Popular Misconceptions About William Shakespeare

І завдання

а) має на меті читання, літературний переклад фрагменту та інтерпретації уривку з оригінального твору художньої літератури.

Обсяг уривку: 1-2 сторінки машинописного тексту.

Час підготовки: 40-50 хвилин.

Відповідь студента передбачає непідготовлене читання вголос 10-12 рядків, вказаних екзаменатором, а також літературний переклад частини уривку українською мовою без словника, але з використанням глосарію.

Інтерпретація тексту включає літературний коментар та розкриття особливостей індивідуального авторського стилю; короткий зміст уривку; фрагментарний лінгво-стилістичний аналіз, під час якого студент повинен визначити роль та місце стилістичних засобів у побудові смислової перспективи тексту, показати вміння аналізувати текст як єдине художнє ціле, базуючи його інтерпретацію на зіставленні та врахуванні взаємних мовних засобів художнього зображення, до яких вдається автор тексту.

Наведемо приклади текстів для державного іспиту.

 

Ukrainian Political Figures

 

What are the names of the political figures mentioned in the text? Who were they?

The lives of Ukrainian political figures give a vivid picture of the heroic past of the Ukrainian people. The institution of hetman ship was introduced in Ukraine in the 16th century. The hetmans were the military leaders of the Cossack army until the liberation war of 1648-1654. In the course of this war Ukrainian statehood was revived. In accordance with the Treaty of Zboriv, signed in 1649 by hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky and the Polish king, the Cossacks were given their own territory: the Kyiv, Chernihiv and Podillia regions. Subsequently, the Ukrainian hetmans were not only commanders-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, but they were also in charge of administrative, financial and diplomatic affairs.

Ukrainian hetmans varied in their character and outlook, but shared the same fate, many of them dying in foreign lands. For example, Baida Vyshnevetsky was tortured to death in Istanbul and Ivan Sulyma in Warsaw. Mykhailo Doroshenko was killed during a military campaign in the Crimea. The grave of Bohdan Khmelnytsky was de­stroyed by the Polish gentry. Demyan Mnohohrishny, the first Ukrainian political exile to Siberia, died there. The legendary hetman Pavlo Polubotok was tortured to death in Petropavlovsk Fortress in St. Petersburg.

The most outstanding political figure in Ukraine in the 20th century was Mykhailo Hrushevsky. He was born in September 1866 in the town of Khelm (now the territory of Poland), but three years later the family moved to the Caucasus, where Mykhailo spent 17 years of his life. In 1886 he was admitted to the department of history and philology of Kyiv St. Volodymyr University. His diploma paper was awarded the gold medal. In 1894 Hrushevsky headed the Department of World History at Lviv University. In Lviv he made friends with Ivan Franko and became the head of the Shevchenko Scientific Society. In 1898 the first volume of his major work The History of Ukraine-Rus was published. The tenth and final volume of this work was completed 36 years later.

When World War I broke out, the Hrushevsky family were in the Carpathians. On re­turning to Kyiv, Hrushevsky was arrested, imprisoned and later deported to Russia. After the February revolution of 1917, Hrushevsky headed the Central Council of Ukraine and was elected its president. But after the establishment of the Hetmanshchyna regime with Pavlo Skoropadsky as hetman, Hrushevsky went underground, and then emigrated, first to Prague and later to Vienna. In the early 1920s he was invited by the Soviet government to return home, and was elected a Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences. During the last ten years of his life Hrushevsky was working on the history of Ukraine and Ukrainian lite­rature. He died under mysterious circumstances in Kislovodsk in 1934.

The names of many Ukrainian political figures were disgraced and forgotten for many years. Today, they can at last be acknowledged once again, and the details of their biographies can now throw additional light on the history of Ukraine.

 

(Source: News from Ukraine, various issues, 1991/1992)

Modern Examinations

 

In ancient times the most important examinations were spoken, not written. In the schools of ancient Greece and Rome, testing usually consisted of saying poetry aloud or giving speeches.

In the European universities of the Middle Ages, stu­dents who were working for advanced degrees had to discuss questions in their field of study with people who had made a special study of the subject. This custom exists today as part of the process of testing candidates for the doctor’s degree.

Generally, however, modern examinations are written. The written examination, where all students are tested on the same questions, was probably not known until the nineteenth century. Perhaps it came into existence with the great increase in population and the development of modern industry. A room full of candidates for a state examination, timed exactly by electric clocks and carefully watched over by managers, resembles a group of workers at an automobile factory. Certainly, during examinations teachers and students are expected to act like machines. There is nothing very human about the examination process.

Two types of tests are commonly used in modern schools. The first type is sometimes called an “objective” test. It is intended to deal with facts, not personal opini­ons. To make up an objective test the teacher writes a series of questions, each of which has only one correct an­swer. Along with each question the teacher writes the correct answer and also three statements that look like answers to students who have not learned the material properly.

For testing student’s memory of facts and details, the objective test has advantages. It can be scored very quickly by the teacher or even by a machine. In a short time the teacher can find out a great deal about the student’s range of knowledge.

For testing some kinds of learning, however, such a test is not very satisfactory. A lucky student may guess the correct answer without realty knowing the material. More­over, some of the wrong answers are usually more incorrect than others, yet.the scores.on the test will not take account of this fact.

For a clearer picture of what the student knows, most teachers use another kind of examination in addition to objective tests. They use “essay” tests which require stu­dents to write long answers to broad general questions.

One advantage of the essay test is that it reduces the element of luck. The student cannot get a high score just by making a lucky guess. Another advantage is that it shows the examiner more about the student’s ability to put facts together into a meaningful whole. It should show how deeply he has thought about the subject. Sometimes, though, essay tests have disadvantages, too. Some students are able to write rather good answers without really knowing much about the subject, while other students who actually know the material have trouble expressing their ideas in essay form.

Besides, in an essay test the student’s score may depend upon the examiner’s feelings at the time of reading the answer. If he is feeling tired or bored, the student may receive a lower score than he should. From this standpoint the objective test gives each student a fairer chance, and of course it is easier and quicker to score.

