Easy Reading in English. Методическое пособие по домашнему чтению для студентов II курса неязыковых специальностей педагогических вузов

“I was engaged to a young man at the beginning of the War but he fell on Flanders’ Field,” said Miss Brodie. “He fell like an autumn leaf though he was only twenty-two years of age. When we go indoors we shall look on the map at Flanders, and the spot where my lover was laid before you were born. He was poor. He came from Ayrshire, a countryman, but a hardworking and clever scholar. He said, when he asked me to marry him, ‘We shall have to drink water and walk slow’! That was Hugh’s country way of expressing that we would live quietly. We shall drink water and walk slow. What does the saying signify, Rose?”

“That you would live quietly, Miss Brodie,” said Rose Stanley.

The story of Miss Brodie’s felled fiancé was well on its way when the headmistress, Miss Mackay, was seen to approach across the lawn. Rose Stanley had now begun to weep.

“What are your little girls crying for?” asked Miss Mackay.

“TheyaremovedbyastoryIhavebeentellingthem.Wearehavingahistory lesson,” said Miss Brodie, catching a falling leaf in her hand as she spoke.

“Crying over a story at ten years of age!” said Miss Mackey to the girls. “I have only come to see you and I must be off. Well, girls, the new term has begun. I hope you all had a splendid summer holiday and I’d like to see your essays on how you spent them. You shouldn’t be crying over a story at the age of ten. My word!”

“You did well,” said Miss Brodie to the class, when Miss Mackey had gone, “not to answer the question put to you. It is well, when in difficulties, to say never of word, neither black nor white. Speech is silver but silence is golden.”

Notes

the prime of Miss Jean Brodie – Мисс Джин Броди в расцвете сил и энергии

the Brodie set – окружение Мисс Броди

they were held in suspicion and not much liking – к ним относились с недоверием и недолюбливали

a crank school – школа с причудами (речь идет о современных школах) in case of intruders – если кто-нибудь придет

Assignments

1.Read and translate the text into Russian.

2.Arrange A and B in pairs of synonyms:

а) mistrustfully, a bridegroom, troubles, sensation, exact, a company, known, wonderful, a primary school, false, industrious, to cry, a progressive school;

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b) a Junior school, a crank school, hard-working, to weep, a fiancé, impression, a set, difficulties, in suspicion, splendid, recognizable, untrue, accurate.

3.Find the terms that correspond to the following definitions:

1)The subjects studied at a certain school – …

2)The process of breaking rules – …

3)All the teachers taken together – …

4)A person who investigates something in a special field – …;

5)The head of the school – …

6)A position taken by a specialist – …

7)To teach a pupil – …

4.Look through the text and arrange the given sentences according to the logic of the story:

1)“Speech is silver but silence is golden,” said Miss Brodie;

2)Miss Brodie’s favourite Italian painter was Giotto;

3)Miss Mackey would like the girls to write essays on how they spent their summer holidays;

4)They were vastly informed on a lot of subjects irrelevant to the authorized curriculum;

5)Miss Jean Brodie was engaged to a young man at the beginning of the War but he fell on Flanders’ Field;

6)The girls formed the Brodie set, and they had been recognizable as Miss Brodie’s pupils;

7)They were aware of the existence of Einstein and the arguments or those who considered the Bible to be untrue.

5.Put 5 questions to the text and ask your fellow students to answer them.

6.Give the Russian proverb corresponding to the English one given at the end of the extract. How do you understand it? Explain.

7.Give the character sketch of Miss Brodie.

8.Divide the text into meaningful parts and entitle each of them in the form of an expression or a sentence from the text.

9.Pick out the most essential information concerning the Brodie set.

10.Render the text in English according to the plan.

11.Formulate your own idea of the text.

12.Think of a different end of the story.

