5 курс под редакцией В. Д. Аракина Москва, Владос, 1999 unit one text one the passionate year
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19. Give the gist of Text Five. 20. Discuss Browning's words "A man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?", a) Comment on the quotation. b) How would you answer Miss Barrett's question as to whether it is wise to aim higher than one's capacity? With which group of pupils would you side? c) Illustrate the quotation by a literary example, d) Make up dialogues dealing with the ideas Browning's words arouse. 21. Comment on the phraseological unit "to hitch one's wagon to a star". 22. Reread Text Five to speak on the following points of its style. a) The story is told in the form of a letter. Is it a modern or an old-fashioned form? (Prove your point) What is the author's purpose in resorting to it? Point out some of the characteristic features of the style resulting from the choice. b) What is gained by telling the story in the first person? How does the fact in- fluence the mood and atmosphere of the narration? c) What impression do you form of the character of Sylvia Barrett from her let- ter? Is she detached in her attitude to the facts she describes? Prove your point. d) What method(s) of characterization does the author use? e) Point out the sentences bearing touches of humour or irony. (Prove which it is.) f) Comment on the language. Compare it with that of James Hilton (Text One). [144] UNIT SIX TEXT SIX ANTHONY IN BLUE ALSATIA* By Eleanor Farjeon Eleanor Farjeon wrote delightful and distinctive poems for children. Her first novel was "Ladybrook", a tale of Sussex country life which retained that delicate humorous touch which characterized the work she did for children. Her sensitiveness to beauty and true understanding of the essential qualities of romance find expression in this charming rhapsody. Skipping his breakfast paper one day, bewildered, as he always was, by vital facts about Home Rails, Questions in the House, and Three-Piece Suits: facts grasped, as he knew, instantaneously in their full import all over England by different orders of mind from his, through which they slipped as through gauze, Anthony's roving eye was captured by certain words in a paragraph headed Mouchard (near the Jura Mountains) Jura Mountains... Blue smoke... a blue-eyed Alsatian... a Concertina... the Blue Alsatian Express... many miles from nowhere... haymaking damsels in white sunbonnets... hayrakes... laughing at us... A Minor Mystery Anthony's eye roved no more. He felt that the gauze, which could not contain the torrents of the world's activities, might house this butterfly and not brush off its bloom. He read the paragraph with attention. It described the breakdown "many miles from nowhere" of the Blue Alsatian Express at the foot of the Jura Mountains. It described the blue smoke rising from a heated axle, the engine-driver sprinting along the lines like a madman, soldiers jumping out on the line and playing a concertina, a nervous woman-passenger wondering what had happened; it indicated the plutocratic luxury of the corridor train with its restaurant; it told of the blue mountains and the blue sky, and "the hay-making damsels in white sunbonnets and hayforks on their shoulders" who "are laughing at us over the hedgerows". And then came the paragraph headed "A Minor Mystery" which ended the account of the accident. "One mystery about this train will never be solved. When it first came to a standstill a quiet little man, who looked like a country farmer, packed up his things, climbed out of the train, and deliberately walked away from it without any outward sign of annoyance, hesitation, or distraction, crossing the fields and disappearing into a wood. Had the breakdown occurred within easy reach of his own home or destination?" "Oh, no," said Anthony, answering the journalist, "of course not!" Why should it? It was most unlikely. And — annoyance? Why should the little man be annoyed? And where was the Mystery, Minor or Major? Railways — it is their drawback — compel you to travel to somewhere. You, who desire to travel to Anywhere, must take your ticket to Stroud or Stoke, and chance it. The safest plan is to choose some place with a name like Lulworth, Downderry, or Nether Wallop; such places surely cannot go far wrong/ But even though they prove to be heaven in its first, second, or third degree, still, there you must go, and nowhere else; — and think of the Seventh Heavens you flash through continually on your way there, Heavens with no names and no stations, Heavens to which no tickets are issued. To whom has it not happened, time and again, on his way to the Seaside, the Moors, or the Highlands, to cry in his heart, at some glimpse of Paradise from
