It was … that / who … (which are translated as: саме, як раз , тільки, власне) and translate them into Ukrainian. Pay attention to the translation of some sentences.

Ex.: a).It was the first day at the university that I remembered all my life.

Саме свій перший день в університеті я пам’ятала все своє життя.

b). It was Bill Gates who established the world famous company Microsoft.

Саме Біл Гейтс створив відому у всьому світі компанію Майкрософт.

Exercise 6. Read and translate some sentences with Passive Voice. Mind that sentences in Present Perfect with for or since are translated in Present Tense.

• Cotton has been known to mankind for a long time.

• Cotton was used in China to make both cool summer clothes and warm winter ones.

• Cotton was known to the Greeks as a “tree wool” and was described in some of their ancient books.

• One can hardly believe that when it was first brought into Europe, cotton was sold not as a cheap common stuff, but a rare fabric.

• Cotton was not widely used in Europe until the eighteenth century.

II. Reading.

Exercise 7. Read and translate the text.

The History of Cotton

Cotton has been known to mankind for a long time. Forty centuries ago, Chinese farmers looked upon that fiber as one of their most important crops. Cotton was used in China to make both cool summer clothes and warm winter ones. It was in India, however, that cotton spinning and weaving became more perfected than in any other country in the ancient times.

Three thousand years ago, the poets of India sang of the cotton garment that is a “web of woven wind”. The name that they gave to this wonderful plant was Kwi-tan, from Kwi, meaning “to shine” (or “white”) and “tan” meaning “to draw out to strech”. Thus the word for cotton meant “the white stuff that can be drawn out or spun.

The Arabs made it “qutun” and it were the Arabs who took the word and the cotton to Spain.

Cotton was known to the Greeks as “tree wool” and was described in some of their ancient books.

Herodotus, the Greek historian, wrote twenty five hundred years ago that the people of India “possess a kind of plant, which instead of fruit, produces wool of a better and finer quality than wool of sheep, and it is from this plant that the Indians make their clothing”. In fact, travelers saw cotton in India they called it “vegetable wool” and even wrote about a wonderful tree that “bore tiny lambs on the end of its branches”.

One can hardly believe that when cotton was brought into Europe, it was sold as a cheap common stuff, but as a rare fabric. The Indian muslin was rarer and harder to get than silk cloth, and only the rich could have it.

Thus, being one of the oldest fibres used by man, cotton was not widely used in Europe until the eighteenth century.

III. Comprehension.

Exercise 8. Read the text “The history of cotton” again and find in the text a passage describing:

a). in what country cotton was looked upon as one of their most important crops;

b). where cotton spinning and weaving became more perfected in the ancient times;

c). how the poets of India sang of the cotton garment;

d). who made it “qutun” and took the word and the cotton to Spain;

e). what the Greek historian Herodotus wrote about cotton;

f). in what position Indian muslin was in comparison with silk.

Exercise 9. Agree or disagree with the following statements:

a). Cotton is known to mankind for some years.

b). Spinning and weaving of cotton became more perfected in China.

c). The poets of India gave cotton the name Kwi-tan, meaning “the white stuff that can be drawn out or spun”.

d). Greek historian Herodotus brought cotton to Spain and wrote that people of India possess a kind of plant, which instead of fruit produces wool …”.

e). Cotton was sold as a rare fabric in Europe when it was first brought there.

f). Cotton was widely used in Europe from ancient times, being one of the oldest fibers.

Exercise 10. Find the answers to the following questions.

1. How did Chinese farmers look upon that fiber many centuries ago?

2. Who perfected cotton spinning and weaving?

3. What did the word for cotton mean for Indians from their poets?

4. It were the Arabs who took the word “qutun” and the cotton to Spain, weren’t they?

5. Was cotton described as “tree wool” in some Greek books?

6. What fabric was rarer and harder to get than silk cloth in Europe?

7. From what century was cotton widely used in Europe?

IV. Oral practice.

Exercise 11.

1. Speak on the following topics:

1). The development of cotton in Europe.

2). The country which perfected the process of cotton spinning and weaving.

Use speech patterns: as far as I know, in my opinion, to my mind, it is really so.

2. Explain the statement:

One can hardly believe that when cotton was brought into Europe, it was sold not as a cheap common stuff, but as a rare fabric.

V. Reading.

Exercise 12. Read and translate the text “Batiste” into your native language using a dictionary. Mind the terms.

Text B.