Reading comprehension exercises

1. a) Consult a dictionary and transcribe the following words from the text. Practice their pronunciation paying attention to stresses:

Arkansas, assailant, eventually,courthouse, grand, guaranteed, Klansmen, evidence, murdered, object, violence, courtroom, sheriff, sustain, detail, arguments, record, lifetime, ten-year-old, defendant, breathing, clerk, insanity.

b) Listen to your partners’ reading of the above exercise. Correct their mistakes.

2. Read out the following word combinations paying attention to the phonetic phenomena of connected speech (assimilation, the linking “r”, the sonorant between two vowels, lateral and nasal plosions, the loss of plosion):

he didn’t have the right stuff for a pro career, after graduating from law school, specializing in criminal defense and personal injury litigation, the harrowing testimony of a twelve-year-old rape victim, what would have happened, that might have put an end,Carl Lee Hailey, to stand trial for murder, would die on the electric chair, looked out through darkened windows, thanking the jurors for being there, take the law into their own hands, especially the more unpleasant details, with the jurors in their seats, paused for a drink of water, Wanda Wornack brush away a tear with her finger.

3. Single out the communicative centres and make them prominent by tone and stress in the following sentences:

1. The jurors looked out through darkened windows to see how many blacks and how many Klansmen were waiting – and how many National Guard soldiers.

2. Again, Buckley talked too long and asked too many questions.

3. With murder, the victim is gone, and not forced to deal with what happened to her. The family must deal with it, but not the victim.

4. The victim has a lifetime of trying to understand, of asking questions, and knowing the rapist may someday escape or be freed.

5. She relives it, step by step, minute by minute, and it hurts just as badly.

6. “On each of the charges against him, we the jury find the defendant not guilty, by reason of insanity”.

4. Complete the following sentences:

1. The grand jury decided that Jack was to… . 2. Now Ann can forget about Dutch treat, she goes out with a boy who always… . 3. Your game plan is really bad. Your arguments… . 4. They put John in jail. Can you… for him, he can’t spend a night there. 5. They needed witnesses who… . 6. What a shame! You… while your little brother was being beaten. 7. The police were investigating the crime scene and asked everybody… . 8. She hates tight skirts and always chooses dresses… . 9. Do you really want to build a huge 5D cinema house on the place of…?10. When it came to fun, Alice … alone. 11.I don’t like a team work with Peter. He is authoritative and never… . 12. Your can trust him. His advice is sound and… .

5. Combine the following sentences into one summing up the idea:

Model: At first Beth called her friends and told them how rude Michael was. Then she rang her sister,cousin and mom and lamented over Michael’s impudence and callousness.

To cut a long story short, she complained everybody of Michael’s rude manners and impudence.

1. Firstly, he forgot about her Christmas present. Secondly, he laughed at her gentle hints what she dreamed to be presented with. 2. You can’t rely on him or trust. He can let you down. 3. He possesses luxurious five-star hotels, drives a plane and has cool wheels. His mom is the owner of all restaurants in our parts andhis dad has the Oil Enterprise’scontrol packet of shares. 4. Helen wants to be fit. She goes jogging in the park every morning, has healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner, does yoga thrice a week and conditions to the cold. 5. At first, his dog made a big puddle on my new carpet. Later I found out it had chewed my favourite rabbit slippers.

6. Paraphrase the following sentences. Use the speech patterns:

1. Young Swain sneaked into the Gallery one afternoon and blushed to the top of his ears when he saw “Trees Dressed in White”, a loud, raucous splash on the wall. 2. Beth got tired of Mary who was a real chatterbox. 3. We had to hurry up as it was getting dark. 4. Suddenly she became off colour and fainted. 5. Despite every effort, the boy was wasting away. 6. When she found her house burgled she flew into a rage. 7. First of all, the old lady filed a complaint that her neighbour’s child stole peaches in her garden. 8. He was to be tried in a court of law for the crime he hadn’t committed. 9. I admit my mistakes – nobody can take the law into their own hands. 10. He decided not to interfere, no matter what could happen. 11. You should know the truth – he is hard to please. 12. Jack happened to witness the hijacking of his neighbour’s Cadillac. 13. I don’t want to be strict but his behavior leaves much to be desired. 14. Don’t approach, it can be dangerous.

7. Make up two sentences of your own on each pattern. Share your ideas with your partner.

8. Translate the following sentences into English using the speech patterns:

1. Вона почала з того, що подала скаргу на свого сусіда. 2. Карл Лі мав постати перед судом за подвійне вбивство. 3. Не підходь! Ведмідь може бути десь поряд. 4. Вона втомилася від постійних обвинувачень у шахрайстві. 5. Він мріяв розбагатіти і купити будинок біля моря. 6. Коротше кажучи, вона заплатила за нього заставу і вони одружилися. 7. Повідомили, що поліція шукає свідків пограбування на Стар-Авеню. 8. Ми всі були раді, не говорячи вже про маму: вона сказала, що це найщасливіший день у її житті. 9. Він вирішив викупити занедбаний завод і на його місці побудувати новий розважальний центр. 10. Правду кажучи, твій план здавався геніальним з самого початку, проте невідомо, чому він не спрацював. 11. Він завжди усвідомлює власні промахи і намагається їх усунути. 12. Спочатку вона почервоніла, потім зблідла і ледве не втратила свідомість. 13. Він дав собі обіцянку, коли виросте, забрати сестру з притулку. 14. Поради Майкла високо цінуються колегами по роботі.