The sense of humour/be careful

1) Once Professor Thomson (Lord Kelvin) was unable to stay for the class, so he placed a sign on the door: "Professor Thomson will be unable to meet his classes today".

2) The chemistry professor wrote the formula HNO₃ on the blackboard.

3) Addressing one of the students he said, "Identify that formula, please".

4) Some college student wanted to display his sense of humour and erased the letter "c" in the word "classes".

5) "Just a moment", answered the student, "I've got it on the tip of my tongue, sir".

6) The professor, noticing the laughing students came back.

7) He looked at the students, then at the sign which now read: "Professor Thomson will be unable to meet his lasses today".

8) "Then", said the professor softly, "you'd better spit it out. It is nitric acid".

9) Then the Professor calmly erased the letter "1", looked at the students and proceeded on his way.

10) Everybody was laughing seeing the sign which now read as follows: "Professor Thomson will be unable to meet his asses today".

 

THE ABSENT-MINDED PROFESSOR/THE PROFESSOR COULDN'T ANSWER IT

1) A very absent-minded professor was once travelling by a suburban train.

2) Old Mr Brompton was a very clever man.

3) At one of the stations the ticket-collector came to check the tickets, but the professor could not find his.

4) He was a professor and had a lot of degrees, yet the other day he could not answer his granddaughter's question.

5) "Never mind, sir", said the ticket-collector who knew the professor very well, "I'll come at the next station".

6) "Grandpa", she said, "I saw something so funny running across the kitchen floor without any legs. What do you think it was?"

7) The professor thought and thought, but at last he had to give up. "What was it?" he asked.

8) But at the next station there was the same difficulty: the professor could not find his ticket anywhere.

9) "Don't trouble about it, it really doesn't matter", said the ticket-collector kindly.

10) '"Water", replied the little girl triumphantly.

11) "No, no, I must find out where I am going to. I have forgotten

 

HIS REVENGE/ABOUT EINSTEIN

1) Niels Bohr (1885—1962), the Danish physicist, discovered many important laws concerning the structure of atomic nucleus.

2) It is the pride of many people never to have any time. It was Einstein's pride always to have time.

3) Once he agreed to meet a friend of his on a certain bridge.

4) He always worked hard. But once it so happened that he had not prepared for his seminar at the university.

5) The man said he could not promise to be there at the appointed time.

6) His report was very bad and the teacher was surprised.

7) "Oh", said Einstein, "it makes no difference, then I shall wait on the bridge".

8) The friend suggested that he might lose too much of his time.

9) Bohr, however, did not lose the presence of mind and finishing his report said in conclusion, "I have listened here to so many bad reports that I ask you to regard this one as my revenge".

10) "Oh, no", answered Einstein, "the kind of work I do can be done anywhere. I can think about my problems on the bridge as well as at home".

GRAMMAR EXERCISES.

Passive Voice

 

1. Translate in English using Present Simple Active або Present Simple Passive.

1. Я завжди хвалю моїх друзів. 2. Мене завжди хвалять вдома. 3. Щосуботи тато показує дідусеві мої оцінки. 4. Щосуботи татові показують мої оцінки. 5. Ми часто згадуємо вас. 6. Нас часто згадують у селі. 7. Мені дають сік щоранку. 8. Щоранку я даю кішці молоко. 9. Він щодня розповідає нам щось цікаве. 10. Йому щодня розповідають щось цікаве. 11. Я часто посилаю листи друзям. 12. Мене часто посилають на південь. 13. Мене часто запрошують у кіно. 14. Моїй сестрі часто допомагають у школі. 15. Я іноді забуваю взяти щоденник. 16. Він пише багато листів. 17. Книги А. Крісті читають з інтересом. 18. Собаки люблять кістки. 19. Собак люблять у багатьох сім'ях. 20. Коли у вашій сім'ї п'ють чай? 21. Де зберігають старі листи? 22. Чому ці правила завжди забувають? 23. Чому ви завжди забуваєте ці правила? 24. Де живуть ваші друзі? 25. Де купують хліб? 26. Коли ставлять запитання?

