Speech and composition

Ex 43 Answer the following questions, using the vocabulary of the lesson. Sum up your answers (orally, or in writing).

GETTING ABOUT TOWN IN A TAXI

1. When do people usually take a taxi? 2. Is it always easy to catch one? 3. Can you order a taxi by telephone? 4. How do you stop a taxi in the street? 5. Does the driver have to bring the taxi to the curb to take on a passenger or is he allowed to stop in the middle of the street? 6. In what way does a taxi look different from other cars? 7. What are its identification marks? (chessboard line).

WALKING ABOUT THE CITY AT NIGHT

1. Have you ever taken a walk in (about) the city at night? in the early hours of the morning? 2. When was it? 3. How does a city look by night? 4. What lights up the streets at night? 5. How do the houses look against the dark sky? 6. What makes the city look beautiful? 7. Why is the traffic less heavy at night than in the day? 8. Why is the air cleaner at night? 9. Why are the streets no longer noisy? 10. When are all the lights in the city put out?

YOU CAN NEVER BE TOO CAREFUL

1. Why must you be attentive when in the street? 2. Why must you be careful to cross the streets in definite places only? 3. Why aren't children allowed to cross the street by themselves? 4. Why must children and blind people be helped to cross the road? 5. Do you have to look first to the right or to the left when crossing the street? 6. Why do Englishmen have to look first to the right and then to the left? 7. What are underground passages for? 8. In what way have they made the work of drivers much easier?

Ex 44 Read and retell the following. Discuss the problem of race discrimination in the USA.

PLEDGER'S WAY HOME

Pledger gave part of his pay for a ticket to Chicago. Through the long night he lay half asleep, with his head against the arm of his seat, thinking how it would be when he stepped down from the train and Sarah came towards him along the platform. The cold of the winter night came through the windows. Pledger wrapped himself up in his khaki coat.

Towards morning the train stopped in an Indiana town. He woke up and got down to the platform, where he began to walk up and down. He felt cold. He walked fast across the street from the station for a cup of coffee. A few people were in the restaurant eating breakfast and Pledger felt the American smell of coffee and toast and bacon. Smiling with pleasure, he sat down at the counter and took the menu.

The counterman was standing over him, young, white and self-important. "What do you want in here, fellow?"

"Coffee and fried eggs," Pledger said calmly.

"We don't serve no coloured in here."

Pledger stared at the other attentively for a moment before he understood. He caught his breath. Getting up from the chair, Pledger lifted his brown hands in the air. Then he let them fall. He was making an effort to control himself. He saw the other people in the restaurant watching him with expressionless faces. The door closed behind him. He was no longer hungry and now he did not even feel angry. He crossed the street and walked down to the end of the train.

He felt empty and bitter and humiliated because of what had been done to him. For a moment he remembered that a Marshal of France had pinned to the flag of his regiment the Croix de Guerre;* he remembered the French girls who had kissed the Negro soldiers and cried over them, and the Mayor of New York standing with his hat in his hands. But now he was waking up; it seemed that the people who had been his friends had gone. He found himself alone in the winter daylight, staring across the snow-covered fields.

He got on the train and took his seat. He sat through the long hours as the train ran towards Chicago.

(After "The Great Midland" by A. Saxton)

Ex 45 Read the following, answer the questions and retell the passage in English.

РАСИЗМ КАК ОН ЕСТЬ

Я сел в поезд Вашингтон — Нью-Йорк. Мои соседи оживленно разговаривали о какой-то выставке. Один из них, по имени Фрэнк, ехал по делам в Нью-Йорк откуда-то с юга. Говорил он с ярко выраженным южным акцентом.

