30
“But at any rate your wife thought it a fine story,” I insisted.
The manager smiled widely. “I am not married, sir.”
1. Find in the text the English equivalents for the following words and ex-
pressions.
Другими словами; понял с первого взгляда; презирал; нечто вроде рек-
ламы; современные методы; новинка; модно одетая; идет нарасхват; ле-
ниво переворачивая страницы; шедевр; без преувеличения; довольно до-
рогая книга; уверяю вас; подходящее чтение для…; из любопытства; сле-
дить за их появлением; ни за что; в любом случае.
2. Give Russian equivalents for the following words and expressions from
the text and use them in sentences of your own.
Get in smb’s way; have an opportunity of doing smth.; be bound to; could
hardly read for tears (laughter); in a loud (sad, cheerful) voice; break into a
laugh (into tears); have an (no) intention of doing smth.; shake one’s head;
frankly speaking; ask in amazement; be disappointed.
3. Answer the questions.
1. What did the manager do when he guessed that his customer was a pro-
fessor?
2. Why did he lose all interest in him?
3. Why did the fashionably-dressed lady want to buy the latest book/ Was
she really interested in literature?
4. “The professor stood buried in a book”. “The lady was idly turning over
the pages”. Compare these two customers.
5. Whom did the manager consider his real customers?
6. Why did the manager say quite different things about the same book to
different customers?
7. Did the manager have a high opinion of all his customers? Illustrate your
answer.
8. What was his main aim?
4. Discuss the following.
1. Do you agree that the manager was really skilful in his business? Can you
approve of his “up-to-date” methods?
2. What kind of book was Golden Dreams? What’s your opinion of such lit-
erature?
3. The manager mentioned Dickens and Fielding. What do you think he
knew about them? Are you fond of classics? Why do many people enjoy read-
ing books by classical writers?
4. What kind of literature are you fond of? Explain why you prefer this or
that genre. Name your favourite authors and books.
31
5. Do you need advice when you choose a book? Who (what) influences
your choice?
5. Retell the story on the part of 1) the professor; 2) the manager.
6. Act out the dialogues between the manager and his customers.
T e x t 15
SLEEP SURVEY REPORT
According to recent medical research, sleeping more than nine hours or less
than six hours a night can shorten your life expectancy. Those who are likely to
live longest are people who regularly get between seven and eight hours a
night.
A new survey of 1,000 adults conducted by the Better Sleep Council (BSC)
found that few people understand the important role sleep plays in normal daily
brain functions and many people actually reduce their brain power by getting
too little sleep.
One in three adults admit that they do not get enough sleep, and lack of
sleep is leaving millions of people without the energy to work as hard as they
should. Although a large number of people say that they need to be mentally
alert in their work, over half of the people interviewed say that they sleep just
under seven hour a night during the week. On the other hand, most the people
interviewed say that they sleep more than seven hours a night at the weekend.
This suggests that a significant number of people try to catch up on their sleep
at the weekend instead of getting enough sleep during the week, when they
most need it.
According to this survey, nearly half of the population believe that the brain
rests when the body sleeps. In fact, the opposite is true. Sleep allows the brain
to go to work, filing and storing the day’s events. ‘Most people incorrectly
think the brain is resting or recuperating during sleep. Actually, some parts of
the brain are more active when you’re asleep,’ confirms Dr Mark Mahowald,
director of the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center. ‘Your brain is like
a cluttered desktop at the end of the day. At night, when you’re asleep and no
more information can be put ion the desk, or in your brain, your brain can then
file away the information.’
1. Find expressions in the text which match to the figures below.
For example: 33% – one in three.
a)
5–15%;
b)
60–80%;
c)
51–60%;
32
d)
80–99%;
e)
40–49%.
2. Write five questions to ask people about their sleep habits using the
words and expressions in the box. Ask your partner the questions and answer
his/her questions.
dream have nightmares talk in your sleep snore sleepwalk
sleep on your back, on your side or on your front have a nap alarm clock
feel sleepy suffer from insomnia yawn fall asleep while travelling
in a double bed have a lie-in at the weekend
T e x t 16
1. The following people, places, and things are in the article. What con-
nection do you think they have with Marks & Spencer?
– the Duchess of York;
– Spain;
– £10 million;
– Paris and Newcastle;
– a Polish immigrant;
– jumpers;
–
shoelaces;
–
chiropodists.
MARKS AND SPENCER
Britain’s favourite store.