Most teachers and students would probably agree that examinations are unsatisfactory. Students dislike taking them; teachers dislike giving them and scoring students’ answers. Whether an objective test or an essay test is used, problems arise. When some objective questions are used along with some essay questions, however, a fairly clear picture of the student’s knowledge can usually be obtained.

(From “American English”)

Scotland Yard

 

Scotland Yard is the headquarters' of the Metropolitan Police in London. To most people, its name immediately brings to mind the picture of a detective — cool, collected, efficient, ready to track down any criminal with complete confidence that he will bring him to justice, or a helmeted police-constable — that familiar figure of the London scene and trusty helper of every traveller from overseas.

Scotland Yard is situated on the Thames Embankment close to the Houses of Parliament and the familiar clock tower of Big Ben, and its jurisdiction extends over 740 square miles with the exception of the ancient City of London, which possesses its own separate Police force.

One of the most successful developments in Scotland Yard's crime detection and emergency service has been the '999 system'. On receipt of a call 999 Room operator ascertains by electronic device the position of the nearest available police car, which is con­tacted by radio. Almost instantly, a message is also sent by tele­printer to the police stations concerned, so that within seconds of a call for assistance being received, a police car is on its way to the scene and all neighbouring police stations have been notified.

Apart from the 999 Room, one of the most interesting places in Scotland Yard is the Map Room. Here is the General Crime Map, the Deaths by Violence Map, the Accidents Map and the Vehicles Recovered Map.

An old-established section of the Metropolitan Police is the Mounted Branch, with its strength of about 200 horses stabled at strategic points. These horses are particularly suited to ceremonial occasions, for they are accustomed to military bands.

An interesting branch of Scotland Yard is the branch of Police Dogs, first used as an experiment in 1938. Now these dogs are an important part of the Force. One dog, for example, can search a warehouse in ten minutes, whereas the same search would take six men an hour.

There is also the River Police, or Thames Division, which has its own crime investigation officers who handle all crimes occurring within its river boundaries.

There are two other departments of Scotland Yard — the Wit­ness Room (known as the Rogues' Gallery) where a photographic record of known or suspected criminals is kept, and the Museum, which contains murder relics, forgery exhibits and coining moulds.

The name 'Scotland Yard' originates from the plot of land ad­joining Whitehall Palace where, in about the 14th century, the roy­alty and nobility of Scotland stayed when visiting the English Court.

The popular nickname of the London policeman 'bobby' is a tribute to Sir Robert Peel, who introduced the police force in 1829, and whose Christian name attached itself to members of the force.

(From ‘’Topics and Vocabulary’’, Y. Maslyuk)

 

 

Stonehenge

Sohn henj, is an ancient monument on Salisbury Plain, in Wiltshire, En­gland. It is a group of huge, rough-cut stones. No one knows exactly who placed them there. In 1952, archaeologists from Edinburgh University discovered two, underground holes which had proba­bly served as ritu­al pits. They sent bits of charcoal from these pits to the University of Chicago to be analyzed by the radioactive-carbon method. Scien­tists there determined that the charcoal dates from 1848 b. c., plus or minus 275 years. Some of the stones are found only hi western Wales, and had to be brought about 300 miles to this site.

For hundreds of years, the great stones gradually fell, or people carried them away to make bridges and mill dams. But from the positions of many of the stones still in place, scholars can guess what the monument probably looked like originally. Thirty blocks of gray sandstone, each about 30 feet in length and weighing an average of 28 tons, stood in a 100-foot circle. A continuous circle of smaller blocks were laid on top of them. Inside was a circle of 40 blue stones. Inside this smaller circle were two other sets of stones, in the shape of two horseshoes, one inside the other, and opening toward the northeast. Near the center curve of the inner horseshoe was a flat block of sandstone, 15 feet long, which was probably an altar, and may have stood upright. A nearby stone marker, 80 yards east of it, was set to cast a shadow on the altar at dawn on Midsummer Day, June 24. For this reason, some scholars say that Stonehenge was connected with sun worship. The Druids may also have used it as a temple. An earth wall about 320 feet in circumference surrounded the monument. Woodhenge, also in Wiltshire, is a wooden monument—similar to Stone­henge. Scholars believe it is more than 3,000 years old.

In 1922, the British government began to restore Stonehenge. Some of the scattered stones were put back as they had been original­ly. Today, the government takes care of this monument and charges a small fee for admission.

(From ‘’Topics and Vocabulary’’ by Y. Maslyuk)

Twilight at Noon

 

The international organization on the environment and pollution, Earthscan, more and more often turns to ques­tions of war and peace and the likely consequences of a nuclear conflict. Speaking at a press conference Dr. Mick Kelly, a climatologist from East Anglia Univer­sity, reported the results of research.

Any nuclear strike exchange will result in an emis­sion into the atmosphere of at least 40 million tons of fine dust and up to 200 million tons of fine smoke particles. The resulting cloud will screen sunlight. Visibility will drop to one percent of the normal. "Twilight at Noon" will fall upon the Earth. As a result the surface of the Earth will quickly begin to cool down. If the war breaks out in spring or summer in the north­ern hemisphere, the temperature will fall by 20 to 30 de­grees and as a result summer will turn into winter. The climatic changes will be particularly great in the northern medium latitudes in the northern subtropics and the 160equatorial. zone. But it is here north of equator, that 80 percent of the Earth's population live.

So far, it is not quite clear what will happen in the southern hemisphere, but a global climatic shake-up will, no doubt, take place. The atmosphere will certainly react to the pollution of its northern part. The depletion of the ozone layer in the atmosphere will raise the level of ultraviolet radiation to a dangerous limit, the last attack of the "nuclear winter". Living or­ganisms will not stand the test of the "nuclear winter". Cold, gloom and rain will be the main cause of disease and death.

Earthscan calls for a radically new thinking on prob­lems of war. This organization highly estimates the new thinking of the progressive leaders and their ability to size up the dangerous long term consequences of nuclear testing. The moratorium on the nuclear tests must be accepted by all powerful countries.

