Кудинова Практическиы курс аглиыского языка для студентов международник Ч.1 2014
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2. What helped you decide? Was it the general style or atmosphere, or did particular words or phrases give you a clue?
They traveled the roads and byways of the West, unhurriedly and with no set itinerary, changing their route according to the whim of the moment, the premonitory sign of a flock of birds, the lure of an unknown name. The Reeveses interrupted their erratic pilgrimage wherever they were overcome by weariness or wherever they found someone disposed to buy their intangible merchandise. They sold hope. In this way they traveled up and down the desert, they crossed mountains, and one early morning they saw day break over a beach on the Pacific coast.
A woman found herself at the top of a cliff in cold morning light.
The sun was not shining. Around her, the mountains rose dark and watchful. The cliff was so sheer that she could not see the landscape below.
Across a wide gorge, an even steeper range of mountains stood in silent witness.
She followed every movement of the sleigh. Until it finally came to a stop against the trunk of a large birch tree at the very edge of a precipice.
The sleigh teetered slightly toward the sheer drop. Beneath were steep cliffs. And, far below, thundering rapids.
I am showering, breathing deeply as the steaming water, failing to numb the nerve bundle at the base of my neck, sprays a scalding reminder upon my scapulae. Hanging out flat-palmed on the turquoise tiles of my phonebooth-sized shower, I am a nobody whipped by pale fire waiting for a call. That's what I am without you, a waiting nothing, with a sore throat. Then you called.
Sophie couldn't sleep.
A brilliant moonbeam was slanting through a gap in the curtains. It was shining right on to her pillow.
The other children in the dormitory had been asleep for hours.
Sophie closed her eyes and lay quite still. She tried very hard to doze off. It was no good. The moonbeam was like a silver blade slicing through the room on to her face.
The house was absolutely silent. No voices came up from downstairs. There were no footsteps on the floor above either.
The window behind the curtain was wide open, but nobody was walking on the pavement outside. No cars went by on the street. Not the tiniest sound could be heard anywhere. Sophie had never known such a silence.
Perhaps, she told herself, this was what they called the witching hour.
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3. Very often, and especially in literature, we can understand a lot from what is implied rather than stated directly. Look at each of the texts again. Find words or phrases that imply these things:
Text 1 They are in the USA. |
Text 3. He's lonely. |
Mr Reeves is a wandering preacher. |
He's ill. |
He isn't very successful. |
The person who phones is his wife |
They are a superstitious family. |
or girlfriend. |
Text 2 It's winter.
It's a very wild, lonely place.
She isn't driving the sleigh.
Language Spot: Polite clichés
Make these requests and offers more polite. Use the expressions on the right:
1.Give me a lift.
2.Help me find my glasses!
3.Come for a meal tomorrow evening!
4.Lend me your dictionary.
5.Look after my dog while I'm on holiday.
6.Where's the toilet?
7.Can I help you with this exercise?
8.Stop whistling!
Grammar: Negative Questions
Text 4
It's night time, probably about 4 am. The girl lives in an orphanage.
The atmosphere is rather frightening.
1.Listen and compare the use of negative questions in 1 and 2.
1)a Don't you like pizza? How unusual!
b Can't you swim? I thought everybody learned to at school these days! c Hasn't the postman been yet? It's nearly midday!
2)a Haven't we met somewhere before? Wasn't it in Paris? b Wasn't it your birthday last week? Sorry I forgot.
c Isn't that Hugh Grant over there? You know, the actor! I'm sure it is!
2.In which group ...?
... does the speaker ask for confirmation of what he thinks is true and expect the answer Yes?
... does the speaker express surprise and expect the answer No?
3.Practise the negative questions. Pay attention to stress and intonation.
4.Ask and answer about these things using negative questions with words
in the table:
Expressing surprise:
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|
like |
ice-сream/learning English/your neighbours? |
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|
have |
ever been abroad/got a TV at home? |
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Asking for confirmation: |
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is |
it Tuesday today/this your pen? |
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go |
to the States last year/to the races next weekend? |
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5.In pairs: compose 5 negative questions in Russian for your partner to translate, do the translation in turns. Use at least once the structure
“Why don’t you/we do sth?” (= почему бы вам / нам не сделать чтолибо?)
Grammar: Tenses Choose the correct tense.
Growing up a British Asian
'I (1) am born / have been born / was born in a town called Blackburn, in the north-west of England, and (2) have lived / lived / was living there till I (3) had left / left / was leaving home at the age of eighteen. My parents (4) had moved / have moved / used to move to England from India during the 70s.
