Clean up your room.

Part I. Personal profiles

Introductory text.

Home.

George Meadows, the master of a prosperous farm, was then a man of fifty, and his wife was a year or two younger. Their three daughters were lovely and their two sons were handsome and strong. They were merry, industrious and kindly. They were happy and deserved their happiness. But the real master of the house was not George, it was his mother. She was about 70, tall, with grey hair and though her face was wrinkled, her eyes were dark, bright and shrewd.

I knew the story of George’s mother and his uncle, whose name was also George. About fifty years ago uncle George and his younger brother Tom had both courted Mrs. Meadows when she was Emily Green. George was a good-looking fellow, but not so steady as his brother, that’s why Emily chose Tom. George had gone away to sea for twenty years. Now and then he sent them presents. Then there was no news of him. When Tom died Mrs. Meadows wrote George about it but they never got an answer and decided that he must be dead…

Some days ago to their greatest surprise they got a letter, which informed them that George Meadows, who was ill and felt that he had not much longer to live wanted to see the house in which he was born. I was invited to come and see him.

It goes without saying I accepted the invitation. I found the whole family in the kitchen. I was amused to see that Mrs. Meadows wore her best silk dress. I was introduced to the old captain. He was very thin and his skin hung on his bones like an old suit that was too large for him. He had lost nearly all his teeth. It was strange to see those two old people and to think that half a century ago he had loved her and she was in love with another.

“Have you ever been married, Captain Meadows?” I asked. – “Not me,” he said and added: “I said I would never marry anyone but you, Emily, and I never have”. There was some satisfaction in his voice.

Comprehension questions.

1. How old was George Meadows? 2. Was his wife older or younger than he? 3. How many children did they have? 4. What were his daughters like? 5. What were his sons like? 6. Why did they deserve to be happy? 7. Who was the real master of the house? 8. How old was George’s mother? 9. What was the name of George’s uncle? 10. Who had courted Mrs. Meadows when she was Emily Green? 11. Whom did Emily marry? 12. Why did Emily marry Tom not George? 13. What did George, Tom’s brother, do? 14. Why did George go to sea? 15. What did a letter inform them of? 16. Why did George decide to return? 17. Why had Captain Meadows never married anyone?

2. Find in the text English equivalents to the following:

1) хозяин фермы; 2) пятидесятилетний мужчина; 3) дочери очаровательные; 4) сыновья красивые и сильные; 5) они заслужили свое счастье; 6) ей было около 70; 7) оба ухаживали за Мисс Грин; 8) она выбрала Тома; 9) отправился в море (стал моряком); 10) не было никаких известий; 11) дом, где он родился; 12) немного осталось жить; 13) само собой разумеется; 14) принял приглашение; 15) был женат; 16) меня представили старому капитану.

Topical vocabulary

Name

1. name (first name, Christian name) 2. patronymic (middle name) 3. surname (second name, family name, last name)

4. nickname 5. to call 6. to call smb. after

Age

3. to be born 4. birthday 5. to be sixteen years old 6. to be a sixteen-year-old boy 7. nearly sixteen 8. about twenty 9. under twelve 10. over thirty

11. teenager 12. middle aged person 13. an elderly lady / man 14. to be of the same age 15. five years older / younger than 16. to look older / younger than 17. to die 18. to be of age (to be under age)

Origin, Nationality

1. birthplace 2. countryman

3. native language

Language

1. to be good at languages 2. to speak a language well (fluently)

3. to speak poor English 4. to speak broken German

Family

1. husband / wife 2. mother / father-in-law 3. brother / sister-in-law 4. daughter / son-in-law 5. to adopt

6. to bring up 7. a widow / widower 8. an orphan 9. to be single

Relations

1. to be related to smb. 2. on one’s mother’s / father’s side 3. relative 4. distant relative 5. parents 6. stepmother 7. ancestors 8. grandparents 9. grandmother, grandfather 10. grandchildren 11. grandson, granddaughter 12. aunt

13. uncle 14. cousin 15. nephew 16. niece 17. baby 18. kid 19. a grown up son / daughter 20. twins 21. to take after 22. to resemble 23. to have a strong resemblance to 24. to inherit smth.

