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. David looked at him not as if he were an intruder, but with curiosity.

a. stranger b. animal c. unwelcome visitor d. strange person

2. We heard the sound of an approaching car.

a. moving away b. coming near

c. making loud noise d. exploding

3. After the operation you may find it difficult to chew and swallow.

a. eat b. smile c. cough d. bite

4. We need to make a concerted effort to finish on time.

a. report b. attempt c. work d. demand

5. Her most annoying habit was eating with her mouth open.

a. irritating b. funny c. strange d. deep-rooted

6. You can mock, but at least I’m willing to have a try!

a. try b. stay away c. laugh d. be against

II. The word “to crawl” has the basic meaning “to move”. Can you explain and illustrate the difference in meaning between these verbs?

III. Note that the words “trap”, “corner” and “wait” can be used both as nouns and verbs. Give your examples to illustrate these uses.

IV. 1) The word “stalk” has several quite different meanings. What are they? In what meaning is it used in the text? Illustrate these meanings with your own examples.

2) The word “stuff” has several meanings. In what meaning is it used in the text?

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) manoeuvre (AmE maneuver) 2) backpack 3) eventually 4) to evade

VI. Consider the following sentence from the text “I wasn’t exactly happy about this, but it was better than a rattlesnake”. In spoken English we use the expression “not exactly” (or sometimes “not particularly”) to make criticisms, generalizations or other statements softer (cf. Text 2, III, “tend to + Inf”), though the expression “not exactly” is often ironic.

e.g. She's not exactly what you call stupid.

Think of the ways of putting the same thought in Russian.

Now think of your own example.

Note also that when used separately the expression “not exactly” stands only to correct something that somebody has said (e.g. “So he told you you’d got the job?” – “Not exactly, but he said they were impressed with me.”)

VII. Note how each of the following idioms and phrasal verbs is used in the text:

1) to be about to do smth; 2) to cross one’s mind; 3) to catch sight of; 4) off and on (or “on and off”); 5) to figure out; 6) to get rid of; 7) after all; 8) to call for; 9) to no avail; 10) to be/keep one step ahead of.

Now use each of these expressions in an example of your own. Try to relate them to your own experience.

Recounting and Interpreting Details

1. What did the narrator do in the mountains?

2. Did he realize at once that there was a mouse in his car? What did he think the strange sounds were?

3. What was the narrator’s reaction when he saw the mouse?

4. How did the narrator try to save his food?

5. The sentence “I would then grab the bag and ‘bag’ the mouse” is an example of pun. What is a pun? This sentence shortly describes the narrator’s first successful attempt to catch the mouse. How did he manage to do it?

6. At the beginning of the 5^th paragraph the narrator refers to the mouse as “it”. At the end of the same paragraph and later in the texts he refers to the mouse as “he”. Comment on the use of pronouns. Find other characteristics of the mouse given by the narrator.

7. When the narrator parked in the same place two nights later and saw a mouse he said “This had to be the same mouse since it was able to get into my car”. Do we know it for sure from the text or is it the narrator’s opinion?

8. When did it seem to the narrator that the mouse mocked him?

9. Can we call the mouse in the text a “character”, to your mind? Why/why not? What makes a literary character?

10. In what way did the narrator get rid of the mouse?

11. Comment on the last paragraph of the text. What impression does the narrator make on you as a person?

Creative Follow-up Work

I. Find as many words and expressions related to the topic “car” in the text as you can. Use them to make up a short text of about 150 words. This may be an advertisement or any story involving a description of a car. You may expand the list of words on the topic using a dictionary.

II. Have you ever had any experience similar to the one described in the story? What did you do?