Exercises

Exercise I. Practise the pronunciation of the following a) words and b) word-combinations:

1. journey, tedious, affectionate, whistle, guard, torture, farewell, dumb, emphasis, coughing, earnestly, vaguely, otherwise, bureau, annually, inhospitable, magnetic, magnet­ism, experience, privilege, actual, moderation, explicit, alas, employee, departure, identify

Exercise II. Drills, a) Read and repeat; b) Use the structures In exam­ples of your own:

1. 1. He will go on a journey in spring.

2. She intends to go on a long voyage to the East.

3. We went on a trip to the continent in winter.

4. Agatha went on an expedition together with her hus­band.

5. He is dreaming of going on a round-the-world cruise.

7. 1. What prevented you from coming in time?

   2. A sudden illness prevented him from joining our trav­elling party.

   3. Her poor knowledge of French prevented her from reading the book.

   4. Urgent work prevented me from going on leave in the summer.

   5. The company prevents him from feeling lonely.

8. 1. He repaid the money as though it had been borrowed yesterday.

2. She smiled sweetly and with ease as though she had not been away for ten years.

5. He looked at her affectionately as though he were her best and devoted friend.

6. Her eyes filled with tears as though she were parting from one dear to her.

I wish I could hear what he was saying. I wish she could stay with us for a while. I wish he came to see us to-night. / wish he knew we were waiting for him here. I wish she did not leave so soon. I wish he were well again.

If I were a director I should be a rich man. If he knew Spanish he would go to Cuba. If I were young again I should enter a Technical School.

If I were an actor I should prefer the stage. If he loved his profession he would not work for the A.A.S.B.

Exercise III. Replace the italicized parts of the sentences by equiv­alents from the text:

1. They did not come to the station. 2. At that moment a middle-aged man attracted my attention. It seemed to me that / had already seen him somewhere. 3. There was love in his long, steady look. 4. In an instant I remembered where I had seen the man: / had lent him half a crown in the Strand some eight years before. 5. It was difficult to recognize him because of his clothes. 6. He stood looking at the train till it could not be seen any longer. 7. I asked him to speak clearly so that I could understand him better. 8. The document is practi­cally worth nothing. 9. The A.A.S.B. supplies rich American travellers and tourists with "friends" in England.

Exercise IV. Change the sentences below to indirect form:

1. Have you got everything? (One of us wanted to know.) 2. Where have I experienced his magnetism? (He wondered.) 3. Is that lady a friend of yours? (He asked le Ros.) 4. Do you recite at concerts? (I wanted to know.) 5. Is it worth the money? (He wondered.) 6. Didn't I act beautifully? (He asked.) 7. Where do you live? (He didn't know.) 8. Where have you been all these years? (He wondered.)

Exercise V. Ask each other questions about the text.

Exercise VI. Construct 5 disjunctive questions that are not true to fact and ask your comrades to correct them. (See p. 147 Ex. VIII.)

Exercise VII. Imagine that you are a) Hubert le Ros, b) the young American lady. Go to the front of the class and answer your comrades' questions.

Exercise VIII. Discuss the following questions:

1. Why is it so difficult to "make conversation" at the station? 2. Why did the author wish he could hear what the gentleman was saying to the American lady? 3. Wherein lay le Ros' chief attraction? 4. Why had he failed to become successful on the London stage? 5. What do you think of the Anglo-American Social Bureau? 6. Why do Americans want to be provided with "friends" when they come to England? 7. Why has le Ros given up the profession of an actor to become an employee? 8. Why has he got a great many pupils on hand? What sort of people wish to become his pupils?

Exercise IX. Retell the story using the following words and phrases:

1. to give a farewell dinner; railway carriage; break the silence; forced smile; a fit of coughing; to pass the time

2. attention was drawn; respectable-looking; next ... but one; vaguely familiar; evidently; to take somebody for; to give advice; magnetic; in a flash; out of engagement; to borrow from; actual name; to cease to remember; prosperous; to put on flesh; hard to recognize; stand back; about to start; to wave farewell to; to watch out of sight

