Практика устной речи по английскому языку - Малышева О.Л., Валько О.В., Щёголева Т.П

‘You laugh well,’ said Lion. ‘You have a sense of humour.’ The moral: he laughs best who laughs last.

Exercise7. DoesthispieceofArtBuchwald’ssatirematchyourideasofthe Reading importance of laughter?

And Nobody Laughed

The last person to laugh in the United States was Robert Ketchum on Monday, August 3, 1978. There was no law passed to prevent people from laughing: they just quit voluntarily.

No one knows exactly when people gave up laughing in America. The Republicans claimed it was during the Johnson administration, and the Democrats said it happened during President Nixon’s term in office. Putnam Toynbee, who in 1984 wrote the definite history of the 70s, claims the first culture group to give up laughing was students.

‘There’s nothing to laugh about’, they said to each other in despair. ‘Everything is rotten. The government, the establishment, the system and life itself. We’re doomed to a plastic existence, and we’ll be damned if we’re going to laugh about it. If we show it any way we’re happy, it will be a sign of weakness.’

Toynbee points out that anything youth did in the United States was eventually picked up by the adult population, and when young people stopped laughing, older people started to emulate them.

Scowling became very fashionable, articles began appearing in the chic magazines that laughter was out. Advertisers, sensitive to the mood of the consumer, cancelled all comedy shows on television. The networks put out memos ordering all laughter bleeped from their programs, and newspapers dropped any stories or comic strips which might produce a chuckle for reader.

Toynbee says in his book that it was difficult for a certain segment of society to give up laughing, but these people did it privately in their homes, where no one could see them.

A group of friends would get together, send the children off for the night with relatives, and then laugh for two or three hours amongst themselves.

There were certain key clubs where people could go to hear a comedian or see a funny motion picture from the past. But the older generation started dying out, the clubs went bankrupt, as there were no young laughers to take their place.

Laughter in public buildings was forbidden and considered exceptionally bad taste. Anyone who laughed in a restaurant or a theatre was asked to leave.

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If someone attempted to laugh in the street or in a park he was met with stony stares or assaulted by angry passersby.

The government contributed to the anti-laughter campaign by issuing pronouncements every day that things were worse than they were the day before.

To make sure that people wouldn’t go back to their old ways, Washington raised taxes, passed outrageous laws, told of international threats and gave out grim economic reports. Life indeed presented a dismal picture.

Toynbee claims the last person in the United States known to have laughed in public was Robert Ketchum, who lived in Salem, Massachusetts.

Ketchum was standing on a street corner when a friend of his Adolph Green walked by and slid on a banana peel. Before he realized what he was doing Ketchum burst into laughter.

An angry crowd gathered and grabbed Ketchum and dragged him to the center of the square where they tied him to a post, threw branches from trees at his feet and burned him at the stake. All three networks covered the event, and the lesson was not lost on the populace. Toynbee feels it will be some time before anyone laughs in public in the United States again.

Would you like to live in the society described by Art Buchwald? Say why you feel this way.

Exercise 8. Answer the questions:

Discussion

1.Are there any other qualities which distinguish us from animals?

2.How can a sense of humour provide the key to happiness?

3.Does the sense of humour differ from country to country? Explain your point of view.

4.Does laughter depend on a sense of humour?

5.Can you give your own illustrations of the idea that political fanatics lack humour?

6.In what way can our sense of humour prevent us from taking ourselves too seriously?

7.Can a man without any sense of humour be unhappy? Why do you think so?

8.Can you give an example when the sense of humour helped you in a very difficult situation?

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Exercise 9. Express your opinion on the importance of humour in Writing your life and in the society.

UNIT 10. DIVERSITY AND CHOICE

Exercise1. Completethegridbelow(thefirstlineiscompletedforyou).

Collocation

VERY UNHAPPY – miserable, heart broken, agonized, depressed, dejected, wretched, in low spirits, feel down/low, melancholy

WORRIED – anxious, uneasy, nervous, dismayed, concerned, fretful, jittery

VERY WORRIED – anguished, disturbed, troubled, full of misgivings,

VERY AFRAID – panicky, petrified, alarmed, terrified, threatened

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VERY ANGRY – rage, furious, stormy, livid, incensed, on the warpath

LOVE – romantic – fondness, affection, tenderness, attachment, devotion,

ENTHUSIASTIC – zealous, passionate, keen, eager, fired up, full of ardor

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RESPECTFUL – reverent, deferential, admiration, devotion, awed, impressed

CONFUSED – perplexed, disconcerted, bewildered, flustered, addled, impressed

EMBARRASSED – uncomfortable, self-conscious, awkward, sheepish, mortified

How would you feel if …

1.… you heard the news of an earthquake?

