Practise the dialogues using the substitutes.

A

A: A yogurt (an ice-cream, a shake), please.

B: Which flavour? Strawberry or vanilla (chocolate, cranberry, milk)?

A: Strawberry (vanilla, chocolate, cranberry, milk), please.

B: In a sugar cone or in a cup?

A: In a cup, please.

B: There you go. That’s a pound ninety-five (a pound fifty-five, two pounds).

B

A: What do you feel like having?

B: I don’t know. There isn’t much choice, is there?

A: No, really. What would you rather have? Chicken (mushrooms, spaghetti, a beefsteak)?

B: I can’t make up my mind. I’d just like a tuna fish sandwich (some mixed salad, a chop and mashed potatoes).

 

C

 

A: May I take your order?

B: Yes, I’d like the White Fish Dinner (Roast Beef Dinner, your specialty).

A: Potatoes?

B: Mashed (boiled, fried).

A: Anything to drink?

B: Yes. A glass of fresh orange juice (black coffee, tea).

 

 

Translate the words of one of the speakers.

A: Excuse me, would you pass the bread, please?

B: Вот, пожалуйста. А мне, пожалуйста, передайте соль.

A: Here you are. What would you like to have for dessert?

B: Мороженое и яблочный пирог.

A: I’d like to have a piece of cherry pie.

B: Хорошо.

 

3. Read the dialogue. Learn it by heart.

 

 

At the Restaurant

 

A: There seems to be a lot of delicious things to choose from. What would you like?

B: I haven’t decided yet. And what will you have?

A: Well, I think I’ll have some fried fish.

B: What would you recommend me to order?

A: Their stuffed tomatoes are good, too. You can get them stuffed with meat. I believe you would enjoy it.

B: I can’t make up my mind.

A: Perhaps, if you get the stuffed tomatoes, we could share.

B: O.K. Then, I’ll have the stuffed tomatoes and some salad.

A: That sounds like a good idea. When the waitress comes back, I’ll order our dinner. Would you like anything else?

B: I think, I’ll have strawberry ice-cream, a piece of cherry pie and a cup of tea.

A: OK, it looks like we’ll have a great dinner!

   

                                                       

TOO PRETTY TO EAT

 

(from ‘The Secret Language of Old White Ladies’ by Patricia Anthony)

(Abridged)

                   

    Jury, an electrical engineer from Russia, and Robert (an African-American) have just settled in a new place. They are doing research in the field of electronics.

    The evening ended earlier than usual, because they were working the next day. Robert and Jury drove back to their new place where they had a small apartment. As soon as they pulled away from their office, not far from the beach, Robert said, ‘I saw two old ladies near our house the other day.’    

      Because he had been raised in the South he knew that if any little old white ladies existed within miles, they’d come over as soon as he moved in. They didn’t disappoint him. Three days after he and Jury were settled in a new place, the white ladies arrived, two spinster sisters with a pie.

Robert liked them as soon as he saw them standing at the door. Of course he invited them in, and Jury who wasn’t used to little old white Southern ladies, kept staring at them as if he wasn’t sure what they were doing there. He didn’t smile and didn’t say anything.

    When the sisters spoke, they leaned forward intimately, as if they were about to tell the most wonderful secret, and their hands made gentle motions in the air. The first time one of them touched Jury on the arm, he seemed startled. He stepped aside and didn’t take part in the conversation. Then he came up to the entrance door and lit a cigarette. Robert noticed the Russian’s discomfort, and he was sure both the women had, too. 

    They crossed to the sofa, sat down next to each other. Miss Minnealetha took her sister’s hand. She held it tightly, looked into her lined face, swamped by the deep love she felt for her. She shook her head and her smoky gaze was tender.

‘We made the pie for you, gentlemen … thought you’d been starving.’

‘Thank you. What a nice surprise!’ Robert placed four cups of steamy coffee on the table next to the sofa. Jury joined them at the table. 

 Like all old white ladies, they talked a lot about shopping for food, cooking, making dishes from scratch, laying the table, and being thrifty and economical.

   ‘I’m sure the pie is going to be tasty,’ Robert said, speaking quickly so as to get a word in without interrupting one of them. Southerners, at least the ones who were raised right, never interrupted! ‘It looks too pretty to eat! Put it over there.’

    Taking a sip of coffee, Miss Minnealetha continued, ‘I think it came out a little lumpy, and it browned all uneven.’

    Robert figured the way the women were badtalking it, he had to be holding the best pie in the world. Those women! They are always badtalking what they cook!