Marriage

1. to date smb. (to go out with smb.) 2. to make a date 3. to fall in love 4. to propose to smb. 5. to be engaged to smb. 6. engagement

7. to marry smb. 8. to be married to, to get married to 9. marriage 10. wedding 11. mate 12. to divorce (to get a divorce)

Occupation, profession

8. profession (trade, job, occupation) 9. accountant 10. nurse 11. hairdresser 12. bookkeeper 13. cashier 14. computer programmer

15. cook 16. dentist 17. doctor 18. electrician 19. engineer 20. clerk 21. interpreter 22. librarian

23. manager 24. plumber 25. salesperson 26. secretary 27. tailor 28. typist 29. waiter

Appearance and traits of character.

1. good-looking 2. handsome 3. beautiful 4. charming 5. attractive 6. lovely 7. ugly 8. unpleasant 9. pretty 10. smart

11. excellent 12. splendid 13. of medium height 14. slim 15. plump 16. hard-working 17. quiet 18. calm 19. frank 20. kind-hearted

21. unsociable 22. cheerful 23. honest 24. reliable 25. patient 26. talkative 27. brave 28. obstinate 29. lazy 30. naughty

Exercises

Match the words and phrases in column A with those in column B.

A a. Christian name b. teenager c. to look one’s age d. to come from e. native language f. to be good at languages g. nickname h. to be of age i. to speak broken language j. to bring up children k. a widower l. an old maid / spinster m. stepmother n. ancestors o. to call smb. after p. half-brother q. maiden name

B 1. прозвище 2. назвать чьим-либо именем 3. достичь совершеннолетия 4. родом из 5. говорить на ломанном английском 6. вдовец 7. мачеха 8. предки 9. сводный брат 10. воспитать детей 11. хорошо владеть иностранным языком 12. выглядеть не старше своих лет 13. подросток 14. имя 15. девичье имя 16. родной язык 17. старая дева

2. Give words or phrases for the following definitions:

3. a woman whose husband died;

4. a woman, who has never been married;

5. a second wife of one’s father;

6. a child of an earlier marriage of one’s stepfather or stepmother;

7. to take a child into one’s family (as a relation);

8. to educate, to raise children;

9. to put an end to a marriage by law;

10. your father’s parents.

Choose the word or words which best complete the sentences.

12. His figure was well preserved though… 13. We were born … 14. Wislow was not yet sixty but … 15. David judged him to be … 16. We were less than … 17. After her divorce she changed … 18. She is only … 19. She was pregnant … 20. He is divorced and says he is not … 21. People often confused them, they …

22. in the same generation. 23. about his own age. 24. her name back. 25. considering marriage again. 26. he was a man of sixty. 27. He was aging fast. 28. a year apart. 29. single 30. looked very much alike. 31. with her third child.

Fill in the right words from the topical vocabulary.

Ties of Relationship

1. Your brother’s and sister’s sons and daughters are your ….

2. Your mother’s and father’s brothers and sisters are your …. The children of your mother’s and father’s brothers and sisters are your ….

3. Your mother’s and father’s parents are your … and the latter will refer to you as their ….

4. Someone’s second wife will speak of her husband’s children as her …, whereas the latter will speak of her as their …. Someone’s second husband will also refer to his wife’s children as his … while the latter will speak of him as their ….

Translate the sentences paying special attention to the italicized parts.

34. He was in his late eighties.

35. Elaine Kate was well in her twenties.

36. They were long past forty.

37. He didn’t look his age.

38. We were born in the same generation.

39. Roma was two years my senior.

40. He was seven years her junior.

41. I don’t have relations on my mother’s side.

42. He had a daughter by his first marriage.

43.Do you have a boy-friend?

44.They had a strong resemblance to each other.

Fill in the blanks with the corresponding words.

