Comprehension Check. Discussion.

XIX. Answer the questions:

1. What were the three friends talking about?

2. Who felt extraordinary fits of giddiness come over him?

3. Whose liver seemed to be out of order? Why?

4. To what conclusion was the story-teller impelled while reading a patent medicine advertisement?

5. What did he go to the British Museum for?

6. What disease “must he have had for months without knowing it”?

7. The acute stage of what disease “would commence in about another fortnight”?

8. What malady had not he got?

9. Why did he grow less selfish?

10. What disease was the last in the book?

11. Why would the students have no need to “walk hospitals”?

12. How did the story-teller try to examine himself?

13. What did he say to his medical man?

14. How did the doctor examine the patient?

15. What was the patient prescribed?

16. What simple, old-fashioned remedy was used to cure him in his childhood?

17. Why did the friends smile sadly at one another?

18. Were they healthy enough to swallow a bit, refill their glasses and light their pipes?

19. What was their diagnosis?

20. Who had a family-physicianary way of putting things? Why?

21. What old-world spot was offered to seek out for their rest?

22. What were the advantages of going up the river?

23. Was the motion carried unanimously?

XX. Give a summary of the text

 

XXI. Answer the questions and discuss the following:

1. What epithets are used by the author in the fourth paragraph? Comment upon their use.

2. How many sentences are there in the fifth paragraph? Speak about the syntax of the paragraph.

3. What is the function of verbs denoting motion in the paragraph “Then I wondered how long I had to live…” (start off, pulled out, stopped, patted, stuck out, would go, shut, must have been beating, went). How do they reveal the character’s nervousness?

4. What is implied by the words “…from what I call my waist”?

5. Comment upon similarity in syntactical structure and the use of antonyms in the sentences: “I had walked into that reading room a happy, healthy man. I crawled out a decrepit wreck.”

6. Find a case of exaggeration in the paragraph starting with “I went to my medical man.”

7. Why does the author resort to the bookish word “to pass away” instead of the neutral word “to die” in the next paragraph?

8. What verbs are used to describe the doctor’s examination and what associations do they evoke?

9. What is the humorous effect produced by the “prescription” based upon? Speak about the role of graphics.

10. Find cases of exaggeration in the paragraph starting with “What I suffer in that way…”

11. Comment upon the implication in the phrases: “had better try to swallow a bit”, “after the first half-hour or so”, “this duty done”.

12. What words and phrases create a special mood in the paragraph “I agreed with George”…Are they all connected by their dictionary meaning? If not, can they be included into one thematic group due to their contextual meaning? (contextual meaning is the one that a word obtains only in the text). Which word (or phrase) could entitle this group? Are there in this paragraph any words (or phrases) that form a group of contextual antonyms, opposite in meaning to the first group?

 

XXII. Below is the list of diseases from the text under study. What do you know about their symptoms? Why are they mentioned by the author?

hay-fever ['heɪfi:və]

typhoid fever ['taɪfɔɪd 'fɪ:və]

ague ['eɪɡju:]

St. Vitus’s Dance [snt'vaɪtəsɪz 'dɑ:ns]

Bright’s disease [braɪts dɪ'zɪːz]

cholera ['kɔlərə]

diphtheria [dɪf'Ѳɪərɪə]

housemaid’s knee ['haʊsmeɪdz nɪ:]

gout [gaʊt]

zymosis [zaɪ'məʊsɪs]

scarlet fever ['skɑ:lət 'fɪvə]

XXIII. Retell the text in detail.

 

XXIV. Think over O. Wilde’s famous paradoxes and give your opinion:

“Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about.”

“The soul is born old but grows young. That is the comedy of life. The body is born young and grows old. That is life’s tragedy.”

 

TRANSLATING. WRITTEN TASKS

 

XXV. Translate the text of the following patient package insert (листок - вкладыш) and give its summary:

Patient Package Insert

 

Supradyn

 

· What is Supradyn and when is it used?

Supradyn contains, as its active ingredients, balanced amounts of all the important vitamins (apart from vitamin K, which is an exceptional case), essential minerals and trace elements. Vitamins are essential substances which are supplied to the body in food. Minerals are indispensable for the metabolism and for growth and regeneration of the body (for instance, for bones, blood, etc.). Finally, trace elements are vital substances which are required by the body in minute quantities but which are not always supplied in the daily food in adequate amounts.