 

(from “Digest”)

 

Mayflower

 

If you go to New Plymouth, a small town in the United States of America, you will see there a rock which reaches the sea. Many thousands of people from different parts of the United States and from many other countries in the world come to this small town and they always go to see the Rock. They take off their hats, stand there and think about the brave men and women who, more than three hundred years ago, were standing on this Rock and looking at the country where they had come to begin a new life.

They had built a small village there, and American people say that out of this small village grew a big country — the Unit­ed States of America.

It was in 1620, in the time of King James the First. English people did not like their king and they called him 'The Foolish King of England'. Many of them even left England and went to live in other countries.

In November, 1620 a small ship, the Mayflower, left England. There were about one hundred people aboard the ship, but even for this hundred the ship was too small. For seven long weeks the Mayflower was in the waves and storms of the Atlantic Ocean and at last the people saw land. It was America.

It was already autumn. It was raining and a cold wind was blowing. Sixteen men left the Mayflower and went ashore. In the evening they came back to the ship and brought some maize with them. They found the maize in the sand on the beach where the Indians had left it. Nobody in Europe had seen maize then, but when the people on board the Mayflower tried it they liked it very much.

Next day was Sunday and everybody on the Mayflower had a rest. On Monday some men went ashore again and this time they took some women with them. The women had to wash the clothes. Since that time Monday has been a wash-day in Amer­ica.

During the next five weeks the men from the Mayflower left the ship every day. Sometimes they did not come back for many days; they were looking for a good place to live. The weather was very cold, more and more men fell ill, but at last they found a good place. There was a good harbour for ships there, some fields and forests near it and even a small river. The people began to build a village there.

By January, 1621 there were already two streets in this vil­lage, and they called it 'New Plymouth'.

It was winter now. The people were tired and cold. They did not have enough to eat. More and more of them fell ill. There was a time when only seven men were quite well. Many people died. Sometimes two or three died in a day. When the houses were ready, the life of the people became easier; they had warm houses where they could live.

One day the people of the village suddenly saw a tall Indian who was walking along the street. They were frightened very much, but this Indian came up to them, smiled and said, "Hallo, Yankee! Hallo, Yankee!"

This Indian could speak English a little. He had learnt the language from the sailors of a ship which had come to this part of America a few years before. He called all Englishmen 'Yan­kee', because he could not say the word 'Englishman'.

Few days later this Indian came to the village again together with some other Indians. They came as friends and helped the white men very much. But white men forgot about this help very quickly; a few years later when many people from Europe came to America, they began to take the land away from the Indians and to kill them.

All the Indians who came to the village of New Plymouth called the Englishmen 'Yankee', and since that time 'Yankee' has been the name of a white man in America.

At last spring came. The people of New Plymouth began to plant corn, and the Indians showed them how to plant maize.

In autumn the crops were very good and the people of New Plymouth wanted to make a holiday dinner. They asked the Indians to this dinner, and the Indians brought some wild tur­keys as a present. The turkey was an American bird. Very few people in Europe had ever heard about it, but when they ate it at this dinner they liked it very much. The people of New Plymouth called their holiday 'Thanksgiving Day'. Since that time Thanksgiving Day has been a great holiday in the United States of America, and since that day Americans have always had turkeys for the Thanksgiving Day.

(from “English in two years” by G. Rogova)

Last Word

 

Everybody has to die some day, but no-body likes to think about it. Even so, at some time in their most people manage to think about the question for long enough to make a will. If you've already made yours, it's probably just a few pages of writing leaving everything to your family. That's the kind of will that the majority of people make. However there are plenty of ways to make your will more interesting if you want to.

To begin with, you don't have to write it on paper. One man wrote his on an envelope, an­other on a door, and a third on an egg. It doesn't have to be a few pages either. You could copy Mrs Frederick Cook, who died in 1925; her will, longer than many novels, was more than 95,000 words long. If you haven't got time for that, however, you could take Herr Tausch as an example. His will, written in Czech in 1967, was just two words: 'Vse zene' (All to wife).

For some people, the most important part of their will is the part that says how they want to be buried. Mrs. Sandra West, a rich widow from Texas USA, decided that she wanted to be buried with her favourite things. When she died in 1977, her brother-in-law.discovered that he would inherit $2.8 million -but only if he buried her in her favourite car. If he buried her any other way, he'd only get $10,000. It wasn't easy for Mrs. West's brother-in-law, but two months af­ter she died he got the permission he needed. Mrs. West was buried in her blue Ferrari, and her brother-in-law became a rich man.

In 1973 dentist Philip Grundy from Leicestershire, England, left most of his money - 180,000 - to the nurse who worked for him. Lucky woman, you might think. There was a catch however; the money was hers after five years if in that time she didn't wear any kind of makeup or jewellery or go out with men. It is not known whether the nurse managed to wait for the five years to get the money.

Finally, let's hope that your will is not like that of Dr Everett Wagner, who lived in Ken­tucky USA 100 years ago. His family, who had not been to see him for years, suddenly began to visit him when he became ill; what was worse, each person suggested to Dr Wagner that they would like 'something to remember him by* when he died. Greatly annoyed with them, Dr Wagner wrote a will that would do this. To each of his four brothers he left one of his legs or arms; his nephew got his nose, and his two nieces each got an ear. His teeth and gums went to his cousins. He left $1,000 to pay for cutting up his body, and the rest of his money - $12,000, which was quite a large amount for those times - he left to the poor.

 

(By Christopher Wood)

Common Sense About Smoking

It is often said, 'I know all about the risk to my health, but I think that the risk is worth it.' When this statement is true it should be accepted.

