Transcribe and pronounce correctly the words from the story. leather, nuisance, exultantly, pearly, moustaches, sacrilege, quavered, paths, desperately, clamber

leather, nuisance, exultantly, pearly, moustaches, sacrilege, quavered, paths, desperately, clamber, oozed, scythe, minute, courage, laborious, timid, seized, grinding.

Comprehension Check

1. Where is the action set?

2. What do you know about Mr Woodfield?

3. Why is special attention given to the description of the boss’s room?

4. Do you think the two old men had known each other for a long time?

5. What did Mr Woofield tell his friend about his girls’ visit to Belgium?

6. What was the boss’s reaction to the news?

7. What did we learn about the boss’s past life?

8. What helped the boss draw away from his sad memories?

9. How did he feel after the episode with a fly?

 

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

1. to have a useful effect: to help smb.	to be over
2. to meet or find something by chance.	to make a nuisance of oneself
3. to bring into actuality; effect.	to do smb good
4. to persuade smb not to do smth again by making them suffer so much that they are afraid to do it.	to come across smth/ smb
5. to continue the job or the work that smb else had started.	to teach smb a lesson
6. to learn how a particular job should be done.	to step into smb’s shoes
7. a feeling of pleasure, wonder, and approval.	to fulfill
8. in a direct way that is easy to understand.	to learn the ropes
9. to behave in a way that annoys other people.	to tackle
10. to take on and wrestle with (an opponent or a problem.	fair and square
11. to be completely finished.	a dmiration

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

a) He spent three days ……… an absolute ………… himself.

b) The accident ………………. I’ll never forget.

c) Do you think these latest changes will … any ……..?

d) She ……. …….. some old photographs in a drawer.

e) The outing will …….. me ………..

f) The bad times …………..

g) I told him ………………. to pack his bags.

h) He never fulfilled his promises.

i) “Greatness is a spiritual condition worthy to excite love, interest, and …………..”  (Matthew Arnold).

j) Now that Chris is gone she wants me to ……………

k) The government is determined to ………….. inflation.

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

Пора было уходить; с тех пор, как он ушел на пенсию; никуда его не выпускали; полон жизни; он гордился своим кабинетом; с рисунком; не привлек внимание; я помнил; его песенка спета; не повредит и ребенку; по большому секрету; у старика отвисла челюсть; казалось, он сейчас заплачет; это кощунство; злоупотреблять нашими чувствами; проводил старика; это было ужасным потрясением; он был совершенно неиспорченным мальчиком; казалось небо обрушилось; промокашка; напрасно.

Find in the story one or more synonyms to the following words. Reproduce the situations they are used in.

to scare            to look at somebody        to demonstrate             to be cozy

Find sentences with the following adjectives and adverbs in the story. Read and translate the sentences.

greedily	wonderingly	unnatural	p ainfully
wistfully	hastily	desperately	laborious
exultantly	marvelously	horrible	s tout
jokingly	bright	joyfully	grave-looking
feebly	terrible	boyish	n utty

Discussion points.

a) What is the role of the episode with a fly in the context of the story?

b) Why did the boss try to kill the insect with such wretchedness?

 

Comment on the following words of the author.

a) ‘We cling to our last pleasures as the tree clings to its last leaves.’

b) ' That was the right way to tackle things; that was the right spirit. Never say die; it was only the question of…’

Respond to the statements.

a) ‘To fight aloud is very brave,

But gallanter, I know,

Who charge within the bosom

    The Cavalry of Woe.'

Emily Dickinson (1830–86), U.S. poet.

b) ‘There is no wisdom in useless and hopeless sorrow, but there is something in it so like virtue, that he who is wholly without it cannot be loved.’