Read the following extracts and make up their summaries of about seven sentences.

Text 1

'Pol House was charming. It was situated high up the cliffs, with a good view out to sea. Part of it was some three or four hundred years old, and a modern wing had been added. Behind it farming land of about seven or eight acres ran inland.

''Welcome to Pol House,' said Newman. 'And to the Sign of the Golden Galleon.'And he pointed to where, over the front door, hung a perfect reproduction of a Spanish galleon with all sails set.

'My first evening was a most charming and instructive one. My host showed me the old manuscripts relating to the Juan Fernandez. He unrolled charts for me and indicated positions on them with dotted lines, and he produced plans of diving apparatus, which, I may say, mystified me utterly and completely.

'I told him of my meeting with Inspector Badgworth, in which he was much interested.

''They are a queer people round this coast,' he said reflectively. 'Smuggling and wrecking is in their blood. When a ship goes down on their coast they cannot help regarding it as lawful plunder meant for their pockets. There is a fellow here I should like you to see. He is an interesting survival.'

'Next day dawned bright and clear. I was taken down into Polperran and there introduced to Newman's diver, a man called Higgins. He was a wooden-faced individual, extremely taciturn, and his contributions to the conversation were mostly monosyllables. After a discussion between them on highly technical matters, we adjourned to the Three Anchors. A tankard of beer somewhat loosened the worthy fellow's tongue.

''Detective gentleman from London has come down,' he grunted. 'They do say that that ship that went down here last November was carrying a mortal lot of gold. Well, she wasn't the first to go down, and she won't be the last.'

''Hear, hear,' chimed in the landlord of the Three Anchors. 'That is a true word you say there, Bill Higgins.'

''I reckon it is, Mr. Kelvin,' said Higgins.

'I looked with some curiosity at the landlord. He was a remarkable man, dark and swarthy, with curiously broad shoulders. His eyes were bloodshot, and he had a curiously furtive way of avoiding one's glance. I suspected that this was the man of whom Newman had spoken, saying he was an interesting survival.

''We don't want interfering foreigners on this coast,' he said somewhat truculently.

''Meaning the police?' asked Newman, smiling.

''Meaning the police - and others,' said Kelvin significantly. 'And don't you forget it, mister.'

''Do you know, Newman, that sounded to me very like a threat,' I said as we climbed the hill homewards.

'My friend laughed.

''Nonsense; I don't do the folk down here any harm.'

'I shook my head doubtfully. There was something sinister and uncivilized about Kelvin. I felt that his mind might run in strange, unrecognized channels.

'I think I date the beginning of my uneasiness from that moment. I had slept well enough that first night, but the next night my sleep was troubled and broken. Sunday dawned, dark and sullen, with an overcast sky and the threatenings of thunder in the air. I am always a bad hand at hiding my feelings, and Newman noticed the change in me.

''What is the matter with you, West? You are a bundle of nerves this morning.'

''I don't know,' I confessed, 'but I have got a horrible feeling of foreboding.'

''It's the weather.'

''Yes, perhaps.'

'I said no more. In the afternoon we went out in Newman's motor boat, but the rain came on with such vigour that we were glad to return to shore and change into dry clothing.

'And that evening my uneasiness increased. Outside the storm howled and roared. Towards ten o'clock the tempest calmed down. Newman looked out the window.

''It is clearing,' he said. 'I shouldn't wonder if it was a perfectly fine night in another half-hour. If so, I shall go out for a stroll.'

'I yawned. 'I am frightfully sleepy,' I said. 'I didn't get much sleep last night. I think that tonight I shall turn in early.'

'This I did. On the previous night I had slept little. Tonight I slept heavily. Yet my slumbers were not restful. I was still oppressed with an awful foreboding of evil. I waked to find the hands of my clock pointing to eight o'clock. My head was aching badly, and the terror of my night's dreams was still upon me.

'So strongly was this so that when I went to the window and drew it up, I started back with a fresh feeling of terror, for the first thing I saw, or thought I saw, was a man digging an open grave.

'It took me a minute or two to pull myself together; then I realized that the grave-digger was Newman's gardener, and the 'grave' was destined to accommodate three new rose trees which were lying on the turf waiting for the moment they should be securely planted in the earth.

'The gardener looked up and saw me and touched his hat.

''Good morning, sir. Nice morning, sir.'

''I suppose it is,' I said doubtfully, still unable to shake off completely the depression of my spirits.

'However, as the gardener had said, it was certainly a nice morning. The sun was shining and the sky a clear pale blue that promised fine weather for the day. I went down to breakfast whistling a tune. Newman had no maids living in the house. Two middle-aged sisters, who lived in a farmhouse near by, came daily to attend to his simple wants. One of them was placing the coffeepot on the table as I entered the room.

''Good morning, Elizabeth,' I said. 'Mr. Newman not down yet?'

''He must have been out very early, sir,' she replied. 'He wasn't in the house when we arrived.'

'Instantly my uneasiness returned. On the two previous mornings Newman had come down to breakfast somewhat late; and I didn't fancy that at any time he was an early riser. Moved by those forebodings I ran up to his bedroom. It was empty, and, moreover, his bed had not been slept in. A brief examination of his room showed me two other things. If Newman had gone out for a stroll he must have gone out in his evening clothes, for they were missing.

'I was sure now that my premonition of evil was justified. Newman had gone, as he had said he would do - for an evening stroll. For some reason or other he had not returned. Why? Had he met with an accident? Fallen over the cliffs? A search must be made at once.

'In a few hours I had collected a large band of helpers, and together we hunted in every direction along the cliffs and on the rocks below. But there was no sign of Newman.'

