Text A. Meeting the English Family

We are now in a street in West London. The sky is very dark and it is raining. This is Rosa's big day. Her first day in England.

Rosa is getting out of a London taxi. The taxi driver is carrying a very heavy suitcase. They walk through the rain to the front door of a big Victorian house. A small girl opens the door. She is four years old. Her brother is standing behind her. He is only two years old. One minute later, a young woman comes to the door.

"Welcome to Wembley!", she says and she offers Rosa her hand. "These are my two children, Elisabeth and David."

"Pleased to meet you, Mrs Frost!" says Rosa with a strong Spanish accent.

The two children run back into the living-room.

"Don't worry about them! They're a little shy. And please call me Diana! Now let me show you your room and then we can have a nice cup of tea. Or would you prefer coffee?"

"I'd like to try a cup of English tea, made in England."

"This is your bedroom. There's a nice view of the football stadium and here's a little desk where you can study. The bathroom and toilet are just opposite your door. Now I'll just go and put the kettle on."

"Excuse me. What's a kettle?"

"In England, we use a kettle to make hot water. We can then put the hot water in a teapot or use it to make instant coffee."

Rosa is happy with her new home, but she is thinking about her mother's opinions. Perhaps Dolores is right. The British are not normal people. They do not kiss when they meet and they live in large Victorian (вікторіанський – побудований за часів правління королеви Вікторії у 1837-1901 рр.) palaces. Their favourite drink is tea and they use strange metal kettles to make the water hot. What is she going to say to Elisabeth and David? How can she make friends with two shy English children? Perhaps the answer is in the big, black psychology book.

Exercise 1.

· Read the text and find sentences describing:

a) the weather in London on Rosa’s first day in England; b) Rosa’s room in her new home; c) Rosa’s doubts (сумніви) about the British.

Exercise 2.

· Do the following:

a) Write the names of things you need to make a cup of tea (coffee).

b) Write the names of rooms in a typical English home.

c) Write a list of things you need to study at home.

 

Exercise 3.

· Answer the following questions in writing:

How can Rosa make friends with two shy English children?

What do you know about English people and English homes?

What does a London taxi look like?

What is your favourite drink? Do you like instant coffee?

What do you know about Victorian houses?

Are you shy?

· Agree or disagree with the following statements. Explain your choice.

The British are not normal people.

English homes are beautiful.

 

Basic Patterns

The taxi driver is carrying a very heavy suitcase. Водій таксі несе важку валізу.

Grace is listening to a play on the radio. She’ s enjoying it. Грейс слухає п’єсу по радіо. П’єса їй подобається.

 

Exercise 4.

· Translate the following sentences into Ukrainian. Explain why you think your translation is correct:

They are discussing politics again.

Who are you waiting for?

I am not waiting for anyone.

· Translate into English:

Марго читає свій улюблений журнал мод.

Містер Джоунз сидить за своїм комп’ютером.

Що ти робиш з цим пістолетом?

· Ask other students:

What are you looking at?

Text B. A Typical English Family

Hi, my name is Craig. I am English because I was born in England, but I am also British because England is part of Great Britain and is in the UK.

I live in a typical English family. I have a father, mother and a sister and we all live together in our house in a town in the south east corner of England. At the back of our house we have our garden where I play with my sister.

My family has a car, a computer, a colour telly with DVD, a washing machine, dishwasher and a cat. Mum and dad both have mobile phones and I am hoping to get one soon.

What is a day like for a child in England? The day starts at about 7 o'clock when Dad and mum get up. We have breakfast at 8 o' clock.

After breakfast, my sister and I put on our school uniform. I wear grey trousers, a white shirt and a blue sweat shirt. We all leave the house by 8.30. Dad goes to work. He works with computers. Mum, my sister and I walk to school. My mum then catches a bus to her work place. She teaches in a different school.

My favourite subjects at school are science and history. My favourite topic in history is learning about the ancient Egyptians. I also enjoy PE (Physical Education) lessons - we play football, netball (нетбол – різновид баскетболу), cricket and sometimes we go cross-country running.

