Reading modern British literature. Part 1. Учебное пособие
.pdf2.People like Fiona irritated Will, because…
3.Will considered his relations with Rachel weird, because…
4.Rachel mentioned many things Will was supposed to be good at…
5.Marcus had difficulty to get used to the idea that winter had finished,
because…
6.Marcus thought the reason why wanted to see his dad was…
7.Marcus was afraid that Fiona could meet Ellie at the railway station,
because…
8.Marcus ordered Ellie to close her eyes, because…
9.Fiona kept asking about Rachel because…
10.Will was fearful to know about Kurt Cobain’s death, because…
8. Find the situations where the following expressions were used and
reproduce them orally.
1)to be considered weird;
2)a remote possibility;
3)to plough on;
4)in sort of grumpily;
5)to score the winning goal;
6)to point at targets;
7)to feel hot all over;
8)to rummage around in the bag;
9)to be cut out for chats about existential despair;
10)to sound little and frightened and lonely.
9.Make up your own sentences with the expressions from ex. 8.
10.Read and translate the passage into Russian p. 234 “The tube wasn’t crowded…” up to p. 235 “… in another part of the station, I think”.
11.Imagine you were Ellie. What did you think of when you knew that Kurt Cobaine died? Did it influence you?
12.Imagine you are Marcus. Tell why you invited Ellie with you?
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13.Write a letter from Marcus to his mother explaining the reason why he took Ellie to go to his father.
14.Summarize Will’s thought about the women he knew: Fiona and Rachel.
15.Transform the following dialogues into the Reported Speech. Speak about the participants, place and the reason of the conversation
1. ‘Have you been round to Will’s?’ his mum asked. She looked OK. Maybe one of the clocks-forward wishes had come true.
‘Yeah. I wanted to…’ He still felt he should come up with reasons for why he went round, and he still couldn’t think of anything to say.
‘I don’t care. Your dad’s hurt himself. You’ve got to go up and see him. He fell off a window-ledge.’
‘I’m not going while you’re like this.’ ‘Like what?’
‘Like crying all the time.’
‘I’m OK. Well, I’m not OK, but I’m not going to do anything. Promise.’ ‘Is he really bad?’
‘He’s broken his collar bone. And he’s a bit concussed.’
He fell off a window-ledge. No wonder his mum had cheered up.
‘What was he doing on a window-ledge?’
‘Some sort of DIY thing.Painting, or grouting, or one of those Scrabble words.For the first time ever. That’ll teach him a lesson.’
‘And why do I have to go up?’
‘He was asking for you. I think he’s a bit doolally at the moment.’ ‘Thanks.’
2. ‘Why should I follow you? Why don’t you follow me for a change?’ ‘Ooh, Marcus. You’re so masterful,’ said Ellie. ‘I love that in a man.’ ‘Where are we going?’
Ellie laughed. ‘Ten b. Over there.’
‘Right.’ He stood directly in front of her and began to walk very slowly towards the platform.
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‘What are you doing?’
‘Leading you.’
She pushed him in the back. ‘Don’t be an idiot. Get a move on.’
Part 11
pp. 246-278
1. Learn the following words and word combinations. Provide them with
transcription.
To give a small sob, to threaten, to be alert, to let smb out of sight, commercial exploitation, to glare, to slump, to get off the rails, a riot of fun and laughter, rebellious, accomplice, to fight for the child, barmy, to start with a clean sheet, flaw, to be scared, to carry on moaning, to mind smth, to take a lungful of smoke, to cope with smth, to be unsteady on the feet, to wriggle the way to sb’s life, to snipe at sb, to mumble, to abhore.
2.Read the part pp. 246-278.
3.Read the sentences where the following words and word combinations
were used.
To give a small sob, to be alert, to let smb out of sight, to get off the rails, rebellious, barmy, to carry on moaning, to take a lungful of smoke, to mumble.
4.Give synonyms and antonyms for the following words.
Angry, quiet, sweet, tired, nervy, grumpy, poor, neutral, mad, rebellious, feisty.
5.Match the words from vocabulary with their definitions.
1) to threaten |
a) to say smth too quietly and not clearly enough; |
2) to glare |
b) to hate a kind of behavior or the way of thinking; |
3) to slump |
c) to shoot from a hidden position at unprotected people; |
4) to fight |
d) to shut the door with a loud noise; |
5) to mind |
e) to say that you will cause someone pain if they do not do |
|
what you want; |
6) to cope with |
f) to twist from side to side with quick movements; |
7) to wriggle |
g) to look angrily at someone for a long time; |
|
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8) to snipe |
h) to feel annoyed or upset about smth; |
9) to mumble |
i) to take part in a war or battle; |
10) to abhore |
j) to succeed in dealing with a difficult problem or situation; |
6.Read and translate the passage into Russian p. 258 “They both laughed…”
up to p.259 “…yet remain so unconnected himself”.
