- •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.
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.
1. When and where is the scene set?
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.
1. What does the word “crossing” in the title mean: Colin’s fatal crossing of the river or something more important? How many crossings are there in the story? Can you think of a better title for the story? Give your own variant.
2. The author doesn’t present the events of the story in chronological order. He resorts to a circular pattern of the plot structure, i.e. the closing event or the very eve of the closing event (that is the case in this story) is given as an introduction. What effect does the author want to produce? What other patterns of plot structure do you know? Enumerate them.
3. As the old saying goes “The heart that once truly loves never forgets”. Whose feelings to Flora and Flora’s to whom can you characterize by means of this saying? Ground your choice.
4. Where does your sympathy lie – with Colin or with Angus? Why? Whom would you have chosen if you were Flora?
5. Why do you think Colin’s footsteps led up to the window and then into the water? What happened? Can you say that Colin was a weak person? Why/why not? Give a character sketch of Colin. What kind of person was he? Try to use at least 10 adjectives to present him.
6. What do you think became of Angus and Flora afterwards? Did they stay together or part? Can happiness be built on someone else’s bones? Explain your viewpoint.
7. How would you have felt after Colin’s death if you were Angus or Flora? Why?
8. Give a character sketch of Angus. What kind of person was he? Try to use at least 10 adjectives to present him.
9. Give a character sketch of Flora. What epithet* is used by the author to accentuate her beauty? What kind of person was she? Try to use at least 10 adjectives to present her.
10. Compare the attitude of Nick from “Ten Indians” to his partner’s unfaithfulness with Colin’s attitude to the same situation. Why did they react in such a different way? Was the situation really the same? What determined their choice? Give evidence for your answer.
11. What would be your choice if your partner were unfaithful to you: to forget and stay with an unfaithful partner, to forgive and part, to part but to bear a grudge against him/her and revenge, to commit suicide or to kill the offender? Why? Give your reasons and your own way out of the situation if none of the enumerated above suites you.
12. What have you learnt about love from this story? Does it conform to your concept of love?
13. Do you know of any other love stories that end in tragedy?
*The epithet is a figure of speech involving an attributive characterization of a person, thing or phenomenon. It is simple in form. In the majority of cases it consists of one word: adjective or adverb, modifying respectively nouns or verbs (e.g., It was an angry sunset; He carried himself brutally). Sometimes epithets may be expressed by nouns, mostly in of-phrase (e.g., They had the spirit of modesty), or compounds – equivalents of whole phrases (e.g., Brian felt a quiet I-told-you-so satisfaction).
WRITING ACTIVITIES
XII. Summarize the story in 20 sentences. Read your summary aloud in class and explain why you have chosen these very sentences.
XIII. You are a police detective who has been called in to investigate the causes of Colin’s death. Write a brief report (100 words) with the conclusions you have made.
XIV. Write a final paragraph/paragraphs (250-350 words) for the story giving it another twist. It’s up to you to decide what moment to change the story from.