In the end, in despair, I sought out Inspector Badgworth. His face grew very grave.

'It looks to me as if there had been foul play,' he said. 'There are some not over-scrupulous customers in these parts. Have you seen Kelvin, the landlord of the Three Anchors?'

'I said that I had seen him.

''Did you know he did a turn in gaol four years ago? Assault and battery.'

''It doesn't surprise me,' I said.

''The general opinion in this place seems to be that your friend is a bit too fond of nosing his way into things that do not concern him. I hope he has come to no serious harm.'

'The search was continued with redoubled vigour. It was not until late that afternoon that our efforts were rewarded. We discovered Newman in a deep ditch in a corner of his own property. His hands and feet were securely fastened with rope, and a handkerchief had been thrust into his mouth and secured there so as to prevent him crying out.

'He was terribly exhausted and in great pain; but after some frictioning of his wrists and ankles, and a long draught from a whisky flask, he was able to give his account of what had occurred.

Text 2

Every morning Mr Clinton left his house in Camberwell in time to catch the eight-fifty-five train for the city. He made his way up Ludgate Hill, walking sideways, with a projection of the left part of his body, a habit he had acquired from constantly slipping past and between people who walked less rapidly than himself. Such persons always annoyed him; if they were not in a hurry he was, and they had no right to obstruct the way; and it was improper for a city man to loiter in the morning--the luncheon-hour was the time for loitering, no one was then in haste; but in the morning and at night on the way back to the station, one ought to walk at the same pace as everybody else. If Mr Clinton had been head of a firm, he would never have had in his office a man who sauntered in the morning. If a man wanted to loiter, let him go to the West-end; there he could lounge about all day. But the city was meant for business, and there wasn't time for West-end airs in the city.

Mr Clinton reached his office at a quarter to ten, except when the train, by some mistake, arrived up to time, when he arrived at nine-thirty precisely. On these occasions he would sit in his room with the door open, awaiting the coming of the office-boy, who used to arrive two minutes before Mr Clinton and was naturally much annoyed when the punctuality of the train prepared him a reprimand.

'Is that you, Dick?' called Mr Clinton, when he heard a footstep.

'Yes, sir,' answered the boy, appearing.

Mr Clinton looked up from his nails, which he was paring with a pair of pocket scissors.

'What is the meaning of this? You don't call this 'alf-past nine, do you?'

'Very sorry,' said the boy; 'it wasn't my fault, sir; train was late.'

'It's not the first time I've 'ad to speak to you about this, Dick; you know quite well that the company is always unpunctual; you should come by an earlier train.'

The office-boy looked sulky and did not answer. Mr Clinton proceeded, 'I 'ad to open the office myself. As assistant-manager, you know quite well that it is not my duty to open the office. You receive sixteen shillings a week to be 'ere at 'alf-past nine, and if you don't feel yourself capable of performing the duties for which you was engaged, you should give notice.... Don't let it occur again.'

But usually, on arriving, Mr Clinton took off his tail-coat and put on a jacket, manufactured from the office paper a pair of false cuffs to keep his own clean, and having examined the nibs in both his penholders and sharpened his pencil, set to work. From then till one o'clock he remained at his desk, solemnly poring over figures, casting accounts, comparing balance-sheets, writing letters, occasionally going for some purpose or another into the clerks' office or into the room of one of the partners. At one he went to luncheon, taking with him the portion of his _Daily Telegraph_ which he was in the habit of reading during that meal. He went to an A. B. C. shop and ordered a roll and butter, a cup of chocolate and a scone. He divided his pat of butter into two, one half being for the roll and the other for the scone; he drank one moiety of the cup of chocolate after eating the roll, and the other after eating the scone. Meanwhile he read pages three and four of the _Daily Telegraph_. At a quarter to two he folded the paper, put down sixpence in payment, and slowly walked back to the office. He returned to his desk and there spent the afternoon solemnly poring over figures, casting accounts, comparing balance-sheets, writing letters, occasionally going for some purpose or another into the clerks' office or into the room of one of the partners. At ten minutes to six he wiped his pens and put them back in the tray, tidied his desk and locked his drawer. He took off his paper cuffs, washed his hands, wiped his face, brushed his hair, arranging the long whisps over the occipital baldness, and combed his whiskers. At six he left the office, caught the six-seventeen train from Ludgate Hill, and thus made his way back to Camberwell and the bosom of his family.

Text 3

Six months passed. One evening, when Mr Griffith was standing at the door after work, smoking his pipe, the postman handed him a letter. He changed colour and his hand shook when he recognised the handwriting. He turned quickly into the house.

'A letter from Daisy,' he said. They had not replied to her first letter, and since then had heard nothing.

'Give it me,' said his wife.

He drew it quickly towards him, with an instinctive gesture of retention.

'It's addressed to me.'

'Well, then, you'd better open it.'

He looked up at his wife; he wanted to take the letter away and read it alone, but her eyes were upon him, compelling him there and then to open it.

'She wants to come back,' he said in a broken voice.

Mrs Griffith snatched the letter from him.

'That means he's left her,' she said.

The letter was all incoherent, nearly incomprehensible, covered with blots, every other word scratched out. One could see that the girl was quite distraught, and Mrs Griffith's keen eyes saw the trace of tears on the paper.... It was a long, bitter cry of repentance. She begged them to take her back, repeating again and again the cry of penitence, piteously beseeching them to forgive her.

'I'll go and write to her,' said Mr Griffith.

'Write what?'

'Why--that it's all right and she isn't to worry; and we want her back, and that I'll go up and fetch her.'

Mrs Griffith placed herself between him and the door.

