2015-08-21
488
Task 1. Find these words and expressions in the text. Explain their meaning in English. Then look them up in the dictionary to check their translation if necessary. Give an example of the situation in which these words and phrases can be used.
Nook, mortar, dainty splendour, to put up, veritable picture, quaint, to roam about, splendid opportunity, slap-up supper, odds and ends, skittishly, to scrape, steadily, to be half-smothered, to stir up, to overhaul, to evince, palate, hackneyed things, nourishing.
Task 2. Match each word from the reading with its synonym. Make up sentences with the words from the text.
| a) nook | 1) great |
| b) mortar | 2) stay |
| c) dainty | 3) true |
| d) splendour | 4) magnificence |
| e) to put up | 5) old-fashioned |
| f) veritable | 6) graceful |
| g) quaint | 7) cement |
| h) to roam about | 8) to mix |
| i) splendid | 9) sheltered place |
| j) slap-up | 10) trite |
| k) skittish | 11) playful |
| l) to stir up | 12) to wander |
| m) to overhaul | 13) to check |
| n) to evince | 14) excellent |
| o) hackneyed | 15) to show |
Task 3. Fill each gap with one word. Then re-read the text if necessary.
1. It is a veritable picture of an old country inn with low quaint rooms and _______windows and ________stairs and winding passages.
2. We decided to go back to one of the Shiplake islands, and ______up there for the night.
3. Harris and I started to _______the potatoes.
4. I should never have thought that peeling potatoes was such an______________.
5. We began cheerfully but our _________was gone by the time the first potato was finished.
6. They are such an extraordinary shape, potatoes — all ______and _________and________.
7. He said that was the advantage of Irish stew: you got _____of such a lot of things.
8. George said they would thicken the__________.
9. As George said, there was good _________in it.
WRITING
Read the extract from R. Dahl‘s childhood memories “The Great Mouse Plot”. Pay attention to the literary devices used to create the humorous effect. Then recall a funny event in your childhood and write an essay of about 200 words.
Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer, poet, fighter pilot and screenwriter. Born in Wales to Norwegian parents, he served in the British Royal Air Force during World War II, in which he became a flying ace and intelligence officer, rising to the rank of Wing Commander. Road Dahl began writing during the Second World War and rose to prominence in the 1940s, with works for both children and adults, and became one of the world's best-selling authors. He has been referred to as "one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century". In 2008 The Times placed Dahl 16th on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