Everyone has the right to choose what risks they take, however great they may be. However, often the statement really means, ‘’I have a nasty feeling that smoking is bad for my health, but I would rather not think about it’’. With some of these people the bluff canbe called and they can be asked to explain what they think the risk to their own health is. When this is done few get very far in personal terms. The bare fact that 23,000 people died of lung cancer last year in Great Britain often fails to impress an individual. When it is explained that this is the equivalent of one every twenty-five minutes or is four times as many as those killed on the roads, the sig­nificance is more apparent. The one-in-eight risk of dying of lung cancer forthe man who smokes twenty-five or more cigarettes a day may be better appreciated if an analogy is used. If, when you boarded a plane, the girl at the top of the steps were to welcome you aboard with the greeting, '’I am pleased that you are coming with us - only one in eight of our planes crashes,'’ how many would think again, and make other arrangements? Alternatively, the analogy of Russian Roulette may appeal. The man smoking twenty-five or more a day runs the same risk between the ages of thirty and sixty as another who buys a re­volver with 250 chambersand inserts one live bullet and on each of his birthdays spins the chamber, points the revolver at his head, and pulls the trigger. One of the difficulties in im­pressing these facts on people, is that, despite the current epidemic of lung cancer, because it is a disease which kills relatively quickly, there are many who have as yet no experience of it among their family or friends.

(by Christopher Wood)

 

 

Silver Blaze

 

In Devon, a valuable racehorse, Silver Blaze, had disap­peared; its trainer, John Straker, was found dead.

Silver Blaze was ready to run in an important race in a few days' time. On the night he disappeared, a stable-boy was guard­ing him. The boy had a dog with him, and two other boys were sleeping above the stable

A girl who was taking the boy his supper saw a stranger near the stables. She ran back to the house to get help, and the stranger ran away. The stable-boy said that the stranger had asked him, "Will Silver Blaze really win the race?" The boy said he hadn't opened the stable door.

At about midnight, John Straker, the horse's trainer, told his wife he was still worried about the horse. He went out, to­wards the stables, taking a sharp doctor's knife with him.

The next morning, the stable door was opened. The horse had gone, and the stable-boy was unconscious. Opium was found in his food. Usually, you can taste opium, but he had strong meat for supper, and that had hidden the taste.

John Straker was found out on Dartmoor. He was dead, his head crushed. His coat was hanging over a bush. Near him was his knife, and a scarf which was recognized as the stranger's.

The police found and arrested the stranger, Mr. Simpson. They said he had drugged the boy, stolen the horse and killed Straker. Simpson denied it all, and they still didn't know where the horse was.

Colonel Ross, the horse's owner, then sent a telegram to Sherlock Holmes, asking him to find the horse. Holmes and his friend, Dr. Watson, were at their flat in Baker Street, in London. They had read the whole story in the newspapers. Holmes took no notice of the telegram, saying that Silver Blaze was somewhere on Dartmoor, and would soon be found.

Two days later, Holmes understood he was mistaken, and he and Dr. Watson took a train to Tavistock, in Devon. They went to the place on Dartmoor where Straker's body was found. There, Holmes found a match. Then they searched the place, and finally found the tracks of Silver Blaze. Some of the prints were alone, pointing towards Colonel Ross's stables; others had the footprints of a man with them, and pointed towards another stable.

Holmes and Watson talked to the owner there, and he final­ly admitted that he had stolen Silver Blaze, taken him home and hidden him. He wanted his own horse to win the race. He said he knew nothing about the murder.

Now, said Dr. Watson, the mystery was over. The police had found the murderer, and they had found the horse. Sherlock Holmes didn't agree. When they went back to Colonel Ross's stables, Holmes asked, "Was there anything wrong with any animals on the farm?" A farm-worker said that three of the sheep had gone lame.

If Simpson, the stranger, had drugged the stable-boy, he was very lucky. He couldn't know that there was meat for sup­per. And how did he put the drug in the food?

The two boys sleeping hadn't woken up. So the dog hadn't barked. So the dog knew the thief.

Who carries a doctor's knife for self-defense? A knife like that is for something different—like making a horse lame.

Someone who isn't a doctor would have to practice an oper­ation of a horse's leg—perhaps he would practise on some sheep.

A man who hangs his coat on a bush, and strikes a match, doesn't run after thieves. He's going to do something difficult; like operating on a horse.

The scarf? Straker must have found it near the stables, and decided to tie the horse's legs with it. Silver Blaze became frigh­tened, kicked back, and killed Straker.

Why would Straker want to lame a horse which he trained? Because he had bet money on another horse.

Elementary, my dear Watson!

(after Conan Doyle)

The Speckled Band

 

Helen's Story

At the time of this story I was still living at my friend Sherlock Holmes's flat in Baker Street 221B in London.

Very early one morning, a young woman, dressed in black, came to see us.

She looked tired and unhappy. "Please, help me, Mr. Holmes!" she cried. "I'm afraid! Afraid of death!"

"Don't worry, Miss. Just sit down and tell us your story", said Holmes kindly.

"My name is Helen Stoner", she began. "I live with my stepfather, Dr Grimesby Roylott, near a village in the country. He was poor when he married my mother. It was in India. My sister Julia and I were very young then. Our father was dead, you see."

"Your mother had some money, perhaps?" asked Sherlock Holmes.

"Oh, yes, mum had a lot of money, so my stepfather wasn't poor anymore."

"Tell me more about him, Miss Stoner," said Holmes.

"Well, he's a violent man.

In India he once killed his Indian servant and got to prison. Then we all came back to England.

Mother died in an accident eight years ago. So my stepfather got all her money, but if Julia or I marry, he must pay us 250 every year."

"Well, go on, Ms Stoner", said Holmes. "Now you live with him in the country..."

"Yes, but he stays at home and never visits anybody. He's more and more violent now. Everybody is afraid of him and his wild Indian animals which run freely around the garden. A friend sends them to him from India.

Besides, my stepfather likes wild people, and gypsies can come and go when they like. Poor Julia and I had very unhappy lives. We had no servants. They always left because they were afraid of my stepfather, and we had to do all the work in the house. Julia was only thirty when she died..."

"When did she die?" asked Sherlock Holmes.

"Two years ago, and that's why Fm here. We never met anybody in the country, but sometimes we visited some of my family who live near London. There Julia met a young roan who asked to marry her. My stepfather agreed, but soon after this she died." Miss Stoner put her hand over her eyes and cried for a minute.

"Tell me everything about her death", Holmes said.

"It was a terrible time!' she answered. "Our three bedrooms are all downstairs. First there is my stepfather's room. Julia's room is next to his, and my room is next to Julia's. The rooms ail have windows on the garden side of the house, and doors which open into the corridor. One evening our stepfather was smoking his strong Indian cigarettes in his room. Julia couldn't sleep because she could smell them in her room, so she came into my room to talk to me. Before she went back to bed, she said to me, "Helen, have you ever heard a whistle (cbhct) in the middle of the night?"

