An old hand, good hand at smth

Ant. not much of a hand at smth, e. g. I am not much of a hand at making pastry.

2) encouragement given by clapping the hands, as to give a (good, big) hand to, get a (big, good) hand; 3) help (lend a help­ing hand to); 4) control (get/become out of hand), eg. The meet­ing is getting out of hand — will everybody stop talking at once!

at hand (formal) near in time or place, e. g. She always keeps her dictionary at hand.

by hand by a person, not a machine or organisation, e. g. These rugs are made by hand.

to eat out of someone's hand to be ready to do everything someone wants, e. g. I'll soon have him eating out of my hand.

to give smb a free hand to allow smb to do things in his/her own way

hand in glove (with) closely connected (with someone), esp. in smth bad, e. g. They were found to be hand Iji glove.with enemy agents.

hat in hand to beg, look for smth, e. g. He.went to his em­ployer, hat in hand, for a pay-rise.

on the one/other hand (used for comparing different things or ideas), e.g. I know this job of mine isn't much, but on the other hand I don't feel tied down.

to try one's hand (at) to attempt (an activity), e. g. I tried my hand at swimming though it was the first time I'd been in the water.

to wash one's hands of to refuse to be concerned with or re­sponsible for, e. g. He washed his hands of the entire affair.

 

6. clear vt/i 1) to cause to become clear, e. g. After the storm the sky cleared. He cleared his throat. 2) to (cause to) go away, e. g. Soldiers! Clear the people away from the palace gates.

3) to remove, take away, get rid of, e. g. Whose job is it to clear

 

snow from the road? 4) to free from blame (a person wrongly thought to have done smth wrong), e. g. The judge cleared the prisoner of any crime and set him free.

clear a 4) bright, free from anything that darkens, as clear sky, clear eyes. 2) certain, confident, e. g. She seems quite clear about her plans. 3) free from guilt or blame, untroubled, as a clear conscience, clear of guilt. 4) open, free from blocks, danger or obstructions, as a clear road, clear view, e. g. The road's clear of snow now.

the coast is clear (informal) all danger has gone, e. g. When the coast was clear the two thieves escaped.

 

7. conduct n (formal) behaviour, e. g. I'm glad to see your conduct at school has improved.

conduct vt I) (formal) to behave (oneself), e. g. I like the way your children conduct themselves. Their behaviour is very good. 2) to direct the course of (a business, activity, etc.). 3) to lead or guide (a person, tour, etc.). 4) to stand before and direct the playing of musicians or a musical work. 5) to act as the path for (electricity, heat, etc.), e. g. Plastic and rubber won't conduct electricity. 6) to collect payments from the passengers (on a public vehicle), e. g. She's conducted on London buses for 20 years.

conductor n 1) a person who directs the playing of a group of musicians. 2) a substance that readily acts as a path for electricity, heat, etc., e. g. Wood is a poor conductor of heat. 3) (AE) a railroad employee in charge of a train and train crew.

 

8. compose vt/i 1) to write (music, poetry, essays, etc.), e. g. It is very time-consuming to compose a good essay. 2) to make up (smth), form (smth), e. g. The chemistry teacher asked the pupils what water was composed of.

Syn. comprise, consist of, include, be made up of

3) to make (esp. oneself) calm, quiet, etc., e. g. The students couldn't stop laughing so the teacher asked them to compose themselves. 4) to make or form (smth) by putting parts together, e. g. The artist composed an interesting picture by putting the variously-coloured shapes together.

composer n a person who writes music.

composition n 1) act of putting together parts to form smth, act of composing, as a piece of music of his own composition. 2) an example of this, as a piece of music or art or a poem, e. g. I like his earlier poems but not his later compositions.

 

 

9. abrupt a 1) sudden and unexpected, e. g. The train came to an abrupt stop, making many passengers fall off their seats. 2) (of behaviour, speech, character, etc.) rough and impolite, not wanting to waste time being nice, e. g. Everybody resented his abrupt answer.

abruptly adv in an abrupt manner, e. g. "No," said Roger abruptly, "I'm staying here."

abruptness n e. g. His abruptness was really impolite.

