A few years ago I met a lovely girl from Hungary: we fell in love, and got married. We decided to live in Hungary, so I had to learn Hungarian as quickly as possible. I started learning the basics

1. Learning a New Language.

A few years ago I met a lovely girl from Hungary: we fell in love, and got married. We decided to live in Hungary, so I had to learn Hungarian as quickly as possible. I started learning the basics of the language in England at a local Evening school with native speakers, but there was only one lesson a week for two years, which was not enough. So when we finally moved to Budapest, I could only speak basic Hungarian.

I began to work in Hungary as soon as I arrived, for a company that made television sets. I'm an engineer by profession. A funny accident happened to me on my first day at work, when the woman in the personnel department asked me to sit down and I couldn't understand her!

I was given a job in the technology department where I had a colleague, who could speak German. As I speak a little German, we were able to communicate. At first there was not really much for me to do there. So I just talked to my colleagues, and with the help of a Hungarian-English dictionary used the time to develop my Hungarian.

After six months one of the colleagues left, and I had to take his job, which included making telephone calls, writing letters and visiting people in other towns. Speaking Hungarian all the time was difficult for me, but it was the best way to learn it.

Of course, I made a lot of mistakes, but my colleagues helped me. After a few years of working for the company I became fluent in Hungarian, and now I can translate from Hungarian into English, and use the language in my everyday life.

I rarely speak Hungarian with my wife, as she speaks English well, but most of our friends are Hungarian, so I use it a lot with them. Sometimes I see plays and films in Hungarian, and I can understand most of what is said. I still make mistakes, however. I often try to translate directly from English.

Learning a new language can be slow and frustrating sometimes, but it's very rewarding.

Words and expressions:

Hungary — Венгрия

Personnel Department — отдел кадров

colleague — коллега

Questions:

1. Why did the story-teller have to learn Hungarian?

2. How long did it take the story-teller to become fluent in the language?

3. What can you say about your own way of learning English?

4. How can you improve your English?

2. a Farewell to Dieting!

I'm sure you know a person who is on a diet, I hope it's not one of your friends. I'm saying this because there was a time when I was a real fan of dieting. I don't know why but diets arc very popular among some people.

I was at college at the time, and it all started after a visit to a friend of mine. Her name is Jane. We went to the same class, and we used to visit each other quite a lot. That time I was staying at her place for the weekend.

We went to the nearest fast-food restaurant. But do you know what happened when I ordered a burger with French fries? She said 'Look! I don't want to spoil your enjoyment. You can eat as much fattening junk food as you want, but you should know it's the way to an early grave'. So I threw my meal into a bin and ordered what my schoolmate recommended — some salad and a glass of drinking water.

This started a new 'dieting period' in my life. I walked around with calorie charts, counting the calories at every meal. I stopped eating fat. But it wasn't enough for me. I began exhausting myself with different exercises. I spend hours sweating in saunas. I weighed myself every morning and every night. I was simply obsessed with all that stuff. I behaved like a lunatic.

Anyway, it all turned out quite sad. I ended up in hospital with anorexia. My mom and dad were very scared when they came to see me.

From that time on I became my real self. I lived a normal life. I ate what I wanted and when I wanted. I threw away all my calorie charts, stopped gazing at myself in the mirrors and gave away my scales. And do you know what? I became a really happy person again.

Words and expressions:

to spoil enjoyment — испортить удовольствие.

grave — могила.

to exhaust — изнурять.

to sweat — потеть.

to gaze — пристально смотреть.

scales — весы.

Questions:

1. Have you ever met a person on a diet?

2. What happened with a story-teller at a restaurant?

3. How can you describe a new period in the story-teller's life?

4. What was the result of this period?

5. Why did the story-teller become a happy person again?

3. Look into His Eyes.

I heard this story while on a train. I was coming back home from my college. A middle-aged man sitting next to me was talking to his companion. He began telling his companion a very interesting story. It impressed me so much that I wrote it down. Here it is.

Once upon a time there was a little mountain village in a country that was occupied by enemy troops.

One day commander of the occupation troops came to the mayor of the village and said: 'We know you are hiding a traitor. You should give him up or we will kill you and your people'.

The village indeed was hiding a man who seemed good and innocent. Everyone in the village loved him. But what could the mayor do now?

The Village council discussed the situation for a few days but they could not make a decision. Finally the mayor spoke to the priest.

They stayed at the mayor's office and spend there a whole sleepless night studying the scriptures. When the sun went up they found the text that said: 'You had better sacrifice one man to save the nation'.

So the mayor handed over the innocent man. The man was tortured and put to death. Years passed and one day a prophet came to that village. He immediately went up to the mayor and said: 'That man was sent by God to save this country. And you handed him over to be tortured and killed'.

The mayor answered: 'The priest and I looked into the scriptures and did what they commanded'.

'That's where you went wrong', said the prophet. 'You looked at the scriptures. You should also have looked into his eyes'.

Words and expressions:

enemy troops — вражеские войска.

a traitor — предатель.

innocent — невиновный.

the scriptures — Библия, Священное писание.

sacrifice — пожертвовать.

torture — пытать.

a prophet — пророк.

Questions:

1. Where did the story-teller hear the story?

2. What did you learn from the story?

3. What would you do if you were in the mayor's place?

4. Did you happen to be in a similar situation?

4. The Horseman's Joke.

On the bank of the Hudson River there was a little quiet village where people told many stories about ghosts. The most terrible story was about a horseman who had no head.

