Английский язык. Практикум по домашнему чтению (к рассказам Дж. Арчера и Р. Даля)

2)“I walked straight past him with my face to the sky, adding, I sincerely hope, a touch of real frost to an atmosphere that was already cool.”

3)“… we were standing among … what seemed like thousands of very large boys milling about…”

4)“It was something like being inside the cage with a tame tiger.”

17.What do you think of the effect produced by oxymoron in the following utterances:

1)“his nauseatingly handsome face”

2)“he had one of those unpleasantly handsome, brown, leathery countenances”

3)A face “vulgarly, almost lasciviously handsome”

18.Why is the word oil repeated so many times in the description of the stranger?

What do you think about the contextual meaning of the words “oil”,

“oily”, “salacious sheen”, ”trace of oil”?

19.What effect does the combination of enumeration and alliteration increase in the following sentence?

“This other larger boy would soon start smashing away at me with his long white stick, slowly, scientifically, skilfully, legally, and with apparent relish, and I would bleed.”

20.Comment on the similarity of sentence structure (parallel syntactical constructions) of the paragraph “Oh, the agony of those days…practically a beatable offence myself” (p.116). Translate this passage into Russian.

Discussion

21. Do you agree or disagree with the following points? Prove your point.

1)There is nothing like routine and regularity for preserving one’s piece of mind.

2)It gives one a sense of assurance to be moving among people who stick to their jobs.

3)Superficial pleasures of this life come too easily to handsome men.

4)Handsome men seem to walk the world as though they themselves were personally responsible for their own good looks.

5)William Perkins went out of his way to please Foxley.

91

6)Foxley did his best to teach Perkins manners and he succeeded.

7)So far as Foxley was concerned, Perkins was a beatable offence himself.

22.Think the following questions over.

1)Was Perkins really over-complacent?

2)What do you think about his political views?

3)Why did he dislike handsome men?

4)In what way can impressions of one’s childhood influence his future?

5)What details make the description of the boy’s fear more vivid?

6)What details are used to show the cruelty of fagging?

7)What effect could the boy’s school experience have on his life?

8)In what ways are the descriptions of commuting and fagging connected? Point out the similar and contrasting features of these two extracts.

9)What are the social and psychological roots of fagging?

10)Why did Perkins decide to introduce himself to Foxley? Why did he want other people to hear?

11)What end did you expect?

12)What is the point of the twist-in-the-end? Who felt embarrassed? Why didn’t the author let Perkins revenge himself?

13)What is your impression of Jocelyn Fortescue?

14)Do you sympathize with Mr. Perkins?

15)What feelings did the story arouse in you?

23.What is the message of the story?

Choose the most relevant point or suggest your own.

1)Everything should be done in due time.

2)Complacency is always punished.

3)It’s no good raking up the past.

4)The English school fagging system is the worst form of slavery in the world.

5)Fagging in private schools was based on the peculiarities of the English character.

6)Men like Foxley always win.

Writing

24. Write a script for a cartoon version of “The Contented Commuter”.

92

25.On behalf of William Perkins write a) a letter of confidence to his father, b) an entry in his diary.

26.In 1980 Eton abolished fagging, but in some private schools this outdated institution remained. Write an essay on the problem of fagging.

27.Translate the following text into English.

Мне нравилось ездить на работу ежедневно из пригорода в город

иобратно: каждая минута этого небольшого путешествия доставляла мне удовольствие.

Состав группы, которая собирается на небольшой станции, чтобы сесть в поезд, редко меняется. Это добропорядочные, солидные, сте- пенные господа с одним и тем же выражением лица.

Мне нравится сидеть в углу у окна и читать под перестук колес «Таймс». Поверьте, чтобы сохранить спокойствие духа, нет ничего лучше размеренности и постоянства. Все уважали мое превосходство

ипризнавали за мной право проехать в одиночестве хотя бы одну или две остановки.

Язнал, что он больше не опасен, но воспоминания о боли и уни- жении, которое я испытал учась в Рептоне и прислуживая Фоксли, не отпускали меня. В его глазах вспыхнул огонек раздражения. И тут мне пришла в голову озорная мысль. Я буду наблюдать за выражени- ем его лица и громко, чтобы всем было слышно, предамся воспоми- наниям о школе, о шутках, которые он проделывал со мной и избие- ниях. Уверен, что это смутит его.

«Все напряженно ждали, что же произойдет. «Рад познакомиться с вами. Меня зовут Фортескью, Джоселин. Я закончил Итон в 1916 году».

93

SKIN (BY R. DAHL)

Comprehension

1.Put the following statements in logical and chronological order:

1)A picture by Soutine, of a woman’s head, painted in an unusual manner, turned up for sale in Buenos Aires.

2)Attached to the frame there was a little plaque, and on this it said: CHAIM SOUTINE (1894-1949).