Supradyn is recommended whenever a deficiency of vitamins and minerals is at risk of developing: during convalescence after illness or surgery, when you have to take antibiotics, if you want or have to keep to a special diet, or in chronic alcoholism and unbalanced diet.

Supradyn is obtainable as effervescent tablets, film-coated tablets or capsules. By dissolving the effervescent tablets in a glass of water, you can obtain a pleasant-tasting drink. The film-coated tablets and capsules are best swallowed whole with some liquid during meals.

· When must Supradyn not be taken?

You must not take Supradyn if you are already receiving too much vitamin A or D (hypervitaminosis A or D). Make sure your doctor or pharmacist knows if you:

‒ are suffering from other illnesses

‒ have allergies, or

‒ are taking other medicines (including non-prescription drugs).

· May Supradyn be taken during pregnancy or while breast-feeding?

If you keep to the recommended dosage, there are no objections to taking Supradyn during pregnancy or while breast-feeding. During the first three months of pregnancy, however, you should refrain from taking any medicine at all, unless prescribed by your doctor.

· Where can you obtain Supradyn?

At pharmacies. No doctor’s prescription required.

F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Basel, Switzerland

 

XXVI. Translate into English:

 

1. – Доктор, это правда, что здоровье не купишь ни за какие деньги?

– Ба! Да кто же вам сказал такую глупость?

 

2. Умирает старый брокер. Собрался консилиум врачей. Обсуждают:

– Сейчас температура 38,9. Когда дойдет до 41 — умрет.

Старый брокер приподнимается и говорит:

– На сорока с половиной продавайте.

XXVII. Describe postures and movements in the exercises for toddlers shown in the pictures (pic. 1). Use the following phrases:

to squat                                            присесть на корточки

to raise oneself                                приподняться

to lean against, on                           опереться на

to climb on / down                         залезать / слезать

on all fours                                      на четвереньках

to stand upright                               стоять прямо

to stretch one’s arms sideways      руки в стороны

on hands and knees                        ползком

to lie on one’s back / stomach       на спине / на животе

with one’s feet apart                       ноги врозь

to step over                                      переступить через

to crawl                                            ползти

to move in a circle                          по кругу

to clap one’s hands                         хлопать в ладоши

Model: Number One is moving in a circle with his arms stretched sideways.

 

Pic. 1

 

XXVIII. Translate into English in writing:

Поговорим о ходьбе

Все наиболее ценное в области мышления, наилучшие способы выражения мысли приходят мне в голову, когда я хожу.

 

И. В. Гете

Наших предков ходьба и бег спасали от голода и ранней гибели. И ныне ходьба и бег могут и должны спасать наше здоровье. Но не всякая ходьба и не любой бег. Коль скоро все ходят „как получается”, то и возникло такое обилие походок, для описания которых понадобилось свыше 60 прилагательных: летящая, шаркающая, подпрыгивающая, падающая, скованная, спотыкающаяся, жесткая и т. д. Конечно, походка всегда будет индивидуальной, соответствующей типу человека. Но она должна быть в основе правильной, а значит, полезной. Красивой походку делаeт, в первую очередь, хорошая осанка. Немаловажно и то, как работают мышцы ног.

Ходить нужно так, чтобы движения бедер при ходьбе были едва заметны. Делая шаг от бедра (а не от колена), старайтесь не „падать” на выставленную вперед ногу. Стопы немного разворачивайте носками наружу.

Улучшить походку вам помогут упражнения, укрепляющие мышцы стоп и бедер:

· Походите босиком по комнате сначала на носках, затем на пятках.

· Походите на наружной, затем на внутренней стороне стопы.

· Стоя и опираясь рукой об опору, делайте движения выпрямленной ногой вперед-назад. Темп выполнения постепенно убыстряйте.

· Положив на голову книгу или любой другой нетяжелый предмет, спокойно походите по комнате в течение 1–3 минут.

Регулярно выполняя эти упражнения, не упускайте возможности походить босиком по траве, а находясь у водоема — по его дну на мелководье. Все это тоже поможет сделать походку грациозной.

