30Th September

Dear Daddy,

Are you still harping on that scholarship? I never knew a man so obstinate, and stubborn and unreasonable, and tenacious, and bull-doggish, and unable-to-see-other-people's-point-of-view, as you.

You prefer that I should not be accepting favours from strangers.

Strangers! – And what are you, pray?

Is there anyone in the world that I know less? I shouldn't recognize you if I met you in the street. Now, you see, if you had been a sane, sensible person and had written nice, cheering fatherly letters to your little Judy, and had come occasionally and patted her on the head, and had said you were glad she was such a good girl – Then, perhaps, she wouldn't have flouted you in your old age, but would have obeyed your slightest wish like the dutiful daughter she was meant to be.

Strangers indeed! You live in a glass house, Mr. Smith.

And besides, this isn't a favour; it's like a prize – I earned it by hard work. If nobody had been good enough in English, the committee wouldn't have awarded the scholarship; some years they don't. Also – But what's the use of arguing with a man? You belong, Mr. Smith, to a sex devoid of a sense of logic. To bring a man into line, there are just two methods: one must either coax or be disagreeable. I scorn to coax men for what I wish. Therefore, I must be disagreeable.

I refuse, sir, to give up the scholarship; and if you make any more fuss, I won't accept the monthly allowance either, but will wear myself into a nervous wreck tutoring stupid Freshmen.

That is my ultimatum!

And listen – I have a further thought. Since you are so afraid that by taking this scholarship I am depriving someone else of an education, I know a way out. You can apply the money that you would have spent for me towards educating some other little girl from the John Grier Home. Don't you think that's a nice idea? Only, Daddy, EDUCATE the new girl as much as you choose, but please don't LIKE her any better than me.

I trust that your secretary won't be hurt because I pay so little attention to the suggestions offered in his letter, but I can't help it if he is. He's a spoiled child, Daddy. I've meekly given in to his whims heretofore, but this time I intend to be FIRM.

Yours,

With a mind,

Completely and Irrevocably and

World-without-End Made-up,

Jerusha Abbott

TASKS

1. Read the text and find in it the words and word combinations from the list, supply them with Russian equivalents.

to pick sth or sb out

to get caught in a storm

to pay taxes

to get (some) beauty sleep

to show sb or sth off

to be eccentric

to get accustomed to sth

unseasoned food

to be a burden to sb

to be indebted

to pay one’s debts

dutiful

to award sb a scholarship

to deprive sb of sth

a spoiled child

to give in to sb’s whims

2. Learn these words and expression by heart and be ready for the oral translation of sentences with them.

3. Translate the underlined passages.

4. Paraphrase the following using the words above.

- to be odd

- someone who does what he should do

- to become used to sth

- to choose

- not spicy

- badly brought up

5. Complete the sentences with the words in ex. 1

1. I never borrow money if I know that I can’t ___________________.

2. Let me ________________some of my best roses for you.

3. Look at the way he dresses! No wonder people consider him to be ___________________.

4. She will be asking you to buy her some new clothes, but she doesn’t really need any, so don’t __________________________to her.

5. Every year a few _________________were_________________to the best students of this college.

6. Go and get some _____________________: you need it before tomorrow’s contest.

7. She moved to a hotel because she hated being a_______________to her friends with whom she had been staying.