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Файл:Соединенные Штаты Америки. Учебное пособие
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5. Пора в путь-дорогу!
6. Снег шел так сильно, что у нас вышли из строя дворники.
7. Пожалуйста, не поднимай эту неприятную тему в моем
присутствии.
8. Мы собираемся на природу в воскресенье — поедешь с
нами?
9. Ты снова об этом? Мне кажется, мы уже все обсудили.
10. Не хочу быть у тебя на побегу
11. Тебе не кажется, что нам уже надо ехать?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. How does the problem raised in the text reflect American
mentality and values?
2. What does the text tell you about the American life style?
шках.
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Unit 8
EDUCATION
PRE-READING
Answer the questions:
What do you know about the American system of education? In
what way is it different from the Russian educational system?
TEXT 1
ON LOSING A SON
This may get a little soppy, and I’m sorry, but yesterday evening I
was working at my desk when my youngest child came up to me, a
baseball bat on his shoulder, a cap on his head, and asked me if I felt
like playing a little ball with him. I was trying to get some important
work done before going away on a long trip, and I very nearly
declined with regrets, but then it occurred to me that never again
would he be seven years, one month and six days old, so we had better
catch these moments while we can.
So we went out onto the front lawn and here is where it gets soppy.
There was a kind of beauty about the experience so elemental and
wonderful I cannot tell you — the way the evening sun fell across the
lawn, the earnest eagerness of his young stance, the fact that we were
doing this dad-and-son thing, the joy of just being together — and I
couldn’t believe that it would ever have occurred to me that finishing
an article or writing a book or doing anything at all could be more
important and rewarding than this.
Now what has brought on all this sudden sensitivity is that a week
or so ago we took our eldest son off to a small university in Ohio. He
was the first of our four to fly the coop, and now he is gone — grown
up, independent, far away — and I am suddenly realizing how quickly
they go.
‘Once they leave for college they never really come back,’ a
neighbour who has lost two of her own in this way told us the other
day.
152
This isn’t what I wanted to hear. I wanted to hear that they come
back a lot, only this time they hang up their clothes and admire you
for your intelligence and wit. But the neighbour was right. He is gone.
There is an emptiness in the house that proves it.
I hadn’t expected it to be like this because for the past couple of
years even when he was here he wasn’t really here, if you see what I
mean. Like most teenagers, he didn’t live in our house in any
meaningful sense — more just dropped by a couple of times a day to
see what was in the refrigerator or to wander between rooms, a towel
round his waist, calling out, ‘Mum, where’s my …?’ as in, ‘Mum,
where’s my yellow shirt?’ and ‘Mum, where’s my deodorant?’
Occasionally I would see the top of his head in an easy chair in front
of a television on which Oriental people were kicking each other in
the heads, but mostly he resided in a place called ‘Out.’
My role in getting him off to college was simply to write cheques —
lots and lots of them — and to look suitably pale as the sums
mounted. You can’t believe the cost of sending a child to university in
the United States these days. Nearly every college-bound youth in our
town goes off and looks at half a dozen or more prospective
universities at enormous cost. Then there are fees for college entrance
examinations and a separate fee for each university applied to.
But all this pales beside the cost of university itself. My son’s
tuition is $19,000 a year, which I am told is actually quite reasonable
these days. Some schools charge as much as $28,000 for tuition. Then
there is a fee of $3,000 a year for his room, $2,400 for food, $700 or
so for books, $650 for health centre fees and insurance, and $710 for
‘activities’. Don’t ask me what that is. I just sign the cheques.
Still to come are the costs of flying him to and from Ohio at
Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter plus all the other incidental
expenses like spending money and long-distance phone bills. Already
my wife is calling him every other day to ask if he has enough money,
when in fact, as I point out, it should be the other way round. Oh, and
this goes on for four years here, rather than three as in Britain. And
here’s one more thing. Next year I have a daughter who goes off to
university, so I get to do this twice.
So you will excuse me, I hope, when I tell you that the emotional
side of this event was rather overshadowed by the ongoing financial
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shock. It wasn’t until we dropped him at his university dormitory and
left him there looking lost and frightened amid cardboard boxes and
suitcases, that it really hit home that he was vanishing out of our lives
and into his own.
Now that we are home it is even worse. There is no kickboxing on
the TV, no calls of ‘Mum, where’s my … ?’ from the top of the stairs,
no one to say, ‘Nice shirt, Dad. Did you mug a boat person?’ In fact, I
see now, I had it exactly wrong. Even when he wasn’t here, he was
here, if you see what I mean. And now he is not here at all.