1. John is your second cousin. He is your … relative.

2. They all … me by my first name.

3. He is called Red, it’s his ….

4. He has the same name as his grandfather, he was … his grand father.

5. We call our baby “Ducky”, it is his ….

6. Are you … or just friends?

7. He is 13 years old, he is a ….

8. He is 17, he is not … yet.

9. He is 25 and his sister is 30. She is … than he.

10. He is 48, he is in his ….

11. That man is also from France, we are ….

12. He is Swedish, he … in Sweden.

13. She is from Germany, she speaks German, it’s her ….

14. Andrew’s parents don’t live together. They are ….

15. Frank has no parents. So he is an ….

16. Her … name was Hope. But after the marriage her name is Dickson.

17. He hasn’t got a family of his own, he is … so far.

18. Are you an … child in the family? – No, I’ve got an elder brother.

19. He … of age last year.

20. Children go to school at the … of six in our Republic.

Fill in prepositions and adverbs where necessary.

I. I’m distantly related … her.

II. We are distantly related … my father’s side.

III. He is not … age, he is 17.

IV. Thank you for the compliment, I’m well … my twenties.

V. I was born … the fifth … May … 1984.

VI. What country are you …?

VII. They have brought … 3 children.

VIII. Did Mrs. divorce … her husband?

IX. They say she took … her mother.

X. I made a date … her … 7 o’clock.

47. Explain the meaning of the following words and word combinations:

Begin with: It’s a person who …

It’s a period (condition) when …

It’s a place where …

To be separated, to be divorced, to remarry, to be related, a foreigner, a widowed woman, to be in one’s twenties, to be of the same age, to be of the opposite sex.

Translate into English.

1. Ему ещё нет 18 лет. Он станет совершеннолетним в феврале следующего года. 2. Моя фамилия Джексон. Моя девичья фамилия была Грей. Я замужем за Тедом Джексоном. 3. Это правда, что они развелись? – Не совсем. Но они не живут вместе. 4. Мы с мужем одного возраста, ном обоим по 30 лет. 5. У них большая, дружная семья. Они все хорошо ладят друг с другом. 6. У меня белорусское гражданство. Место рождения – г. Борисов Минской области. Дата рождения – 1982 г. 7. Откуда вы? – Я поляк, живу в Кракове. – А ваш друг? – Он из Польши тоже, но иммигрировал в Канаду несколько лет тому назад. Он хорошо говорит на английском и французском языках. 8. У меня есть маленькая племянница. Ей нет еще и года. А племянник уже подросток. Он ходит в шестой класс. 9. Это моя племянница со стороны брата. 10. Разрешите называть вас по имени, вы так молоды. 11. Почему ему дали такое прозвище? 12. Он мой дальний родственник со стороны отца. 13. Он на 10 лет старше меня. 14. Ему почти семнадцать, он может поехать в деревню один. 15. Он на 5 лет младше меня. 16. Через 4 года я достигну совершеннолетия. 17. Ему далеко за сорок. 18. Ему около 70, хотя он не выглядит на свои годы.

Compose dialogues for the following imaginary situations.

50. An old lady of your acquaintance will be eighty years old tomorrow. You discuss with your mother the age of the members of the old lady’s family.

51. Tell your friend about your little sister. She is such a nice kid…

52. Your sister’s engagement is announced. A friend calls to congratulate her.

53. You talk to a distant relative trying to find out in what relationship you stand to each other. The only way is to ask questions about all the relatives you know.

54. Your father tells you about his brother (sister) you’ve never seen. You want to know all the details of his (her) life in that distant city.

55. You talk with your grandmother (aunt) whom you have come to visit. You want to know how she met and married your grandfather (uncle).

56. Your elder brother (sister) describes to you his (her) bride’s (bridegroom’s) family. As he (she) is going to live with his (her) in-laws, you ask a lot of questions.

Topics for oral compositions.

1. Tell about your grandparents.

2. Do you have many distant relatives? Talk about them.

3. Do you have an elder brother or sister? Describe his / her family.

4. You have two aunts on your mother’s side. Tell about them.

5. What does your mother / father do? Tell about her / his occupation.

6. You like / don’t like when your distant relatives from the village come. Give your reasons.

Read and translate the text.

The Family.

