Note: Evaluate these talks according to their information content: amount and quality of information.

XI. Supply prepositions where necessary:

Our motherland is immense. It's... far the largest and richest country both... Asia and Europe. Its frontier line is the longest... the world.

Natural conditions... Russia vary greatly. If you cross Russia... the extreme North... the South you will get a good idea... the climate contrasts, to say nothing... the difference... scenery and vegetation, characteristic... various geographical zones. Siberia unlike... the Urals, the face... Ta-tary differs... that... the Caucasus. One region is rich... one thing, another is rich... another.

Perhaps no country's geographic location has played such ah important part... its history as Russia's. Half... Eu­rope and half... Asia, its history has revolved... this basic fact.

XII. 1. Describe the scenery, climate and industries of your home town, region or republic. 2. Choose four slides or postcards and give a commen­tary on them. With the first picture, concentrate on describing what there is in the picture. With the second one try to give the position of things accurately. You can use the third one for talking about how and when the picture was taken. And the last one can be the starting point for a story or joke. (See "Classroom English" Section V.)

XIII. Finish up the sentences according to the model. (Consult a diction­ary.):

Englishmen live in England, they speak English.

... in Scotland,....... in Ireland,....... in Sweden,....

... in Norway,....... in Denmark,....... in Holland,...

... in Spain,...... in the USA,....... in Switzerland,....

XIV. Make up dialogues between an English and a Russian student on the topics:

1. Moscow and London — cultural and industrial centres.

2. The main industrial centres (towns, ports, etc.) of Rus­sia and England.

3. Rural areas of both countries.

XV. Translate the following, putting it into your own words:

a) express your opinion;

b) say how far factors like climate, the geography of a country, its history, religion(s), system of government, etc affect national character. Give examples.

с) write some brief notes about your own national character as yon think foreigners see yon. Then, in small groups, describe to each other this "foreign" view of your nation and say why you agree or disagree with it.

Британский характер

Национальный характер повсюду живуч. Но ни к какому наро­ду это не относится в большей степени, чем к англичанам, которые судя по всему, имеют нечто вроде патента на живучесть своей на­туры. Такова первая и наиболее очевидная черта англичан. Ста­бильность и постоянство их характера. Они меньше других под­вержены веяниям времени, преходящим модам. Важно, однако, подчеркнуть, что при своей стабильности характер этот составлен из весьма противоречивых и даже парадоксальных черт, одни из которых весьма очевидны, другие же трудноуловимы; так что каж­дое обобщение, касающееся англичан тут же может быть оспорено.

Материалистический народ — кто усомнится в этом? — англи­чане дали миру щедрую долю мистиков, поэтов, идеалистов. Народ колонистов, они проявляют пылкую приверженность к собствен­ной стране, к своему дому.

Неутомимые мореплаватели и землепроходцы, они одновре­менно страстные садоводы.

Их любознательность позволила им познакомиться с лучшим из того, чем обладают другие страны, и все-таки они остались вер­ны своей собственной. Восхищаясь французской кухней, англича­нин не станет имитировать ее у себя дома. На редкость законопос­лушный народ они обожают читать о преступлениях и насилиях. Являя собой воплощение конформизма, они в то же время заяд­лые индивидуалисты, и среди них полно эксцентриков.

Все эти парадоксы, к которым, пожалуй, следует добавить еще один: при всей своей парадоксальности английский характер ред­ко бывает загадочным и непредсказуемым.

Генри. Стил Коммаыджер (США), Британия глазами американцев. 1974

Я не пытаюсь утверждать, будто англичане никогда не меня­лись. Перемены происходят всегда. Но эти различия, столь замет­ные внешне, не проникают вглубь, до корней. К лучшему или к худшему, исконные черты английской натуры по-прежнему оста­ются неким общим знаменателем, оказывают глубокое влияние на национальный характер и общий стиль жизни.

Джон Б. Пристли (Англия), Англичане, 1973

XVI, Comment on the following proverbs and sayings. (Explain their meaning, give their Russian equivalents.):

East or West, home is best. There is no place like home.

So many countries, so many customs. When at Rome, do as the Romans do.

Rome was not built in a day. To carry coals to Newcastle.

ХVII. Read the following passage and a) discuss it in detail; b) give a short summary of the passage; c) comment on the following:

the beauty of Britain as the author sees it;

the variety of geographical features;

a happy compromise between Nature and Man.

