№6 Tom's Dream
Tom Brown was 6 years old. He lived at 27, Green Square in a little town in the South of England. There was a telephone in their flat. It was 602-4439. Tom's mother was a secretary. She was a typist too. Tom was a nice little boy. He was dark-haired, with a funny round face and a kind smile. He wasn't short and he wasn't tall. He was very sweet.
His mother was about 30. She was a tall, slim woman, fair-haired with large brown eyes and a kind smile. She loved her little son very much. One morning when Tom finished breakfast she said to him: "We are going to the zoo today. Hurry up!" Tom was very happy. He loved wild animals and was fond of going to the zoo.
"Mummy, you know, I dreamed about the zoo last night," he said.
"Did you?" smiled his mother. "And what did you do in the zoo in your dream?"
Tom laughed and said: "You know, Mummy. You were there in my dream too."
№ 10 It Is Important to Know a Foreign Language
A wise mother-cat and her two little kittens live in an old grey house. They live upstairs in an old bedroom and sleep on a warm comfortable carpet that is in the middle of the room. Every morning the two kittens get up, brush their tails, wash their faces and go downstairs to the kitchen to have breakfast. They usually have milk and porridge for breakfast.
After breakfast they wash their cups, glasses and plates and go to the Cats' primary school. They take their schoolbags with pens, pencils, rulers, rubbers and books with them. But they don't like to go to school. They are a bit lazy, though they are rather clever. They don't like many school subjects but they dislike the foreign languages they are learning most of all.
Now the mother-cat and her kittens are walking in the park. Suddenly they see a big dog. The dog is standing in front of them. She looks very dangerous. The kittens are afraid of the dog and cry: "Mew, mew, mew, mew." The dog looks at them and answers loudly: "Grrrrrr! Grrrrrr! Grrrrrr!" At this moment the mother-cat opens her mouth and says: "Grrrrrr! Grrrrrr!" The dog can hardly believe her ears. "Grrrr! Grrrr!" she answers and quickly runs away.
Then the wise old cat turns to her kittens and says: "Now, I hope you understand how important it is to know a foreign language."
№ 15 The British Museum
For many people who come to London it is a city of history and culture full of museums, galleries and historic buildings. If you ever come to London you will certainly go to the British Museum. It is in Great Russell Street. The British Museum is a very large, light-grey building. It is one of the most famous museums in the world and the biggest museum in London. There are a lot of beautiful collections in it: drawings, collections of coins, paintings, sculptures and ceramics. Many things came to the museum from Greece. There is a Manuscript Room there, the room where the most important English documents are. You can also find very old books and maps in the museum.
The British Museum is famous for its library, one of the richest in the world — there are more than 6 million books in it.
When you come to the museum you can go to the Reading Room which is circular in shape. Some of the greatest people of their times have sat in this Room — such as Dickens, Thackeray, Bernard Shaw, Karl Marx, and many others.
You can walk through the halls of the British Museum for hours making wonderful discoveries.
Task 1. Answer the questions:
- Where is the British Museum?
- What is it famous for?
- What collections can you find in the British Museum?
- What have you learnt about the library of the British Museum?
- What famous writers worked in the Reading Room of the British Museum?
- № 20 Denis Cook Is TravellingDenis Cook often travels on business. Today he is going to the airport. He is going to catch a 9 o'clock plane. Before Denis leaves for the airport he wants to be sure he has got everything. So he looks through his things and his papers. He has got money, his plane ticket, but he can't see his passport. Denis tries to remember where it is. "Isn't it in the kitchen? No, it is not. The living room? No, it isn't there. Where is it? What about the bedroom?"Denis runs upstairs to the first floor and sees his passport on a little table near the sofa. It's time for him to leave. He has to hurry up. So he takes a taxi and goes to Heathrow airport.Now Denis is at the airport. He is going to check in. There is often a queue at the check-in. In England people are usually polite in queues. They wait quietly for their turn to check in. Now it's Denis's turn to check in. He is speaking to the airport man:- Good morning, sir. Have you got your ticket?- Oh, yes. Here you are. Flight 355. Boston.- Where is your luggage, sir? Is it all? That's all right, sir. Where would you like to sit: smoking or non-smoking area?- Non-smoking, please. And can I have a window seat, please?- No, I'm sorry, there isn't one.- OK.- Would you like a seat on the aisle?- Yes, please.- Here, sir. Seat 15C. Here is your boarding pass. Your flight
is in forty minutes.- Thank you.Questions:- What is the main character's name?