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COLLEGE

“Well,aftertheyhavelearnedatschooltheyarereadyforcollege.Mamma packs a few things into her son’s bag and the lad trots off to college. If he is notstrongenoughtolookforhighhonoursasaboxerhegoesintothethought department. The President takes him to his study, gives him a cigarette and says: ‘My dear boy, what special branch of learning would you like to study to become one of our professors? We have a Chair of Beauty and a Chair of Puns, a Chair of Poetry on the Setting Sun, and one on Platonic Love, and one on Sweet Thoughts and one on How Green Grows the Grass. This is all you will need to equip you for perfect life, unless you intend being a dentist; in which case,’ he says, ‘we won’t think much of you but we have a good school where you can learn that disgraceful trade,’ he says.

And the lad makes his choice, and every morning when he is up in time he takes a glass of whiskey and goes off to hear Professor Marianna tell him that if the data of human knowledge must be rejected as subjective, how much more must they be subjected as rejective…”

“I don’t understand a word of what you are saying,” said Mr. Smith. “Nor do I,” said Mr. Brainer. “But believe me it is as my father used

to say: ‘Children shouldn’t be sent to school to learn but to learn how to learn. I don’t care what you teach them, so long as it is unpleasant to them.’ It’s training they need, Smith. That’s all. I never could make use of what I learned in college about trigonometry and grammar; and the bumps I got on my head from the schoolmaster’s cane I have never been able to make use of either. But it was the being there and having to learn things by heart, without asking the meaning of them, and going to school cold and coming home hungry, that made the man of me you see before you. Our children must be taught toughness, that’s what they need in life.”

Notes

the thought department – (зд.) философский факультет the President – the Head of the College

a Chair of Beauty and a Chair of Puns, a Chair of Poetry on the Setting Sun, and one on Platonic Love, and one on Sweet Thoughts and one on How Green Grows the Grass – вымышленные названия кафедр

in which case – в таком случае

…if the data of human knowledge must be rejected as subjective, how much more must they be subjected as rejective… – сатирическая иллю-

страция высокопарного псевдонаучного стиля философского факультета.

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Assignments

1.Read and translate the text into Russian.

2.Give one word to the following definitions. An example has been done for you:

Ex: The President is the Head of the College.

1)… is an educational establishment which teenagers enter after leaving school;

2)… is the Faculty of Philosophy;

3)… means some sum of things a person knows;

4)Teachersandprofessorsareusuallydividedintosome…according to the subjects they teach.

3.Make up 5 English sentences with the following words and word combinations:

1)to trot off to college;

2)to equip you for perfect life;

3)disgraceful trade;

4)to need training;

5)to be rejected;

6)to learn things by heart;

7)not to care;

8)to make use of smth;

9)perfect life;

10)to get the bumps on one’s head.

4.Translate into English:

1)Чтобы добиться высоких наград, необходимо упорно идти к своей цели;

2)Её дочь намеревается стать стоматологом после окончания медицинского вуза;

3)Сделать разумный выбор своей будущей профессии – непростая задача;

4)Философский факультет – один из наитруднейших для учебы здесь;

5)Глава колледжа заведует всеми вопросами, связанными с организацией учебы будущих специалистов;

6)Трудолюбие и настойчивость – вот главные качества на пути достижения заветной цели.

5.Complete the sentences:

1)If a school-leaver is not strong enough to look for high honours as a boxer he …;

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2)The President gives a chance for a boy to choose any branch of learning at college: …;

3)If the data of human knowledge must be rejected as subjective, …;

4)Children shouldn’t be sent to school to learn …;

5)Children must be taught ….

6.Search for some expressive words describing the college.

7.Retell the text with the help of the plan.

8.Say what the message of the text is.

9.Express your opinion upon what the difference between a school and a college is.

PART II

Articles

THOSE LAZY HUSBANDS

(From «The Times»)

Men are lazy in the home, according to an official survey published today.

They have about six hours’ a week more free time than wives, but play very little part in cooking, cleaning, washing, and ironing, according to the Social Trends Survey by the Central Statistical Office.

Nearly three quarters of married women claimed to do all or most of the housework, and among married men the proportion who admitted that their wives did all or most of the housework was only slightly lower.

