The Article

with the nouns "school", "town", "table", "bed", "hospital", "train"

Ex 43 Study the chart.

Kislovodsk is a town in the Caucasus. The town is a well-known resort. They stayed in town last summer. If you go to town bring me today's newspapers.

Ex 44 Fill in the blanks with the words given in brackets with an appropriate article (where necessary).

1. (і) At lunch-time you can always find him at — in the corner. (ii) I told the waiter I wanted — all -to myself. (iii) There were three of us at — that night. (table). 2. (і) — is too small for the child. (ii) I went upstairs; there was — ready for me. (iii) On Sundays, after the show, the actress seldom went to — before midnight and usually had her breakfast in — on Monday mornings, (bed). 3. (і) — for Saratov leaves in a quarter of an hour. (ii) If you don't catch this train, there is — at 5:27. (iii) Will you go to Odessa by — or plane? (train). 4. (і) Cambridge is 70 miles away from London, — is on the river Cam. (ii) I saw him in — not a week ago. (iii) His family has moved to — somewhere in the South. (town). 5. (і) After lunch the doctor was off to — again. (ii) There used to be — in this building once, now it is a museum of the History of Medicine, (iii) How long have you been in —? (hospital). 6. (і) — has a good football ground, (ii) Next year he'll be old enough to go to —. (iii) We used to learn such things at —. (school).

Ex 45 Translate into English.

1. — Он уже встал? — Нет, еще в постели. 2. Иди спать! 3. Врач подошел к кровати у двери. 4. Он болен уже с месяц: он в больнице, разве ты не знал? 5. Автобус 57 довезет вас до больницы. 6. Ваши дети учатся? 7. Этой осенью у них в деревне откроется новая школа. 8. В школе прекрасная библиотека. 9. Когда отходит поезд? 10. Есть ли какой-нибудь поезд в город около 7? 11. — Как туда добраться? — Поездом или автобусом. 12. В этом году городу исполняется 800 лет. 13. Мы все прошлое лето провели в городе. 14. Мы обычно обедаем впятером. 15. Подвинь стол к окну, там значительно светлее.

READING

Ex 46 Read the text, and do the assignments coming after it.

Television now plays such an important role in so many people's lives that it is essential for us to try to decide whether it is good or bad.

In the first place, television is not only a convenient source of entertainment, but also a comparatively cheap one. For a family of four, for example, it is more convenient as well as cheaper to sit comfortably at home than to go out. There is no transport to arrange. They do not have to find a baby-sitter. They do not have to pay for expensive seats at the theatre, the cinema, the opera or the ballet. All they have to do is turn a knob, and they can see plays, films, operas of every kind, not to mention political discussions and the latest exciting football match. Some people, however, say that this is just where the danger lies. The television viewer need do nothing. He does not even use his legs. He takes no initiative. He makes no choice. He is completely passive and has everything presented to him.

Television, people often say, informs one about current events, the latest developments in science and politics, and presents an endless series of programmes which are both instructive and stimulating. The most faraway countries and the strangest customs are brought into one's living-room. People can say that the radio does this just as well; but on television- everything is much more living, much more real. Yet here again there is a danger. We get to like watching TV so much that it begins to dominate our lives. A friend of mine told me the other day that his television set had broken down and that he and his family had suddenly found that they had much more time to do things, and that they could really talk to each other again. It makes one think, doesn't it?

There are many arguments for and against television. The poor quality of its programmes is often criticized. I think we must understand that television in itself is neither good nor bad. Television is as good or as bad as we make it.

(After "A New Way to Proficiency in English" by John Lennox Cook, Amorey Gethin, Keith Mitchell)