Match the English equivalents of the following proverbs and sayings to the Russian ones:

1. A friend in need is a friend indeed.

2. A friend is never known till needed.

3. A friend to all is a friend to none.

4. A man is known by the company he keeps.

5. All are not friends that speak us fair.

 

a) Скажи мне, кто твой друг, и я скажу тебе, кто ты.

б) Без беды друга не узнаешь.

в) Не всякому другу верь.

г) Приятелей много, да друга нет.

д) Друзья познаются в беде.

Reading

1. Read the text and translate it:

MY BOSOM FRIEND

 

I have got a lot of friends. Most of them are my former schoolmates. But my bosom friend is Helen. She is 16. Helen isn't very tall, but she is pretty in her own way.

She has red curly hair and a turn-up nose. Helen wears spectacles and when spring comes there are plenty of freckles on her cheeks, forehead and nose. But all that doesn't make her plain or ugly. I like Helen because she is well-bred, jolly and kind.

She does well at school though she has got an unbreakable rule: never to study at night no matter how many written reviews are coming in the morning. She is also fond of reading plain books, and Lena sometimes thinks that one book isn't enough to read, she has two or three books going at once. My friend has got a lot of books at home, and she buys them wherever she goes.

She says that the books are of great help any time and they always must be at her hand. Her idea is that it's much easier to have a library of her own comprising lots of books than to try keeping everything in her head. Helen goes in for sports and she is a member of our school basketball team. She is terribly quick and strong.

It's a pleasure to watch her playing basketball: while others are hopping about in the air she always gets under their feet and grabs the ball. I don't like people who are bored at everything and who never make the slightest effort to be pleasant. That's why my friend is Helen, the most amusing person in the world. She thinks everything is funny – even flunking an exam.

Helen is a sunny soul by nature and always takes the slightest excuse to be amused. My friend has got a great imagination and her own style. Usually she writes nice compositions and once even won short-story contest that our school wallpaper holds every year.

Helen and I are good friends. We help each other a lot and try not to quarrel. But when sometimes it comes to quarrelling we try to make it up at once.

 

2. Learn the vocabulary by heart:

 

former school-mates — бывшие школьные друзья

a bosom friend — закадычный друг

to be pretty in one's own way — быть по-своему красивым

burn-up — курносый

freckles — веснушки

forehead — лоб

plain — некрасивый

to do well at school — хорошо учиться в школе

to be fond of — любить, нравится

plain books — художественные книги

to be of great help — быть очень полезным, нужным

to be at hand — быть под рукой

to go in for sports — увлекаться, заниматься спортом

terribly — ужасно

to grab — хватать

to be bored at everything — ничего не нравится

amusing — забавный, занимательный, смешной

to flunk an exam — провалиться на экзамене a sunny soul by nature — быть веселым по натуре

a short-story contest — конкурс на написание рассказа

to hold — проводить, держать(ся)

to quarrel — ругаться

to make up with smb. — мириться с кем-либо

 

3. Answer the questions:

 

1. How old is Helen?

2. Does she wear spectacles? Describe her appearance.

3. Does she do well at school?

4. What unbreakable rule has she got?

5. What books is she fond of reading?

6. Does Helen go in for sports?

7. Is she a member of the school basketball team?

8. Why is it a pleasure to watch her playing basketball?

9. Is Helen a sunny soul by nature? What makes you think so?

10. Has she got an imagination? Prove it.

 

Vocabulary exercises:

1. Circle one word in each group that doesn’t belong:

A	pale	dark	bald	fair
B	well-dressed	elegant	smart	curly
C	wavy	straight	curly	plump
D	plump	slim	fat	chubby
E	handsome	attractive	pretty	bald
F	long-haired	bald	slight	short-haired
G	fair	dark	red	wavy
H	muscular	ugly	fit	athletic
I	scruffy	young	elderly	middle-aged
J	ugly	pretty	unattractive	plain
K	slim	slight	overweight	Thin

Rewrite the sentences so that they have the opposite meaning. More than one word may be possible.

1. She’s plain, tall and slim and has curly hair.

2. She’s elderly, plump and has long hair.

3. He’s scruffy and has lots of hair.

4. He’s ugly and has short, dark hair.

5. He’s young, smart and has straight hair.