Академия социального управления

 

22 

3. What was written on the card which Rudolf got and on the card which he 

picked up? 

4. What happened when Rudolf was passing the Negro the second time? 

5. What did Rudolf do next? 

6. Whom did he see behind the door? 

7. Why was the girl so pale and weak? 

8. In what way did the young man help the girl? 

9. What did the girl tell him about herself? 

10. How did Rudolf explain to the girl his unexpected visit? 

11. What was the real reason why Rudolf had got the card with the worlds 

“The Green Door”? 

4. Discuss the following. 

1. Why does the author call the girl’s story “one of a thousand such as the 

city wears with indifference every day”?  

2. Try to imagine the girl’s life described by the author as follows: “It was a 

story of low wages, of time lost through illnesses, of lost jobs, lost hopes and 

unrealized dreams”. 

3. Why did Rudolf knowing the real reason for his meeting with the girl still 

called it “the hand of Fate”? 

5. Give a summary of the story in not more than ten sentences. 

6. Retell the story on the part of 1) Rudolf Steiner; 2) the girl. 

T e x t  11 

NO STORY 

I was doing work on a newspaper. 

One day Tripp came in and leaned on my table. Tripp was something in the 

mechanical department. He was about twenty-five and looked forty. Half of his 

face was covered with short, curly red whiskers that looked like a door-mat. He 

was pale and unhealthy and miserable and was always borrowing sums of 

money from twenty-five cents to a dollar. One dollar was his limit. When he 

leaned on my table he held one hand with the other to keep both from shaking. 

Whisky. 

“Well, Tripp,” said I, looking up at him rather impatiently, “how goes it?” 

He was looking more miserable than I had ever seen him. 

“Have you got a dollar?” asked Tripp looking at me with his dog-like eyes. 

That day I had managed to get five dollars for my Sunday story. “I have,” 

said I; and again I said, “I have,” more loudly, “and four besides. And I had 

hard work getting them. And I need them all”. 

 

23

“I don’t want to borrow any,” said Tripp, “I thought you’d like to get a good 

story. I’ve got a really fine one for you. It’ll probably cost you a dollar or two 

to get the stuff. I don’ want anything out of it myself.” 

“What is the story?” I asked. 

“It’s a girl. A beauty. She has lived all her life on Long Island and never 

saw New York City before. I ran against her on Thirty-fourth Street. She 

stopped me on the street and asked me where she could find George Brown. 

Asked me where she could find George Brown in New York City! What do you 

think of that?! I talked to her. It’s like this. Some years ago George set off for 

New York to make his fortune. He did not reappear. Now there’s a young 

farmer named Dodd she’s going to marry next week. But Ada – her name is 

Ada Lowery – couldn’t forget George, so this morning she saddled a horse and 

rode eight miles to the railway station to catch the 6.45 a.m. train. She came to 

the city to look for George. She must have thought the first person she inquired 

of would tell her where her George was! You ought to see her! What could I 

do? She had paid her last cent for her railroad ticket. I couldn’t leave her in the 

street, could I? I took her to a boarding-house. She has to pay a dollar to the 

landlady. That’s the price per day.” 

“That’s no story,” said I. “Every ferry-boat brings or takes away girls from 

Long Island.” 

Tripp looked disappointed. “Can’t you see what an amazing story it would 

make? You ought to get fifteen dollars for it. And it’ll cost you only four, so 

you’ll make a profit of eleven dollars.” 

“How will it cost me four dollars?” I asked suspiciously.  

“One dollar to the landlady and two dollars to pay the girl’s fare back 

home.” 

“And the fourth?” I inquired. 

“One dollar to me,” said Tripp. “Don’t you see,” he insisted, “that the girl 

has got to get back home today?” 

And then I began to feel what is known as the sense of duty. In a kind of 

cold anger I put on my coat and hat. But I swore to myself that Tripp would not 

get the dollar.  

Tripp took me in a street-car to the boarding-house. I paid the fares. 

In a dim parlour a girl sat crying quietly and eating candy out of a paper 

bag. She was a real beauty. Crying only made her eyes brighter. 

“My friend, Mr. Chalmers. He is a reporter,” said Tripp, “and he will tell 

you, Miss Lowery, what’s best to do”. 

