Chapters One – Three (pp. 1-16)

Active Vocabulary

1. to split up (1) -                  разойтись, расстаться

2. the point (2) -                    суть, смысл

to miss the point (2) -        пропустить главное; не понять, в чём суть

                                          упустить из вида самое главное

(not) to see the point (4) - (не) видеть смысл, (не) понимать суть

3. to remind sb of sth (4) -              напоминать кому-либо о чём-либо

4. clutter (7) -                                  бардак, хаос

5. not to be right for sth (11) - не подходить для чего-либо

6. to give sb a hard time (13) - обижать, доводить, донимать кого-либо

7. weird (1, 13) -                    странный, чудаковатый

8. for no reason (8, 16) -       без всякой причины    

 

(Note: the same words may be used in a few exercises.

In brackets the pages are given on which the words are used in the novel.)

I. Find in the novel the following words and phrases. Learn them.

Get ready to reproduce the situations in which they were used. Try to use them in answering the questions and discussing the characters and the events of the novel.

 

II. Find in the novel words or word combinations with the following meaning. Put them down, translate them into Russian. Reproduce the sentences where they are used.

1. to stop having relations with sb (1) _______________­___________________

2. strange (1) (16) __________________________________________________

3. not to understand the main idea in sth (2) ____________________________

4. to think (3) (infml) ______________________________________________

5. colloquial word for ‘man’ (3) ______________________________________

6. to use the remote control to switch quickly through the channels (4) _______________________________________________________________

7. to go crazy (6) (16) (infml) _________________________________________

8. feeling weak and looking tired (7) (infml) _____________________________

9. without any reason (8, 16)  ________________________________________

10.  without money (8) (Br slang) ______________________________________

11.  to stare angrily at sb (9) ___________________________________________

12.  to look into sb’s eyes (16) _________________________________________

III. Find in the novel the English equivalents of the following Russian words or word combinations.

1. вполне разумный вопрос (1) ______________________________________

2. убедиться (1) __________________________________________________

3. ссора, перебранка (1)  ___________________________________________

4. ссориться, спорить (2) ____________________________________________

5. всё образуется, всё уладится (3) ____________________________________

6. отрастить/сбрить бородку (5) _____________________________________

7. выживать (6) ___________________________________________________

8. новорожденный (7) ______________________________________________

9. подбадривать, вдохновлять к/л на ч/л (8) ___________________________

10. жалкий (8) ____________________________________________________

11. не говоря уже о (12) ____________________________________________

12. запеть вслух (15) ______________________________________________

13. на перемене, во время перерыва (15) ______________________________

14. быть в здравом уме, в своём уме (15) ______________________________

 

IV. Find in the novel informal equivalents of the following neutral sentences. Put them down.

Does it worry you? (2)_________________________________________________

He hoped that everything would be all right. (3) ____________________________

You are joking. (9) ___________________________________________________

They didn’t understand it. (9) ___________________________________________

It is not for me. (9) ___________________________________________________

 

Mastering the Pronunciation

Consult dictionaries. Put down the transcription of the following words. Practise reading them.

 

weird ________________________            pathetic ___________________________

questionnaire _________________     glare _____________________________

goatee _______________________        hypothermia _______________________

frivolity ______________________       row ______________________________

 

Think over the answers to the following questions and get ready to discuss them in class.

 

Marcus and His Mum

 

1. How old was Marcus?

How old was his mum?

How long had Marcus and his mum lived in London?

Where had they lived before?

What had happened in their life four years before?

 

Speak on “ two different sorts of life ” Marcus had.

 Which life do you think he preferred? Why?

 

2. What was Marcus’s “basic problem”?

What made him different from other kids at school?

 

3. How did the kids treat Marcus at school?

Were his relations with kids different when they lived in Cambridge?

 

 Why, in your opinion?

                       What was the basic reason for his troubles?

 

4. What did Marcus’s mum think about her son’s problems at school?

Did she take them seriously?

 

Speak on Marcus’s mum ’s principles.

Find in the novel and take notes of what she thought about

modern films, music, computer games: ____________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

fashion: ____________________________________________________________

 

 Do you think she was right?

 

Marcus’s Character Sketch

How can you characterize Marcus? What traits of character did he possess? Circle the adjectives which can be used to describe the boy’s character. Give reasons. What other qualities can you name?

 

kind     shy      envious        brave          sympathetic   

outgoing         quarrelsome           timid           shrewd ill-mannered           weird                  obstinate     sensible                  sensitive              arrogant              frank

   ______________      __________      ___________

                       

 

 

 Do you think Marcus was lonely and unhappy?

                       Do you feel sorry for Marcus?

Will Freeman

 

1. How old was Will Freeman?

2. What were the criteria according to which Will scored extremely high points for being cool?

3. Why did Will think that he wouldn’t have been able to survive 60 years ago?

4. What was Will’s occupation?

5. What was his daily routine?

6. What was Will’s attitude to children and family life?

Why did people have children in his opinion?

 

 Do you share Will’s point of view?

p. 4 “He found the remote control down the back of the sofa and zapped through the channels. …”

This paragraph is one of the examples of Hornby’s wry humour. In order to distract his mum from her sorrows, Marcus selects a programme about a fish. Has he made the right choice?

What do you think the fish symbolizes?

p. 14 “He was quite happy at home, listening to Joni Mitchell and reading books … kids and teachers and lessons.”

Get ready to read and translate this paragraph. What is the main idea of the paragraph? Why did the kids give Marcus a hard time at school? What is the meaning of the word ‘ funny ’ in this paragraph?