The survey showed that washing and ironing was the least popular task among men, with only one percent performing this duty, compared with 89 percent of women, and 10 percent sharing equally.

Only 5 percent of men prepare the evening meal, 3 percent carry out household cleaning duties, 5 percent household shopping, and 17 percent wash the evening dishes.

But when household gadgets break down repairs are carried out by 82 percent of husbands.

The survey says that, despite our economic problems, the majority of Britons are substantially better off than a decade ago. We’re healthier, too – eating healthier foods and smoking less.

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The average Briton, not surprisingly, is more widely travelled than a decade ago. More people are going abroad for holidays, with Spain the favourite destination.

So here is the way the statisticians see us…

SPLITTING UP – THE PAINFUL FACTS

There were 162,000 divorces in Britain in 1997, and about a fifth of those involved at least one partner who had been divorced before. But splitting up is more common among the lower income groups. The survey shows that the rate of divorces per thousand husbands in unskilled manual jobs was more than four times that for professional husbands.

Nearly two-fifths of all currently divorced women aged 18 to 49 were receiving maintenance from their former husbands for their children or themselves.

Marriages in the UK – a total of 387,000 – were three percent down on the previous year. Just over a third of these were remarriages for one or both partners.

Assignments

1.Read and translate the article.

2.Guess what this article is about according to the title given.

3.Explain the underlined words and expressions in English.

4.Answer the questions to the article:

What problem does the article highlight?

What aspects of life in the UK (or other English-speaking countries) did you learn about in this article?

Compare the statistical data of Britain and those of Russia (if available) and comment on them.

Does this kind of phenomenon/problem exist in our country? What is the attitude towards this problem in our society? What have you read or heard about this phenomenon?

Did anything surprise you?

Do you agree with what you’ve read in the article?

Have you (or your friends) ever had to deal with the problem described in the article?

Do you believe in a happy marriage? How are women treated in our country?

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5.Look through the article and break it up into several parts. Give a title to each part of the text.

6.Who(m) can it be useful for?

7.Render the article according to the plan, using new words and expressions.

EMPLOYMENT

(From «Britain Now»)

More women are employed or seeking employment in Britain today than ever before. Later marriages and effective methods of family planning have led to a decline in family size, with the result that women tend to be absent from the labour force for domestic reasons for a relatively short time. The number of women who have younger children and who return to work has increased rapidly. Other reasons for the growth of the female workforce are: the higher divorce rate and the rise in births outside marriage, leading to larger numbers of lone-parent families (one in six of all families with children), more than nine-tenths of which are headed by women; the need to supplement the husband’s income; and the desire of many women to fulfil themselves through work The changing character of the British economy, with the expansion of service sector industries such as banking and insurance, and the growth in part-time employment, has given women wider working opportunities.

Women comprise more than two-fifths of the British workforce (some 12 million out of a total of 28 million), a higher proportion than in any other European Community country except Denmark. Since the Second World War (1939-45) the proportion of working married women has grown to twothirds of those between the ages of 16 and 59, and they now make up over one-quarter of the labour force compared with only 4 percent in 1921. As many women combinework and raising a family,andbecausetheirearnings have traditionally supplemented those of their husbands, 43 percent of all women in employment work part-time, representing 87 percent of all parttime workers.

Women have traditionally been concentrated in certain types of job and industries, and over three-quarters now work in the service sector. About

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a fifth of female manual workers in Great Britain (two-thirds in Northern Ireland) are employed in catering, cleaning, hairdressing and other personal services and occupations, and many more are in semiskilled factory jobs and retailing. Of non-manual working women, a little under half work in clerical and related office jobs and two-fifths in professional and related occupations in education, welfare and health.

In certain sectors women have always been well represented. Around four-fifths of state primary school teachers and nearly half of secondary school teachers are women. The National Health Service employs more women than any other organization in Britain: out of a total workforce of 1,500,000, 910,000 are women. Three-quarters are qualified staff – doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and technical staff.

