain. Uther called out for Merlin as he moved through the
forest. The rain, and his wish to see
his son, prevented Uther from seeing
the thieves hiding in the trees. A thief jumped on Uther's back.
"Give us the
sword and we will let you live."
Uther couldn't reach Excalibur. He tried to grasp it, but one of the
thieves stabbed him with a knife. As he fell, he touched Excalibur. It gave him the
strength to rise and fight, but he was badly injured. He knew he was going to
die, and crawled
to the nearest rock to rest. The rain poured down on him as he called out
to Merlin.
"Merlin! I have kept my promise. I will leave
Excalibur in this rock, but you must make my son a king."
Uther rose up with all his strength and pushed Excalibur into the rock right
up to the handle. The King fell down on the ground and died next to that rock. Merlin
appeared beside Uther.
"No man shall pull this sword from this rock unless
he is the
next king of England."
Изучающее чтение.
Предтекстовой этап.
I. Выполните частичный перевод на русский язык (незнакомые слова).
Просмотрите текст и закончите предложения.
- Uther`s wife`s name is
a) Ingrid b)
Igraine c) Imelda
- The King`s wife said
a) “Uther killed him” b) “Merlin
you are a thief!”
c) “No, don`t take my baby!”
- The King killed the thief with
a) a knife b) a
gun c)a sword
- The men want Excalibur so that
they can rule
a) Scotland b) England c) Ireland
- Uther pushes the sword into
a) a tree b)
a stone c) a rock
Текстовый
этап.
I.
Прочтите
текст, разделите его на смысловые части.
II.
Прочтите
все глаголы в прошедшем времени, передающие динамику повествования.
Послетекстовый этап.
I. Ответьте на вопросы.
1
Why was the
Queen angry?
2
Why did
Merlin refuse to change the agreement?
3
What was the
weather like?
4
Who
attacked Uther?
5
What did
the thieves want?
6
What
happened when Uther's hand touched Excalibur?
7
What did
Uther do with Excalibur?
8
Who would be
the next person to pull the sword from the rock?
II. Скажите,
являются ли ответы на вопросы кратким пересказом.
III. Обсудите
данные темы:
1
Have you
ever made a promise to someone? Did you keep your promise or break it?
2
Has anyone
ever stolen anything from you? What was it?
3
Where would
you hide something you didn't want anyone to find?
4
What kind of
man should a King be?
IV. Прочитайте три описания. Выберите, кто
из этих людей будет королём Англии, расскажите о нём.
William
Age: 18
Description: Medium-height, short, fair hair, hlue
eyes. Personal
abilities: Horseriding,
sword-fencing Personality:
shy, intelligent
2 George
Age: 50
Description: Tall, medium-length brown hair, green
eyes. Personal
abilities: Horse-riding,
hunting, sword-fencing, archery (using a bow and arrow) Personality: confident,
friendly, intelligent
3 Henry
Age: 32
Description: Tall, long dark hair, brown eyes. Personal
abilities: sword fencing, archery. Personality: confident, cruel,
aggressive.
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