Jack London - Mrtin Eden / Мартин Иден (в сокращении). Книга для чтения на английском языке

3. The librarian did not give Eden any advice.

4. Martin decided to phone Ruth.

5. Ruth wondered if she could get some advice from Martin.

6. Martin’s grammar was awful.

7. Ruth explained to Martin how to speak correct English.

8. Ruth did not have any intention to remodel Martin’s life.

9. Ruth considered the life of Mr. Butler should be an inspiration to all.

10. Martin’s ideas did not surprise Ruth.

2. Learn the words from the text:

proper, devote, ordinary, attempt, contradiction, profoundly, solve, advice, tackle, interrupt, assist, hurt, demand, complete, ambitious, sacrifice, identify.

3. Complete the sentences using the words from the text. Make the changes where necessary.

1. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to .......... you.”

2. Nothing is in its .......... place.

3. She .......... her carrier to bring up her children.

4. He .......... most of her time to his music.

5. The suspect .......... by a witness.

6. It was just an .......... Sunday evening.

7. He was an .......... hard working young clerk.

8. He thinks money .......... all his problems.

9. “Please, don’t .......... her while she is sleeping.”

10. The government is determined to .......... inflation.

11. “Can you give some .......... about buying a car?”

4. Choose a word to match the following definitions.

1) to say in a very firm way that you want something

2) right, appropriate or correct

3) to make somebody unhappy or upset

4) to spend a lot of time or effort doing something

5) determined to be successful, rich, famous, etc.

6) an act of trying to do something

7) to help someone or something

8) to find or provide a way of dealing with a problem

9) normal or average

10) an opinion you give someone about what they should do

5. Find in the text the English equivalents for:

неделя усиленного чтения, порвать с прежними привычками, столкновение идей, когда угодно, попросить совета, добраться до главного, выставить себя в глупом свете, куча родственников, резать слух, увлечь воображение, предаваться удовольствиям, человек с сильной волей.

6. Find the words in the text for which the following are synonyms:

dedicate, finish, common, suitable, effort, apprehend, deeply, claim (inquire), suggestion, help.

7. Say the following statements in your own words.

1. A week of heavy reading had passed.

2. Nothing remained for Martin but to read.

3. His head would be whirling with the conflict and contra-diction of ideas.

4. Ruth’s woman’s eye took in the slight but indefinable change in Martin for the better.

5. His voice died away.

6. He feared he had made a fool of himself.

7. Martin read voraciously the books that caught his fancy.

8. A man with a will may rise superior to his environment.

9. She could not guess that this man who had come from beyond her horizon had wider and deeper concepts than her own.

8. Explain and expand on the following.

1. Martin was afraid of making a blunder.

2. He attempted to read books that required years of preliminary specialisation.

3. Once Ruth and Martin were seated in the drawing-room he began to get on easily.

4. Martin feared he had made a fool of himself.

5. Ruth thought Martin needed to realise himself.

6. Martin’s grammar was awful.

7. Ruth’s interest in Martin increased.

8. Ruth dreamed of helping Martin to see as she saw.

9. Answer the following questions.

1. Why didn’t Martin call Ruth?

2. Why did it seem to Martin that he had lived centuries?

3. What kind of books did he read?

4. What advice did the librarian give Eden?

5. What change in Martin did Ruth feel?

6. What did they speak about?

7. What did Martin tell Ruth?

8. What was Martin’s origin?

9. What lesson did Ruth teach Martin?

10. What story did Ruth tell Martin?

11. Why was Eden dissatisfied with Mr. Butler’s career?

10. Correct the statements.

1. Martin could not get rid of his old companions.

2. Reading did not change his life at all.

3. The librarian was very annoyed when he saw Eden in the library every day.

4. Ruth guessed that Martin had not changed a bit.

5. Martin irritated Ruth.

6. Martin descended from a noble family.

7. Martin did not want to learn proper English.

8. Martin was fascinated with Mr. Butler’s career.

9. Ruth guessed that Martin was wiser than she was.

11. Develop the following statements.

1. A week of heavy reading had passed.

2. It seemed to Martin that he had lived centuries.

3. The librarian paid attention to Eden.

4. Ruth saw that Martin had changed for the better.

5. Martin wanted to turn to Ruth for advice.

6. Martin’s voice died away.

7. Ruth taught him to speak correctly.

8. Martin increased the remodelling of his life.

9. Martin was dissatisfied with Mr. Butler’s career.

12. Retell the chapter from the persons of Martin Eden, Ruth.

Back from sea Martin Eden came, homing for California.

When his store of money was exhausted, he had shipped on a treasure-hunting schooner; and after eight months of failure to find treasure, the expedition had broken up.

The men had been paid off in Australia, and Martin had immediately returned to San Francisco. Not only had those eight months earned him enough money to stay on land for many weeks, but they had enabled him to do a great deal of studying and reading.

He went through the grammar he had taken again and again, until his brain had mastered it. He noticed the bad grammar used by his shipmates. Now a double negative jarred him like a discord.

After he had mastered the grammar book, he took up the dictionary, and added twenty words a day to his vocabulary. He found that this was no light task, and at wheel or lookout he steadily went over and over his lengthening list of pronunciations and definitions.

The captain of the schooner had somehow fallen into possession of a complete Shakespeare, which he never read, and Martin had washed his clothes for him, and in return he had been permitted access to the precious volumes.

The eight months had been well spent, and, in addition to what he had learned of right speaking and high thinking, he had learned much of himself. Along with his humbleness, because he knew so little, there arose a conviction of power. He decided that he would describe many of the bits of South Sea beauty to Ruth. The creative spirit in him flamed up and then came the great idea. He would write. He would be one of the eyes through which the world saw, one of the ears through which it heard, one of the hearts through which it felt. He would write – everything – poetry and prose, fiction and description, and plays like Shakespeare. There was career and the way to win Ruth. The men of literature were the world’s giants and he conceived them to be far finer than the Mr. Butlers who earned thirty thousand a year.

Once the idea had germinated, it mastered him, and the return voyage to San Francisco was like a dream. To write! The thought was fire in him. He would begin as soon as he got back. The first thing he would do would be to describe the voyage of the treasure-hunters. He would sell it to some San Francisco newspaper. He would not tell Ruth anything about it, and she would be surprised and pleased when she saw his name in print. While he wrote he could go on studying. There were twenty-four hours in each day. He knew how to work, and the citadels would go down before him. Of course, he cautioned himself, it would be hard at first, and for a time he would be content to earn enough money by his writing to enable him to go on studying. And then, after some time – a very indeterminate time – when he had learned and prepared himself, he would write the great things, and his name would be on all men’s lips. But, greater than that – infinitely greater and greatest of all – he would have proved himself worthy of Ruth. Fame was all very well, but it was for Ruth that this splendid dream arose.