Владимир Аракин - Практический курс английского языка 3 курс [calibre 2.43.0]

of character but it certainly does not exclude the expression of praise. Here are some comments that people make when they are invited to analyse

and judge:

I think I'd much prefer to ... ; nothing like as good (bad) as ... ; that's what I thought... ; and that's another thing; there's much va-

riety in ... ; to be similar in ... ; there's a tremendous number of differences in ... : to have little (much) in common.

Use the cliches in the conversations of your own when you are welcome with your criticism of people.

13. Work in pairs. Read the extracts and expand on the idea that: "Every man is a bundle of possibilities." You are to sum up the characters

described. You may be of a similar or a different opinion of the human types presented below. Consider the strong and the weak traits of

characters. Your judgement should be followed by some appropriate comment:

1. Where she found the time, and still managed to "practically run that big house" and be the president of her class ... , a skilled

rider, an excellent musician (piano, clarinet), an annual winner at the country fair (pastry, preserves, needlework, flower arrangement)

— how a girl not yet seventeen could have such a wagon- load, and do so without "brag", with, rather, merely a radiant jaun- tiness,

was an enigma the community pondered, and solved by saying, "She's got character. Gets it from her old man." Certainly her

strongest trait, the talent that gave support to all the others, was derived from her father: a fine-boned sense of organization. Each

moment was assigned; she knew precisely at any hour, what she would be doing, how long it would require.

2. You are a man of extreme passion, a hungry man not quite sure where his appetite lies, a deeply frustrated man striving to

project his individuality against a backdrop of rigid conformity. You exist in a half-world suspended between two superstructures, one

self-expression and the other self-destruction. You are strong, but there is a flaw in your strength, and unless you learn to control it the

flaw will prove stronger than your strength and defeat you. The flaw? Explosive emotional reaction out of all proportion to the

occasion. Why? Why this unreasonable anger at the sight of others who are happy or content, this growing contempt for people and

the desire to hurt them? All right, you think they're fools, you despise them because their morals, their happiness is the source of your

frustration and resentment. But these are dreadful enemies you carry within yourself — in time destructive as bullets. Merci fully, a

bullet kills its victim. This other bacteria, permitted to age, does not kill a man but leaves in its wake the hulk of a creature torn and

twisted; there is still fire within his being but it is kept alive by casting upon it faggots of scorn and hate. He may successfully

accumulate, but he does not accumulate success, for he is his own enemy and is kept from truly enjoying his achievements.

3. What wasn't too appealing was the idea of using family as a crutch, and right at the outset. He couldn't bear the thought of

hearing for the rest of his life, "Of course, if was Julian gave him his state ..." But of more significance was the damage that accepting

something like this could do to his individuality. Not only would he never respect himself if he just stepped into a job and rose solely on

the basis of personal privilege, but how would he ever realize his own potential if he was going to be treated like one of those rich kids

who were just coddled up the ladder of success their whole life long?

4. It was our friend's eye that chiefly told his story,«an eye in which innocence and experience were singularly blended. It was full

of contradictory suggestions; and though it was by no means the glowing orb of a hero of romance, you could find in it almost anything

you looked for. Frigid and yet friendly, positive yet sceptical, confident yet shy, extremely intelligent and extremely good- humoured,

there was something vaguely defiant in its concessions, and something profoundly reassuring in its reserve ... Decision, salubrity,

jocosity, prosperity seem to hover within his call: he is evidently a practical m a n . . . .

14. Read the following text. Find in it arguments "for" and "against" the problem under discussion. Copy them out into two columns.

Happiness Is This Shape ...

There is a large number of intriguing conclusions contained in the study of happiness— what causes it and what doesn't — which

has just been concluded by two psychologists. They have analysed the replies of as many as 52,000 people.

The people who replied to their questionnaire were younger, better educated and more affluent than average, so their replies may

not be absolutely typical to everyone. They varied in age from 15 to 95 and their answers were so diverse that the two interviewers

believe that they have enough material to see what is related to happiness, and what isn't.

The general level of happiness of people proved the thorniest problem to assess. Some of the people answered that they had been

happy once. At the same time many were constantly thinking about happiness, weekly or daily. Can anyone really be happy when they

are thinking about it so often?

The scientists were interested in 16 aspects of people's lives and how important each was in contributing to general happiness. For

single people being happy depends on having congenial friends, a satisfying work and love life and also some sort of recognition by

others for what they are doing. For married couples the important things seem to be somewhat different.

The wife gets her happiness chiefly from her family life. The husband is more concerned with personal growth and development.

The psychologists also asked a number of questions about people's childhoods to see if there was anything in that which was

associated with being happy.

The major surprise was that few childhood experiences predicted with any certainty whether someone would be happy as an adult.

And many people who came through bad early and teenage years are perfectly happy as adults.

Happiness, conclude the psychologists, is more a matter of howyou regard your circumstances than of whatthe circumstances

are.

15. Discuss the text in pairs. One of the pair insists that happiness is more an attitude to life than the state of things, the other defends the

opposite viewpoint. Be sure to provide sound arguments for whatever you say. Consider the following aspects in relation to your idea of happiness:

friends and social life; job or primary activity; being in love; recognition, success, personal growth; financial situation; house or

apartment; attractiveness; health, physical condition; city you live in; recreation; being a parent; marriage; partner's happiness.

16. The extracts given below present rather complicated subjects. Team up with another student, work out arguments "for" and "against" and

discuss the extracts in pairs. Use conversational formulas of Ex. 12.

A.Does every life have its critical moments and situations that determine the entire future of a person or the future of many

others?

Some men and women risk comfort and security, and even their lives, to venture into the unknown or to follow an unconventional

course of conduct. They may do so for any one of a number of reasons. They may desire to benefit mankind, to gain knowledge, to