'What d'you mean?' she cried. 'She's not coming back into my house.'

Mr Griffith started back.

'You don't want to leave her where she is! She says she'll kill herself.'

'Yes, I believe that,' she replied scornfully; and then, gathering up her anger, 'D'you mean to say you expect me to have her in the house after what she's done? I tell you I won't. She's never coming in this house again as long as I live; I'm an honest woman and she isn't. She's a--' Mrs Griffith called her daughter the foulest name that can be applied to her sex.

Mr Griffith stood indecisively before his wife.

'But think what a state she's in, mother. She was crying when she wrote the letter.'

'Let her cry; she'll have to cry a lot more before she's done. And it serves her right; and it serves you right. She'll have to go through a good deal more than that before God forgives her, I can tell you.'

'Perhaps she's starving.'

'Let her starve, for all I care. She's dead to us; I've told everyone in Blackstable that I haven't got a daughter now, and if she came on her bended knees before me I'd spit on her.'

George had come in and listened to the conversation.

'Think what people would say, father,' he said now; 'as it is, it's jolly awkward, I can tell you. No one would speak to us if she was back again. It's not as if people didn't know; everyone in Blackstable knows what she's been up to.'

'And what about George?' put in Mrs Griffith. 'D'youthink the Polletts would stand it?' George was engaged to Edith Pollett.

'She'd be quite capable of breaking it off if Daisy came back,' said George. 'She's said as much.'

'Quite right too!' cried his mother. 'And I'm not going to be like Mrs Jay with Lottie. Everyone knows about Lottie's goings-on, and you can see how people treat them--her and her mother. When Mrs Gray passes them in the street she always goes on the other side. No, I've always held my head high, and I'm always going to. I've never done anything to be ashamed of as far as I know, and I'm not going to begin now. Everyone knows it was no fault of mine what Daisy did, and all through I've behaved so that no one should think the worse of me.'

Mr Griffith sank helplessly into a chair, the old habit of submission asserted itself, and his weakness gave way as usual before his wife's strong will. He had not the courage to oppose her.

'What shall I answer, then?' he asked.

'Answer?Nothing.'

'I must write something. She'll be waiting for the letter, and waiting and waiting.'

'Let her wait.'

Text 4

In September the first cool nights came, then the days were cool and the leaves on the trees in the park began to turn color and we knew the summer was gone. The fighting at the front went very badly. A British major at the club told me the Italians had lost one hundred and fifty thousand men on the Bainsizza plateau and on San Gabriele. He said the fighting was over for the year down here and that the Italians had bitten off more than they could chew. I stopped at a barber shop and was shaved and went home to the hospital. My leg was as well as it would get for a long time. I had been up for examination three days before. There were still more treatments to take before my course at the Ospedale Maggiore was finished and I walked along the side street practicing not limping.

There were some letters waiting for me at the hospital. One of them was official. I was to have three weeks’ convalescent leave and then return to the front. I read it over carefully. Then I told them I would not be in and went to the restaurant a little way up the street from the hospital for supper and read my letters and the Corriere Delia Sera at the table. There was a letter from my grandmother, containing family news, patriotic encouragement, a draft for two hundred dollars, and a few clippings; a dull letter from the priest at our mess, a letter from a man I knew who was flying with the French and had gotten in with a wild gang and was telling about it, and a note from Rinaldi asking me how long I was going to skulkin Milano and what was all the news? He wanted me to bring him phonograph records and enclosed a list. I drank a small bottle of chianti with the meal, had a coffee afterward with a glass of cognac, finished the paper, put my letters in my pocket, left the paper on the table with the tip and went out. In my room at the hospital I undressed, put on pajamas and a dressing-gown, pulled down the curtains on the door that opened onto the balcony and sitting up in bed read Boston papers from a pile Mrs. Meyers had left for her boys at the hospital. The papers were dull, the news was local and stale, and the war news was all old. The American news was all training camps.I was glad I wasn’t in a training camp. The baseball news was all I could read and I did not have the slightest interest in it. Catherine was not due on duty until nine o’clock. I heard her passing along the floor when she first came on duty and once saw her pass in the hall. She went to several other rooms and finally came into mine.

“I’m late, darling”, she said. “There was a lot to do. How are you?”

I told her about my papers and the leave.

“That’s lovely”, she said. “Where do you want to go?”

“Nowhere. I want to stay here”.

“That’s silly. You pick a place to go and I’ll come too”.

“How will you work it?”

“I don’t know. But I will”.

“You’re pretty wonderful”.

“No, I’m not. But life isn’t hard to manage when you’ve nothing to lose”.

“How do you mean?”

“Nothing. I was only thinking how small obstacles seemed that once were big”.

“Where should we go?”

“I don’t care. Anywhere you want. Anywhere we don’t know people”.

She seemed upset and taut.

“What’s the matter, Catherine? Tell me”.

“I don’t want to. I’m afraid I’ll make you unhappy or worry you”.

“No, it won’t. Tell it”.

“I’m going to have a baby, darling. It’s almost three months along. You’re not worried, are you? Please, please don’t. You mustn’t worry. You mustn’t worry or feel badly”.

“I only worry about you”.

“That’s it. That’s what you mustn’t do. People have babies all the time. Everybody has babies. It’s a natural thing”.

“You’re pretty wonderful”.

“No, I’m not. But you mustn’t mind, darling. I’ll try and not make trouble for you. I know I’ve made trouble now. But haven’t I been a good girl until now? You simply mustn’t worry. I can see you’re worrying. Stop it. Wouldn’t you like a drink? I know a drink always makes you feel cheerful”.

“No. I feel cheerful. And you’re pretty wonderful”.