 

10. ignore vt not to take notice of, e. g. Ignore the child if he misbehaves and he will soon stop.

to ignore smth to pretend not to know or see it, e. g. She saw him coming but she ignored him.

Ant. to consider, to regard

 

Note: The Russian for to ignore is игнорировать, не замечать. Ignore does not correspond to the Russian пренебрегать, не заботиться о чем-л., упускать из виду which is expressed by the verb to neglect, as to neglect one's duties, one's children.

 

ignorant a 1) lacking knowledge, not aware, as ignorant of even simplest facts, e. g. He is quite ignorant of these facts. She was ignorant of his presence. (She didn't know he was there.) 2) rude, impolite esp. because of lack of social training, e. g. He is an ignorant person — he always goes through a door in front of a girl (lady). She is an ignorant girl: she knows nothing about her country's history.

 

READING COMPREHENSION EXERCISES

 

1. a) Consult a dictionary and practise the pronunciaton of the following words:

 

rigidly, nuisance, bouquet, chrysanthemums, transient, ex­hilarate, intransigence, awe, ensemble, casino, chord, delineate, syncopate, octave, vigorous, intricate, coon, minstrel.

 

b) Get together with another student. Listen to his/her reading. What recom­mendations would you give to correct any mispronunciations?

 

 

2. a) Read out aloud the following sentences from the text; divide them into intonation groups using proper intonation patterns; observe stresses, strong and weak forms. Make them sound rhythmically correct:

 

I. I am looking for a young woman of color whose name is Sarah, he said. 2. She is said to reside in one of these houses. 3. He was a stocky man with a red-complected shining brown face, high cheekbones and large dark eyes so intense as to sug­gest they were about to cross. 4. Mother, not thinking clearly, was suddenly outraged that he had presumed to come in the door. 5. The colored man took another glance at the child, rose, thanked her and departed. 6. One Sunday the colored man left a bouquet of yellow chrysanthemums which in this season had to have cost him a pretty penny. 7. Mother said he was well-spoken and conducts-himself as a gentleman. 8. It was impor­tant, he said, for a musician to find a place that was permanent, a job that required no travelling. 9. He had heard it in his nightlife period in New York. 10. Well, he said, it appears as if Miss Sarah will not be able to receive me.

 

b) Get together with your partner. Listen to his/her reading, analyse possible variants in the intonation group division.

 

3. Complete the following sentences:

 

1. There is something nice in the way... 2. There is some­thing exciting to (about).,. 3. There was something unusual... 4. This is the jnpst the girl... 5. This was the most the main... 6. This will be the most the children... 7. Delicious or not the dinner... 8. Pleasant or not... 9. She was about to... 10. We are about to...

 

4. Paraphrase the following sentences using the speech patterns (p. 108):

 

1. He has a pleasant way of looking at her. 2. She has a poetical way of speaking. 3. This was the biggest meal David Copperfield had eaten for a week. 4. She had never before said any­thing so unpleasant to him. 5. No matter how tired she was she was always ready to give a helping hand. 6. We shall buy the piano whether it is expensive or not. 7. She was just leaving the house when the telephone rang. 8. She was on the point of tears when he suddenly appeared in the doorway.

 

Make up and act out dialogues using the speech patterns.

 

6. Translate the following sentences into English using the speech patterns:

 

1. Есть что-то странное в том, как она одевается. 2. Было что-то удивительное в том, как он это сказал. 3. Было что-то привлекатель­ное в том, как ребенок протянул цветы. 4. Она позвонит ему обяза­тельно. Но это самое большее, что она может сделать. 5. Она съела ломтик хлеба и снова уснула. Это было самое большее, что она съела за два дня. 6. Интересные рассказы или нет, их нужно прочи­тать; 7. Болезненная операция или нет, она обязательна. 8. Она со­бралась что-то сказать, но затем передумала. 9. Она собралась уже взять отпуск, когда заболел ее отец. 10. Она уже сидела у пианино, чтобы начать играть, когда зазвонил телефон.