Use the verbs in brackets in an appropriate tense.

1. At first Krebs, who _____ (to be) at Belleau Wood, Soissons, the Champagne, St. Mihiel and in the Argonne _____ (not to want) to talk about the war at all.

2. His town _____ (to hear) too many atrocity stories ________(to thrill) by actualities.

3. His lies _____ (to be) quite unimportant lies and _____ (to consist) in attributing to himself things other men _____ (to see, to do) or _____ (to hear) of.

4. Before Krebs _____ (to go) away to the war he never _________(to be) allowed to drive the family motor car.

5. It _____ (to be) a history and he _____ (to read) about all the engagements he _____ (to be) in.

6. It _____ (to be) the most interesting reading he ever _____ (to do).

7. One morning after he _____ (to be) home about a month his mother _____ (to come) into his bedroom and _____ (to sit) on the bed.

8. You _____ (to decide) what you are going to do yet, Harold?

9. If you _____ (to love) me, you _____(to want) to come over and watch me play indoor.

10. She _____ (to cry) with her head in her hands.

Complete these sentences with prepositions.

1. People seemed to think it was rather ridiculous … Krebs to be getting back so late, years … the war was over.

2. A distaste … everything that had happened … him … the war set … because … the lie he had told.

3. When he occasionally met another man who had really been a soldier and they talked a few minutes … the dressing room … a dance he fell … the easy pose … the old soldier … other soldiers: that he had been badly, sickeningly frightened all the time.

4. … this time, it was late summer, he was sleeping late … bed, getting up to walk down … the library to get a book, eating lunch … home, reading … the front porch … he became bored and then walking down … the town to spend the hottest hours … the day … the cool dark … the pool room.

5. His father was … the real estate business and always wanted the car to be … his command when he required it to take clients out … the country to show them a piece … farm property.

6. She handed him The Kansas City Star and he shucked … its brown wrapper and opened it to the sporting page.

7. He folded The Star open and propped it … the water pitcher … his cereal dish to steady it, so he could read while he ate.

8. She put the eggs and bacon down … him and brought … a jug of maple syrup … the buckwheat cakes.

9. I pray … you all day long, Harold.

10. He had felt sorry … his mother.

Reading Comprehension and Discussion Tasks

1. Answer the questions:

1. What was Krebs’ usual day?

2. What were Krebs and his mother talking about one morning?

3. Where did his sister invite him?

4. Why did Krebs hurt his mother saying that he didn’t love her?

5. Why did he decide not to go down to his father’s office?

6. Did Krebs really love his family?

2. Discuss the following:

1. What was Krebs’ greatest problem in your opinion?

2. Describe his attitude to girls.

 

Henry James THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE

Parts I-II

Exercises

Pre-reading Tasks

1. Practise the pronunciation of the words from the story. When in doubt refer to the dictionary:

triumph, veracity, embarrassment, humility, honour, declivity, accent, pecuniary, impulse, factotum, chisel, machination, rueful, interlocutor, groan, omniscient, cabal, innocence, genius, chimney, mortuary, present (n), present (v), juncture, vulgarity, urge.

Vocabulary Tasks

1. Find in the story the English for:

збентеження; дожити до п’ятдесяти років; уникнути шлюбу; жити на власні кошти; хоч і останній, але не найгірший; раз і назавжди скласти про себе певну думку; друзі, яким він довіряв найбільше; численна колекція мармурових статуй; гіркота, яку навіть час не притупив; жалкувати за кимсь, оплакувати когось; уся ситуація була справді дивом; насолоджуватися статуями, радіти статуям; пестити як єдину дитину; друг сім’ї; хрещеник; бити байдики майже щодня; схованка для таємниць; підтримувати чистоту смаку; маєток; знебарвлена штукатурка; закоханий до нестями скульптор; у будь-якому разі; майстер на всі руки; видатні руки; підлеслива ідея; бути народженим більше для пензля, ніж для різця; обирати кар’єру; продовжувати закривати очі на якийсь факт; атласна шкіра вершкового кольору; шовкове каштанове волосся; схильність із дитинства; грубо, невдало малювати; чудова спадковість; стриманий свист; брутальний, грубий смак; повертатися в університет; жереб кинуто; біржовий маклер; застогнати; блаженство, раювання; мати нещастя все знати; не схвалювати, ставитися негативно; я наглядатиму за тобою; виказувати підозру; від цього його кидало у дрож; два тижні; незвично зручний, підхожий розмір; усе монументальне ставало маленьким; полиця над каміном; близькі дружні стосунки; легкі пориви вітру; вірити у свою вдачу; позбавляти ілюзій, оман; затемнення; мінливість долі, удачі й невдачі; пити за щось; оволодіти секретом популярності; обвинувальна любов; прийти комусь на допомогу; бути незмінно щедрим; естетичні недоліки, вади.