I felt ashamed of being introduced as Tripp’s friend in the presence of such 

beauty. “Why – er – Miss Lowery,” I began feeling terribly awkward, “will you 

tell me the circumstances of the case?” 

“Oh,” said Miss Lowery, “there aren’t any circumstances, really. You see, 

everything is fixed for me to marry Hiram Dodd next Thursday. He’s got one of 

the best farms on the Island. But last night I got to thinking about G-George-“ 

 

24 

“You see, I can’t help it. George and I loved each other since we were chil-

dren. Four years ago he went to the city. He said he was going to be a police-

man or a railroad president or something. And then he was coming back for me. 

But I never heard from him any more. And I – I – liked him.” 

“Now, Miss Lowery,” broke in Tripp, “you like this young man, Dodd, 

don’t you? He’s all right, and good to you, isn’t he?” 

“Of course I like him. And of course he’s good to me. He’s promised me an 

automobile and a motorboat. But somehow I couldn’t help thinking about 

George. Something must have happened to him or he would have written. On 

the day he left, he got a hammer and a chisel and cut a cent into two pieces. I 

took one piece and he took the other, and we promised to be true to each other 

and always keep the pieces till we saw each other again. I’ve got mine at home. 

I guess I was silly to come here. I never realized what a big place it is.” 

Tripp broke in with an awkward little laugh. “Oh, the boys from the country 

forget a lot when they come to the city. He may have met another girl or some-

thing. You go back home, and you’ll be all right.” 

In the end we persuaded Miss Lowery to go back home. The three of us 

then hurried to the ferry, and there I found the price of the ticket to be  a dollar 

and eighty cents. I bought one, and a red, red rose with the twenty cents for 

Miss Lowery. We saw her aboard her ferry-boat and stood watching her wave 

her handkerchief at us. And then Tripp and I faced each other. 

“Can’t you get a story out of it?” he asked. “Some sort of a story?” 

“Not a line,” said I. 

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. There was disappointment in his tone. Tripp 

unbuttoned his shabby coat to reach for something that had once been a hand-

kerchief. As he did so I saw something shining on his cheap watch-chain. It 

was the half of a silver cent that had been cut in halves with a chisel.  

“What?!” I exclaimed looking at him in amazement. 

“Oh, yes,” he replied. “George Brown, or Tripp. What’s the use?” 

I produced a dollar from my pocket and unhesitatingly laid it in his hand. 

1. Find in the text English equivalents for the following words and expres-

sions. 

 

Сотрудничать в газете; рыжие бакенбарды; чтобы они не дрожа-

ли; с нетерпением; по-собачьи преданными глазами; чтобы получить ма-

териал;  он  не  вернулся;  первый  встречный,  у  которого  она  спросит;  па-

ром;  подозрительно;  оплатить  обратный  билет;  чувство  долга;  поклялся 

себе; трамвай; обстоятельства дела; все готово к женитьбе; не могу не ду-

мать о…; убедили; расстегнул потрепанное пальто; без колебаний. 

2. Give Russian equivalents for the following words and expressions from 

the text and use them in sentences of your own. 

Look pale (miserable, unhealthy); borrow smth.; run against smb.; make 

one’s fortune; look disappointed; make a profit of ; feel ashamed of smth; (do-

 

25

ing smth.);  feel awkward; hear from smb.; be true to smb.; look at smb. in 

amazement. 

3. Answer the questions. 

1. Describe Tripp and say how he made his living. 

2. What was Tripp in the habit of? 

3. Why did Chalmers look up at Tripp impatiently when he came in? 

4. What did Tripp tell Chalmers about the girl he had met in the street?  

5. Why did Chalmers refuse to write a story about the girl? 

6. Describe Ada and explain why Chalmers felt ashamed in her presence. 

7. Why did Tripp ask Ada if Dodd was good to her? 

8. What made Chalmers give Tripp the dollar in the end? 

4. Discuss the following. 

1. Why didn’t Tripp tell Ada who he was? What do you think prevented 

him from returning to his native village? Do you consider his behaviour in this 

situation right? Give your grounds. 

2. Do you think this story is happy or sad? Is the unexpected end of the 

story typical of O. Henry? Could you think of another end of the story?  

