Talking About Stories. Theoretical Preliminaries. The Plan for Rendering the Story. Some Helpful Questions for Further Text Analysis, страница 16

Oxymoron

1.  He was certain the whites could easily detect his adoring hatred of them

2.  Welcome to Reno, the biggest little town

3.  Parting is a sweet sorrow (Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet)

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VII. PATTERNS FOR PRACTICE

Text № 1.

Aim:  present a short summary of the story

Most important hour in a family’s day.

By Harriet Webster. (from reader’s Digest. June. 1995)

1.  Reading Exercise.

Read the article carefully making use of the vocabulary which is intended to aid your comprehension of the text.

Consult a dictionary for some other unfamiliar words.

(paragraph 1) to have hectic schedules – быть в цейтноте (о времени)

(prgh. 1)   to abandon – отказываться

(prgh. 2)   to erode – постепенно разрушаться

(prgh. 3)   demise – зд.: исчезновение, отказ от

(prgh. 4)   pandemonium of sibling skirmishes – шум сражений   между братьями                                                                                                                                    

(prgh. 4)   touchstone – критерий, подлинная ценность

(prgh. 4)   rehashing today – подведение итогов дня  

(prgh. 5)   to recapture – вернуть

(prgh. 5)   to revitalize – вдохнуть новую жизнь

(prgh. 8)   to dominate – доминировать, преобладать

(prgh. 8)   interrogation – допрос, опрос

(prgh. 11)   to ignore – игнорировать

(prgh. 11)   crucial – решающий

(prgh. 13)   ritual – ритуальный

(prgh. 13)   to imbue – вселять, вдохновлять

(prgh. 13)   to say grace – читать молитву

(prgh. 13)   blessing – молитва

(prgh. 14)   exodus – массовый уход, бегство

(prgh. 14)   contemplative – созерцательный, умозрительный

(prgh. 15)   to stimulate – побуждать, поощрять

(prgh. 16)   to encourage – воодушевлять, вселять надежду            

(prgh. 16)   to guard against – защищать, оберегать

(prgh. 17)   to wrestle – бороться, противостоять

(prgh. 18)   to bully – задираться

(prgh. 20)   to steer (the talk) – направить (беседу)

(prgh. 21)   frustrating – разочаровывающий

(prgh. 22)   to clam up – прекращать разговор, замолкать

(prgh. 25)   to sulk – дуться, быть сердитым

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Recapture that special time when you and your children gather to share today’s news and plan for tomorrow

1 Waiting on the sidelines for my son’s football practice to finish, I was getting anxious “I wish they‘d hurry,” I mumbled to a neighbour standing near by. “We have to get home for dinner.”

“Dinner?” she asked. “You mean a family dinner? You must be joking. We save that for holidays and special occasions.”

2 Unfortunately, this attitude is becoming increasingly common. Like many other families, my neighbour, her husband and children have hectic schedules and rarely find themselves together at dinner time. Yet, by abandoning this daily routine, they’re ignoring its importance.

3 If the traditional family is eroding – and many people think it is - one key reason is the demise of family dinner time. “In the past”, says columnist Ann Landers, “that’s where family members always connected. That’s where children learned most of their values. Sad to say, too many kids now come home to an empty house and find a note saying, “I won’t be home till later. There’s stuff in the fridge for supper”.

4 When my three sons where growing up, dinner separated the late-afternoon pandemonium of sibling skirmishes and after-school activities from homework and bedtime routines. Our dinner served as a touchstone,  symbolizing our importance to one another in good times and bad. Dinner was a time for slowing down, telling news, airing problems, rehashing today and planning for tomorrow.