Word combinations

as well as еще, в дополнение (к), также

call out крикнуть, выкрикнуть

for one thing с одной стороны; for another (thing) с другой стороны

put on (out) the lights зажигать (тушить) свет

play a big (small, important, etc) part in sth играть большую (малую, важную и т. п.) роль в чем-н

weather forecast прогноз погоды

Exercises comprehension

Ex 1 Answer the following questions.

1. What reputation do the English have among foreigners? 2. Where was the author going one day? 3. What did the passengers in his compartment talk about? 4. Why did the author describe one of the passengers as a typical Englishman? 5. Why didn't this passenger say a single word during the whole journey to London? 6. How do the English peo­ple usually start a conversation with strangers? 7. Why is the weather always a safe topic for conversation? 8. What is the usual remark for good (bad, cold) weather? 9. What does London look like on a rainy day? (When a thick fog covers the city?)

Ex 2 Look through the text once again, and see if you can find facts to prove that:

1. Every country has its own reputation.

2. People in Britain talk about the weather more than in any other country in the world.

3. The weather, good or bad, is the safest subject for conversation with strangers as well as with friends.

4. The English are rather proud of their weather.

5. The weather is really important to the British.

Ex 3 Pick out words and expressions from the text, and group them under the following headings.

1. Travelling by train. 2. Good weather. 3. Bad weather. 4. Talk­ing to strangers. 5. Driving in bad weather.

Ex 4 Find in the text the English for:

нравы и обычаи страны; в поезде; купе вагона; пассажир; говорить о погоде; ночью, вытащить книгу; в течение всей поездки; не проро­нить ни слова; говорить с сильным акцентом; завязать разговор с не­знакомым человеком; быстро меняться; ложиться спать; светить ярко; безопасная тема для разговора; обсуждать личные дела; великолеп­ное утро; прекрасная погода; сильный снегопад; сильный мороз; холодная зима; мрачный день; серое, затянутое тучами небо; идти под зонтиком; густой туман; зажечь фары; медленно продвигаться; мокрая скользкая дорога; ужасная погода; играть большую роль в чьей-л жизни, ежедневная газета; публиковать прогноз погоды.

Key structures and word study

Ex 5 Give the four forms of the following verbs.

say, speak, travel, tell, find, show, take, understand, shine, wake, meet, think, wear, carry, put, play, broadcast.

Ex 6 Make up five groups of three words associated in meaning or area of usage.

manners	passenger	newspaper	topic	train
television	subject	snowfall	customs	radio
theme	frost	compartment	fog	habits

Ex 7 Replace the words in bold type by their opposites. Make all necessary changes. Translate the sentences into Russian.

1. There was a light frost during the night. 2. Clearing away the snow was hard work for a boy of his age. 3. The man moved quickly to the door. 4. She only looks kind. 5. The girl heard every single word of her parents' conversation. 6. The sky is clear. 7. The girl was ill. There was a dull look in her eyes. 8. The boy is a slow learner. 9. The woman put away her purse. 10. The train left the station on time. 11. The car turned right. 12. Part of the day he was writing an article for the local newspaper.

Ex 8 Recast the following according to the model.

Model: 1. Newspapers publish a weather forecast every day.

Newspapers publish a weather forecast daily.

2. "Ogonyok" is a social-political, literary and art maga­zine that is published once a week.

"Ogonyok" is a weekly magazine.

1. The Moscow Metro trains carry more than six million passen­gers every day. 2. What magazine that is published once a quarter of the year do you know? 3. The doctor told the patient to take the med­icine every hour. 4. The Budget day is an event in the life of the coun­try that usually takes place once a year. 5. The number of readers in the Lenin Library is more than 5,000 a day. 6. They have meetings every month to discuss business matters.

Ex 9 Recast the following, using adjectives with the suffix '-y'. Make necessary changes.

Model: It often rains in autumn.

Autumn is a rainy season.

1. Sometimes London has bad fogs in November. 2. After a night of hard frost the river was covered with ice. 3. When we woke up in the morning the sun was shining brightly. 4. There is hardly any part in the town that has so much wind than the district around these hills. 5. You can't bathe today. The water is as cold as ice. 6. Today the sky is covered with heavy clouds. 7. There was dirt all around the place. 8. There was a heavy storm on the sea last night. 9. The beach was covered with fine sand.

Ex 10 Translate the following into English, using a different phrasal verb in each of the sentences.

take out, call out, read out, come out, get out, run out, look out, bring out, go out

1. Сосед по купе достал бутерброд и начал есть. 2. Она не любила выходить на улицу в такую погоду. 3. Старик с трудом вылез из ма­шины. 4. Принеси сюда стулья. Давай посидим в саду. 5. Наскоро выпив чашку кофе, он выбежал из дома. 6. Выйди на минуточку, мне нужно поговорить с тобой. 7. На улице мальчишки громко выкрики­вали названия газет. 8. Она выглянула в окно, но на улице уже ни­кого не было. 9. Прочитай третье предложение вслух.

Ex 11 Compare the meaning of the following words of the same root in Russian.

manner, reputation, passenger, typical, accent, strange, personal, remark, to publish.

Ex 12 Translate, using 'say', 'speak', 'tell'.

1. Он сказал, что его семья переезжает на дачу во вторник. 2. Вели брату разбудить меня в шесть. 3. Твой приятель, как всегда, прого­ворил целый час, но не сказал ничего нового. 4. Передай ему, что скорый прибывает в Ригу в 10 часов вечера. Попроси его встретить меня на вокзале, если ему это удобно. 5. Секретарь сказала, чтобы я обратился к вам с этим вопросом. 6. С ним интересно поговорить, он много путешествовал. 7. Студенты говорят, что книга скучная и им хотелось бы почитать что-нибудь более современное. 8. В нашем купе был человек, который говорил с сильным акцентом, и я с трудом понимал, что он рассказывал. 9. Скажи им, чтобы они садились ужи­нать без меня, я немного опоздаю. 10. Он прошел мимо и не сказал ни слова.

Ех 13 Make up sentences with the following phrases, using 'say', 'tell', 'speak'.

about the weather; was raining hard; the truth, I am sure; cover the flowers for the night; the exact time; he would start on the trip next Monday; she wasn't sure of the day of their arrival; very fast; I don't know the language well enough to understand him; he was a stranger here himself and didn't know the way to the museum; change at the next station; wear glasses; not forget to put out the light; about the won­derful music the composer writes for children.