Mum picks up from school at 3:15. Sometimes we go downtown to the shops and, if we are really lucky, mum will buy us a McDonalds Happy Meal. However, most days we will go straight home and my sister and I watch the telly, or play on the computer.

I have to help mum wash up (wash the dishes) when I have eaten. I also have to tidy my bedroom.

In the evenings, I usually do my homework before watching more telly. Mum helps me with my homework. My family likes to watch Eastenders, and Coronation Street (English soap operas).

I also go to Karate (наголос на другому складі) on Thursdays and my sister goes to Ballet (вимовляється [‘bælei]) on Wednesdays.

I like building fires (розпалювати багаття) and cooking on them. It is good fun sleeping in the tents too. We usually go camping about twice a year.

Every Saturday, my family and I go into town to the open market. People sell vegetables, clothes, toys, posters, and nearly anything else out on the street. Mum buys her fruit and vegetables there. I enjoy just wandering looking at all the things for sale, hoping my parents will buy me something. Sometimes I am lucky.

Unit 3

 

Text A. First Morning at aLanguage School

---- It is 9 o’ clock on Monday morning and the sun is shining through the windows of a tall building in Central London. Inside, a line of students is walking slowly up the stairs to a large room on the first floor.

Two middle-aged women are sitting at a table at the front of the room. They are looking at a list of students’ names. A tall man is standing just inside the door. He is telling the students where to sit.

"Please fill the chairs at the back of the room!" he says in a loud voice.

The tall man is a teacher, but this is a big school. There are many teachers. The other teachers are waiting in a room on the second floor.

One of the middle-aged ladies stands up. Most of the chairs are now occupied. She can see faces from many different countries. She looks at the students to get their attention.

"Good morning!" she says in a lively voice.

Some of the students say "Good morning!" but many are silent. She is not happy with their silence.

"You’re all here to speak English!... Let’s try again!... Good morning!" she repeats in a louder voice.

All the students say "Good morning!" in very loud voices. Then she smiles at them.

"My name’s Mary Palmer (вимовляється [‘pa:m∂]) and I’m your Course Director. This is my assistant, Angela Leach. She’s going to check your passports. We’re both very happy to welcome you to the English Language College. We’ve got the best teachers in London and we’re sure that your English will get better. You’ll also make a lot of new friends. There are people in this school from all over the world! Stand up all the students who come from Japan!... Thank you!... Now stand up if you come from Spain!"

There are eleven students from Japan - eight young ladies and three young men. But there are only two students from Spain. One of them is a waiter from Gijon (вимовляється Хіхóн). His name is Arturo. The other is a psychology graduate from Madrid. She is called Rosa.

 

Exercise 1.

· Read the text and find sentences describing:

a) the language school before the first lesson; b) the beginning of the lesson; c) the teachers at the English Language College.

Exercise 2.

· Do the following:

a) Write a list of all the countries and nationalities you know.

b) Write the names of your Academy, Faculty, Department.

c) Write a list of principal courses taught at your Academy.

 

Exercise 3.

· Answer the following questions in writing:

What does the language school look like?

Why is the Course Director not happy with the students’ silence?

Is it easy to be a teacher?

Where are Japan, Spain, and Ukraine in the world?

What do you know about Japan and Spain?

What is Ukraine famous for?

· Agree or disagree with the following statements. Explain your choice.

The Japanese are hard-working people, and the Spanish are not.

It is easy to learn a foreign language.

Basic Patterns

Please fill the chairs at the front of the room. Прошу займати місця в передніх рядах.

Most of the students were sitting at the back of the room.Більшість студентів сиділи позаду в аудиторії.

She was standing helplessly in front of the class. Вона безпорадно стояла перед класом.

 

Exercise 4.

· Translate the following sentences into Ukrainian. Explain why you think your translation is correct:

There was a garden at the back of the house.

There was a woman at the wheel (за кермом) and four children in the back.

A car drew up in front of the house.

Text B. Learning Languages

The problem of learning languages is very important today. Foreign languages are socially demanded (соціально затребувані) especially at the present time when the progress in science and technology has led to an explosion of knowledge and has contributed to an overflow (надмір) of information. The total knowledge of mankind doubles every seven years. Foreign languages are needed as the main and most efficient means of information exchange of the people of our planet.

