- •Easy reading
- •Предисловие
- •How to analyze the text
- •Comprehension Quiz
- •Means of communicating ideas
- •Choose the phrases you like more so as to make a structure of any text analysis. Prepare two variants: one long (300-350 words), another short (100-150 words). Unit 1
- •The story of an hour
- •1. Learn the meaning of the following words and reproduce the situations in which they are used:
- •2. Substitute the italicized words with synonyms:
- •8. Summarize the story in 15-20 sentences.
- •9. Imagine you are Mr. Mallard. Write a passage (150 words) describing his view of the situation. Unit 2
- •The hero of drummond street
- •6. Explain the meaning of the following expressions. Make up sentences using them:
- •7. Discussion:
- •8. Summarize the story in 15-20 sentences.
- •9. Write a passage (150 words) describing the whole story as if you were a) the Drooler or b) the reporter. Unit 3
- •Discussion.
- •Three is a lucky number
- •The crime in this text is murder, but there are unfortunately many others, consult the dictionary and match crimes to their definitions, translate the words on the left.
- •Discussion
- •Unit 5
- •A shocking accident
- •V. Answer the following questions.
- •VI. Read the following sentences and answer the questions that follow.
- •VII. Discussion.
- •VIII. Imagine that Jerome keeps a diary. Write his entries for these three days:
- •Unit 6
- •Tipsy and the board of health
- •1. Learn the meaning of the following words and reproduce the situations in which they are used:
- •2. Find synonyms for the following words. Make up your own sentences using these words or their synonyms.
- •3. Fill in the gaps with the necessary prepositions:
- •9. Summarize the story in 15-20 sentences.
- •Unit 7
- •Hills like white elephants
- •IV. Fill in the sentences with the words or their derivatives from the previous exercises.
- •V. Fill in the gaps with prepositions where necessary. All the expressions are taken from the text. Translate the sentences. Choose the expressions that are slang. What does the author use them for?
- •VII. Put 10 questions to the contents of the story. Work them out so that they can serve as a plan for further coherent retelling of the story. The first one is made up for you.
- •VIII. Render the contents of the story as if told by: a) Jig; b) her partner; c) the woman from the bar. Resort to the questions you’ve made up.
- •IX. Discussion.
- •Unit 8
- •The absence of emily
- •Consult the text or a good dictionary and insert the prepositions if necessary.
- •Discussion
- •In written form summaries the story in 20 sentences so as your summary to be a short text, remember to use conjunctions to make it pleasant to read. Be prepared to present your summary in class.
- •Unit 9
- •Ten indians
- •IV. Fill in the sentences with the words or their derivatives from the previous exercises.
- •V. Fill in the gaps with prepositions where necessary. All the expressions are taken from the text. Translate the sentences. Choose the expressions that are slang. What does the author use them for?
- •VI. There are words in English that are pronounced in a similar way but differ a lot in their meanings. Study the meanings of “beech” and “beach” and fill in the blanks with a suitable word:
- •VIII. Match the words on the left with their definitions on the right:
- •Unit 10
- •Campbell’s crossing
- •IV. Fill in the sentences with the words or their derivatives from the previous exercises.
- •V. Fill in the gaps with prepositions or adverbs where necessary. All the expressions are taken from the text. Translate the sentences.
- •VI. Find the notions defined below in the text. Fill in the gaps in the sentences that follow with these notions.
- •VII. Replace the words underlined with an expression from the text based on the word(s) in brackets. Make any necessary grammatical changes.
- •XI. Put 10 questions to the contents of the story. Work them out so that they can serve as a plan for further coherent retelling of the story. The first one is made up for you.
- •X. Render the contents of the story as if told by: a) Flora; b) Angus; c) an Inverlochie’s dweller. Resort to the questions you’ve made up.
- •XI. Discussion.
- •Unit 11
- •The garden party
- •Discussion.
- •Unit 12
- •Miracles do happen
- •IV. Fill in the sentences with the words or their derivatives from the previous exercises.
- •V. Fill in the gaps with prepositions where necessary. All the expressions are taken from the text. Translate the sentences.
- •VI. Replace the words underlined with an expression from the text based on the word(s) in brackets. Make any necessary grammatical changes.
- •VII. Supply the missing words. In each case the first letter of the missing word is given. All these expressions are taken from the text.
- •XI. Put 10 questions to the contents of the story. Work them out so that they can serve as a plan for further coherent retelling of the story. The first one is made up for you.
- •X. Render the contents of the story as if told by: a) Else; b) Michael; c) Hermann. Resort to the questions you’ve made up.