Marks and Spencer (or M&S) is Britain’s favourite store. Tourists love it
too. It attracts a great variety of customers, from housewives to millionaires.
The Duchess of York, Dustin Hoffman, and the British Prime Minister are just
a few of its famous customers.
Last year it made a profit of £529 million, which is more than £10 million a
week.
How did it all begin?
It all started 105 years ago, when a young Polish immigrant, Michael
Marks, had a stall in Leeds market. He didn’t have many things to sell: some
cotton, a little wool, lots of buttons, and a few shoelaces. Above his stall he put
the now famous notice: Don’t ask how much – it’s a penny.
Ten years later, he met Tom Spencer and together they started Penny Stalls
in many towns in the north of England. Today there are 564 branches of M&S
all over the world – in America, Canada, Spain, Belgium, and Hungary.
What are the best-sellers?
Surprisingly, tastes in food and clothes are international. What sells well in
Paris sells just as well in Newcastle. Their best-selling clothes are:
– For women: jumpers, bras, and knickers (M&S is famous for its knick-
ers!).
33
– For men: shirts, socks, pyjamas, dressing gowns, and suits.
– For children: underwear and socks.
Best-sellers in food include: fresh chickens, bread, vegetables, and sand-
wiches. Chicken Kiev is internationally the most popular convenience food.
Why is M&S so successful?
The store bases its business on three principles: good value, good quality,
and good service. Also, it changes with the times – once it was all jumpers and
knickers. Now it’s food, furniture, and flowers as well. Top fashion designers
advise on styles of clothes.
But perhaps the most important key to its success is its happy, well-trained
staff. Conditions of work are excellent. There are company doctors, dentists,
hairdressers, and even chiropodists to look after the staff, and all the staff can
have lunch for under 40p!
2. Here are some answers. What are the questions?
1.
__________________________________________________________
£529 million.
2.
__________________________________________________________
105 years ago.
3. __________________________________________________________
Poland.
4.
__________________________________________________________
No, he only had a few things.
5.
__________________________________________________________
564.
6. __________________________________________________________
Because it gives good value, good quality, and good service.
7. __________________________________________________________
No, it doesn’t. It sells food and furniture.
8. __________________________________________________________
Less than 40p.
3. In the text there are a lot of examples of clothes, food, and professions.
List them in the columns below and add three more examples of your own to
each column.
Clothes Food Professions
4. Here are the four headings from the text.
Britain’s favourite store.
How did it all begin?
What are the best-sellers?
34
Why is M&S so successful?
Use these to help you say in a few words the main points of the text.
Use the headings to help you to talk about one of the favourite stores in
your country.
T e x t 17
You’re going to read a parable written in the 19
th
century. A parable is a
short story about everyday things which is told to make a moral or religious
point.
Tell each other some parables (perhaps religious stores), or some fables
(for example, Aesop’s fables). What is the moral of the story?
Check that you understand the title of the story. If you could turn back the
clock, think of some things you could do.
THE MAN WHO COULD TURN BACK THE CLOCK
This is a parable with two different endings. Readers can choose the ending
they like best.
Once upon a time there was a man who had the power to turn back the
clock. Whenever he regretted something he had done or said, he could repeat
the event in the light of experience.
Now one day it happened that this man was out for a walk when it started to
rain, so he took shelter in a barn. After a few minutes the man was joined by a
very beautiful young lady and her dog, who were also seeking shelter. The
downpour lasted about an hour.
The man went home to his wife and told her why he was late. Immediately
his wife was suspicious of her husband’s behaviour with the young lady. She
questioned him about what had happened. The man replied in a surprised and
hurt voice: ‘Why, nothing happened. I was a perfect gentleman. What do you
expect? Especially when she had such a large dog with her.’
His wife was furious: ‘What!! Only the dog stopped you!’
The man realized his mistake and immediately he turned the clock back a
few minutes and tried the conversation again. This time when his wife ex-
pressed her suspicion, he said, ‘It’s true the girl was very beautiful and she
seemed to like me but my deep love for you gave me the strength to resist
temptation.’
However, his wife was even more furious: ‘What!! You wanted to kiss her!
An immoral thought is as bad as an immoral deed.’
Before you read further, answer the questions.
1.
How many times did the man turn back the clock?
35
2.
What mistakes had he made?
3.
How did his wife react?
Before you read the endings, work out an ending yourself. What would you
do if you were the man with the power? Now read the two endings. Is either of
them like yours?
1
The man spent a long time think-
ing. There must be some way to
please his wife!
