Vocabulary Practice

1. Write the transcription, read and translate the following words and phrases:

creation; lorgnette; ravioli; concentrate; vacant; existence; thread; curiosity; mania; client; a mutual friend; honeymoon; mumble; youthful; casual tone; flashed with success; newcomer; idiotic; grow colder and silent; to release with the news; a model of politeness; delightful; reluctantly; restaurant; inferior.

2. Translate into English:

высказать неудовольствие; отрывистый голос; мой теперешний компаньон; очистить мандарин; сосредоточиться на еде; особенный поклон, заготовленный для специальных клиентов; жертва; послать приглашение; редкая возможность избежать что-либо; незабываемый день; составить план; большой паук; плести паутину; окрылённый успехом; пробормотать имя; подать сигнал официанту; жёсткий стул; наклониться вперёд; застенчивый; пожать плечами; большое облако сигаретного дыма; мельком взглянуть на часы; образец вежливости; неохотно.

3. Reproduce the situations from the text where the active vocabulary is used. Think of your own sentences with the words from the list.

4. Suggest words and word combinations from active vocabulary for the following

• a face without make-up

• a self-made jumper

• to follow sb slowly and reluctantly

• to reduce the bill

• to overcome sb’s death

• to feel peril

• to use as a lure

• a mission

• to participate in sb’s secret plans or activities

• to let sb know beforehand about a surprise attack

• to take sb in the talk

• to gainsay

• to rescue sb (выручить кого-либо)

1. Choose the correct statement:

1. Coming back to the past I see myself

1. a middle-aged prosperous man

2. a five-year-old girl

3. a shy girl of nineteen

2. … the waiter had long ago sensed my position as inferior and placed before me

1. a cup of coffee

2. a plate of fried potatoes

3. a plate of cold meat

3. Her method of attack was so direct and sudden that

1. there was seldom opportunity to escape

2. people were frightened

3. people didn’t like it

4. I can see as though it were yesterday that unforgettable afternoon where she sat on her favourite sofa in the hall thinking over

1. her plans for the future

2. her friend’s story about his vacation

3. a method of an attack on the new arrival

5. I walked across to them, and gave her

1. an invitation to the party

2. a telegram from her nephew

3. the letter without a word

6. For some time they were talking and I

1. decided to take part in their conversation

2. interrupted them

3. lost the thread of conversation

1. Answer the following questions:

1. Who is the narrator?

2. What did she remember?

3. Who was Mrs. Van Hopper? What kind of person was she?

4. What was Max de Winter famous for?

5. How did Mrs. Van Hopper meet well-known people?

6. What role did her companion have to play in her intrigues?

7. What was Mr. Max de Winter’s attitude to Mrs. Van Hopper’s companion during the conversation?

8. What did they talk about?

9. How did Mr. Max de Winter manage to release from Mrs. Van Hopper?

1. Topics for general discussion

1. Was the young girl the real Mrs. Van Hopper’s companion?

2. What made the girl feel her inferior position?

3. What social contradictions did the writer want to show in this story?