 

Translate in English using Past Simple Active або Past Simple Passive.

1. Я порадив моєму другові вступити в спортивну секцію. 2. Мені порадили вступити в спортивну секцію. 3. Я показав лікареві мої зуби. 4. Мене показали лікареві. 5. Я дав своїй собаці кусок Цукру. 6. Мені дали на обід суп. 7. Учора я попросив учителя допомогти мені. 8. Учора мене попросили допомогти однокласникові. 9. Минулого літа я навчив сестру плавати. 10. Минулого літа мене навчили плавати. 11. Учора нам ставили багато запитань на уроці." 12 Я відповів на всі запитання. 13. Учитель поставив мені хорошу оцінку. 14. Вдома мене похвалили. 15. Ці листи принесли вранці. 16. Мій портфель купили у минулому році. 17. Ці горіхи з'їли вчора. 18. Де ви купили цю книжку? 19, Де купили цю книжку? 20. Коли приготували обід? 21. Коли розбили чашку? 22. Коли ти розбив чашку? 23. Що йому обіцяли? 24. Коли пола­годили машину? 25. Коли виправили помилку?

 

Translate in English using Future Simple Active або Future Simple Passive.

1. Нові ковзани куплять завтра. 2. Михайло попросить мене допомогти йому. 3. Михайла попросять розповісти про свою подорож. 4. Лікар попро­сить мене відкрити рота. 5. Лікаря попросять вилікувати мене. 6. Завтра я принесу новий фільм. 7. Завтра принесуть новий фільм. 8. Мій друг допоможе мені з математикою. 9. Моєму другові до­поможуть з німецькою мовою. 10. Я куплю морозиво. 11. Квитки принесуть завтра. 12. Диктант писатимуть наступного вівторка. 13. Маму попросять не турбуватися. 14. Мамі дадуть чашечку кави. 15. Мама подякує лікареві. 16. Телеграма буде відправлена негайно. 17. Килим повісять на стіну. 18. Книги покладуть на полицю. 19. Коли відправлять лист? 20. Коли перевірять контрольну роботу? 21. Як будуть робити цю роботу?

______________

Порівняйте:

The doctor was sent — Лікаря послали

The doctor was sent for — За лікарем послали

Запам'ятайте такі речення:

Не was talked about. Не was sent for. He was waited for. He was looked at. He was listened to. He was laughed at.

А також:

The house wasn't lived in. The bed wasn't slept in.

_

Use the Passive Voice.

E.g. We often speak about her. — She is often spoken about.

1. The senior students laughed at the freshman.

2. The group spoke to the headmistress yesterday.

3. The young mothers looked after their babies with great care.

4. Nobody lived in that old house.

5. They sent for Jim and told him to prepare a report on that subject.

6. We thought about our friend all the time.

7. The doctor will operate on him in a week.

8. The teacher sent for the pupil's parents.

9. They looked for the newspaper everywhere.

10. Nobody slept in the bed.

11. The neighbour asked for the telegram.

12. Everybody listened to the lecturer with great attention.

 

 

Unit XIII

MASS MEDIA

THE POWER AND DANGERS OF TELEVISION

Exercises.

I. Listen and read. [ w ]

we walk swan tweed

work ward swore twist

why wood swine where

way was twice which

west win twelve whale

war sweet twenty wine

wool swift weather

 

1.No sweet without some sweat.

2.Winnie is as weak as water.

3.It was a wonder the weather was so wet.

4.Walter always knows what he wants.

5.Why worry?

6.Where is the wagon? The wagon with the water.

7.I want water.

 

II. How to exchange opinions.

How to ask someone's opinion:

What do you think of / about …?

What do you feel about …?

What's your opinion of / about …?

How do you find this…?

How do you feel about …?

Why do you think …?

How to express an opinion:

I feel (that)…

I think (that) …

I believe (that) …

I consider (that)

In my opinion.

If you ask me …

I am not convinced but …

My view is that …

As far as I know…

 

III. Read the opinions about television and say which of them you agree or disagree with. Give your reasons.

- When television is good, nothing … is better. But when television is bad, nothing is worse.

Newton Minow.