As a child, I (5) have been / had been / went to my local school and, of course I
(6) have spoken / spoke / had spoken English with a local accent, just like all the other kids. But home was very different: we (7) have lived / had lived / lived in a kind of little India, with a huge extended family of uncles and aunts. I (8) remember / am remembering / have remembered feeling part of this big thing called 'family', and an even bigger thing called 'India'. I suppose my family really (9) have influenced / influenced / were influencing me while I (10) had grown up / used to grow up / was growing up. They often (11) had talked / have talked / used to talk about India as 'home' - even though at that time I (12) had never been /was never going / have never been there!
To me, it (13) doesn't seem/ isn't seeming/wasn't seeming at all strange to grow up as part of two cultures. I (14) am always thinking / 've always thought /was always thinking that growing up with two cultures is a gift, not a disadvantage. Now that I (15) have / am having / had a child of my own, I (16) am wanting / have wanted / want her to get in touch with her Indian roots too, so we (17) 're planning / plan / used to plan a visit there later this year. All her Indian cousins (18) are looking forward / looks forward / looked forward to meeting her!'
Reading and Speaking: Have You Heard the News?
1. What is news? What function does it have? Structure? What stories are there in the news now? What stories are newsworthy? Is it possible to say
that all news is negative? Would a “positive news’ newspaper” survive?
What stories would it cover? What article from the three below could appear in such a paper?
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2.Read the newspaper articles (1-3) quickly. Which one is international news? national news? a human interest story?
3.Read the articles again and answer the questions:
1.Which two groups were involved in the riot?
2.Why did Jennifer change the hamster's name from Hammy to Houdini?
3.How did the virus work? Why was it so effective?
4.Find these words in the articles (1-3).
1)robbed during a riot (verb)
2)thrown using a lot of strength (verb)
3)entered using force (phr verb)
4)completely destroyed (verb)
5)the box in which a dead person or animal is buried (noun)
6)sleeping all the time during winter, a natural process for some animals (verb)
7)bit something repeatedly without eating it (verb)
5.Underline the words connected with computers.
6.Which articles (1-3) do those events come from?
a)The schoolchildren and teachers said prayers.
b)As soon as people opened this e-mail, their personal computers received over a thousand more messages.
c)The police brought in hundreds of officers in riot gear.
Protests erupt in violence
A protest against capitalism in central London involving 4,000 people descended into ugly scenes of violence yesterday when shops were looted and bricks and bottles were hurled at police. Hundreds of officers in riot gear were brought in to break up the demonstrators after a McDonald's restaurant and a bureau de change on Whitehall were broken into and wrecked shortly after 2 p.m.
Houdini the hamster comes back from the grave
There were floods of tears the day Jennifer
Wildes' pet hamster died. Prayers were said at school and her father held a funeral service when the animal was buried in a tiny cardboard coffin. The trouble was, he wasn't dead - he was simply hibernating. And the next day he chewed his way out of his box and dug back into the world from his grave. Jennifer, eight, of Droylsden, Manchester, said: "I'm so happy. I was sure my hamster was dead. 1 used to call him Hammy, but in future he'll be called Houdini."
Cash bug strikes
A computer virus promising unexpected cash cost worldwide businesses millions of pounds yesterday. The virus was sent as an e-mail with the title
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"Annual Bonus". As soon as this e-mail was opened, personal computers received over a thousand more messages, causing the systems to crash. Nearly twenty per cent of companies in the USA and a total of thirty million European workers were affected. The boss of one company paralysed by the bug said: "We've been hit by six or seven viruses this year, but this one is easily the worst. Normal business is made impossible by something like this because customers can't be contacted by e-mail, it's like having a power cut."
Study Skills: Spelling
1. These verbs have got different endings with he/she/it. Write them in three columns– a column of verbs with the added “-s”, a column with the added ‘-
es’ and a column of verbs with the change “y+s”= ‘ies”:
E.g.: ► buys ► watches ► carries
hurry |
carry |
buy |
learn |
go |
fry |
do |
see |
miss |
say |
start |
teach |
play |
wash |
walk |
mix |
dry |
fix |
watch |
try |
bury |
cry |
come |
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2. These words make the plural form differently. Make four columns - a column of nouns with the added “-s”, a column with the added ‘-es’, a column with the change “y+s”= ‘ies” and a column with irregular forms (such as “tooth-teeth”):
cup |
desk |
box |
girl |
beach |
match |
friend |
child |
bush |
person |
bench |
dog |
car |
road |
watch |
tomato |
party |
pen |
dictionary |
country |
potato |
city |
policeman |
baby |
class |
woman |
foot |
tree |
story |
dish |
bus |
glass |
shirt |
day |
boy |
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3. These verbs make the past form differently. Make four columns - a column of verbs with the added “-d”, a column with the added ‘-ed’, and a column with the change “y+s”= ‘ied”:
love v |
arrive |
try |
look |
shop |
study |
help v |
bury |
pull up |
drop |
plan dance |
clap |
hate walk |
want |
water |
hurry |
dry |
like |
tidy use |
stop |
carry |
smile |
cry |
empty |
4. These verbs make the gerund form differently. Make four columns - a
column of verbs with the added “-ing”, a column with the eliminated “e”+ ing, and a column with the doubling of the last consonant + ing:
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► wash washing ► write writing ► run running |
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have |
speak |
look |
get |
bake |
sit |
swim |
use |
put |
chase |
learn |
carry |
take |
eat |
go |
watch |
kick |
|
stop |
hit |
read |
walk . |
catch |
|
fly |
help |
drop |
come |
clap |
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Listening and Speaking: Interview with Annanova
1.Work in pairs and discuss these questions.