Many years ago a school-teacher, Crane by name, lived in that village. He was a very tall man with a clever face. In the same village lived Katrina Van Tassel, the daughter of a rich farmer who had no other children. She was beautiful and many young men wanted to marry her. Crane, too, loved the young girl. So all the other young men were Crane's enemies. The most dangerous among them was a young man, Brunt by name. He was a strong man who was popular with the village people.

One afternoon, when Crane was in his school, a servant came from Katrina and brought him a letter which invited him to a party at Van Tassel's house. The pupils went home before the usual time and Crane began to dress for the party. He wanted to look well that night. Besides, he asked the farmer in whose house he lived then to give him a horse to ride to Katrina's house. In the evening Crane came to the party, where he saw many other guests. There were many good things to eat and much dance. Everybody had a very good time that night.

When the party almost came to an end Crane suddenly left the room where the dances continued. He went to Katrina's room and stayed there for a short time. Nobody knows what the young people talked about. But the conversation was not pleasant because the school-teacher looked upset when he came back. It was late at night when Crane started back home. He rode through the forest as the night grew darker and darker. He came to a place where the road went over a small bridge across the river. When Crane came up to it his heart began to beat fast. He suddenly remembered all the stories about the ghosts. He was so frightened that he pushed his horse forward but the animal suddenly stopped. On the bank of the river stood a horseman on a black horse. Crane pushed his horse again and rode as fast as he could. The horseman followed. Crane looked behind and could not believe his eyes: the horseman had no head. Crane was still more frightened when he saw that the horseman held his head in his hands. Crane tried hard to get away from the man. He rode faster and faster but the horseman came after him. Soon the school-teacher saw a bridge behind the trees.

'If I get to that bridge everything will be all right', he thought. Again he looked behind. He saw how the ghost raised his head and threw it at him. It struck Crane on the head and threw him off his horse. The ghost horseman and his black horse quickly passed by.

The next morning people found Crane's horse near his master's house. But nobody saw the school-teacher himself.

Questions:

1. Was the school teacher afraid of ghosts?

2. Did he see a real ghost in the forest?

3. What do you think might have happened to the poor school teacher?

5. a Gold Coin.

Once a rich merchant arranged a dinner for poor people ex-soldiers. Mr. Lebeau was among the guests. After dinner Grandin, the host showed his guests a large gold coin. Each man examined it with interest as it passed around the long table. However, talking and drinking the men soon forgot all about the coin.

Later on the guests were about to leave the house. Grandin thought of the coin and asked for it. But the coin was gone. The village lawyer being among the guests suggested that everybody should be searched. All of the guests agreed but Lebeau. His friend looked at him with surprise, 'I cannot allow it' he said. 'I did not steal the coin. I will not allow anybody to search me', he repeated.

One by one the rest turned out their pockets but the coin was not found. Lebeau did not turn out his pocket though his friends were persuading him to. It seemed suspicious to everybody. From that day nobody respected Lebeau.

A few years passed. When this episode had become almost legendary, Grandin decided to rebuild his house. A workman found the gold coin between two planks of the floor of the room in which the dinner had taken place.

Grandin hurried to Lebeau's poor home and told him that he had found the coin and apologized for having suspected him. 'But why did you not allow us to search you if you had not taken the coin?' he asked.

Lebeau answered: 'Because I was a thief all the same. For weeks my family and I had not enough to eat and my pockets were full of food that I had taken from the table to carry home for my wife and hungry children'.

Questions:

1. Did Lebeau steal the coin?

2. Why didn't allow to search his pockets?

3. What would you do in a situation like that, if you were the host/ the guest?

6. a Broken Vase.

The young man was going to marry a beautiful girl. One day the girl said to him that the next day she would celebrate her birthday and invited him to her birthday party. The young man was eager to make her a present, so he went to a gift shop. There he saw many beautiful things. Of all the things he particularly liked the vases. But they were very expensive and as he had very little money he had to leave the shop without buying anything.

Making for the door he suddenly heard a noise: one of the vases fell on the floor and broke to pieces. A brilliant idea came to his mind. He came up to the counter and asked the salesman to wrap up the broken vase and wanted to buy. The salesman got a little surprised but he did what the young man had asked him to do.

The young man took the parcel and went straight to the girl's place. By the time he entered the room the guests had already gathered. Everybody was enjoying the party. Some of the people were dancing; others were talking, joking and laughing. Saying "Many happy returns of the day", the young man told the girl that he had bought a small present for her. With these words he began to unwrap the parcel.

Suddenly he got pale and said. 'I am afraid. I have broken it. There were so many people in the bus.. ' But when he unwrapped the parcel, he saw that the salesman had wrapped up each piece of the vase separately.

Words and expressions:

to wrap — упаковать.

a parcel — сверток.

Questions:

1. Who was going to marry a beautiful girl?

2. Why did he buy the broken vase?

3. What did the young man see when he unwrapped the parcel?

7. the Long Way Home.

Hamish and I sailed from Carenero in Venezuela on the 24^th April at 4.30 p.m. I had taken a year oft from my job as a university lecturer to sail round the world and I was finally on my way home. We had had enough excitement to last us a lifetime on the trip but we had no idea what was to happen next!