3. Comment on the title of the story. 

4. Describe Tripp’s life in New York during those four years. 

5. Retell the story on the part of 1) Tripp; 2) Mr. Chalmers; 3) Ada Lowery. 

6. Give a summary of the story in not more than fifteen sentences. 

T e x t  12 

AT THE DOCTOR’S 

Doctor: Would you like to come in? 

Patient: Thank you. (He coughs.) 

Doctor: That cough sounds really very bad. How long have you had it? 

Patient: For about 2 weeks. But it’s all right. 

Doctor: I think I should listen to your chest and to your lungs. Take off your 

shirt. Breathe in deeply, that’s right… and again, please, and once more, please. 

Sit down. I’m going to take your blood pressure. 

Patient: Can I put my shirt on? It’s rather cold in here. 

Doctor: Oh, certainly, you can. Sorry about the cold. The central heating is 

broken. Well, … Do you ever take any exercise? 

Patient: Not regularly. Sometimes I do. But I hardly ever do morning exer-

cise. 

Doctor: You should take more exercise. All right. Now I want to take your 

pulse. Stand up, please, and touch your toes. Do you smoke? 

Patient: Oh, yes, I do, Doctor. About ten cigarettes a day. 

 

26 

Doctor: You shouldn’t smoke at all. You should stop immediately. Now, I 

want to take your temperature. OK. That’s all right. Well, there you are then. 

Take this medicine 3 times a day after meals. 

Patient: But, Doctor, I didn’t come about my cough. 

Doctor: You didn’t? 

Patient: No, it’s my feet, Doctor. My feet hurt every time I walk. 

Doctor: Take your shoes off! Let me see. Do they hurt now?  

Patient: Oh, yes, they hurt. It awfully hurts here. I’ve had this pain for about 

2 weeks. 

Doctor: I see… And these shoes… How long have you had them? 

Patient: The shoes? Oh, for about 2 weeks, Doctor. Oh, yes. I see, Doctor. 

It’s silly of me. Thank you, Doctor. Goodbye. 

 1. Answer the questions: 

1.

 

Why did the patient come to see the doctor? 

2.

 

Why did the doctor begin to listen to the patient’s chest and lungs? 

3.

 

Why was it cold in the doctor’s room? 

4.

 

Was the patient a healthy man? 

5.

 

What was wrong with the man? 

 2. What people do if: 

-

 

they have a headache; 

-

 

they can’t sleep; 

-

 

they have a toothache; 

-

 

they have a pain in the heart; 

-

 

they have a cold; 

-

 

they have a stomachache. 

to go to the dentist; to call a doctor; to go to bed; to take some medicine; 

to have a walk outdoors; to drink warm milk; to drink warm milk with 

honey or butter. 

 3. Comment on the proverb: “Good health is above wealth”. 

T e x t  13 

Read the text from Groucho Marx’s autobiography. Which of these titles do 

you think is the best? Why? 

-

 

A Night at the Theatre; 

-

 

My First Date; 

-

 

Young Love. 

“Love hit me when I was twelve. I was still in shorts but little hairs were 

starting to grow on my upper lip. A young girl, Lucy, lived in the flat above 

ours. She was pretty with lovely, brown hair and perfect teeth. One day, after I 

 

27

had saved my pocket money for some time, I invited Lucy to go to a variety 

show with me. I only had seventy cents but I had worked it all out: two tickets 

for the theatre, fifty cents, and four tram tickets, twenty cents. 

It was January and it had snowed earlier that day so we took the tram. Lucy 

looked charming and I looked handsome as we got off in Times Square. Unfor-

tunately, a candy vendor was standing outside the theatre. I hadn’t thought 

about that. Lucy saw her favourite coconut candy and asked for it. Like a fool, I 

bought it for ten cents. 

We were miles away from the stage and the noise of Lucy eating her candy 

was louder than the actors’ voices. During the performance, Lucy ate every 

single bit of the candy. On the way out, I was a bit upset about the candy. But 

then I realized I only had enough money for one ticket back home. Today I feel 

terrible about this, but remember, I was only twelve, it was very cold and Lucy 

had eaten all the candy. 