“No, I’m not. But I’ll fix everything to be together if you pick out a place for us to go. It ought to be lovely in October. We’ll have a lovely time, darling, and I’ll write you every day while you’re at the front”.

We were quiet awhile and did not talk. Catherine was sitting on the bed and I was looking at her but we did not touch each other. We were apart as when someone comes into a room and people are self-conscious. She put out her hand and took mine.

“You aren’t angry, are you, darling?”

“No”.

“And you don’t feel trapped?”

“Maybe a little. But not by you”.

“I don’t mean by me. You mustn’t be stupid. I meant trapped at all”.

“You always feel trapped biologically”.

“‘Always’ isn’t a pretty word. You see I’ve never had a baby and I’ve never even loved anyone. And I’ve tried to be the way you wanted and then you talk about ‘always’”.

“I’m sorry. I could cut off my tongue”, I offered.

“Oh, darling! You mustn’t mind me”. We were both together again and the self-consciousness was gone. “We really are the same one and we mustn’t misunderstand on purpose”.

“We won’t”.

“But people do. They love each other and they misunderstand on purpose and they fight and then suddenly they aren’t the same one”.

“We won’t fight”.

“We mustn’t. Because there’s only us two and in the world there’s all the rest of them. If anyone comes between us we’re gone and then they have us”.

“They won’t get us”, I said. “Because you’re too brave. Nothing ever happens to the brave”.

“They die of course”.

“But only once”.

“I don’t know. Who said that?”

“The coward dies a thousand deaths; the brave but one?”

“Of course. Who said it?”

“I don’t know”.

“He was probably a coward”, she said. “He knew a great deal about cowards but nothing about the brave. The brave dies perhaps two thousand deaths if he’s intelligent. He simply doesn’t mention them”.

“I don’t know. It’s hard to see inside the head of the brave”.

Catherine went over to the armoire and brought me the cognac and a glass. “Have a drink, darling”, she said. “You’ve been awfully good”.

I poured the water glass a third full of cognac and drank it off.

“That was very big”, she said. “I know brandy is for heroes. But you shouldn’t exaggerate”.

“Where will we live after the war?”

“In an old people’s home probably”, she said. “For three years I looked forward very childishly to the war ending at Christmas. But now I look forward till when our son will be a lieutenant commander”. 

 

Text 5

Four hours later it was all over. The play went well from the beginning; the audience, notwithstanding the season, a fashionable one, were pleased after the holidays to find themselves once more in a play-house, and were ready to be amused. It was an auspicious beginning for the theatrical season. There had been great applause after each act and at the end a dozen curtain calls; Julia took two by herself, and even she was startled by the warmth of her reception. She had made the little halting speech, prepared beforehand, which the occasion demanded. There had been a final call of the entire company and then the orchestra had struck up the National Anthem. Julia, pleased, excited and happy, went to her dressing-room. She had never acted with greater brilliance, variety and resource. The play ended with a long tirade in which Julia, as the retired harlot, castigated the flippancy, the uselessness, the immorality of the idle set into which her marriage had brought her. It was two pages long, and there was not another actress in England who could have held the attention of the audience while she delivered it. With her exquisite timing, with the modulation of her beautiful voice, with her command of the gamut of emotions, she had succeeded in making it a thrilling, almost spectacular climax to the play. A violent action could not have been more exciting, nor an unexpected denouement more surprising. The whole cast had been excellent with the exception of Avice Crichton. Julia hummed in an undertone as she went into her dressing-room.

 Michael followed her in almost at once.

“It looks like a winner all right.” He threw his arms round her and kissed her. “Did you hear them during your long speech? That ought to knock the critics.”

“Oh, you know what they are. They’ll give all their attention to the blasted play and then three lines at the end to me.”

“You’re the greatest actress in the world, darling, but by God, you’re a bitch.”

Julia opened her eyes very wide in an expression of the most naïve surprise.

“Michael, what do you mean?”

 “Don’t look so innocent. You know perfectly well. Do you think you can cod an old trooper like me?”

He was looking at her with twinkling eyes, and it was very difficult for her not to burst out laughing.

 “I’m as innocent as a babe unborn.”

“Come off it. If anyone ever deliberately killed the performance you killed Avice’s. I couldn’t be angry with you, it was so beautifully done.

Now Julia simply could not conceal the little smile that curled her lips. Praise is always grateful to the artist. Avice’s one big scene was in the second act. It was with Julia, and Michael had rehearsed it so as to give it all to the girl. This was indeed what the play demanded and Julia, as always, had in rehearsals accepted his direction. To bring out the colour of her blue eyes and to emphasize her fair hair they had dressed Avice in pale blue. To contrast with this Julia had chosen a dress of an agreeable yellow. This she had worn at the dress rehearsal. But she had ordered another dress at the same time, of sparkling silver, and to surprise of Michael and the consternation of Avice it was in this that she made her entrance in the second act. Its brilliance, the way it took the light, attracted the attention of the audience. Avice’s blue looked drab by comparison.