There are many different views on family life. Some people could not do without the support and love of their families. Others say it is the source of most of our problems and anxieties. Whatever the truth is, the family is definitely a powerful symbol. Turn on the television or open a magazine and you will see advertisements featuring happy, balanced families. Politicians often try to win votes by standing for “family values”.

We all have some idea of what is meant by the word Family. Generally speaking, the family is a group of people related by blood or law, living together or associating with one another for a common purpose. That purpose is usually to provide shelter and food, and to bring up children. That’s why for most people the word “family” means a household consisting of a man, his wife and their children. We call this sort of family a “nuclear family” – the basic nuclear or centre of a possibly much wider collection of relations. We might think of the nuclear family as being one chapter in a book. It is quite readable and complete on its own, but it is only part of the whole book. The other chapter would be the “extended family”: the grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins; parents, brothers and sisters-in-law. The members of the much wider family who may live quite apart from each other, perhaps in different countries, getting together only on special occasions, such as for weddings or at Christmas.

In earlier times – and to some extent even up to the present day – a person’s family meant his “extended” family. The members of his family lived and worked close together, maybe even under the same roof – and were frequent visitors in each other homes. In times of trouble they would help each other, they would look after older members of the family, they would make their own entertainment, possibly teach their children a particular craft or trade and affection for others in the family. Many things have changed this traditional pattern, some people believe for the worse.

There are several reasons for this change. Better and faster transport, for instance, has meant that people can move to other places away from their families. Also, more women today go out to work rather than bringing up huge families.

The expectation of life is increasing for both men and women while the size of the average family is decreasing. This means that the proportion of old people in the community is growing year by year, while there are fewer young people free to look after them.

At one time elderly couples could live with or be cared for by one after another of their children in turn but increased mobility has changed this. When the families cannot care for their elderly relatives the responsibility may be taken by other people, or by the community as a whole in a number of ways.

Entitle each passage and give its main idea.

60. Read and translate the text “Friends and friendship”.

Friends and friendship.

We all need friends. Yet even in the highly populated areas, loneliness is still a sad feature of the lives of many. Friends play an important role in our life and although we may take the fact of friendship for granted, we often don’t clearly understand how friendships are formed. Every day we mix with hundreds of people, get on well with some of them and make friends with only a few. Some people have lots of friends, others are very reluctant to make new friends. There are people who are very easy to get on with, and there are people whose friendships never last very long.

In my opinion a real friend is a person whom you trust and respect, who is “a friend in need” and who never lets you down. There are no rules of how to make friends. Usually friendship between people grows when they have common interests and ambitions. A real friend should treat me with understanding, sympathy and compassion, exactly the way he wants to be treated by me.

In general I have a very wide circle of friends, most of whom are girls. But only two or three of them are really dear to me and hope I am to them too. My best friend is Victoria. We have known each other since we were first-formers. But our friendship really started when we got together at my friend’s place one day and talked about different things. I felt that she was a similar soul. We’ve been close friends since then.

Here I should say that Victoria is exceptionally pretty. She is about 180 cm tall with dark hair and blue eyes. She wears her hair long, sometimes she ties it in a knot. She has a straight nose and her pleasant smile makes her really attractive.

She is an energetic girl, good at sports, especially at volleyball and swimming. She is fond of painting and some of her pictures are really good. She lives not far from my place, so we spend a lot of time together after school and on weekends.

She never speaks badly of other people and finds more positive than negative features in every person. I admire her for that.

I can’t say she is a top pupil in her class but she is capable, intelligent and well-read. She is good at science, while I’ve always been better at humanities. She is going to enter the physics department of the Minsk pedagogical university. I hope she will do well at the examinations and make a good student afterwards.

Of course, we quarrel from time to time and fight over small things, but we make up our quarrels in no time. We can’t stay angry with each other for more than a day.

She is a hot-tempered person and at times she tends to act a little impulsively. She easily loses self-control when things don’t go well or the way she wants them to go. This is the feature which I don’t find attractive, but I know that there are bad things even in the best of us and I have to put up with it. In general she has a charming personality, she is sociable, frank and honest.

