Hunting for a Job by S.S. McClure
I reached Boston late that night and got out at the South Station. I knew no one in Boston except Miss Bennet. She lived in Somerville, and I immediately started out for Somerville. Miss Bennet and her family did all they could to make me comfortable and help me to get myself established' in some way. I had only six dollars and their hospitality was of utmost importance to me.
My first application for a job in Boston was made in accordance with an idea of my own. Every boy in the Western states knew the Pope Manufacturing Company, which produced bicycles. When I published my first work "History of Western College Journalism" the Pope Company had given me an advertisement, and that seemed to be a "connection" of some kind. So I decided to go to the offices of the Pope Manufacturing Company to ask for a job. I walked into the general office and said that I wanted the president of the company.
"Colonel Pope?" asked the clerk.
I answered, "Yes, Colonel Pope."
I was taken to Colonel Pope, who was then an alert energetic man of thirty-nine. I told Colonel Pope, by way of introduction, that he had once given me an advertisement for a little book I had published, that I had been a College editor and out of a job. What I wanted was work and I wanted it badly.
He said he was sorry, but they were laying of hands. I still hung on. It seemed to me that everything would be all up with me', if I had to go out of that room without a job. I asked him if there wasn't anything at all that I could do. My earnestness made him look at me sharply.
"Willing to wash windows and scrub floors?" he asked.
I told him that I was, and he turned to one of his clerks.
"Has Wilmot got anybody yet to help him in the downtown' rink?" he asked.
The clerk said he thought not.
"Very well", said Colonel Pope. "You can go to the rink and help Wilmot out for tomorrow."
The next day I went to the bicycle rink and found that what Wilmot wanted was a man to teach beginners to ride. I had never been on a bicycle in my life nor even very close to one, but in a couple of hours I had learnt to ride a bicycle myself and was teaching other people.
Next day Mr. Wilmot paid me a dollar. He didn't say anything about my coming back the next morning, but I came and went to work, very much afraid that I would be told I wasn't needed. After that Mr. Wilmot did not exactly engage me, but he forgot to discharge me, and I came back every day and went to work. At the end of the week Colonel Pope sent for me and placed me in charge of the uptown' rink.
Colonel Pope was a man who watched his workmen. I hadn't been mistaken when I felt that a young man would have a chance with him. He often used to say that "water would find its level", and he kept an eye on us. One day he called me into his office and asked me if I could edit a magazine.
"Yes, sir," I replied quickly. I remember it flashed through my mind that I could do anything I was put at '96 that if I were required to run an ocean steamer I could somehow manage to do it. I could learn to do it as I went along'. I answered as quickly as I could get the words out of my mouth, afraid that Colonel Pope would change his mind before I could get them out.
This is how I got my first job. And I have never doubted ever since that one of the reasons why I got it was that I had been "willing to wash windows and scrub floors". I had been ready for anything.
Paraphrase the sentences using phrases from the text:
1) Miss Bennet and her family received him very warmly.
2) Everybody tried to help him to find some kind of job.
3) Their concern and hospitality were very important to him.
4) He told Colonel Pope that he was unemployed and needed any job very much.
5) The man thought that everything would be lost for him if he didn't find a job.
6) He has never ridden a bicycle in his life.
7) Mr. Wilmot neither employed the journalist nor dismissed him.
8) The boss made him responsible for the uptown rink.
9) It suddenly occurred to him that his willingness to do any job had helped him to get his first job.
Give Russian equivalents for the following words and expressions from the text and use them in the sentences of your own.
to get myself established' in some way
of utmost importance
hospitality
application for a job
earnestness
look at me sharply
to teach beginners
he did not exactly engage me
in a couple of hours
to change his mind
Answer the questions to the text:
1) Who was the only person the author knew in Boston?
2) In what way was he received? Why was it of great importance to him?
3) What made the young man apply for a job to the Pope Company?
4) Describe Colonel Pope. What was his answer to the young man's story?
5) Why did the man still hang on though he found out that the company was laying off hands?
6) What question did the Colonel ask him?
7) Describe the young man's job and say whether he coped with it.
