The present Perfect Tense (I)

Scene: Mr. Priestley's Study before the Lesson.

Characters: Pedro, Lucille, Frieda.

L u c i 11e: Mr. Priestley has a lot of books in his study, hasn't he?

P e d r o: Yes, and what is more, he has read them all. When Italk to him about books Ifeel that he has read every book that Ihave ever heard of.

F r i e d a: Here are some modem English books. Have you read any of them, Lucille?

L u c i 11e: No, I don't think I have. I have read the books that most students read in their school-days, you know, some of Dickens and Scott and Thackeray, a few plays of Shake­ speare, some poems of Byron, stories by Wilde, but Ihave not read much since Ileft school. You have read a good many modem English books, haven't you Pedro?

P e d r o: Yes, I'm fond of English writers and have read quite a lot.

F ri e d a: Who are the well-known modem writers?

P e d r o: Oh, there's Galsworthy and Wells and Bennett and Kipling and D. H. Lawrence. They are not quite modem, of course; they are the writers of "yesterday" perhaps, but Ilike their work.

F ri e d a: Who are the writers of "today" in England?

P e d r o: Ithink, as novelists, Aldous Huxley and Virginia Woolf; as poets, T. S. Eliot and W. H. Auden.

L u c i 11e: Ihave never heard of them. Are they very well known?

P e d r o: Quite well known, but if you want the really well known ones, there are J. B. Priestley and Somerset Maugham and Graham Greene.

F ri e d a: Ihave read Priestley's Good Companions.

L u c i 11e: Ihave seen it at the cinema; it was a good pic­ ture.

F ri e d a: I know Somerset Maugham's short stories, but I haven't heard of Graham Greene. What has he written?

P e d r o: He made his name with The Power and the Glory. After that he wrote The Heart of the Matter. Read them both if you can get them. They are interesting books.

F ri e d a: Uncle John generally asks me what I want for a Christmas present. Ifhe does this year, I can ask him for one of them.

 

H o b: Or both!

Hob and Jan enter

L u c i 11e: Hello! Are you here?

H o b: Yes. You were talking about books for Christmas presents, weren't you? Have you heard the story of the two girls who wanted to give a Christmas present to a friend but didn't know what to send? One said, "Let's give her a clock". "What's the use of giving her a clock", said the other. "She doesn't want that. She has got a clock. I think we ought to give

her a book".

"But", said the first girl, "she has got a book, too, hasn't she?"

F r i e d a: Who are the well-known modem writers of plays in England?

P e d r o: There's Galsworthy and Somerset Maugham, Rat­ tigan, Christopher Fry, Noel Coward - and, of course, Shaw.

H o b: Who's Shaw? I've never heard of him.

L u c i 11e: Oh! Hob, everyone has heard of Shaw. He's an Englishman who has written plays and thinks the two great English writers are: first Shaw; second, perhaps, Shakespeare. F r i e d a: He's an Irishman, not an Enghshman. He doesn't like England and the English. He has said that time and again

in his plays.

P e d r o: That's his Irish joke. He says he doesn't like Eng­ land but he has lived 1 in it, not in Ireland,for fifty years and English people have laughed at him and his plays, and have paid him very well for telling them that he doesn't like them. Shaw is a very rich man now.

H o b: I know an Irish joke. It's about an Irish porter at Dublin station. A passenger went up to him and said, "Look here! You have got six clocks and they all tell different times. Now what's the good of that?"

"And what", said the Irishman, "is the good of having six clocks if they all tell the same time?"

P e d r o: I have never known anyone with so many stories as you, Hob. But to come back to Shaw. Have you seen any of his plays?

F r i e d a: No, I haven't. Have you?

1 Illoy)'Mep B 1950 r.

P e d r o: Yes, I've seen a good many. One of them, St. Joan is on at the Old Vic Theatre at present. If you want to see it, I have two tickets here that you and Jan can have.

F r i e d a and J a n: Oh, thank you very much! That's very nice of you.

P e d r o: Not at all. I am very pleased that you can use them. Ah! Here comes Mr. Priestley.

M r. P r i e st 1e y: Good morning, everybody.

A ll: Good morning, sir.

M r. P r i e s t 1e y: Have you all done your homework? Give me your books now, please.... Where is your homework, Hob?

H o b: I have left my book at home, sir. I am sorry.

(After the Lesson) Frieda, Jan, Hob.

F r i e d a: Has Mr. Priestley corrected your homework, Jan? J a n: Yes.

F r i e d a: What has he written in your book:

J a n: Here it is; you can see it. (Frieda reads.)

F r i e d a: "You have done this exercise very well". Oh! Jan, you haven't made any mistakes at all; I have made six. How many mistakes have you made in. your work, Hob?

H o b: None.

J a n: But you haven't brought your book to the class today. Mr. Priestley can't correct your work if you don't bring your book here.

H o b: He couldn't correct my homework even if I brought my book to class today.

J a n: Why not?

.HE

o b: Because I haven't done it.

 

Cp OHEH14 E CK A SI T PE Hlll P OB K A

(n O BT O P E Hlll E)

draw, drawn, drew, saw, sew, know, knew, knowledge, few, flew, her, here, how, who, hurt, husband, instead, language, each, leave, least, earth, great.

 

Y nP A >K HE HlllSI

I. BcTaBhTe nponyru,euuh 1e cJioua:

1. I have not had much time for reading - I left school.

2. I am - of English writers and have read quite a lot.

3. Uncle John generally asks me what I want for a C-p-.

4. The girl said, " - 's give her a clock".

5. What's the - of that? She doesn't want a clock.

6. Shaw doesn't like the English. He has said that - and again.

7. I know a j- about an Irish - at a Dublin -.

8. One of his - is on at the Old Vic Theatre at -.

9. You have - this exercise well. You haven't - any mistakes.

10. He can't - your work if you don't - your book here.

II. Ilplf)zyMaiiTe npe,!VlmKeuua ua KIDK,D;oe H3 cJioe:

1. modem 4. perhaps 7. let 10. mistake

2. since 5. present 8. ticket 11. correct

3. fond 6. both 9. leave 12. because

III. OmeThTe ua cJie,!Q'IOe eonpoch1:

1. What does Pedro say that he feels when he talks to Mr. Priestley about book?

2. What English books does Lucille say that she has read?

3. What well-known writers does Pedro speak about?

4. What modem poets does he name?

5. How did Frieda think that she could get a book?

6. What modem writers of plays does Pedro speak of?

7. What does Frieda say about Mr. Shaw?

8. What does Pedro say about him?

9. What plays has he written?

10. Why couldn't Mr. Priestley correct Hob's homework?

IV. Pa3wrpaiiTe B poJUIX myrKy Xo6a o Knore.

V. lluc11euupyiiTe TaIOKe myncy o naccIDKUpe uuocHJihKe-upJia.H,lUie.

)l;UKTaHT

At Christmas I often get presents, but there is one present that I always like to get, and that is a book. It doesn't matter what kind of book it is. It can be a story book, a book of poems or a book of plays; I enjoy them all.

I get some of my books from the Public Library. There is a very good one in the town where I live and the librarian knows a lot about literature, He gives me advice about litera­ ture and helps me to get the books that I want. But I buy quite a lot of books too, particularly those that I have read before and have enjoyed. I like to have them in my home so that I can read them (or at least some of them) not only once, but time and again. I like to sit in the room where my books are, and even, if I am not reading, I like to look at the books on my shelves and to feel that I have my friends round me.

LESSON 30