Assignments
Comprehension Check
Find another example of word-replacement (grammatical substitution) that help avoid tautology in the text.
Write out sentences with attributive phrases in which the word is modified by a chain of post-positive attributes.
Find in the text the sentences that say:
My childhood was filled with fantasies.
This behavior is acceptable as long as we don’t continue to believe fables as adults in our day-to-day lives.
Many of us take the myths for the truth and soon find ours deceived and disappointed.
Cinematic art was the fertile soil upon which the seeds of] fantasy were sewn.
4. Find in the text the English equivalents of the following sentences:
Это не представляет опасности до тех пор, пока...
Мир моих фантазий опирался на радиопередачи, книги и кино по субботам.
Я вырос в Сан-Диего, штат Калифорния.
В детстве я много фантазировал. Я представлял, как было бы хорошо, если бы отцу не нужно было идти на войну. Я воображал, что материально мои родители жили лучше.
5. Translate into Russian.
You might say I had a mythical childhood.
All of them (books) were passports to faraway places and wonderful adventures.
My mom was good at making us seem rich.
This is of no real concern unless we carry forward and cling to the myths in the arena of real living.
...before we know it, we have been sold a bill of goods that leads us down a worthless, frustrating dead-end road.
Discussion
How does the author characterize his world as a child? What was it that kept his imagination alive and active?
How does he describe the financial situation of his family and the way they dealt with poverty?