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

mince in time with a girl. And you must be open to all impressions and let your thoughts take colour from what

you see. You should be as a pipe for any wind to play upon. There should be no cackle of voices at your elbow, to

jar on the meditative silence of the morning. And so long as a man is reasoning he cannot surrender himself to that

fine intoxication that comes of much motion in the open air, that begins in a sort of dazzle and sluggishness of the

brain, and ends in a peace that passes comprehension.

During the first day or so of any tour there are moments of bitterness, when the traveller feels more than coldly

towards his knapsack, when he is half in a mind to throw it bodily over the hedge. Yet it soon acquires a property

of easiness. It becomes magnetic; the spirit of the journey enters into it again. And no sooner have you passed the

straps over your shoulder again than the less of sleep are cleared from you, you pull yourself together with a shake

and fall at once into your stride. And surely, of all possible moods, this, in which a man takes the road, is the best.

1.Comment on the writer's use of the expression "in anything but name". 2. What in the opinion of the writer

are the main disadvantages of having company on a walking tour? 3. "You should be as a pipe for any wind to play

on." What is the significance of this statement? 4. How, according to the writer, is man affected by prolonged

walking in the open air? 5. What impression do we receive from the use of the word "bodily"? 6. The writer

describes the knapsack as becoming magnetic. In what way is this an accurate description? 7. Taking the theme as

a whole, what do you think is "the spirit of the journey" referred to?

2. Give a summary of the text.

3. Use the Topical Vocabulary in answering the questions:

1. What are the advantages and the disadvantages of a hiking tour? 2. What must you take with you if you are

going on a week's walking tour? 3. What's your daily routine when on a hike? 4. How would you plan your day in

hot stuffy weather? 5. What would you do in cold and rainy weather? 6. Do you take the weather forecast into

account when going hiking? 7. What do you like for breakfast, dinner and supper when on a hike? 8. What must

you do to make a fire, to cook scrambled eggs,' to cook fish soup, to cook porridge? 9. Do you like sleeping out?

10. Which would you prefer: sleeping out or being put up at the village? Give reasons for your choice. 11. Do you make a

point of having a swim every day no matter what the weather is? 12. Which would you rather choose: a hiking trip or a river

trip? Why? 13. Have you or your friends ever gone fishing? What is characteristic of an experienced angler? 14. What do you

do of an evening during a hiking tour?

4. Read the poem, comment on it and answer the questions.

Leisure

What is this life if, full of care.

We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see when woods we pass,

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,

Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,

And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can

Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this is if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

W.H.Davis (1871—1940)

What do you consider to be the author's message of the poem? 2. What is the author's attitude towards the life

full of care? 3. Show how the reader is constantly reminded of the poor life he lives. 4. In view of the contents of the

poem, what is hinted at in the title "Leisure"? 5. Observe whether irony enters into the author's treatment of the

subject. 6. Choose two words or phrases which you find particularly vivid. Comment on each of them so as to con -

vey the reasons why you find them effective. 7. The poet treats his subject in a very lovely and interesting manner.

One way in which he sustains interest is by using expressions which suggest that there is something "human" about

nature. Find in the poem what is often used with reference to human beings. 8. What do the images of the poem

suggest are the poet's feelings about nature? 9. Bring out the effectiveness of the repetition in the poem. 10. Would

you recommend the poem to a friend? Give your brief reasons. 11. Suppose that you had some reasons to get up an

hour before dawn. Describe the signs and stages by which the rest of the world "wakes up". 12. As a teacher you

propose to introduce this poem to your pupils. Prepare your introductory talk.

5. Work in pairs or in small groups. Use the phrase list of the Topical Vocabulary:

1.

You've been chatting to a friendly fellow-hiker on your way to the meeting place about your last year experience

on a hiking tour.

2. You have been invited to join your friend's family on a hiking tour. You've never been before and you want to

know much about the new experience.

3. A friend is saying good-bye to you as you are about to go off on a short hiking tour. You are not convinced you are

going to enjoy yourself.

4. You have arranged with your friend, Mike, to go out for a picnic. But it is pouring with rain.

5. At your English Department you have planned an end-of- term walking tour. You speak to your teacher about the

arrangements.

6. You and some friends are planning a hiking tour, but you want to do something unusual.

7. You are going on a hiking tour and have discovered that you have no rucksack. You remember your friend Jane

has an old rucksack that she probably isn't using. You telephone her.

