Wade, dipping, leafing, a load of tripe, cover, twist, print, gripping, highbrow, light reading, a good read, a must, put down
1. It’s only … but some of the articles can be quite informative.
2. My boyfriend thinks this novel is just … .
3. I had to … through page after page of the long legal document.
4. It’s …, absolutely riveting, right to the very end.
5. This guidebook is … for anyone going there.
6. I love … into it from time to time to check dates and that sort of thing.
7. Make sure you read the small … before signing.
8. There’s a brilliant … at the end.
9. It’s too … – far too intellectual for my taste.
10. I read her last novel from … to … in one day.
11. I just couldn’t … the book until I’d finished it.
12. She sat … through a magazine, watching the door.
13. The magazine is … every month.
III. Read the following quotations about books, choose three that you like best and comment on them:
"No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance." – Confucius
"A capacity and taste for reading gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others." – Abraham Lincoln
"The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest men of the past centuries." - Descartes
"Once you learn to read, you will be forever free." - Frederick Douglass
"I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book." - Groucho Marx
"There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them." - Joseph Brodsky
"A book is the most effective weapon against intolerance and ignorance." - Lyndon Baines Johnson
"Today a reader, tomorrow a leader." - Margaret Fuller
"You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them." - Ray Bradbury
"It is not true we have only one life to live; if we can read, we can live as many lives and as many kinds of lives as we wish." - S.I. Hayakawa
“Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are.” – Mason Cooley
“A man is known by the books he reads.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” – Richard Steele
“To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life.” – Somerset Maugham
"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers." - Charles William Eliot
"No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting." - Lady Montagu
Как заставить ребёнка полюбить чтение?
Дети 21-го века шарахаются от книг
Каждому понятно: без привычки читать полноценная учёба невозможна. Поэтому в школе так важно научить детей любить чтение, читать много, эффективно искать, извлекать и запоминать информацию из прочитанного. Однако в наш информационный век, когда скорость потребления информации, по идее, должна расти, дети читают всё меньше.
Сегодня мы живём в мультимедийном мире ТВ и Интернета – это значит, что приоритет всё чаще отдаётся аудиовизуальной информации, которая воспринимается легче, чем информация текстовая. Именно это, по мнению специалистов, методично убивает в детях и взрослых желание читать. Видеоролики на YouTube, всевозможные видеописьма и видеоинструкции, анимация, интерактив и многое другое приучают нас к мультимедийному стилю жизни и лишают воображения. Интернет-формат активно проникает и в печать: всё больше становится изданий, в которых картинки занимают бóльшую часть объёма, а текст ограничивается короткими комментариями к ним.
Опаснее всего, когда такое мультимедийное мышление развивается с детства. Сегодня даже красочно оформленная бумажная книга с картинками уже не очень-то привлекает ребёнка – он подсознательно ждёт от неё анимации, отклика на касание, забавных звуков. Не находя их, начинает скучать.
UNIT II
POLITICAL LEADER
THE OWL WHO WAS GOD
by James Thurber
Once upon a starless midnight there was an owl who sat on the branch of an oak tree. Two ground moles tried to slip quietly by, unnoticed. "You!" said the owl. "Who?" they replied, in fear and astonishment, for they could not believe it was possible for anyone to see them in thick darkness. "You two," said the owl. The moles hurried away and told the other creatures of the field and forest that the owl was the greatest and wisest of all animals because he could see in the dark and because he could answer any question. "I'll see about that," said a secretary bird, and he called on the owl one night when it was again very dark. "How many claws am I holding up?" said the secretary bird. "Two," said the owl, and that was right. "Can you give me another expression for 'that is to say' or 'namely'?" asked the secretary bird. "To wit," said the owl. "Why does a lover call on his love?" asked the secretary bird. "To woo," said the owl.
The secretary bird hastened back to the other creatures and reported that the owl was indeed the greatest and wisest animal in the world because he could see in the dark and because he could answer any question. "Can he see in the daytime too?" asked a red fox. "Yes," echoed a dormouse and a French poodle. "Can he see in the daytime too?" All the other creatures laughed loudly at this silly question, and they set upon the red fox and his friends and drove them out of the region. Then they sent a messenger to the owl and asked him to be their leader.
