The
King and the Painter
(by
Mark Twain)
There was a king who thought that he
could paint very well. His pictures were bad, but the people to
whom he showed them were afraid of the king. They all said that they
liked his pictures very much.
One day the
king showed his pictures to a great painter who lived in his country
and asked, “I want to know what you think of my pictures. Do you
like them? Am I a good painter, or not?”
The painter
looked at the king’s pictures and said, “My King, I think your
pictures are bad, and that you will never be a good painter”.
The king
was very angry and sent the painter to prison.
After two
years the king wanted to see the painter again.
“I was
angry with you,” he said, because you did not like my pictures. Now
forget all about it. You are a free man again, and I am your
friend”.
For many
hours the king talked with a painter, and even asked him for dinner.
After dinner the king showed his pictures to the painter and asked,
“Well, how do you like them now?”
The
painter did not answer anything. He turned to the soldier, who was
standing near him and said, “Take me back to prison”.
Einstein
for a Day
Albert
Einstein is one of the world’s most brilliant and respected
scientists. He is known for formulating the theory of relativity,
which played a critical role in the development of atomic energy.
Einstein had a fine sense of humour.
There’s an
amusing story about how Einstein was travelling to universities in a
chauffeured car, giving lectures on reality. One day the chauffeur
said, “Dr. Einstein, I’ve heard this lecture about 30 times. I know
it by heart, and I bet I could dive it myself.”
“Well, I’ll
give you the chance,” said Einstein. “They won’t recognize me at the
school. When we get there I’ll put on your cap, and you introduce
yourself as me and give the lecture”.
The
chauffeur gave Einstein’s lecture without a single mistake. When
he finished, he started to leave, but one of the professors stopped
him to ask a complex question. The chauffeur thought fast, “That
problem is so simple,” he said, “it’s a surprise that you are
asking. In fact, to show you how simple it is, I’m going to ask my
chauffeur to come up here and answer your question.”
аmusing
- забавный recognize
- узнавать
bet
- держать пари sense
of
humour
– чувство юмора
chauffeured
car
– машина, которую вел шофер
theory of relativity
- теория относительности
The
Dragonfly and the Bee
The Bee and Dragonfly went to school
in the forest. Although they sat at the same desk, they were not
friends. Even in break they played separately.
One day the Bee caught a cold and
didn’t come to school.
“It’s nothing much,” they said in
class. “It doesn’t matter if she misses a day or two. The Bee
always gets good marks and she will catch up.”
So children insects said they were
sorry their friend was ill, and that was that. Only Dragonfly
couldn’t stop worrying. She sat there looking very miserable, rubbing
her eyes, and then began to cry.
“Oh,oh,” she wept. “If only little
Bee could get well again quickly. How shall I get on without her?”
“Just look!” the Mosquito exclaimed.
“Who would have thought that giggling Dragonfly could be such good
friends with anybody?”
And nobody knew what a good reason
the Dragonfly had for crying. She used to copy her homework from
the Bee.
although - хотя
it’s nothing much / it doesn’t matter –
catch up
with
- догонять это неважно, не имеет
значения
dragonfly – стрекоза
miserable
- жалкий, несчастный
exclaim – воскликнуть
rub - тереть
get on without – обходиться
без
separately – отдельно
giggle – хихикать
weep – плакать
mosquito - комар
who would have thought- кто бы
мог
подумать
Answer the following questions:
1. What
school did the Bee and the Dragonfly go to?
2. Did
they sit at the same desk?
3. Were
the Bee and the Dragonfly good friends?
4. Did
they play together in break?
5. Who
caught a cold one day?
6. Why
did they not worry about her?
7. Who
could not stop worrying?
8. Why
was the Mosquito so surprised?
9. What
reason for crying did the Dragonfly have?
10. Did you like
the Dragonfly?
11. Do you know
anybody whom the Dragonfly reminds you of?
12. Did you use to
copy your homework?
A
typical day at my ideal school
A typical
day at my ideal school. I get up at 9 o’clock. I have a cup of
orange or carrot juice. We have three lessons a day on one subject.
The first lesson is English Grammar. We play different Grammar Games.
While we are playing the games, the teacher comes to see us from
time to time and helps us with our work. We are listening to music
while we are having our lesson. Then we go to the computer room and
do some research and tests. We work there till twelve which is
lunchtime. I have lunch in our school’s cafe.
The afternoon
lesson begins at two o’clock and lasts till three o’clock. Then we
go to the library. We prepare small plays and act them out.
Sometimes we
go on an excursion or have class discussions. There are excellent
facilities at our school. There is an indoor swimming pool, a sports
center, tennis courts and a theatre workshop.
When I come
home I have about an hour’s homework to do. Usually we write
essays. We have no marks in school. Our teacher assesses us with the
following words: “excellent”, “very good”, “improving”, “neat work”, “do
over”, “watch punctuation”.
A
Forgetful Tourist
Once a
tourist arrived in Paris. It was his first visit there. When he
arrived at the railway station, he at once asked the porter to show
him the way to the nearest post office. There he sent a telegram
to his wife in which he informed her that he had arrived safely.
In this telegram he told her the address of the hotel where he
intended to stay.
Then he went
direct to the hotel, left his luggage there and went for a walk. As
it was his first visit to the French capital, he was very much
interested to see the streets, museums and shops of this beautiful
city, and spent the greater part of the day there.
Then he realized
he had forgotten the address of the hotel.
Who could
help the poor man? Suddenly he remembered the telegram which he
had sent to his wife on his arrival. She knew his address and could
help him.
So at night
his wife received this extraordinary telegram: “Please send me my
address at once”.
intended – намеревался
extraordinary - необычный
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