Agatha Christie

SPORT

I. Starting Points

1) Do you go in for sports? If so, what kind of sport is closer to you? Are you an amateur or a professional?

2) Do you follow any sports events (watch them on TV, online, go to stadiums, etc.)? How actively were you following Euro 2012 in Kiev? Discuss the results of the football championship, your impressions of the matches, the behavior of the fans, etc.

3) The names of which world-known sportsmen/sportswomen are familiar to you? Experts say that sportsmen are becoming more popular than singers or movie stars? Do you agree?

4) Check the initial level of your topical vocabulary: write the word SPORT vertically and think of as many topic-related words on each letter as you can.

E.g. S occer, _______________________________________________________

P lay, _________________________________________________________

O lympiad, _____________________________________________________

R ugby, _______________________________________________________

T ennis, _______________________________________________________

IISpeech Patterns

1. There were no eager crowds to groan with dismay.

a) Did the ball fly down the fairway straight and true, to land within an easy mashie shot of the fourteenth green? (The Adverbial Modifier of attending circumstances expressed by the Infinitive).

b) There’s nothing to be done for him, I suppose? (The Infinitive is a part of the Subjective Infinitive Construction).

c) He was the first scientist to discover and to develop this theory. (Homogeneous Attributes expressed by infinitives).

d) She glanced at the mirror to check her hairdo. (The Adverbial Modifier of Purpose expressed by the Infinitive).

2. He had some difficulty in finding it, but ran it to earth at last.

a) She had some difficulty in translating the article. (The Attribute /the Object expressed by the Gerund).

b) He always finds pleasure in travelling and seeing new countries and places. (Homogeneous Attributes / Objects expressed by gerunds).

c) I see no reason in going there so late.

d) We got an opportunity of attending [1] a couple of his lectures.

3. It was a man of about forty, and he was still breathing, though unconscious.

a) Tired though happy, we reached home late at night (Detached Adverbial Modifier).

b) She had lived with her husband twenty-four years, though unhappy, and they had two children.

c) We spent the whole day at the seaside, though windy.

d) She lay in bed smiling at the visitors and seemed getting better, though pale.

4. The pallor of approaching death couldn’t disguise the deep tan of the skin.

a) The nervous beginning of her speech couldn’t spoil the general impression of the presentation. (The Modal Verb with the Non-Perfect Infinitive; the meaning of the absence of possibility with a feeling of admiration).

b) Her dress couldn’t be smarter and more suitable than that night; it was just perfect.

c) The child is so preoccupied with[2] the new toy – he couldn’t behave [3] better than now.

d) He couldn’t ever play the piano better than at that moment.

Exercises

1. Paraphrase the following sentences using the patterns:

1. He was crossing the road and it happened so that he was run over by a fast car (Pattern. 1). 2. They turned on the TV because the match was about to start and they were going to watch it (Pattern. 1). 3. It is difficult for me to run such a long distance; I have to train a bit (Pattern. 2). 4. Is it possible for us to join you right at the stadium (Pattern. 2)? 5. The skater I was shouting for was the first one to reach the finish but he seemed very exhausted (Pattern. 3). 6. After the accident the man got to hospital and was alive but very weak (Pattern. 3). 7. It was impossible for her to look better and prettier then (Pattern. 4). 8. Though he looked tired he introduced his project wonderfully; it was impossible to cope better (Pattern. 4).

2. Complete the following sentences using the patterns:

1. The ball flew high ________________. 2. The man opened the morning paper to ________________. 3. She got an idea of ________________. 4. Marsha says she has some difficulty in ________________. 5. Let’s use this fine opportunity of ________________. 6. The book appeared very involving, ________________. 7. The match happened immensely interesting, ________________. 8. The expensiveness of the tickets couldn’t ________________. 9. The motor car race couldn’t ________________. 10. The late beginning of the match ________________.

Make up 2 sentences of your own on each pattern.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Translate into English using the patterns:

1. Він взяв участь в змаганні і так сталося, що переміг. 2. Діти побігли до футбольного поля подивитися, як грають їх батьки, та по вболівати за них. 3. Всі підтримали думку разом подивитися боксерський бій у спорт-барі. 4. Чому тобі важко перекладати статті про спорт? 5. Щоб уникнути труднощів у виконанні цих вправ, треба постійно тренуватися. 6. Атлет успішно завершив змагання, хоча й виглядав (був) знесилений. 7. Ці вправи, хоча й важкі, проте надзвичайно корисні для м'язів спини. 8. Капітан нашої баскетбольної команди отримав травму, проте це не могло завадити студентам нашого інституту стати переможцями регіональних змагань. 9. Вони ніколи б не зіграли краще, ніж того дня. 10. Поразка їх команди все одно не могла змусити фанатів не підтримувати своїх улюблених гравців.