- •XI. Discussion.
- •Unit 13
- •The metro
- •Comment on the following ideas, agree or disagree, give your own opinion, mind to support it with arguments.
- •Reading comprehension quiz.
- •The metro
- •Translate the following words and word combinations; insert them into the sentences below:
- •Below you will find some more words from this text and their synonyms which were mixed, match each word with the correct synonym. Use them in the sentences of your own.
- •Even when words are synonymous it doesn’t always mean that they are interchangeable; in the sentences below choose one word in italics that fits the sentence best.
- •Reading Comprehension Quiz
- •Write an essay (300-400 words) on the following topic: One never knows what might happen next.
VIII. Match the words on the left with their definitions on the right:
a swamp – a deep narrow steep-sided gorge, especially one formed by the action of running water
a clearing – an area of grassland, often used for hay or for grazing of animals
a meadow – tiny drops of water that form on cool surfaces at night, when atmospheric vapour condenses
a ravine – an open space in a forest, especially one cleared for cultivation
dew - an area of low-lying, uncultivated, permanently waterlogged ground that is usually overgrown and sometimes partly forested
IX. State whose the following utterances are. Change them as to make them grammatically correct. What effect does the author want to produce by making his characters speak colloquial English? What speech characteristics that contribute a lot to the portrayal of characters do you know? What do they reveal? What would disappear from the story if it were written in literate English?
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“Them Indians.”
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“His pants looked mighty like Billy.”
3. “Pa was down into the road and back up again before I seen a thing.”
4. “It don’t make no difference where it was.”
5. “She ain’t my girl.”
6. “Carl ain’t no good with girls.”
7. “What you laughing at?”
X. Translate the following sentences into Russian. Use the phrases underlined in your own situation(s) or a short story.
1. “Girls never got a man anywhere.”
2. “I’ll bet Pa wouldn’t ever have had a squaw for a girl.”
3. “Are you hungry?” – “You bet.”
4. “Good-by, Mrs. Garner. Thanks for taking me.” – “Oh shucks, Nickie.”
5. “There’s some pie too. Will that hold you?” – “It’s grand.”
SPEAKING ACTIVITIES
XI. Put 10 questions to the contents of the story. Work them out so that they can serve as a plan for further coherent retelling of the story. The first one is made up for you.
1. When and where is the scene set?
XII. Render the contents of the story as if told by Nick. Resort to the questions you’ve made up.
XIII. Discussion.
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Comment on Joe Garner’s words about Indians “Plenty of Indians will kill snakes tonight, I guess”. What did he mean? Do these words reveal his attitude to Indians or simply state the fact? What is the attitude of the whites to Indians? Prove your opinion resorting to the text.
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Why didn’t Nick confess aloud that his girl friend was an Indian? Did he feel shy or ashamed?
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Do you think Nick got offended when Carl compared his Indian girl friend with a skunk? Why?
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Do you think Pruddie’s deed is loathsome? Can her unfaithfulness be acquitted?
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Why is the story titled “Ten Indians”? Who are they? What unites them? Can you think of a better title for the story? Give your own variant.
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Can we explain Nick’s attitude to what happened at the end of the story by means of the proverb “Out of sight, out of mind”? Prove it. Is Nick’s sorrow light and bright or deep and agonising? Why?
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The author uses the lexical metaphor* “My heart’s broken” to depict Nick’s emotional state at the end of the story. Paraphrase it. Could the author have done without this stylistic device? Why/why not? What effect does it produce?
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Does the author characterize Nick directly (i.e. the author rates the character himself) or indirectly (i.e. the author shows us the character in action, lets us hear him, watch him and evaluate him for ourselves). Find the cases of Nick’s characterization in the text? Which type (direct or indirect) prevails? Why? Give a character sketch of Nick. What kind of person was he? Try to use at least 10 adjectives to present him.
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What have you learnt about love from this story? Does it conform to your concept of love?
*The metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable. The metaphor implies traceable similarity, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid. But unlike the simile there is no formal element to indicate comparison (e.g., I was not a hawk). The lexical metaphor is a commonly reproduced lexical unit. It is called dead or trite being an integral part of the word’s semantic structure. (e.g., Time flies.).
WRITING ACTIVITIES
XIV. Summarize the story in 20 sentences. Read your summary aloud in class and explain why you have chosen these very sentences.
XV. Continue the story by writing a paragraph (100 words) describing Nick’s feelings and thoughts.
XVI. Imagine you are a journalist. You’ve been asked to write a brief article (200 words) for a local newspaper covering the celebration of the 4th of July in Petoskey.