(по материалам журнала „Здоровье”)

 

IX. Give the Russian equivalents for the proverbs and write a composition on one of the topics:

1. A sound mind in a sound body.

2. Good health is above wealth.

3. Prevention is better than cure.

4. Time is a great healer.

 

 

 

UNIT 7

CLOTHES

O. Henry. The Purple Dress

O. Henry (William Sidney Porter, 1862–1910) is a well-known American writer famous for more than 600 humorous short stories, skits and verses. He was “a soldier of fortune” — a cowboy, an actor, a cashier, a journalist, an editor. His first book “Cabbages and Kings” was published in 1904. It was followed by fourteen books of short stories: “Four Millions” (1906), “The Trimmed Lamp” and “The Heart of the West” (1907), “The Gentle Grafter” (1908), “The Roads of Destiny” (1909), “Rolling Stones” (1913), “Postscripts” and others.

Pre-reading tasks

I. Pronounce the proper names:

O. Henry ['əʊ 'henrɪ]

Maida ['meɪdə]

Bee-Hive Store ['bɪ:haɪv stɔ:]

Grace [greɪs]

Mr. Bachman ['bɑ:kmən]

Mr. Ramsay ['ræmzɪ]

Schlegel ['ʃleɡəl]

 

II. Match the words in column A with their synonyms in column B.

 

A                                     B

 

1. proprietor (n)               a. capricious

2. cranky (adj)                  b. woolen

3. dab (v)                          c. constant

4. cheviot (adj)                 d. touch

5. perpetual (adj)              e. owner

 

The Purple Dress

(abridged)

 

We are to consider the shade known as purple. It is a color¹ justly in repute among the sons and daughters of man. Emperors claim it for their especial dye. We say of princes that they are born to the purple; and no doubt they are, for the colic tinges their faces with the royal tint equally with the snub-nosed countenance of a woodchopper’s brat. All women love it — when it is the fashion.

And now purple is being worn. You notice it on the streets. Of course other colors are quite stylish as well — in fact, I saw a lovely thing the other day in olive-green albatross, with a triple-lapped flounce skirt trimmed with insert squares of silk, and double puff sleeves with a lace band holding two gathered frills — but you see lots of purple too. Oh, yes, you do; just take a walk down Twenty-third Street any afternoon.

Therefore Maida — the girl with the big brown eyes and cinnamon-colored hair in the Bee-Hive Store — said to Grace — the girl with the rhinestone brooch and pepper-mint-pepsin flavour to her speech — “I’m going to have a purple dress — a tailor-made purple dress — for Thanksgiving.”²

“Oh, are you,” said Grace, putting away some 7¹/₂ gloves into the 6³/₄ box. “Well, it’s me for red. You see more red on Fifth Avenue. And the men all seem to like it.”

“I like purple best,” said Maida. “And old Schlegel has promised to make it for $8. It’s going to be lovely. I’m going to have a plaited skirt and a blouse trimmed with a band of galloon under a white cloth collar with two rows of —”

“You think Mr. Ramsay likes purple. I heard him say yesterday he thought some of the dark shades of red were stunning.”

“I don’t care,” said Maida. “I prefer purple, and them³ that don’t like it can take the other side of the street.”

Which suggests the thought that after all, the followers of purple may be subject to slight delusions. Danger is near when a maiden thinks she can wear purple regardless of complexions and opinions; and when emperors think their purple robes will wear forever.

Maida had saved $18 after eight months of economy; and this had bought the goods for the purple dress and paid Schlegel $4 on the making of it. On the day before Thanksgiving she would have just enough to pay the remaining $4. And then for a holiday in a new dress — can earth offer anything more enchanting?

Old Bachman, the proprietor of the Bee-Hive Store, always gave a Thanksgiving dinner to his employees. On every one of the subsequent 364 days, excusing Sundays, he would remind them of the joys of the past banquet and the hopes of the coming ones, thus inciting them to increased enthusiasm in work. The dinner was given in the store on one of the long tables in the middle of the room. They tacked wrapping paper over the front windows; and the turkeys and other good things were brought in the back way from the restaurant on the corner.