I was surprised. "No," I said. "It's strange," she said. "Sometimes I hear a whistle, but I don't know where it comes from. Why don't you hear it?"

I laughed and said, "I sleep better than you do." So Julia went to her room, and locked the door after her."

"Why did you lock your doors?’’ asked Sherlock Holmes.

" We were afraid of the wild animals and the gypsies,' she answered.

"Please go on/'said Holmes.

"I couldn't sleep that night. It was a very stormy night, with a lot of wind and rain. Suddenly I heard a woman's scream (dorm). It was my sister's voice. I ran into the corridor, and just then I heard a whistle, and a minute later the sound of falling metal. I didn't know what it was.

I ran to my sister's door. She opened it and fell to the ground. Her face was white and afraid, and she was crying, "Help me, help me, Helen, I'm dying!" and she cried out: "Helen! Oh my God, Helen! It was the band! The speckled band!"

She wanted to say more, but she couldn't. I called my stepfather, who tried to help her, but we could do nothing. And so my dear sister died.'

'’Are you sure about the whistle and the sound of falling metal?" asked Holmes.

" I think so," answered Helen. "But it was a very stormy night. Perhaps I made a mistake. The police couldn't understand why my sister died. Her door was locked and nobody could get into her room. They didn't find any poison in her body And what was ‘’the speckled band"? Gypsies wear something like that round their necks.

I think she died because she was so afraid, but I don't know what she was afraid of. Perhaps it was the gypsies. What do you think, Mr. Holmes?'

Holmes thought for a minute. "Hmm," he said. "That is a difficult question. But please go on."

"That was two years ago'' Helen Stonier said. "I have been very lonely without my sister, but a month ago a dear friend asked me to marry him. My stepfather has agreed, and so we're going to marry soon. But two days ago I had to move to my sister's old bedroom, because some men are mending my bedroom wall, and last night I heard that whistle again!

I ran out of the house immediately and came to London to ask for your help. Please help me, Mr. Holmes! I don't want to die like Julia!"

"We must move fast," said Holmes. 'If we go to your house today, can we look at these rooms? But your stepfather must not know.’’

"He's in London today, so he won't see you. Oh thank you, Mr. Holmes, I feel better already."

 

(By Arthur Conan Doyle)

The Speckled Band

The Sacred Python

 

Many years ago a group of men went out hunting. They walked in the forest all day long. In the evening they were far from their home.

«We must sleep in the forest tonight», said their leader, «quickly look for a good place to sleep».

The hunters had to be careful. In those days there were many slave-traders all about the country. And they could attack the hunters at any moment.

Late in the evening they found a good place to sleep. After supper the hunters lay down on the ground and soon were all asleep.

When the tired men were asleep, a group of slave-traders surrounded them. They wanted to attack the sleeping men.

Suddenly something big and heavy fell on a young hunter from one of the trees.

The hunter woke up, looked down at his body and gave a terrible scream. A big python was on him! He jumped to his feet, but his friends were already awake. In a moment they were ready to fight. The slave-traders fired their guns. But the hunters hid behind the trees.

The fight continued for a long time. When the hunters had no more arrows, they fought with sticks and even stones.

The slave-traders could do nothing against the hunters. Some of the attackers were killed. The others had to run away.

After the light was over, the hunters came together round their leader. The leader looked at the young man, and said: «What made you wake up?’’

«It was a python, the boy said. It fell on me from the tree.

«It was a special sign for us», the leader said. You can see that the python is now our friend. From this day no man, woman or child in our clan will ever kill or eat a python again.’’

The people who live in those places remember the words of that man to this day. If you go to their houses in the rainy season, you will find pythons. In the day-time they sleep in holes under the houses, but at night they crawl about the rooms. The people never harm the pythons and the pythons never harm the people.

 

 

William Tell

Long ago the emperor of Austria wanted to make Switzer­land a part of his empire, and he sent a man named Gessler to rule the people, Gessler was a tyrant. He ruled bold Swiss people with a hand of iron. But he couldn't make the brave, free people of Switzerland bow down to him when he came among them.

He tried to think of some way in which to make them feel his power in those days, as now, every town had a market place. Here the people came to buy and sell goods.

In the market place of Altdorf, a Swiss town, Gessler put up a tall pole. On the top of this pole he placed his hat. Then his soldiers went about the town shouting an order to the people: «Every man, woman or child who passes by the pole must bow to the hat to show their respect for Gessler.’’.

From one of the mountain homes near Altdorf there came into the market place one day a tall, strong man by the name of William Tell. He was a famous archer.

He had with him his little son, and they walked across the market place. But when they passed the pole, Tell did not bow to the hat on the pole. There were spies of Gessler in the market place and they at once reported the incident. Gessler commanded his soldiers to bring Tell to him, and Tell came, leading his little son by the hand.

«They tell me you shoot well», said the tyrant. «I shall not punish you, but you must show your skill. Let your boy stand a hundred steps from here. Place an apple on his head. You

stand here and shoot the apple from of his head with one of your arrows.’’

Two of Gessler's soldiers led the boy a hundred steps away from Gessler and then placed an apple on the boy's head. Tell put the arrow in the bow then bent it slowly ready to shoot. He could look no more and shut his eyes.

The next moment a great shout rose from the crowd. The arrow hit the apple. The people shouted with joy, but Gessler was not pleased, and said in an angry voice to Tell: «You put a second arrow in your belt. Why did you do that?’’

«The second arrow was for you, tyrant, if I missed my first shot,’’ said Tell.,

«Seize him», shouted the tyrant, and his soldiers rushed forward. But the people also threw themselves upon the soldiers, and Tell shot the tyrant through the heart. Then, taking his boy by the hand, he escaped to the mountains.

The Flying Dutchman

Diedrich was a young Dutch lad who had no father, and did all kinds of work to earn a living for himself. He got work as a sailor on a ship going to Java. At Java he worked for a rich planter. He saved his money.