- What is he going to do?
- What can't Denis find?
- What city is Denis leaving for?
- What seat would Denis like to have?
- Has he got it? What seat has he got?
№ 23 Blue JeansLevi Strauss came to America from Germany. In 1850 he arrived in San Francisco. San Francisco is a large city in the United States of America. It is situated in California. There were many people in California in those days because they wanted to find gold and become rich. They worked a lot looking for gold and spent much time it the water of the rivers. They needed strong trousers.Levi Strauss had a lot of strong material. He hoped people could build tents with it. So he decided to make special trousers of this material. They were strong and people liked them. In one day Strauss sold all the trousers he had. But they had no colour and became dirty very easily. So Strauss decided to colour them blue. Now people all over the world wear blue jeans. They think they are good for work and travel, they are practical.
№ 27 Things Used to Be Different Many Years Ago
My name is Mary Baker. I'm a writer. I have written ten books in the past fifteen years and now I'm working on the eleventh. I began writing as a girl and I used to write poems and short stories about birds and animals, and I used to write a lot while I was at the medical college. Then I got married and started my work at the hospital in London. I used to be a nurse and I worked at a women's hospital in London, so as you see I used to live and work in the capital city, one of the busiest cities of England and now I have this quiet life in a small village in the country, where I write my stories and create my characters. I can't tell you I miss my city life. I used to find it very interesting but now I prefer the peace of the country where I can read a lot, think a lot and write my history book. I write historical novels now. I have always been curious about the past and I have always tried to learn as much as possible about those who lived before us. Life used to be really different in those times. People used not to travel in cars and planes. They used to tell the time by the sun. They didn't use to buy so much food but grew most of it themselves. Yes, life used to be different many years ago.
Answer the questions of the text:
- What is the writer's name?
- When did she use to write poems and short stories?
- Where did Mary use to live?
- Where does she live now?
- Why does Mary say that life used to be different many years ago?
№ 30 A Quickly-minded Explorer
One night before the sunset a hotel in the centre of the city was on fire. The people who were inside ran out of the building, they stood near the hotel looking at the fire and talking. "You know,” one of them said to the man who was standing next to him, "when I understood we were on fire I didn't move and continued to sit in the armchair reading a book for some time. Then I rose and before I came out I ran into some of the rooms. I was curious about money. And indeed, while I was looking for it I found a lot of paper money in empty room? People don't think about money when they are in panic nowadays. When paper money gets into a fire, the fire burns it. So I took all the paper money that I could find. No one will be poorer because I took it. I'm going to use it soon. I think I'll visit some foreign countries." "You don't say so!" said the other man. "By the way, don't you know what I am?" "No," answered the first man. "And where do you work?" "I'm a policeman." "Oh!" cried the first man. He thought quickly and then said: "I'm so glad to meet you. And do you know who I am?" "No," said the policeman. "Oh," said the first man. "I'm an explorer and a writer. I always tell stories about things that never took place."
№ 34 The Day I Came Face to Face with a Tiger
My name is Tony Russel. Last year I went to Nepal [niрo:1] for three months to work in a hospital. It was situated high in the mountains. I liked the place very much. The air was always fresh and there was a small lake which was not very deep not far from the hospital. I used to swim there early in the morning.
I think it's important to see as much of a foreign country as you can, but it is difficult and sometimes dangerous to travel around Nepal. Once I had a few days’ holiday from the hospital, so I decided to go into the jungle with my friend Kamal Rai who knew a lot about his own country and was fond of travelling among the mountains.
We started preparing for the trip at six in the morning and left our camp with two elephants. It was hot, but we were wearing shoes and trousers to protect us from snakes. In the jungle there was a lot of wildlife, but we were trying to find big cats, especially tigers. We got onto the elephants' backs but Kamal said it was unusual to find tigers in the middle of the day because they liked to sleep in the daytime, hiding in the grass.