III. Text

Agatha Christie

Often billed as “The Queen of Crime” Agatha Christie was one of the most creative writers of the 20th-century. She was born in Torquay on 15 September 1890, the daughter of Frederick and Clarissa Miller; she was christened Agatha Mary Clarissa. Like many children of the times, her early education took place at home and at the age of 16 she was sent to a school in Paris to complete her education. Amongst other subjects, she studied singing and the piano. She had always enjoyed writing, from an early age her mother had encouraged her in the use of her extraordinary vivid imagination. At the age of 24, Agatha married Archibald Christie, an aviator in the Royal Flying Corps. Five years later in 1919, a daughter Rosalind was born and nine years later, in 1928 the couple were divorced. By this time Agatha had become a prolific writer of murder, mystery and suspense. Her first novel “The Mysterious Affair at Styles” was published in 1920.

Agatha Christie married for the second time and in 1938 the family moved to Greenway House, a handsome residence on the River Dart in the West Country. “Sleeping Murder” was written around the Imperial Hotel in Torquay and she used her own home to great advantage in the pages of “Dead Man’s Folly”. The great, white Georgian house with camellia clad grounds, picturesque boathouse, on the banks of the River Dart, is quite mystical with timelessness, superbly suited to the “dapper” Hercule Poirot, delightful Belgian detective the author introduced to us in her first book. Miss Marple first appeared in 1930 in Murder in the Vicarage. Agatha Christie’s second husband was an archaeologist and it is thought she drew her inspiration for “Murder on the Nile” and “Murder on the Orient Express” from her experiences whilst travelling with him.

In her lifetime, she wrote 66 detective stories. Seventeen featured Miss Marple, over 40 featured Hercule Poirot. Agatha also wrote plays. The Mousetrap ran in London for over 30 years and she wrote six other novels under the name of Mary Westmacott. Over two billion copies of her books have been sold and her work has been translated into more languages than Shakespeare’s. Charming and delightful, she was a lady who shunned publicity and often exclaimed at the fuss her presence sometimes caused, once remarking – “after I have been dead ten years, it will be as though no one has ever heard of me” – Agatha Christie would have been amazed at how far and wide her fame had spread and that her work was featured on the silver screen and television.

Agatha Christie was invested as a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 1971. She died on 12 January, 1976.

THE ACCIDENT

(From “Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?” by A. Christie)

Bobby Jones teed up his ball, gave a short preliminary waggle, took the club back slowly, then brought it down and through with the rapidity of lightning.

Did the ball fly down the fairway straight and true, rising as it went and soaring over the bunker to land within an easy mashie shot of the fourteenth green?

No, it did not. Badly topped, it scudded along the ground and embedded itself firmly in the bunker!

There were no eager crowds to groan with dismay. The solitary witness of the shot manifested no surprise. And that is easily explained - for it was not the American-boom master of the game who had played the shot, but merely the fourth son of the Vicar of Marchboh – a small seaside town on the coast of Wales.

Bobby uttered a decidedly profane ejaculation.

He was an amiable-looking young man of about eight and twenty. His best friend could not have said that he was handsome, but his face was an eminently likeable one, and his eyes had the honest brown friendliness of a dog’s.

“I get worse every day,” – he muttered dejectedly.

“You press,” – said his companion.

Dr. Thomas was a middle-aged man with grey hair and a red cheerful face. He himself never took a full swing. He played short straight shots down the middle, and usually beat more brilliant but more erratic players.

Bobby attacked his ball fiercely with a niblick. The third time was successful. The ball lay a short distance from the green which Dr. Thomas had reached with two creditable iron shots.

“Your hole,” – said Bobby.

They proceeded to the next tee.

The doctor drove first - a nice straight shot, but with no great distance about it.

Bobby sighed, teed his ball, re-teed it, waggled his club a long time, took back stiffly, shut his eyes, raised his head, depressed his right shoulder, did everything he ought not to have done and hit a screamer down the middle of the course.

He drew a deep breath of satisfaction. The well-known golfer’s gloom passed from his eloquent face to be succeeded by the equally well-known golfer’s exultation.

“I know now what I’ve been doing,” – said Bobby, quite untruthfully.

A perfect iron shot, a little chip with a mashie and Bobby lay dead. He achieved a birdie four and Dr. Thomas was reduced to one up.

Full of confidence, Bobby stepped on to the sixteenth tee.

He again did everything he should not have done, and this time no miracle occurred. A terrific, a magnificent, an almost superhuman slice happened! The ball went round at right angles.

