THE THREE WISHES (AN OLD ENGLISH FAIRY TALE)
One winter
evening a poor peasant sat near
the fire talking with his
wife about one of their neighbours who was a rich
man.
"If only I had a little money myself", he said, "I should
open my own shop".
"I", answered his wife, "should not be satisfied with that, I should
be happy if I lived in a big house, and then, if I saw people like ourselves, I should help them and try
to make everybody happy. But we are no longer in the time of fairies. If only I could meet one of them,
it would not take me long to decide what to
ask of her".
Hardly had she said
these words when a beautiful young lady appeared in their room
and told them she was a fairy willing to grant their
first three wishes. But she said they should choose carefully as she could
allow them no
more than three wishes. Then the beautiful lady
disappeared.
At first the husband and wife
were astonished. Then they began
discussing the first wish that it would be best to have. They quarreled for a long time and finally decided to wish for nothing for a while and put it
off till the next day.
The woman looked at the bright
fire and said without thinking: "Oh, it would be a good thing to have a good sausage for our supper". And a
long thick sausage fell on
their table. The husband got very angry and began scolding his wife. "Isn't that a fine wish? You're such a stupid woman! I wish this sausage would stick to
your nose!" This was hardly said when the sausage jumped up and stuck to the poor woman's face.
The husband
understood that he himself had been even more foolish than his wife, but no matter
how he tried he could not tear the sausage
off his wife's nose. "If you had
not wished to have this beauty sausage, I should not have wished it to stick to your nose", said the husband.
Finally they realized that they had only one wish left. They
thought for a long time and agreed to have their last wish. They wished the sausage to fall on the table, which it did.
I Listen to
the text and put “+” if the sentence is right and “-” if one is false
1 One spring evening a poor peasant sat near the fire
talking with his wife.
2 They were talking about one of their neighbours who
was a rich man.
3 They had their own shop.
4 The woman wanted to meet a fairy.
5 A
young lady appeared in their room and told them that she was their neighbour.
6 They were astonished.
7 They began to discuss their first wish and were
ready to tell about it in ten minutes.
8 They wanted to have supper first of all.
9 The husband understood
that he himself had been even more foolish than his wife.
10 Finally they wished to have a beautiful house.
II Choose the
correct answer
1) What were they talking about near the fire?
A. about money
B. about a rich man
C. about a poor peasant
D. about winter
2) What would the peasant do, if he had money?
A. buy sausage
B. build a new house
C. open his own shop
D. help poor
people
3) What is happiness for a woman?
A. to live in a big house
B. to have a rich neighbour
C. to have a shop
D. to have many wishes
4) Who could help them to become happy?
A. a rich man
B. a stranger
C. a fairy
D. relatives
5) What was a fairy willing to do?
A. to get dinner for
them
B. to ask money
C. to sit near the fire
D. to realize
their first three wishes
6) What does the word "astonish" mean?
A. to be pleased
B. to surprise
C. to quarrel
D. to satisfy
7) What did the husband and wife do when they heard the fairy's will?
A. they quarrelled with her
B. they decided to wish for something at once
C. decided to
put it off till the next day
D. they asked
her to sit near the fire
8) How did they feel when they got their first wish?
A. were happy
B. angry
C. frightened
D. hungry
9) What was their first wish?
A. bright fire
B. much money
C. a big house
D. a good sausage
10) What was their last wish?
A. to stick the
sausage to the wife's nose
B. to have good appetite
C. to tear the sausage off the wife's
nose
D. to fall on the table
III Complete
the sentences
1 One winter evening a poor
peasant sat near…
2 If only I had a little money
myself I should…
3 At first the husband and wife were…
4 And a long thick sausage fell on…
5 Finally they
realized that they had only one…
IV Express
your attitude to the behaviour of the husband and the wife (8 – 10
sentences)
The Lady or the Tiger?
In the very old times there lived a king, and he was a man of
great fancy.
One day an idea came to his mind, and the king decided to modernize the system of court trial in his kingdom.
For this purpose there was built a big arena with galleries around it. In that arena the most important criminals
were to be put on trial in public. But
neither the king nor anybody of his court was to decide the fate of the accused
person. It was the criminal himself who did
it. On an appointed day when all the people
had gathered at the galleries, and the king and his court had taken their
places, the accused person stepped into the
arena. On the other side of the arena there were two doors. The
doors were side by side and identical. The accused person was to walk to those doors and open one of them. If he opened the
one, there came out of it a hungry tiger and tore him to pieces, as a punishment for his crime. At the same time the sad bells began to clang, and the
people with heavy hearts went to their
homes. But if the accused opened the
other door, there came out of it a beautiful lady. And to that lady he
was immediately married, as a reward for his innocence.
It did not matter that the accused might already have a wife and children, or a bride; the king took no notice of such trifles.
Such was the king's method of showing justice.
