Яков Аракин - Практический курс английского языка 2 курс

знаменитого английского генерала и государственного деятеля XIX в. Под его командованием

английские войска совместно со своими союзниками (allies) нанесли поражение армии

Наполеона под Ватерлоо в 1815 г. Мост Ватерлоо, один из красивейших мостов через Темзу,

был назван так в честь этой победы. 2. Мэлл (The Mall) — это широкий проспект, обсаженный

деревьями, ведущий от Трафальгарской площади к Букингемскому дворцу — резиденции

английских королей. Напротив дворца стоит огромный памятник со статуей Победы наверху.

Этот памятник был воздвигнут в честь королевы Виктории, чье шестидесятичетырехлетнее

царствование (reign) было самым продолжительным в истории (1837—1901). 3. Хайгейтское

кладбище (Highgate Cemetery) известно тем, что там находится могила Карла Маркса. В 1956

году на деньги, присланные рабочими со всех концов света, там был воздвигнут памятник

Карлу Марксу.

XI. Read Text С. Say what landmarks you would mention to a group of tourists

standing in the middle of Red Square. Use the word combinations given below:

to witness, the heart of the city, the face of Red Square, the seat of the Administration of the

President, to honour the memory, to stream to, public executions, the beating of the heart of our

capital,

ХII. Act out a dialogue between a Russian tourist and a policeman. Choose the

exact place (in Moscow or elsewhere) where you are having your talk and the place

you want to get to. Use in your dialogue one or two phrases from each set given

below:

1. Excuse me, I've lost my way ...; I'm trying to go to ...; Which is the right (best, shortest)

way to ...? Please show me the way to ...; How do I get there? Am I on the right road? 2. How far is

it? Is it possible to walk there? Is there a bus from here to ...? Is it much of a walk? 3. Go right to the

end of the street, then turn left, go two blocks straight ahead and then turn to ... ; Straight on and the

second turning to the right ...; You are going in the opposite direction. 4. What can I do for you?

Now, where is it you want to go? It's a long distance off. It's a long (short) way to ...; It's quite a

distance from here. 5. Be careful, the traffic keeps to the left in this country; Look out; It isn't safe to

cross here; Be sure not to cross the street (square, etc.); One can never be too careful; Wait for the

break in the traffic; Don't cross the street when the traffic light has changed to red.

XIII. Try your band at teaching.

1. Read the text. Discuss what you would do in the teacher's position:

Susan was absolutely impossible. Or so her teacher was convinced, for Susan did not like to

read (a problem every teacher faces from time to time). But there were things that Susan did enjoy.

She liked ballet. And she adored her dog Curly. "How can I," thought the teacher, "introduce Susan

to pleasures of reading?"

2. Get 4-5 pictures of London (Moscow) attractions and be ready to comment

on them. (See "Classroom English", Sections II, Ш, V.)

ХIV. Translate the following sentences into English:

1. Из окна такси вы можете увидеть Лондон лишь мельком. Есть много других

способов ознакомиться с его достопримечательностями: можно походить по городу пешком,

можно отправиться в двухчасовую поездку на туристском автобусе, курсирующем по

Лондону, можно посмотреть город с верхней площадки двухэтажного автобуса; кроме того,

можно совершить речную поездку по Темзе или Большому каналу в Риджентс-Парк. 2. Если

бы вы смогли пролететь над Москвой на вертолете (helicopter), вы бы увидели, как изменилась

и выросла наша столица: длинные, обсаженные деревьями проспекты, пересекают город во

всех направлениях, кварталы новых многоэтажных домов появились на окраинах города на

месте старых деревянных домиков, темных от копоти и дыма. Над многочисленными

стройками (building sites) столицы возвышаются огромные подъемные краны (cranes). 3.

Метро — самый удобный вид городского транспорта. Сотни тысяч москвичей и приезжих

ежедневно поднимаются и спускаются по его эскалаторам, восхищаются архитектурой и

отделкой (decoration) чудесных подземных дворцов. 4. Памятник А. С. Пушкину,

установленный на Страстной (ныне Пушкинской) площади, — один из самых любимых

памятников жителей столицы. У его подножия вы всегда увидите букеты живых цветов,

которые приносят сюда москвичи, чтобы почтить память любимого поэта.