 

 

Humour in the novel

Like many distinguished English writers, Nick Hornby uses humour to explore different issues of life. Sometimes the situations themselves are comic, sometimes the humour is achieved by the discrepancy between what Marcus is thinking and what the grown-up reader is thinking.

Point out any situations described in the novel which seemed comic to you and made you laugh.

 

Commenting on the Grammar

Find in the novel the following sentences. Read them and translate them. Comment on the grammar structures used in them.

But he would have missed the clubbing more (9).

She would show him pictures …, he would tell her …. (9).

You can look at all the references to music, TV programmes, etc in two ways.

If you read the novel without any knowledge at all of the singers, players, lyrics and everything else which fills the life of the characters, you can still enjoy the book immensely. All you need to understand is that Marcus’s mum’s tastes are very unfashionable, and regarded as comic by most of the characters, while Will wants to be cool and he listens only to cool music.

On the other hand, the references in the novel are very important and help to understand the characters of the novel. As Nick Hornby is fond of music and is an expert in this field, music is an important part in his novels. The reader is expected not just to recognize the references, but to share the characters’ reaction to them.

That is why, if you do not know anything about the following bands, singers, etc, surf the Internet and find the bands, singers mentioned in the novel (especially such as Nirvana, Snoop Doggy Dog, Tupac, Warren G, Joni Mitchell, Bob Marley) and listen to this music.

Holloway (4) – is an inner-city district in London with a multicultural population and is one of the most densely populated areas of London.

Labour (5) – In 1993 the Labour Party had been a minority (non-ruling) party in British Parliament since 1979. Suddenly it was fashionable to support the Labour party. Will is not interested in politics, but he knows what is fashionable.

Nirvana (6) – massively popular band in the early 1990s, ‘cool beyond words’ for many people. Nirvana was the chief exponent of ‘grunge’ music. Particularly cool was Kurt Cobain, the lead singer, song writer and guitarist of the band.

Snoop Doggy Dog (6) – an American rap band

East Enders (7) – a popular BBC television soap opera set in the East end of London. It does not deal with the glamorous rich, but with ordinary working-class Londoners.

Some kids, he knew, got taught by their parents at home (11) – It is legally possible in Britain for parents to teach their children themselves rather than send them to school. It is not easy – parents and any individual tutors have to teach the National Curriculum, and to be inspected as if they were a school, but there are a few thousand parents who organize their own lives around home teaching.

Macaulay Culkin (12) – a child star who played the chief part in the film Home Alone.

Joni Mitchell (13) – a singer from the Hippy era (late 60s, early 70s). She was a noted Canadian musician, songwriter and painter. At the time of the events described in the book her popularity had declined.

Bob Marley (13) – was a very popular Jamaican reggae singer in the 1970s – died young of cancer.

registration (15) – In English schools pupils go at the beginning of the day to their ‘own classroom’ where their class teacher ‘takes the register’, i.e. marks down in the register who is present.

 

 

Here are some notes to help you understand some difficult words or phrases used in the novel.

I dunno (2) = ‘I don’t know’ when spoken by someone who is bored or irritable.

Ecstasy (5) – the street name of a banned drug

polenta and shaved parmesan (5) – polenta is a rather boring Italian cornmeal dish – a kind of heavy “каша”. Shaved parmesan means tiny scrapings of this expensive hard cheese.

Sub-zero, dry ice, Frosty the Snowman (6) – Will, according to the questionnaire is ‘very cool’. Or even extremely cold, as he reminds himself – for here he is playing with different senses of ‘cool’.

speculation (6) – размышление

he would have gone round the twist otherwise (6) – иначе бы он рехнулся (у него бы крыша поехала)

washed out (7) (infml) – измученный, измотанный, измочаленный

  to burn the candle at both ends (7) – to start working early and go on working late – with no rest.

sodding (7) – irritating (vulgar, rude slang) (чёртов, долбанный) (sod - сволочь) 

non sequitur (8) – ‘it does not follow’ (Latin). A remark, which is ridiculous because it is not connected to the previous argument (нелогичное заключение, неочевидное высказывание). Will considers the statement “Barney’s lovely” to be nonsense, and a contradiction of what was said before.

nappy (8) – подгузник

froth (9) – вздорные мысли, пустые слова, болтовня

oblivion (9) – забвение

embrace (9) – обьятья

you have hidden depths (9) = дословно: ‘ты скрывал свою глубину’, т.е. только казался легкомысленным, несерьёзным

swallowed his pride (10) – проглотил свою гордость

domesticity (10) – семейная жизнь, домашняя жизнь

monogamy (10) – единобрачие, моногамия

what was bothering him (11) – что его беспокоило, по поводу чего он переживал

c aravan (12) – дом на колёсах, дом-прицеп (к автомобилю; фургон, оборудованный под жильё)

crap (12) (slang, vulgar) – дерьмо

rape (13) – насиловать

on the lookout (13) – наготове, начеку

dement (13) (bookish) – сводить с ума

thump sb (14) (infml) – побить, поколотить

mean (adj) (14) – недоброжелательный, низкий, подлый

decency (14) – приличие; вежливость, любезность

the tune just sort of slipped out (14) – мелодия как-то так сама вырывалась наружу

tough out (15) (infml) – выдержать, выдюжить, вынести, вытерпеть, устоять (Tough it out! — Держись!, Крепись!, Не падай духом!)

potty (16) (infml) – crasy or silly (a childish word) (слабоумный; помешанный, сумасшедший)

Put down the words or phrases which caused difficulties when reading the novel and ask the teacher about their meaning.

 

Lesson 2