Finally, he turned the clock back
again a few minutes. Once more his
wife asked how he had behaved with
the beautiful young lady. But this
time he replied: ‘What? She wasn’t
beautiful, she was ugly! I am a man
with good taste, which is why I mar-
ried you, my darling!’
When she heard this, his wife,
who in fact was rather unattractive,
flung her arms around his neck and
cried, ‘I love you!’
2
The man felt that his wonderful
power had not helped him at all. Ex-
cept to teach him that it was impos-
sible to please his wife, and he had
suspected this for a long time.
Therefore he turned back the clock
once more, not just a few minutes,
but a few hours. He went back to the
beautiful young lady in the barn, in
the rain.
1.What do you think?
1.
Which ending do you prefer? Why?
2.
What are the morals of the different endings?
2. It is often possible to guess the meaning of words you don’t know by
looking at the context.
E x a m p l e: took shelter.
“Took” is a verb, and “shelter” is probably a noun.
When it starts to rain, people don’t want to get wet, they want to escape from
the rain. So maybe took shelter means escaped from.
Try to guess the meaning of the following words.
regretted;
in the light of experience;
a barn;
seeking;
the downpour;
suspicious;
hurt;
to resist temptation;
an immoral deed;
flung.
36
T e x t 18
TIME-SAVING TIPS: LISTS
Making lists is relaxing. It makes you feel important – all those things you
do. It dictates the shape of the immediate future; it calms you down (it’s OK,
it’s on the list somewhere) and it makes you feel good when you cross some-
thing off (list-making is standard practice in therapy for depression). It might
even help you to get things done too.
The world divides in two when it comes to listing. Type A makes orderly
lists, prioritises and calmly sets to work on them. Type B waits until panic sets
in, grabs the nearest envelope and scribbles all over it, sighs with relief and
promptly loses it.
The more you have to do, the more you need a list and few people with
high-powered jobs get by without them.
Barbara Vanilli, chief executive of a large chain of supermarkets, says, “Be-
fore I go to bed, I have to write down everything that’s going to stop me sleep-
ing. I feel I won’t forget anything I’ve written down, so my lists are a great
comfort”.
Women always think they’re better at lists than men. Men tend to have
Tasks which they assemble into Action Plans whereas women just have lists of
Things To Do. Jacqueline Maddocks, head of Maddocks Publishers, says, “My
male colleagues only make lists for work, whereas I have to make lists for work
and for home too. It’s essential to write things down. If you’re constantly think-
ing, “I must remember this,” it blocks your mind”.
James Oliver, psychologist, has created his own ‘time management matrix’.
He writes a list of things to do and then organizes them into categories: things
that have to be done straight away, other things that it would be good to do to-
day, things that are important but haven’t got to be done immediately and
things that are less urgent but that he doesn’t want to forget. ‘Using categories
to order the world is the way the human mind works,’ he says. ‘After that, you
should put things into hierarchies of importance.’ But he warns against the dan-
ger of Excessive List Syndrome. ‘If people get obsessed with making lists, it
doesn’t work. They have too many categories and lose their capacity to priori-
tise’.
It’s all a question of what works best for you, whether it’s a tidy notebook, a
forest of Post-it notes or the back of your hand. Having tried all these, student
Kate Rollins relies on a computerized list, printed out each morning to be
scribbled on during the day. “My electronic organizer has changed my life,“
she says. “Up to now, I’ve always relied on my good memory, but now that I’m
working and studying, I find I’ve got too much to keep in my head”.
So what are you waiting for? No, you’re not too busy to make today the first
day of your upgraded time-managed life. In fact, there’s no better time than the
37
present to get an upper hand on time and begin to take increased control of your
work and life. So, get out your pencil and paper and make a list.
1. Talk about the article from memory using these prompts:
good things about making lists;
type A/type B;
before bed;
women/men;
matrix;
categories;
excessive list syndrome;
electronic organizer;
what are you waiting for?
2. Complete as many of these sentences as you can from memory to make
collocations. Then look back at the article to check. Answer the questions.
a)
What do you plan to in the _______ future?
b)
Is it _______ practice to wear smart clothes in your company or school?
c)
Do you know many people with ______ jobs?
d)
Is Bill Gates still ______ executive of Microsoft?
e)
Have you got a/an ______ organizer?
3. Which of these words can combine with the italicized nouns from exer-
cise 2 to form new collocations? Check them in youк dictionary and write some
new sentences.
low-paid distant senior personal normal
4. Answer the questions.
a)
Are you the sort of person who makes lists?
b)
How many ‘things to do’ do you have on your list now?
c)
Do you organize things into categories the way James Oliver does?
d)
What ways of remembering ‘things to do’ work best for you?
e)
Why do you think list-making is used in therapy for depression?