The first pan of the journey was about 650 miles to Antigua across the open Caribbean. As night began to fall, we realised that the winds were getting stronger. Sailing was difficult and our second night was a tough one. I had never seen the Caribbean so rough before. On the morning of the third day, I heard someone banging on the cabin roof. The wind had dropped a little the night before and Hamish and I had managed to get a few hours' sleep. 'You'd better get up, John.' said Hamish. There's something you ought to see.'

When I looked over the side, I could hardly believe my eyes. We were over 200 miles from the nearest land, but there was a small, open boat with a man and a parrot in it. 1'he man's eyes were wide open but they were full of hope and fear. We could just make out what the man was saving before we lowered the sails and started the engine. '11 days-without food and water'.

After several attempts to get close enough to rescue him; in the high seas, we managed to pull him and the parrot out of the tiny boat to safety. He could hardly believe his luck. The parrot flew onto Hamish's shoulder. 'It's very friendly,' said the man quietly and politely. Later, after drinking some water — he was too weak to eat anything — he told us his story. He had apparently been swept out to sea by the storm. He had tried to drop anchor but he was too far out to sea for it to reach the sea bed. His only hope had been rescue by a passing ship.

We took Martin, his parrot and his boat to Antigua. It was a gloriously sunny day as we sailed into the harbour. 'Thank you for saving my life,' said Martin quietly. 'It's a good feeling to save someone's life, ' said Hamish. 1 tried to say 'It was nothing,' but, deeply moved by what had happened; I was unable to get the last word out.

Questions:

1. What was the most exiting thing that happened to the narrator?

2. How did the man with the parrot get 200 miles into the sea from the nearest shore?

3. What did they feel like after they had saved the man's life?

8. a Story of George Robinson.

George Robinson was ambitious but not very clever when be was at school and he left when he was sixteen. At first he did not know what to do, but then he tried selling cheap toys in the street, and it quicklv became clear that he was a clever businessman. Soon, without much struggle, he had a shop of his own, and it was not long before he owned three big shops in his town, in which he employed over sixty people. Before he was thirty he also had quite a big factory for making toys, and had succeeded in making a considerable fortune.

George had always been interested in local politics. He was elected to the town council when he was thirty-two, and was such a busy and useful member of it that he rapidly became mayor.

Although he was very successful in international Industry as well as in local government, George was still not a very well-educated man, and as he was also a very busy one, he began to have the speeches he had to make written for him by a special speechwriter. Usually he did not have much time to go through a speech before giving it, but the speechwriter was good at thinking up clever things for George to say, so George never had any difficulty with him and got used to trusting him. In the end he did not trouble even to look at what he was given until it was time to make the speech.

Then one day George had to make an important speech at a formal official ceremony marking the opening of a library which he had persuaded the other distinguished businessmen in the town to help him to pay for. He had been on urgent business for a week before this occasion, so he had had no time to read through his speech at all.

When it was his turn to speak to the audience, he stood up on the stage, took his speech out of his pocket and began to read it He enjoyed jokes, and always asked his speechwriter to put a few good ones in each speech he wrote for him, to put his audience in a good temper. This time, sure enough, he came to the words, 'And that reminds me of one of my favourite stories.'

George had actually never heard that story before, when he looked at it before reading it aloud, he burst out laughing and laughed so much that he fell off the platform on which he was standing and broke his arm.

Questions:

1. George succeeded in making a considerable fortune because he:

A. Got inheritance. B. Was good at gambling.

C. Was a born businessman. D. Was a mayor.

2. Did George do business in his own country, or in foreign ones?

A. In both. B. Only in foreign ones.

C. Only in his own country.

D. Neither in his own country nor in foreign ones.

3. George asked his speechwriter to put some jokes in each speech because:

A. Be didn't know what to speak about.

B. He wanted to make the audience happy and cheerful.

C. He wanted to distract the attention of the audience from urgent problems.

D. He wanted to become more popular.

4. Why didn't George check what speechwriter had written for him?

A. Because he didn't find it necessary. B. Because he took no interest.

C. Because he didn't want to waste time on that.

D. Because he knew that the writer did his work well.

5. Why did George fall off the platform?

A. Because he broke his arm. B. Because the joke made him laugh so much.

C. Because he slipped. D. Because he was reading his speech loudly.

9. School Experience.

My parents ran a tea-room where they also lived, and I was born in one of the upstairs rooms there. We moved around quite a lot when I was young. I was three or four when we left Upton and went to the Midlands. We seemed to have so many family houses. All moving also meant changing schools.

The thing I enjoyed most about my first two schools was being captain of the football and cricket teams. I always loved sport and games. At my second school I worked my way into the chess team deliberately to get out of Latin. I had always hated it and it got even worse at this school. In fact I wasn't interested in the academic side at all until I moved to my next school.

Even then, though, it was a rather traumatic experience because I joined in the middle of the year. Previously I'd always been in classes of fifteen; suddenly it was thirty I'd always been to all-boys schools; now it was mixed. I had no friends there and I got into trouble and lights. It was a difficult time, but I started to learn how to look after myself. It didn't help when I had to take time off school to race karts. The school was fine about it, but some of the kids weren't. When I was chosen to represent the country in Holland, the headmaster was genuinely pleased for me and announced at assembly that I was getting a special two-week leave. Afterwards in the playground I was beaten up by some older boys. I hey were presumably a bit jealous and thought it was favouritism. The truth is that getting time oil doesn't help anyone, because you have to work harder to catch up on your school work. That's not an easy situation for an eleven-year-old.

