- •Easy reading
- •Предисловие
- •How to analyse the text
- •Comprehension Quiz
- •Means of communicating ideas
- •Choose the phrases you like more so as to make a structure of any text analysis. Prepare two variants: one long (300-350 words), another short (100-150 words). Unit 1
- •The story of an hour
- •1. Learn the meaning of the following words and reproduce the situations in which they are used:
- •2. Substitute the italicized words with synonyms:
- •8. Summarize the story in 15-20 sentences.
- •9. Imagine you are Mr. Mallard. Write a passage (150 words) describing his view of the situation. Unit 2
- •The hero of drummond street
- •6. Explain the meaning of the following expressions. Make up sentences using them:
- •7. Discussion:
- •8. Summarize the story in 15-20 sentences.
- •9. Write a passage (150 words) describing the whole story as if you were a) the Drooler or b) the reporter. Unit 3
- •Discussion.
- •Three is a lucky number
- •The crime in this text is murder, but there are unfortunately many others, consult the dictionary and match crimes to their definitions, translate the words on the left.
- •Discussion
- •Unit 5
- •A shocking accident
- •V. Answer the following questions.
- •VI. Read the following sentences and answer the questions that follow.
- •VII. Discussion.
- •VIII. Imagine that Jerome keeps a diary. Write his entries for these three days:
- •Unit 6
- •Tipsy and the board of health
- •1. Learn the meaning of the following words and reproduce the situations in which they are used:
- •2. Find synonyms for the following words. Make up your own sentences using these words or their synonyms.
- •3. Fill in the gaps with the necessary prepositions:
- •9. Summarize the story in 15-20 sentences.
- •Unit 7
- •Hills like white elephants
- •IV. Fill in the sentences with the words or their derivatives from the previous exercises.
- •V. Fill in the gaps with prepositions where necessary. All the expressions are taken from the text. Translate the sentences. Choose the expressions that are slang. What does the author use them for?
- •VII. Put 10 questions to the contents of the story. Work them out so that they can serve as a plan for further coherent retelling of the story. The first one is made up for you.
- •VIII. Render the contents of the story as if told by: a) Jig; b) her partner; c) the woman from the bar. Resort to the questions you’ve made up.
- •IX. Discussion.
- •Unit 8
- •The absence of emily
- •Consult the text or a good dictionary and insert the prepositions if necessary.
- •Discussion
- •In written form summaries the story in 20 sentences so as your summary to be a short text, remember to use conjunctions to make it pleasant to read. Be prepared to present your summary in class.
- •Unit 9
- •Ten indians
- •IV. Fill in the sentences with the words or their derivatives from the previous exercises.
- •V. Fill in the gaps with prepositions where necessary. All the expressions are taken from the text. Translate the sentences. Choose the expressions that are slang. What does the author use them for?
- •VI. There are words in English that are pronounced in a similar way but differ a lot in their meanings. Study the meanings of “beech” and “beach” and fill in the blanks with a suitable word:
- •VIII. Match the words on the left with their definitions on the right:
- •Unit 10
- •Campbell’s crossing
- •IV. Fill in the sentences with the words or their derivatives from the previous exercises.
- •V. Fill in the gaps with prepositions or adverbs where necessary. All the expressions are taken from the text. Translate the sentences.
- •VI. Find the notions defined below in the text. Fill in the gaps in the sentences that follow with these notions.
- •VII. Replace the words underlined with an expression from the text based on the word(s) in brackets. Make any necessary grammatical changes.
- •XI. Put 10 questions to the contents of the story. Work them out so that they can serve as a plan for further coherent retelling of the story. The first one is made up for you.
- •X. Render the contents of the story as if told by: a) Flora; b) Angus; c) an Inverlochie’s dweller. Resort to the questions you’ve made up.
- •XI. Discussion.
- •Unit 11
- •The garden party
- •Discussion.
- •Unit 12
- •Miracles do happen
- •IV. Fill in the sentences with the words or their derivatives from the previous exercises.
- •V. Fill in the gaps with prepositions where necessary. All the expressions are taken from the text. Translate the sentences.