Then suddenly we saw a tiger rather far and Kamal told me to be quiet. We came nearer and saw a dead sheep in the grass. This was the tiger's lunch!
We heard the tiger a second before we saw it. What do you think happened then?
№ 37 Two Trips
George Brown was a rich businessman. When he was young he used to travel a lot. He liked to climb the mountains and often spent his weekends there. He loved nature, wild flowers that grow high up in the mountains, fresh air and clean water of the mountain rivers.
When George was 35 he bought a small plane and learned to fly it. He soon became very good and could do all kinds of tricks in the air.
George had a friend. His name was Mark. One day George invited Mark to have a trip in his plane. Mark thought: "I have travelled in a big plane many times, but I've never been in a small one, so I'll go." They went up, and George flew around for half an hour and did all kinds of tricks in the air.
When they came down again, Mark was very glad to be back, and he said to his friend: "Well, George, thank you very much for those two trips in your plane."
George looked at his friend and asked: "Why two trips, Mark?"
"My first and my last," was the answer.
Listen to the plan of the story and write it down.
№ 40 Bobby's Answer
Mr and Mrs Davis have a son. His name is Bobby, and it was his birthday a few days ago.
Last Sunday Bobby's grandfather came to visit them, and he brought Bobby a nice toy train. When he gave it to Bobby, he said: "I'm sorry, Bobby, but I forgot your birthday last Tuesday, so I didn't give you this present then."
"Oh, that doesn't matter, Grandpa," Bobby answered. "Thank you very much. It's just what I wanted."
"And how old are you now, Bobby?" his* grandfather asked. Bobby knew the answer to that question. "I'm five, Grandpa," he said.
"That's good," the old man said. "You're a big boy now, Bobby. And what are you going to be when you're older?" Bobby knew the answer to that question too. "I'm going to be six, Grandpa," he answered.
Questions:
- How old was Bobby?
- His Grandpa gave him a toy present on his birthday, didn't he?
- Why did Bobby's Grandpa give him the present later?
- Bobby didn't like the toy train, did he?
- Did Bobby understand his Grandpa's last question?
- What did Bobby's grandpa want to know when he asked the boy what he was going to be when he was older?
№ 43 I Hit Him Back First
Once upon a time there lived two brothers. Their names were Allan and Ted. They lived with their parents in a small industrial town in the north of Scotland. They lived in a house which consisted of five rooms. Allan and Ted were good friends, they were good pupils as well. Allan was seven, Ted was ten. They went to the same primary school. The brothers never felt lonely. They read a lot, played many sports games because both of them liked sports and games very much.
The brothers were good boys but they were not saints. They liked fighting very much too. But their mother was against their fights, especially when they fought at school. "When you fight with each other, when you fight with your friends, it is always a sign of something bad," she used to say.
One day Allan came home from school and went to his room. His elder brother Ted was in the room too. He was playing on the computer. Ted was surprised when he saw that Allan was crying. "Why are you crying, Allan?" he asked. "Because William hit me," answered the younger brother. William was one of the boys at school with whom Ted and Allan often had fights.
Ted looked at his brother, laughed and said: "Now, listen to me carefully, Allan. Did you hit him back or did you run home crying like a little baby?"
"I hit him back, of course," said Allan angrily. "I hit him back first and then he hit me."
№ 46 Tragedy in the Air
The flight from London to South Africa didn't begin at 9 o'clock. It was a little delayed. The plane belonged to the British Airways. It was a big plane with four engines.
At ten o'clock we started. I sat next to Michael. He is a former pilot but now he works as a lawyer. Michael is my permanent companion in my journeys to Africa. This trip promised to be very interesting. It included our visits to several villages situated in the South of the continent. The trip could offer many unusual things.
At eleven o'clock when we were over the British Channel Michael told me he didn't like the sound of the engine. Soon the stewardess said that something was not quite right with the engine again. She told us it wasn't very important as there were three good engines on the plane and we were "OK".
However when we got near Africa, the passengers were telling each other that the second and the third engines didn't work. We all felt rather bad. At that time we were flying over the land of Africa with its wild animals: tigers, lions, snakes. We were thinking about death.