Through those years I never was against anyone and thought: I'm better than he is. I've always preferred to think that given equal opportunity and equipment I do a good job, if not I better one than the next person. The reality of trying to achieve something you want to do is terribly frightening. I went from juniors to seniors to the national and the international races. Each time you move up a level you start at the bottom again. Just because you were champion in the class below does not mean you will be in the next class. All of a sudden you realise how much harder it is.

Questions:

1. At the second school the writer attended:

A. He began to take an interest in studying.

B. He started to dislike Latin.

C. He lost interest in sports.

D. He took up another activity to avoid a subject he disliked.

2. He found moving to the third school upsetting because:

A. It was different from the other schools.

B. The classes were too small.

C. There were no girls there.

D. He had fights with his friends.

3. How did people at the school react to his being chosen to represent his country?

A. Everyone was very proud.

B. The headmaster was angry because he had to take time off.

C. They thought it would make it difficult for him to keep up with the others.

D. Some of the other pupils disliked it.

4. The writer believes you can achieve something you want

A. If you believe you are better than other people. B. If you are lucky.

C. If you are not afraid of trying. D. If you are very competitive.

10. an Umbrella

Sally had been studying at an art college for a year and, like most students, she did not have much money. It was going to be her mother's birthday soon, and she wandered what she could buy her as a present that would be nice and useful but not too expensive.

Sally's college was in London, but she had been living in the country tor many years, so every day she had an hour's journey by train in the morning and the same in the evening.

At lunch time one day, a week before her mother's birthday, she decided to have a quick sandwich and a cup of coffee instead of her usual meal in the college hall, and then go shopping near her college to try to find her mother a nice present. When she had been looking for half an hour, she came across a shop that was selling umbrellas cheap, and decided that one of those would solve her problem, since her mother had lost hers the month before.

'Now which colour shall I choose?' she thought 'Well, I think a black one would be the most useful. You can carry that when you are wearing clothes of any colour, can’t you?’ So having made up her mind, she bought a lovely black umbrella and took it back to the college with her until her classes had finished.

On her way back home in the train that evening she felt hungry so she went to the buffet car for another sandwich and a cup of coffee. She had left the black umbrella above her seat in the compartment, but when she got back, it had gone? When she had left the compartment, there bad been no other passengers in it, but now there were three.

Sally burst into tears when she saw that the umbrella was no longer there. The other passengers felt very sorry for her and asked what the matter was. When she explained that the black umbrella she had bought for her mother had disappeared, and that she had to get out at the next station, the three other passengers asked her for her mother's address, in order to be able to send the umbrella on to her in case someone had removed it by mistake and not on purpose, and brought it back after Sally had got out of the train.

The next week, Sally heard from her mother. Her letter said, 'Thank you very much for your lovely presents, but why did you send me three black umbrellas?'

Questions:

1. Why did Sally think an umbrella could be a good present for her mother?

A. She was short of money and couldn't afford to buy anything but a cheap umbrella.

B. Her mother had asked her to buy a good umbrella as she had lost hers.

C. Her idea of a good present was something useful at a reasonable price.

D. There was nothing else to buy in the shop where she had come.

2. Why did she choose a black umbrella?

A. It matched any clothes. B. Her mother's favourite colour was black.

C. It was a very practical colour and you could not see dirt on it.

D. There were no other colours available in the shop.

3. What happened to Sally's umbrella?

A. It had been stolen by someone. B. We can't say anything for sure.

C. It had been taken by someone by mistake.

D. The conductor might have found it and given it to the Lost Property Office.

4. Why did Sally's fellow passenger's want to know her mother's address?

A. They liked Sally and promised to send her an umbrella instead of the missing one. B. It was just a display of politeness.

C. They wanted to send it to Sally's mother in case it was found.

D. They wanted to pay Sally's mother a visit and congratulate her on her birthday.

11. a Mistake

The famous Italian singer Enrico Caruso sang in many countries of Europe. He visited Russia, France, Germany, Spain and many other countries. Everywhere he was a great success and his name was well known all over the world.

Caruso knew that he was famous, but he liked to repeat the sentence: ‘No more known as he thinks he is’.

Once he was invited to die USA to give some concerts. When he was driving to New York, his car broke and he had to stay at a farm-house. Caruso could not repair his car and asked the farmer to help him.

The farmer agreed to do it. While the farmer was repairing die car. Caruso was invited into the house to have a rest.

When the farmer finished the work, he entered the house, too. He informed the great singer that his car was ready and could drive on. Caruso was very glad to hear it. He paid farmer for the work and gave him a photo. It was a picture of Enrico Caruso. On the back side of the photo Caruso wrote his name. He thought it would be pleasant tor the farmer to have a picture of the famous singer. The farmer took the picture, looked at it very attentively, then he looked at Enrico Caruso. He realized that it was the picture of the man whose car he
had repaired.

He wanted to know the name of the man, so he read what was written on the back side of the picture.

After that he cried out: 'How lucky I am! You are Robinson Crusoe! I've never dreamed of receiving the greatest traveler in the world in my poor house!"