The king had a daughter whom he loved greatly. She was very beautiful and, at the same time, she was very
conceited. It happened so that she fell in love
with a young man whose social position
was not as high as hers. But they were
happy.
One day the king learned about their love. The young man was
immediately put into prison, and a day was appointed for his trial in the king's arena.
On this occasion the most savage tiger was caught and caged behind one of the doors, and a very beautiful
girl was found to stand behind the other door.
The appointed day came. A lot of people gathered at the galleries. The king and his court were in their
places. Then the signal was given, and the
lover of the princess walked into the arena. He bowed to the king and looked at the princess who was sitting to the right of her
father. The princess had learned the
secret of the doors. She knew not only in
which room there was the lady, but also who that lady was. It was one of the most beautiful girls of the court, and the princess hated her. The princess
was very jealous.
When the lover looked at her, he understood that she knew behind which door was the tiger, and behind which
stood the lady. His eyes asked:
"Which?"
The question was clear to her, and she had to answer. She raised her hand and made a slight movement towards the
right door. Her lover turned and, without the
slightest hesitation, went to the door on the
right.
And now it is for you, dear reader, to decide: did the princess lie or didn't?
Make
your decision. But remember, that, on the one hand the princess loved the young man greatly; but on the other hand she was hot-tempered and jealous.
I Read the text and put “+” if the sentence is
right and “-” if one is false
1 The king decided to modernize the system of court trial in his
kingdom.
2 For this purpose there was built a stadium.
3 The accused person stepped into the gallery.
4 If the accused opened the door and a
beautiful lady came out, he had immediately to sing a song for her.
5 The king’s
daughter was conceited, hot-tempered and jealous.
6 The princess didn’t know the
secret of the doors.
7 The princess’ lover turned and, without the slightest hesitation, went to the door on the right.
II Find the
correct answer
1 What kind of man was a king?
a)
a man of
great courage
b)
a man of
great fancy
c)
a man of
great mind
d)
a man of great
wit
2 What did the king decide to modernize one day?
a)
a political system
b)
a system of education
c)
a system of court trial
d)
a system of social assistance
3 What was built for
this purpose?
a) a big arena with galleries around it
b) a beautiful palace
c) a new market
d) a new highway
4 Who was to decide the fate of
accused person?
a) the trial
b) the government
c) neither the king nor anybody of his
court
d) the court
5 Where did the
accused person step?
a)
into the garden
b) into the palace
c)
into the arena
d) into the
prison
6 What did the accused person have to open?
a)
a box on the table
b)
a letter in the envelope
c)
a door of the arena
d)
a window in the palace
III Write
synonyms from the text
1 an imaginative man
2 a
pretty lady
Ambitious
4 ill-tempered
5 envious
IV Write 10 –
15 sentences about your attitude to the story “The Lady or the Tiger?”
JIM THORPE
Jim Thorpe
was perhaps the greatest athlete the United States has ever
had.
James Francis Thorpe was born on May 28, 1888
in Oklahoma.
First he went to a public school for Indians near his
home. In 1904 he entered the Carlisle Indian School. He did
not have enough money to study full-time and had to
interrupt his education several times as he had to
earn his living.
The director of athletics at Carlisle was Glenn Warner, a famous
athletic coach. Warner began to train Thorpe for football and
track. Jim became the best American football player. He also
competed in baseball, basketball, tennis and swimming.
In 1912 the Olympic Games were held
in Stockholm.
Never before in the history of the Modern Olympics had one man
competed in both pentathlon and decathlon at one meeting of the
Olympic Games. Thorpe did this and he won two gold
medals.
According to the rules only
amateur athletes can take part in the Olympic Games. One of the reporters discovered
that Thorpe had earned 25 dollars a month
playing baseball during two summer vacations some years before. He was not therefore an amateur
athlete and he had to return his gold
medals. The men who came second in the pentathlon and decathlon refused to take them saying they
really belonged to Thorpe.
Thorpe decided to give up
amateur athletics. He became a professional baseball
and football player. He continued to play professional football and
baseball until 1929.
Since 1929 Thorpe had odd jobs:
he worked as a laborer in California, sometimes he played the part of an Indian in movies about the old West.
On March 28, 1953 Thorpe died in the town of Lomita, California, a poor
lonely man not quite 65 years old.
I Agree or
disagree
1 Jim Thorpe was the greatest
athlete the United
Kingdom has ever
had.
2 He was born on June 28, 1888 in Oklahoma.
3 He didn't have enough money to
study full-time.
4 He had to
interrupt his education only once as he had to earn his living.
5 The director of athletics at Carlisle, who began to train Jim, was John Warner.
6 Jim Thorpe
became the best American coach.
II Choose the
correct answer.
1 Jim went to a public school...
A for black people
B for Indians
C for poor people
2 Warner began to train Thorpe
for...