Oh, bother! I should have mentioned Mr. Ramsay first of all. He is more important than purple or green, or even the red cranberry sauce. Mr. Ramsay was the head clerk. Besides being a gentleman, Mr. Ramsay was original in other ways. He was a health crank, and believed that people should never eat anything that was good for them. He was violently opposed to anybody being comfortable, and coming in out of snow storms, or wearing overshoes, or taking medicine, or coddling themselves in any way. Every one of the ten girls in the store had little pork-chop-and-fried-onion dreams every night of becoming Mrs. Ramsay. For, next year old Bachman was going to take him in for a partner. And each of them knew that if she should catch him she would knock those cranky health notions off his sky high before the wedding cake indigestion was over.

And here were two dresses being conceived to charm Ramsay — one purple and the other red. Of course, the other eight girls were going to have dresses too, but they didn’t count. Very likely they’d wear some shirt-waist-and-black-skirt-affairs — nothing as resplendent as purple or red.

Grace had saved her money, too. She was going to buy her dress ready-made. Oh, what’s the use of bothering with a tailor — when you’ve got a figger⁴ it’s easy to get a fit — the ready-made are intended for a perfect figger — except I have to have’em all taken in at the waist — the average figger it so large waisted.

The night before Thanksgiving came. Maida hurried home, keen and bright with the thoughts of the blessed morrow. She was going home first to get the $4 wrapped in a piece of tissue paper in the bottom drawer of her dresser, and then she was going to pay Schlegel and take the dress home herself.

Grace lived in the same house. She occupied the hall room above Maida’s.

At home Maida found clamor and confusion. The landlady’s tongue was clattering sourly in the halls like a churn dasher dabbing in buttermilk. And then Grace came down to her room crying with eyes as red as any dress.

“She says I’ve got to get out,” said Grace. “The old beast. Because I owe her $4. She’s put my trunk in the hall and locked the door. I can’t go anywhere else. I haven’t got a cent of money.”

“You had some yesterday,” said Maida.

“I paid it on my dress,” said Grace. “I thought she’d wait till next week for the rent.”

Sniffle, sniffle, snob, sniffle.

Out came — out it had to come — Maida’s $4.

“You blessed darling,” cried Grace, now a rainbow instead of sunset. “I’ll pay the mean old thing and then I’m going to try on my dress. I think it’s heavenly. Come up and look at it. I’ll pay the money back, a dollar a week — honest I will.”

Thanksgiving.

The dinner was to be at noon. At a quarter to twelve Grace switched into Maida’s room. Yes, she looked charming. Red was her color. Maida sat by the window in her old cheviot skirt and blue waist darning a st — Oh, doing fancy work.

“Why, goodness me! ain’t ⁵ you dressed yet?” shrilled the red one⁶. “How does it fit in the back? Don’t you think these velvet tabs look awful swell? Why ain’t you dressed, Maida?”

“My dress didn’t get finished in time”, said Maida. “I’m not going to the dinner.”

“That’s too bad. Why, I’m awfully sorry, Maida. Why don’t you put on anything and come along — it’s just the store folks, you know, and they won’t mind.”

“I was set on my purple,” said Maida. “If I can’t have it I won’t go at all. Don’t bother about me. Run along or you’ll be late. You look awful nice in red.”

At her window Maida sat through the long morning and past the time of the dinner at the store. In her mind she could hear the girls shrieking over a pull-bone, could hear old Bachman’s roar over his own deeply-concealed jokes, could see the diamonds of fat Mrs. Bachman, who came to the store only on Thanksgiving days, could see Mr. Ramsay moving about, alert, kindly, looking to the comfort of all.

At four in the afternoon, with an expressionless face and a lifeless air she slowly made her way to Schlegel’s shop and told him she could not pay the $4 due on the dress.

“Gott!” cried Schlegel, angrily. “For what do you look so glum? Take him away. He is ready. Pay me some time. Haf I not seen you pass mine shop every day in two years? If I make clothes is it that I do not know how to read beoples because? You will pay me some time when you can. Take him away. He is made goot; and if you look bretty in him all right. So. Pay me when you can.”⁷

Maida breathed a millionth part of the thanks in her heart, and hurried away with her dress. As she left the shop a smart dash of rain struck upon her face. She smiled and did not feel it.