Never? Once it did. Anthony laughed aloud at that Minor Mistery in his morning paper. Where was the Mystery? Luck had been with the quiet little man, and he did the only thing there was to do. ..."Why have we stopped?" asked the nervous lady who sat opposite Anthony in the stuffy carriage. "Ha-ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha!" laughed a fresh young voice outside. "Preposterous, preposterous! I shall be late!" snorted a fat millionaire. "I want my lunch," puffed his fat wife. "I refuse to go without my, lunch!" Anthony looked out of the window. A hedgerow bowed with blossom, beyond it a meadow in full flower, long flowering grass, threaded with flowering stems, lace-white, chicory-blue flowers, a profusion of flowers shimmering in the long grass. In one part of the meadow the grass lay mowed in swathes, the sweet flowers with it. A party of young peasants, in loose white shirts and embroidered jackets and aprons, lay in the grass munching honey-cake and drinking light beer. One tall young fellow, splendid as a god, stood edgeways in the sunlight,
"Oh, why don't we go on?" moaned the nervous lady. "Oh, what has happened?" Passengers spoke on all sides. "We are held up!" "We have broken down!" "Bandits! — these dreadful foreign parts!" "The engine is on fire!" "The engine-driver has gone mad!" "Oh, oh, oh!" moaned the nervous lady in the carriage. "Ha-ha-ha!" laughed the gay young voices in the air. "I shall be late, I tell you!" fumed the fat millionaire. "Are we never going to eat?" puffed his wife. Beyond the meadow of flowers and haymakers lay the blue mountains, as blue as dreams, as Paradise. Soft dim woods lay between the meadow and the slope. At the very edge of the woods, as though it had just stepped out of the trees and set foot on the grass, was a tiny cottage with a balcony. In the fringe of trees meandered little paths and a little stream, and some goats. The scent of hay and flowers and aromatic trees filled the carriage. "La-la-la-la, ti-ti-ti-ti!" A soldier sitting on the rails was singing The Blue Danube to a concertina played by another soldier. The girls in the meadow began to dance. "Oh, what is it, what is it? " wailed the nervous lady. "Food, food!" puffed the fat one. "How late, how late I shall be!" repeated her husband. "Keep the doors shut — don't let them come in!" implored the nervous lady, wringing her hands. "Ha-ha-ha!" laughed the dancing girls, "ha-ha-ha!" 'Swish!" sang the young god's scythe. – Anthony got his little bag from the rack and opened the carriage door. The nervous lady gave a tiny shriek. "Ah!" don't let them in!" "Late! late! late!" "Lunch is served. Come!" Anthony crossed the rail and found a gap in the blossoming hedge. In the hayfield, nearly hidden in flowers, was a crooked footpath. It led over the meadows to the little wood at the foot of the blue mountains. He followed it unhesitatingly. He left behind him the dancing laughing flower-gatherers, the young god mowing, the peasants drinking, the soldiers playing, the Blue Alsatian Express containing the millionaire who would be late — for what? For what could one be late? One was in Blue Alsatia. To which there are no tickets. He entered the little wood and was lost to sight. At the back of the cottage, barefoot by the little stream, stood a girl of sixteen, a lovely grey-eyed child, feeding her kids from a bundle of hay in her apron, at which they pushed and pulled. She wore a white chemise and a blue embroidered skirt. When the kids were rough she thrust them from her with her brown toes, and laughed like music. On a bench by the cottage stood a pitcher and a wooden bowl. Her eyes met Anthony's. She let fall her apron, and the sweet hay tumbled down, a full feast for the kids. She went to the bench, filled the bowl with milk, and offered it to Anthony with a bit of honey-cake, her grey eyes smiling. As he drank, she made a simple gesture. "Stay," she said. The Blue Alsatian Express went on without him. Anthony stirred his tea-cup. In the next column was an account of Last Night's Debate on — He skipped it. ESSENTIAL VOCABULARY Vocabulary Notes 1. skip vt/i 1) spring, jump or leap quickly or lightly from one foot on to the other, e.g. He skipped out of the way (i.e. jumped quickly to one side). 2) jump over a rope (called a skipping-rope) which is made to swing under the feet and over the head 3) pass over; leave out, e.g. You've skipped a sentence here. 4) read smth. hastily, omitting parts, e.g. The book was given me for one day only, and I just skipped it. Syn. skim Word Discrimination: skip, skim. Skip implies omitting those parts of the reading stuff which one considers dull or of no importance. Skim, on the contrary, lays a stress on the fact that the reader picks out the parts which interest him, reading only choice places (cf. with the main meaning of skim, as to skim the cream from the milk). 2. Vital a essential; necessary to the existence of smth., as a vital necessity, of vital importance; e.g. This is a matter of vital importance to us. Vitality n vital force; strength; vigour, e.g. His features were handsome enough, but they lacked vitality. 