- •VI. Replace the words underlined with an expression from the text based on the word(s) in brackets. Make any necessary grammatical changes.
- •VII. Supply the missing words. In each case the first letter of the missing word is given. All these expressions are taken from the text.
- •XI. Put 10 questions to the contents of the story. Work them out so that they can serve as a plan for further coherent retelling of the story. The first one is made up for you.
- •X. Render the contents of the story as if told by: a) Else; b) Michael; c) Hermann. Resort to the questions you’ve made up.
- •XI. Discussion.
- •Unit 13
- •The metro
- •Comment on the following ideas, agree or disagree, give your own opinion, mind to support it with arguments.
- •Reading comprehension quiz.
- •The metro
- •Translate the following words and word combinations; insert them into the sentences below:
- •Below you will find some more words from this text and their synonyms which were mixed, match each word with the correct synonym. Use them in the sentences of your own.
- •Even when words are synonymous it doesn’t always mean that they are interchangeable; in the sentences below choose one word in italics that fits the sentence best.
- •Reading Comprehension Quiz
- •Write an essay (300-400 words) on the following topic: One never knows what might happen next.
VII. Put 10 questions to the contents of the story. Work them out so that they can serve as a plan for further coherent retelling of the story. The first one is made up for you.
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When and where is the scene set?
VIII. Render the contents of the story as if told by: a) Jig; b) her partner; c) the woman from the bar. Resort to the questions you’ve made up.
IX. Discussion.
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What do ‘white elephants’ in the title and in the body of the story (the simile* is repeated several times) signify? Does the author merely compare the hills with white elephants or does he imply any other, more substantial, comparison resorting to this simile? Can you think of a better title for the story? Give your own variant.
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Why doesn’t the main character name the operation he is so persistently inciting Jig to? Why doesn’t he call things by their proper names? What is he afraid of?
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Is abortion really an easy operation? Does a male have a right to estimate the degree of the complexity of such an operation or its harmfulness to a woman’s health?
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Why is the language of the story so plain? Is it because a lot of the real communication is made without words? Do you feel tension behind the words of the characters? What else do you feel? Whose feelings do you share?
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Why does the American have no name? Does the author show his attitude to the character this way?
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Do you think the character’s behaviour can be defined as treachery? Will his behaviour make him feel ashamed one day?
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As the old saying goes “Happy is he that is happy in his children”. Will the main character understand this truth of life one day or will he stay deaf to it?
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What can you deduce about the character’s essence from his behaviour under the trying circumstances in the story? Give a character sketch of the American. What kind of person was he? Try to use at least 10 adjectives to present him.
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In the story Hemingway uses quite a lot of repetitions. Enumerate all of them. What is the author’s reason for such frequent recourse to repetition? Comment on the role of repetition in Jig’s utterance “Would you please please please please please please please stop talking?” What effect does this stylistic device produce?
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How do you think Jig feels at the end of the conversation? How would you feel and what would you think of in such a situation? What does she smile at at the end of the story?
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Is there the denouement (or resolution) in the story or is it left out by the author? Is the fate of the main characters clarified? Are any crucial conclusions suggested to the reader? What other structural components of the plot do you know? Enumerate them. Where are they in the story?
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Reflect on all that you’ve read and discussed and imagine the outcome of the story yourself. Do you think the characters will stay together or part? Ground your opinion.
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What have you learnt about the relations between men and women from this story? Do such relations have anything in common with love?
*The simile is a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid. Similes are usually introduced with the words as … as, like, such as, etc. (e.g., as brave as a lion, crazy like a fox).
WRITING ACTIVITIES
X. Summarize the story in 20 sentences. Read your summary aloud in class and explain why you have chosen these very sentences.
XI. Imagine that when the train comes Jig’s partner boards the train but Jig doesn’t. She only hands her farewell letter over to him without uttering a word. Write the letter (150 words) explaining the reasons why she has decided to part with him.
XII. Write a final paragraph (200 words) for the story: Jig and her partner 20 years later. If they have stayed together, describe their life or one day of it. If they have parted, describe their casual encounter. It may be a narrative or a dialogue of the characters.