After some years he had enough money to buy a piece of land and a house. He thought of a plan and decided to carry out that plan. He sold his land and houses in Java, put the mo­ney into bags and then went on board a ship going back to Holland.

He was the only passenger on the ship. One day, when the ship was not far from the Cape of Good Hope, Diedrich sat with the captain and they talked about their early life and their plans for the future.

He told the captain his great plan. “I have made a great deal of money, which I am carrying home with me. In Amsterdam there are many poor children. I am going to build a great house and live in it, and I am going to have the biggest family in Amsterdam. I shall take only the poorest children and they will be my sons and daughters”.

The man who steered the ship heard everything they said. He wanted that gold, and he thought how he could get it. He whispered the secret to a few other sailors.

The crew was not a good one. There were many criminals among them.

When the ship was near the Cape of Good Hope, the sailors seized the captain and Diedrich and tied them. These men threw them into the sea. Then they sailed for nearest port. But as they sailed, a horrible plague broke out on board. It was a plague that made the men terribly thirsty.

Their thirst was so great that they sailed towards the near­est port. But when they came into the port, the people saw that they had the plague and refused to let them land.

It was the same when they came to the next port, and the next. So they turned back to the ports of the East.

Then a great storm broke out and the wind drove them far out in the sea. When the wind died down, they again steered for the land. But when they were near the land, another storm broke out and the wind again drove far into the sea.

That was years and years ago. But when the ship are sai­ling around the Cape of Good Hope, through the fog and mist and darkness of the night they see a phantom ship sailing. Then the sailors whisper to each other: “Look! there is the Flying Dutchman!”

How We Kept Mother’s Day

 

This year we decided to have a special celebration of Mo­ther's Day. We thought it a fine idea. It made us all realize how much Mother had done for us.

So we decided that we would make a great day, a holiday for all the family, and do everything we could to make Mother happy. Father decided to take a holiday from his office, so as to help in celebrating the day, my sister Anna and I stayed home from college classes, and Mary and my brother Will stayed home from school.

It was our plan to make it just like a big holiday, and so we decided to decorate the house with flowers.

The two girls thought it would be a nice thing to dress in our very best for such a big day, and so they both got new hats. Father had bought four ties for himself and us boys, for we wanted to have something to remember Mother by. We were going to get Mother a new hat too but she said she liked her old hat better than a new one, and both the girls said that it was awfully becoming her.

Well, after breakfast we all decided that we would hire a car and take her for a beautiful drive away into the country. Mother is hardly ever able to have anything like that because she is busy in the house all the time. And, of course, the coun­try is so lovely now that it would be just wonderful for her to have a lovely morning, driving for miles and miles.

But on the very morning of the day we changed the plan a little, because Father said that it would be much better for Mother if we took her fishing. Father said that as the car was hired and paid for, we might just as well use it for a drive up into the hills where the streams are. So we all felt that it would be nicer for Mother to go fishing. Father got a new rod and he said that Mother could use it if she wanted to...

So we got everything arranged for the trip, and we got Mother to cut up some sandwiches and make up a sort of lunch in case we got hungry. Mother packed it all up in a

basket for us.

When the car came to the door, it turned out that there hardly seemed as much room in it as we had supposed, and it was plain enough that we couldn't all get in. Father said not to mind him, he could just as well stay home and do some rough dirty work that would save hiring a man. Anna and Mary would gladly have stayed and helped the maid get din­ner. Mother had only to say the word, and they would stay home and work. Will and I would have dropped out, but unfortunately we wouldn't have been any use in getting the dinner.

So in the end it was decided that Mother would stay home and just have a lovely restful day round the house, and get the dinner. We all drove away with three cheers for Mother, and Mother stood and watched us from the verandah for as long as she could see us.

Well, we had the loveliest day up the hills that you could possibly imagine. And at home we had the grandest kind of dinner prepared by Mother.

 

(After S. Leacock)

Captains Courageous

When Harvey awoke next morning he found the "first half" at breakfast. The schooner was dancing on the waves and every part of it was singing its own tune. The cook ba­lanced over his stove and all. the pots and pans rattled. It was a stormy sea indeed.

Long Jack passed from the table to his bunk and began to smoke.

"Ashore", he said, "you always have some work to do, and you must do it any weather. But here, when the sea's like this, we've nothing to do. Good-night, all".

Tom Platt followed his example; Uncle Salters and Penn climbed up the ladder to stand their watch on deck, and the cook set the table for the "second half". Manuel and the two boys came out of their bunks and ate till they could eat no more.

As there was nothing they could do in such weather they returned to their bunks. Manuel filled his pipe with some ter­rible tobacco and began to smoke. Dan lay in his bunk and tried to play his accordion whose tunes went up and down with the jerks of the We're Here. The cook was standing near the locker where he kept fried pies (Dan was fond of fried pies) and "peering potatoes, and the general smell and smoke and noise were beyond description.

Harvey was surprised that he was not sick in such a gale, but he got into his bunk again, as it was certainly the softest and safest place.

"How long is this for?" he asked Manuel.

"Till it gets a little quieter and we can row to trawl", the latter answered. "Perhaps tonight, perhaps two days more. You do not like it?"

"A week ago I should have been terribly sick, but I feel quite all right now", Harvey said.

"That is because we are making a fisherman of you. You will get quite used to it in some days".

Tom Platt opened a locker and brought up an old white fiddle. Manuel's eyes glistened and from behind his bunk he drew out a small thing that looked like a guitar.

"This is a concert", said Long Jack smiling through the smoke. "A real Boston concert".

The door opened and Disko came in.

"We're giving a concert", said Long Jack. "You'll lead of course, Disko?"

"I think there are only two songs that I know and you've heard them both".

His excuses were cut short by Tom Platt, who began to play an old tune.

With his eyes fixed on the ceiling Disko began to sing. The accordion and the fiddle accompanied his song. It was an old song about a boat from Liverpool that went on a long voyage across the Atlantic. The song was almost as long as the voyage, but Disko sang it to the end. Then Tom follow­ed with some old tune and Manuel finished up with some­thing sad and tender in Portuguese. That made Harvey almost weep, though he could not tell why. But it was much worse when the cook dropped the potatoes and held out his hands for the fiddle. He began a song in an unknown language, his big chin on the fiddle tail, his white eyeballs glaring in the lamplight.

