Comprehension Practice

1. Listen to the fable. State whether the sentences you hear after the text are true or false. Correct the false sentences. Do it in writing.

1. The manger had some food in it. (F);

2. One day a dog ran into a stable and jumped into the manger. (T):

3. When the horse and cow wanted to eat their hay, the dog let them do it. (F);

4. The cow and the horse wanted to eat the hay (T);

5. It was the dog’s dinner. (F);

6. The dog didn’t let them eat the hay because it didn’t like to see somebody eat what it couldn’t eat. (T);

7. So the horse and the cow didn’t go away hungry. (F);

8. Stop others having what you don’t need. (F).

B. Listen to the fable again. Write down your answers to the following questions revealing the plot of the fable.

a) Where did a dog run into one day?

b) What is manger?

c) What was there in the manger?

d) Who came to eat the hay?

e) What did the horse and cow say when the dog didn’t let them eat the hay?

f) Why did the horse and cow have for their dinner?

1. What didn’t the dog let the horse and cow eat the hay ?

2. Why did the horse and cow have to go away hungry?

h) What is the moral of the fable?

C. Listen to the text, divide it into communicative blocks, entitle them.

D. Listen to the fable, find the logical centre of each communicative block and of the whole text. Write them down.

E. Listen to the jumbled sentences and put them in the right order to complete the fable.

1. “You don’t eat hay, so you don’t need it,” said the cow.

2. It is our dinner,” said the horse.

3. The manger had some hay in it.

4. Do not stop others having what you don’t need.

5. One day a dog ran into a stable and jumped into the manger.

6. “Because I don’t like to see you eat what I can’t eat too,” said the dog. “Go away!”

7. When the horse and cow wanted to eat their hay, the dog would not let them.

8. “Why?” asked the horse.

9. “We want the hay.

10. But the dog said, “If I can’t eat it, then I shall not let you eat it either!”

11. “Why?” asked the cow.

12. So the horse and the cow had to go away hungry.

13. It is ours.

Written Practice

A. Rewrite the fable changing direct speech into reported. Retell the fable in reported speech.

B. Find in the text the reason the dog didn’t let the horse and cow eat their dinner. Write it down.

C. Comment on the moral of the fable describing such a behaviour of the dog. What do you think the author’s attitude towards the dog’s behaviour is? Give your interpretation of the dog’s behaviour? Do it in writing.

D. Write down your own story which proves the moral of the fable.

Unit eight

Task 1. Listen to the recorded words and word combinations. Write them in transcription. Practise their pronunciation.

Hors dóeuvre

zander in aspic

mayonnaise

gourmet

fastidious

nourishing

whipped cream

broth

cocoa

biscuits

ginger

parsnip

artichoke

asparagus

cauliflower

spinach

broccoli

aubergines

turkey

venison

trout

flavoured

barbecue

caviar

scalloped fish

crucian carp

prunes

salmon

sardine

oyster

spaghetti

prawn

shrimp

stewed

cuisine

bay leaves

herbs

parsley

almond

cinnamon

grind

knead

impromptu

fabulous

marvellous

diet

sausage

porridge

raisins

squeeze

skewer

braise

sauté

recipe

ingredient

vermicelli

ravioli

poultry

Task 2. Listen to the words (Task 1). Put them in the right column:

Vege­tables	Courses	Herbs	Type of Eater	Cooking food	Pasta	Food / Dishes	Desserts	Fish / sea food	Meat	Others
Auber­gines Parsnip Arti­choke Asparagus Cauli­flower Spinach Broccoli	Hors- d’oeuvre	Cinna­mon Ginger Bay leaves Herbs Almond Parsley	Gourmet Fasti­dious	Grind Knead Squeeze Skewer Braise Sauté	Spaghetti Vermi­celli Ravioli	Whipped cream Scalloped fish Broth Barbecue Zander in aspic Mayo­nnaise Flavoured Sausage Porridge Stewed	Cocoa Raisins Biscuits Prunes	Trout Caviar Crucian carp Salmon Sardine Oyster Prawn Shrimp	Venison Turkey Poultry	Impro­mptu Fabulous Mar­vellous Diet Recipe

Task 3. Match pairs of words that rhyme:

