Reading comprehension

25.Answer the questions.

1. What was Bateman Hunter's state of mind while he was on his way back from Tahiti to Chicago?

2. Under what circumstances had Edward Barnard and Bateman met Isabel?

3. What made Edward leave for Tahiti?

4. Why did Bateman make up his mind to go to Tahiti two years later?

5. Why did Bateman feel embarrassed when he found Edward in Tahiti?

6. How did it come about that Edward made the acquaintance of Arnold Jackson?

7. What was the impression Arnold Jackson made on Bateman?

8. What ideas occurred to Edward at the beginning of his stay in Tahiti and why did

9. he finally give them up and decide to settle in Tahiti?

10. Why did Edward suppose that Bateman would make a better husband for Isabel than himself?

26.Express your agreement or disagreement with the following statements. Use: “To my mind”, “I quite agree”, “I entirely disagree with it”.

• When the train was nearing Chicago Bateman's conscience was at ease; he was certain «that he had done all that was possible and a happy smile lit up his face when he thought of Edward Barnard.

• Bateman's heart fell when he saw the long street of grey houses in Chicago.

• Two years before, when both friends had fallen desperately in love with Isabel, Bateman saw quickly that Isabel had eyes only for Edward and he determined to win Isabel's heart by all means.

• When Edward's father found himself a ruined man Isabel asked Edward to release her.

• The Longstaffes asked Edward to make friends with their relative Arnold Jackson whom they were very proud of.

• By the time Bateman came to Tahiti Edward had become the manager of Braunschmidt's agency there.

• Edward followed Mr Longstaffe's advice and always gave Arnold Jackson a wide berth.

• Edward was anxious to return to Chicago as soon as possible and to marry Isabel, who suited him perfectly.

27.Use the words and word combinations in brackets to compare:

1. Bateman Hunter (a partner in a firm, to succeed, to be full of enthusiasm, to get the best out of life, to do one's duty, to meet the obligation of one's state and station) and

2. Edward Barnard (a salesman in a cheap store, to fail, a humble occupation, to escape a danger, to value something in life, truth, beauty, goodness, to be content, to be entirely unworthy)

3. Isabel Longstaffe (fragile beauty, to be a fitting frame for something, to feel at ease, to guide the conversation, to be ambitious, the best blood in Chicago, an exquisite house, antique furniture, to be born to make a success of life) and

4. Eva Jackson (lovely creature, splendid eyes, curling hair, coal-black, an exotic flower, to shelter from bitter winds, smiling, to protect, to love a man for himself and not for what he may become)

5. Life in Chicago (long streets of grey houses, multi-storey buildings, a stock exchange, a mayor, to be like a prison, trivial and vulgar, a dark grey city, all stone, to hurry from home to the office) and

6. life in Tahiti (a lazy little town, life with its ease and leisure, happy smiling faces, unimaginable beauty, a grove of coconut trees, the vast calmness of the Pacific)