We live in one of the most beautiful islands in the world. This is a fact we are always forgetting. When beautiful islands are mentioned we think of Trinidad[67] and Tahiti.[68] These are fine, romantic places, but they are not really as exquisitely beautiful as our own Britain. Before the mines and factories came, and long before we went from bad to worse with our ar­terial roads and petrol stations and horrible brick bungalows, this country must have been an enchantment. Even now, after we have been busy for so long flinging mud at this fair pale face, the enchantment still remains. Sometimes I doubt if we deserve to possess it. There can be few parts of the world in which commercial greed and public indifference have com­bined to do more damage than they have here. The process continues. It is still too often assumed that any enterprising fellow after quick profits has a perfect right to destroy a love­liness that is the heritage of the whole community.

The beauty of our country isas hard to define as it is easy to enjoy. Remembering other and larger countries we see at once that one of its charms is that it is immensely var­ied within a small compass. We have here no vast mountain ranges, no illimitable plains. But we have superb variety. A great deal of everything is packed into little space. I suspect that we are always faintly conscious of the fact that this is a smallish island, with the sea always round the corner, We know that everything has to beneatly packed into a small space. Nature, we feel, has carefully adjusted things — mountains, plains, rivers, lakes tothe scale of the island itself. A mountain 12,000 feet high would be a horrible mon­ster here, as wrong as a plain 400 miles long, a river as broad as the Mississippi; Though the geographical features of this island are comparatively small, and there is astonish­ing variety almost everywhere, that does not mean that our mountains are not mountains, our plains not plains.

Our children and their children after them must live in a beautiful country. It must be a country happily compromis­ing between Nature and Man, blending what was best, worth retaining from the past with what best represents the spirit of our own age, a country rich in noble towns as it is in trees, birds, and wild flowers. (From "The Beauty of Britain" by J. В. Priestley)

XVIII. Role-playing:

Mr. Nice, a lecturer, in his early forties. His topic:

"Don't Spoil Nature".

The audience: Alex, a sceptically-minded young man of 21, a student of Geography; Miss Dorothy Peach, an ardent lover of nature, age 73;

Mr. Frederick Healey, a journalist work ing on a popular newspaper, middle-aged.

Rest of class: make offers and suggestions relating to the problem.

Don't Spoll Nature

Both in densely and in thinly populated countries the au­thorities make regulations and give hints to would-be tour­ists to protect the countryside from pollution.

Here's what the Tourist Office of Finland advises would be visitors: While you are enjoying the uniqueness of the Finnish landscape, the forests, the lakes, the rivers, the seas, the wild life and vegetation, you should obey the unwritten laws of nature. Sheer carelessness and thoughtlessness can cause great damage. As you travel about, please remember you are a guest in the Finnish countryside.

It is forbidden to break off branches of trees and bushes. Picking flowers (except protected species) is allowed. When you travel by car please avoid throwing litter and rubbish about. Put it in plastic bags and take it to the next place where waste is collected. In Lapland, the beauty of the land­scape is extremely fragile and easily damaged. Remember that it can take over 200 years for the tracks left by your car to disappear.

Although it may be tempting to drive over moors of Lap­land you must always keep to the roads. Because the climate in Lapland is so cold, metal glass and plastic waste remain unchanged for centuries.

Suggested phrases: Right, can we begin, then, do you think? Can you all hear me at the back! Good, that's fine. I'm going to talk about: as you know; anyhow. — I'd just like to run through the main points... The first thing of course, is... And on top of that... Now has anybody got any points he'd like to raise? Now, that's a good question. The thing here is — er we've thought a lot about this one. I think that's it then. Thanks very much for your attention.

XIX.Film "Mr. Brown's Holiday". Film Segment 7 "How do I Get to...?" (Sallsbury), a) Watch and lislen, b) Do the exercises from the film.

STUDIES OF WRITTEN ENGLISH

VII

In its broadest sense any meaningful piece of written prose marked for its unity, content and message may be called a composition, that is a unit of written communication involving a writer, a message and a reader.

Between the sentence and the whole composition stands the paragraph. It is a composition in miniature because it meets the same requirement of unity, content andmessage (see "Studies of Written English" in Units One, Two, Three).

A group of paragraphs constitutes more complex compo­sitions, such as essays, short stories, accounts, letters, class-compositions as a special exercise in written communication, etc.

Essay is a short prose composition (5—20 pages) on a particular subject. Usually it is of explanatory and argumen­tative nature (see "Studies" in Unit One). For instance, the passage "Teacher Training in Great Britain" (see Unit Five) as well as "Introducing London" (see Unit Three) is close to a formal essay. "What's Your Line" (see Unit One) and the first letter of Judy describing her college experience (see Unit Five) may be classed with informal essays on teaching.

Unity of essays is built up around the central idea. Any addition of unimportant details or afterthoughts destroy the unity.

Coherence is achieved through skilful arrangement of details according to the following rules: a) present your ma­terial from "the general to the particular"; b) try the order of enumeration, that is, arrange several points of view accord­ing to their importance, or interest, or order of happening; c) use key-words as connectives and transitions.