Fish – dish

Peaches – beaches

Carp – harp

Dill – bill

Spice – rice

Mustard – custard

Dip – snip

Food – mood

Sage – cage

Corn – born

Brussels – muscles

Beer – dear

Honey – money

egg – beg

Cake – bake

Tin – bin

Packet – racket

Pack – back

Roll – bowl

Leek – seak

Peas – keys

Pumpkin – bumpkin

Milk – silk

Cherry – berry

Marrow – sparrow

Eel – meal

Sauce – course

Crumpy – dumpy

Jug – mug

Pike – bike

Jar – bar

Cod – knod

Jelly – belly

Bread – red

Glass – grass

Spoon – moon

Crush – brush

Oil – boil

Frying – drying

Task 4. Look through the words in Task 3; group them according to the type of a vowel in a stressed syllable.

Task 5. Listen carefully to the following conversational situations. Write them down. Concentrate on the intonation of replies. Mark the type of the nuclear tone they take. Define the attitude rendered in the replies. Listen to them again, pronounce them, make them sound non-final, non-categoric(al), soothing, sympathetically interested, reassuring, encouraging, calmly patronizing, friendly, puzzled.

a) - Tell me, doctor, is he badly hurt?

- Nothing at all _/serious. Just a few _/bruises. (soothing, reassuring)

b) - I don’t think I’ll ever do it.

- You _/will. It’s just a matter of _/practice. (reassuring)

c) - I’m going to do some shopping.

- Can I come _/too? (interested)

d) - I’m afraid they’ve gone out.

- How soon will they be back? (sympathetically interested)

e) - I really must be off.

- Don’t let me detain you then. (calmly patronizing)

f) - I’m just going.

- Have a good time. (encouraging)

g) - Alice is on the phone.

- Who does she want to speak to? (interested, puzzled)

h) - Are you quite well prepared for your exam?

- Not quite. (noncategoric)

i) - Shall we write a dictation tomorrow?

- I believe so. (noncategoric)

j) - I’m sorry but I can’t go to the cinema with you.

- Are you very busy today? (interested).

Task 6. Listen to the following dialogues and exercises. Write down the sentences containing tag-questions (disjunctive questions), lay stresses and tone marks, give their tonograms. Establish the intonation patterns of expressing certainty/uncertainty. Define the speakers’ social status (equal, superiour, inferiour) and the degree of formality (formal, informal) of the conversations. Do it in writing. Practise reading the dialogues.

Thompson P. 79-86 (Ex.82-89)

1) Harriet: It’s cold today, isn’t it?

David: Well, remember it’s November.

Harriet: Yes, but last November wasn’t cold, was it?

David: Well, last November was exceptionally warm, so they say.

Harriet: We didn’t wear overcoats, did we?

David: Not in the first week, certainly.

Harriet: Oh, yes, it got cooler later, didn’t it?

David: Quite a bit cooler – but not this cold.

Harriet: There’s been snow, hasn’t there? [Thompson:79]

2) Mr W.: It’s the 14^th today, isn’t it?.

Miss R.: That’s it.

Mr W.: I haven’t opened my letters yet, have I?

Miss R.: Not yet, Mr Watkins, no.

Mr W.: You said it was March, didn’t you?

Miss R.: No, Mr Watkins. It’s February. [Thompson:82]

Task 7. Read the text given below. Make sure you understand what it is about. Divide each sentence into syntagms, lay stresses and tone marks, practise your reading technique. Record your reading.

Phonetics, to people who know very little about it, usually means a lot of funny characters which make ordinary English words look most strange and barbarous. Although this is not a correct description of phonetics, it is true that in writing about speech sounds we often find it useful to refer to them by means of a phonetic alphabet. No student of English can fail to notice that English spelling is not always a reliable guide to pronunciation. If we compare the words cough, enough, bough, though, through, and ought, we see that the same spelling ough is used to represent widely varying sounds; on the other hand, in the words seed, beam, field, key, and these, we see different spellings all representing the same sound. Therefore, a special alphabet is used in which each letter or symbol stands for one and only one sound wherever it occurs. A word written in phonetic symbols can be read aloud correctly by anyone familiar with phonetics and phonetic transcription.

Task 8. Exercises based on the text of the fable.