1. Why was Caruso famous?

2. What did he use to say about fame?

3. Does the story prove his words?

12. a True Friend

George had stolen some money, but he police had caught him and he had been put in prison. Now his trial was about to begin, and he felt sure that he would be found guilty and sent to prison for a long time. Then he discovered that an old friend of his was one of the members of the jury at his trial. Of course, he did not tell anybody, but he managed to see his friend secretly one day. He said to him: ‘Jim, I know that the jury will find me guilty of having stolen the money. I cannot hope to be found not guilty of taking it — that would be too much to expect. But I should be grateful to you for the rest of my life if you could persuade the other members of the jury to soften the punishment'.

‘Well, George,’ answered Jim, ‘I shall certainly try to do what I can for you as an old friend, but of course I cannot promise anything. The other eleven people on the jury look terribly strong-minded to me’.

George said that he would quite understand if Jim was not able to do anything for him, and thanked him warmly for agreeing to help. The trial went on, and at last the time came for the jury to decide whether George was guilty or not. It took them five hours, but in the end they found George guilty with a strong recommendation to soften the punishment.

Of course, George was very pleased, but he did not have a chance to see Jim for some time after the trial. At last, however, Jim visited him in prison, and George thanked him warmly and asked him how he had managed to persuade the other members of the jury to soften the punishment.

‘Well, George,' Jim answered, ‘as I thought, those eleven men were very difficult to persuade, but I managed it in the end by tiring them out. Do you know those fools had all wanted to find you not guilty’.

1. Which of the following best describes the main idea of the story?

A. A friend in need is a friend indeed. B. Any crime should he punished.

C. Good intention often has the opposite effect.

D. It is always easy to persuade the members of the jury.

2. Why did George ask his friend to do him a favour?

A. His friend Jim knew the legislation.

B. Jim could see his friend secretly as he worked in prison.

C. Jim was the member of Parliament.

D. Jim was one of those who was to decide if George was guilty.

3. George said that he would be grateful to Jim for the rest of his life if:

A. Jim could persuade the jury to find him not guilty.

B. Jim could persuade the jury to pardon him.

C. Jim could persuade the jury to make his punishment less severe.

D. Jim could persuade the jury to fine him.

4. How did Jim manage to meet George's request?

A. He said that George had not stolen the money.

B. The members of the jury were tired and they agreed.

C. He had worked in prison for a long time and knew everybody there.

D. He was an experienced lawyer.

13. by Heart

Some plays are successful that they run for years on end. In many ways, this is unfortunate for the poor actors who are required to go on repeating the same lines night alter night. One would expect them to know their parts by heart and never have cause to falter. Yet this is not always the case.

A famous actor in a highly successful play wan once cast in the role of an aristocrat who had been imprisoned in the Bastille for twenty years. In the last act, a gaoler would always come on the stage with a letter which he would hand to the prisoner. Even though the noble was expected to read the letter at each performance, he always insisted that it should be written out in full.

One night, the gaoler decided to play a joke on his colleague to find out if, after so many performances, he had managed to learn the contents of the letter by heart. The curtain went up on the final act of the play and revealed the aristocrat sitting alone behind bars in his dark cell. Just then, the gaoler appeared with the precious letter in his hands. He entered the cell and presented the letter to the aristocrat. But the copy he gave him had not been written out in hill as usual. It was simply a blank sheet of paper. The gaoler looked on eagerly, anxious to see it his fellow-actor had at last learnt his lines. The noble stared at the blank sheet of paper tor a few seconds. Then, squinting his eyes, he said: ‘The light is dim. Read the letter to me.' And he promptly handed the sheet of paper to the gaoler. Finding that he could not remember
a word of the letter either, the gaoler replied: ‘The light is indeed dim, sir. I must get my glasses.' With this, he hurried off the stage. Much to the aristocrat's amusement, the gaoler returned a few moments later with a pair of glasses and the usual copy of the letter which he proceeded to read to the prisoner.

Questions:

1. Why are actors in successful plays in many ways unhappy?

A. Because they are afraid to act. B. Because they always have cause to falter.

C. They have to lean much by heart. D. They have to repeat the same words.

2. What did the aristocrat always expect from the gaoler?

A. A blank sheet of paper. B. The full copy of the letter.

C. A letter not written in full. D. A letter written in short.

3. Why did the gaoler decide to play a joke on the aristocrat?

A. To teach him a lesson.

B. To see if he knew the contents of the letter very well.

C. To revenge. D. To see if he was a good actor.

4. Why didn't the aristocrat read the letter?

A. The light was dim. B. He didn't know it by heart.

C. He didn't want to do it. D. He wasn't obliged to do it.

5. Which of the following is true?

A. The gaoler could not read without glasses.

B. It was the gaoler's first-night performance.

C. The gaoler didn't know the contents of the letter by heart.

D. The gaoler was supposed to know the contents of the letter by heart.

14. a Strange Thing.

Peter had always wanted a car, so when he was old enough, he started to beg his motor to give him driving lessons. Usually children are very bad about learning from their parents, so they would rather be taught by someone else, but Peter's wages were not high enough to pay a driving instructor, so he was patient when his mother corrected him.

They went out in the evenings and at weekends because Peter's mother had a job which kept her busy the rest of the time. After a time Peter passed his driving test, and his mother bought him a small second-hand car for his birthday. She made him pay for the licence, insurance, petrol and so on, because she said that would make him careful about driving economically.

'Insurance companies would rather not trust young drivers much,' she said to Peter laughingly, 'and as a matter of fact they're often right, so do drive carefully; and you’d better learn everything about your engine so that you can do something about it if necessary.’