1.What science fiction films have you seen that have intelligent robots or androids?
2.How did the robots behave towards humans?
3.Which of these things can robots and computers do now? work in factories, play football, control cars and planes, beat us at chess, compose music, give us the news, speak to us, have a real conversation with us, have feelings
2.Listen to the interview with Ananova and answer the questions. Before you listen make sure you know these words:
a virtual character, a creator, to look like, to deliver (news), simultaneously, on
demand, to put it another way, in other words, to access sth, what I’m getting at.
1.Where can you see and hear her? What does she do?
2.Does Ananova really exist? Can she really talk?
3.Why are there no photos of her as a child?
4.How does she find news stories?
5.What are her plans for the future?
6.Do you think Ananova is intelligent? Why/Why not?
News: Where to Find?
You can find English-language news anywhere thanks to the Internet, e.g. from The Times, Anonova.com. (Ask your teacher for other suggestions.) You can often browse through the day's news free of charge. Here are some Ideas if you have access to English-language news online.
Compare how two newspapers deal with the same story: Make a list of information which (1) only appears in one newspaper and (2) appears in both newspapers.
Make a list of the different sections you would expect to find in a newspaper, e.g. political news. TV listings, arts reviews, etc. How many of the sections can you find? Make a brief note of what is covered in each one.
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Read one article in detail with a good dictionary. Make a list of ten to twelve useful words or phrases that you found in the article. Try to summarise the main points of the article yourself.
Choose an area you are interested in, e.g. sports, fashion, music, etc. Print out a selection of articles on your chosen topic and make a list of new factual information you have got fiom the articles.
Get a translation of an article into your own language (many websites offer a 'translate this article' service). See if you can do anything to improve the translation yourself!
Language Spot: The language of headlines
1. Read the text and say what rules are used in the headlines. Why?
The language of the newspapers is quite special and the writer of a certain article should be really careful in choosing the right word or phrase. In England the quality papers use a serious tone, a wide vocabulary and standard English.
The language of headlines, though, is completely different from the English
“inside” the article and can be analysed from many points of view: lexically, grammatically and stylistically.
Headlines give a summary of the article, but they have to do it so as to
stimulate the interest of the reader for the content of the story. That’s why there is often an exaggeration of the meaning.
Analysing the vocabulary of headlines we can observe a dominant characteristic which is brevity, a clear condition of any headline; short, snappy and rhyming words are preferred.
Because a headline needs to be short the language of headlines often breaks linguistic rules. Authors make use of such syntactical conventions as:
-noun phrases,
-strings of nouns,
-omission of articles,
-dropping of the auxiliary in the passive constructions,
-use of the infinitive to express future events or plans,
-simple tenses instead of progressive or perfect forms,
-Present Simple to express both present and past events,
-words used as verbs and nouns
When the Present Tense is used instead of the Past, it gives a sense of reality to the article, for example: “Prime Minister fails to attend a summit” instead of “Prime Minister failed to attend a summit”.
2. Look at the usual vocabulary of headlines. Why are these words used instead of regular English? What are the regular English equivalents for these words?
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To allege – утверждать
To axe – отменить, закрыть To ban – запретить
A bid – попытка
A blow – плохая новость
To boost – поднимать, увеличивать
A clash – столкновение, ссора To con – обманывать
A drive – объединенные усилия To hail – хвалить, приветствовать To hit – негативно влиять
To lash – сильно критиковать
To loom – надвигаться (об угрозе) To plea – просить о помощи
A swap – обмен
A poll – опрос общественного
мнения
To quit – уйти с поста
A row – скандал, ссора To cut – уменьшить
Odds – шансы, возможности To vow – обещать
3. Now turn the headlines below into “regular” English:
Woman alleges unfair treatment.
Small schools face axe. |
Drive to save water. |
China bans US import. |
MP hails peace plan. |
Japanese women in new Everest bid. |
Snowstorms hit transport. |
Smith ill: blow to World Cup hopes. |
Bishop lashes TV sex and violence. |
Government plan to boost exports. |
VAT on food: now row looms. |
Students clash with police. |
Big response to plea for flood aid. |
Reading and Speaking: And Now the Sports News
1.Split into pairs, read 2 different articles and then retell your article to your partner. When you are done, ask your partner if there was
something in your summary that he/she didn’t understand. Then listen to him/her. Do the same with the rest of the articles.