A handball and
track
B football and track
C football, track
and volleyball
3 In 1912 the Olympic
Games were held in...
A Sydney
B Strasbourg
C Stockholm
4 Thorpe competed at one meeting of
the Olympic games in both pentathlon and
decathlon and won...
1 the gold
medals
B the silver
medal
C the silver medal and the gold one
5 Thorpe had earned 25 $ a month
playing ... during two summer vacations some years before he won
his medals.
A football
B baseball
C basketball
6. Thorpe decided to give up amateur
athletics because...
A he wanted to
become a professional football player
B one of the
reporters discovered that he hadn't been an amateur athlete taking part in the Olympic Games
C he wanted to
become a basketball instructor
III
Fill in the gaps
1 Jim Thorpe perhaps the greatest
athlete the United States…
2 James Francis Thorpe was born on
May 28, 1888 in…
3 The director of athletics at Carlisle was Glenn
Warner…
4 In 1912 the Olympic Games were held in…
5 Thorpe decided to give up amateur athletics, he became a professional…
IV Give facts proving that Jim Thorpe was one of the best athletes in
the history of sport in the USA (10 sentences)
THE TRIMMED LAMP (after O. Henry)
Lou and Nancy were friends. They
came to New York
to find work because there was not enough to eat at
their homes. Nancy was nineteen. Lou was twenty. Both Nancy and Lou were
very pretty. Lou found work in a laundry. She was an ironer. Nancy began to
work as a sales-girl.
At the end of six months of their
life in the big city, Lou met a young man named Dan.
They soon became good friends. In fact they fell in love with each other. They
went out together several times a week.
"Aren't you cold, Nancy?" Lou asked her
friend one evening. They were standing on the corner waiting for Dan. "I
feel sorry for you. Why are you working in that old store for eight dollars a
week? I made eighteen dollars last week! Of course, ironing is not so pleasant
as selling gloves in a store, but it pays. None of the ironers make
less than ten dollars a week. I like my work."
"And I like mine,"
said Nancy, "even though I make only eight dollars a week. I like to work in
a big store, and to be among beautiful things and nice people. One of our
sales-girls married a steel maker from Pittsburg. He
makes a lot of money! You may be sure I'll
catch a millionaire some day! And whom can you
marry working in a laundry?"
"Why, I met Dan in the
laundry,'" said Lou. "He came in to get his Sunday shirt and collars and
saw me. I was ironing. Later he said he had
noticed my arms first, how white and
round they were. I tell you, some
very rich men come to laundries. Of course if you want to starve and put on
airs, do as you like!"
Just then Dan came. He was an
electrician, making thirty dollars a week. It was clear he was in
love with Lou, he looked at her with the sad eyes of Romeo.
"Nancy, I want to introduce to
you my friend, Mr. Owens. Dan, shake hands with Miss Danforth," said Lou.
"I'm very glad to meet you,
Miss Danforth," said Dan. "I've heard so much about you from
Lou."
"Thanks," said Nancy, "I've heard from
her about you, too."
"I have tickets for a
theatre," said Dan. "Let's all go." The three of them started
out to have a good time together.
Nancy
had no gentlemen friends. Nobody waited for her after work. Some of the
sales-girls joked that she was waiting to "catch a millionaire".
"I'll make the biggest catch in the
world, – or nothing at all!" she used to say.
One day, two of the sales-girls
who worked with Nancy
invited her to have dinner together with them and
their gentlemen friends. The dinner took place in a
fashionable cafe.
One of the gentlemen friends had no hair on his head, –
the other wore a diamond ring and liked neither
the food nor the wine.
The next day the gentleman with the diamond ring appeared in the shop and asked Nancy to marry him. She
said 'no'. When he left, one of the girls said to Nancy: "What a terrible fool you
are! That fellow is a millionaire – he is
the son of Van Skittles himself! Are
you mad, Nancy? What do you want? Do you want to be a Mormon and
marry Rockefeller and the King of Spain at the same time?"
"I don't want his
money," said Nancy
"I don't ' like him, that's all! I want to marry a rich
man, that's true. But I also want to like him!"
Lou worked on in the laundry.
Out of her eighteen dollars a week she paid six dollars for her room and board. The rest of the money went for clothes.
When the day's work was over she met Dan who was
always waiting for her outside the laundry.
Sometimes Dan did not like her
clothes, they were too bright – he thought – and in bad taste. But she liked bright
clothes, and when people in the streets
looked at her, she liked that very much.
Dan and Lou always asked Nancy to come with them
when they went out to have a good time.
One Saturday afternoon the two
girls met, and Lou said: "Dan is always asking me to marry him.
But why should I? I am independent. Now I can do what I like with the money I make. And if I marry Dan he will not allow
me to work. Nancy, what are your plans for the
future? Have you caught your millionaire yet?"