Suddenly we heard the captain's voice on the plane radio: "Ladies and gentlemen, I have bad news for you."
I saw that many faces became white. Some people began crying. I felt terrible. The captain continued in a loud voice: "I have to inform you that England has lost her last football match against Scotland!"
№ 49 She Wanted to Show Off
In the eighteenth century young ladies in Italy usually had very poor knowledge of history and geography. They hardly ever read a book about America, which was called the New World, about Christopher Columbus or about his discoveries.
Once a young lady was invited to the King's palace. There was a ball there. The lady belonged to a very rich and famous family. She knew a lot of important and respectable people. She liked to talk to them though she seldom could understand the subject of their talk. The ministers, lawyers, other important political people knew that the young lady was neither clever, nor bright but they often talked to her as they didn't want to offend her because though she was rather dull, she was nice and pleasant.
Well, that evening one of the guests, a professor of history, was late. The young lady knew his name very well as his political ideas were very famous. She came up to him and asked him why he was late. "Oh, nothing important," said the professor, "I was delayed by my friend, a professor of history from Mexico." "Is Mexico far from Italy?" asked the young lady. The professor smiled and said it was in the New World. "In the New World?" repeated the lady who was surprised to hear that. "Yes," smiled the professor again. He had a good sense of humour, so he said: "Mexico is in the New World which was discovered by Christopher Columbus."
When the young lady heard this she ran to the dancing hall and shouted as loud as she could: "Ladies and gentlemen, have you heard the latest news? A new world has just been discovered by a certain Christopher Columbus!"
№ 51 Tim Takes Medicine
It is winter now and John is ill. He is coughing; he has a terrible headache and feels a pain in his chest. The doctor came yesterday. He felt the boy's pulse and listened to his lungs. He touched John's head and immediately gave him some medicine. The doctor told John to stay in bed and take the medicine regularly 3 times a day.
Now there is a bottle of medicine on John's table near his bed. But John doesn't like the medicine and doesn't want to take it. "What shall I do?" he thinks. "What shall I do not to take the medicine?"
Suddenly he remembers Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer and his cat. John read the book about them last summer. So John gets out of his bed, takes his big black cat Tim and gives him his medicine. Tim likes the medicine and begins to drink it. But at that moment John's mother comes into the room. She sees John, Tim and the bottle of medicine. She understands everything. "Don't be silly, John," she says. "You should drink the medicine, not the cat. You are ill, the cat isn't. But the cat may feel bad because of the medicine. You shouldn't give it to Tim. Be a good boy, take a spoon of the medicine and try to sleep."
Questions:
- Why does John have to stay in bed?
- How often does he have to take the medicine?
- Why does the boy want to give the medicine to his cat?
- What does John's mother tell her son?
№ 54 The Doctor's Advice
Once an old gentleman went to see a doctor. The doctor examined him, listened to his lungs and heart, felt his pulse and blood pressure, took his temperature and said that medicine wouldn't help the old gentleman. The doctor asked him to go to a quiet country place for a month and to have a rest. "Your illness is not serious, so don't worry!" continued the doctor. "Go to bed early, drink milk, walk a lot, smoke just one cigar a day and you will recover pretty soon."
The old gentleman nodded and said: "Thank you very much, Doctor. I shall do everything you say."
A month later the same gentleman came to see the doctor again. "How do you do?" said the doctor. "I am very glad to see you. You look much younger. How do you feel?"
"Oh, Doctor," said the gentleman, "I feel quite all right now. I had a good rest. I went to bed early, I drank a lot of milk, I walked a lot. Your advice certainly helped me. But you told me to smoke one cigar a day, and that one cigar a day almost killed me at first. It's not a joke to start smoking at my age."
Questions:
- In what way did the doctor examine the patient?
- What was the doctor's advice?
- How did the old gentleman look and feel a month later?
- How did the old gentleman spend that month?
- Do you think the doctor was really a good doctor?
