Skim Reading Exercises

Ex.9. Read and translate the text.

My Aunt Emily

Of all my relatives I like my aunt Emily the best. She’s my mother’s youngest sister. She has never married, and she lives alone in a small village near Bath. She’s in her late fifties, but she is still quite young in spirit. She has a fair complexion, thick brown hair which she wears in a bun, and dark brown eyes. She has a kind face, and you meet her, the first thing you notice is her lovely, warm smile. Her face is a little wrinkled now, but I think she is still rather attractive. She is the sort of person you can always go to if you have a problem.

She likes reading and gardening, and she goes for long walks over the hills with her dog, Buster. She’s a very active person. Either she is making something, or mending something, or doing something to help others. She does the shopping for some of the old people in the village. She’s extremely generous, but not very tolerant with people who don’t agree with her. I hope that I am as happy and contented as she is when I’m her age.

Ex.10. Using the text as a plan, describe your mother’s, father’s, sister’s and friend’s appearance.

Ex.11. Read and translate the passages.

1) And there he (Mervyn Philips) was, getting up to his knees with his hand holding his jaw and blood shining wet on his face, and there I (Huw Morgan) was, on my feet again and waiting, and Mr. Jonas (teacher) came round the corner.

“The bell has gone,” he said to the crowd. “Are you deaf?”

2) Ceinwen Phillips sat near her brother. Both of them were the same height and the same shape of face, but Ceinwen was shorter and finer in the nose, with a mouth always a little open to show good teeth and fat and square in the bottom (lower) lip. A good big eye she had with her, blue like her brother’s, but with plenty of woman in it, and long curling hair to her waist the same colour as new hay.

3) Shani had hair the colour of September leaves that shone, and a red ribbon coming up behind her ears with a bow on top. She was small, and gentle in her voice and movements, dark in the eye, and with a little line of the mouth … In her eyes I found pity and dark sadness.

(After Richard Llewellyn)

Ex.12. Say which passage is about: a sister and a brother; a small and gentle girl; a fight between two girls.

Ex.13. Choose from passages the words that refer to the topic Parts of Body.

Ex.14. Say in which passage you can find information about: the shape of face; the colour of eyes; the blood shining on one’s face; the curly hair; a gentle voice; the sadness in one’s eyes; good teeth; somebody who came round the corner.

Ex.15. Find the information about:

• the resemblance between Ceinwen and her brother;

• someone whose eyes were dark;

• the results of the fight between two boys.

Ex.16. Give short answers to the questions below and say where you found each answer.

1. Whose hair was the colour of September leaves?

2. Who came round the corner?

3. In whose eyes dark sadness could be found?

4. Who was of the same height and with the same shape of face?

5. What did Mr. Jones tell the crowd?

6. Who was small and gentle in her voice and movements?