3. Grasp vt/i 1) seize firmly with the hand, as to grasp a rope, a person's hand 2) (fig.) understand with the mind, e.g. I saw he was unable to grasp my meaning. She fully grasped the argument. 4. Capture vt 1) make a prisoner of; catch, e.g. Our army captured 1,000 enemy soldiers. 2) get by force, skill or a trick, e.g. Tom was so clever that he captured all the prizes at school; capture smb.'s attention (interest, sympathy, curiosity, etc.) attract smb.'s attention (arouse interest, sympathy, curiosity), e.g. This advertisement is sure to capture the public attention, capture smb.'s eye attract attention, e.g. He wasn't sure whether the colour scheme could be defined as vivid or garish, but the picture certainly captured the eye. 5. Minor a less; smaller (not followed by than); comparatively unimportant, as the minor planets; a minor injury; a minor matter; a minor mystery; minor repairs minority n the smaller number or part, e.g. He had never liked to find himself among the minority. Ant. major a greater or more important, as the major part of one's life, the major issue on the agenda; major matters, etc. majority n the greater number or part, e.g. The optimism of the majority finally prevailed over the fears and doubts of the minority. 6. Breakdown n 1) an accident (to machinery or to an electric power system or to trains, trams, cars, etc.) which causes work or activity to stop, e.g. There was a breakdown on the railway and all the trains were two hours late. 2) a failure of the mind or of the body to work well, caused by doing too much work or by overstrained nerves, e.g. My impression is that he is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Break down become disabled or useless; suffer a physical or mental weakening; collapse, e.g. The machinery broke down. His health broke down. All our plans broke down. 7. Destination л the place to which a thing or person is going or being sent or which a person wants to reach, e.g. Finally we were informed that he had left the town, but no one seemed to have any idea of the destination. Destine vt determine the future of (usu. in the passive), e.g. They were destined never to meet again. Destiny n 1) what happens to a person or thing in the end, esp. what is thought to be determined in advance, e.g. It was his destiny to die in a foreign country. 2) the power that is supposed to control events; fate, e.g. Destiny sometimes plays strange tricks on human beings. 8. Issue vi/t give or send out; publish; distribute, as to issue commands (banknotes, stamps, a newspaper, etc.), e.g. How many newspapers are issued in this town? Issue n 1) putting forth or sending out; publication, as the issue of a newspaper; to buy new stamps on the day of issue; the most recent issues of a newspaper 2) a problem; a point in question; something about which there is debate or argument, as to debate an issue; to raise a new issue; to argue political issues 3) a result, outcome or consequence, as the issue of a battle (war, etc.) 9. Shimmer vi emit a faint or wavering light, as moonlight shimmering on the water Shimmer n a wavering shine, as the shimmer of pearls Syn. shine, glimmer, glitter, glisten, sparkle, gleam Word Discrimination: glitter, sparkle, shimmer, glimmer, glisten, gleam. 1) The synonyms above differ, first of all, by the intensity of light each of them describes. The following scale of intensity might be suggested for these verbs (beginning with the highest degree of intensity): sparkle — glitter — glisten — gleam — glimmer — shimmer. 2) Another line of discrimination is connected with the nature of light or brightness described by each of the verbs. Sparkle and glitter describe scattered scintillation realized in a series of irregular, small, but bright flashes of light. The same wavering nature of light, but of a fainter degree, is implied by shimmer and glimmer. Cf. The bright sea was sparkling in the sun. The icebergs were coldly glittering against the green water. Through a faint mist the stars were dimly glimmering. We lazily watched the moonlight shimmering on the water. In glisten the wavering character of light is less emphasized. Cf. The lake glistened in the moonlight (= reflected the moonlight and shone smoothly). The lake shimmered in the moonlight (= reflected the moonlight in tiny sparks).
3) Note an emotional colouring which sometimes can be discerned in some of these synonyms. Cf. Her eyes sparkled with merriment. Her eyes coldly glittered with anger. Her eyes glistened with tears. Her eyes gleamed with malice. 4) Note also that stars sparkle on a warm summer night, glitter on a cold winter night, glimmer through the mist. Diamonds sparkle or glitter; gold and silver glisten; brocade and taffeta shimmer; an unpowdered nose or a perspiring face may glisten.