7.Answer the questions.
1.What did Marcus feel when he was called “a friend” by Ellie?
2.Why did Ellie say that all was different now?
3.Why did Ellie’s mother say that her daughter was killing her?
4.Why was the policewoman enjoying the show at the police-station?
5.What was Ellie going to do in Cambridge?
6.Why was it possible to tell a London citizen from a stranger?
7.What was the reason why Will took out Marcus and Ali most weekends?
8.What kind of relations did Marcus and Ali have?
9.How did Will guess that Marcus would be ok?
8. Transform the following dialogue into the Reported Speech. Speak about
the participants, place and the reason of the conversation
‘You took your time,’ said Ellie, when her mother walked in.
‘I took as long as it takes to make a phone call and drive here,’ said Katrina, ‘so don’t start.’
‘Your daughter,’ said Clive, with a pomposity that didn’t really suit a man wearing a University of Life sweatshirt and a plaster cast, ‘has been insulting and aggressive. And your son,’ he went on, nodding at Fiona, ‘has clearly been mixing with the wrong crowd.’
‘Your son,’ hooted Ellie, but Fiona was still grim and silent. ‘He told me to shut up,’ said Lindsey.
‘Diddums,’ said Ellie.
The policewoman who had shown them in was beginning to let her enjoyment of their disharmony show in her face. ‘Are we allowed to go?’ Will asked her.
‘Not yet. We’re waiting for the shop owner to come down.’ ‘Good,’ said Ellie. ‘I want to give him a piece of my mind.’
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‘It’s a her, actually,’ said the policewoman.
Ellie blushed. ‘Him or her, doesn’t matter. She’s sick.’
‘Why is she sick, Ellie?’ asked Katrina, in a tone which managed brilliantly to combine sarcasm and world-weariness, and which had clearly taken a very long time and a lot of practice to perfect.
‘Because she’s exploiting a tragic event for her own gain,’ said Ellie. ‘She has no idea what today means. She just thinks there’s a few quid in it.’
‘Why is she coming, anyway?’ Will asked the policewoman.
‘It’s something we’re trying here. You know, criminals face-to-face with victims of crime, so they get to see the consequences of their actions.’
‘Who’s the criminal and who’s the victim?’ asked Ellie meaningfully. ‘Oh, Ellie, do shut up,’ said her mother.
9.Summarise the ending of the novel. How did the characters change? Who made the greatest influence?
10.Speak about the main episodes of the last part.
After reading discussion
1.How did Kurt Cobain’s suicide affect the characters?
2.Why was Marcus attracted to Will? How did their relationship change over the course of the novel?
3.What does the novel say about the importance of relationships/children in our lives?
4.How are the characters developed – through narrative or dialogue?
5.How does Marcus’ friendship with Ellie change him? What does he learn
about making friends?
6.Why does Hornby make a pivotal scene set at Christmas dinner?
7.Is Will’s drink with Fiona a turning point in the novel?
8.What does the author say about depression and how people find meaning in
their lives?
9.Does he judge parents who commit suicide?
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10.What does Marcus give up to fit in? Is he better off at the end of the novel?
11.Was it Marcus that made Fiona depressed? Will losing him help?
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2 Penelope Lively “The House in Norham Gardens”
Chapter 1
Comprehension exercises
1.Say if the following statements are true or false according to the text.
1.Clare was a student.
2.Clare’s aunts were very rich.
3.Mrs. Hedges was concerned about Clare and her aunts.
4.Clare and Mrs. Hedges decided to cut down on clothes.
5.Clare wanted to work in boutique.
6.The aunts were interested in Clare’s success at school and her future
education.
7.Maureen was happy to find a suitable room for 15 pounds.
8.Clare’s great-grandfather was an anthropologist.
2. Say who made these utterances and in connection with what. Convert
them into indirect speech.
1.“I could keep a cow in the garden. Grow vegetables.”
2.“I hope they are not the ones with poisoned tips.”
3.“Seriously, though, I think I’ll be a pop star.”
4.“One thing, I’ll lose a pound or two going up and down here every day.”
5.“He gave tons of things to the Pitt Rivers Museum.”
Vocabulary exercises
1. Translate and transcribe the following words from the text: flurry,
discreetly, to doze, lodger, outgoings, fossil, renowned, immutable, tissue, obscurity,
wireless, junk-room, stray.
Explain the words in English (give their definitions).
2. Find Russian equivalents to the following word-combinations from the
text: flight of fancy; to keep stoked;to mutter to oneself;to stick somebody’s nose into
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one’s business;to cut down on something or somebody; not in a month of Sundays; to grope for; to run short of something, to reckon with smb.; to give smb. the creeps.
Say in what situations they were used in the text. Use them in the sentences of
your own.
