My Perfect English

fascinating, indeed, to follow the course of this translation. How is it that grammar, which to many learners of English is perhaps the dullest thing on earth, has become glamour, which to some people, at least, suggests all the most exciting things in life? Well, it all goes back to Middle Ages.

Grammar in those days meant Latin Grammar. All important documents, laws, contracts, treaties, were written in Latin. But Latin Grammar was known only to some people; to the uneducated it seemed like magic. But those who learned grammar properly could write and interpret laws, could sign contracts; this way the way to the top, to the ranks of lords, to the world of glamour.

Exercise 4.9. Read the text. Mind your pronunciation and intonation.

Exercise 4.10. Read and answer the questions with proper pronunciation and

intonation.

1.Are the words grammar and glamour basically the same?

2.What did grammar mean in the Middle Ages?

3.Was Latin Grammar known only to some people?

4.Those who learned grammar properly could write and interpret laws, couldn’t they?

TEXT 2

Exercise 4.11. Look through the text “An unusual tower” and mark i ts intonation.

Exercise 4.12. Listen to the recording and correct your variant of intonation.

AN UNUSUAL TOWER

The "Crooked Spire" on a Chesterfield church England is one of the most famous and unusual towers of the world in form and size. Its height is 69.5 m and it is leaning 3 m from its centre.

From the far the Spire looks like a thick, crooked needle, and it is standing on the skyline like a question mark.

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In fact, Chesterfield's Spire started its life straight. History doesn't tell us when it began to lean. We also know that it is still moving. It is tested every year, and the civil engineers who are constantly observing the Spire are sure that the Spire is quite safe.

So how did it happen? There is a belief among the local people that one day a young lady of such breaking beauty entered the church that the Spire leaned in love and respect.

Another belief talks of a terrible storm and lightning which struck the single tower.

Architects note that the tower's structure is causing the tower to lean. In fact, the weight of the lead pieces which cover the Spire is 32 tons. It is too heavy, isn't it?

Though no more can tell the true story of the Crocked Spire, it will always remain the symbol of Chesterfield.

Exercise 4.13. Read the text. Mind your pronunciation and intonation.

Exercise 4.14. Read and answer the questions with pronunciation and intonation.

1.What is one of the most famous and unusual English towers of the world in form and size?

2.Chesterfield's Spire started its life straight,didn’t it?

3.Is it tested every year by the civil engineers?

4.What is causing the tower to lean?

5.The Crocked Spire is the symbol of Chesterfield, isn’t it?

TEXT 3

Exercise 4.15. Look through the text “Another mystory of the ancie nt pyramid”

and mark its intonation.

Exercise 4.16. Listen to the recording and correct your variant of intonation.

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ANOTHER MYSTERY OF THE ANCIENT PYRAMID

Thinking of a key to the phenomenon of ancient knowledge, we should remember the Great Pyramid of Cheops at Giza. Do you know its “Surprises”? The perimeter of the base divided by twice the height gives us "pi" (3.14159). The height, taken one thousand million times, equal the distance between the Earth and the Sun. Other parameters show the Earth's weight, and the four directions of the world. As for the Gallery leading to the Pharaoh's burial chamber, it gives a clear view of the North Star.

All these surprises are well-known to Egyptologists. But one, discovered in 1993, is still a mystery.

A German engineer R. Gantenbrink was hired to clean the narrow ventilation corridors in the King's Chamber of the Great Pyramid with the help of his robot. The robot, using its camera eye, found that the corridor ended in a tiny door, and that the wall of the segment was polished well enough, that a small gap exists at the bottom of the door, but the camera could not peer through it.

What could lie beyond that tiny door, too small for humans'? Is there a hidden chamber? What might it contain? No robot or man can answer. These questions yet, and scientists do not think it will be so easy in the near future.

Exercise 4.17. Read the text. Mind your pronunciation and intonation.

Exercise 4.18. Read and answer the questions with proper pronunciation and

intonation.

1.Should we remember the Great Pyramid of Cheops at Giza, thinking of a key to the phenomenon of ancient knowledge?

2.What is its height equal to?

3.Who was hired to clean the narrow ventilation corridors in the King's Chamber of the Great Pyramid with the help of the robot?

4.What did the robot find?

5.Do scientists think it will be so easy to answer the questions in the near future?

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