2.… you found out your sister was going to have a baby?

3.… the only films on TV tonight were ones you had seen before?

4.… you answered the door to find a man saying you had won the lottery?

5.… you learned your parents were divorcing?

6.… you made a silly mistake in front of the whole class?

7.… you were getting ready for your first trip to London?

8.… you had a fight with your best friend?

9.… you were home and a robber broke into your house with a gun?

10.…you had to give a talk in front of TV news cameras?

11.… you stole a magazine from an old lady in the metro?

12.… you had to wait two hours at the dentist’s?

13.… your cat just died suddenly?

14.… your teacher said you cheated on an exam but you didn’t?

15.… you saw a UFO last night?

16.… you were sitting by someone who was smoking heavily?

17.… you had to change colleges in April?

18.… you won a free trip to Los Angeles?

19.… your sandal strap broke as you were walking in the park?

20.… your favourite grandmother was very ill and needed major surgery?

21.… you saw someone begging with two dirty children?

22.… your mother said you had to clean your room or you couldn’t go out with your friends?

23.… someone told your secrets to another person?

24.… you spoilt your friend’s favourite CD he had loaned you?

25.… someone gave you exactly what you wanted for your birthday?

Exercise 3. Choose the word or phrase that best completes each

Multiple Choice sentence.

1.My first day at work was _______ because there were so many things to take in.

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2.She’s usually very calm, so I must admit I’m rather ______ as to why she lost her temper like that.

a. confusing b. puzzled c. mixed up d. bewildering 3. The thought of another world war is a _______ prospect.

a. scaring b. dreading c. frightened d. terrifying 4. He didn’t really mean it. He only said it to ______ you.

a. dread b. frighten c. fear d. afraid

5. I was absolutely ______. It took me ages to stop shaking. a. dreaded b. petrified c. feared d. scary

6.The children were _____ with the toys you sent. In fact they haven’t stopped playing with them!

8.It’s very ______ that they’ve got so many problems, but I don’t know what I can do about it.

11.I’m not angry so much as ______. I don’t expect friends to deceive me and you have done.

Exercise4. A.Look at these examples. What is the difference between

Synonyms them?

1.She’s a very nice person. It was nice of her to help me and she was nice to you too, wasn’t she?

2.She’s a very likeable person. For example, it was kind of her to help me and she was friendly to you too, wasn’t she?

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*Some words that are perfectly all right in conversation are best avoided if you want to make your writing more interesting.

B.Offer several synonyms to each word:

nice good bad thing like dislike large small important intelligent interesting strange unpleasant beautiful

C.Write down some sentences for your partner (or for another pair)torewritemoreinterestinglyormoreclearly. Compareyourideas.

Exercise 5. Read and translate the extracts below. Each of them gives Translation some information about a person. What are the key words to describe each person and his/her feelings?

1. ‘Never stole a dime in my life. Never cheated on my taxes. Never cheated on my wife. Paid back every loan I ever took. Worked overtime most weeks since I’ve been a cop. Walked straight and narrow – and let me tell you, it hasn’t always been easy. Sometimes I get tired, fed up, tempted to take an easier way. I’ve had bribe money in my hand, and it felt good, but I just couldn’t make my hand put it in my pocket.’

2. Without looking at her, he said in a little rush: ‘Perhaps you would like to come down to the village one evening with me and have a drink?’ Louise’s first instinct was to say no at once, but there was something about his diffidence and his reluctance which made her hesitate. He was so very unlike Toby. He had none of Toby’s easy charm, he lacked the confidence, he lacked urbanity. The way he had asked her as if he had planned the words for some time then nerved himself to speak out – prompted her to caution. And there was something

very solid and honest about him ….

3. Louise’s spinster state had prompted her to look after herself, to do herself proud. Toby was not to know that the very things he most liked about her house – the tidiness, the order, the coherent style, the treats – were all symptoms of loneliness and solitude. He mistook them for style, whereas they were nothing more than absence of a companion, an excess of solitary time, and one of many unavailing defences against solitude.