She is reliable and never lets you down. I can trust her as much as I do myself. She never fails to help or share your sorrows. These are the qualities I like about her most of all.

Answer the following questions.

1. Do you have many friends among your group-mates? 2. Where do you usually meet? 3. How often do you see each other? 4. What is your best friend good at? 5. What is your friend going to be? 6. Do you value the same qualities in boys and girls? 7. On what problems do you disagree with your friend? 8. What do you like to do together? 9. Does the work you do together or the way you spend your free time help better friendship? 10. What will you do if your friend tells you a lie or betrays you? 11. Have you got the same tastes in clothes, films, music? 12. How does your friend take you critical opinion of him (her)? 13. What is your parents’ attitude to your friends? 14. What things do you discuss with your friends that you don’t discuss with your parents? 15. What is true friendship in your opinion?

Part II. Working day

Introductory text.

Housework.

Mr. and Mrs. Turvey both hate housework. They are a very untidy couple who never put things away. When they go to bed, for example, they always leave their clothes in a mess on the floor. Their kitchen is a mess, too. Even though they have a dishwasher, they always leave the dirty dishes in the kitchen sink and only do the washing-up when there isn’t a clean plate to be found in the house. It is the same with their clothes. They never put them into the washing machine until there is nothing else left to wear.

The living room always looks as though a bomb has just gone off. There are things everywhere. There is thick dust on every piece of furniture and the carpet has not been cleaned for weeks. And the bathroom!

One day, when Mr. Turvey couldn’t find one of his shoes, and Mrs. Turvey couldn’t see her face in the bathroom mirror, they decided it was time to get the house cleaned. So they found Marie, a foreign student at a local language school, who needed some extra money.

Marie came to the house and worked all day long. She washed and dried all the clothes. Then she got out the iron. She ironed the clothes, folded them neatly and put them away. She swept all the dust off the floors with a large broom. She took a wet cloth and wiped the dust off every surface in the house and then polished the furniture until it was shining. She got out the vacuum cleaner and cleaned all the carpets. In the kitchen the floor was filthy. It was too dirty to wash with a mop, so Marie got on her hands and knees and scrubbed the dirt off with a scrubbing brush. Finally she made the bed and, when she had finished, the house looked spotless.

Mr. and Mrs. Turvey came home that evening. There was nothing on the floor. There was no dust on the furniture. The wood was shining and you could smell the polish. In their bedroom all their clothes were neat, clean and tidy. “So what do you think?” – Mrs. Turvey asked her husband.

“It looks nice and tidy,” he said, “but how are we ever going to find anything?”

Comprehension questions.

1. Who is a very untidy couple? 2. How do they always leave their clothes when they go to bed? 3. Where do they leave the dirty dishes? 4. When do they do the washing-up? 5. How does their living-room look? 6. Why did they decide one day that it was time to get the house cleaned? 7. Who came to their house? 8. What did she do with Mr. and Mrs. Turvey’s clothes? 9. What tools did Marie use to clean the house? 10. How did the house look when Marie had finished cleaning? 11. What happened in the evening?

32. Find in the text English equivalents to the following:

1) мыть посуду; 2) в беспорядке; 3) раковина; 4) стиральная машина; 5) посудомоечная машина; 6) нечего носить; 7) толстый слой пыли; 8) неделями; 9) достала утюг; 10) в зеркале; 11) аккуратно сложила; 12) большим веником; 13) мокрая тряпка; 14) грязный; 15) швабра; 16) пылесос; 17) щетка; 18) ни пылинки на мебели.

Topical vocabulary

General.

1. working day 2. week days 3. to work 4. to go to work 5. to leave for work 6. to take a bus

7. to go on foot 8. to study 9. to have lessons 10. the lessons start at 11. the lessons are over at 12. to have a rest

13. to have a break 14. to do homework 15. to borrow books from the library 16. to be in a hurry 17. it takes an hour to do smth.

Morning activities.