3.Find neutral equivalents for the following colloquial words in the dictionary: posh, perishing, dishy, snag, dressy.
4.Paraphrase the sentences using the colloquial adjectives from ex. 3 instead of their neutral synonyms.
1.Last summer we went to Greece with my family and stayed at a luxurious hotel.
2.It’s really nasty this morning. It has been sleeting all night.
3.How is your elder sister? – She’s just married that simply handsome man, we met her with last month.
4.We bought a wonderful vase, but the only problem now is finding somewhere
to put it.
5.Don’t you think that this suit is a fashionable one? I’ve seen it in the boutique
next to the flower-shop.
5.Translate from Russian into English using the vocabulary under study.
1.Ты уже посчитала наши расходы? – Да, думаю, нам придется тратить меньше на развлечения.
2.От одного его взгляда у меня мурашки бегут по коже.
3.Клер обнаружила сундуки, набитые старыми вещами, когда-то, по-
видимому, принадлежавшие прабабушке в кладовке.
4.Разве можно это носить? Это платье с широкими рукавами, сильно суживающимися книзу, похоже на ископаемое.
5.А твоя новая подружка довольно привлекательная и выглядит модно!
6.Соседка Кейт такая любопытная, вечно сует нос не в свое дело.
Например, вчера, ко мне домой пришел мой парень, чтобы познакомиться с моими родителями, как вдруг стук в дверь! Угадайте, кто это? Конечно же, это она, у нее,
оказывается, закончились бумажные салфетки, и она пришла спросить, не одолжим ли мы ей парочку. Смотреть противно!
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7. Мама, где мой учебник английского языка? Я вчера вечером оставила его рядом с радиоприемником. – Понимаешь, сегодня, пока я ходила в магазин,
приходила бабушка и убрала все, что лежало не на своих местах. Посмотри в своей комнате в книжном шкафу.
8.Мама, когда же у нее пропадет это постоянное желание наводить порядок в нашем доме? – Не знаю, я ей задала тот же вопрос, а она ответила: «Когда рак на горе свистнет!»
9.Открой дверь своими ключами, заходи в квартиру осторожно, нащупай
выключатель, включи свет, не шуми, дочка дремлет.
10.Один известный писатель, не будем называть его имени, в молодости
снимал комнату у моей бабушки. Бабушка рассказывала, что он всегда что-то
бормотал себе под нос и выглядел очень странным. Она еще тогда подумала, что он
темная лошадка.
11.Его слова о женитьбе вызвали волну возбуждённых предположений в
прессе.
12.Даже Джеймс, не отличавшийся особо пылким воображением, на минуту представил себя самого в роли героя, которых она описывала.
6. Insert necessary prepositions and translate the sentences from English
into Russian.
1.You have to be bothered if you live with old aunts who are not very good ...
working things ... or knowing how much things cost.
2.Your aunts are getting ..., so it is ... ... us to decide.
3.But you can’t keep this place ... your own.
4.Their hair, seen ... close-up, was thin and fine, Aunt Susan’s white and wavy, Aunt Anne’s brown peppered with grey, pulled back ... a knot ... her head.
5.I’ll clear the tea and get ... ... my French homework.
6.She is too young to be bothered ... grocer’s.
7.They were concerned now: concerned, and cross ... themselves.
8.By the way, I could do ... another blanket.
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Discussion
1.Answer the questions.
1.Where and when do the events take place?
2.How old are Clare’s aunts? What were they before their retirement?
3.Describe the usual day of Clare’s aunts.
4.Who is Maureen? How old is she? Where did she come from? Where does she work? Describe her appearance.
5.What game did Clare and her aunts play in the library? Who won the game?
2.Explain why:
1)Clare lived with her grandaunts;
2)the aunts didn’t have children of their own;
3)it was necessary for Clare and her aunts to find a lodger;
4)Clare and Maureen went to the junk-room.
3.Make a literary translation of the extracts (in writing).
1.P. 5 from “The house squatted around them...” up to “...buildings: they were old, and unbeautiful”;
2.P. 5 from “Perhaps, Clare thought,you should knock down places...” up to p. 6
“...things happen, in case you forget about the things themselves.”
4.Searching for details.
1.Penelope Lively pays much attention to the description of the house where Clare lived with her aunts. Enumerate the kinds of rooms that there were in the house. Describe the house in details. Is the house a usual one for that time?
2.Find the names for different kinds of clothing and hairdos. Why does the author mention them?
3.What did Clare mean when she said to Maureen “If you keep things you can
go on being sure about what’s happened”? Enumerate the things that Clare and Maureen found in the junk room. Whom did they belong to? How can old things reflect people’s lives and their history?
5.Retell the chapter as if you were:
1) Clare; 2) Maureen; 3) Mrs. Hedges; 4) one the aunts.
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