When the owl appeared among the animals it was high noon and the sun was shining brightly. He walked very slowly, which gave him an appearance of great dignity, and he peered about him with large staring eyes, which gave him an air of tremendous importance. "He's God!" screamed a Plymouth Rock hen. And the others took up the cry "He's God!" So they followed him wherever he went and when he began to bump into things they began to bump into things, too. Finally he came to a concrete highway and he started up the middle of it. And all the other creatures followed him. Presently a hawk who was acting as pitrider, observed a truck coming toward them at fifty miles an hour, and he reported to the secretary bird and the secretary bird reported to the owl. "There's danger ahead," said the secretary bird."To wit?" said the owl. The secretary bird told him. "Aren't you afraid?" he asked. "Who?" said the owl calmly, for he could not see the truck. "He's God!" cried all the creatures again, and they were still crying "He's God!" when the truck hit them and ran them down. Some of the animals were merely injured, but most of them, including the owl, were killed.
Moral: You can fool too many of the people too much of the time.
Vocabulary
1. slip (v) (by, into, out of), to slip out of one’s hands, to slip on the ice, to slip by unnoticed
slip (n), a slip of the pen, a slip of the tongue
slippery (adj)
2. notice (v)
notice (n), to put up a notice, to take notice (of), at short/a moment’s/a few hours’ notice, to give sb notice, to give in/hand in one’s notice
unnoticed (adj, adv)
3. astonish (v)
astonishing (adj), astonished (adj)
astonishment (n), in astonishment
4. wise (adj), (to be) none the wiser (about sth)
wisdom (n), conventional/received/traditional wisdom
-wise (suffix), (anti)clockwise, otherwise
5. see about/to sth
6. that is to say/namely
7. haste (n), in haste, haste makes waste
hasten (v)
8. report (v) sb/sth to sb
9. echo (v, n)
10. set (v) (sb/sth) on/upon sb/sth
11. drive (v) sb from, out of, off, away
12. appearance (n), in appearance, to give (sb) an appearance/an air of, to/by all appearances
13. dignity (n), lose one’s dignity, maintain/retain one’s dignity, an appearance of great dignity
(un)dignified (adj)
14. peer (v) into, at, through, about – peep into, through, out of
15. follow (v) – follow up
16. bump (v) into – hit sb/sth – collide with
17. presently (adv)
18. mere (adj), a mere case of, a mere two pounds, by mere chance
merely (adv)
19. omni- (prefix), omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, omnivorous
REVISION:
1. thick (darkness, hair, soup, etc.)
2. to call on sb
3. to go at (a speed of) 50 miles an hour
4. whatever, wherever, etc.
Exercises
I. Transcribe the words and read them aloud:
owl, creature, hasten, report, echo, concrete, mere, omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient
II. Word-building
Form nouns from the following verbs and adjectives:
wise, astonish, omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, compatible, require, acquire, master, injure, appear
III. Translate into Russian:
1. He let the name slip out. 2. In his concentration on the job in hand, John allowed his normal vigilance to slip. 3. Inside, I was barely able to stand upright at the highest point, for I was head and shoulders taller than my sinister host; and it did not escape my notice that the roof at its highest point was infested with cobwebs, in the corners of which sat large square spiders. 4. These rules are subject to change without any notice. 5. It was, indeed, only when their conversation seemed to be moving towards a close, with Derek none the wiser about why it had taken place, that Golding began to apply a steely edge to his questions. 6. To balance this, there are more daylight hours available to hasten plant, insect and plankton growth. 7. At weekends a special train was kept with steam up in the hotel station yard, so that Mr. Stanford could leave at moment's notice if his business affairs called. 8. Timewise, the period of the flood and directly afterwards had become completely distorted in her mind. 9. If you see an ad which makes you really stop and take notice, someone has succeeded in getting through to you. 10. The conventional wisdom of his time, like that of our time, held that the best way to run a business (or a department) was to ‘mind the store’ managing one's field and only one's field, watching it like a microscope image, getting better and better at knowing and doing just one thing. 11. At some stage in their development, expanding businesses have to change from omnipresent owner management to some form of delegated authority. 12 A person who wins an argument is the one who drives home his argument.