When they reached the important scene Julia produced, as a conjurer produces a rabbit from his hat, a large handkerchief of scarlet chiffon and with this she played. She waved it, she spread it out as though to look at it, she screwed it up, she wiped her brow with it, she delicately blew her nose. The audience fascinated could not take their eyes away from the red rag. As she moved up stage so that Avice to speak to her had to turn her back on the audience, and when they were sitting on a sofa together she took her hand, in an impulsive way that seemed to the public exquisite natural, and sitting well back herself forced Avice to turn her profile to the house. Julia had noticed early in rehearsals that in profile Avice had a sheep-like look. The author had given Avice lines to say that had so much amused the cast at the first rehearsal that they had all burst out laughing. Before the audience had quite realized how funny they were Julia had cut in with her reply, and the audience anxious to hear it suppressed their laughter. The scene which was devised to be extremely amusing took on a sardonic colour, and the character Avice played acquired a certain odiousness. Avice in her inexperience, not getting the laughs she had expected, was rattled; her voice grew hard and her gestures awkward. Julia took the scene away from her and played it with miraculous virtuosity. But her final stroke was accidental. Avice had a long speech to deliver, and Julia nervously screwed her red handkerchief into a ball; the action almost automatically suggested an expression; she looked at Avice with troubled eyes and two heavy tears rolled down her cheeks. You felt the shame with which the girl’s flippancy affected her, and you saw her pain because her poor little ideals of uprightness, her hankering for goodness, were so brutally mocked. The episode lasted no more than a minute, but in that minute, by those tears and by the anguish of her look, Julia laid bare the sordid misery of the woman’s life. That was the end of Avice.

“And I was such a damned fool, I thought of giving her a contract,” said Michael.

“Why don’t you?”

“When you’ve got your knife into her? Not on your life.You’re a naughty little thing to be so jealous. You don’t really think she means anything to me, do you? You ought to know by now that you’re the only woman in the world for me.

Michael thought that Julia had played this trick on account of the rather violent flirtation he had been having with Avice, and though, of course, it was hard luck on Avice he could not help being a trifle flattered.

 

Text 6

I went with them out to the veranda. On the green Sound, stagnant in the heat, one small sail crawled slowly toward the fresher sea. Gatsby’s eyes followed it momentarily. Our eyes lifted over the rose-beds and the hot lawn. Slowly the white wings of the boat moved against the blue cool limit of the sky. Ahead lay the scalloped ocean and the abounding blessed isles.

Then we had luncheon in the dining-room, darkened too against the heat, and drank down nervous gayety with the cold ale.

“What’ll we do with ourselves this afternoon?” cried Daisy, “and the day after that, and the next thirty years?”

“Don’t be morbid”, Jordan said. “Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall”.

“But it’s so hot”, insisted Daisy, on the verge of tears, “and everything’s so confused. Let’s all go to town!”

Her voice struggled on through the heat, beating against it, molding its senselessness into forms.

“I’ve heard of making a garage out of a stable,” Tom was saying to Gatsby, “but I’m the first man who ever made a stable out of a garage”.

“Who wants to go to town?” demanded Daisy insistently. Gatsby’s eyes floated toward her. “Ah”, she cried, “you look so cool”.

Their eyes met, and they stared together at each other, alone in space. With an effort she glanced down at the table.

“You always look so cool”, she repeated.

She had told him that she loved him, and Tom Buchanan saw. He was astounded. His mouth opened a little, and he looked at Gatsby, and then back at Daisy as if he had just recognized her as someone he knew a long time ago.

“You resemble the advertisement of the man”, she went on innocently. “You know the advertisement of the man — ”

“All right”, broke in Tom quickly, “I’m perfectly willing to go to town. Come on — we’re all going to town”.

He got up, his eyes still flashing between Gatsby and his wife. No one moved.

“Come on!” His temper cracked a little. “What’s the matter, anyhow? If we’re going to town, let’s start”.

His hand, trembling with his effort at self-control, bore to his lips the last of his glass of ale. Daisy’s voice got us to our feet and out onto the blazing gravel drive.

“Are we just going to go?” she objected. “Like this? Aren’t we going to let anyone smoke a cigarette first?”

“Everybody smoked all through lunch”.

“Oh, let’s have fun”, she begged him. “It’s too hot to fuss”.

He didn’t answer.

“Have it your own way”, she said. “Come on, Jordan”.

They went upstairs to get ready while we three men stood there shuffling the hot pebbles with our feet. A silver curve of the moon hovered already in the western sky. Gatsby started to speak, changed his mind, but not before Tom wheeled and faced him expectantly.

“Have you got your stables here?” asked Gatsby with an effort.

“About a quarter of a mile down the road”.

“Oh”.

A pause.

“I don’t see the idea of going to town”, broke out Tom savagely. “Women get these notions in their heads — “

“Shall we take anything to drink?” called Daisy from an upper window.

“I’ll get some whiskey”, answered Tom. He went inside.

Gatsby turned to me rigidly.

“I can’t say anything in his house, old sport”.

“She’s got an indiscreet voice,” I remarked. “It’s full of —” I hesitated.     

“Her voice is full of money”, he said suddenly.

That was it. I’d never understood before. It was full of money — that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it…

Tom came out of the house wrapping a quart bottle in a towel, followed by Daisy and Jordan wearing small tight hats of metallic cloth and carrying light capes over their arms.

“Shall we all go in my car?” suggested Gatsby. He felt the hot, green leather of the seat. “I ought to have left in the shade”.

Daisy looked at Tom frowning, and an indefinable expression, at once definitely unfamiliar and vaguely recognizable, as if I had only heard it described in words, passed over Gatsby’s face.

“Come on, Daisy”, said Tom, pressing her with his hand toward Gatsby’s car. “I’ll take you in this circus wagon”.

He opened the door, but she moved out from the circle of his arm.

“You take Nick and Jordan. We’ll follow you in the coupe”.

She walked close to Gatsby, touching his coat with her hand. Jordan and Tom and I got into the front seat of Gatsby’s car, Tom pushed the unfamiliar gears tentatively, and we shot off into the oppressive heat, leaving them out of sight behind.

“Did you see that?” demanded Tom.

“See what?”