    ‘Now, that’s a hundred-year-old recipe, first you take some flour and butter, then you add some …,’ she said as she turned away.  ‘Handed down by a Nigra cook who’d been with our family for forty years. Could make anything … a roast beef, pickled onions or vanilla pie and other tempting delicacies… died last summer …’

    ‘And her lobster, pheasants with vegetables, fruit salad and all that …,’ Miss Ida said and gazed lovingly at her sister. 

    ‘I made the fruit salad. That was quite easy as all I had to do was cut up fruit and mess it together in a bowl. It was a celebration for our brother, you know,’ Miss Minnealetha said.

    Her use of the word ‘Nigra’ made Robert’s throat constrict. But he was a Southerner by birth, so his eyes never narrowed, his smile never faltered. He thought his face would crack. Jury turned back and got pale. ‘Nigra! Just outrageous!’

    ‘You remember how Glory’s crust was so light it just came right apart on the fork?’ Miss Minnealetha asked Miss Ida, her tone nostalgic. Miss Ida gave a charming smile. ‘Glory made the best crust in all creation,’ Miss Ida said as if that, indeed, were the last word on pie crust, and the highest and best compliment they could give a black woman.

    ‘ wouldn’t ever consider using an electric oven,’ he other sister said. ‘…or a microwave. Always used wood or gas. Nothing ever comes out right on electric.’

    ‘Can’t control the heat,’ Miss Ida explained.

    When the sisters left, Jury asked Robert: ‘What did they call that old woman that’d been with the family for forty years?’

    ‘Nigra,’ Robert said.

    ‘Wasn’t that too much offensive, Robert?’ Jury asked.

    ‘No, it wasn’t. They give us even worse names if they want to offend us,’ Robert said.

 

                                     Notes

 

1. raise v – to take care of until completely grown. E.g. Her parents died when she was a baby and she was raised by her aunt.

2. be/get startled with v - be/get worried with something unexpected. E.g. She was concentrating on her cookery book and when he spoke loudly she got startled.

be/get afraid of v - feel fear or anxiety about the possible results of a particular situation. E.g. I’ve always been afraid to use gas stoves.

3. like adj – similar to, in the same manner. E.g. Is Japanese food like Chinese? 2. What does it taste like? (Describe the taste). 3. What does your new cook look like? (Describe her/his appearance).

like adv – typical or characteristic of. E.g. It’s really not like her to eat so much!

4. brown v – make brown by cooking. E.g. I browned the meat quickly in a frying pan before putting it into the oven to cook.

5. Nigra n – an offensive word used to or about a black person by a white person.

 

 

Proper Names

 

Jury  /'ju:rI/                             Ida /'aIdq/

Minnealetha /mInq'xlIDq/  Glory /'glO:rI/

Robert  /'robәt/      

 

 

1. Use a dictionary to find out what the following words mean.

 

 

noun              verb      adjective         adverb

research          exist gentle          intimately

motion            stare      uneven

crust               lean                     

creation          figure

                                

 

2. Give the English equivalents for the following word-combinations.

 

недалеко от пляжа; на юге; наклониться вперед; удивительный секрет; мягкие движения; в воздухе; рядом друг с другом; входная дверь; внутреннее напряжение (дискомфорт); лицо, испещренное морщинами; приятная неожиданность; бережливый и экономный; вставить словечко; лучший пирог в мире; рецепт столетней давности; смешать что-либо в чашке (о продуктах); истинный южанин; ностальгический тон; очаровательная улыбка; корочка (пирога); немного рыхлый (о пироге); высший комплимент; духовка электрической плиты; слишком оскорбительно.

 

 

3. Give the Russian equivalents for the following word-combinations.

 

to settle in a new place; the other day; to be raised in the South; within miles; two spinster sisters; as soon as he saw them; to keep staring at smb; the most wonderful secret; to touch smb on the arm; a smoky gaze; four cups of steamy coffee; to join smb at the table; shopping for food; to make dishes from scratch; to be raised right; a sip of coffee; pickled onions; tempting delicacies; a celebration for one’s brother; to come right apart on the fork; the best crust in all creation; to control the heat.

 

 

4. Find the following sentences in the text. Translate them into Russian.

 

1. They leaned forward intimately. 2....as if they were about to tell the most wonderful secret. 3. He seemed startled. 4. Southerners, at least the ones who were raised right, never interrupted. 5. It browned all uneven. 6. The women were bad talking it. 7. He was a Southerner by birth. 8. She made the best crust in all creation. 9. I wouldn’t ever consider using an electric oven. 10. Nothing ever comes right on electric.