Peter promised to do as his mother said. He used his car every day to drive to work and back, and he tried to be as careful as possible, but he did not learn much about the engine of the car, because he found it too difficult to understand the detailed instructions in the book he had.

Then one weekend he said to himself, 'I should be learning about the engine of my car, but I'd rather go for a drive in the country.' The sun was shining, it was spring, and the fields and woods were beautiful.

He was driving along quietly between green fields when suddenly a red light came on in the car and it slowly came to a stop. Peter tried to start it again, but in vain. He got out, opened the bonnet of the car and checked the petrol supply. It seemed all right.

Then suddenly he heard a cough very near his left ear. He turned and saw an old horse looking at him over the fence. 'You'd better have a look at the sparking plugs,' the horse said, and then went off to eat grass again.

Peter was so surprised that he ran to a farm a few hundred metres down the road, saw the farmer at the gate and told him what had happened. 'Was it an old horse with a white nose?' the farmer asked. 'Yes? Yes!' said Peter excitedly. 'Ah, well,' answered the farmer, 'you'd better not listen to him. He doesn't know much about cars.'

Questions:

1. Peter started to take lessons from his mother as:

A. She was a professional instructor.

B. Parents are usually the best teachers for their own children.

C. He couldn't afford a driving instructor.

D. His mother had always been patient in teaching him.

2. Mother made him pay for the expenses its:

A. She was too economical and practical.

B. She wanted to encourage him to drive slowly.

C. Peter's wages were high enough to pay all these things.

D. She wanted to encourage him not to waste too much money on his car.

3. The car slowly came to a stop because of:

A. A shortage of petrol. B. Sparkling plugs.

C. A horse, standing on the road. D. There is no information in the text.

4. Peter ran to the farm because he was:

A. Astonished. B. Frightened. C. Excited. D. Embarrassed.

5. Why did Peter learn little about the engine of the car?

A. He didn't think it was important. B. He wasn't technically minded.

C. He had a personal mechanic.

D. He didn't have any instructions about the engines.

15. a Perfect Flatmate.

When I was 21, I came to live in London. I shared a damp basement flat with a beautiful ex-art student from Brighton. Her name was Sam. She had long brown hair and a slim figure that I was madly jealous of. She ate three chocolate bars for breakfast every morning.

I used to lie in bed looking at her eating and getting dressed, wondering how she could possibly consume so much sugar without losing her teeth, her figure or her complexion. She’d put on her make up in under a minute, throw on whatever clothes happened to be lying around the room, and rush off to work looking like a model on the cover of a fashion magazine. Like me, she was just an art teacher in a secondary school.

I, on the other hand, used to put on weight if I even smiled at a bar of chocolate. I’d already lost several upper teeth, my face was spotty and I looked like a heavyweight boxer whatever I wore.

My morning reaction to Sam was always the same. I'd shut my eyes, pull the blankets over my head and force myself back to sleep. I knew that I really ought to get up too, and make use of the early start to have a shower, iron my blouse, polish my shoes, paint my nails and eat something for breakfast.

But I have never been what you'd call a morning person. The teaching job I was doing at the time was the only period of my life, thank goodness, that I've had to be anywhere by 8.30 a. m. Anyway, I needed a few extra comforting dreams after the shock of seeing Sam looking so beautiful. Going back to sleep to shut everything out, and using my bed as a favourite means of retreat, became an addiction - my worst habit.

Of course, I overslept and was late for work every angle day of the week. Eventually I was told if things didn't improve I might be given the sack. So I gave up my job and got married instead. I blame it all on Sam and her beauty.

1. Do you ever envy your friends who look cool?

2. How can a smart appearance influence a person's life?

3. Do you think that Sam was the only reason of the narrator's misfortunes?

4. Do you sympathize with the narrator? Why/ Why not? Give your reasons.

Baby-sitters LTD. (After H. Messinger).

I was a confirmed bachelor, and though I was fond of sitting. I took a dim of babies. But one day I meet my friend Reginald and his wife and they complained about the sorrows of parenthood, meaning that they have a baby that kept them busy and prevented them from visiting places as they did in the merry old childless days.

'There is a show on, ' Reginald said, 'which we should like to see, but…' 'The baby,' his lovely wife exclaimed hypnotizing me with her lovely eyes. Reginald then began to slap my back and remarked that a friend in need is a friend indeed. Margie, his wife, went on hypnotizing me with her lovely eyes (brown with green dots), and then I still didn’t understand they gave it to me point-blank. 'Oh, Benny', his lovely wife began, 'I feel it. You are a friend indeed.' All this meant that I was doomed to baby-sitting while the married couple was having good time. Well, to cut a long story short I broke down and promised to come to their place and take care of the baby, an eight-month-old boy named Billy.

And I kept my promise. When I came they were ready to leave. 'He's fast asleep, ' Margie whispered to me, 'if you are lucky he'll sleep till we are back!' And they left hastily.

I was alone in the Reginald’s home with the baby. When I looked at him, his eyelids began to flutter. Hastily I went to the cocktail cabinet and had a drink. Then I began looking through photo-albums.

This pleasant phase of the evening suddenly came to an end, when a cry from the crib made me jump. I gathered all my courage, put on a charming smile and approached the baby. From his pillow he looked at me angrily and gave another nerve-shattering yell. The bottle! According to instruction I ran to the kitchen and carried a baby-bottle to the lips of Master Billy. He waved it away, spilling the milk onto the suit.

