voskresenskaya_e_g_i_dr_sost_sovremennye_angliiskie_romany

знания на родном языке, но и сдавать на этом языке экзамены, в том числе и по физике, химии или биологии. 12. Власти с са- мого начала утверждали, что строительство спортивных объек- тов соответствует самым высоким экологическим стандартам.

8Make up your own sentences or a story using the vocabulary from the exercises above.

Comprehension and Discussion

9 Answer the questions below.

1)Why did Hilary get involved in media business? What or who influenced her choice?

2)What were the major stages in Hilary’s career? What were her achievements? Did her relatives help her to succeed?

3)What was Hilary’s private life like? Was it different from public? Why? Why not?

4)Analyse Hilary’s articles (especially two versions of the same incident pp. 72–74) and articles about her. How do they characterise Hilary?

5)What were your first impressions of Hilary as a child? Compare your first impressions of her with impressions of her as a grown up. Have your impessions changed? Why?

6)Why does ‘her’ chapter appear first?

10Characterise Hilary as a TV producer, journalist, writer, wife, and mother by completing the chart below. What techniques and language does the narrator use to characterise her? Support your ideas from the text.

11Make Hilary’s biography.

12Comment on the following quotations and explain their meaning. Do you agree with them?

1)Scheduling is everything. … A programme stands or falls by its scheduling. (p. 68)

2)That’s the great thing about television: it’s one of the fibres that holds the country together. It collapses class distinctions and helps create a sense of national identity. (p. 68)

3)‘News, entertainment, comedy, documentary and classical drama in equal measure. There’s no other country in the world which could offer you an experience like that.’ (p. 69)

4)‘Once you’ve got this novel under your belt, why not to do a book about motherhood? Terribly popular these days.’ (p. 81)

5)The barbarians aren’t at the gate any more, Alan. Unfortunately, you left the gate swinging wide open. So we wandered right inside, and now we’ve got all the best seats and our feet are up on the table. And we intend to stay here for a long, long time. (p. 86)

Creating a Commentary

13 Comment on the meaning and usage of the following references and allusions, give the context they are used in.

(p. 76); American-style television (p. 77); South Kensington, London (p. 79); Kuwait thing (p. 84); Bridget Riley (p. 85); P45 (p.tax) (p. 85); DSS office (p. 85)

Language and Style

14The chapter is written in a variety of languages: tabloid newspaper articles, fashion magazine articles, minutes, etc. Why does the narrator introduce them into the narration? What is their function?

15Translate the following passage.

‘Scheduling is everything. … It’s one of our greatest post-war achievements.’ (p. 68–69)

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EXTENSION ACTIVITIES

16If Hilary Winshaw decides to change her job and apply for a new position she will have to submit a CV (Curriculum Vitae) with the information about herself. Complete the CV in the European standard for her using the information from the chapter.

Curriculum Vitae

What are Hilary’s strengths and weaknesses? Does she have a chance of getting a job without her family’s help and connections?

17 Complete a similar CV for yourself.

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September 1990

PRE-READING

Focus Activity

1 Answer the questions below.

1)Have you ever read a biography? Whose biography was it? Did you like it? Why?

2)Why are biographies so popular? Would you like to write a biography? Who would it be about?

3)Would you like to have your biography written?

ACTIVE READING

Vocabulary Practice

2 Find the following words in the text, give their definitions, derivatives and translations. Give the context they are used in.

commission; cute; abandon (work); discrepancy; assault (v); sporadic; delve into (2); slump; beaker; revelation; crucial; go Dutch

3 Find the English equivalents to the following words and expressions. Give the context they are used in.

приступить (к чему-либо); принимать решительные меры; при- носить плоды, давать результаты; держать заложников; остано- виться, застопориться; измениться до неузнаваемости; устано- вить взаимопонимание; случайная встреча; исключать, вычер- кивать; предоставить полную свободу действий; отменять, пере- носить; поймать такси

4 Match the words (1–14) to their synonyms (a-n).

5Fill the gaps in these sentences with a suitable word or expression from the box below. Put it in an appropriate form. Some words and expressions are used more than once.

1)I like to … old books looking for forgotten history.

2)There was a … between the answer and the record in the recruiting books, and a consequent discussion, until Munster solved the difficulty. (Adventure by Jack London)

3)Hickock continued writing letters protesting his conviction and one of those at last … . (In Cold Blood by T. Capote)

4)The conservation of tropical forests is of … importance.

5)He received a … to paint a landscape.

6)That's a really … outfit.

7)The authorities … any attempt to distribute food.

8)Police found … in the two men's reports.

9)Two men … him after he left the bar.

10)I don't want you to pay for my ticket. Let's … . Is it still considered a date if you … ?

11)Alice Walker's novel was a real … to me.

12)There has been … violence downtown.

13)Carol … back in her chair, defeated.

14)A … is a drinking cup with straight sides and no handle, usually made of plastic.

15)This aid money is … to the government's economic policies.

16)He had an excellent … with his patients.

17)She has refused to … the possibility of singing again.

