Speech and composition

Ex 43 Answer the following questions, using the vocabulary of the lesson. Sum up your answers (orally, or in writing).

GETTING ABOUT TOWN IN A TAXI

1. When do people usually take a taxi? 2. Is it always easy to catch one? 3. Can you order a taxi by telephone? 4. How do you stop a taxi in the street? 5. Does the driver have to bring the taxi to the curb to take on a passenger or is he allowed to stop in the middle of the street? 6. In what way does a taxi look different from other cars? 7. What are its identification marks? (chessboard line).

WALKING ABOUT THE CITY AT NIGHT

1. Have you ever taken a walk in (about) the city at night? in the early hours of the morning? 2. When was it? 3. How does a city look by night? 4. What lights up the streets at night? 5. How do the houses look against the dark sky? 6. What makes the city look beautiful? 7. Why is the traffic less heavy at night than in the day? 8. Why is the air cleaner at night? 9. Why are the streets no longer noisy? 10. When are all the lights in the city put out?

YOU CAN NEVER BE TOO CAREFUL

1. Why must you be attentive when in the street? 2. Why must you be careful to cross the streets in definite places only? 3. Why aren't children allowed to cross the street by themselves? 4. Why must chil­dren and blind people be helped to cross the road? 5. Do you have to look first to the right or to the left when crossing the street? 6. Why do Englishmen have to look first to the right and then to the left? 7. What are underground passages for? 8. In what way have they made the work of drivers much easier?

Ex 44 Read and retell the following. Discuss the problem of race discrimination in the USA.

PLEDGER'S WAY HOME

Pledger gave part of his pay for a ticket to Chicago. Through the long night he lay half asleep, with his head against the arm of his seat, thinking how it would be when he stepped down from the train and Sarah came towards him along the platform. The cold of the winter night came through the windows. Pledger wrapped himself up in his khaki coat.

Towards morning the train stopped in an Indiana town. He woke up and got down to the platform, where he began to walk up and down. He felt cold. He walked fast across the street from the station for a cup of coffee. A few people were in the restaurant eating breakfast and Pledger felt the American smell of coffee and toast and bacon. Smiling with pleasure, he sat down at the counter and took the menu.

The counterman was standing over him, young, white and self-im­portant. "What do you want in here, fellow?"

"Coffee and fried eggs," Pledger said calmly.

"We don't serve no coloured in here."

Pledger stared at the other attentively for a moment before he un­derstood. He caught his breath. Getting up from the chair, Pledger lifted his brown hands in the air. Then he let them fall. He was making an effort to control himself. He saw the other people in the restaurant watching him with expressionless faces. The door closed behind him. He was no longer hungry and now he did not even feel angry. He crossed the street and walked down to the end of the train.

He felt empty and bitter and humiliated because of what had been done to him. For a moment he remembered that a Marshal of France had pinned to the flag of his regiment the Croix de Guerre;^* he remem­bered the French girls who had kissed the Negro soldiers and cried over them, and the Mayor of New York standing with his hat in his hands. But now he was waking up; it seemed that the people who had been his friends had gone. He found himself alone in the winter daylight, staring across the snow-covered fields.

He got on the train and took his seat. He sat through the long hours as the train ran towards Chicago.

(After "The Great Midland" by A. Saxton)

Ex 45 Read the following, answer the questions and retell the passage in English.

РАСИЗМ КАК ОН ЕСТЬ

Я сел в поезд Вашингтон — Нью-Йорк. Мои соседи оживленно разговаривали о какой-то выставке. Один из них, по имени Фрэнк, ехал по делам в Нью-Йорк откуда-то с юга. Говорил он с ярко выра­женным южным акцентом.

— Хороший художник, этот негр — продолжал Фрэнк, — и ро­дом из нашего города. Мы пошли к президенту клуба Бейкеру и го­ворим: надо устроить выставку этого негра в нашем клубе. Бейкер отказался. В нашем клубе выставка чернокожего? Никогда! Мы го­ворим: времена переменились. Нет, говорит Бейкер, у меня есть прин­ципы, которым я собираюсь оставаться верным до конца жизни. И вдруг, представьте, проходит неделя, и Бейкер говорит, что он много передумал за эти дни и что он был неправ. И вот с тем, чтобы показать, что мы не расисты, он решил устроить выставку этого негра. Весь город был удивлен поведением Бейкера. А он держится спокойно, всем говорит: приходите, картины хорошие.

Гости начали съезжаться к шести часам. У дверей Майк, такой высокий, седой негр. Набралось уже много народу. Тут подъезжает машина, и из нее выходит негр. Я-то сразу его узнал — художник. А Майк сделал шаг навстречу: «Вам куда, мистер?» Тот отвечает: «На выставку. Я художник, это моя выставка. Вот приглашение». Майк даже не посмотрел. «Прошу выйти, — говорит, — сюда цветных не пускают».

— Так и не пустили? — поразился его сосед.

— Ну, не знаете вы Бейкера. Как раз в этот момент он появляет­ся и спрашивает: «Что тут у вас происходит?» Майк отвечает: «Прос­тите, сэр, сейчас все будет в порядке», и начинает толкать художника к двери. «Постой, Майк, кто это?» спрашивает Бейкер. «Не знаю, сэр, говорит, что художник...» «Художник?! Так пропусти его, Майк, он же автор картин сегодняшней выставки».

Художник молча повернулся и ушел.

Как я потом узнал. Майку в тот день приказали особо — ни од­ного цветного не пускать.