He looked at me keenly, realizing that Jordan and I must have known all along.

“You think I’m pretty dumb, don’t you?” he suggested. “Perhaps I am, but I have a — almost a second sight, sometimes, that tells me what to do. I’ve made a small investigation of this fellow, Gatsby. Of his past.

“And you found he was an Oxford man”, said Jordan helpfully.

“An Oxford man!” He was incredulous. “Like hell he is! He wears a pink suit.”

“Nevertheless he’s an Oxford man”.

“Oxford, New Mexico”, snorted Tom contemptuously, “or something like that”.

“Listen, Tom. If you’re such a snob, why did you invite him to lunch?” demanded Jordan crossly.

“Daisy invited him; she knew him before we were married — God knows where!”

We were all irritable now with the fading ale, and aware of it we drove for a while in silence.

“We’ve got enough gas to get us to town”, said Tom.

“But there’s a garage right here”, objected Jordan. “I don’t want to get stalled in this baking heat”.

Tom threw on both brakes impatiently and we slid to an abrupt dusty stop under Wilson’s sign. After a moment the proprietor turned up from the interior of his establishment and gazed hollow-eyed at the car. When he left the shade and, breathing hard, unscrewed the cap of the tank, everyone saw that his face was green.

“What’s the matter?” inquired Tom.

“I’m sick. Been sick all day. I’m all run down”. Wilson smiled faintly. “I need money pretty bad.

“What do you want money for, all of a sudden?”

“I’ve been here too long. I want to get away. My wife and I want to go West”.

“Your wife does”, exclaimed Tom, startled.

“She’s been talking about it for ten years”. He rested for a moment against the pump, shading his eyes. “And now she’s going whether she wants to or not. I’m going to get her away”.

The coupe flashed by us with a flurry of dust and the flash of a waving hand. The relentless beating heat was beginning to confuse me and I had a bad moment there before I realized that so far his suspicions hadn’t alighted on Tom. Wilson had discovered that Myrtle had some sort of life apart from him in another world and the shock had made him physically sick. I stared at him and then at Tom, who had made a parallel discovery less than an hour before — and it occurred to me that there was no difference between men, in intelligence or race, so profound as the difference between the sick and the well. At that moment I perceived that someone’s eyes were regarding us with peculiar intensity from less than twenty feet away.

In one of the windows over the garage the curtains had been moved aside a little, and Myrtle Wilson was peering down at the car. 

 

PART 3

MOCK EXAMS

Mini Mock Exam 1

Test 1

1. Я была уверена, что спасу ребёнка, так как эта задача была мне по силам. Но нельзя было терять ни минуты. 

2. Как бы мне хотелось, чтоб эти молодожёны поехали в Испанию или Францию! Они бы насладились жизнью сполна!

3. Мне предложили очень интересную работу, которая должна быть закончена через две недели. - Я бы отказалась от такой работы.

4. Я привыкла проверять письменные упражнения и контрольные работы во время "окон" в расписании.

5. Вчера она не сдала выпускной экзамен по немецкому. Интересно, она полностью осознаёт всю серьёзность ситуации?

 

Test 2

1. Странно, что он не признал свою ошибку и поддался эмоциям — это на него непохоже. Я требую, чтобы он продолжал оттачивать педагогическое мастерство и посещал занятия квалифицированных преподавателей.

2. Мне нравится, как наши соседи воспитывают детей. Все домашние обязанности поделены между членами семьи, и старшие заботятся о младших, когда родителей нет дома. – Неужели? 

3. Когда они поженились – в конце или начале 2007 года? Об их женитьбе много говорили, не так ли?

4. Медсестра оставила его на солнышке. Я заметила, как он поднял голову и закрыл глаза. Я не могла не подумать, что солнечные лучи обняли его, как чьи-то руки.

5. Для меня не имеет значения, что ты будешь делать и куда пойдёшь. – С тобой что-нибудь случилось? – Почему ты беспокоишься обо мне?

Test 3

1. Через год ему предложили поехать в Японию совершенствоваться в искусстве японской каллиграфии: он прекрасно владел пером и умел подбирать рисунки на изделиях ручной работы. Это принесло ему известность.

2. Ему дважды пришлось повторить своё имя, прежде чем она узнала его. Но когда узнала, в её голосе прозвучало удовольствие.

3. Члены педагогического состава школы были готовы помочь ей, когда директор посоветовал ей тренировать школьные команды и дважды в неделю давать факультативные уроки по норвежскому языку.

4. Я привыкла ходить пешком от станции до дачи, так как она находится всего в километре от станции.

5. Интересно, кто он такой и почему опоздал? Не могу не признать, что он модно одет и похож на моего племянника.

 

Test 4

1. Она сказала, что не имеет ни малейшего понятия, что он за человек. С одной стороны, он кричал, что не допустит глупостей и уладит всё самым разумным образом, с другой стороны, он легко поддавался порывам и начинал огрызаться.

2. Я проверила ваши тетради, но прежде чем их выдавать, я хочу уточнить оценки. Я не могу не признать, что вы сделали так много ошибок, что я не смогла исправить их все.

3. Семья всегда была слишком важна для него, чтобы пренебрегать ею. Он – мужчина сильного характера и благородной души.

4. Сегодня перед уроками я повторила все грамматические правила, так как я очень хочу получить «отлично» за контрольную. Я не привыкла сдавать экзамены.

5. Он сказал, что в работе подобного рода невозможно избежать ошибок. Потом я услышала, как он глубоко вздохнул. 

 

Test 5

 

1. Я заметила, что она сначала вздрогнула при звуке хлопнувшей двери, потом коротко усмехнулась и продолжила сверять оценки за сочинения на датском.

