Exercises

1. Answer the questions on text 2:

1. Is Oleg’s family big?

2. Will you describe his father?

3. Will you describe his mother?

4. How old are his twin-brothers?

5. Who is the youngest in his family?

2. A) Say all you know about the hair, eyes, lips, eyelashes, the nose, the forehead, the figure, the mouth.

Pattern: The hair may be long, short…etc.

full, straight, thick, large, brown, fair, grey, curly, round, blue, slim, slender, thin, golden, black, blond, oval, tall, stout.

b) Make sentences according to the patterns using the words above and the following statements:

Patterns: 1. Ann’s hair is thicker than Jane’s.

2. My friend’s eyes are as pretty as her sister’s ones

sweet, pleasant, ugly, thin, beautiful, small, good-looking, kind, handsome, tall, plump, well-built.

3. Listen to the following statements and respond them.

Use the following conversational formulas:

That goes without saying; Yes, it’s quite so; Yes, of course; That’s right; I (quite) agree with you; Naturally;

1. Tamara’s sister is a pretty girl.

2. Mary looks like her elder sister Barbara.

3. Betsy wears her hair long.

4. Their grandmother is about 65.

5. Mrs. Brown is 55, rather tall and narrow-shouldered.

6. Margaret’s mother is a good-looking woman.

7. Charlie has long arms and legs.

8. Nan’s smile is pleasant.

9. Nick Brown is a happy child.

10. Ann is a small girl.

11. His mother doesn’t look her age.

4. Agree if the statements are true to life or disagree if they are not.

Use the following conversational formulas:

Quite so; That goes without saying; On the contrary; I’m afraid you are wrong/mistaken; Nothing of the kind:

1. Your friend’s father is a man of medium height with a round face and big eyes. He has a grey beard.

2. Your aunt is a tall, beautiful woman with blue eyes and golden hair.

3. Your sister is a slender girl of about 20. Her hair is long, her eyes are dark and her cheeks are rosy.

4. Your neighbour is a very old woman, rather short, with a red face and grey eyes.

5. Your friend’s grandfather is a middle-aged man with a sad face and thin grey hair.

6. Tanya’s brother is a tall handsome man with dark hair and a moustache and blue eyes.

7. Maria’s mother is about 48. She’s a stout woman with a long face and small eyes.

8. Your cousin is a boy of about 10. He is rather tall with long arms. He wears grey trousers and a black shirt.

9. Your group-mates’ English teacher is a good-looking woman of about 40 with brown hair and dark-brown eyes. She wears grey or blue dresses. She is kind.

10. Your boy-friend is a fellow of medium height, broad-shouldered and he wears a long beard. He’s got thick red hair and green eyes.

5. Describe your group mates, let the students guess who the person is:

1) tall, broad-shouldered, face, large, blue, eyes, long black hair, handsome, not to look one’s age, suit;

2) slender figure, thick black hair, grey eyes, beautiful, pretty face, to seem quite young;

3) a slender boy, to look like a pretty girl, in the dress of a boy, long eyelashes, small hands, hair, blond, full lips.

6. The plan will help you to describe one of your friends.

1. General appearance (tall, short, of medium height, slender, slim, stout, etc).

2. His (her) age.

3. His (her) occupation.

4. Most noticeable features (hair, eyes, face, etc.).

5. His (her) character.

6. His (her) interests.

7. Act out the following conversational situations:

1. You are telling your friend that your sister is going to marry a certain Mr. Brown. Your friend has never seen him. Try to describe Mr. Brown.

2. Your friend is busy and he can’t meet his mother who is arriving today. He asks you to go to the station to meet his mother and he describes his mother’s appearance.

3. Describe some personage from a novel by one of the Russian or Soviet writers from the books for your home reading.

8. Speak about:

1) your parents (brothers, sisters, other relatives)

2) your friend’s family

Text 3. The Kirillovs’ flat and a place of residence

Read the text and do the exercises that follow it.

The Kirillovs are going to move to a new flat. It is a nine-storeyed block of flats in a new residential area. They are happy because their previous home was a private house without modern conveniences: no central heating, no gas, no running water. It was a long way from the centre of the town and their work.

A new flat is in a good district, not far from the market. Their address is 24 Zavodskaya street. The flat is on the fourth floor. Their 3-room flat is not very large but very comfortable. There is a living-room‚ a study and a bedroom in the flat. The flat also has a kitchen‚ a bathroom‚ a small entrance hall and two balconies. The living-room is the largest in the flat. It overlooks the street and has a lot of sunshine. It is nicely furnished. There is a suite of modern furniture‚ a wardrobe and a bookcase. To the left of the unit there is a corner-sofa with two armchairs and a small table for newspapers. In the opposite corner there is a TV-set with a video and a tape-recorder and a thick carpet on the floor. Curtains on the window match the walls. All this makes the room cosy.

Oleg spends most of his time in his bedroom which he uses as a study. There is a table with a computer‚ a sofa where he sleeps at night and has a rest in the day-time‚ some book-shelves with a lot of books. There is a thick rag on the floor near the sofa. His dogs like to sleep on it. His parents’ bedroom is more spacious than the study. There is a doublebed‚ a mirror-stand‚ two bedside tables and a built-in wardrobe there. It is very convenient to have it as it doesn’t occupy much space.

The kitchen is rather large. There is a set of modern furniture‚ a gas-stove with an oven‚ a refrigerator and a cupboard with dishes. They use it as a dining-room. But when they receive guests they have meals in the living-room.

In front of the block there is a bus-stop. It’s very convenient. There are many new high blocks in this street and no old houses. Across the road there is a shop, a library, a school and two kindergartens.