'Never mind, old chap,' I said to him, for I have read somewhere that one should treat them grown-ups. 'Now let’s have fun. '

And the fun began. The child continued to vell. I had a drink to strengthen me, then I took him in the cradle of my arms and singing "It’s a long way to Tipperary". I recited Hamlet. "To be or not to be" He didn’t like either the music or the poetry. I sat down at the telly, the baby upon my knee. He showed a keen dislike to our programme — and probably he was right. Instead of looking at the screen, he took my tie and crumpled it. So from television we passed
on to clowning. I wriggled my nose, made faces and performed my famous imitation of a nervous hen. He found it screamingly funny. He screamed. I lifted him up on my shoulder and ran around the room, horse-fashion. Suddenly I felt damp and then a wet diaper flapped my creeks. Quickly I put wet child into his bed, and shouting he had done before was a mere whisper comparing to what he produced now. I got frightened.

From a safe distance I looked at the damp child with distaste… I saw a ridiculous similarity with his father. I had never really liked Reginald. I now remembered that once I had lent him a fiver which he never returned. I don’t know what Margie saw in the fellow. And here his son, Reginald all over... I tried the bottle again. He knocked it out of my hand. I hummed a lullaby, but he did not hear. Despair in my heart slowly turned into hatred.

Then the front door rang. When I opened it my eyes saw an angel. 'I can help you with the baby,' the angel said sweetly. 'If you don't mind, of course. It was Margie's idea.'

I asked her. Swiftly she took charge of matters, did something to the child so that it became calm and smiling. The evening turned out quite charming. When the parents returned, they found Joan, which was the angel's name, and me dancing to the wireless. They smiled.

Now I’m married to Joan. We have a baby-boy who keeps as busy. Sometimes we wish for babyless privacy. Would you like to do baby-sitting for us? By the way, Joan has a very charming girl-friend, still unmarried…

Questions:

1. Are men usually fond of baby-sitting? Why / why not?

2. Did the narrator manage with the baby all right?

3. Did you ever have to stay with little baby? Tell about your experience.

4. Do you think having family and children is a thing of importance?

16. Emergency.

'Child choking!' I had just begun my working day in San Diego, California, when these words came through the radio of the police car I was driving. I flipped on the red light and siren and sped off as the radio gave me my directions. 'Just my luck!' I thought. I did not know this area well and my first call of the day was a life-and-death emergency several
kilometres away.

The main highway was full of traffic and I knew that if I took it, by the time I got there it would be too late. So I decided to go by an unfinished road. Just ahead and below was the street that would take me to the child's home. Then I jammed on my brakes. Between the unfinished road and the street I wanted, was a wide, deep ditch. I got out, light still flashing, and looked at the street below. 'God help me!' I cried silently. 'What am I going to do?'

'What's the matter, officer?'

I looked up, and saw a man sitting on top of an earth-moving machine. He must have been two storeys high!

'Child choking to death! I have to get down there but there's no road. If I go around, I'll be too late.'

'Follow me, officer. I'll make you a road.'

The huge scoops on either end of the enormous machine were full of earth. He dropped the earth into the ditch and started off down the long sloping hill. I followed him, covered in clouds of dust. It seemed like hours but in a few short moments he was in the street, blocking the other traffic, while I raced off to the address I had been given, siren screaming.

As I burst through the door, a terrified mother handed me her baby, his face already blue. Was I too late? God help me! I did what I had been taught to do in cases like this. A small object flew from the baby's throat on to the floor. It was a button. Mercifully the holes in it had let a little air through. A fireman rushed into the room. He had with him precious oxygen. The child screamed, turned red and began to cry. He was angry but very much alive. As I drove by the place where the machine was working, I looked up. 'Thank you,' I thought.

The next day I saw the earth-mover again, and I stopped by it to thank the driver. The driver ran towards me and stammered, 'The... baby… the baby.' He was almost crying. 'It's all right,' I said. 'The baby is safe — thanks to you. You helped to save his life.'

'I… I know,' he said. 'But I didn't know then that…' He bit his lip and turned away — then he added in a whisper, 'The baby was my son.'

Words and expressions:

to choke — задыхаться.

ditch — траншея.

Questions:

1. What is the writer's occupation?

2. What did he do to let everyone know that there was an emergency?

3. Why did he not take the main highway?

4. Where was the street he wanted?

5. Why did he stop?

6. What did the driver of the earth-moving machine do to the ditch?

7. When the policeman arrived, the baby's face was blue. Why was this?

8. How did the policeman know what to do?

9. What had caused the baby to choke?

10. Why had it been able to breathe a little air?

11. Who arrived next and what did he bring?

12. Who was the oxygen for?

17. I Survived Nine Days Alone in a Plane of Death

[ When the small plane crashed in the Burmese Jungle, Monika Kamphuis, 31, from the Netherlands was the only survivor. This is her amazing story. ]

Three months ago I flew to Myanmar (Burma) to be with my boyfriend, Johan He worked for an international bank and he was helping to set up a branch of the bank in Rangoon. Johan wanted to go for the weekend to the beautiful old city of Mandalay. I was very excited. I had a feeling that he would ask me to marry him and I knew that I would say yes. I loved him very much. We had got the last two seats on the flight to Mandalay and on Friday afternoon
we set off for the airport in a taxi. We were the very last passengers to check in, but we made it with only five minutes to spare.