a different order of mind from smb.'s time and again the account of smth. luck had been (was) with (him) come to a standstill (he did) the only thing there was to do (we are) held up within easy reach of smth. (you must) chance it on fire set foot on smth. (in a place) (such places) cannot go (far) wrong lost to sight
bewildered, instantaneously, gauze, paragraph, concertina, damsel, torrent, passenger, plutocratic, luxury, hedgerow, deliberately, annoyance, hesitation, destination, journalist, continually, paradise, preposterous, millionaire, chicory-blue, profusion, swathe, loose, embroidered, apron, edgeways, scythe, wreath(s), balcony, meander, aromatic, chemise, honey-cake, gesture, debate 3. Practise the pronunciation of the following word combinations paying attention to the phonetic phenomena of connected speech: Questions in the House; in their full import; he felt that the gauze; contain the torrents; he read the paragraph; it described the breakdown; it indicated the plutocratic luxury; which ended the account; a quiet little man; why should the little man; and nowhere else; that cottage in the birch-glade; at that Minor Mystery; in the stuffy carriage; shimmering in the long grass; and drinking light beer; moaned the nervous lady; laughed the gay young voices in the air; fumed the fat millionaire; between the meadow and the slope; sitting on the rails; laughed the dancing girls; opened the carriage door; don't let them in; crossed the rail and found a gap in the blossoming hedge; to the little wood at the foot; in her apron; she thrust them; and the sweet hay tumbled down; filled the bowl 4. Read the following passage of descriptive character; from "Anthony looked out of the window" up to "...all were sweet and fresh and frank". Observe the intonation group division, the rhythm and all the phonetic phenomena of connected speech. 5. Study the following proverbs, a) Translate them into Russian or supply their Russian equivalents, b) Practise their reading paying attention to the vowels, all the phonetic phenomena of connected speech and intonation: 1. Make hay while the sun shines. 2. A burnt child dreads the fire. 3. Experience is the mother of wisdom. 4. Nothing venture, nothing have. 5. Experience keeps a dear school, but fools learn in no other. 6. Every country has its customs. 7. Two is company, but three is none. 8. Strike the iron while it's hot. 9. A hungry belly has no ears. 10. Hares may pull dead lions by the beard. [165] 6. Read the text and consider its following aspects. a) Explain: vital facts about Home Rails, Questions in the House, and Three-Piece Suits; different orders of mind from his; many miles from nowhere; We are held up! We have broken down! b) Comment on the punctuation in the passage entitled "Mouchard (near the Jura Mountains)". c) Express in simpler language the sense of the sentence "He felt that the gauze, which could not contain the torrents of the world's activities, might house this butterfly and not brush off its bloom." Point out the stylistic devices used in the sentence and comment on their effectiveness. Do you accept the comparison with a butterfly or do you consider it too ornate? Give your reasons. d) Justify the length of the sentence beginning "It described the blue smoke..." e) Analyse the stylistic devices used in the author's digression beginning "Railways — it is their drawback...". Point out inversion, repetition, rhetorical question and comment on their purpose. Indicate the syntax of the second part of the passage and the rhythmic effect achieved. Can you detect any sound-imitative effects? What does the rhythm of the extract imitate? Comment on the rhythmic value of "But it never does. Never? Once it did" in its relation to the preceding extract. Comment on the names of places (Lulworth, Downderry, Nether Wallop) which, in the author's opinion, "cannot go far wrong". Why can't they? Suggest some typical Russian countryside names with the same kind of implications. f) Think of a suitable heading for the episode beginning "Why have we stopped?" What is the role of the extract in the structure of the story? Comment on the composition device by which the episode is introduced in the texture of the story. g) Analyse the stylistic values of the fragments beginning "A hedgerow bowed with blossom...", ending "...all were sweet and fresh and frank" and from "Beyond the meadow of flowers" to "filled the carriage". What words and phrases give atmosphere to the passages? Is it a realistic description? How is its dream-like quality created? Do you consider the description sweetish and sentimental or do you think that it serves its purpose? If so, what purpose? Support your opinion. h) Comment on the contrast provided by the fragments of dialogue interchanging with the descriptive passages referred to in item g). What is the purpose of the device? Indicate the rhythmic effects achieved, especially in the passage beginning "Oh, what is it?...", ending "Lunch is served. Come!". i) Point out the climax of the story motivating your choice. j) Comment on the composition device used in the last three lines of the story. 7. Copy out from Text Six the sentences containing the word combinations and phrases and translate them into Russian. 8. Paraphrase the following sentences using the word combinations and phrases: 1. "Are you really going to spend your holiday in that horrid village, at the other end of the world?" "It's not so horrid, you know, it's a lovely place." "Probably, for people who think and feel differently from myself. As for me, I've rented a charming little cottage in a place from which you can get up to town in a very short time."" Glad to hear it. Only what's the good of going to town when you're on holiday?" '!f>h, it's just that I sometimes get tired of green meadows and yellow buttercups and simply long to tread on asphalt and to have a meal at a restaurant. I've told you dozens of times that I'm not in the least nature crazy." "Then, what's the point of leaving town at all?" "Oh, everybody does, you know. I always say, do as others do, and you won't make a mistake." 2. In the morning paper there was a detailed description of an unpleasant incident which occurred on a lonely country road thirty miles from London. Jean Gatsby, the famous film star, was driving her car. In a side road Miss Gatsby's car was stopped by three armed men. Yet, fortunately for the young actress, at the critical moment another car appeared on the road. Miss Gatsby had no other way out but scream loudly for help. The car stopped, and the masked gangsters ran to the wood and disappeared there. 3. "The pen is burning. I'll run and let out the sheep." "It's blazing! You'll burn yourself." "There's nothing for it, I must risk it." жүктеу/скачать 446 Kb. Достарыңызбен бөлісу:
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