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. Can you forecast where the economy is heading?

a. developing b. growing c. moving d. leading

2. Dirty hands can be a breeding ground for germs.

a. birds b. groceries c. microbes d. cells

3. The whole process is wasteful and inefficient.

a. slow b. uneconomical c. dirty d. useless

4. He claims that he has not been given a fair hearing.

a. agrees b. states c. denies d. remembers

5. We can handle up to 200 calls an hour at our new office.

a. make b. deal with c. help d. collect

6. In retrospect, I think that I was wrong.

a. in reality b. frankly speaking c. unfortunately d. looking back

II. Note that the words “head” and “handle” can be both nouns and verbs. These are cases of conversion. Look up the meanings of these words as nouns and as verbs in a dictionary and illustrate them with examples of your own.

III. Note the use of the verb tend to (+Inf). It means “to be likely to do something or to happen in a particular way because this is what often or usually happens”. This is the common way to make generalizations, a polite and diplomatic way to say something critical.

When he’s tired he tends to make mistakes. (polite criticism).

It tends to get very cold here in winter. (mild generalization).

Think of two examples of your own making true observations, if possible.

IV. a) Find several phrasal verbs with the postposition UP in the text. What does this postposition add to the meaning of the verbs? b) Find two verbs with the postposition OUT and two verbs with the postposition FOR. Make sure you understand their meaning.

Use two of the phrasal verbs in examples of your own.

V. 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) average 2) to claim 3) to pickle 4)leftovers 5) specialty

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

1) from time to time; 2) to be (to be kept) in the dark about smth; 3) for a change; 4) word for word; 5) in retrospect; 6) fresh from; 7) on top of all this.

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. How does the writer describe his cooking skills?

2. How did the writer end up with three dozen of eggs that he didn’t really need?

3. How many attempts at boiling eggs had the writer made before calling his friend? Why weren’t they successful in each case? Did he try different methods?

4. How many attempts did the writer make after calling his friend?

5. In what way did he boil water in each case? What method was less wasteful?

6. How did the writer solve the problem of timing?

7. Why wasn’t the last attempt successful?

8. Why hadn’t his friend mentioned in her instructions that eggs fresh from the refrigerator shouldn’t be put into boiling water?

9. Why did the writer cook so many eggs at a time?

10. The writer calls himself “a pretty fast learner”. Do you agree? Prove your point using details from the text.

11. Find the phrase “I probably should plan better, but you just never know what jewels are going to fall into your lap…” in the 4^th paragraph. Can you explain the irony in this phrase? Can you find any other instances of irony in the text?

12. How does the writer see himself? Can you make any inferences about him as a person from this text?

Creative Follow-up Work

I. What would you do in this situation? (Finish the story)

II. Tell the episode with the phone call briefly from the friend’s perspective.

III. Text 1 “Luncheon” was written in the first half of the XX century by a brilliant and world-famous short story writer. Text 2 “Cooking skills” is a real life anecdote written in 2010 by an Internet blogger. Both texts are related to the topic “food”. Can these texts be compared in any way? Can you see any similarities between them? What are the differences? Study the “Glossary of Literary Terms” for clues (see Appendix 4).

IV. Find as many words and expressions related to the topic “cooking” in the text as you can. Use them to make up a short story of about 150 words.