2. Я думал, вы согласитесь подождать, пока я не приду с заседания педагогического совета. Я не ожидал вашего отказа. Раньше я считал, что вы более внимательны к другим.

3. Ты не должен играть со спичками! Отдай их сейчас же мне! Кстати, вы с мамой решили, где будете проводить выходные – за городом или у тётки?

4. Они высоко оценивают его поэму и собираются напечатать отрывки в течение трёх месяцев, хотя не все критики хвалят его произведение, и некоторые утверждают, что он подражает стилю какого-то голландского поэта.

5. Вид бродяги был настолько смешон, что у меня возникло непреодолимое желание рассмеяться, хотя это было грубо и неловко. 

 

Mock Exam 2

Test 1

1. Жаль, что она отказалась помочь этому беженцу из Вьетнама. Она женщина сложного характера. Ты видела её сегодня? – Я видела её сегодня в итальянском ресторане.

2. Феррис просмотрел записную книжку и нашёл телефон бывшей жены. Он почувствовал непреодолимое желание позвонить ей.

3. Посещение занятий обязательно? – Посещение необязательно.

4. Первые плавания европейцев к северо-восточным берегам Америки относятся к X веку, не так ли? – Не имею ни малейшего представления.

5. Я видел, как методист раздавал задания студентам четвёртого курса.

Test 2

1. Мне всё равно, что ты будешь делать на выходных. – Я собираюсь зайти к Анне за посылкой. – Я давно не видел Анну.

2. Он заметил, что я нечаянно уронила фотографию, и вздохнул. Я очутилась в неловком положении.

3. Раньше они жили в сорока километрах от мегаполиса, в крошечной деревушке, не так ли? Потом обосновались на побережье Швеции.

4. Он действительно существовал и был похож на человека, описанного в этих балладах.

5. Я требую, чтоб вы проверили сочинения в течение трёх дней и обсудили ошибки на внеклассном часе.

Test 3

1. Жаль, что он совсем не похож на сестру. Он на два года моложе, привык элегантно одеваться.

2. Он нашёл слова поддержки для каждого из вас? Он человек благородного характера.

3. Он женится на ней, это просто вопрос времени. Он очень хочет создать ей обеспеченную жизнь.

4. Я слышала, как она пронзительно закричала. Я слышала, теперь она боится темноты.

5. Он потребовал, чтобы на педпрактике мы посещали занятия опытных преподавателей.

Test 4

1. Эта женщина подозрительно посмотрела на тебя. – Неужели? Она старшая дочь финского государственного секретаря.

2. Почему он поддался порыву? – Он не привык сдерживать порывы.

3. Зал вмещал 200 человек. Аудитория не ожидала, что лекция будет такой скучной.

4. Я отказался от мысли поехать в Швейцарию. Предлагаю летом поехать на экскурсию в Лондон.

5. Жаль, что она вышла замуж по расчёту. Её муж на двадцать лет старше её. Вчера я слышал, как она плакала.

 

Test 5

1. Стивенсон старший создал первоклассное дело. Стивенсоны купили дом в фешенебельном районе, в полукилометре от испанского аббатства.

2. Жаль, что он не может бросить курить. Курение причиняет много вреда, не так ли?

3. Студенты признали, что, с одной стороны, он ставит оценки не строго, но, с другой стороны, он приучал студентов чётко мыслить.

4. Я почувствовала, что Макс говорит мне неправду, и отказалась ехать с ним в отдалённые предместья.

5. Предлагаю отремонтировать квартиру во время отпуска. – Это вопрос жизни и смерти?

Test 6

1. Я не слышала, как она поёт, с тех пор, как была ребёнком. Мы слышали, она и теперь хорошо поёт.

2. Жаль, что вы сделали так много ошибок в домашнем задании. Я всегда считал вас толковым студентом.

3. Она выдала старшую дочь за богатого норвежца. – Этому не стоит удивляться.

4. Вы требуете от неё слишком много. – Неужели? Она не привыкла много работать.

5. Для меня не имеет значения, куда он поедет – в Италию или Данию. Я привыкла сидеть одна в четырёх стенах.

Test 7

1. Мы отказались от мысли ехать в Шотландию, так как там морозы стояли уже месяц.

2. Хотя ветра не было, я слышал, как деревья шепчутся между собой. Когда я поднял голову, солнце обняло меня, как чьи-то руки.

3. Интересно, она полностью осознаёт всю серьёзность ситуации?

4. Жаль, что канарейка улетела из клетки. – Предлагаю купить другую канарейку.

5. Она привыкла раздавать чай, когда она развлекает гостей в загородном доме.

Test 8

1. Жаль, что её старший сын не обладает тонким музыкальным слухом. Но с другой стороны, у него есть чувство юмора.

2. Он сказал, что никогда не был в Швейцарии, и предложил поехать туда зимой.

3. Ты видел её сегодня в метро? Я не видела её с тех пор, как вышла замуж за Джона. – Она поселилась в деревне. – Неужели?

4. Я слышала, он увлёкся литературой и издал сборник народных песен, не так ли?

5. Его жена привыкла элегантно выглядеть и следить за фигурой. Дочь совсем на неё не похожа.

Test  9

1. Жаль, что её не приняли в институт. Я слышала, теперь она очень хочет эмигрировать в Бразилию.

2. Она предложила ему зайти за ними в шесть, но когда он пришёл, они ещё одевались.

3. Не выношу грубых людей, которые привыкли поддаваться порывам. Я не доверяю им, что бы они ни сказали.

4. Интересно, почему он так хочет её встретить? – Она собирается передать ему посылку из Польши.