8) Why did the man continue to work for Mr. Wilmot though he hadn't engaged him?
9) What happened at the end of the week?
10) What job was the young man offered in the long run?
11) What idea flashed through his mind?
12) What helped the man to get his first job?
Discuss the following:
1) Say if you agree or disagree with the statement "water would find its level". How do you understand it? Give examples in support of your opinion.
2) Give a character sketch of the main hero. Compare him with the heroes of the story "Success Story."
3) Is the problem of unemployment acute nowadays? Why? Is this problem interconnected with the problem of wasted lives? Give your grounds.
What is your attitude towards the main character of the story?
Text 7
A Foul Play by R. Ruark
In 1943 Lieutenant Alexander Barr was ordered into the Armed Guard aboard the merchant ship, like many other civilian officers with no real mechanical skills – teachers, writers, lawyers.
His men were the rag-tag' of merchant service and knew very little of it. Lieutenant Alec Barr had his crew well in hand except one particularly unpleasant character, a youngster called Zabinski. Every ship has its problem child, and Zabinski was Alec's cross. If anybody was drunk and in trouble ashore, it was Zabinski. If anybody was smoking on watch, or asleep on watch, it always was Zabinski. Discipline on board was hard to keep and Zabinski made it worse.
Alec called the boy to his cabin. "I've tried to reason with you'," he said. "I've punished you with everything from confinement to ship to extra duty. I've come to the conclusion that the only thing you may understand is force. I've got some boxing gloves. Navy Regulations say they should be used for recreation.
We are going to have some.
"That's all right", Zabinski said smiling.
Alec announced the exhibition of boxing skill. A lot of people gathered on deck to watch the match.
It didn't take Lieutenant Barr long to discover that he was in the ring with a semiprofessional. They were fighting two-minute rounds. But from the first five seconds of the first round Alec knew that Zabinski could knock him out with a single punch if he wanted to. But Zabinski didn't want to, he was toying with his commander, and the snickers' grew into laughter.
In the third round Alec held up a glove. "Time out!", he said. "I'm going to my cabin, I'll soon be back". He turned and ran up to his cabin. In the cabin there was a safe. Alec's duty was to pay wages to his personnel. Alec Barr opened the safe and took out a paper-wrapped roll of ten-cent coins. He put this roll of silver coins into his glove and returned on deck.
"Let's go!" he said and touched gloves with Zabinski. It had pleased Zabinski before to allow the officer to knock him from time to time because it gave him a chance for a short and painful punch. But now the silver-weighted glove crashed into the boy's chin and Zabinski was out. He was lying on the floor motionless.
Alec Barr looked briefly at the boy. "Somebody throw some water on him," he said coldly to the seamen. And he went up to his room to clean his cuts and put the roll of coins back to the safe. After that Lieutenant Alexander Barr had no more personnel trouble aboard ship.
Answer the questions
What the crew competent at navigating a ship?
Who was a trouble-maker on board?
Discipline on board was hard to keep and Zabinski made it worse, didn’t he?
What did the Lieutenant Alexander Barr decide to do to improve discipline on board ?
What kind of tricky way did Alec undertake to teach his opponent a lesson?
Did the winner feel satisfied or distressed after the fight?
Did Alec have any problems with seamen ever after?
True or false
Alec announced the exhibition of boxing skill.
It didn't take Lieutenant Barr long to discover that he was in the ring with an amateur.
In the third round Alec held up a glove and asked for time out as he needed a doctor’s help.
"Somebody call for a doctor," Alec said coldly to the seamen
After that Lieutenant Alexander Barr had one more personnel trouble aboard .
the snickers' grew into laughter
merchant service
civilian officer
pay wages
paper-wrapped roll
painful punch
on deck
crashed into the boy's chin
motionless
looked briefly
to clean his cuts
more personnel trouble
Retell the text briefly.
Give a character sketch of the main hero.
What is your attitude towards the main character of the story?
What are your emotions after reading the story? Did you like the plot?
Do you know anything about the author of this story?
Find grammatical phenomena and structures which you have studied during the semester
Text 8