5. Speak about the relationships between the members of the Garstin family and Mrs Garstin's ambitions. (An extract from "The Painted Veil" by s.Maugham).

In my opinion, having a good family is an essential thing for a person. So, we can't be completely happy if we don't have a family or if the atmosphere in it is negative. For me home is the place where I can really relax, talk about my troubles, and feel really loved and important. However, not all people realize and appreciate it.

Such a thing happened to Mrs. Garstin who was a hard, cruel, ambitious, parsimonious and stupid woman. She despised her husband and nagged him without mercy. She discovered that if she wanted him to do smth she had only to give him no peace and eventually he would yield. Poor Bernard Garstin was painstaking, but had no will to advance himself to his ambitions. His wife tortured him all the time! He was really scored of her, so he was always silent at home. Even for his daughters Mr. Garstin was only a source of income. They took it for granted that he led a dog's life in order to provide them with money. Of course, nobody thought about the feelings of the subdued little man who worked from morning till night.

It was her daughters whom Mrs. Garstin put her hopes on. Her silver dream was to provide them with everything by arranging good marriages for them. One of her daughters, Kitty, was a real beauty, so Mrs. Garstin dreamt of a brilliant match for Kitty. When Kitty reached 25 and was still unmarried, her mother was exasperated. She understood that Kitty had missed her market. Doris, Kitty's younger sister, at the age of 18 became engaged to the son of a rich surgeon who had been given a baronetcy during the war. Kitty in panic married a penniless young doctor who took her to Hong Kong.

Mrs. Garstin really puts me off because she spoiled the lives of her closest people: her husband whom she nobody respected, her elder daughter, having married a man whom she didn't adore, her younger daughter to whom she would always say she was ugly.

This woman really puts me off because she herself was a loser: she didn't have a career and could not be a good wife and mother.

6. What impressed you in the story" If Only They Could Talk"? Share your impressions of treating a sick animal.

Frankly speaking, my heart was bleeding while I was reading this sad story. I felt really sorry for this old man, who was losing, perhaps, the only true friend—his dog. The dog went down with that mortal disease called cancer. Mr. Dean had to build up all his strength to face that horrible news: his dog had to be put to sleep. I imagined him standing in his cheerless, lonely room with faded pictures on the walls, with the frayed, grimy curtains and the broken-springed armchair.

Unfortunately, our pets don't live long and we can't but put up with it. I sympathize this old man greatly. I know how it feels to lose a friend. My story is full of sadness as well.

I had never had a pet before the age of 10 when my parents bought me a nice white little kitten. I was the happiest child in the world then. I called her Myrka. All the family took to her very quickly. But 5 months later she started throwing up and I took her to the vet. The doctor examined the kitten and said there was nothing wrong with her, that she was fit as a fiddle and bursting with health. He only wrote out a prescription for some vitamins. However, the next day my poor cat felt bad again! Her paws became stiff and she couldn’t move. That was late in the evening and I didn't know whom to ask for help. What I'll always remember is her deep, round, widely open eyes full of horror and the last cry for help. She passed away in my arms late at night.

Next morning I made a complaint to the vet, but they didn't admit that there was a fault.

I've never had another pet since then…