Exercise 6. Write about one of the people described in exercise 5. Writing Characterize him/her, imagine his/her story and give your

opinion about this person.

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Exercise 7. Make up a dialogue or a short situation using as many Speaking synonyms or related words as you can. Lexical diversity

will be especially appreciated.

UNIT 11. GOING BY APPEARANCES

Exercise 1. Discuss the following questions:

Preparation

1.When you meet someone for the first time, what do you notice most: their clothes? voice? facial expression?

2.What do these things tell you about the person?

Exercise 2. Work in pairs. One of you read text A, and the other read Reading text B. Find out what happened and why. Then exchange

information.

A.Last week, Mrs Alice Woolf, aged 65, was tricked into handing over all her savings to a smooth-talking doorstep salesman who said he was selling burglar alarm systems. ‘I was completely taken in,’ she said. ‘I know it was foolish to let him talk me into giving him all my savings, but he seemed such a nice man. He came across as completely honest. But I won’t make the same mistake again. Once bitten, twice shy.’ When asked if she thought the man would be caught, she replied, ‘I don’t think he’ll get away with it. I’m sure the police will catch him sooner or later.’

B.The police are looking for a well-dressed young man who has been passing himself off as a doorstep salesman. Last week, he tricked an elderly lady into giving him all her money as a deposit for a burglar alarm system.

A police spokesman said, ‘Unfortunately, it’s quite easy for dishonest people to make a living doing this kind of thing. I suppose we all tend to go by appearances, and very often it’s not easy to see through a clean-shaven, well-spoken young man in a good suit, and with a pleasant manner. Appearances can be deceptive, and not everyone is a good judge of character. My advice to people is not to hand over any money until they have checked people’s references and made sure they belong to a reputable organization. Meanwhile we’ll do our best to catch the man who took Mrs Woolf’s savings.’

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Exercise 3. Match the multi-word verbs with their definitions.

Definition

Exercise 4. Listen to the sentences on the tape. Use the prompts you Listening hear to make sentences with the same meaning.

Exercise 5. A. Complete the sentences, using multi-word verbs from Practice this unit.

a.My sister is a very good judge of character. She can _____

people immediately if they try to deceive or trick her.

b.He escaped from the country by ______ as a tourist.

c.I lent him some money because he seemed an honest person, but after that I never saw him again. I soon realized I _______.

d.Don’t _______ his appearance. He may look nice but he’s completely untrustworthy.

e.When I first met him he ______ as a very indecisive person who didn’t know his own mind.

f.The salesman _______ buying a new washing machine, although my old one was fine.

g.The robber told him to _______ the keys to the safe.

h.The robbers laughed when the bank manager said: ‘You won’t

_______ this. The police will catch you one day.

B.One of the sentences below is correct. All the others have one mistake in them. Change the sentences so that they were all correct.

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a.No, you can’t have the money. I refuse to hand over.

b.She came across to be a very decisive person.

c.They got away several serious crimes.

d.He passed off himself as a policeman.

e.You should have seen him through immediately.

f.I was never taken in by his lies.

g.He talked me into sign the cheque.

h.I never go with first impressions.

Exercise6. A.Workinpairs.Taketurnsaskingandansweringthequestions Speaking below. Use the multi-word verbs in brackets.

1.Do you ever base your judgement of people on first impressions? Why / Why not? (go by)

2.What impression do you think you give of yourself when you meet someone for the first time? (come across as)

3.What do you think is the best way to avoid being tricked or deceived by people? (take someone in)

4.Has someone ever persuaded you to do something that you regretted later? If so, what was it? (talk someone into)

5.Imagine you could pretend to be someone else for a whole day. Who would you choose to be? Why? (pass yourself off as)

Idiom B. Work with a partner. Discuss the meaning of the following sayings:

1.Once bitten, twice shy.

2.Appearances can be deceptive.

3.Honesty is the best policy.

How would you express the same idea in Russian? Do you agree with these expressions? Why?

Exercise 7. How multi-word verbs work

into The particleintocanbeusedwithsomeverbstogivetheidea of persuading or forcing someone to do something.

The multi-word verbs below have the following form: verb + someone + into. Using the verbs in brackets, rewrite the following sentences so that they have similar meaning. Make any necessary changes to the structure of the sentences.

Example: - His boss made him resign. (force into)

-His boss forced him into resigning.

1.She persuaded me to buy a new coat. (talk into)

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