Today English is the language of the world. Over 350 million people speak it as a mother tongue. The native speakers of English live in Great Britain, the United States of America, Australia and New Zealand. English is one of the official languages in the Irish Republic, Canada, the South African Republic. As a second language it is used in the former British and US colonies. It is the major international language for communication in such areas as science, technology, business and mass entertainment. English is one of the official languages of the United Nations Organization and other political organization. It is the language of the literature, education, modern music, international tourism.

Ukraine is integrating into the world community, and the problem of learning English for communication is especially important today. Learning a foreign language is not as easy thing. It is a long and slow process that takes a lot of time and patience. But to know English is absolutely necessary for every educated person, for every good specialist. It is well known that reading books in the original, listening to the BBC news, communicating with the English-speaking people will help a lot. When learning a foreign language you learn the culture and history of the native speakers. One must work hard to learn any foreign language.

 

 

Unit 4

Text A. Coffee-Time at the Language School--------

It is coffee time on Tuesday morning at The English Language College. Arturo is standing near Angela Leach's desk in reception. He sees Rosa coming down the stairs.

"Hello! Rosa!" he says. He does not want to speak Spanish because Angela is listening to him. She tells the Course Director everything!

"Rosa! Do you like your new class?" he asks.

"I'm not sure," she answers. "The teacher is good, but the course book is very easy."

"Don't worry!" says Arturo. "The first lessons in course books are always very easy. I'm sure your book will get more difficult."

"Well, how about your class?" asks Rosa.

"I like it when the teacher's speaking," says Arturo, "but there's too much pairwork."

"What's pairwork?" asks Rosa.

"It's when you practise your English by speaking to the person next to you," Arturo explains.

"But that's good!" says Rosa. "All the students have more speaking time!"

"It isn't good for me!" Arturo answers. The student next to me reads his dictionary all the time. He looks for words to say, but he says nothing. When I speak to him, he doesn't understand me!"

"Don't worry!" says Rosa. "Pairwork is very difficult the first time. Tomorrow it will be very easy!"

"Don't make fun of me!" says Arturo. "You're a very bad person, so I'm only going to ask you one more question."

"What?" asks Rosa.

"I'm alone here in England. Would you like to go shopping and sightseeing with me on Saturday?"

"I'm a very bad person," says Rosa, "so the answer to your question is yes!"

 

Exercise 1.

· Read the text and find sentences describing:

a) the course books at the Language School; b) pairwork in a language class; c) the student sitting next to Arturo.

Exercise 2.

· Do the following:

a) Write the titles of the course books you use at your Academy.

b) Write a list of the countries where English is used as the native language.

c) Write a list of the countries where English is used as a second language.

Exercise 3.

· Answer the following questions in writing:

Is it better to speak English all the time at school or to speak your own language some of the time?

Do you prefer pairwork (listening and speaking to another student) or listening to the teacher's English?

Is it good or bad to use dictionaries in class?

Why are Arturo and Rosa afraid of Angela Leach?

Why did Arturo invite Rosa to go shopping and sightseeing with him on Saturday?

Which is the best way of learning English?

· Agree or disagree with the following statements. Explain your choice.

The teacher's rolein class is not so important.

You cannot make (примусити) a student study.

 

Basic Patterns

He sees Rosa coming down the stairs. Він бачить, як Роза спускається сходами.

I heard them talking in the next room. Я чула, як вони розмовляють у сусідній кімнаті.

 

Exercise 4.

· Translate the following sentences into Ukrainian. Explain why you think your translation is correct:

Have you ever seen the police arresting a criminal?

We saw him throwing a television through the window.

I heard her practising her English pronunciation.

· Translate into English:

Я бачив, як ця жінка переходила вулицю.

Ви коли-небудь чули, як вона грає Шопена (Chopin)?

Студенти ніколи не бачили, як професор N користується комп’ютером.

· Ask other students:

Did you ever see me drinking beer directly from the bottle?