5. Какие предметы вы изучаете? – Психологию и социологию.

Test 10

1. Она сказала, что на завтра ожидается дождь, и предложила остаться дома.

2. Я привыкла проверять письменные упражнения и контрольные работы в/о время "окон" в расписании.

3. Ты всегда жила по средствам, не так ли? Твоя семейная жизнь сложилась удивительно удачно.

4. Я слышала, как она огрызается. Не годится так вести себя.

5. Раньше он подражал стилю испанских поэтов. – Неужели? Но у него есть чувство ритма. Недавно он опубликовал второе издание своих стихов.

 

Test 11

1. Я видела, что Джон очень хочет избежать наказания. При звуке хлопнувшей двери он вздрогнул.

2. Интересно, они уже уладили спор? Я требую, чтобы они уладили всё разумным образом.

3. Каждая песчинка имела свой цвет, и там их были миллионы. – Неужели?

4. Я ей не верю, что бы она ни сказала. Я всегда испытывала отвращение к обману.

5. Ты тратишь много времени на подготовку, не так ли? – Да, у меня много подготовки. И каждый вечер я проверяю домашние задания и уточняю оценки.

Test 12

1. Мы видели, как она входила в шикарный ресторан с каким-то испанцем. – Как он выглядел?

2. Она призналась, что уже пять лет живёт в мегаполисе и что она привыкла рано вставать.

3. На этой неделе он заходил к нам в среду, как обычно. Он принёс вьетнамские изделия ручной работы.

4. Предлагаю уйти, так как я с трудом выдерживаю напряжение в этом доме.

5. Жаль, что он не любит танцевать. А мне надоело сидеть в четырёх стенах. Конечно, у нас дружная семья, но мне скучно.

Test 13

1. «Мы договорились пойти в театр», - сказала Элизабет и поинтересовалась, не придёт ли он к ним на ранний ужин.

2. Сегодня я встретил Ольгу в гостях у голландского художника. – Я не видел её с тех пор, как её брат умер от болезни сердца.

3. Жаль, что их семья живёт в маленьком доме из двух комнат. Раньше они арендовали большую ферму в Уэльсе.

4. Интересно, она приучает своих учеников сдавать работы вовремя? Мне кажется, она нестрогий преподаватель.

5. Я слышала, они пережили ужасные времена в годы войны.

Test 14

1. Мартин знал, что никто его не ждёт в пустой и холодной квартире. Он решил пойти во французский ресторан, в котором он обедал до женитьбы.

2. Сегодня я сделал очень мало, но вечером ещё есть время. – Ты не привык делать работу вовремя.

3. Жаль, что ты не купила тот дом с аккуратно подстриженным газоном.

4. Он на пять или шесть лет старше её? – Это не имеет значения. – Неужели?

5. Я не ожидала твоего отказа. Раньше ты была более внимательна к другим.

 

Test 15

1. Меня беспокоит его здоровье. Это не шуточное дело. Напряжение тех лет привело к ревматизму сердца. – Неужели?

2. Я слышал, собор был сильно повреждён во время войны. Теперь это самое потрясающее здание в столице, не так ли?

3. Она привыкла вращаться в фешенебельном обществе. – А что она за человек?

4. Я требую, чтобы вы ели больше фруктов! Это принесёт вам пользу.

5. Жаль, что она повышает голос в аудитории. С другой стороны, она приучает студентов говорить, не заглядывая в записи.

 

MOCK EXAM 3

Test 1

1. Вчера она не сдала выпускной экзамен по немецкому. Интересно, она полностью осознаёт всю серьёзность ситуации?

2. Меня не удивляет, что ты так грубо говорил. Жаль, ты не привык сдерживать порывы. Откровенно говоря, я считаю, что у тебя очень сложный характер.

3. Она предложила поехать на дачу, которая находилась в двадцати километрах от станции. Я отказалась ехать.

4. С её стороны было очень внимательно завязать беседу с этим норвежцем. - Неужели? Но я слышал, как они говорили о политических изменениях в Норвегии, и видел, что он чувствует себя неловко.

5. Почему ты отказался от мысли поехать в Финляндию? - Там уже месяц стоят морозы.

 

Test 2

1. Она так элегантно выглядит сегодня! - Она всегда модно одета, и её гардероб состоит из хорошо подобранных вещей.

2. Он признался, что целых три месяца не видел облаков и не чувствовал прикосновения солнечных лучей.

3. Жаль, её дочь не приняли в педагогический институт. Теперь она в полной растерянности. Вчера я слышала, как она плакала.

4. Архитектура этого собора совсем не похожа на окружающие постройки. Во время войны многие здания вокруг собора были сильно повреждены. 

5. Интересно, почему она так подозрительно взглянула на меня? - Она не привыкла, чтоб с ней так обращались.

 

Test 3

1. Во время педагогической практики сначала я боялась посещений методистов, но потом вновь обрела уверенность.

2. Жаль, что Джон младший не привык к тяжёлой работе. С другой стороны, он имеет тонкий музыкальный слух. Ты слышала, как он поёт?

3. Интересно, это брак по расчёту или по любви? Я слышал, её отец хотел выдать единственную дочь за человека побогаче.

4. Если он увидит Алекса под окнами дочери, то пристрелит его. - Да, это не шуточное дело.

5. В конце девятнадцатого века город поглотил отдалённые предместья и стал мегаполисом с населением в несколько миллионов человек. 

 

Test 4

1. Её отец - человек несгибаемого мужества. У него благородный и добрый характер. Он привык идти в ногу со временем. - Неужели?

2. Как бы мне хотелось, чтоб э