OK. Now you’re welcome to read the story “Protecting his property”. Enjoy reading, please. And after reading let’s see if your ideas were correct

John Webb was an American businessman. He had a comfortable flat in New York but he preferred to leave the dusty city in summer and to live in his cottage. In one of the rooms in his cottage there was a big closet in which he kept his things. John liked his cottage, especially his own closet, for John Webb loved his personal things and got very angry when somebody else touched them.

It was autumn and John was packing things, as he was going to return to New York. Suddenly his eyes fell on the shelf where his wine stood. One of the bottles was half full, though he remembered he had not opened it. He took the bottle and stared at it. At that moment his wife Helen entered the room. “John”, – she exclaimed, – “You are not taking a drink at ten in the morning, are you?” – “No, dear, – he answered. “I’m only going to put something into it.” With these words he took some small white tablets out of his pocket and dropped them into the bottle.

While his wife was staring at him in horror he explained to her: “You see, my dear, somebody has stolen my wine and I want to punish the thief.” “What are these tablets? Will they make the man sick?” – Helen cried.“Not only sick, they’ll kill him. It’s poison.” Helen grew pale. “But, John, it’s awful, it’s murder, even the law doesn’t punish a thief by death, what right have you?” “When it comes to protecting my property I make my own laws”, – he answered. Near the bottle he put a small wine glass filled with poisoned wine. Helen couldn’t help thinking with horror of what might happen while they were in New York. She made up her mind to tell their neighbour about it. Someone had to know.

“Well, my dear”, – she said pretending to smile, – “I’ll go and say good-bye to the neighborour”, - Helen went away and John went on packing. Suddenly he remembered that he had not packed his hunting boots, which were in the garden.Leaving the door open he went out into the garden. Suddenly he slipped and struck his head and fell down. He felt a sharp pain and fainted. Some minutes later he felt a strong arm round him and heard his servant say: “It’s all right, Mr Webb, take this, it’ll make you better.” A small wine glass was pressed to his lips. Half-conscious he drank it.

Well, you’ve just read the story “Protecting his property”. It’s not a bad story, is it? Were your ideas about the title of the story right?

Now let’s see how well you know it.

Translation tasks

Task 1. Look through the story again and translate these words or parts of the sentences into Russian. Good luck!

he preffered to leave the dusty city; there was a big closet in which he kept his things; for John Webb loved his personal things and got very angry when somebody else touched them; one of the bottles was half full; you are not taking a drink at ten in the morning; dropped them into the bottle; will they make the man sick; even the law doesn’t punish a thief by death; when it comes to protecting my property I make my own laws; she said pretending to smile; he felt a strong arm round him; a small wing glass was pressed to his lips.

Task 2. Now try to give English equivalents for the Russian ones.

так как он собирался вернуться в Нью-Йорк; я просто собираюсь налить туда кое-что; пока его жена с ужасом смотрела на него; Хелен побледнела; она приняла решение сказать об этом их соседям; не уложил свои охотничьи ботинки; он почувствовал острую боль и потерял сознание; в полубессознательном состоянии он выпил ее.

Task 3. Translate the following sentences into English using the indicated words and word combinations:

Indicated words and word combinations	Sentences
To be half full/empty	Купленная вчера бутылка молока оказалась наполовину пустой.
To take smth out of	Он достал пачку денег из сумки и заплатил за покупку.
To drop smth into	Преступники остановили автомобиль ровно на столько, чтобы успеть бросить бомбу в ресторан. Давай зайдем в этот отель, чего-нибудь выпьем.
To stare at smb in horror	В ужасе дети стояли и смотрели на проезжавшую повозку.
To grow pale	Узнав, что она опоздала на поезд, Мэри побледнела.
can’t help doing smth	Я не могу не помочь тебе. Не могу не думать о тебе.
To make up smb’s mind	Джейн приняла решение уехать из города
To go on doing smth	Несмотря на предупреждение, они все равно продолжали лезть в гору.