2020-04-07
771
This is a story about Theo Hobdell. He was a quiet, gentle and absent-minded man whose thoughts were always on learning and nothing else. Well he applied for a post in Camford University, It was a very good post and there were hundreds of candidates who applied for it. The committee chose fifteen, including Theo, for an interview. Camford is a very small town; there is only one hotel in it, and this was so full that they had to put two of the candidates in a room. Theo was one of these, and the man who shared the room with him was a self-confident fellow called Adams, about twenty years younger than Theo, with a loud voice, and a laugh that you could hear all over the hotel. But he was a clever fellow all the same. The Dean, the head of the department at the University, and the committee interviewed all the candidates; and as a result of this interview only two men were left, Theo and Adams. The committee couldn't decide which of the two to take, so they decided to make their final choice after each сandidate had given a public lecture in a college lecture-hall. They were to give the lecture in three day's time.
For three days Theo never left his room. He worked day and night at the lecture, writing it out and memorizing it, Adams didn't do any preparation at all. You could hear his voice and his laughter in the bar where he had a crowd of people around him. He came to his room late at night, asked Theo how he was working at the lecture, and told him how he had spent the evening playing billiards, or at the theatre or music-hall. The day of the lecture arrived. They all went into the lecture-hall and Theo and Adams took their seats on the platform. And then, Theo discovered, that the copy of his speech had disappeared! The Dean said he would call on the candidates in the alphbetical order, Adam first. Adam took the stolen speech out of his pocket and read it to the professors who gathered to hear it. And how well he read it! When Adam finished there was a freat burst of applause. Now it was Theo’s turn. But what could he do? He could only repeat, word for word in a low, dull voice the lecture that Adan had spoken so well.
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The Dean and the committee went out to decide who the successful candidate was, but everyone was sure what their decision would be. Soon the Dean and the committee came back. "Gentlemen," the Dean said, "the candidate we have chosen is Mr. Theo Hobdell.” Theo had won! The professors were greatly surprised, and the Dean continued, "I think I must tell you how we arrived at that decision. We were all fill with admiration at the learning and eloquence of Mr. Adams. We were impressed. But you remember, Mr. Adams read his lecture to us. When Mr. Hobdell's turn came, he repeated that speech word by word from memory. Now a fine memory is absolutely necessary for this post. That is why we decided that Mr, Hobdell was exactly the man we wanted.”
As they walked out of the room, the Dean came up to Theo, shook his hand and said "Congratulations, Mr. Hobdell! But my dear fellow, you must be more careful and not leave valuable papers lying about!"
Notes:
to apply for a post - подавать заявление о приеме на работу (претендовать на место)
a self-confident fellow - самоуверенный человек
a burst of applause - взрыв аплодисментов
to be filled with admiration - быть полным восхищения
Well, you’ve just read the story “Uncle Theo”. Were your suppositions about Uncle Theo right?
We hope you’ve enjoyed it very much. Now, let’see how well you know its content. Can you do all these exercises? Good luck!
Translation tasks
Task 1. Find English equivalents for the following words and phrases in Russian.
whose thoughts were always on learning and nothing else; applied for a post; they had to put two of the candidates in a room; a laugh that you could hear all over the hotel; to make their final choice after each сandidate had given a public lecture; they were to give the lecture; in the alphbetical order; there was a freat burst of applause; how we arrived at that decision; were all fill with admiration at the learning and eloquence; word by word from memory; was exactly the man we wanted; not leave valuable papers lying about
Task 2. Translate the following sentences into English using the indicated words.
| Indicated words and word combinations | Sentences |
| thoughts are always on + Ger. | Майкл постоянно думал о том, как помочь семье Мэри переехать в пригород |
| To apply for a job (post) | Вчера мы решили сходить в центр занятости населения и подать заявление о приеме на работу |
| To arrive at a decision (conclusion) | Джэку было дано три дня на то, чтобы принять решение о продлении договора |
| To be all fill with admiration at | Мы все были полны восхищения, увидев Собор Святого Павла в Лондоне. |
| word by word from memory | Он готовился всю ночь и заучил свою речь наизусть, слово в слово |
| to make a final choice | Джэйн предстояло сделать выбор, остаться с Ником или уехать по программе обмена |
| To discover | Я обнаружил, что не только гуси, но и утки, и две пары прекрасных лебедей плавают в нашем пруду |
Task 3. Try your hand at rendering the passage from the text starting with “ The Dean and the committee went out ” up to “ not leave valuable papers lying about ”
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Grammar tasks
We believe that your grammar is as good as your translation skills and you can do the following grammar tasks, can’t you?
Task 1. Read rule 13 and practise the Present Perfect Continuous.
| Mr.Bridge Hugh Bridge Simon Egor Leskin Mrs.Parker Mrs.Echo Jane Painter Ernest Brown | Littleton London Job London Littleton London Littleton Littleton | January 1955 December 1970 Last year For a week For 15 years For 20 years For 3 years For 4 years | study write books look for come paint pictures live teach English work |
MODEL: Mr.Bridge has been living in Littleton since January 1955.
For how long has he been living in Littleton? / Who has been living in Littleton since January 1955?