3. to repay; to link one's arm (in); to miss; to lay em­phasis on; to recite; sane; explicit; to nod; to be bewildered; annually; used to bring; inhospitable; hardly worth the paper they are written on; sociable people; plenty of money; to provide with; if I were ... I should...; to do very well; fee; can (can't) afford; date of the departure; to identify; to be worth; to prevent (from); to despise; on the boat; to envy; to shuffle from foot to foot; to make conversation; to go into something professionally; to act without feeling; to be moved; to give a course; (not) to grudge

Exercise X. Use afford to complete the following sentences:

1. I like these shoes, but the price is too high. I ... .

2. Don't you know I have a report to make the day after tomorrow? I ... the time for attending football matches.

3. If you ... to go on holiday this spring, let's go together.

4. I ... buying expensive clothes.

Exercise XI. Add tall-questions (isn't, wasn't, etc.) to the following sentences: 1. He was a respectable-looking middle-aged man, ...? 2. She failed to come to the station, ...? 3. Americans are sociable people, ...? 4. They can buy everything with mon­ey, ...? 5. He has changed greatly, ...? 6. Some of them can't afford having English friends, ...? 7. We used to know each other, ...?

Exercise XII. Change the following sentences as In b).

Example: a) I didn't recognize her at the fancy-ball.

b) I failed to recognize her at the fancy-ball.

1. He didn't find the book at the book shop. 2. If you don't meet him at the club, come back to the hotel. 3. Unfor­tunately she didn't arrive in time and we left without her.

2. He didn't get a vacant room at the hotel and had to put up at a friend's of his.

Exercise XIII. Use the phrase next but one in sentences of your own.

Examples:

1. She lives in the next cottage but one to the club.

2. We shall write a composition at the next lesson but one.

Exercise XIV. Use can (can't) help in situations. E x a m p I es:

1. I couldn't help smiling at the joke.

2. We can't help liking the child.

3. They couldn't help thinking he was remarkably gifted.

4. Don't stay there longer than you can help.

Exercise XV. Make up sentences similar to those given below:

1. He was hard to recognize. 2. They had nothing to say. 3. There isn't much to add. 4. She has lots of money to spend.

5. He has got many letters to write. 6. The game is interesting to watch.

Exercise XVI. Choose the correct word from those in brackets:

(journey — voyage — trip)

1. Harry has changed a great deal after the long sea ... he made about a year ago. 2. A ... to the country will take no more than an hour by car. 3. It was a long and weary ... and when he got off the train he gave a sigh of relief. 4. The get­ting out of doors is the greatest part of the ...

(lend — borrow)

1. I was badly in need of some extra money for a much longed-for holiday. So I directed my steps to my uncle to ... some cash. 2. He was kind-hearted and generous and willing­ly ... us money when we were hard up. 3. He doesn't . .. his books. It's no use asking him. 4. Who did you ... the lectures from?

Exercise XVII. Topics for discussion:

2. Describe seeing off a friend.

3. Discuss the author's views expressed in this story.

4. Give a character outline of le Ros.

5. Discuss le Ros' profession.

6. Speak on the life of a successful actor.

7. Discuss the profession of an actor, its advantages and disadvantages.

8. What other curious professions do you know that exist in a world ruled by money?

Exercise XVIII. Render In English:

а) Профессия каскадера (cascader), как известно, свя­зана с опасностью. За рулем автомобиля или мотоцикла он совершает смертельные (deadly) трюки, участвуя в кино­съемках.

Один из самых известных каскадеров во Франции — Франк Вальверд. Он стал знаменитым среди коллег, когда совершил прыжок на спортивном автомобиле в реку Га­ронну. До него при исполнении этого трюка погибло 17 че­ловек.

Сейчас Вальверд готовится к новому трюку. Франк Вальверд в течение 14 суток будет постоянно находиться за рулем автомобиля, который будет двигаться по большому кругу автодрома (autodrome).