It takes only the simplest things — a sweatshirt found behind the
back seat of the car, some used chewing gum left in an inappropriate
place — to make me want to blubber helplessly. Mrs. Bryson,
meanwhile, doesn’t need any kind of prod. She just blubbers
helplessly — at the sink, in the bath. ‘My baby,’ she wails in dismay
and blows her nose on any convenient piece of fabric, then whimpers
some more.
For the past week I have found myself spending a lot of time
wandering aimlessly through the house looking at the oddest things —
a basketball, his running trophies, an old holiday snapshot — and
thinking about all the carelessly discarded yesterdays they represent.
The hard and unexpected part is the realization not just that my son is
not here, but that the boy he was is gone for ever. I would give
anything to have them both back. But of course that cannot be. Life
moves on. Kids grow up and move away, and, if you don’t know this
already, believe me it happens faster than you can imagine.
Which is why I am going to finish here and go off and play a little
baseball on the front lawn while the chance is still there.
NOTES
1. Pay attention to the difference in the following American
and British terms:
AmE dormitory/dorm cf. BrE hostel — общежитие
AmE student — школьник, студент cf. BrE student —
только студент
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2. Pay attention to the difference in the American and British
spellings:
AmE check cf. BrE cheque
AmE neighbor cf. BrE neighbour
AmE center cf. BrE centre
CULTURAL ASSOCIATIONS
Look up the following entries in the Dictionary of U. S. Life and
Culture (Жизнь и культура США: Лингвострановедческий
словарь) or other dictionaries and encyclopedias:
baseball
baseball bat
college
community
fee
grade
insurance
Ohio
school
to play ball (with somebody)
tuition
university
COMPREHENSION CHECK
I. Answer the questions:
1. In what meaning is the word “soppy” used? What made the
author experience such a feeling?
2. What does he call “dad-and-son things”?
3. Why do American parents have a feeling of losing their
children when they enter colleges or universities?
4. Is university education expensive in the U.S.? Compare it with
the situation in Russia.
5. What is the cost of sending a child to university in the United
States these days? What does it include?
155
6. Does the author miss his oldest son? What would he give
anything for?
7. How has his son’s departure impacted his behavior?
II. Explain how you understand the following phrases:
1. “He was the first of our four to fly the coop…”
2. “…mostly he resided in a place called ‘Out.’”
3. “Even when he wasn’t here, he was here…”
4. “Already my wife is calling him every other day to ask if he
has enough money, when in fact, as I point out, it should be the
other way round.”
5. “…it really hit home that he was vanishing out of our lives
and into his own.”
6. “…the carelessly discarded yesterdays…”
7. “…the realization not just that my son is not here, but that
the boy he was is gone for ever. I would give anything to have
them both back.”
ACTIVE VOCABULARY
to decline v — 1. to become smaller, fewer, weaker, etc.: Support for
the party continues to decline. 2. [formal] to refuse politely to
accept or to do something: to decline an offer / invitation.I offered
to give them a lift but they declined. Synonym: refuse.
regret n — a feeling of sadness or disappointment that you have
because of something that has happened or something that you
have done or not done: a pang / twinge of regret. It is with great
regret that I accept your resignation.
to regret v — 1. to feel sorry about something you have done or
about something that you have not been able to do: If you don’t do
it now, you’ll only regret it. 2. [formal] used to say in a polite or
formal way that you are sorry or sad about a situation: The airline
regrets any inconvenience.
to drop by / in / round — to pay an informal visit to a person or a
place: Drop by sometime. I thought I’d drop in on you while I was
passing.
156
fee n — 1. an amount of money that you pay for professional advice
or services: legal fees; fee-paying schools. 2. an amount of money
that you pay to join an organization, or to do something:
membership fees.
entrance examination/exam– an exam you take in order to enter a
school or university: The entrance exams for Tokyo University are
extremely competitive.
incidental expenses/incidentals — [usu. pl] something that is needed
after the main things have been done, bought, etc: You’ll need
money for incidentals such as tips and taxis.
long-distance adj — 1. travelling or involving travel between places
that are far apart: a long-distance commuter; long-distance flights.
2. operating between people and places that are far apart: a long-
distance phone call.
the other way round — quite on the contrary.
tuition n — 1. (in) [formal] the act of teaching something, esp. to one
person or to people in small groups: She received private tuition in
French. 2. also tuition fees [pl]) the money that you pay to be
taught, esp. in a college or university.
to charge for tuition — to ask an amount of money for being
taught in a school or university.
insurance n (against) — an arrangement with a company in which
you pay them regular amounts of money and they agree to pay the
costs in case of illness, death, damage, etc.: life / car / travel /
household, etc. insurance; to have adequate insurance cover; to
take out insurance against fire and theft; insurance premiums
(= the regular payments made for insurance).
activities [pl] — a thing that you do for interest or pleasure, or in
order to achieve a particular aim: leisure / outdoor / classroom
activities; illegal / criminal activities.
to hit home — (off a remark, etc.) to have a strong effect on
somebody, in a way that makes them realize what the true facts of
a situation are: Her face went pale as his words hit home.
