Story 1. My Blue-Eyed Boy (after Alexandra Mandis)

Before reading the story be sure you know how to pronounce these proper names:

Harry

Dalmatian

Central Park

Dog Hill

Alexandra

Valerie

Well, the story is called “My blue-eyed boy”. Have you got any ideas what the story is about? If “yes” – what are they?

OK. Now you’re welcome to read the story “My blue-eyed boy”. Enjoy reading, please. And after reading let’s see if your expecations were correct.

My dog, Harry, and I are very close. Harry, an eighty-pound Dalmatian, listens to me when I am upset, comforts me when I am blue and goes everywhere with me. He cares for no other person like he does for me, his beloved mama. Having raised him since he was an eight-week-old pup, I feel the same way about him -he is my blue-eyed boy.

One beautiful Sunday morning, Harry and I went to Central Park. Harry was running off leash on Dog Hill, along with all the other city dogs, while their owners enjoyed a spring day in the park.

I was feeling down because I had been recently laid off from the job I'd held for ten years. Being in the park with Harry was one of the ways I forgot for a while that I was out of work - and that my prospects were not looking good in a tough economy.

I was standing at the bottom of Dog Hill talking to another dog owner, when all of a sudden we heard some-one shout, "He peed on my leg!" I turned to look, and, behold, at the top of the hill I saw a lady gesticulating at my beloved boy, who apparently was the culprit. Horrified, I rushed up the hill. Harry had never done anything remotely like this before.

When I got to where the woman was standing, I reached down quickly and grabbed hold of Harry's collar in case he decided to do anything else untoward. The woman was bent over, trying to clean up her leg. She was pulling off her shoe because the pee had dribbled down her leg all the way into her shoe.

We straightened up at the same moment, and for a shocked instant, we looked at each other. "Alexandra! ' she said.

"Valerie! "It was my former boss - the one who laid me off three months before.

I apologized to Valerie for Harry's behavior, but all the way home, I laughed and laughed, and gave Harry lots of kisses and hugs. Harry, of course, was thrilled that he clearly had pulled off a winning stunt - though, fortunately, he has never repeated his performance. To this day, when I think about all of Harry's wonderful qualities, his "revenge for ma­ma "still makes me laugh the hardest.

Well, you’ve just read the story “My blue-eyed boy”. We hope that you’ve enjoyed the reading. Were your ideas about the content of the story correct? Now let’s see how well you know it. Do the following tasks, please.

Translation tasks

Task 1. Translate these words or parts of the sentences into English. Good luck!

грустить/ быть в печали; растить/ воспитывать; быть без работы; извиняться перед кем-либо; чувствовать тоже самое; нерадужные перспективы; вдруг; отдалённо напоминающий; снимать/ сбрасывать; до сегодняшнего дня; к счастью; заставлять кого-либо делать что-либо.

Task 2. Now try to give Russian equivalents to the English ones.

to be very close; when I am blue; I was feeling down; had been recently laid off from the job; a lady gesticulating at my beloved boy; I rushed up the hill; "He peed on my leg!"; the woman was bent over; untoward; for a shocked instant; a culprit; tough economy; to run off leash; in case; for a while; to this day; to pull off a stunt; kisses and hugs; his "revenge for ma­ma" still makes me laugh the hardest.

Task 3. Translate the following sentences into English using the indicated words and word combinations:

to apologize to smb for smth to rush	Увидев её, он резко подбежал и начал извиняться за всё, что натворил.
to make smb do smth fortunately to give in	К счастью, на следующий день полиция заставила преступника сдаться.
to be raised prospects	Мы выросли вместе, но он всегда был её любимчиком, а мои перспективы были не очень радужными.
to care for to feel the same way about to make smb do smth	Он её всегда любил и заботился о ней, не заставлял её ждать даже и минуты, и она относилась к нему также.
аll of a sudden	Мы наслаждались прекрасным солнечным днём, как вдруг пошёл проливной дождь.
in case for a while	Я отпустила ненадолго поводок, чтобы щенок смог побегать.
to raise qualities	Никто другой не смог бы вырастить такого человека с прекрасными качествами.
to this day to be close	Мы до сих пор очень близки и при каждой встрече обнимаемся и целуемся.
to be blue	Когда мне грустно, я включаю Шопена и погружаюсь в красоту грусти

Task 4. Translate the passage from “One beautiful Sunday morning” up to “anything remotely like this before”.