Денис Власов - Сборник рассказов на английском языке. Мистика и детективы. Intermediate. Домашнее чтение с заданиями и ответами

“Oh! By the way, your watch. You are the owner of a rare miraculous specimen. You could get for it a decent amount of money at auction. But I cannot understand the cause of the fault. All mechanisms are in good working condition, but the hands refuse to go. I need time to determine the root cause. Will you come back tomorrow?”

“You are wrong. I am not the owner of the watch at all. But you are,” the guest said meaningfully. “And the hands don’t go just because that your time is up. Look behind.”

The old watchmaker turned his head towards the working desk. In horror he saw himself or, rather, his senseless body with the head resting on the desk right in front of the watch. His numb hands clutched the screwdriver and tweezers. The desk was in the far corner of the room, but the watchmaker felt, with every fiber of his soul, that the second hand of the watch gave a slight tremble. It started moving for a new heart of someone else to beat in the Universe.

I. Find English equivalents to the following Russian phrases.

– признаюсь, меня всегда интересовала категория времени.

– коллекционные часы в золотом обрамлении.

– работа тонкая и требовала деликатного обращения.

– в понятии времени определённо существует философия

и таинство.

– время развивается по спирали.

– озадаченный часовщик.

– чудесный редкий экземпляр.

II. Translate the following words and word-combinations.

– the watchmaker

– be keen on

– his sophisticated work

– a vintage

– to perceive

– instance

– puzzled

– a wide-brimmed hat

– the interlocutor

– the weird visitor

– a rare miraculous specimen

– to get rid of

– repellent

– a decent amount of money

– the root cause

– the screwdriver

– the tweezers

III. Find adjectives in the text. Make up your own sentences with them.

IV. Unscramble the words in bold.

1. There was a watch hmnieamcsresting on the table in front of him.

2. The watch was a vgintaeframed in gold.

3. The katamwrcehaddressed a visitor.

4. There have been some tsnasecni.

5. The concept of time definitely contains hoolyhippsand mystery.

6. The time is flowing in the prsali

7. You are the owner of a rare miraculous peesminc.

8. I need time to determine the otrocause.

9. His numb hands clutched the cevsidrrewr

10. It started moving for a new life-being of someone else in

the venuseir

V. Give definitions of the following verbs.

–to discern

–to admit

–to comprehend

–to prove

–to prohibit

–to groan

–to clutch

–to perceive

VI. Grammar.

1. Find and translate sentences in the Past Simple Tense.

2. Find and translate a sentence with homogeneous parts.

3. Find and translate one sentence in the Present Perfect Tense.

4. Find and translate one sentence in the Past Perfect Continuous

Tense.

5. Find sentences with the direct speech. Change them into the

indirect speech.

VII. Answer the following questions.

1. Where did the strange visitor come to?

2. What had the watchmaker been repairing for nearly an hour?

3. What subject has the watchmaker always been keen on?

4. Whose watch did the guest bring to fix?

5. In your opinion, why did the guest refuse to take off his hat inside?

6. What facts did the stranger tell the watchmaker about the time?

7. Will you describe the reaction of the watchmaker to the words of his

interlocutor about time?

8. What is the main message of the story?

9. Who do you think the weird guest was?

10. Do you believe in the rebirth of souls?

VIII. Say whether the following sentences are true, false or not

given in the text. Say what is wrong with the false ones.

1. The watchmaker had been fixing his own vintage watch.

2. The watch was with the golden chain.

3. The visitor wasn’t wearing a tie.

4. According to the weird guest, the time is flowing in the

celestial spiral.

5. There were many other tools on the desk.

6. The numb hands of the watchmaker clutched the flat screwdriver.

7. The second hand of the watch started moving for a new galaxy

in the Universe.

8. The stranger appeared to be a wizard.

IX. Speaking.

1. Describe the watchmaker and the stranger.

2. Act out the dialogue between the watchmaker and the stranger.

3. What another title of the story would you suggest? Why?

4. Speak about time as a philosophical concept.

5. Give the summary of the story.

X. Which of the sayings best summarises the main idea of the story?

1. There is a time and place for everything.

2. You can’t buy an inch of time with an inch of gold.

3. Every seed knows its time.

4. Men fear, but time fears the pyramids.

XI. Solve a crossword puzzle.

Across:

2/ Very strange or unusual and difficult to explain.

3/ A particular example or case of something.

4/ Having all the best or most typical qualities of something, especially

from the past

8/ What we measure in minutes, hours, days, etc.

10/ A strong feeling of shock or fear.

Down:

1/ A tool for turning screws.

5/ The whole of space and everything in it, including the Earth,

the planets and the stars.

6/ The ability to think in a logical way and understand things.

7/ Something strange or unknown that cannot be explained

or understood.

9/ A person who makes and repairs watches and clocks as a job.

Arthur R. Berg was a very wealthy man. He was a renowned businessman in his field. He achieved his goals by any possible means. Yet, this story is not about how he achieved dizzying success in financial affairs, and his brilliant business acumen, but about the fantastic misadventure caused by his mad passion for painting. This enthusiasm was expressed in collecting original paintings by famous artists. As a person who saw any deal from a commercial point of view, his love for art was automatically considered by others to be an effective investment. But, to Berg, art was more than money framed on a wall. An educated man, perceptive of culture, and a connoisseur of fine arts, he regarded a piece of art to the highest degree of its manifestation. For the past seventeen years, he had gathered an impressive collection. To store it, an enormous mansion-gallery was made available in London, where he spent most of his free time. There, he got an aesthetic pleasure alone with his grand collection. In complete quiet, he wandered from one room to another, beheld full palettes of works by great masters, and admired the elegance of the portraits and the flourish within the landscapes. He could stand for hours in front of a picture of some genius, just getting a grasp at every stroke. For Berg, a picture was like a book to be read, and which he was eager to read over and over again. Sometimes, he got so lost in the exhibits that he daydreamed himself into scenes from picnics in meadows to cavalry clashes on battlefields. Occasionally, he visited major exhibitions only for the sake of one picture, to understand and meditate about.