T e x t 19
Before reading the text fulfill the following tasks.
1. A dating agency is an organization that tries to find a partner (a boy-
friend or girlfriend) for someone to go out with. Are there dating agencies in
your country? What are they called? How do they work?
38
2. Match a line in A with a line in B to define the words in italics.
A B
1.
If you are desperate for some-
thing,
2.
If you are seeking something,
3.
A high-flier is
4.
A high-powered job is
5.
A documentary is
6.
If you get on well with someone,
7.
A degree is
8.
If you are fed up with something,
9.
A considerate person is
a. one that is important and well
paid.
b. you have a good relationship.
c. you are looking for it.
d. a TV programme that gives fac-
tual information about something.
e. the qualification you get from
university.
f. someone who is ambitious.
g. someone who is kind, and pays
attention to other people’s feelings.
h. you want it very, very much, and
will do anything to get it.
i. you are unhappy or bored with it.
3. You will now read an article from the Today newspaper. Look at the
headline and the introduction. What sort of people is the article about? Why
are they going to dating agencies?
Divide into two groups.
Group A. Read about the American, John Frantz.
Group B. Read about the English woman, Nicolette Morganti.
Answer the comprehension check questions as you read.
1. What is his/her job?
2. Is it a good job?
3. Does h/she own a house?
4. Where does he/she want to live?
5. What sort of person does he/she want to meet?
6. What sort of person doesn’t he/she like?
7. Does he/she want to have children?
8. Who has he/she met already?
9. Was it a successful meeting?
10. What is he/she going to do?
When you have answered your questions, find a partner from the other
group. Compare your answers and swap information.
DESPERATELY SEEKING SOMEONE
The lonely high fliers trying to find love.
They have money, good looks and high-powered jobs, but in the fight to the
top they forgot one thing – finding a partner.
39
Now over 30, they have no time to start looking. As a result, more and more
lonely single people are asking others to help them find love. According to
‘Desperately Seeking Someone’, a four-part BBC documentary starting soon,
dating agencies, social clubs, and small advertisements in magazines are be-
coming a multi-million pound business.
Today reporter Margaret Morrison spoke to some of the lonely hearts who
told her about just who you meet when you pay for the introduction.
MY GIRL MUST LIKE ME, NOT MY WALLET
John Frantz, 36, divorced (Sales Manager)
American John Frantz has a wonderful lifestyle and he wants to share it
with an English girl.
At 36, he’s the national sales manager for a big printing firm, earns
£65,000-plus and drives a grey Cadillac. Home is a six-bedroom, five bathroom
mansion in 1,5 acres of land near Washington DC.
‘I want to stay in this house,’ says John. ‘I like exotic holidays, but I
wouldn’t like to live outside the US.’ Divorced five years ago, he now hopes to
find a wife with the English Rose dating agency in Kent.
‘Children aren’t so important to me. I don’t want to go to bars to meet
women because in the US they are more interested in your wallet,’ he says. ‘I
meet a lot of people through work, but I’ve got a strict rule of never dating
women colleagues. I know a couple of British women at home and they have an
air of independence that US women don’t have. I’d like to meet someone who’s
intelligent and who has her own opinions.’ His first transatlantic phone call
came from Sandy, a secretary living in Middlesex.
‘We exchanged photographs, but when she called there was a bit of a lan-
guage problem. We didn’t understand each other’s accent! After that we got on
well. I decided to come over to London for 12 days. We went out for lunch and
dinner a couple of times, and we’re going sightseeing on Saturday. I’d like to
see more of her but romance takes a while to develop. There are a couple of
other women I’m going to see while I’m here.’
NICKY WANTS TO BE YOUR ENGLISH ROSE
Nicolette Morganti, 29, single (News agency PA)
Nicolette Morganti’s friends can’t understand why she joined a dating
agency.
She has a good job as a personal assistant with a television news agency,
her own home and a full social life. But the 29-year-old, who has a degree in
English Literature, is so fed up with British men that she joined the English
Rose dating agency to get in touch with single American males.
‘English men are usually materialistic and have no imagination,’ she says. ‘I
have spent years being bored by men who never do anything exciting. I’m al-
most 30 now and I would really love to find a husband and have children. I’d
like to live in London for six months of the year and in the States for the other
six months.’
|