b) Приходится приспосабливаться

Если на прохожего в Чикаго бросается огромная овчар­ка (wolf-dog), валит его на землю и держит за горло, пока хозяин очищает карманы (knock down, hold by the throat, clear the pockets) своей жертвы, можно не сомневаться: собака выдрессирована (train) мистером Сесилем Хейсом, известным в городе собачьим дрессировщиком. Вот что сказал мистер Хейс в интервью, которое он дал корреспон­дентам: «Я давно работаю с собаками. Долгое время я го­товил собак-защити и ков (train dogs for protection). Я ве­рующий человек (believer) и никогда не подниму руку на ближнего своего (never lay hands on a fellow man). Но что делать? Надо зарабатывать себе на жизнь, а конкуренция так велика, что в наши дни игра, т. е. я имею в виду дрес­сировку, просто не стоит свеч (the game is not worth the candle). Совсем другое дело — овчарки-грабители. (Train­ing wolf-dogs for robbery is quite another matter.) Тут я вне конкуренции. (I've got no rivals.) Ну, а что касается совести..., то я ведь ни в чем не виноват (I'm not to blame) и ни за что не отвечаю. Какое мне дело, в конце концов, для чего у меня покупают собаку? А если меняются обстоятельства, то человек иногда меняет профессию. Тут уж ничего не поделаешь». (You can't help it.)

A MAN IN THE WAY

by Scott Fitzgerald

Pat Hobby ¹ could always get on the lot.² He had worked there fifteen years on and off⁸ — chiefly off during the past five — and most of the studio police knew him.

Pat was forty-nine. He was a writer but he had never writ­ten much, not even read all the 'originals' ⁴ he worked from, because it made his head bang ⁴ to read too much. But the good old silent days ⁴ you got somebody's plot and a smart secretary and gulped benzedrine 'structure' at her ' six or eight hours every week. After talkies ⁸ came he always teamed up with some man who wrote dialogue. Some man who liked to work.

'I've got a list of credits second to none,' ⁸ he told Jack Berners. 'All I need is an idea and to work with somebody who isn't all wet.' ¹⁰

He had buttonholed Jack outside the production office a* Jack was going to lunch and they walked together in the direction of the commissary.¹¹

'You bring me an idea,' said Jack Berners. 'Things are tight." We can't put a man on salary unless he's got an idea.'

'How can you get ideas off salary?' Pat demanded — and then he added hastily: 'Anyhow I got the germ of an idea that I could be telling you all about after lunch.'

Something might come to him at lunch... But Jack said cheerfully:

'I've got a date for lunch, Pat. Write it out and send it around, eh?'

He felt cruel because he knew Pat couldn't write anything out but he was having story trouble himself. The war had just broken out and every producer on the lot wanted to end their current stories with the hero going to war. And Jack Berners felt he had thought of that first for his production.

'So write it out, eh?'

When Pat didn't answer Jack looked at him — he saw a sort of whipped misery ¹⁵ in Pat's eye that reminded him of his own father. Pat had been in the money before Jack was out of college. Now his clothes looked as if he'd been standing at Hollywood and Vine ¹⁴ for three years.

'Scout around ¹⁸ and talk to some of the writers on the lot,' he said. 'If you can get one of them interested in your idea, bring him up to see me.'

'I hate to give an idea without money on the line,'¹⁴ Pat brooded pessimistically. 'These young squirts'll ¹⁷ lift the shirt off your back.'

They had reached the commissary door.

Good luck, Pat.'

Now what to do? He went up and wandered along the cell block " of writers. Almost everyone had gone to lunch and those who were in he didn't know. Always there were more and more unfamiliar faces. And he had thirty credits; he had been in the business, publicity and script-writing for twenty years.

The last door in the line belonged to a man he didn't like.

But he wanted a place to sit a minute so with a knock he pushed it open. The man wasn't there — only a very pretty, frail-looking girl sat reading a book.

'I think he's left Hollywood,' she said in answer to his question. 'They gave me his office but they forgot to put up my name.'

'You a writer?' Pat asked in surprise.

'I work at it.'

'You ought to get 'em to give you a test.' "

'No — I like writing.'

'What's that you're reading?'

She showed him.

'Let me give you a tip,' ²⁰ he said. 'That's not the way to get the guts out of a book.' ²¹

'Oh.'

'I've been here for years — I'm Pat Hobby — and I know. Give the book to four of your friends to read it. Get them to tell you what stuck in their minds. Write it down and you've got a picture — see?'

The girl smiled.

'Well, that's very — very original advice, Mr. Hobby.'

'Pat Hobby,' he said. 'Can I wait here a minute? Man I came to see is at lunch.''

He sat down across from her and picked up a copy of a photo magazine.

'Oh, just let me mark that,' she said quickly.

