IV. Questions and Assignments

1. Were is the scene laid?

2. Mention the characters taking part in the first scene.

3. Speak about your first impression of the flower girl.

4. What was the cause of the lady's anxiety when she heard Eliza calling her son by his name?

5. What caused the "general hubbub"?

6. Why was Eliza so frightened when she noticed the Note Taker write down her words?

7. How did the Note Taker and the military gentleman get to know each other?

8. Describe the episode with the taxi. Why did Eliza tell the driver to take her to Buckingham Palace?

9. Trace out on a map of London: a) Freddy's wanderings in search of a cab. b) Eliza's taxi drive.

10. Say what you have learnt about the characters of the play from Act I.

Eliza (the Flower Girl)

Her age, appearance, clothes; the language she speaks; the way she behaves ("her excessive sensibility"; the place she lives in.

Words to be used: to need washing badly; to be shaped to one's waist; to be much the worse for wear; to cry wildly; to talk low-spiritedly to oneself; to be preoccupied with one's wounded feelings; to hang loose; to be mended with; to be heaped with; to put in another penny.

Henry Higgins (the Note Taker):

His profession, his hobby; his statement on the role of pronunciation.

Colonel Pickering (the Gentleman):

His appearance; the place he comes from and the education he got as revealed by the Note Taker; his political and social status; his main occupation.

V. Comment on the meaning of the following passages:

"This is an age of upstarts. Men begin in Kentish Town with F 80 a year and end in Park Lane with a hundred thousand. They want to drop Kentish Town; but they give themselves away every time they open their mouths" (p. 19).

"You see this creature with her kerbstone English: the English that will keep her in the gutter to the end of her days". (p. 19)

VI. Translate into English.

Дождь лил как из ведра. Нарядные люди покинули Ковентгарденский Оперный театр. Все боялись промокнуть до нитки, а такси были заняты. Многие нашли убежище у входа в церковь, там и оказались м-с Эйнсфорд Хилл с ее взрослыми детьми: дочерью и сыном. Там же они встретили молоденькую цветочницу Элизу, которая зарабатывала себе на жизнь тем, что продавала цветы. Совершенно случайно она услышала разговор двух ученых. Один из них был известный фонетист м-р Хиггинс. Услышав как Элиза говорит, он сказал, что мог бы через три месяца выдать ее за герцогиню или, по крайней мере, за продавщицу.

VII. Act out an episode from Act I.

VIII. Give a summary of Act I.

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