Vocabulary:

a peculiar character - особливий характер

a common type of person - звичайний тип людини

rights and duties - права і обов'язки

bad luck - невезіння

in the long run - у кінці кінців

to be in debt [det] - бути у боргу

a discontented member of society - незадоволений член суспільства

a public spirited man - свідома людина

a spare minute - вільна хвилина

Questions:

1. What two types of people are common in every nation in the author's opinion?

2. How can we distinguish a public-spirited person from his/her opposite?

3. What is the general attitude towards these types of people?

Text 7 the art of talking

Last night was a bore. Several people came to my place for a chat hoping to enjoy themselves. But what an awful evening it was!

One young man talked to us for a full hour on every subject under the sun. None of us could get in a word, not even me, though I am supposed to know* how to do it - I've been a journalist for many years now. So what should have been** a pleasant social get-together became an awful bore.

Our speaker, for I cannot call him less, was as exciting as a reading of last week's laundry list.*** He is eighteen, and that, I think, excuses him, for he hasn't been practicing the art of talking for too many years.

He will learn, I hope, that a good conversationalist is a man who has something interesting to say, and at the same time he tries to make his audience feel comfortable. He is also a good listener and shows by his interest that he wants to hear what others have to say. He enjoys talking but realizes that everyone will get more pleasure from conversation if all get a chance to take part. He speaks clearly enough for all to hear comfortably; he is never monotonous, and his speech is full of interesting things; and, by the way, unlike some people, he looks his listeners in the eyes, and not into space.

Unfortunately all too often**** we suffer from bad conversationalists. They are all the same - they are always boring, and yet they differ. You can even talk of several types here. To begin with, there is the so-called "monopolizer", for instance. This type of conversationalist wants to do all the talking. After you have been listening to him for 10 minutes, you know you are not going to be able to add more than a "yes" or a "no" to something he has said because he will probably continue talking until he is so tired he can't speak any more.

The "show-off" is not very different from the "monopolizer". Here is the person who wants to attract attention to himself. Even if he has nothing to offer he still wants to be in the centre of the talk.

And the "repeater" is a well-familiar type. He will repeat not only something he has said but also something someone else has mentioned. Hasn't this kind of talker bored us from time immemorial?

There is also the type that can be called the "detail man". He usually enjoys what he is telling so much that he cannot leave out the smallest detail. Quite often, after he has been speaking for a short time he finds he has lost his audience because they are not so interested in all the details as he is.

And now I almost want to say thank God for the "interrupter". The good thing about this type of conversationalist is that you can depend upon him to interrupt the "monopolizer" or the "detail man".

And, of course, there is the "silent" one. This speaker has nothing to say. It may be that he has no information to offer or it may be that he is afraid to say something because he is too shy. Or perhaps he is the one who remembers that silence is gold.

Not always, I must say. I, personally, believe that most communication is good. I am sure that to achieve progress one must discuss things.

I am all for discussing things, but the talker must remember that conversation must serve a purpose. What he says must always be to the point. For life is short, and nobody wants to spend hours listening to people that talk and talk and never think.

Notes:

*I am supposed to know - я маю знати

** what should have been - те, що повинно було стати

*** laundry list - список речей, які віддано до пральні

**** all too often - досить часто