He looked at the page which she checked. It showed paint­ings being boxed and carted away to safety from an art gallery in Europe.

'How'll you use it?' he said.

'Well, I thought it would be dramatic if there was an old man around while they were packing the pictures. A poor old man, trying to get a job helping them. But they can't use him — he's in the way ²² — not even good cannon fodder.

They want strong young people in the world. And it turns out he's the man who painted the pictures many years ago.'

Pat considered.

'It's good but I don't get it,' he said.

'Oh, it's nothing, a short short ²⁸ maybe.'

'Got any good picture ideas? I'm in with all the markets " here.'

'I'm under contract.'

'Use another name.'

Her phone rang.

'Yes, this is Priscilla Smith,' the girl said.

After a minute she turned to Pat.

'Will you excuse me? This is a private call.'

He got it and walked out, and along the corridor. Finding an office with no name on it he went in and fell asleep on the couch.

Late that afternoon he returned to Jack Berners' waiting rooms. He had an idea about a man who meets a girl in an office and he thinks she's a stenographer but she turns out to be a writer. He engages her as a stenographer, though, and they start for the South Seas. It was a beginning, it was something to tell Jack, he thought — and, picturing Priscilla Smith, he refurbished ²⁶ some old business ²⁶ he hadn't seen used for years.

He became quite excited about it — felt quite young for a moment and walked up and down the waiting room mentally rehearsing the first sequence.²⁷ 'So here we have a situation like It Happened One Night— only new. I see Hedy Lamarr —' ²⁸

Oh, he knew how to talk to these boys if he could get to them, with something to say.

'Mr. Berners still busy?' he asked for the fifth time.

'Oh, yes, Mr. Hobby. Mr. Bill Costello and Mr. Bach are in there.'

He thought quickly, it was half-past five. In the old days he had just busted in sometimes and sold an idea, an idea good for a couple of grand ²⁸ because it was just the moment when they were very tired of what they were doing at pres­ent.

He walked innocently out and to another door in the hall. He knew it led through a bathroom right in to Jack Berners* office. Drawing a quick breath he plunged...

"... So that's the notion,' he concluded after five minutes. •It's just a flash ³⁰ — nothing really worked out, but you could give me an office and a girl and I could have something on paper for you in three days.'

Berners, Costello and Bach did not even have to look at each other. Berners spoke for them all as he said firmly and gently:

'That's no idea, Pat. I can't put you on salary for that.'

'Why don't you work it out further by yourself,' suggested Bill Costello. 'And then let's see it. We're looking for ideas — especially about the war.'

'A man can think better on salary,' said Pat.

There was silence. Costello and Bach had drunk with him, played poker with him, gone to the races with him. They'd honestly be glad to see him placed.

'The war, eh,' he said gloomily. 'Everything is war now, no matter how many credits a man has. Do you know what it makes me think of? It makes me think of a well-known painter in the discard. It's war time and he's useless — just a man in the way.' He warmed to his conception of himself.'¹ '— but all the time they're carting away his own paintings as the most valuable thing worth saving. And they won't even let me help.³³ That's what it reminds me of.'

There was again silence for a moment.

'That isn't a bad idea,' said Bach thoughtfully. He turned to the others. 'You know? In itself?'

Bill Costello nodded.

'Not bad at all. And I know where we could spot it. Right at the end of the fourth sequence. We just change old Ames '³ to a painter.'

Presently they talked money.

'I'll give you two weeks on it,' said Berners to Pat. 'At two-fifty.' ³⁴

'Two-fifty!' objected Pat. 'Say there was one time you paid me ten times that!'

'That was ten years ago,' Jack reminded him. 'Sorry. Best we can do now.'

'You make me feel like that old painter —'

'Don't oversell it,' ³⁴ said Jack, rising and smiling. 'You're on payroll.'

Pat went out with a quick step and confidence in his eyes. Half a grand — that, would take the pressure off for a month³⁸ and you could often stretch two weeks into three — sometimes four. He left the studio proudly through the front entrance, stopping at the liquor store for a half-pint to take back to his room.

By seven o'clock things were even better. Santa Anita " tomorrow, if he could get an advance. And tonight — some­thing festive ought to be done tonight. With a sudden rush of pleasure he went down to the phone in the lower hall, called the studio and asked for Miss Priscilla Smith's number. He hadn't met anyone so pretty for years...