Our seats were near the back of the small plane and I was next to the window. There were about 25 other passengers. The sky looked very black as we took off, and throughout the flight, we kept our seatbelts fastened. Twenty minutes later we flew into a terrible storm. The plane rolled, bounced, and shuddered in the violent turbulence. We were both very scared. I can't remember anything after that until I opened my eyes. I didn't know where I was. Slowly I realized that the plane had crashed. I was in terrible pain and I couldn't move.
'Johan,' I called, but he didn't reply. It was dark, but I knew that he wasn't in his seat.

I heard groans and I worked out that possibly six other people were still alive. When daylight came, I could see all the bodies around me in the wreckage. Johan was on the other side of the aisle, but I knew that he was dead.

After a day or two the other voices stopped and I was alone. But the rescuers didn't come. 'They must be on their way,' I told myself. I didn't know that we were in a swamp in the middle of a jungle and that the helicopters couldn't fly in the heavy rain. Outside the window the flood water was creeping slowly up the side of the fuselage.

But that water saved my life. I knew that dehydration was a great danger. I tore a piece of cloth from my clothes and I pushed it through the broken window into the water. Then I pulled the soggy cloth back in and squeezed the dirty water into my mouth. That whole operation took twelve hours. Later I found a piece of metal and I used it to scoop up water.

At night the mosquitoes came. I was terribly hungry and I slipped in and out of consciousness. Then I heard voices. I pushed my hand out of the window and amazingly someone grabbed it.

The rescue team had arrived... nine days after the crash. They took me to a clinic in Rangoon and from there to a hospital in Singapore.

I had a collapsed lung, a fractured jaw, and my pelvis, my left leg, and all the toes on my left foot were broken.

I still dream that I'm in the wreckage with the insects and the snakes. I can't accept Johan's death. I like to believe that he survived through me. I want to forget everything about his death and remember everything about his life.

Words and expressions:

Collapsed lung — поврежденное легкое.

Fractured jaw — сломанная челюсть.

Pelvis — таз.

Questions:

1. Who is the story about?

2. What nationality is she?

3. What happened to her?

4. Where did it happen?

5. How did you feel when you read Monika's story?

6. Why are we interested in stories like this?

7. Air travel is one of the safest forms of travel. It's much safer than going by car, for example. So why do people worry more about air travel?

8. Why do plane crashes get so much publicity?

18. John Rossister’s Wife.

The most fascinating place in the United States today, I consider is Palm Beach and the most interesting spot in it is 'Whitney's'. It is a restaurant and a gambling place and sooner or later everybody who comes to Palm Beach visits 'Whitney’s'. It’s far more interesting and better conducted than Monte Carlo. Once I had an opportunity to meet Mr. Whitney himself. Mr. Whitney seemed to be very excited by something.

'I had a rather strange experience the other day,' he said as soon as I introduced myself. 'I was sitting in my office one morning when a lady wanted to see me.' - 'Mrs. Rossister,' the manager told me. I have been acquainted to Mr. Rossister. I’ve know him well enough only to say 'Hello', but not too much intimately than that. So I wondered what she wanted and bid the manager to show her in.

Before she said a word she began to cry. Her husband had been gamling, she told me, at 'Whitney's' on Wednesday, the day before, and had lost 30 000 dollars. Mrs. Rossister explained that the great problem of her life had been her husband’s gambling. The 30 000 dollars he had lost on Monday, it meant – oh, I've forgotten what she told me exactly: selling the house — it was mortgaged already, she said, taking the two girls out of school… It was a long story? I told her that I didn’t like the idea of anybody coming here and losing everything.
The result of it all was that I agreed to give her back the money that her husband had lost, but on one condition, and I made that point very clear: John Rossister was never to enter my place again. She promised it to me with the tears running down her cheeks, and I gave her the money. I didn't think anything more about the affair until the very next afternoon. My
manager came to me and said that John Rossister had just come in, had gone to the gambling room and was playing at one of the tables. I went straight up to him and said: 'May I speak to you for a minute? Your wife came to see me yesterday morning and told me about your troubles and about your losing 30 000 dollars here on Wednesday, and I gave her the money you’d lost'. Rossister looked at me for a moment. Then he said: 'Why, Mr. Whitney, there must be some mistake. I'm not married'.

1. Whitney’s is:

A. A bar. B. A place where you can eat and play cards.

C. A beach. D. A fast food restaurant.

2 Whv did Mr. Whitney tell the manager to show Mrs. Rossister in?

A. He knew her very well. B. She was his regular customer.

C. He knew her husband very well.

D. He was surprised and decided to find out what she wanted.

3. What did Mr. Whitney learn about John Rossister's family?

A. That his two daughters had been expelled from school.

B. That they had sold their house.

C. That his gambling made his wife unhappy.

D. That they were not rich people.

4. How much money did Mr. Whitney give to Mrs. Rossister?

A. Nearly half a million dollars. C. More than half a million dollars.

B. Less than half a million dollars. D. It is not clear from the text.

5. Why did Mr. Whitney give Mrs. Rossister money back that her husband had lost?

A. She promised not to come to his place again.

B. She persuaded him to lend her money.

C. His refusal to give her money made her cry.

D. She made it clear that Mr. Whitney would never see her husband again.

Дата добавления: 2015-09-29