XV. Act out a dialogue between a Muscovite and a Londoner on his first visit to

Moscow. Imagine that you are standing in the middle of Red Square. Your companion

asks you about everything be sees, gives his opinion about this and that and says

what buildings, monuments, etc. remind him of London. Use the prompts of Ex. VII.

p. 111.

XVI. a) Get ready to read the text aloud, b) Write a translation of the text:

Morning City

This was one of those mornings when the smoke and the Thames Valley mist decide to work

a few miracles for their London, and especially for the oldest part of it, the City. The City, on these

mornings, is an enchantment. There is a faintly luminous haze, now silver, now old gold, over

everything. The buildings have shape and solidity but no weight; they hang in the air, like palaces

out of the Arabian Nights; you could topple the dome off St. Paul's with a forefinger, push back the

Mansion House, send the Monument floating into space. On these mornings, the old churches cannot

be counted; there are more of them than ever. There is no less traffic than usual; the scarlet stream of

buses still flows through the ancient narrow streets; the pavements are still thronged with bank

messengers, office boys, policemen, clerks, typists, commissionaires, directors, secretaries, crooks,

busy-bodies, idlers; but on these mornings all the buses, taxicabs, vans, lorries and all the pedestrians

lose something of their ordinary solidity; they move behind gauze; they are tyred in velvet; their

voices are muted; their movement is in slow motion. Whatever is new and vulgar and foolish

contrives to lose itself in the denser patches of mist. But all the glimpses of ancient loveliness are

there, perfectly framed and lighted: round every corner somebody is whispering a line or two of

Chaucer. And on these mornings, the river is simply not true: there is no geography, nothing but pure

poetry, down there; the water has gone and shapes out of an adventurous dream drift by on a tide of

gilded and silvered air. Such is the City on one of these mornings, a place in a Gothic fairy tale, a

mirage, a vision.

(From "They Walk in the City" by J. B. Priestley. Abridged)

XVII. Role-playing:

A group of guides suggests possible sightseeing routes about London (Moscow) to their

office director. Each one speaks in favour of his/her suggestion trying to convince both the director

and the guides that the route is the best. In the end the participants of the talk choose the most

appropriate route.

XVIII. Describe (in writing) a sight or a view that once struck yon as

picturesque, beautiful or unusual.

The best essays may be read in class and then placed in a wall paper, a special bulletin issued

by the literary club, etc.

Note: The text above may serve as a perfect example of such description

XIX. Film: "Mr. Brown's Holiday." Film segment 3 "In Dear Old England"

(Broadstairs). a) Watch and listen, b) Do the exercises from the guide to the film.

STUDIES OF WRITTEN ENGLISH (III)

The central idea of a paragraph is built up with the help of larger units than key-words, that is

with the help of socalled topic sentences.

Topic sentenceis a summarizing sentence of a paragraph. Topic sentences can also be used

to tie up a group of paragraphs together holding the unity of a passage.

Generally the topic sentence comes first in a paragraph. It helps to understand the text and

begin writing, е.g. "Numerous artificial languages have been carefully constructed and some of them

are still in limited use. In 1887, an artificial language, Esperanto, was created. Esperanto has little

grammar and drew its vocabulary from all the European languages..." (From "One Language for the

World" by M. Pei). The writer proceeds from a general statement to particulars.

Occasionally the topic sentence comes last, when the writer wishes first to prepare his reader

for the general idea or a conclusion, е.g. "You're like two friends who want to take their holiday

together, but one of them wants to climb Greenland's snowy mountains while the other wants to fish

off India's coral strand. Obviously it's not going to work" (From "The Razor's Edge" by W. S.

Maugham).

Assignments:

1. Read the passage "Introducing London" and mark paragraphs with topic sentences.

What central idea do they summarize? Where are they placed within the paragraph?

2. Find the topic sentence that holds the unity of the whole passage.

3. Mark the key-words that emphasize the main points of the information about

London.

4. Paragraph 8 includes the key-word "parks", develop it into a topic sentence

summarizing the central idea of the paragraph.