3)Drioli stopped to look at the picture.

4)The portrait was quite alive; it contained much of that twisted, tortured quality so characteristic of Soutine’s other work.

5)Then came the excitement and the noise of voices as the people surged forward to crowd around the portrait.

6)The picture was marvellous, but the boy called it terrible.

7)“Listen to him,” the girl said.

8)Drioli jumped up and embraced him, crying that he too had been born in Minsk.

9)“Listen,” he said at length. “I have an idea. I have a tremendous idea.”

10)“Tonight we shall celebrate,” he said.

11)In the nearest café Drioli bought six bottles of white wine.

12)“What is it that we celebrate?” the boy asked.

13)Drioli looked at the boy as he took the glass of wine and tipped it down his throat in one swallow.

14)Slowly, methodically, they set about getting themselves drunk.

15)“I would like to have a picture. A lovely picture.“

16)“You have crazy ideas.”

17)On a sudden impulse, Drioli turned, pushed open the door of the gallery and went in.

18)“Monsieur,” he said, ”I will buy it.”

19)“Have them all.”

20)“I, too!” Drioli was shouting. “I, too. Have a picture which he gave me!”

2.“True” or “False”?

T F

1)Drioli consented to kill himself on the spot because nobody believed him.

94

2)The man with the canary gloves offered Drioli a skingrafting operation.

3)Soutine taught Drioli to tattoo.

4)Soutine and Drioli were rivals, as they were in love with the same woman.

5)Drioli at once recollected that Chaim Soutine was the name of his little Kalmuck.

6)Drioli gave him that nickname as the latter was born in Central Asia.

7)The skin picture was a drunken idea.

8)Drioli got a marvellous tattoo on his back and wanted to celebrate it.

9)Drioli said, “I am the canvas. Where will you put your canvas?”

10)–“As always, into a frame”.

11)The little Kalmuck refused to sign the tattoo as it was not good enough for him.

12)The woman on the portrait had nothing in common with Drioli’s wife.

13)Drioli’s drunken wish to be a canvas became true.

14)Drioli’s wife Josie was in love with Soutine.

15)There was a sudden silence in the gallery when Drioli turned his naked back towards the people.

16)The old tattoo had a wrinkled appearance.

17)The owner of the gallery hired Drioli to exhibit him as a live picture.

Think of more wrong and correct statements to test your fellowstudents.

Vocabulary

3. Give an account of the events of the final episode using the words in the box:

95

4. Match the adjectives with the nouns:

5.Fill the blanks with prepositions:

1)The man was huddled … like a hedgehog … a filthy black coat.

2)The picture gallery had a single canvas … display … in the window.

3)Attached … the frame was a little plaque.

4)Drioli stared … the picture, wondering vaguely what there was … it that seemed familiar.

5)He had liked the boy … no reason at all that he could think … except that he could paint.

6)The boy took the glass … wine and tipped it … his throat … one swallow.

7)His ears stood … sharply … his head.

8)Am I not entitled … a picture … my wife … my back?

9)It is an idea that calls … celebration.

10)His admiration … your art is so great that he would be unclean … many years.

11)Drioli threw … his jacket and rolled … his sleeve.

12)Then sit … the chair. Sit back … front.

13)The boy held … a mirror, … an angle, and Drioli craned his neck to look.

14)The whole … his back, … the top … the shoulders … the base … the spine, was a blaze … colour.

15)… desperation he had made his way … … Paris, hoping vaguely that the things would be easier … the big city.

96

16)… a sudden impulse, Drioli pushed open the door of the gallery and went … .

17)Each person was arrested … what he was doing, standing motionless

…a kind of shocked, uneasy bewilderment.

18)He spoke … a soft coaxing manner, one gloved hand still resting … Drioli’s shoulder.

19)“And a cupboard full … suits and shirts made … your own personal measurements? It would seem that you are a little lacking … clothes.”

20)“Do you like these things, my friend? Do they appeal … you?”

21)I will arrange … a surgeon to remove the skin … your back, and then you will be able to go … … your own and enjoy the great sums … money I shall give you … it.

22)If one were to offer … this old man enough money, he might consent to kill himself … the spot.

23)A few weeks later a picture … Soutine, … a woman’s head, painted

…an unusual manner, turned .. … sale … Buenos Aires.

6.Using the words from this story make up 5 sentences of your own. Let your fellow-students do back-translation.

Style

7.R. Dahl describes his characters using similes. What is the similarity of the compared objects in these two cases? What associations do the similes suggest?

1)“He was cold and miserable, huddled up like a hedgehog in a filthy black coat, only his eyes and the top of his head visible above the turned-up collar” (p.119)

2)“He didn’t like the man’s long flexible neck, or the way he craned it forward at you when he spoke, like a snake.”(p.138)

8.Pick out all the epithets used by the author to describe a) the picture, b) little Kalmuck, c) old Drioli, d) the man with a long neck. Which of them help to create a visual image? What attitude of the author do they convey?