— Хороший художник, этот негр — продолжал Фрэнк, — и родом из нашего города. Мы пошли к президенту клуба Бейкеру и говорим: надо устроить выставку этого негра в нашем клубе. Бейкер отказался. В нашем клубе выставка чернокожего? Никогда! Мы говорим: времена переменились. Нет, говорит Бейкер, у меня есть принципы, которым я собираюсь оставаться верным до конца жизни. И вдруг, представьте, проходит неделя, и Бейкер говорит, что он много передумал за эти дни и что он был неправ. И вот с тем, чтобы показать, что мы не расисты, он решил устроить выставку этого негра. Весь город был удивлен поведением Бейкера. А он держится спокойно, всем говорит: приходите, картины хорошие.

Гости начали съезжаться к шести часам. У дверей Майк, такой высокий, седой негр. Набралось уже много народу. Тут подъезжает машина, и из нее выходит негр. Я-то сразу его узнал — художник. А Майк сделал шаг навстречу: «Вам куда, мистер?» Тот отвечает: «На выставку. Я художник, это моя выставка. Вот приглашение». Майк даже не посмотрел. «Прошу выйти, — говорит, — сюда цветных не пускают».

— Так и не пустили? — поразился его сосед.

— Ну, не знаете вы Бейкера. Как раз в этот момент он появляется и спрашивает: «Что тут у вас происходит?» Майк отвечает: «Простите, сэр, сейчас все будет в порядке», и начинает толкать художника к двери. «Постой, Майк, кто это?» спрашивает Бейкер. «Не знаю, сэр, говорит, что художник...» «Художник?! Так пропусти его, Майк, он же автор картин сегодняшней выставки».

Художник молча повернулся и ушел.

Как я потом узнал. Майку в тот день приказали особо — ни одного цветного не пускать.

Questions

1. Where was the author travelling? 2. What were his fellow passengers talking about? 3. Who did most of the talking? 4. How did the author know that Frank was a southerner? 5. What story was Frank telling his neighbour? 6. Why did the club members decide that it was time to arrange a Negro artist's show at their club? 7. What reputation did the club have? 8. Why did Baker, the club's president, refuse to allow such a show at first? 9. What principles was he talking about? 10. How did Baker explain to the club members why he had changed his mind about the show? What dictated Baker's decision to hold a one-man show of the black artist's works? 11. Why did Baker's change of heart seem strange to most of the townspeople? 12. When did guests start arriving at the club? 13. When did the artist arrive? 14. What happened when the artist approached the doorman? 15. Why did the doorman say that the artist had no right to enter? 16. What did the doorman say when the artist showed him the invitation card and explained why he had come? 17. At what exact moment did Baker make his appearance? 18. Why did the doorman start pushing the artist toward the door? 19. Why didn't the artist stay for the opening of his own show? 20. What special orders had the doorman received on that day? 21. The whole thing had been prearranged, hadn't it?

Ex 46 Act as interpreter. Sum up the dialogue.

A: Not long ago a congress of coloured and black people was held in the United States in Miami. The delegates concentrated on race discrimination, unemployment, social injustice and violation of human rights. Do citizens of the USSR of different races and nationalities enjoy equal rights?

В: Граждане СССР всех рас и национальностей равны перед законом. Это право гарантируется Конституцией СССР.

A: In America freedom and justice are not for everyone. A black person earned in 1980 only 57 per cent of a white. What about the Soviet Union? Do all the people get equal pay for equal work?

В: Равноправие граждан СССР обеспечивается во всех областях экономической, политической и культурной жизни.

A: What rights do Socialist Republics of the USSR have?

В: Все 15 Социалистических Республик имеют свою Конституцию, законодательные органы власти, имеют право на экономическое, социальное и культурное развитие и другие права, которые обеспечиваются Конституцией СССР.

A: I read once that V. I. Lenin said that one cannot live in society and be free from society. How do you understand this?

В: Это значит, что человек, живя в обществе, не только пользуется правами, но что он имеет и обязанности перед обществом.

A: I see. It means that without discipline and respect for public order, democracy and individual freedom are unthinkable.

В: Именно так. И, с другой стороны, нельзя говорить о свободе личности, если не будут обеспечены ее экономические, социальные и культурные права.

Ех 47 Use the following words and phrases in situations of your own.

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