Яков Аракин - Практический курс английского языка 2 курс

awkward stranger.

The repetition of the same syntactical pattern twice or several times is called

s y n t a c t i c a l p a r a l l e l i s m , е.g. It prevents them from feeling out of it. It earns

them the respect of the guard. It saves them from being despised by their fellow-passengers.

ESSENTIAL VOCABULARY (I)

Words

banker n

final adj

obedience n

bureau n

guess υ

obedient adj

departure n

impress υ

obey υ

disobedient adj

impressive adj

platform n

earn υ

light υ

prevent υ

envy υ

move υ

serve υ

familiar adj

mystery n

service n

fellow-passenger n

sociable adj

Word Combinations

to see smb. off

to wave farewell to smb.

to break the silence

to shuffle from foot to foot

to pass the time

to make (leave, produce)

to be familiar with smth. (to smb.)

an impression on smb.

in the old days (in the olden days)

to put out the light

a letter of introduction

to serve smb. right for...

to earn one's living

EXERCISES

1. Bead the text and explain the following points (A. Grammar, B. Word usage,

C. Style):

A.1. Explain the use of tenses in: a) the second sentence of the text; b) the following

sentence: "A middle-aged man was talking earnestly to a young lady. .".

2. Point out sentences in which oblique moods are used and explain the meaning conveyed

by the form of the verb in each case.

3. Comment on the use of the auxiliary did in "he did act".

4. Why is the indefinite article used before the word director in "I am not, alas, a director"?

B.1. Explain the meaning of "the next window but one". (Make up sentences of your own

with the pattern "the next ... but one".)

2. Find a pair of antonyms in the passage beginning with "In a flash" and explain their

meanings. Use them in sentences of your own.

3. What is the meaning of the word platform in the following fragment: ... "On the platform,"

he answered. "You mean," said I, "that you recite at concerts?"

4. Comment on the meaning of keep in "Many Americans ... cannot afford to keep friends in

England" ( cf.: to keep dogs, horses, to keep a cat, a canary, etc.). What is the effect achieved by the

unusual word combination to keep friends and by the whole sentence ("Many Americans cannot

afford to keep friends in England", i. e. some of them can and probably do)?

5. How do you understand the words feeling out of it in "It prevents them from feeling out of

it"?

C.1. a) What is the author's purpose in using inversion in: "framed in the window ... was the

face of our friend"? b) Why is the word stranger repeated four times in the second part of the same

sentence? What is the effect achieved by the repetition?

2. What is the effect achieved by the syntactical parallelism in the passage beginning with

"Of course it is worth it"? ("It prevents them...", "It earns them...", "It saves them...")

3. Point out passages bearing touches of humour. Does the author present the character of Le

Ros seriously or humorously? (ironically? satirically? mockingly?) Illustrate your answer by

sentences from the story.

II. a) Write the transcribed words in traditional spelling. Explain the rules for

reading. Think of some other words spelled in the same way:

1.klRsp, pRs, lRst; 2.'prPspqrqs, "kPnSI'enSqs, "kPnSqs, 'Pbviqs, ' xNkSqs; 3.saIt, laIt,

dI'laIt; 4.E:n, 'E:nINz, 'E:nIstlir; ges, 'veIgI.

b) Mark the stresses and explain the reading rules. Translate the words into

Russian:

hospitable — hospitality; prosperous — prosperity; festive — festivity; final — finality.

III. a) Write oat from the story the sentences with the following words:

stiff — awkward; obviously — evidently; earnestly — gravely; to recognize — to identify;

prosperous — rich; to force — to pump up.

b) Explain the difference between the synonyms within each pair. (See Notes

on p. 18.) When in doubt, consult dictionaries.

IV. Answer the questions. Argue your answers:

1. Where is the scene laid in the story? 2. How did the seers-off feel and why? What were

they doing to pass the time? 3. What made the narrator of the story think that the man who was

seeing off a young lady was not her father? 4. Who was the man? Under what circumstances had the

narrator met him before? What made him hard to recognize? 5. What made the narrator ask Le Ros

where he acted? 6. Why did the answer make him think that Le Ros recited at concerts? 7. Why was

he bewildered when Le Ros said he had first met the young lady he was seeing off less than half an

hour before? 8. What can you say about the activities of the Anglo-American Social Bureau? 9. How

can you explain Le Ros's success as an employee of the Bureau? 10. How did, in Le Ros's opinion,

the seeing-off ceremony help Americans? Do you think it was a good idea? 11. What is the

implication of the word afford applied to friends? Can friends really be afforded or not afforded? 12.

Did Le Ros take seriously his job and himself in the role of a professional seer-off? How does it

characterize him? 13. What is the author's (not the narrator's!) attitude to Le Ros? What is the

author's irony directed against?

V. Study Vocabulary Notes, translate the illustrative examples and a) give

synonyms of:

naughty adj, good adj (about a child), put an end to;

b) give antonyms oft

familiar adj, obey υ, departure n , light n , light υ;

c) give derivatives of:

press, serve, prevent, earn, obey, familiar.

VI. Fill in appropriate words (coasult Essential Vocabulary (I) list):

1. He advised Frank, "You'll do better if you stay at school until seventeen. It can't do you

any... ." 2. At the age of thirteen Frank Cowperwood was able ... a little money now and then. 3. The

auctioneer noticed Frank and was... by the solidity of the boy's expression. 4. After his lonely dinner

Soames ... his cigar and walked out again. 5. Jim... the captain's order to ride for Doctor Livesey at

once. 6. No one could... Captain Flint's orders. 7. They could not many till Salvatore had done his

military .... 8. I knew that his heart was ... by the beauty and the vasmess and the stillness. 9. I shall

choose the job I am most... with. 10. The miller was counting over bis money by the ... of a candle.

11. "I'm at your..." means "I'm ready to ... your commands". 12. He was peering into the darkness ...

by a single candle. 13. "Why don't you go Into the country?" repeated June. "It would ... you a

lot......!" 14. They were at their little table in the room, where Carrie occasionally ... a meal. 15.

When the boy was with us he was friendly and....