3.4. Which of these words are international and which are false friends?

Engineer, student, complexion, legend, pioneer, prospect, massive, director, manifest, president, ambulatory, magazine, fact, lecture, nomenclature, logic.

3.5. Translate the sentences, paying attention to the italicised words:

1. They needed a pilot to take their ship into the harbour. 2. He entered an air Force school to become a pilot. 3. All the pills are kept in the medicine cabinet. 4. With the help of a new programme scientists would ,be able to foretell the weather for decades. 5. You should give your arguments for the programme. 6. Let's use another conductor in the device. 7. She liked potatoes baked in their jackets. 8. The jury found the prisoner not guilty. 9. The surgeon extracted the lens of his left eye to replace it with an artificial one. 10. There was not much harmony in international affairs during these years. 11. He needed an instrument to extract the stopper.

Unit 4

Контекст

4.1. Enjoy the jokes. Pay attention to the play on words.

T e a c h e r: Jerry, give me the formula for water.

J e r r y: H, J, K, L, M, N, O.

T e a c h e r: What kind of a crazy answer is that?

J e r r y: You told us water was H to O.

***

“I wish”, said Mother to her lazy son, “you paid a little attention to your arithmetic”.

“Well, I do”, was the reply. “I pay as little attention to it as possible”

***

Client arriving at Runnymede to be told that this was where the Magna Carta was signed:

“Really – when was that?”

The answer was: “Twelve fifteen”.

Looking at the watch the client said:

“Oh, darn it, we’ve missed it by 20 minutes”.

***

One day a very worried-looking man knocked at Mrs. Brown’s door.

“I’m terribly sorry”, he said. “I’ve run over your cat. I’d like to replace it”.

“All right”, said Mrs. Brown doubtfully. “But can you catch mice?”

***

D i c k: My father makes faces all day.

B i l l: Why does he do that?

D i c k: Because he works at the clock factory.

LANGUAGE NOTES

Контекст

Абсолютное большинство слов любого языка являются многозначными. Только в устной или письменной речи они обретают какое-либо конкретное значение.

Контекст – это минимальная часть текста, которая делает слово однозначным. Например, англ. title может означать “заглавие”, “титул”, или “право на что-л.”. Но в предложении “His title is Professor.” слово title однозначно.

С другой стороны, иногда можно догадаться о значении пропущенного или незнакомого слова по контексту, например:

The cold wind caused a … in temperature. (drop)

4.2. Determine the meaning of the italicised words in the context and translate the sentences:

A. 1. The soldier is now at his post. 2. The man did his best to get a better post. 3. I will send you the book by post. 4. The wooden gate was supported by two metal posts.

B. 1. The chameleon has the power of changing its colour. 2. I will do everything in my power to help. 3. He’s a man of great intellectual powers. 4. The boxer was sorry for having underestimated the power of his competitor’s blows. 5. The device operates on electrical power. 6. Are the powers of the President defined by law? 7. Is the press a great power in your country? 8. What is the third power of this number? 9. They employed a high power telescope. 10. The Great Powers have agreed to co-operate on this matter.

C. 1. The cloth is unfortunately very rough to the touch. 2. He had to apologise for his rough behaviour. 3. The sea was rough and no swimming allowed. 4. This suitcase must have had some rough handing. 5. She has a very rough tongue. 6. That is a rough translation, it requires stylistic improvement. 7. I’ve seen his new statue only in the rough. 8. He was set on by a gang of roughs why knocked him down and took all his money.

D. 1. The summer temperature there does not exceed 20°C in the shade. 2. We have dress materials in several shades of blue. 3. The word has many shades of meaning. 4. She is a shade better today. 5. You are so clever and brilliant that my poor efforts are put into the shade.

E. 1. The date of his birth is 15 November, 1975. 2. 1492 is the date of the discovery of America by Columbus. 3. What’s the date today? 4. Has the date for the meeting been fixed? 5. Many ruins of Roman date are to be seen in the south of France. 6. Will jeans ever go out of date? 7. I’ve got a date with a friend of mine. 8. The method applied is up-to-date.

F. 1. I don’t know whether he is here or not. 2. He knows a lot of English. 3. Do you know how to play chess? 4. I was introduced to Miss Wood last week, but I’ve a bad memory for faces and might not know her again. 5. He’s already known to the police. 6. They are twins and it’s almost impossible to know one from the other. 7. He knew poverty in his early life. 8. She knows a good singing voice when she hears one. 9. I knew about it last week.