1. to wake up 2. to get up 3. to get out of bed 4. to dress 5. to put on

6. to take off 7. to wash 8. to shave 9. to clean one’s teeth 10. to do morning exercises

11. to comb/brush one’s hair 12. to take a shower/bath 13. to have breakfast/dinner 14. to do/make the bed 15. to leave home/the house

Around the house.

1. to run/keep the house 2. to do/tidy/clean the room 3. to keep the room tidy/clean 4. to sweep/vacuum the floor 5. to iron linen/shirts 6. to beat the dust out of sth. 7. to polish the floor

8. to do the laundry/the washing 9. to do/clear away the dishes 10. to wash up 11. to turn on/off 12. to switch on/off 13. to mend 14. to sew

15. to knit 16. to repair 17. to replace 18. to remove 19. to decorate 20. to fix

Household appliances.

I. vacuum-cleaner II. washing machine III. sewing machine

IV. microwave oven V. electric iron VI. ironing board

VII. knitting needles VIII. broom IX. brush

Tools.

a) hammer b) spade

c) scissors d) knife

e) nail f) screwdriver

In the garden.

1. to plant flowers 2. to weed flowerbeds 3. to mow lawns

4. to grow vegetables 5. to dig potatoes 6. to cultivate land

7. to fertilize land 8. to water flowers

Everyday services.

a) to do (make) smth. b) to have smth. done c) everyday services d) at the hairdresser’s / barber’s e) to cut the hair f) to do one’s hair g) to have one’s hair done/cut

h) at the tailor’s i) dry cleaner’s j) shoemaker’s k) laundry l) photographer’s m) to have one’s photo taken n) personal service establishments

Exercises

Translate the following sentences into Russian.

1. She spent the whole weekend working in the garden. 2. I need a rest from all this hard work. 3. He woke up with a start when the alarm-clock rang. 4. He put on his glasses to read the letter. 5. The shirt needs washing. 6. I’ve decided to shave off my beard. 7. I only work on weekdays, not at weekends. 8. We go to work by train. 9. Wash these marks of the wall! 10. They always clean their teeth with a toothbrush and toothpaste twice a day. 11. When they were schoolgirls they learnt to sew at school. 12. We’ll have to get a new car – the gear box (коробка передач) can’t be repaired. 13. He removed the mud from his shoes. 14. Cook the meat in the microwave oven. 15. You make mistakes if you do things in a hurry. 16. He helped his sister to make the bed. 17. Our washing machine has come out of order, it needs repairing. 18. My wife hates ironing trousers so I iron my trousers myself. 19. Let’s do the laundry I have nothing to wear. 20. She always waters flowers in the evening.

Answer the questions using the words below.

What do you use to

clean carpets? wash clothes? brush clothes? cut food? make clothes smooth?

clean your teeth? cut cloth? sweep the floor? sew? knit?

a brush, a vacuum-cleaner, a knife, knitting needles, toothpaste and a brush, thread and a needle (or sewing machine), scissors, a washing machine, a broom, an iron.

3. Think and say which of these things you could live without and which you couldn’t. Explain why.

a fridge an electric iron a washing machine

a sewing machine scissors a box of matches

Complete the sentences using your topical vocabulary.

1. Around the house we find the … The man who takes care about the garden is … Some of his jobs are … Flowers grown in the flowerbeds are … Flowers in the fields are …

gardener. wild flowers. planting flowers and growing vegetables, weeding the flowerbeds. cultivated flowers. garden.

b) When the clothes are dry they need … When the clothes are torn they need … The room is untidy. It needs … The floor is dirty. It needs … The tray is used for … The spade is used for …

carrying things on. mending. digging the garden. vacuuming. ironing. cleaning.

Match the columns.

1. to do 2. to make 3. to prepare 4. to cook 5. to have 6. to take

1. a shower, a bath, a walk 2. dinner, supper, tea, a lot of work to do 3. the bed, breakfast, coffee, mistake 4. homework, a meal, dinner 5. morning exercises, the laundry, cooking, ironing, sweeping, housework 6. meat, dinner

Ask your friend how long it takes him to do this or that work.

