II. Abilities

1. A bright spark (informal) is a lively and intellectual per­son, especially one who is young and expected to do well, for example, a child, pupil, student, junior member of a profession

Сильний, розумний учень (студент, молодий спеціа­ліст), який подає надії.

2. То have a good head for smth. means to have a great abil­ity to smth., to have good knowledge of smth.

Знатися на чомусь, бути здібним до чогось

Antonym: То have по head for smth.

3. To have (show) turn for smth. is to have or show the abil­ity to smth.

Виявити здібності, хист до чогось.

4. То have (a) quick (ready) wit(s) means to be clever and sharp-minded

Бути кмітливим, тямущим, дотепним; =не позича­ти слова

Synonym: То have a ready answer for any question Antonym: To have (a) slow wit(s).

5. To have all one's buttons (on) is to be a clever and capable person

Бути розумною, тямущою людиною

Antonyms: То be short of a button То have lost a button Not to have (get) one's button on To have a loose screw To have a cylinder missing (Am.) To be in the upper storey To be weak (wrong) in the head.

6. To have (got) a (good) head for figures or With a (good) head for figures means to be good at arithmetic, at cal­culating

Мати здібності до математики.

7. То have one's nose in a book is a) to be reading a book: b) to read books all the time

а) читати книжку; б) постійно читати книжки.

III. Language, Tongue

1. To have the gift of gab (Am., slang) means a) to have a great facility with languages, to have knowledge of, and skill in, the use of a language or languages; b) to have the ability to inspire others in conversation or speeches

а) мати здібності до мов, б) бути красномовним Synonym: То have the gift of tongues (Br. ).

2. To have a silver (smooth) tongue is to be eloquent or persuasive

Бути красномовним, улесливим.

A ready tongue means to have an ability to speak flu­ently, to have a ready answer to any question

Добре підвішений язик.

3. То have (speak with, put) one's tongue in one's cheek or With one's (the) tongue in one's cheek means to speak without really meaning what one is saying or writing, with sly irony

Говорити лицемірно, нещиро, іронічно, глумливо.

4. То have a command of a language means to speak a fluent language, to know a language perfectly

Добре, вільно володіти мовою.

5. То talk (speak) the same language means to share a way of expressing oneself; to draw upon common ex­periences, training, ideas, values that make real com­munication and understanding possible

Говорити однією мовою; мати спільні інтереси

Antonym: То talk (speak) different language.

6. To pick up a language is to learn a language by listen­ing to native speakers, without taking lessons and stud­ying the grammar rules and vocabulary

Вивчати мову, спілкуючись з її носіями (не вивчаючи граматичних правил і лексики).

Exercise 13. Translate the following sentences into Ukrain­ian:

A.

