Transcribe and pronounce correctly the words from the story. pageant, nourishing, shepherd, bodice, sepulchral, cockroach, vanity, contralto, brooch, cashier, mauve

pageant, nourishing, shepherd, bodice, sepulchral, cockroach, vanity, contralto, brooch, cashier, mauve, weird, hideous, yacht, crooked, apron.

Comprehension Check

a) Ada Moss was having a difficult time, wasn’t she?

b) What can you guess about her past? Speak about her education, career and prospects of finding a job.

c) Was her landlady a soft-hearted woman?

d) What kind of letter did Miss Moss receive? What reasons did the landlady have to read it?

e) What did she decide to do to improve her state of mind?

f) Why did she have to change her plans and go straight to Kig and Kadgit?

g) Did she succeed in getting a job?

h) Do you think that the Café de Madrid was a special place to go?

i) Had she ever been there before?

j) How desperate should a person be to accept such a way of earning money?

 

Match the following definitions in the left column with the words in the right column. Find sentences with these words in the story.

1. not having a clear shape.	to take trouble
2. to smile widely at somebody.	to give no sign
3. to make a sound by hitting a surface again and again with one’s fingers.	to afford something
4. to try hard to do something well.	to tell somebody off
5. signs or objects that make you believe that sth is true.	to bump into smb
6. to meet somebody by chance.	vague
7. to make a serious or angry expression by bringing your eyebrows closer together.	to make a face at smb
8. to speak angrily to somebody for doing something wrong.	to frown
9. (fml) to provide somebody with something.	evidence
10. not to show that that you have noticed something.	to drum one’s fingers
11. to produce an expression on your face to show that you don’t like smb/smth.	to grin at somebody

 

Choose the right word from the above exercise for each of the sentences below.

a) It is worth ………………. to sieve the fruit by hand.

b) He …….. no …….. of having recognized her.

c) The Prime Minister …………that the journalist’s question embarrassed him.

d) They ………a lot of …….to find the right person for the right job.

e) I ran after her, ………….people.

f) He says he’s been working hard, but I haven’t seen any …….. of it.

g) The tree ……… some shelter from the sun.

h) The identity of the city in the novel is deliberately left……...

i) He was ……….nervously on the arm of the chair.

j) I ……. the boys …. for making so much noise.

k) The children laughed loudly………. at each other.

l) He ……… with annoyance.

m) She looked at us, ……… from ear to ear.

Find words opposite in meaning to the following ones from the story. Use them in the sentences of your own.

fatty   awful    unsympathetic   natural         ugly       to turn pale

 

6. Find in the story verbs similar in meaning to the following:

a) to move forward very slowly;

b) to move away backwards;

c) to move with energy;

d) to go after somebody;

e) to move smoothly in a particular direction;

f) to move or fall in a heavy or awkward way.

 

Find the English equivalents to the following words or phrases and use them in the sentences of your own.

Пудра; я замерзла; плотный завтрак; очень мило с вашей стороны; так больше продолжаться не может; у вас слишком доброе сердце; личное письмо; отчитать кого-то; скорчить рожицу; она сделала вид, что не слышит; привлекательная девушка; она от души расплакалась; это ее приободрило.

 

Ada’a inner dialogues create different pictures in which she has a part to play. Explain how her character becomes revealed in them.

Comment on the following words of the author.

a) ‘…an old brown cat without a tail appeared from nowhere… It gave Miss Moss a queer feeling to watch – a sinking, as you might say’.

b)  ‘The girl not only frowned; she seemed to smell something vaguely unpleasant; she sniffed.’

c) ‘ Why shouldn’t I go to the Café de Madrid? I am a respectable woman I’m a contralto singer. And I’m only trembling because I’ve had nothing to eat to-day…’

 

Choose a passage and prepare it for model reading. Give reasons for your choice. Translate the passage into Russian.

 

Respond to the statements.

a) ‘A poor man with nothing in his belly needs hope, illusion, more than bread.’

Georges Bernanos (1888–1948), French novelist, political writer.

b) ‘The natural flights of the human mind are not from pleasure to pleasure, but from hope to hope.’

Samuel Johnson (1709–84), English author, lexicographer.