Ladies who shop in carriages, you do not understand. Girls whose wardrobes are charged to the old man’s account, you cannot begin to comprehend — you could not understand why Maida did not feel the cold dash of the Thanksgiving rain.

At five o’clock she went out upon the street wearing her purple dress. The rain had increased, and it beat down upon her a steady, wind-blown pour. People were scurrying home and to cars with close-held umbrellas and tight buttoned raincoats. Many of them turned their heads to marvel at this beautiful, serene, happy-eyed girl in the purple dress walking through the storm as though she were strolling in a garden under summer skies.

I say you do not understand it, ladies of the full purse and varied wardrobe. You do not know what it is to live with a perpetual longing for pretty things — to starve eight months in order to bring a purple dress and a holiday together. What difference if it rained, hailed, blew, snowed, cycloned?⁸

Maida had no umbrella nor overshoes. She had her purple dress and she walked abroad. Let the elements do their worst. A starved heart must have one crumb during a year. The rain ran down and dripped from her fingers.

Someone turned a corner and blocked her way. She looked up into Mr. Ramsay’s eyes, sparkling with admiration and interest.

“Why, Miss Maida,” said he “you look simply magnificent in your new dress. I was greatly disappointed not to see you at our dinner. And of all the girls I ever knew, you show the greatest sense and intelligence. There is nothing more beautiful and invigorating than braving the weather as you are doing. May I walk with you?”

And Maida blushed and sneezed.

Explanatory Notes

 

1. color, flavor, clamor (American English) = colour, flavour, clamour (British English).

2. Thanksgiving Day — a public holiday in the United States and Canada in the autumn. It was originally a day when people celebrated the end of the harvest and thanked God for it.

3. …and them that don’t like it = and those who don’t like it…

4. figger = figure

5. ain’t you dressed yet? = aren’t you dressed yet?

6. shrilled the red one = shrilled the girl in the red dress (metonymy)

7. “Gott! For what do you look so glum…” — speech characterization of the personage.

8. …if it rained, hailed, blew, snowed, cycloned? — enumeration of words denoting an increase in quality (gradation).

 

Post-reading tasks

 

SOUNDS AND SPELLING.

 

III. Pronounce and spell the words.

['empərə], [ə'lə:t], [snɪ:z], [bræt], [sə'rɪ:n], [ʃrɪ:k], ['skᴧrɪ], [dɪ'lju:ʒn], [kən'sɪ:v], ['kɔlɪk], [ɪn'saɪt], [ɪn'Ѳjuːzɪæzəm], [dɑ:n], ['klæmə], [rɔ:], ['lɔηɡɪη], ['Ѳæηksˌgɪvɪη], ['hevnlɪ], [pə'petʃʊəl], [prə'praɪətə].

 

IV. Transcribe and translate the words:

dye, flounce, cinnamon, rhinestone, woodchopper, galloon, enchanting, plaited, subsequent, banquet, delusion, sauce, knock, owe, cheviot, wardrobe, varied, clerk, indigestion, churn, sourly, honest, comprehend, cyclone, hail, keen, triple-lapped, insert, brooch, cloth, row, conceive, average, invigorating, serene.

 

WORD FORMATION

V. From what words are the following words formed? Give all the possible derivatives using word-building suffixes and prefixes:

emperor, justly, especial, indigestion, comfortably, stylish, regardless, employee, original, violently, resplendent, confusion, dabbing, cranky, sourly, heavenly, expressionless, lifeless, millionth, admiration, magnificent, disappointed, intelligence, braving.

 

VI. Analyze the structure of the following words. Mind the stresses while reading; translate the words:

a) snub-nosed, olive-green, pepper-mint, tailor-made, twenty-third, pull-bone, deeply-concealed, ready-made, close-held, wind-blow, happy-eyed;

b) raincoat, woodchopper, cranberry, buttermilk, sunset, rainbow, landlady, anybody, rhinestone, Thanksgiving, overshoes.

 

VII. Study the verbs from the text; translate them and give the three forms:

to incite, to excuse, to tack, to increase, to wrap, to coddle, to knock, to charm, to conceive, to bother, to clatter, to charge, to dab, to sniffle, to sob, to darn, to shrill, to shriek, to claim, to tinge, to blow, to intend, to roar, to breathe, to strike, to scurry, to wear, to drip, to block, to invigorate, to sparkle, to marvel, to trim, to stun, to bless, to blush, to sneeze.

VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT

VIII. Which are the synonyms for the words in italics:

to marvel — to astonish, to admire, to amaze, to surprise;

serene — clear, transparent, severe, calm;

to comprehend — to compare, to understand, to think over, to be aware of;

perpetual — purple, constant, everlasting, permanent, eternal;

to darn — to mend, to alter, to repair;

to scurry — to hurry, to fuss, to bustle, to fidget.

 

IX. Sort out the antonyms:

1. sour                           a. lifeless

2. illusion                      b. confusion

3. mean                          c. to whisper

4. varied                        d. sweet

5. serenity                     e. delusion

6. tailor-made               f. monotonous

7. to roar                        g. ready-made

8. alert                           h. honest

 

X. Give definitions of the following words using an English-English dictionary:

a) frill, delusion, brat;

b) perpetual, alert, blessed;

c) to incite, to coddle, to conceive.

 

XI. Find in the text the English equivalents for the following:

a) с воланами в три ряда; отделка шелковыми квадратиками; рукава с двойными буфами; кружевная лента; две плиссированные оборки.

b) юбка в складку; верх платья, отделанный галуном; белый воротник.

c) шевиотовая юбка и синяя блузка; штопать чулки; заниматься рукоделием; бархатные вставки.

 

XII. Use the words from the text to express these notions:

1. to mend a hole in something made of cloth by sewing stitches across the hole and then wearing stitches in and out of them; 2. pain in one’s stomach and bowels; 3. a false belief; 4. to treat someone (or oneself) too kindly or to protect him / her too much; 5. a man who rules an empire; 6. a spice used for flavouring sweet food; 7. to take in your breath suddenly and then blow it down your nose nosily; 8. thin paper that is used for wrapping things that are easily damaged, such as glass or china.

emperor, tissue paper, to coddle, delusion, to sneeze, cinnamon, colic, to darn

 

XIII. Translate and paraphrase the following:

 

a) 1) sons and daughters of man;

2) cinnamon-coloured hair;

3) rhinestone brooch;

4) snub-nosed countenance;

5) slight delusions;

6) cranky health notions;

7) the blessed morrow;

8) a happy-eyed girl;

9) with an expressionless face;

10) perpetual longing.

 

b) 1) ladies of the full purse;

2) varied wardrobe;

3) royal tint;

4) especial dye;

5) the joys of the past banquet;

6) average figure;

7) large-waisted figure;

8) keen and bright with the thoughts of;

9) clamour and confusion;

10) with a lifeless air.

 

XIV. Put in the missing postpositions:

1. … old Bachman was going to take him () for a partner.

2. … I’m going to try () my dress.

3. … Why don’t you put () anything and come ()?

4. … she could see Mr. Ramsay moving ().

5. … I’ll pay the money ().

6. … she hurried () with her dress.

7. … she went () upon the street.

8. … I have to have them all taken () at the waist.

9. … I’ve got to get ().

10. … it beat () upon her a steady, wind-blown pour.

 

XV. Paraphrase the following sentences:

1. We say of princes that they are born to the purple; and no doubt, they are, for the colic tinges their faces with the royal tint equally with the snub-nosed countenance of a woodchopper’s brat.

2. He was violently opposed to anybody being comfortable, and coming in out of snow storms, or wearing overshoes, or taking medicine, or coddling themselves in any way.

3. “I was set on my purple,” said Maida.

4. At four in the afternoon, with an expressionless face and a lifeless air she slowly made her way to Schlegel’s shop.

5. Everyone of the ten girls in the store had little pork-chop-and-fried-onion dreams every night of becoming Mrs. Ramsay.

 

XVI. Make up dialogues round the following verbal collocations:

a) to make a dress; to have the dress taken in at the waist; to be heavenly; to fit in the back; to be dressed; to make one’s way to…; to sparkle with admiration; to knock the cranky health notions off one’s sky.

b) to increase enthusiasm in work; to be violently opposed to smth; to take medicine; to coddle oneself; to have just enough to pay; to be in repute among smb; to be stunning; to take smb in for a partner; to scurry home; to brave the weather.