2.What rules of ‘Headline Language’ do the titles of the articles display?
'Own goal' defender shot dead outside restaurant
A COLOMBIAN footballer was shot dead yesterday by angry fans who blamed him for their side's early exit from the World Cup. Andres Escobar, a defender who scored an own goal during his side's defeat by the United States team, was confronted by a group of men as he left a restaurant in Medellin, 200 kilometres from Bogota. After an argument about his poor performance, they fired 12 bullets. One of the gunmen is reported to have said to Escobar before the shooting 'Thank you for the own goal'.
Tennis stars strike it rich on and off the court
There's lots of money in tennis these days - and for the big players, a large proportion of it comes from big business.
Andre Agassi recently signed a contract with Nike worth a reputed $100 million over ten years, in addition to an estimated $8 million in prize money, and Pete Sampras this year became a Wimbledon millionaire by beating Boris Becker. Steffi Graf is generally thought to be worth more than $30 million through winnings and advertising, and Martina Navratilova, nine-time Wimbledon singles champion, has a personal fortune estimated at more than $20 million.
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World champion swimmer suspended after drugs test
THE CHINESE WORLD CHAMPION, Lu Bin, has been suspended from all competition for two years after a positive drugs test, the International Swimming Federation announced yesterday. Lu returned a positive result for the anabolic steroid, dehydrotestosterone, in a test on September 30, shortly before the Asian Games.
Lu won four gold and two silver medals at the Games and set a world record for the 200 metres individual medley. At the world championships in Rome last September, she won the 200 metres individual medley title plus two relay gold medals.
FOOTBALLER FACES
SUSPENSION AFTER ATTACK ON SPECTATOR
ERIC CANTONA, the Manchester United striker, will probably be suspended for the rest of the season after he attacked a spectator during the match against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park last night. The incident happened moments after Canrona had been sent off for kicking out at another player, his sixth sending off in 16 months.
As he walked off the field, a spectator was seen running down a gangway from some 20 rows back, apparently to shout abuse at Cantona, who suddenly turned, jumped over the wall and kicked out at the man, and then punched him
Study Skills: Summary. Where Computers Can’t Go – Translation
In each paragraph of a text there is usually one sentence that gives you the general meaning of that paragraph. There are 3 kinds of sentences:
1.The Thesis Statement – it gives you the overall topic of the text and is usually found at the end of the introductory paragraph.
2.The Topic Sentence – it provides you with the topic of the paragraph. It is usually the 1st sentence of the paragraph but not always.
3.The Concluding Sentence – it summarises the whole text and is usually found at the beginning of the conclusion.
1.Read the text about computer translation. Match sentences A-E with gaps 1-5. Decide whether the sentences are a) a thesis statement, b) a topic sentence or c) a concluding sentence.
1.Computer Assisted Translation (CAT) was the biggest hope for automatic
translation on computers.
2.In conclusion, it seems to be that most people now agree that the dream will stay a dream.
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3.This article will look at what has happened over the last few years and show that the dream still hasn't come true.
4.There seems to be a number of reasons why CAT has not provided good translations.
5.There are many types of CAT programmes, other than the one I used in the above example.
Where computers can't go ... Translation
One of the great dreams that people had about computers was that they would break down the language barriers between people. It was thought that computers would be able to translate articles from one language to another and even, once voice recognition was in place, translate what we say (1) _______________.
(2)_______________ Most people in the nineties believed that by 2007 all computers
would be able to translate from one international website to another. However, this does not seem to have happened. Here is an example of an Internet translation (from German) of information about a footballer/In season 2006/07
played he in the Upper League team in the team and has a total of seven minutes active no further add, as he number among professionals only 4th goalkeeper. His 2007 expiring contract was signed by the team not renewed.' While this translation gave me the information I needed, it is certainly not a good translation.
(3)_______________. However the results are very similar. Even the most popular CAT programme, Babelfish, although better than the translation above, was still far from perfect.
(4)_______________. One reason for this is that computer programmers are not language specialists. In the world of mathematics, for example, with algebra you just replace one symbol with another. Unfortunately translation does not work like this. Translators have to think about the situation and what the writer is trying to say. There are no idioms in mathematics, for example. In short, translation is not a simple task and there is no ‘key’.
(5)_______________. Translation, as any professional translator will tell you, is not like mathematics and while computer programmers are still working alone in their little room with their mathematical ideas, translation programmes won't get any better.|
2.Translate the text, find these vocabulary units, be ready to recall the situations in which they were used: a barrier, It was thought that…, Once
voice recognition was in place, to expire, to be far from + adj, in short.
3. There are several ways to translate the Russian phrase ‘быть похожим на что-то/кого-то, напоминать’, study these ways, then do the translation:
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