157
to bewilder v — to confuse, esp. by the presence of many different
things at the same time: Big city traffic bewilders me.
bewildered adj: He turned around, with a bewildered look on his
face.
bewilderment n: Imagine my bewilderment when she said she was
leaving the next day!
sweatshirt n — a piece of clothing for the upper part of the body,
with long sleeves, usu. made of thick cotton and often worn for
sports.
trophy n — 1. an object such as a silver cup that is given as a prize
for winning a competition. 2. an object that you keep to show that
you were successful in something, esp. hunting or war: He hung
the tiger’s skin on the wall as a trophy.
kid n 1. a child: This afternoon I’m taking the kids to the zoo. How are
the kids (= your children)? 2. a young person: a kid of 15; college
kids.
to kid v — to deceive playfully, to joke: He’s not really hurt, he’s
just kidding. Yes, it’s true, no kidding!
ASSIGNMENTS
I. Translate into Russian:
1. My initial reaction was to decline the offer.
2. You will regret this decision for the rest of your life.
3. We charge only a token fee for the use of the facilities.
4. She looked back on the past without regret.
5. Does the insurance cover damage by fire?
6. He slipped a coat over his sweatshirt.
7. She was totally bewildered by his sudden change of mood.
8. The winning captain held the trophy in the air.
9. If you don’t take my advice, you’ll regret it, I promise you.
10. There’s a $15 entrance fee to the exhibition.
158
11. The industry is in terminal decline.
12. The trophy was paraded around the stadium.
13. Entry is only allowed on payment of the full registration fee.
14. It’s all relative though, isn’t it? We never had any money when
I was a kid and $500 was a fortune to us.
15. “Oh, don’t be angry with her, she’s just a kid.”
16. Do parents have to bear the whole cost of tuition fees?
17. He found me, not the other way round.
18. We apologize for the delay and regret any inconvenience it
may have caused.
19. Later on, I regretted my decision not to take the job.
20. Does the bank charge a fee for setting up the account?
21. “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country” (a
phrase pronounced by the American Nathan Hale).
II. Paraphrase using the active vocabulary:
1. Scholarships cover the money that students have to pay to be
taught.
2. We decided with great disappointment that we could not offer
him the job.
3. We asked them to come to our party, but they refused.
4. The old lady wants to spend her last years by the sea.
5. My younger brother has made a decision to ask the State
Government the amount of money for being taught in a local
University.
6. Don't take any notice of him, he's just joking around.
7. Let's call by on Jim and Mary while we're in the neighborhood.
8. His confusion made everyone feel uncomfortable.
9. The register pay is comparatively low.
10. All those unpredictable costs unnerved the clients.
11. This award is the most important accomplishment in his life.
12. If you want to join the club, you need to pay a certain sum of
money.
159
III. Below are words from the active, each followed by a group
of synonyms and antonyms. Decide which is a synonym and which
is an antonym referring to the context the word is used in:
decline: refuse, reject, repel, spurn, descent, accept, take, admit,
agree, approve, satisfy
bewilder: confuse, stagger, daze, mystify, puzzle, astonish, amaze,
perplex, prepare, embarrass
long-distance: remote, distant
drop in:
call by, come around, come over, pass by
IV. Translate into English:
1. Влияние отца уменьшалось по мере того, как его сын рос.
2. Она пожалела о своих словах, но было уже слишком
поздно.
3. Здоровье Джейн быстро ухудшалось.
4. Сэм заглянул к нам после ужина.
5. Вход в галерею бесплатный.
6. Я очень сожалею о сказанном.
7. Клуб предоставляет широкий выбор развлечений, вклю-
чающих тен
нис, плавание и боулинг.
8. Группа детей шаталась по улице.
9. Хилари зашла к нам сегодня утром, чтобы рассказать о
вступительных экзаменах своей дочери.
10. Его имя было выгравировано на кубке.
11. Она призналась, что водила машину без страховки.
12. Я люблю читать книги об истории упадка и гибели
Римской империи.
13. У вас ес
ть дети?
14. Она отказалась выступить перед делегатами.
15. Нам следует оставить немного денег на мелкие расходы.
16. Мэри побледнела, когда до нее дошел смысл его слов.
17. Он перестал преподавать в 2001 г., к большому сожалению
студентов.
18. Деловые мероприятия были отложены.
19. Я хочу сдела
ть междугородный звонок.
20. Боб поднял кубок и поцеловал его.
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