9.Look at the following sentence with polysyndeton (the repetition of “and”). Try to imagine it without the repetition. What does the repetition add?

1)“The whole of his back, from the top of the shoulders to the base of the spine, was a blaze of colour – gold and green and blue and scarlet” (p.130).

97

2)The middle of this sentence presents another device – parallel syntactical constructions – consisting in similarity of the syntax and the meaning of two parts: from the top of his shoulders and to the base of his spine.

What do you think of the stylistic effect of these two devices? Which variant (with these devices or without them) would sound more rhythmical (more expressive, give more aesthetic pleasure. emphasize the idea of abundance of colour)?

10. In the third paragraph of the story (p.119) sentences of different length alternate. How is the length of the sentences connected with their meaning? Find the point of abrupt change of the sentence length and structure. Is it connected with any change in the character’s thoughts?

Speaking

11.Recollect the episodes and parts of the story on behalf of the characters:

1)Drioli – about his first meeting with Soutine and the strange nickname

2)Drioli – about his business

3)Josie – about their way of life before the war

4)Josie – about the drunken night

5)Drioli – about his attitude to the little Kalmuck

6)the little Kalmuck – about the way the tattoo was produced

7)Drioli – about the tattoo

8)Drioli – about his life during the war and after it

9)One of the visitors of the art gallery – about the skin masterpiece

12.Draw the word portraits of

a) the little Kalmuck, b) the old Drioli, c) the gallery owner, d) the tall man who engaged Drioli.

Discussion

13.Express your opinion on the following points:

1)Comment on Drioli’s wish to have a picture on his back. How does it characterize him?

2)Little Kalmuck asked “What in heaven’s name is it you want?” Can you answer this question? Did Drioli’s dream come true in the end?

3)Comment on Soutine’s jokes. How do they characterize the artist?

98

4)Drioli’s repeated question “How can I?” establishes the link between the culmination and the final episode. Would you agree that he was punished for calling himself a canvas?

5)What made Drioli show his picture to the people?

6)Comment on the sentence ”All the sadness in the world was in his voice”(p.135). Do you think he regretted having not taken one of Soutine’s pictures? Would Drioli have agreed to a skin-grafting operation?

7)Express your opinion of the art-dealer and the tall man.

8)What happened to Drioli? What is the implication of the last paragraph? In the last sentence find the word that contradicts this implication. Why do you think the author used this word?

9)Do you sympathize with any of the characters of this story? What did you feel while reading the final episode? When you finished reading?

10)Would you like to have the same kind of tattoo? Why? Why not?

11)What makes a picture valuable? Comment on the sentence ”The picture itself is of no value until you are dead” (p.136).

12)What do you think about private art-collectors?

14. Comment on the end of the story.

What end did you expect? Is the end funny (tragic, appalling, staggering, puzzling)?

15. Find the message.

What do you think is the message of the story? Could any of the following points be relevant to it? Prove it.

1)Mad wishes sometimes come true.

2)Life is cruel to old people.

3)Poverty is a horrible thing.

4)Life is full of paradoxes.

5)Art is always in conflict with money.

6)Only the artist can stay with his work forever.

Writing

16.Rewrite the episode in Drioli’s studio as a script. Act the scene

out.

17.Imagine that among the visitors to the art gallery there happened to be a journalist and a detective.

a) On behalf of the journalist write a stirring article for a newspaper.

99

b) Imagine that you are the detective. Make an entry in your diary reasoning about the mystery of the picture that appeared in Buenos-Aires.

18. Translate the following text into English.

1)«Сначала я сделаю набросок. Потом, если он меня устроит, займусь татуировкой,» – сказал юноша. Дриоли следил за тем, , как художник взял иглу и окунул ее в тушь. Потом почувствовал острое щекочущее жжение, когда она коснулась кожи на его спине. Заснуть ему не давала боль – неприятная, но легковыносимая. Юноша рабо- тал с невероятным напряжением.

Зрелище было потрясающее. Вся спина, от плеч до основания по- звоночника, горела золотистыми, голубыми, черными и розовыми красками. Портрет получился вполне живой, в нем ясно просматри- валась вихреобразная, выстраданная манера, столь характерная для других работ Сутина. Ни о каком сходстве не могло быть речи. Ско- рее было передано настроение.

– Грандиозно!

– Мне и самому нравится.

Юноша отступил, критически оглядывая картину.

2)Не прошло и нескольких недель, как картина, изображающая женскую головку, исполненная в необычной манере, вставленная в замечательную рамку и покрытая толстым слоем лака, была выстав- лена для продажи в Буэнос-Айресе.

100