36

18)Rescuers had to … the search because of worsening weather conditions.

19)The hotel doorman will … for you.

20)Pakistan had previously resisted US pressure to agree to … to India in Afghanistan.

21)Many women these days would rather … to show their independence.

6 Translate the sentences into English using words and expressions from Vocabulary Practice Section. Pay attention to the underlined words and expressions.

1. Она всегда так прелестна. 2. Они перестали говорить на своем родном языке. 3. Авторы не могут объяснить причину этого про- тиворечия. 4. Перед тем, как утвердить его, комитет вниматель- но рассмотрел его послужной список. 5. История стала для нас откровением. 6. Он наладил прекрасные отношения с детьми своей сестры. 7. Полиция исключила возможность самоубийства. 8. Игру отложили. 9. Я очень спешу, ты не поймаешь мне такси? 10. «Можно пригласить тебя сегодня вечером?» «Только при ус- ловии, что каждый платит за себя». 11. Похоже, президент Оба- ма предоставил Пентагону полную свободу действий в отноше- нии Кубы. 12. После пластической операции и строгой диеты она изменилась до неузнаваемости. 13. Британская полиция принимает решительные меры, направленные на борьбу с тор- говлей людьми в целях сексуальной эксплуатации. 14. Наша программа защиты от терроризма, запущенная в 2004 г., уже принесла плоды. 15. Каждый платит за себя, хорошо?

7Make up your own sentences or a story using the vocabulary from the exercises above.

Comprehension and Discussion

8 Answer the questions below.

1)Why did Michael accept the commission to write a book about the Winshaws? What were the terms?

2)How did his attitude towards the book and family change? Why? Why did he stop writing it and why did he finally decide to continue it?

3)What was the reaction of the still alive members of the Winshaw family towards Michael’s manuscript? Why?

37

4)What happened the evening when Michael’s mother came to visit him that made him silent for two or three years? Make predictions.

5)Why is Michael’s trip to the publisher described in such detail? Is there any connection between this episode and the epigraph from Orpheus?

6)What were Patrick’s ideas about fiction writing? What did he criticise Michael for? Did Michael agree with his criticism?

7)What kind of writer was Michael? Was he good?

8)What happened at Vanity House? Who could have stolen the manuscript? Why?

9)Who was following Michael? Why?

9Comment on the following quotations and explain their meaning. Do you agree with them?

1)… every penny of the Winshaw fortune … could be said to have derived, by some route or another , from the shameless exploitation of persons weaker than themselves … (p. 89)

2)… I was performing a useful service by bringing this fact to the attention of the public … (p. 89)

3)They want their names in the British library catalogue, they want their six presentation copies, they want to be able to slot that handsome hardback volume between the Shakespeare and the Tolstoy on their living-room bookshelf. (p. 103)

4)If it (the book) communicates anything at all, it’s … how they’ve pretty well carved up the whole bloody country between them. (p. 107)

5)I explained about the newspaper advertisement. ‘It was meant as a declaration of war, as much as anything else. A coded challenge. Well, someone’s obviously taken me up on it.’ (p. 112)

Creating a Commentary

10 Comment on the meaning and usage of the following references and allusions, give the context they are used in.

Louis XV grandfather clock (p. 89); Westland Helicopters incident (p. 90); Suddam Hussein and Mrs Thatcher’s, Mr Bush’s attitude towards ‘Kuwait thing’ (p. 93); Georgian terrace in Camden (p. 94); Victoria (p. 94); Cheyne Walk, Royal Hospital Road, Sloane Square (p. 94); District Line, Circle Line (p. 95); Kathleen Turner (p. 97);

38

Britain and France sending more troops to Saudi Arabia (p. 104); The Ayatollah calling for a holy war against the US (p. 104); Oxbridgeand public-school-educated Englishman (p. 113)

Language and Style

11 Translate the following passage.

Inspired by the very novelty of the enterprise … within the bounds of my commission. (pp. 88–89).

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES

12Answer the questions below.

1)Why do famous people write their memoirs and have their biographies written? Is it vanity?

2)What makes people write any literary work?

Henry

PRE-READING

Focus Activity

1 Discuss the following questions.

1)What is the role of politics in the life of a society, state, ordinary people? Could it form public’s opinion on anything?

2)What is the relation between politics and media?

39

ACTIVE READING

Vocabulary Practice

2Find the following words in the text, give their definitions, derivatives and translations. Give the context they

are used in.

prolific; be aloof; morale; decent; tutorial; commodity; assassinate; agenda; complacency; highlight (n); pinpoint

3 Find the English equivalents to the following words and expressions. Give the context they are used in.

совершенно неожиданно, как гром среди ясного неба (id., infml); воздавать должное, отдавать дань (восхищения, уважения); во- енный переворот, путч; позаботиться, присмотреть (ph.v., infml); окупиться(ph.v.); схватывать суть

4Match the words (1–13) to their synonyms / synonymous expressions (a-m).

5Fill the gaps in these sentences with a suitable word or expression from the box below. Put it in an appropriate form. Some words and expressions are used more than once.