IV. Fill in the blanks with the given words in the correct form:
to bump, conventional wisdom, to report, omnipresent, omniscient , appearances, omnivorous, omnipotent, haste, to hasten, to slip
1. Can you suggest anything (…) their recovery? 2. In my younger days the Church was the very heart of the community, and was a place (…) into friends and family. 3. I do not want my use of pronouns (…) by unnoticed: I want readers to think about it, and to act on their conclusion. 4. It is (…) that software development lags several years behind the hardware . 5. And you might be waiting (…) an incident. 6. Through that ceiling, and through the roof above it, lived God, (…), (…) God. 7. Leaves make up 15% wet weight of the diet of the (…) white-throated capuchin monkey on Barro Colorado Island. 8. It was a decision taken in (…), which has been repented at considerable leisure. 9. There cannot be another (…) god, in the way that there cannot be two monarchs or two presidents or two tallest men.10. He would wander back into his study, to all (…) still thoroughly engrossed in the volume held open in his hands.
V. Insert the required prepositions:
1. The key must have slipped (…) when I opened my bag. 2. How can you slip me (…) the concert without a ticket? 3. One slip (…) the tongue would have betrayed all I was working for. 4. (…) all appearances they are good friends. 5. The enemy guns were facing inland, so our ships slipped (…) without being seen. 6. Excuse me for peering (…) you, but you are so like someone I know. 7. Opening the window she peered (…) the darkness, but could see nothing. 8. I shall ask my dressmaker from Bodmin to come and we will see (…) some new clothes for you. 9. Lady Mackbeth’s feelings of guilt about the murder of the king drove her (…) her mind towards the end of the play. 10. The authorities continued to feel frustration with cattle owners who refused to report (…) their losses. 11. She was set (…) by a thief in the park. 12. We had to use cats to drive the rats (…). 13. He had a bat's sixth sense in the darkness, a quality not shared by Sam who bumped (…) him repeatedly, nor by Rose who bumped (…) Sam. 14. Can you be ready (…) ten minutes’ notice? 15. It has come (…) my notice that someone has been missing classes.
VI. Translate into English:
Translation 1
1. Она долго вглядывалась в темноту, чтобы убедиться, что около дома никого не было.
2. Было ясно, что письмо написано в спешке.
3. Они закрыли завод, уведомив об этом рабочих всего за неделю.
4. Он следовал чётко разработанному плану.
5. Он ехал со скоростью 120 миль в час и был оштрафован за превышение скорости. (превысить скорость - to exceed the speed limit)
6. Принято думать, что муж должен быть старше жены.
7. Мне стало известно, что всю неделю вы опаздывали на работу. Если я доложу о вас начальству, вас уволят.
8. Он был одет во всё чёрное, что придавало ему торжественный вид.
9. Перемешайте любовный напиток три раза по часовой стрелке и один раз против.
10. Само его присутствие пугало её.
11. Он сказал, что позаботится о визах и билетах.
12. Критики буквально накинулись на режиссёра.
13. Я прочитал инструкцию, но по-прежнему не понимаю, что надо делать.
Translation 2
1. Моряки напряжённо вглядывались вдаль: они боялись, что корабль столкнётся с каким-нибудь встречным судном.
2. В прихожей он снял ботинки и постарался незаметно проскользнуть в свою комнату, но мать окликнула его.
3. Только рыжая лиса усомнилась в мудрости и всемогуществе совы.
4. «Я займусь этим сам», - сказал директор школы.
5. Если вы доложите о нём начальству, его выгонят с работы.
6. Вы можете найти информацию об экскурсии на доске объявлений.
7. Не обращай никакого внимания на то, что он говорит.
8. Если вы хотите забронировать комнату, вы должны уведомить нас за несколько дней.
9. Публика в зале подхватила припев.
10. Учитель читал по предложению, и дети вторили ему.
11. Он всегда выступает (говорит) с чувством собственного достоинства.
12. Вы подтверждаете, что видели, как машина проехала на красный свет и сбила прохожего?
13. Это была всего лишь оговорка.
14. Он бежал сломя голову и в темноте налетел на скамью.
Translation 3: whatever=no matter what
1. Куда бы девочка ни шла, собака ходила за ней.
2. Как он ни был поражён, он сумел справиться с чувствами.
3. Какую бы ерунду ни говорила сова, звери бездумно вторили ей.
4. Как он ни вглядывался в туман, он не мог ничего рассмотреть.
5. Как он ни старался привлечь внимание, никто его, казалось, не замечал.
6. В какой бы ситуации он ни оказался, он всегда сохраняет достоинство.
7. Что бы мне ни говорили, я подам заявление об уходе.
8. Кто бы с ней ни заговорил, она всегда принимает оскорблённый вид.
9. Как ни старалась девочка удержать вазу, она выскользнула у неё из рук, упала и разбилась.
10. Что бы он ни обещал, я доложу о нём начальству.