Womenworkingfull-timeinnon-manualjobsoftenenjoymarkedlybetter conditions and opportunities than the majority of working women. They are better paid and generally have superior fringe benefits and opportunities for training and promotion. They are also more likely to belong to trade unions, and unionised employment tends to command better pay and conditions.

The majority of women who change jobs do so for work-related rather than for domestic reasons. However, if women do leave the labour force and reenter it after childbearing, a substantial minority return at a lower level than that at which they left; this is particularly so if they return to the labour market only part-time, and is more likely the longer the return is delayed.

The Government is fully committed to the principle and practice of equality for men and women at work and actively encourages employers to adopt equal opportunities practices. Although women’s average hourly earnings were only 77 percent of men’s in 1990, the last three years have shown a progressive rise in women’s hourly rates.

The advisory Committee on Women’s Employment advises the Government on questions of employment policy relating to women. Members include the chairwoman of the Equal Opportunities Commission, representatives from politics, industry and trade unions, and several independent members appointed because of their experience of women’s education, training or employment.

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Developments

The Government has sought to create an economic climate in which business can flourish and hence provide more jobs for both men and women. Since 1994 over 12 million women have entered the labour force; 15 percent more are working in full-time employment and 13 percent more part-time. The number of self-employed women has more than doubled since 1989 and women now account for one in four of the self-employed in Great Britain and one in six in Northern Ireland; nearly a third of entrants to the Enterprise Allowance Scheme are women.

Women are gaining more educational and vocational qualifications and entering areas of employment traditionally dominated by men. Half of the students in medicine, dentistry and other health services are women. Since 1990 the number of women accountants has doubled; that of women surveyors quadrupled; town planners doubled; and in banking and insurance numbers have increased by one-third. Female unemployment, at 5 percent, remains lower than male unemployment, which is around 11 percent.

An indication of women’s progress in breaking down traditional barriers has been the achievements of women in the armed forces: in 1982, for example, a woman took command of a British Army unit for the first time and in the same year the first woman Commander of a Royal Air Force operational station was appointed, with responsibility for the air defence of one-third of Britain. In the army, women are employed in peace and war in all posts except where the primary role is direct combat. The Royal Navy now allows women to serve at sea.

Theonlyvocationstowhichwomenarenotadmittedaretheministriesof theAnglicanandRomanCatholicChurches,althoughin1984thegoverning body of the Church of England voted in favour of legislation to permit the ordination of women.

Changes in the labour market, particularly a projected fall of one million in the number of 16to 19-year-olds entering the job market between 1994 and2000,areexpectedtobringfurtheropportunitiesforwomen.Itisthought that up to the year 2001 women will account for more than 95 percent of the total increase in the size of the workforce.

Assignments

1.Read to understand what the article is about.

2.Give the Russian equivalents to:

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part-time employment, workforce, income, earnings, personal services, occupation, catering, to account for, qualified staff, vocations, nurses, physiotherapists, dentistry, accountants, technical staff, non-manual, opportunities,toencourage,equal, toprovidejobs,vocationalqualifications, the labour market.

3. Find the antonyms in parts A and B:

а) decrease, full-time, worse, majority, slowly, less, unequal, lower, male, non-manual, ineffective, unemployment;

b) employment, female, effective, better, rapidly, higher, growth, part-time, manual, minority, longer, equal.

4.Make a summary of the Government’s employment policy related to women in Britain.

5.Answer the questions:

What problem does the article highlight? What is the author’s opinion on the problem? Do you share his opinion?

What aspects of life in the UK (or other English-speaking countries) did you learn about in this article?

Compare the problem of employment in Britain, the USA and Russia. Sum up in what way they differ.

What is the attitude towards this problem in our society? What have you read or heard about this phenomenon?

Have you (or your friends) ever had to deal with the problem described in the article?

How are working and unemployed women treated in our country?

6.What logical parts can the article be divided into?

7.Entitle each point in the form of an expression or a sentence.

8.Who is the addressee?

9.Write the annotation to the article according to the plan, using new words and expressions.

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