Test № 12

I. Определите, верны (True) или неверны (False) следую­щие утверждения.

1. 36 years ago the author lived in the countryside in Virginia.

2. The author loved the Coleses family because he was an only child.

3. The author and Louis were almost the same age.

4. The author's mother wanted to keep her son apart from the Coleses but she couldn't.

II. Ответьте на следующие вопросы.

1. What kind of house did the Coleses live in?

2. Why did the author love the Coleses family?

3. Why does the author feel guilty?

4. When did the author tell Louis the old Uncle Remus fable?

ill. Исправьте предложения в соответствии с содержани­ем текста.

1. Old Lou Coles cooked food on the stove only in winter.

2. Louis cried when the author told him the fable.

№13

Прочитайте текст два раза и выполните следующие задания.

One Saturday in September 1985,1 was at my desk when the telephone rang. «My name is Louis Coles,» a voice said. «I don't know if you remember me, but...»

«Louis!» I exclaimed, my eyes brimming with tears. «How can you ask if I remember you? I've been thinking about you for thirty years!»

Louis explained that I had been a constant fixture in his memory, that he had often wanted to seek me out. We repeated the same things, asked the same questions, and I laughed as our memories mingled.¹1 learned that for the past 21 years Louis has worked at Glassboro State College in New Jersey. Louis' wife, Brenda, has worked for Mobil Oil. They have two children, and own a house on a gentle hill in the country.

Louis reported that his brothers and sisters are doing well too. They are happily settled in different spots from Virginia to New York — all working and most with families.

A few weeks later, Louis and I got together in Chatham. More than six feet tall, Louis is an affable² man, with the same energetic spontaneity he had as a child. We began to talk quietly of serious things — racism, black poverty and the old segregationist South. It was clear that we both understood how profoundly wrong the old way was, yet Louis insisted that as a child he never felt the bite of racism. I mentioned how we used to go to the movies and be separated at the door. Didn't that bother him? «Why would it, Henry?» I could sense a hidden grin. «The movies I saw were always better than the ones you saw!»

But I was still puzzled about how his home could be so important to Louis. What had he found here that could fuel his life with happiness and success?

«The most important thing came from my mamma,» he said. «She taught all of us that people are going to treat you just like you treat them. And that's all I've ever done. When you understand that, it makes it really easy to get along in life.» He brushed a tear from his eye.

¹ to mingle —смешиваться

² affable —приветливый