Use one of the words or word combinations from the box in an appropriate form to fill each gap.

immemorial daub shortened burn out instead subdued blind confess stucco detached die sake formless

1. The little green door of his domain was in a garden-wall on which the discoloured... made patches, and in the small... villa behind it everything was old, the furniture, the servants, the books, the prints, the... habits and the new improvements.

2. His one worry was that Lance – to which they had … his godson – was, in spite of a public school, perhaps a shade too Italian.

3. It had been impossible longer to remain... to the fact that he was gaining no glory at Cambridge, where Brench’s own college had for a year tempered its tone to him as for Brench’s own....

4. I’ve never been unaware, certainly, of his disposition, from his earliest time, to … and draw; but I … I’ve hoped it would ….

5. Peter looked off a little and, in his familiar... way, kept up for a moment, a sound between a smothered whistle and a... hum.

6. Lance was not to go up again, but to go... to Paris where, since the... was cast, he would find the best advantage.

Match up the synonyms. Consult the dictionary.

1) portion	a) adulatory
2) confess	b) state
3) intimate	c) unconsciousness
4) fortune	d) request
5) flattering	e) share
6) vain	f) horror
7) beg	g) wealth
8) ignorance	h) admit
9) affection	i) futile
10) dread	j) fondness

Grammar Tasks

Put the verbs in brackets into the correct form.

1. He __________(can not) _________(to tell) Mrs. Mallow – or at least he ___________(to suppose), excellent man, he _________(can not) – that she __________(to be) the one beautiful reason he _________ never ________(to marry).

2. The Mallows, at Carrara Lodge, __________(to be) within ten minutes, and the studio there _________(to be) on their little land, to which they ________(to add), in their happy faith, for building it.

3. His one worry __________(to be) that Lance – to which they _________(to shorten) his godson – was, in spite of a public school, perhaps a shade too Italian.

4. The Master’s sole regret that he ___________(not to bear) rather to the brush than to the chisel sprang from his wish that he might _________(to contribute) to that collection.

5. “Do you think he___________(to go) _________(to be) another Master?”

6. Lance, who ____________(to remain) on the sofa with his legs out and his hands in his pockets, __________(to watch) him with eyes that __________(to show) suspicion.

7. There __________(to be) so much too many things in this question ___________(to answer) at once that they practically ___________(to check) the discussion.

8. Peter, when this lady _________(to look) at him with accusatory affection – a grace on her part not infrequent – __________(can) never ________ (to find) a word; but the Master, who _________(to be) always all amenity and tact, _________(to help) him out now as he ________often ________(to help) him before.

9. The room in which they _________(to sit) _________(to be) adorned with sundry specimens of the Master’s genius.

10. The occasion __________(to be) one of those he _______ long ago _______(to learn) _________(to know) and _________(to name) – short flickers of the faint flame, soft gusts of a kinder air.

Choose the correct pronoun.

1. Such a triumph had its honour even for a man of other triumphs – a man who had reached fifty, who had escaped marriage, who had lived without his / him means, who had been in love with Mrs. Mallow for years without breathing it, and who, last but not least, had judged him / himself once for all.

2. His victory, however, as I have intimated, in regard to these productions, was not simply in his not having let it out that he deplored them; it was, remarkably, in his / he not having kept it in by anything else.

3. He had of course before long to meet the boy him / himself on it and to hear that practically everything was settled.

4. Lance would have been like his / him father, to his friend’s sense, had he had less humour, and like his / her mother had he had more beauty.

5. “Then you want mine / I / me to stay at home?”

6. The room in which they sat was adorned with sundry specimens of the Master’s genius, which had the merit of being, as Mrs. Mallow her / herself / sheself frequently suggested, of an unusually convenient size.

7. They [statues] formed, like the Mallows themselves / themself / theirselves, poor Brench’s own family – having at least to such a degree the note of familiarity.

8. Twice a year regularly the Master believed in his / him fortune, in addition to believing all the year round in himself / his genius.

9. “We’ll drink to the health of the absent, but we must hope he’s preparing herself / himself / him for a happiness much less like this of ours / our/ us this evening.”

10. “The comfort,” the Master explained, leaning back in the pleasant lamplight and firelight, holding up his glass and looking round at his marble family, quartered more or less, a monstrous brood, in every room – “the comfort of art in it / itself / himself!”

3. Change the following sentences from the story into indirect speech:

1. “Peter, don’t you think I’ve talent?” Lance repeated.

2. “But I forgot,” his companion went on – “you’re not to know about that.”

3. “What a pity Lance isn’t with us to rejoice!” Mrs. Mallow on this occasion sighed at supper.

4. “We’ll drink to the health of the absent,” her husband replied, “but we must hope he’s preparing himself for a happiness much less like this of ours this evening.”

5. Peter got up from the sofa, “Lance, if you’ll go up again I’ll pay your way at Cambridge.”