It was best, Purcell decided, to humour him. «My, my! Ten years. That’s certainly a long time. Now...»

«They give you five dollars», laughed the man, «and a cheap suit, and tell you not to get caught again».

Mr. Purcell mopped (нахмурил) brow. «Now, about the care and feeding of your doves. I would advise ...»

The man turned around and left the store. Purcell signed with sudden relief (облегчение). He came to the window and looked out. Just outside, his peculiar customer (особый покупатель) had stopped. He was holding the cage shoulder-high, staring at his purchase (покупка). Then, opening the cage, he reached inside and drew out one of the doves. He tossed (запустил) it into the air. He drew out the second and tossed it after the first. They rose like balls and were lost in the smoky gray of the wintry city.

1) Why did the customer toss the doves he had just buy for his only money?

2) What was Mr. Pussell?

3) What was unusual with the start of the day?

4) Could you describe the appearance of the customer?

5) What do these details tell the reader?

6) What did the customer want to buy?

7) What proposal of Mr. Pursell did the customer reject?

8) Why did the customer not tell at once that he wanted the birds? Why did he make the seller guess his desire?

Few Facts about English (3)

There are about 400 million native speakers. This makes it the second most spoken language in the world after Mandarin Chinese. About 200 million people speak it as a second language and there are as many as a billion people to speak it at least a basic level. The countries with the highest populations of native English speakers are, in descending order: United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Nigeria, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand.

English began when Cermanic tribes of Angles, and Jutes came to Britain from IV till VI AD from the territory of modern Denmark. They made their home in the south and east of the island, interacting with the local Celtic tribes. The Celts were in majority, but their language was ousted by the Germanic dialects. Those of different tribes became Old English. The word "English" comes from the name of the Angles - Englas. It goes back to the root "ang" – sharp item. The Angles were fishers and used sharp hooks for fishing. The world "Angles" is suggested to mean “people using sharp items”, “fishers”.

Many other people came to England later at different times, speaking different languages, and these languages added more words to make today's English. For example, around 800 AD, many Danish and Norse pirates, also called Vikings, came to the country and English received many Norse loanwords. Their languages were Germanic languages, like Old English.

After William the Conqueror from the territory of modern France called Normandy conquered England in 1066 AD and became king, he brought his nobles, who were French. They became the new government. They stopped English from being taught in schools for 300 years and the language changed greatly, because it was mostly being spoken instead of written. English borrowed many words from Old French relying to political life and law. In spite of the fact that England is the motherland of parliament, the word being French, as the Parliament started in the period of the French-speaking nobles.

As Latin and Greek were the languages of intellectual interaction in medieval Europe, English got a lot of words from these languages. Nowdays about 80% of the words in scientific, technical or juridical texts are of Latin and Greek origin.

English has a rather intricate system of spelling but simple grammar, having practically no gender for the nouns. That is one of the reasons of its turning the lingva franka of the modern world.