Exercises

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

a)lavish, breathe, bathroom, balloon, false, extraordi­narily, wonder, profile, suspender, loose, ethereal, heroine, awful, irony, cushion, venison, twopenny, elegant, thigh(s), sausage(s), breath, rye-biscuit, pheasant, elephant, massage, stomach, ferrule, perambulator

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

1. If I get up I shall fall down.

2. If she gets up she will faint.

3. If I diet I shall lose weight.

4. If she stops attending functions she will grow slimmer.

5. If Henry sends the money I shall know it's all right.

1. I wonder if you diet.

2. I wonder if you do anything special for your figure.

3. I wonder if she has any stockings on.

4. I wonder what will happen if I get up.

5. I wonder if I can do it.

6. I wonder if he will send me the money.

1. I've got to go down to the post-office.

2. I've got to be logical.

3. She's got to diet.

4. I've got to attend a social function.

5. She's gut to starve if she wants to be slim.

1. I used to be as thin as you.

2. We used to eat locust beans during the war.

3. We used to make them last a long time.

4. She used to have a neat figure.

5. I used to try massage and special baths.

1. Excuse my speaking to you.

2. Excuse my interrupting you.

3. Excuse my coming so late.

4. Excuse my leaving so soon.

Exercise 111. Answer these questions as In the examples:

1. Do you like venison? I cant say I do.

2. Have you ever been to the seaside? I can't say / have.

1. Did you speak to him about your plans? I can't say ... . 2. Have you read this article? I can't say .... 3. Do you diet? I can't say .... 4. Does she know you? .... 5. Have you tried massage? ... 6. Does he like this special sort of cheese? ... .7.Are you free to-night? ... . 8. Is she good-looking? ... . 9. Are you fond of her? ....

Exercise IV. Add tail-questions (isn't it?, don't you?, didn't he?, etc.) to these sentences.

Note: A sentence beginning with / am usually has the tail aren't I; the one with used to — did.

1. The girl was unnaturally thin, ...? 2. Mrs. Victor is sick of food, ...? 3. I'm going to sit here and listen, ...? 4. During the war we used to eat locust beans, ...? 5. I'll have to change everything when I get home, ...? 6. I'm awfully hot, ...? 7. She looks as if she were starving, ...? 8. He likes fish, ...? 9. I am very late, ...?

Exercise V. Replace the Italicized parts of the sentences -by words dnd word-groups from the text:

1. She must stop eating altogether. 2. She must put an end to it at once, before Victor became the director of any more companies. 3. Mrs. Victor was disgusted at the sight of the bread and buns. 4. Mrs. Victor saw that the stockings were mended (darned). Stockings meant she wore some sort of belt. 5. She had a wish to cry. 6. Hers was a figure you could see in advertisements. 7. Mrs. Victor, not knowing how to con­tinue the conversation, smiled. 8. Mrs. Victor was obliged to the present at dinners, functions, etc. 9. The only thing the girl could think of was her suspender belt. 10. "I've tried mas­sage, I've tried everything. It costs me a lot of money." 11. In spite of all that people say starvation must be the oldest form of getting thinner in the world. 12. "I know my husband won't like it, but / can do nothing about it."

Exercise VI. Find in the text equivalents for the following and use (hem in sentences of your own:

а) голодать; голод (голодание); худеть (терять в весе); худой; худоба; тонкий (стройный); толстый; костлявые лодыжки; придерживаться диеты; присутствовать на обе­дах (приемах); ее тошнило от пищи

б) крошить хлеб; булочка; бульон; бананы; шкурка от бекона; цыпленок; утка; быть годным для еды; продлить удовольствие от еды (банана и т. д.) на час; желудок

в) перестать есть что бы то ни было; положить конеп (чему-либо); схватить (выхватить); вздрогнуть (испуга­ться); это стоит мне массу денег; ничего не могу поделать; не выношу (не переношу); это действует мне на нервы; покладистая; нервы взвинчены; приходить в отчаяние; это меня изнуряет; я вся покрыта потом; переодеться с головы до ног

Exercise VII. Ask each other questions about the text.

Exercise VIII. Construct 6 tail-questions that are not true to fact and ask the students to correct them, using words and phrases from the text, e.g.

1. "Mrs. Victor thought she must eat as much as she could, didn't she?" —"Oh, no she didn't. She thought she must starve herself, cut out everything."

1. "Mrs. Victor did not feel like weeping when she looked at her own thighs, did she?" — "Oh, yes, she did. They looked like two vast sausages, she couldn't bear it."

Exercise IX. Pick out sentences from the text that will answer the following questions:

1. Where did Mrs. Victor weigh herself? 2. What was her weight? 3. Why did she sit on one of the public seats? 4. What did she notice when she looked to see if the young woman had any stockings on? 5. What did the girl think of her suspender belt? Why had she had to alter the hooks?

Exercise X. Use words and expressions from the text In answering the following questions:

1. Why did Mrs. Victor feel like weeping? 2. What was her husband's social standing and what sort of life was she obliged to live? 3. What did the young woman in the story look like? What made Mrs. Victor think she dieted? 4. What was the girl thinking about? 5. What did she remember doing long ago? 6. What did Mrs. Victor say she had done to lose weight? 7. Why did the girl want to go to the post office? 8. Why was Mrs. Victor ignorant of the state the girl was in?

Exercise XI. Imagine that you are a) Mrs. Victor, b) the girl. Go to the front of the class and answer the questions the students will ask you.

Exercise XII. I) Retell the episode with the bun using the following words and phrases:

small child; sugar-shining bun; in one piece; on the edge of the lake; to stand on tip-toe; to regain; water-soaked bun; to swoop down (on); to snatch away; to startle to tears; can't stand children crying; to get on one's nerves; my nerves are on edge; to hold one's breath; to go crimson (purple); to snatch up (from); perambulator; to move off; screams; to die away