The following is a brief list of transitional words and phrases that help to connect paragraphs of an essay: on the one (other) hand, in the second place, on the contrary, at the same time, in paricular, in spite of this, in like manner, in contrast to this, in the meantime, of course, in conclusion to sum up, in addition, morepver, finally, after all, and truly, in other words.

Emphasis is achieved with the help оf concrete details. Avoid generalities and abstractions. Before writing an essay consider the following:

1. Study the materials about the topic.

2. Think of the main idea you are going to develop in your essay.

3. Write an informal essay "Looking at the Map of Rus­sia."

4. Make a plan (topic plan, sentence plan, paragraph plan).

5. Develop the paragraph plan into an essay according to the rules of unity, coherence and emphasis.

6. Go over the essay for "self-editing" purpose and see if it meets the main requirement of good writing — clarity of communication.

Assignments:

1. Маke an outline of the passage "The British Isles" and analyse it from the point of view of its unity, coherence and emphasis.

2. Write a formal essay "Looking at the Map of the British Isles" according to your own plan.

LABORATORY EXERCISES (II)

1. Listen to the texts "Industrial and Agricultural Districts in Great Britain", "The English Landscape", "Looking at the Map of Russia". Mark the stresses and tunes. Repeat the texts following the model.

2. Without looking back at the texts, decide whether the following statements are true or false.

3. Extend the sentences according to the model.

4. Write a spelling-translation test; a) translate the phrases into English; b) check them with the key.

5. Listen to the text "The Lake District" and write it as a dictation. Check it with the key.

6. Listen to the poem "England" by G. G. Byron. Mark the stresses and tunes. Learn it by heart.

7. Listen to the text "The Isle of Man" or some other text discribing a part of Great Britain. Make asummaryof the main points of the passage.

CURIOSITY QUIZ FOR EAGERS

I. Quiz "Across the Globe".

Answer the following questions. It is accuracy and amount of Information that count when choosing the winner:

1. What is the longest river in the world?

2. In what way do the western shores of the British Isles differ from the easten shores?

3. What are the smallest countries in the world?

4. What language is spoken in Holland?

5. What are the Seven Wonders of the world?

6. What is the capital of Australia?

7. What are the Rockies and where are they found?

8. What is the coldest area in Russia?

9. What is the national emblem of Canada?

10. Where is the city of Honolulu situated?

II. Quiz "Across the British Isles".

Answer the following questions. In this case it is resourcefulness and sense of humour that count when choosing the winner:

1. What is the main difference between the Cumbrians and the Cambrians?

2. Do Englishmen bring coal to Newcastle?

3. Do Englishmen go up or down to get to Edinburgh?

4. What is the difference between Loch Ness and Loch Lomond?

5. What colour is predominant on the map of the British Isles?

(Think twice before answering. There is Greenwich in the South, you may spot Greenock in the North, search the map first.)

6. Which is closer to London, Oxford or Cambridge?

7. What is the difference between Portsmouth and Ply­mouth?

8. What is Liverpool famous for?

UNIT EIGHT

SPEECH PATTERNS

1. We must prevent him from leaving.

The cold wet weather prevented the Lowood girls from go­ing for long walks.

His rheumatism often prevented Salvatore from doing anything at all.

You'd better keep yourself from taking extreme measures.

Various reasons kept Bill from joining the expedition.

Eliza tried to keep her little child from crying.

2. You can't act without feeling.

Jolyon started for the Club without having made up his mind.

Frank now felt, without knowing why, that the offer was probably good.

Rose sat there for a long time without unfastening her coat.

You can't teach one how to use speech patterns without giving a good supply of various examples.

They can't have good crops without cultivating soil.

3. His clothes made him hard to recognize.

Lots of mistakes made his speech difficult to follow.

There was something in Bosinney's appearance that made him easy to recognize.

Her shallow-mindedness makes her dull to speak to.

They found it impossible to supply the factory with raw cot­ton.

We found it hard to make up our minds about choosing a place for rest.

4. These letters are hardly worth the paper they are written on.

The problem is hardly worth the trouble taken. The picture is of little value, it is hardly worth the money paid.

The experiment is hardly worth the time you've spent on it. The incident is hardly worth all this excitement. The soil was hardly worth the toil.

EXERCISES

I. Change the sentences, using the patterns:

Pattern 1: 1. The explorers could not reach the southern boundaries of the desert because of the scorching heat and lack of fresh water. 2. The day was foggy; the fish­ermen could not see the coast-line. 3. It's wet outdoors. Put on my raincoat, it'll save you for a while. 4. He couldn't take part in the conference because he was ill. 5. She could not make a good speech because of her poor knowledge of English.