Harvey sat up in his bunk to hear better. The tune was so sad that Long Jack sighed deep when it ended and Dan cried out, "Now let's have something merry for a change", and started a rattling tune on his accordion which ended with the line "It's six and twenty Sundays since last we saw the land".

 

(After R.. Kipling)

Theoretical questions

 

Grammar

1. Theoretical grammar as a linguistic science.

2. The levels of the segmental units (morphemic, lexemic, phrasemic, proposemic, supraproposemic levels).

3. The morpheme as an elementary meaningful unit. types of morphemes.

4. Parts of speech. Different approaches to the classification of parts of speech.

5. Types and parts of the sentence.

6. The simple sentence.

7. The complex sentence. Types of clauses.

8. The compound sentence.

Lexicology

1. Lexicology as a science.

2. The morphological structure of the English word.

3. Change of meaning (specialization, generalization, elevation, degradation).

4. Transference of meaning (metaphor, metonymy, simile).

5. Ways and types of word-building.

6. Morphological word-building.

7. Syntactical-morphological word-building.

Stylistics

1. Functional styles of speech.

2. Syntactical stylistic devices.

3. Lexical stylistic devices.

4. Uttered represented speech.

5. Stylistic devices (lexical and syntactical).

 

Наведемо приклад відповіді студента на теоретичне запитання “The characteristic of the lexical level of stylistics”.

І завдання

а) має на меті читання, літературний переклад фрагменту та інтерпретації уривку з оригінального твору художньої літератури.

Обсяг уривку: 1-2 сторінки машинописного тексту.

Час підготовки: 40-50 хвилин.

Відповідь студента передбачає непідготовлене читання вголос 10-12 рядків, вказаних екзаменатором, а також літературний переклад частини уривку українською мовою без словника, але з використанням глосарію.

Інтерпретація тексту включає літературний коментар та розкриття особливостей індивідуального авторського стилю; короткий зміст уривку; фрагментарний лінгво-стилістичний аналіз, під час якого студент повинен визначити роль та місце стилістичних засобів у побудові смислової перспективи тексту, показати вміння аналізувати текст як єдине художнє ціле, базуючи його інтерпретацію на зіставленні та врахуванні взаємних мовних засобів художнього зображення, до яких вдається автор тексту.

Наведемо приклади текстів для державного іспиту.

 

Ukrainian Political Figures

 

What are the names of the political figures mentioned in the text? Who were they?

The lives of Ukrainian political figures give a vivid picture of the heroic past of the Ukrainian people. The institution of hetman ship was introduced in Ukraine in the 16th century. The hetmans were the military leaders of the Cossack army until the liberation war of 1648-1654. In the course of this war Ukrainian statehood was revived. In accordance with the Treaty of Zboriv, signed in 1649 by hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky and the Polish king, the Cossacks were given their own territory: the Kyiv, Chernihiv and Podillia regions. Subsequently, the Ukrainian hetmans were not only commanders-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, but they were also in charge of administrative, financial and diplomatic affairs.

Ukrainian hetmans varied in their character and outlook, but shared the same fate, many of them dying in foreign lands. For example, Baida Vyshnevetsky was tortured to death in Istanbul and Ivan Sulyma in Warsaw. Mykhailo Doroshenko was killed during a military campaign in the Crimea. The grave of Bohdan Khmelnytsky was de­stroyed by the Polish gentry. Demyan Mnohohrishny, the first Ukrainian political exile to Siberia, died there. The legendary hetman Pavlo Polubotok was tortured to death in Petropavlovsk Fortress in St. Petersburg.

The most outstanding political figure in Ukraine in the 20th century was Mykhailo Hrushevsky. He was born in September 1866 in the town of Khelm (now the territory of Poland), but three years later the family moved to the Caucasus, where Mykhailo spent 17 years of his life. In 1886 he was admitted to the department of history and philology of Kyiv St. Volodymyr University. His diploma paper was awarded the gold medal. In 1894 Hrushevsky headed the Department of World History at Lviv University. In Lviv he made friends with Ivan Franko and became the head of the Shevchenko Scientific Society. In 1898 the first volume of his major work The History of Ukraine-Rus was published. The tenth and final volume of this work was completed 36 years later.

When World War I broke out, the Hrushevsky family were in the Carpathians. On re­turning to Kyiv, Hrushevsky was arrested, imprisoned and later deported to Russia. After the February revolution of 1917, Hrushevsky headed the Central Council of Ukraine and was elected its president. But after the establishment of the Hetmanshchyna regime with Pavlo Skoropadsky as hetman, Hrushevsky went underground, and then emigrated, first to Prague and later to Vienna. In the early 1920s he was invited by the Soviet government to return home, and was elected a Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences. During the last ten years of his life Hrushevsky was working on the history of Ukraine and Ukrainian lite­rature. He died under mysterious circumstances in Kislovodsk in 1934.

The names of many Ukrainian political figures were disgraced and forgotten for many years. Today, they can at last be acknowledged once again, and the details of their biographies can now throw additional light on the history of Ukraine.

 

(Source: News from Ukraine, various issues, 1991/1992)

Modern Examinations

 

In ancient times the most important examinations were spoken, not written. In the schools of ancient Greece and Rome, testing usually consisted of saying poetry aloud or giving speeches.

In the European universities of the Middle Ages, stu­dents who were working for advanced degrees had to discuss questions in their field of study with people who had made a special study of the subject. This custom exists today as part of the process of testing candidates for the doctor’s degree.

Generally, however, modern examinations are written. The written examination, where all students are tested on the same questions, was probably not known until the nineteenth century. Perhaps it came into existence with the great increase in population and the development of modern industry. A room full of candidates for a state examination, timed exactly by electric clocks and carefully watched over by managers, resembles a group of workers at an automobile factory. Certainly, during examinations teachers and students are expected to act like machines. There is nothing very human about the examination process.