Model: – Does it take you long to make tea? / How long does it take you to make tea? – It takes me ten minutes to make tea.

to wash/dress, take a shower/bath, make the bed, to prepare breakfast, get to the University, get out of bed, to tidy up you room, to do the washing.

Translate the following sentences into English.

1. Она учится на врача. 2. Занятия в университете начинаются в 8.15 и заканчиваются, как правило, в 12.35. 3. Мы устали; давайте отдохнем. 4. Обычно она рано просыпается. 5. Снимайте пальто и проходите. 6. Джек порезался, когда брился. 7. Она сейчас принимает душ. 8. Когда ты собираешься убраться в комнате? 9. Мария никогда не ездила на автобусе, она всегда ходила на работу пешком. 10. Выключи телевизор, его все равно никто не смотрит. 11. Моя сестра встает в семь, а уходит из дома в восемь. 12. Она пошла в парикмахерскую делать прическу.

Read the text and translate it into Russian.

I must say that at present I find it hard to describe a working day that I might call typical. There’s hardly any variation in what I’m doing these days except learning topics or practising my grammar, so the best thing will be to describe my working day when I was still at school. We had a six-day working week. The time-table was very tough with 6 or 7 lessons every day and each lesson needed a lot of preparation for it. In my final year I took my learning very seriously. So I never missed a lesson and tried to do my best to be well-prepared for each of them.

My working day usually started like this. It may sound very unusual but I often got up as early as five o’clock in the morning. I found it more convenient and easy to do my homework at that time. Early morning was the most effective time for me. I could memorize things more quickly and easily than in the evening when I was usually exhausted after seven or eight lessons at school. Doing my homework in the morning usually took me about 3 hours. I had only half an hour to get myself ready and leave home. Luckily the lessons started at 8.30 instead of 8 as they do in most schools. Some days at school were more difficult, some were easier but every day they required concentration and attention. Most difficult for me were the lessons in Geography and Astronomy. Though I was fairly good at them, I found them somewhat boring.

Normally school lasted till 3 o’clock. We had a long lunch break but I never went to the school canteen. I got used to eating nothing till afternoon. Sometimes I stayed at school after classes either to play volleyball or to do some crafts. Our school president’s administration arranged several kinds of extra-class activities like concerts, debate clubs, sports competitions and picnics. Frankly speaking I wasn’t their active participant. I mainly did such things as painting and decorating.

Frequently I was back home later than 3 o’clock. I had dinner, took my dog for a walk and then sat down to doing my homework, learning languages in priority. After that I either watched TV, if there was something interesting on, or later in the evening did a bit of painting which is a sort of a hobby for me. It helped me to relax and at the same time to develop my artistic skill and imagination.

I went to bed at ten or even earlier than that as I usually got up early. That was the end of the day and then, another day, very similar to the previous one, started.

Of course at times there were other things to do like going shopping, doing sports and so on. Here I should say there were not many household chores that I did in my final year at school as my mother and my grandmother were very understanding and tried to protect me from spending my precious time on anything else but learning. And I didn’t mind that. Certainly there were things which I liked doing and those which I didn’t, and which I had to do without much enthusiasm. Unfortunately I had very little time for rest, i.e. either going out or meeting my friends. But I think working hard was the right thing to do.

That’s all I can say about my daily activities when I was a school-leaver.

Answer the following questions.

1. What things do you do most willingly / unwillingly? 2. What things about the house do your parents make you do? 3. How much time does your homework take? 4. What university activities do you take part in? 5. Do you play a musical instrument? 6. Do you like mental or physical work more? 7. Do you like doing the shopping? 8. What do you usually do on long dark evenings? 9. Do you think your working days are hard? 10. Which is the most difficult day at the University?

10. Read the text “Clean up your room” and say how the problem of cleaning up the room is solved in your family / in the dormitory you live.

Clean up your room.

You don’t really feel the generation gap in this country until a son or daughter comes home from college for Christmas.

This dialogue is probably taking place all over America this week.

‘Nancy, you’ve been home from school for three days now. Why don’t you clean up your room?’

‘We don’t have to clean up our room at college, mother.’

‘That’s very nice, and I’m happy you’re going to such a free-wheeling institution. But while you are in the house, your father and I would like you to clean up your room.’