- Some television programmes are so much chewing gum for the eyes.

John Mason Brown.

- I hate television. I hate it as much as peanuts. But I can’t stop eating peanuts.

Orson Welles.

 

IV. Answer the questions.

- Why is television the most popular entertainment in people's home life today?

- How much time do you spend on watching TV every day? And your relatives? Which member of family is most addicted to watching TV?

- How many TV channels have you got?

- What TV programmes do you watch to get information about current events and about the latest achievement in science and culture?

- How often are educational programmes produced on television?

- What kinds of films, concerts are presented by entertainment channels and programmes?

- What is your favourite TV programme and why?

- Why do you like / dislike these programmes?

- Do you like / dislike advertisement intervals during TV programmes?

- Does TV shape our live? How?

- Do you think your life would be more or less interesting without TV?

 

V. Read the dialogue. Say what arguments for and against TV are offered in it and with which opinions you agree (disagree).

A.: TV is doing a lot of harm. We begin to forget how to occupy our spare time. For example, we used to have hobbies, we used to meet our friends, and we used to go to the cinema, theatre and sporting events. We used to read books and listen to music. Now all our free time is given to TV.

B.: Well, nobody makes you watch TV. If you don’t like it, switch off your TV set. But why do you forget what a great amount of information we get. I think we must watch TV to be well informed. It gives wonderful possibilities for education. Besides, there are a lot of programmes. We can choose what we want to see.

A.: Yes, I agree. But I am always under the impression that little by little TV cuts us off from the real world. It's so easy to sit in our armchair watching others working. We get too lazy, we choose to spend a fine day glued to our sets, rather than go out into the world itself. TV prevents us from communicating with each other. Only when we spend a holiday far away from civilization, we quickly discover how little we miss television.

B.: No, I disagree entirely. It's an absurd idea that TV makes you its slave. It enriches our intellect, gives us opportunities to see the best actors and performances, to hear the latest news, to listen to political discussions. To my opinion TV is a great force in the world.

 

VI. Work in pairs.

Act out a conversation in which you can use some of these common arguments for and against TV.

FOR:

1. TV brings the world to our living room. We see people, learn of their customs, occupations, problems.

2. We become better informed by watching documentaries science programmes.

3. We see great events which will pass into history. We can see famous people.

4. We learn a lot about the arts.

5. TV helps us to relax after a hard days work. WE can then cope better with the next day's work.

6. TV programmes gather big audiences and provide useful topics of conversation.

AGAINST:

1. Some pupils do their homework in front of the TV screen, others rush their homework so they can watch TV. The quality of the work is affected. Some pupils don’t do their homework at all.

2. Many people do not concentrate when viewing – so their time is wasted.

3. Many boys and girls watch TV on Sunday afternoon. When outside activities would do them so much good.

4. Some children have made watching TV their main leisure activity.

5. TV may lead to poor health through rushed meals, lack of sleep, lack of exercise and eyestrain.

6. People begin to forget the art of conversation. They sit glued to the TV – screen instead of visiting their friends and relations.

7. Many children no longer read books.

8. TV kills conversation in families.

9. TV has led to an increase of violent crimes among young people.

10. There are more entertaining than informative programmes on TV now.

 

VII. Tick the programmes you watch most often and cross out those you never watch.

a) feature films j) soap operas

b) quiz shows k) nature documentaries

c) talk shows l) political debates

d) news programmes m) sports programmes

e) current affairs n) criminal coverage

f) analytical programmes o)modern musical programmes

g) classical music concerts

p) beauty contests

h) cartoons

i) detective series

 

VIII. Below is a list of adjectives commonly used to express opinions about films or TV programmes. Sort them out in two groups, one negative and the other positive and use them to explain your programme preferences.

old-fashioned dull thrilling

difficult to understand boring sentimental

depressing truthful complicated

informative naïve entertaining

interesting exciting funny

superficial

romantic

objective

violent

Model sentences: I never watch "Business News", it is so complicated and difficult to understand. I prefer watching "Comedy Club". It's so entertaining!

 

IX. Read the following text. Express the main idea of it and add your own ideas.