Chapters Seven – Eight (pp. 38-53)

 

Active Vocabulary

1. to get on (well/OK/badly) with sb (38) - (хорошо/ нормально/плохо)

ладить с к/л,

2. to make a fuss about nothing (38) -               волноваться из-за пустяков

3. to keep out of sb's way (40) -                   держаться от к/л подальше

4. out of the blue (42) -                        неожиданно; ни с того, ни с сего

5. to turn up (46) -                              появляться; случаться

6. to live off royalties (47) -                 жить на авторский гонорар

7. to earn/make one’s living (48) -     зарабатывать себе на жизнь

8. to make a (vigorous) effort to do sth (49) -   прилагать усилия, предпринимать

решительные действия

9. to be/feel under the weather (infml) (50) - неважно себя чувствовать

 

I. Find in the novel the following words and phrases. Learn them. Get ready to reproduce the situations in which they were used. Try to use them in answering the questions and discussing the characters and the events of the novel.

II. Find in the novel words or word combinations with the following meaning. Put them down, translate them into Russian. Reproduce the sentences where they are used.

1. a person who steals sth (38) ________________________________________

2. to steal sth (39) _________________________________________________

3. an accentric, strange person (42) ____________________________________

4 beforehand (44) ________________________________________________

2. to earn money (48) ______________________________________________

3. to try sth very hard (49) __________________________________________

4. to go crazy (50) _________________________________________________

5. to be a bit unwell (50) ____________________________________________

III. Find in the novel the English equivalents of the following Russian words or word combinations.

1. заступаться за к/л (38) ___________________________________________

2. то и дело, время от времени (38, 39) ________________________________

3. поехать на пикник (42) ___________________________________________

4. быть, становиться твёрже (о характере) (44) _________________________

5. сидеть на заднем сиденье (в машине) (46) ___________________________

6. обвинять к/л в ч/л (48) ___________________________________________

7. раз и навсегда (48) _______________________________________________

8. гордиться ч/л (48) ______________________________________________

9. разложить детскую коляску (49) ___________________________________

10. прятки (52) ___________________________________________________

 

Mastering the pronunciation

Consult dictionaries. Put down the transcription of the following words. Practise reading them.

failure _______________________             imaginary _________________________

gorgeous _____________________             requisite __________________________

disease _______________________       presumption _______________________

duvet ________________________            belligerence ________________________

 

IV. Find in the novel the following sentences and put down your translation of them into Russian.

1. ‘I’ll bet you could do with a coffee,’ said Suzie (46). _____________________

______________________________________________________________

2. I took the afternoon off sick (40). ___________________________________

3. She just needs a weekend taking it easy (51). ___________________________

4. He drew the short straw (52). _______________________________________

 

Think over the answers to the following questions and get ready to discuss them in class.

 

Chapter seven

Marcus and His Mum

 

1. What was Marcus’s relationship with his father’s new family?

What was his and his mum’s attitude to Lindsey, his father’s wife?

 

2. Did the kids from school continue bullying him?

What did they do this time?

What advice did Mr Patel give him?

3. Was Marcus angry with his mum for her constant crying? Why?

What words of his mum’s hurt him so much?

Did you feel sorry for Marcus?

 

Chapter eight

 

Picnic in Regent’s Park

 

1. Why was Suzie furious the morning they went on a picnic?

2. Had Will thought his story with imaginary child through?

Were there any weak points in the story?

Did he see any way out?

 

Speak on Will and the way he made his living.

Had he ever tried to get a job?

 

3. What was Will’s first impressions of Marcus?

Did Marcus seem kind and merciful to Will?

4. Did Will try to break the ice and talk with the boy?

What did he try to talk to him about?

5. Why did Will think he could communicate with teenagers on equal terms?

Why did he fail this time?

6. What did Will and Suzie feel after their talk with Marcus?

 

v Try your hand at acting

 

The conversation on pages 50-51(especially the end of it on page 51) is very interesting from the point of view of different conversational lines the speakers follow.

The conversation begins as a talk of three people (Marcus, Will and Suzie) but by the end of it Marcus embarrasses the two adults so much that they become absolutely confused and deep in thought start talking to themselves.

 

Dramatize the conversation like a play (3 people are talking).

 

Think about how your characters might look, how they behaved during the conversation, what mimics and gestures they might have when talking. Try to be natural when performing your part.

 

 

7. How did Will entertain himself during the picnic?

What did other picnickers do? What did Marcus do?

Think!

The author attracts readers through pleasures of recognition. What details are used in the novel (in all these eight chapters) as ways of defining the characters, their social class and their attitudes?

 

 

C.S. Lewis (46) – an author of a famous book for children called The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, in which four children squeeze into a large wardrobe, and find they can go through it into a magic land.

Santa’s Super Sleigh (47) – a fictional song, but Hornby probably has in mind a song like ‘Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer’ which was composed in 1939 by an American advertising executive for children. That song is still in copyright.

Val Doonican (48) – he represents the sort of sentimental popular music played at Christmas time which is in the same tradition as Will’s father’s song.

Time Out, iD, the Face, Arena, the NME (50) – magazines devoted to popular contemporary culture, which Will uses as his sources of information on fashions in music.

Hip-hop (50)– 1990s rap music, almost always made by Afro-Americans.

Acid house (50)– drug-influenced dance music

Grunge music (50)– is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song dynamics, and apathetic or angst-filled lyrics. It was mostly popular with the working class calling to smash the system, go down with “the man”, etc.

Grunge became commercially successful in the first half of the 1990s, due mainly to the release of Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten. Although most grunge bands had disbanded or faded from view by the late 1990s, their influence continues to impact modern rock music.

Madchester (50)– a rock/dance hybrid popular in the early 90s. a lot of the bands came from Manchester, and used to shout out in interviews that they were “mad for it” (i.e. desperate for drugs, sex, parties).

 

a fiver (38) – a five-pound note (Cp.: a tenner)

Oi, Mohammad (39) – Mr Patel comes from a Muslim country. The boys call him “Mohammed” as the most common Muslim name, and in this case as a name of casual contempt.

to be all for sth/doing sth (40) – ратовать за ч/л, быть «за»

duvet (41) – пуховое одеяло

vasectomy (43) – вазэктомия (иссечение семявыносящего протока)

whisk away (45) - быстро увозить

thespian (45) = dramatic, theatrical

pervert (45) – извращенец, регенерат

when it comes to the crunch (45) – когда дело дойдет до решающего момента, когда наступит критический момент

wimp (45) – бесхарактерный человек, тряпка

belligerence (50) – воинственность

 

Lesson 4