1. Why don't you go in for one of those TV quiz­zes? It'll give you a chance to air all that useless knowl­edge you've been cluttering your brain up with over the years! 2. The author seldom misses an opportunity to parade his knowledge. We are meant to be impressed. 3. Schooldays, as the saying goes, are the happiest days of your life. 4. All this talk of the happiest days of your life is bunkum to me. I have no happy memories of my childhood. 5. There were very many old boys of the College and others who hated Charles and all that he successfully stood for. 6. Sally is the teacher’s pet. She always gets special treatment. 7. The other students don't like the teacher’s pet. 8.1 didn't know that snakes could swim. Well, live and learn. 9. John didn't know he should water his house plants a little extra in the dry winter months. When they all died, he said, "Live am learn!" 10. Well, time to hit the books. 11. Kate, if you don't start hitting the books, you're going to fail. 12. I learned my business from the bottom up. 13. Jimmy has learned Physics from the bottom up. 14. The professor told me to learn my speech by heart. I had to go over it many times before I learned it by heart. 15.1 went over and over it until I knew it by heart. 16.1 have to bone up on the state driving laws because I have to take my driving test tomorrow. 17. Dick is going to enter the university this year, that's why he is learning like a parrot. 18. Paula has learned the poem like a parrot, but she failed to recite it with proper intonation. 19. Oscar learned History by rote; then he couldn't pass the test which required him to think. 20. If you learn things by rote, you'll never understand them. 21. Bill gave his Geometry the once-over-lightly and then quit studying. 22. William studied Chemistry once-over-lightly. 23. Steve can't do the sums. He doesn't even know his ABCs. 24. You can't expect to pass the examinations when you don't even know your ABCs. 25. I'm going to get this rule across to you. Please pay attention. I'll keep trying until you get it across. 26. Fred doesn't know beans about flying an airplane. 27. Henry doesn't know the first thing about German. 28. She is a poor girl, and so ignorant that she does not know A from B. 29. What do you expect from somebody who doesn't know from nothing! 30. Mary didn't need the script because she knew the play from memory. 31. David went through the entire lecture without any notes. He knew it from memory. 32. Emily knows French like a book. 33. Joseph has been living in London since his childhood. He knows English like the back of his hand. 34. Eliza doesn't know what war is, doesn’t know the meaning of the word. 35. Edgar simply doesn't know History; he doesn't know the meaning of the word. 36. It has been fashionable for far too long in our Teachers' Training Colleg­es to emphasize the "child-centered" approach and to denigrate proven and successful methods of teaching the three R's, and the valuable memory-training processes of "learning by heart" and "learning by repetition. » 37. Lanny turned and went to his school and his children who had to be taught the three R's. (P.Abrahams). 38. If Mary keeps cutting classes, she'll fail the course. 39. 1 can't cut that class. I've already missed too many. 40. Helen hasn't played hook(e)y on purpose in five years, but she has done it today, and not for any reason at all. 41. The teacher flunked Harry out. 42. The professor wanted to flunk out the whole group. 43. Do you sup­pose me a walking dictionary!

B.

1. This student is really a bright spark, besides, he works at the subjects day in and day out. 2. Does he show any turn for foreign languages! 3. John fears he has a little turn for languages. 4. Andy has a good head for mathematics, but he has no head for languag­es at all. 5. Matthew has a quick wit. They say, he has a ready answer for any question. 6. Johnny has all his buttons on. We can't say that about his elder brother who has a slow wit. 7. Harold has been weak in the head recently. We are not able to explain the reason for that. 8. Mark has a good head for figures. He is good at Mathematics. 9. James is constantly having his nose in a book. 10. Margaret has her nose in a book every time I see her. 11. His nose is always in a book. He never gets any exercise.

C

1. My brother really has the gift of gab. He can convince any­one of anything. 2. If I had the gift of a gab like you do, I'd achieve more in life. 3. A man with the gift of tongues, he could speak fluently in four languages. 4. William's interest in linguistics is keen, and he has a command of 'German, Spanish, French, Russian and can understand Italian. 5. He talked a different language; it was demotic English of the mid-twentieth century, rapid, slurred, essentially a city dialect and, in origin, essentially American. 6. Watching him and Mr. Brown facing each other across the table, I could hear them speaking the same language. 7. While staying in London, Anne picked up a language and now she speaks English fluently. 8. I don't like people speaking foul language. 9. He can't stand hearing bad language. 10. Classical Greek is considered dead language. It is no longer in spoken use. 11. Some students are not at home in Eng­lish, they speak broken English. But some bright sparks speak queen's English and do not make any mistakes in grammar and pro­nunciation. 12. The man spoke Pidgin Eng­lish and it was difficult for us to understand him. 13. What I meant in plain English was that it would be easier to stand him a meal if he were on the spot; but I didn't put it that way. 14. If you want something, tell it in plain language. I can do you a service. 15. This student has a ready tongue. He can explain everything. 16. Charles spoke straight from the heart. There was no speak­ing with his tongue in his cheek. 17. The woman had a tongue always ready for the service of her friends (H.Fielding). 18. Al­bert has a silver tongue, he can convince anybody.