Pattern 2: 1. Amy did not say a word and left the room. 2. You can hardly realize what an ocean-going ship is if you haven't been inside. 3. They will not come to see us if they are not invited. 4. He could listen to long verses in Lat­in, though he did not understand a word. 5. He would mark rhythm with his right foot, though he never realized what he was doing.

Pattern 3: 1. Owing to the smallness of our boat it was easy to navigate in such shallow waters. 2. It was impos­sible to move on because of the rainy season in the tropics. 3. We could hardly recognize the place after the hurricane. 4. It was easy to change our plans owing to his quick arrival. 5. I could not recognize your sister because of her new hairdo.

Pattern 4: 1. I don't think you are right taking so much trouble over the problem. 2. That sacrifice of his was almost useless. Just to think of all the efforts made! 3. What's the fare? I'm afraid it is more expensive than your luggage. 4. She had made a long way to come there, but the conference was of little value to her. 5. The manuscript turned out to be a variant of the original. I was sorry I wasted so much time translating it.

II. Complete the following sentences, using the patterns. Make nse of the words and phrases in brackets:

Pattern 1: 1. Various reasons... (to do optional subjects). 2. Her illness... (to qualify for this post). 3. My neighbour's silly remarks... (to enjoy the performance). 4. His advice... (to get into trouble). 5. The windy weather... (to take us for a drive).

Pattern 2: 1. You can't leave Great Britain... (to see the Lake District). 2. She will not take any medicine... (to consult a doctor). 3. You shouldn't leave... (to have a snack). 4. She can't speak about the news... (to get excited). 5. You won't be able to pass your exam... (to work hard).

Pattern 3: 1. Her manners... (unpleasant to deal with). 2. Lack of rainfalls... (difficult to plough). 3. Likeness of their names... (easy to remember). 4. I don't find it... (to bother him). 5. We find it... (to make use of tape-recording).

Pattern 4:1. The picture is of little value, it... (money). 2. The results of the expedition... (efforts). 3. The trip is... (trouble). 4. The decorations are... (time). 5. The victory was... (sacrifice). 6. The medicine is... (money).

III. Translate the following sentences into English. Use the patterns:

Pattern 1: 1. Примите лекарство, оно предохранит вас от простуды. 2. Что-то помешало Тому сказать Бекки, что там в пещере он видел индейца Джо. 3. Что помешало вам вос­пользоваться этой возможностью? 4. Она рассказывала смеш­ные истории, чтобы мальчик не плакал. 5. Фрэнк понимал, что только быстрые действия спасут его от разорения.

Pattern 2: 1. Молли уехала из города, никому не сказав о своих подозрениях. 2. Герт спросил, какое право имеет Лэнни строить планы, не советуясь с ним. 3. Не глядя на него, Герт сказал: «Можешь идти». 4. Не говоря ни слова, Лэнни вышел.

Pattern 3: 1. Множество специальных терминов делают его доклад трудным для понимания. 2. Заботы и тревоги сдела­ли ее лицо трудноузнаваемым. 3. Яркие метафоры делали его примеры легкими для запоминания. 4. Все находят, что с ним легко иметь дело. 5. Я нахожу, что с вашим старшим братом приятно поговорить.

Pattern 4: 1. Едва ли эта марка стоит денег, которые вы заплатили за нее. 2. Дело не стоит хлопот. 3. Упаковка до­роже, чем товар. 4. Едва ли эта поездка стоит потраченного времени. 5. Джеймс Форсайт считал, что свежий воздух не стоит тех денег, которые платят за загородные дома.

IV. Respond to the following statements, using the patterns. (Make use of the conversational formulas given in the Reminder.):

A. 1. Alexander Popov was unable to perfect his invention because of the lack of money. 2. Little David was afraid of the Murdstones, he could not read his lesson well in their presence. 3. Lanny realized that Mabel might get into trou­ble. He wanted to save his sister. 4. You can't possibly start on a sea voyage if the weather report is unfavourable.

B. 1. You must see the Lake District with your own eyes to be able to appreciate its beauty. 2. My uncle dislikes Mary though he has never seen her. 3. Passengers should not be reminded to pay their fares. 4. I hope, you will trans­late all these sentences and never consult a dictionary.

C. 1. There was something strange about the Gadfly's manner of speaking. 2. Latin grammar is logical, that's why it is easy to understand. 3. Byron's verses are well-rhymed, you can learn them by heart quite easily. 4. If you know Swedish you'll find little difficulty in understanding Norwe­gian because these languages are of common origin.

Reminder: Just so. Quite so. I quite agree here. Natu­rally. Certainly. Sure. I think so. Looks like that. I disagree with you. You are wrong. You are mistaken. There's some­thing in what you say, but.... Certainly not. Impossible! It's unfair. It's unjust.