№ 57 An Ill Turn
Miss Martha Marple was 40 years old but she was not married. She had a shop where she sold bread both fresh and stale. Stale bread was cheaper than fresh bread. One man came to Miss Martha's shop two or three times a week. The man was not young but he was very pleasant. He wore cheap clothes but they always looked nice on him. The man was not healthy. He coughed, his eyes were red. Miss Marple wanted him to recover but she understood that it was difficult for him to go and see the doctor. Doctors and medicine were expensive but the man Miss Martha decided was poor. He always bought stale bread and never fresh.
Miss Martha liked the man very much. She wanted to help him but didn't know how.
Once she had an idea. She put some butter in the stale bread. When the old man came to her and asked for his usual stale bread she gave him the stale bread with butter.
The next day the poor man came to the shop. He was very angry. He said he was an architect. "I used stale bread to take away pencil lines. Last night I finished a plan for a new office and began to take away the pencil lines. But your butter!... Now I can't show my plan to anybody!" he said.
№ 59 You've won!
An old gentleman was very unhappy about young boys who lived near him. They were always noisy, played the guitar loudly and sang strange songs. The old gentleman thought they had very bad manners and didn't know the difference between right and wrong.
One day he was taking a walk in the park near his home when he saw some young boys standing around a small cat. The old man went up to the boys and asked them what was happening. One of the boys said to him: "We are having a competition. We're telling lies and the one who tells the biggest one will keep this cat."
The old gentleman thought that was a good opportunity to teach the boys good manners and to give them a useful lesson. So, he said to them: "I've never told a lie in my life!" When the boys heard these words they shouted: "You've won! You can take the cat!"
№ 61 An Excellent Student
A teacher was asking Tom a lot of questions. But his knowledge was very poor and he couldn't answer any of them. The teacher asked him questions on geography and history of Great Britain and the USA. She wanted to know what parts the United Kingdom consisted of, what were the emblems of England, Scotland and Wales. Tom did not know. He looked very unhappy. The teacher then decided to ask him some very easy questions. "Please tell me, when was the Great Fire of London?" Tom shook his head. He didn't know the answer. "Who was the first President of the United States?" continued the teacher. She thought it was the easiest question possible. But Tom couldn't answer it either. He thought for a long time, but didn't say anything. The teacher got very angry and shouted, "George Washington!" The student got up and began to walk to his seat. "Come back!" the teacher said. "I didn't tell you to go." "Oh, I'm sorry," the student said. "I thought you called the next student."
№ 63 A Laconic Answer
The Lacons lived in that part of Southern Greece which was called Laconia. The people who lived there were very brave. They loved their Motherland and defended it from all the enemies. Everybody knew that their life was very simple. They tried to follow the laws of their country and never spoke long. "The shorter the better," was their rule. "Never use more words than you need," was another rule. And nowadays as you probably know a very short answer is often called a laconic answer, because the Lacons usually gave such short answers.
In Northern Greece there was a land called Macedonia. King Philip ruled there. He was not very clever and he was not very brave, but he wanted to become king of all Greece. So, he collected a great army and soon he became master of all Greece. Only Laconia was not conquered. Then King Philip wrote a letter and sent it to the brave Lacons. The letter said: "If I win the battle with your army, I will become your king and ruin your great city."
A few days later an answer was brought back to him. King Philip found only one word in it. The word was very short, and that was "If".
№ 64 Mrs Green or Mrs Brown?
When Mrs Green was 62 she went to live in a small village out in the country. There was only a little shop in the village where she bought bread and some dairy products, but once a week she began to go into the nearest town to do the shopping there. She never went to the baker's or to the grocer's or to the fishmonger's. She usually went to a big supermarket where she could buy all the things she wanted. She went there to buy meat (pork or beef), vegetables and fruit regularly every Saturday.
After she had visited the store several times, the shop assistant began to smile and say "Good morning, Mrs Brown," whenever she came to pay for the things she had bought.
At first Mrs Green didn't think much about this, but after a few weeks, she said to the shop assistant one Saturday: "Excuse me, but my last name is Green, not Brown." The shop assistant smiled and said she was sorry.
But the following week, when Mrs Green came to pay for her buyings, the shop assistant said to her: "Do you know, Mrs Brown, there is another lady who comes to our store every Saturday who looks just like you."
