Vocabulary Training

I. Understanding Word Meaning from Context.

Choose a word or a word group that has the same meaning as the word in bold.

1. The motor industry is rejoicing in the cut in car tax.

a. declining b. joining c. is happy about d. assisting

2. He was right in his assertion that the minister had been lying.

a. suspicion b. statement c. article d. belief

3. The meeting is scheduled to commence at noon.

a. continue b. finish c. be resumed d. start

4. She tried to seize the gun from him.

a. turn b. grab c. steal d. point

5. She could not endure the thought of parting.

a. put up with b. keep away from

c. resist d. experience smth unpleasant

6. Your boots are covered in mud.

a. bag b. dirt c. leather d. polish

7. The concert was sheer delight.

a. doubtful b. slight c. complete d. incomparable

II. Find in the text:

a) an expression which means “the latest fashion”, “vogue”;

b) five names of chemical substances in Paragraph 11;

c) a phrasal verb which means “to walk in the direction of smth”;

d) another verb that means “to faint, to lose consciousness”;

e) an expression that means “the other way round”.

III. a) The words “supply” and “demand” can be both nouns and verbs. In the text they are used as nouns. In what sphere are they often used as a set expression “supply and demand”? Give your examples with these words as verbs. (Note: to supply smb with smth).

b) The noun and the adjective “grave” are homonyms, i.e. they have identical spelling and pronunciation, but their meanings are different. Which word is used in the text? What does it mean?

IV. The verb “to propose” can be used both transitively and intransitively. It has different meanings in these cases. How is it used in the text (find the corresponding sentence)? What does it mean?

V. The verb “to flee (fled – fled)” has the basic meaning “to leave”. What does it mean exactly? In what situation can it be used?

VI. Explain the following words in English. Use an explanatory dictionary if necessary. If a word has several meanings, point out the meaning in which it is used in the text.

1) superstitious 2) infatuation 3) suspense

4) blunder 5) dismay 6) regret

VII. Note how each of the following idioms is used in the text:

1) to set up in/a business; 2) to… (some /a great/ a certain/ a lesser)… extent / to what extent…?; 3) to take it into your head (that…/ to do smth); 4) to be inclined to do smth; 5) in the course of.

Now use each of these idioms in an example of your own. Try to relate them to your own experience.

Recounting and Interpreting Details

1. What was all the rage at the time when the action took place?

2. What kind of hairdresser was the narrator’s father?

3. What was the narrator’s hairstyle and why?

4. How did it happen that the narrator parted with her first lover?

5. What kind of person was her second fiancé?

6. Why did he leave the hairdresser’s daughter in spite of loving her?

7. Were the narrator’s lovers similar or different in terms of temperament, judging by their reaction to the experiments with hairstyle?

8. What hairstyle did the narrator have at the end of the story and how did she feel about it?

9. What was the narrator’s attitude towards the experiments with her hair throughout the story?

10. Find: a pun in Paragraph 3; irony in Paragraph 5; a hyperbole in Paragraph 6; defeated expectancy in Paragraphs 7-8; similes in Paragraphs 11 and 18; an extended enumeration (“a catalogue”) in paragraph 11; foreshadowing in Paragraphs 12 and 16. (for any unfamiliar terms see the “Glossary of Literary Terms”). For what purpose does the author use these figures of speech? Can you find more examples of stylistic devices in the text?

Creative Follow-up Work

I. Find as many words and expressions related to the topic “hairstyles” in the text as you can. Use them to make up a short story of about 150 words. You may expand the list of words on the topic using a dictionary.

II. Tell the story shortly from the perspective of the narrator’s second fiancé, George Guild.