8. Your friend Bob has agreed to come with you and two other friends on a hiking tour. Suddenly he changes his

mind and says he wants to go to the seaside. You try to persuade him to stay with you.

9. You and your sister are on a walking tour. Your sister has decided that you need to slim and has placed two raw

eggs in a glass in front of you as your dinner.

10. Give two descriptions of hiking tours. In one of them describe the tour from the point of view of an

ardent hiker, in the other describe the tour from the point of view of a tour-hater.

11. Imagine that you are a newly employed teacher and you are anxious to impress on your Headmistress the importance of

hiking tours.

6. Telling a Story.

We often want to tell people stories in the form of long narratives. It may be the story of a film, or a book, or a true story of events

that have happened to us — or even a joke or a funny story.

To keep the narrative going you need various "narrative techniques" to give variety and interest to the story.

So instead of saying: "He fell into the sea," you can say: "What happened to him was that he fell into the sea," and instead of say -

ing: "He opened the letter," you can say: "What he did was open the letter," or even: "What happened was that he opened the letter."

Another narrative technique is to involve the listener in the story by asking him or her to guess what happened next, or how

someone in the story felt:

You can guess how he felt.

What do you think he did?

And then do you know what he did?

Imagine my surprise when he ...

You'll never guess what happened next.

Narrative techniques like these will help make a story more dramatic.

7.Read the text and retell it. Use the narrative techniques of Ex. 6.

Picnic

My elderly cousin came to stay with us just before our youngest daughter's birthday. We were a little apprehensive whether we

ought to arrange the usual picnic celebration because my cousin loathes meals in the open air. However she was determined not to

spoil our plans and said she did not mind being left at home. On the day itself, seized by some sudden impulse, she elected to come

with us, much to our surprise. It was certainly a day to tempt anyone out, even the most inveterate anti-picnicker: a clear blue sky,

glorious sunshine and a gentle breeze.

We duly arrived at our favourite picnic site, a field beside a river, and everybody, except my cousin, had a lovely and most re-

freshing bathe before we settled ourselves for our meal under the willow trees. While we were eating, a herd of cows from the ad-

joining field began to amble through the open gateway, unnoticed by my cousin. We like cows but guessed that they would be as

little to her fancy as picnics and so hoped that they would go quietly back, satisfied that we were harmless. But one by one they

gradually advanced nearer and nearer. When my cousin chanced to look up, their eyes confronted hers. With one shriek of horror she

leapt into the air and ran, not to the car, where she might have taken refuge, but towards a gap in the hedge, so small that she could

not possibly have crawled through it. The cows, full of curiosity, gave chase. We were convulsed with laughter but my husband

managed to pull himself together, rounded up the cows, drove them back through the gateway and shut the gate. We thought that

disaster had been averted but our shaken guest, walking unsteadily back to us through a marshy bit of the field that the cows had

trampled into mud, lost her balance and fell on her face. A hot cup of coffee did nothing to restore her composure, so we had no

alternative but to pack up and go home. Never again, my cousin vowed bitterly, would she be so foolish as to go out on a picnic.

8. a) Tell the story of "Picnic" as the cousin might have told to her boy-friend, b) Work in pairs. You will tell each other the story in your own

words. Keep interrupting with questions, c) Imagine that you are an elderly cousin. Describe in your own words what happened to you on the day

after the picnic, d) Suppose you had been present at this event. Describe what you would have seen when the cows came into sight. Use your own

words as far as possible and do not include anything that is not in the passage, e) Imagine that you are the cousin. Describe what you saw and did.

9. In a narrative you can choose whether to report exactly what was said or report the main points of what was said.

Here are some ways of reporting the main points of what was said:

He wanted to know ...

He wondered ...

He tried to find out...

He mentioned something about...

He hinted that...

I found out that...

10. Read the following dialogue. Report the main points of what was said. Use the opening phrases of Ex. 9.

Newsagent's shop. Sunday morning. A young married couple, Anne and Jim, meet Ronald Marcer, a middle-aged librarian, while buying the Sunday

newspapers.

Ronald: "Sunday Telegraph", please. Thank you.

J i m : We would like all the Sunday papers. Why ... hullo, Mr. Marcer.

R o n a l d : Hullo.

J i m: You know my wife, Anne, don't you?

R o n a l d : Yes. We've met once or ... How are you?

A n n e : Yes, of course. How are you, Mr. Marcer?

R o n a l d : Buying up the whole of the paper shop this morning?

J i m: Well... We want to plan our summer holiday you see. And it's about this time of year especially that... that all the holiday ad -