“If that had been straight - whew!” – said Dr. Thomas.

“Hell,” said Bobby bitterly. “Hullo, I thought I heard a shout! Hope the ball didn’t hit anyone.” He peered out to the right. It was a difficult light. The sun was on the point of setting, and, looking straight into it, it was hard to see anything distinctly. Also there was a slight mist rising from the sea. The edge of the cliff was a few hundred yards away.

“The footpath runs along there,” said Bobby. “But the ball can’t possibly have travelled as far as that. All the same, I did think I heard a cry. Did you?” But the doctor had heard nothing.

Bobby went after his ball. He had some difficulty in finding it, but ran it to earth at last. It was practically unplayable embedded in a furze bush. He had a couple of hacks at it, then picked it up and called out to his companion that he gave up the hole.

The doctor came over towards him since the next tee was right on the edge of the cliff. The seventeenth was Bobby’s particular bugbear. At it you had to drive over a chasm. The distance was not actually so great, but the attraction of the depths below was overpowering.

They had crossed the footpath which now ran inland to their left, skirting the very edge of the cliff.

The doctor took an iron and just landed on the other side.

Bobby took a deep breath and drove. The ball scudded forward and disappeared over the lip of the abyss.

“Every single dashed time,” – said Bobby bitterly, “I do the same dashed idiotic thing.” He skirted the chasm, peering over. Far below the sea sparkled, but not every ball was lost in its depths. The drop was sheer at the top, but below it shelved gradually.

Bobby walked slowly along. There was, he knew, one place where one could scramble down fairly easily. Caddies did so, hurling themselves over the edge and reappearing triumphant and panting with the missing ball.

Suddenly Bobby stiffened and called to his companion.

“I say, doctor, come here. What do you make of that?” Some forty feet below was a dark heap of something that looked like old clothes.

The doctor caught his breath.

“By Jove,” – he said. “Somebody’s fallen over the cliff. We must get down to him.” Side by side the two men scrambled down the rock, the more athletic Bobby helping the other. At last they reached the ominous dark bundle. It was a man of about forty, and he was still breathing, though unconscious.

The doctor examined him, touching his limbs, feeling his pulse, drawing down the lids of his eyes. He knelt down beside him and completed his examination. Then he looked up at Bobby, who was standing there feeling rather sick, and slowly shook his head.

“Nothing to be done,” – he said. “His number’s up, poor fellow. His back’s broken. Well, well. I suppose he wasn’t familiar with the path, and when the mist came up he walked over the edge. I’ve told the council more than once there ought to be a railing just here.” He stood up again.

“I’ll go off and get help,” – he said. “Make arrangements to have the body got up. It'll be dark before we know where we are.”

“Will you stay here?” Bobby nodded.

“There’s nothing to be done for him, I suppose?” – he asked. The doctor shook his head.

“Nothing. It won’t be long - the pulse is weakening fast. He’ll last another twenty minutes at most. Just possible he may recover consciousness before the end; but very likely he won’t.”

“Still – Rather,” – said Bobby quickly. “I’ll stay. You get along. If he does come to, there’s no drug or anything” -he hesitated.

The doctor shook his head.

“They’ll be no pain,” – he said. “No pain at all.” Turning away, he began rapidly to climb up the cliff again.

Bobby watched him till he disappeared over the top with a wave of his hand.

Bobby moved a step or two along the narrow ledge, sat down on a projection in the rock and lit a cigarette. The business had shaken him. Up to now he had never come in contact with illness or death.

What rotten luck there was in the world! A swirl of mist on a fine evening, a false step - and life came to an end. Fine healthy-looking fellow too – probably never known a day’s illness in his life. The pallor of approaching death couldn’t disguise the deep tan of the skin. A man who had lived an out-of-door life – abroad, perhaps. Bobby studied him more closely – the crisp curling chestnut hair just touched with grey at the temples, the big nose, the strong jaw, the white teeth just showing through the parted lips. Then the broad shoulders and the fine sinewy hands. The legs were twisted at a curious angle.

Bobby shuddered and brought his eyes up again to the face. An attractive face, humorous, determined, resourceful. The eyes, he thought, were probably blue. And just as he reached that point in his thoughts, the eyes suddenly opened.

They were blue – a clear deep blue. They looked straight at Bobby. There was nothing uncertain or hazy about them. They seemed completely conscious. They were watchful and at the same time they seemed to be asking a question.

Bobby got up quickly and came towards the man. Before he got there, the other spoke. His voice was not weak – it came out clear and resonant.

“Why didn’t they ask Evans?” – he said.

And then a queer little shudder passed over him, the eyelids dropped, the jaw fell.

The man was dead.

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