In her apartment Priscilla Smith spoke rather firmly in­to the phone.

'I'm awfully sorry,' she said, 'but I could't possibly... No — and I'm tied up •• all the rest of the week.'

As she hung up, Jack Berners spoke from the couch.

'Who was it?'*

'Oh, some man who came in the office,' she laughed, 'and told me never to read the story I was working on.'

'Shall I believe you?'

'You certainly shall. I'll even think of his name in a min­ute. But first I want to tell you about an idea I had this morning. I was looking at a photo in a magazine where they were packing up some works of art in the Tate Gallery ³⁸ in London. And I thought —'

NOTES

1. Pat Hobby — hero of a number of stories, in which Scott Fitzgerald takes a self-mocking look at himself — a fading literary celebrity — in his role as a Hollywood hack. (Russ. литературный поденщик)

2. lot (prof, slang) — the premises of the studio where films are shot; a motion picture studio and the adjoining property

3. on and off — now and then, not all the time

4. 'originals' (prof, slang) — books (novels, plays, stories) made into scripts (used to make screen-versions of)

5. made his head bang (colloq.) — gave him a bad headache

6. the good old silent days — the good old days when

7. only silent films were produced

8. gulped benzedrine 'structure' at her — a way of saying

9. that Pat Hobby dictated the script to his secretary after using benzedrine, a stimulant which gave him some kind of inspi­ration and made him able to work; structure (cinema slang) — outline of a script talkies (colloq.) — sound films I've got a list of credits second to none—I've partici­pated in producing more films than anyone else; credit (slang) = credit line, i.e. a line giving the name of the au­thor, producer, etc. (Russ. титр); second to none — surpassed by no one

all wet — (here) incompetent, inexperienced

10. commissary — a dining-room or cafeteria, specifically in a studio

11. Things are tight (colloq.) — There isn't enough money (Russ. Туго с деньгами)

12. whipped misery — misery caused by defeat "

13. at Hollywood and Vine — at the corner of Holly­wood avenue and Vine Street where agencies hiring actors are located

14. scout around (colloq.) — look around for smth. suitable " without

15. money on the line (colloq.) — without being put on salary

16. squirt (Am. slang) — impudent youngster

17. he cell block of writers — building (or buildings) di­vided into script-writers' offices; block (Am.) — квартал

18. get 'em to give you a test — make them test you for a part in a film (Russ. проба)

19. to give a tip — to give useful (professional) advice

20. to get the guts out of a book (slang) — to get the most important points out of a book

21. he's in the way — nobody needs him, he is regarded as a nuisance, causes annoyance

22. a short short — a very short film (short п.— коротко­метражный фильм)

23. I'm in with all the markets here, (colloq.) — I'm on friendly terms with all the people influential in ordering scripts.

24. refurbish — brighten or freshen up

25. business — (here) plot

26. the first sequence — the first episode; sequence — a succession of shots or scenes in a film story

27. It Happened One Night — the best film of the year 1934, a celebrated comedy with superstars Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in the lead. The film won a crop of Oscars and was a tremendous box-office success. Hedy Lamarr — a film star; has been called one of the most beautiful women of that time

28. grand (slang) — 1000 dollars

29. a flash — a sudden idea that occurred to him "

30. He warmed to his conception of himself.— He became more animated as he realized that his words might just as well be applied to himself.

31. And they won't even let me help.— While telling the story Pat Hobby comes to identify himself with the painter and slips into 1st person, using "me" instead of "him".

32. old Ames — a character from the film they are working

33. at two-fifty — 250 dollars

34. 'Don't oversell it' — (here) Don't overdo it, don't ask too much; to oversell — to overpraise, to make excessive claims; (Russ. перебарщивать, запрашивать)

35. to take the pressure off for a month — to make things easier for a month

36. Santa Anita — a park in Los Angeles, famous for its golf course, race-course (referred to in other stories as a place where people come to gamble)

37. I'm tied up (colloq.) — I'm engaged

38. The Tate Gallery — an art gallery, founded by Sir Henry Tate in 1897; contains the national collection of Brit­ish paintings of all periods, as well as modern foreign paintings and sculptures