Two types of tests are commonly used in modern schools. The first type is sometimes called an “objective” test. It is intended to deal with facts, not personal opini­ons. To make up an objective test the teacher writes a series of questions, each of which has only one correct an­swer. Along with each question the teacher writes the correct answer and also three statements that look like answers to students who have not learned the material properly.

For testing student’s memory of facts and details, the objective test has advantages. It can be scored very quickly by the teacher or even by a machine. In a short time the teacher can find out a great deal about the student’s range of knowledge.

For testing some kinds of learning, however, such a test is not very satisfactory. A lucky student may guess the correct answer without realty knowing the material. More­over, some of the wrong answers are usually more incorrect than others, yet.the scores.on the test will not take account of this fact.

For a clearer picture of what the student knows, most teachers use another kind of examination in addition to objective tests. They use “essay” tests which require stu­dents to write long answers to broad general questions.

One advantage of the essay test is that it reduces the element of luck. The student cannot get a high score just by making a lucky guess. Another advantage is that it shows the examiner more about the student’s ability to put facts together into a meaningful whole. It should show how deeply he has thought about the subject. Sometimes, though, essay tests have disadvantages, too. Some students are able to write rather good answers without really knowing much about the subject, while other students who actually know the material have trouble expressing their ideas in essay form.

Besides, in an essay test the student’s score may depend upon the examiner’s feelings at the time of reading the answer. If he is feeling tired or bored, the student may receive a lower score than he should. From this standpoint the objective test gives each student a fairer chance, and of course it is easier and quicker to score.

Most teachers and students would probably agree that examinations are unsatisfactory. Students dislike taking them; teachers dislike giving them and scoring students’ answers. Whether an objective test or an essay test is used, problems arise. When some objective questions are used along with some essay questions, however, a fairly clear picture of the student’s knowledge can usually be obtained.

(From “American English”)

Scotland Yard

 

Scotland Yard is the headquarters' of the Metropolitan Police in London. To most people, its name immediately brings to mind the picture of a detective — cool, collected, efficient, ready to track down any criminal with complete confidence that he will bring him to justice, or a helmeted police-constable — that familiar figure of the London scene and trusty helper of every traveller from overseas.

Scotland Yard is situated on the Thames Embankment close to the Houses of Parliament and the familiar clock tower of Big Ben, and its jurisdiction extends over 740 square miles with the exception of the ancient City of London, which possesses its own separate Police force.

One of the most successful developments in Scotland Yard's crime detection and emergency service has been the '999 system'. On receipt of a call 999 Room operator ascertains by electronic device the position of the nearest available police car, which is con­tacted by radio. Almost instantly, a message is also sent by tele­printer to the police stations concerned, so that within seconds of a call for assistance being received, a police car is on its way to the scene and all neighbouring police stations have been notified.

Apart from the 999 Room, one of the most interesting places in Scotland Yard is the Map Room. Here is the General Crime Map, the Deaths by Violence Map, the Accidents Map and the Vehicles Recovered Map.

An old-established section of the Metropolitan Police is the Mounted Branch, with its strength of about 200 horses stabled at strategic points. These horses are particularly suited to ceremonial occasions, for they are accustomed to military bands.

An interesting branch of Scotland Yard is the branch of Police Dogs, first used as an experiment in 1938. Now these dogs are an important part of the Force. One dog, for example, can search a warehouse in ten minutes, whereas the same search would take six men an hour.

There is also the River Police, or Thames Division, which has its own crime investigation officers who handle all crimes occurring within its river boundaries.

There are two other departments of Scotland Yard — the Wit­ness Room (known as the Rogues' Gallery) where a photographic record of known or suspected criminals is kept, and the Museum, which contains murder relics, forgery exhibits and coining moulds.

The name 'Scotland Yard' originates from the plot of land ad­joining Whitehall Palace where, in about the 14th century, the roy­alty and nobility of Scotland stayed when visiting the English Court.

The popular nickname of the London policeman 'bobby' is a tribute to Sir Robert Peel, who introduced the police force in 1829, and whose Christian name attached itself to members of the force.

(From ‘’Topics and Vocabulary’’, Y. Maslyuk)

 

 

Stonehenge

Sohn henj, is an ancient monument on Salisbury Plain, in Wiltshire, En­gland. It is a group of huge, rough-cut stones. No one knows exactly who placed them there. In 1952, archaeologists from Edinburgh University discovered two, underground holes which had proba­bly served as ritu­al pits. They sent bits of charcoal from these pits to the University of Chicago to be analyzed by the radioactive-carbon method. Scien­tists there determined that the charcoal dates from 1848 b. c., plus or minus 275 years. Some of the stones are found only hi western Wales, and had to be brought about 300 miles to this site.

For hundreds of years, the great stones gradually fell, or people carried them away to make bridges and mill dams. But from the positions of many of the stones still in place, scholars can guess what the monument probably looked like originally. Thirty blocks of gray sandstone, each about 30 feet in length and weighing an average of 28 tons, stood in a 100-foot circle. A continuous circle of smaller blocks were laid on top of them. Inside was a circle of 40 blue stones. Inside this smaller circle were two other sets of stones, in the shape of two horseshoes, one inside the other, and opening toward the northeast. Near the center curve of the inner horseshoe was a flat block of sandstone, 15 feet long, which was probably an altar, and may have stood upright. A nearby stone marker, 80 yards east of it, was set to cast a shadow on the altar at dawn on Midsummer Day, June 24. For this reason, some scholars say that Stonehenge was connected with sun worship. The Druids may also have used it as a temple. An earth wall about 320 feet in circumference surrounded the monument. Woodhenge, also in Wiltshire, is a wooden monument—similar to Stone­henge. Scholars believe it is more than 3,000 years old.

In 1922, the British government began to restore Stonehenge. Some of the scattered stones were put back as they had been original­ly. Today, the government takes care of this monument and charges a small fee for admission.

(From ‘’Topics and Vocabulary’’ by Y. Maslyuk)

Popular Misconceptions About William Shakespeare

 

Much of the nonsense written about Shakespeare comes from people who know nothing of the Elizabethan Age in which he lived. A good dea