‘What difference does it make? It’s my room.’

‘I know, dear, and it really doesn’t mean that much to me. But your father has a great fear of the plague. He said this morning if it’s going to start anywhere in this country, it’s going to start in your room.’

‘Mother, your people aren’t interested in anything that’s relevant. Do you realize how the major corporations are polluting our environment?’

‘Your father and I are very worried about it. But right now we are more concerned with the pollution in your bedroom. You haven’t made your bed since you came home.’

‘I never make it up at the dormitory.’

‘Of course you don’t, and I’m sure the time you save goes toward your education. But we still have these old-fashioned ideas about making beds in the morning and we can’t shake them. Since you’re home for such a short time, why don’t you do it to humor us?’

‘For heaven’s sake, mother, I’m grown up now. Why do you have to treat me like a child?’

‘We are not treating you like a child. But it’s very hard for us to realize you’re an adult when you throw all you clothes on the floor.’

‘I haven’t thrown all my clothes on the floor. Those are just the clothes I wore yesterday.’

‘Forgive me. I exaggerated. Well, how about the dirty dishes and empty soft-drink cans on your desk? Are you collecting them for a science project?’

‘Mother, you don’t understand us. Your people were brought up to have clean rooms. But our generation doesn’t care about things like that. It’s what you have in your head that counts.’

‘No one respects education more than your father and I do, particularly at the prices they’re charging. But we can’t see how living in squalor can improve your mind.’

‘That’s because of your priorities. You would rather have me make up my bed and pick up my clothes than become a free spirit who thinks for myself.’

‘We’re not trying to stifle your free spirit. It’s just that our Blue Cross has run out, and we have no protection in case anybody catches typhoid.’

‘All right I’ll clean up my room if it means that much to you. But I want you to know you’ve ruined my vacation.’

‘It was a calculated risk I had to take. Oh, by the way – I know this is a terrible thing to ask of you, but would you mind helping me to wash the dinner dishes?’

‘Wash dishes? Nobody washes dishes at school.’

‘Your father and I were afraid of that.’

11. Read and translate the text “Having Things Done”. Pay your attention to the underlined words. Give their Russian equivalents. Learn these words.

Having Things Done

Everywhere we have what we call multiple service establishments. There’re tailor shops, shoemaker’s, barber shops, dry cleaner’s, watch repair and all other service shops combined (in one). Service is generally good, and they’ll fix you up in no time. But sometimes it leaves much to be desired and they fall behind with orders. However such service establishments are a good arrangement for a busy man, especially since all the little things (minor service) are done while-you-wait.

The tailor shop will take care of major and minor alternations and repairs: put on patches (patch jackets and trousers), mend rips and tears, press creased clothing, and even sew on buttons. They will do everything in the most expert and skillful way. They will lengthen or shorten the sleeves. Here you can also order a suit or a dress to be made for you. Tailored clothes are always unique and that’s why they are always very popular.

At these service establishments they also have cleaner’s shop (cleaning service). If you want any stains to be removed, dry cleaners will take care of them. With the help of new chemicals they can remove even the most stubborn stains without leaving any traces.

One of the services available is the photographer’s. You can have your photo taken there and if it’s urgent they’ll do it in a few hours. They will also develop and print snapshots taken by amateur photographers.

Then you’ll find a watchmaker at your service. He will set your watch, if it’s slow or fast, replace a glass, change a battery, or clean and polish your watch, if it needs it. The watchmakers make a good job of the watches they handle and when a watch comes out of the watchmaker’s hands it’ll keep perfect time.

A busy spot is the shoemaker’s. They stitch burst seams, heel and tap shoes and boots and also clean and polish them. Usually they don’t charge much for their services. Prices are quite reasonable.

Another service we need quite often is the barber’s for men and the hairdresser’s for women. At the barber’s you can get a shave, haircut and shampoo. The services you could expect to find at the hairdresser’s are: permanent wave, manicure, skin treatment with various creams. A hairdresser can colour and cut your hair and offer a new hairdo or hair set.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-24