"Not yet," said Nancy with a laugh. "I
haven't selected one yet..."
"You are joking, of
course," said Lou.
"Millionaires don't notice
working girls like us. Still I am sure that I'll
catch one before you do."
Nancy worked on. She
watched and studied the rich men and women who came to the store. She hoped
some day to find the man she could marry.
So she kept her lamp trimmed and burning to receive
her bridegroom when he should come.
One Thursday evening Nancy left the store and walked
over to the laundry. Dan and Lou had invited her to go to a
musical comedy with them.
Dan was just coming out of the
laundry when she arrived. There was a strange nervous look on his face.
"I hoped to find out something about her. I
thought they had heard from her," he said. "Heard from whom? What are
you talking about?" said Nancy. "Isn't Lou
there?" "I thought you knew
everything," said Dan. "She hasn't been here or at the house where
she lived since Monday. She lock all her things from there. She told one of the
girls in the laundry that she was going to Europe."
"Has anybody seen her
anywhere?" asked Nancy.
Dan looked at her. His gray eyes were like steel.
"They told me in the
laundry," he said, "that they saw her yesterday ... in an automobile.
With one of those millionaires that you and Lou were always talking
about."
For the first time in her life Nancy did not know what to say.
Then she laid her hand on Dan's arm and said:
"You have no right to say such a thing to me,
Dan. Do you think that she has done it because
of my jokes about millionaires? I am sorry for you, but I have nothing to do
with it."
"I'm sorry I said it,"
answered Dan, "Don't be angry with me!"
"I have tickets for a show to-night," he
said a moment later. "If you..."
Nancy saw how miserable he was and she felt sorry for him.
"I'll come with you,
Dan," she said.
Three-months passed before Nancy saw Lou again.
One evening she was hurrying
home from the store. Suddenly somebody called her name. She turned around and
saw Lou who caught her in her arms.
Nancy noticed at once that Lou had become rich. She was very well dressed and
had diamond
rings on her fingers.
"You little fool," cried Lou, "I see
you are still working in that store. I see you haven't caught a millionaire
yet."
And then Lou looked and saw that
Nancy had something better than money, something that shone brighter than stars
in her eyes, something that was redder than a rose in her cheeks. Happiness!
"Yes, I'm
still in the store," said Nancy, "but I am
going to leave it next week. I've made my
catch, the best catch in the world. I'm going to be married to Dan... to Dan!
He is my Dan now."
A policeman, going around the
corner of the park saw two young women. One of them, with diamond rings on her
fingers was crying like a child. The other, a simply dressed working girl, was trying to console her. The
policeman passed on. He knew he could not help the one who was crying.
I Do you
agree or not?
1 Nancy and Lou came to New
York to catch the bridegrooms.
2 The girls did not find any work in New
York.
3 Lou found her happiness in New
York
4 Nancy
envied Lou.
5 When Van Skittles asked Nancy to
marry him she agreed at once.
6 Lou was looking forward to marrying
Dan.
7 Dan was
nervous when he hadn't found Lou.
8 Lou was
happier than Nancy.
II Choose the correct
answer according to the information in the text.
1 Lou and Nancy came to New
York
a) for entertainment; b) to get acquainted with its
sights; c) to find work; d) to buy all the necessary things.
2 Lou and Dan
a) got married on the second day; b) became good
friends soon; c) were close relatives d) met in the theatre.
3 Nancy's
dream was
a) to return home; b) to change her boring work; c) to
spend all her free time shopping; d) to catch a millionaire some day.
4 It was clear that Dan was in love with Lou because
a) he brought her flowers every day; b) he looked at
her with the sad eyes of Romeo.
c) he asked her to marry him; d) he wanted to be with
Lou every minute.
5 Nancy
refused to marry the son of Van Skittles because
a) he wasn't rich enough; b) she fall in love with the
other man; c) he lived in a small provincial town; d) she didn't like him.
6 When Nancy
met Dan there was a strange nervous look on his face because
a) he had forgotten his wallet at home; b) his mother
was seriously ill; c) he hadn't been able to find out something about Lou; d)
he had lost his job.
7 When Nancy
saw Lou
a) she learned that Lou was very unhappy; b) she told
her about her further marriage.
c) they went to a café; d) she invited her to her new
place.
III Choose the right answer
1 Lou:
a) liked her work very much;
b) wanted to catch a millionaire;
c) decided to return home.
2 Dan:
a) wanted to marry Lou as she always told Nancy;
b) was a millionaire who liked spending his free time
with poor girls;
c) wasn't an honest man.
3 Nancy:
a) seemed a matter-of-fact sort of girl;
b) had something better than money, something that
shone brighter than stars in her eyes;
c) was very unhappy.
IV Ask Lou, Nancy, Dan
any questions you would like (5 questions).
Немає коментарів:
Дописати коментар