The Umbrella man. Dip in the pool. The Butler. The Hitchhiker. My Lady Love, My Dove, страница 31

1. Compare what we know about the two men in Mrs. Bixby’s life.

2. Do you think Mr. Bixby knows about his wife’s relationship with the Colonel? If so, when and how do you think he found it out?

3. Mrs. Bixby’s plan for keeping the mink coat doesn’t work. What would you have done in her position? Can you think of a better plan?

4. What do you think Mrs. Bixby will do, now that she knows her husband is unfaithful to her?

5. What do you think are the Colonel’s personal reasons for not seeing Mrs. Bixby any more?

Ideas for comparison:

1. George Peregrine and Mrs. Bixby are regularly unfaithful. Why do you think they feel this is normal for them but not for their partner, and why do they both assume that their partner could not possibly be unfaithful?

2. Do you feel sympathy for George Peregrine and Mrs. Bixby, or do you think they deserve what happens to them in the end?

They Gave Her a Rise

Pre-reading task:

Before reading the story try to predict what it might be about.

Reading:

Read the story carefully and try to understand it in detail. Mind the notes to the text.

Vocabulary focus:

1. Look up and learn the following words.

wharves                                      almighty

crutches                                      ammunition

to board                                      to rattle

waterfront                                   joker

whistle                                        to volunteer

treat                                             teapot

window                                       ghost

to pray                                         to scrub

crockery                                      to avoid

2. Find in the text the words which mean:

1) dry powder made of extremely small grains of waste matter;

2) a building or group of buildings where goods are made, esp. in great quantities by machines;

3) a building for public Christian worship;

4) a soft quite solid substance which shakes when it is moved;

5) something unpleasant or damaging, that happens unexpectedly or by chance;

6) a feeling of deep moral discomfort or loss of self respect caused by consciousness of guilt, immoral behaviour, inability, or failure;

7) to take part in a continuing quarrel, esp. over smth. unimportant.

3. There are a number of examples of ungrammatical speech in this story. Rewrite the following in correct grammatical form.

You sort of wished she had’ve been (83)

I don’t want to see nobody no more (84)

I know I done wrong (84)

I shouldn’t ought to have made (84)

I won’t never do another wrong thing (84)

I thought you was dead (85)

Anyone would think we was millionaires (86)

4. Can you explain what these idiomatic expressions mean?

She was quite a good sort (83)

Her hair’d come all unput (83)

A nice kid (84)

Mrs. Bowman was as good as a widow (84)

It was tough (84)

I felt like nothing on earth (85)

5. Give Russian equivalents of the following expressions. Make up your own sentences using the following expressions.

To make ends meet; the news came pretty quick; to blow to smithereens; to break down; to break the news; to look out; to be good to smb.; to have a spark of religion; to be a jelly; to shove off; to kid oneself into believing; to go properly dippy; to be spare; to put up with.

Reading Comprehension:

1. Choose the correct answer according to the story.

1) Sally Bowman was working out at the ______.

a) leather factory

b) ammunition factory

c) chemical plant

2) When the explosion at the factory happened Mrs. Bowman and Mr. Doran were ______.

a) in the kitchen

b) down at the waterfront

c) in the dining room

3) Sally was a nice kid and she was only ______.

a) 19

b) 18

c) 17

4) When the joker drove Sally home she was ______.

a) very energetic and in a good mood

b) just a jelly

c) speechless

5) Mrs. Bowman roused on to Mr. Doran for ______.

a) putting too much milk in her tea

b) putting too many slices of lemon in her tea