I turned to her and said, “Lucy, when we left home I had seventy cents, 

enough for the tickets and the tram fare. I hadn’t planned on candy. I didn’t 

want candy. You wanted candy and you had all the candy. I have every right to 

go home by tram and leave you to walk. But, you know I’m mad about you. So 

I’m going to give you a fair chance. I’m going to toss this coin. If it’s heads, 

you get  to ride home. If it’s tails, I ride home”. It was tails. For some curious 

reason, Lucy never spoke to me again. What had I done wrong?” 

(From Groucho and Me, by Groucho Marx) 

 1. Are these sentences true or false? Correct the false ones. 

1.

 

Groucho waited for some time before he invited Lucy out because he was 

nervous. 

2.

 

He offered to buy Lucy some candy. 

3.

 

He was upset because Lucy ate all the candy. 

4.

 

Lucy went home by tram. 

5.

 

She was angry with him. 

2. Complete the table with: hadn’t, had, snowed, planned, eaten, saved. 

Past Perfect 

Affirmative 

It had ________ (1) earlier that day. 

Lucy had ________ (2) all the candy. 

Negative 

I ________ (3) thought about that. 

I ________ (4) ________ (5) on candy. 

Question 

Had he _______ (6) any money? 

What _______ (7) I done wrong? 

 

28 

3. Put the activities below in the order in which they really happened. What 

tenses are used in the story to refer to each activity? 

a.

 

I was upset about the candy. 

b.

 

I bought the candy. 

c.

 

Lucy ate all the candy. 

d.

 

I didn’t plan on the candy. 

e.

 

It snowed. 

f.

 

I realized I had money for one ticket. 

g.

 

We took the tram. 

h.

 

I invited Lucy to the theatre. 

T e x t  14 

THE READING PUBLIC 

“Wish to look about the store? Oh, by all means, sir”, said the manager of 

one of the biggest book stores in New York. He called to his assistant, “Just 

show this gentleman our ancient classics – the ten-cent series”. With this he 

dismissed me from his mind. 

In other words he had guessed at a glance that I was a professor. The man-

ager of the biggest book store cannot be deceived in a customer. He knew I 

would hang around for two hours, get in everybody’s way, and finally buy the 

Dialogues of Plato for ten cents. 

He despised me, but a professor standing in a corner buried in a book looks 

well in a store. It is a sort of advertisement. 

So standing in a far corner I had an opportunity of noticing something of 

this up-to-date manager’s methods with his real customers. 

“You are quite sure it’s his latest?” a fashionably-dressed woman was say-

ing to the manager.  

“Oh, yes, madam this is Mr. Slush’s very latest book, I assure you. It’s hav-

ing a wonderful sale”. As he spoke he pointed to a huge pile of books on the 

counter with the title in big letters – Golden Dreams. 

“This book”, said the lady idly turning over the pages, “is it good?” 

“It’s an extremely powerful thing”, said the manager, “in fact it’s a master-

piece. The critics are saying that without exaggeration it is the most powerful 

book of the season. It is bound to make a sensation”.  

“Oh, really!” said the lady. “Well, I think I’ll take it then”. 

Suddenly she remembered something. “Oh, and will you give me something 

for my husband? He is going down south. You know the kind of thing one 

reads on vacation?” 

“Oh, perfectly, madam. I think we have just what your husband wants. 

Seven Weeks in the Sahara, 7 dollars; Six Months in a Waggon, 6 dollars; Af-

 

29

ternoons in an Ox-cart, two volumes, 4 dollars 30 cents. Or here, now, Among 

the Cannibals of Corfu, or Among the Monkeys of New Guinea, 10 dollars”. 

And with this the manager laid his hand on another pile as numerous as the pile 

of Golden Dreams. 

“It seems rather expensive”, remarked the lady. 

“Oh, a most expensive book”, repeated the manager in a tone of enthusiasm. 

“You see, it’s the illustrations, actual photographs of actual monkeys and the 

paper”. 

The lady bought Among the Monkeys. 

Another lady entered. A widow, judging by her black dress. 

“Something new in fiction”, repeated the manager, “yes, madam here’s a 

charming thing, Golden Dreams, - a very sweet story. In fact, the critics are 

saying it’s the sweetest thing Mr. Slush has done”.  

“Is it good?” said the lady. 

“It’s a very charming love story. My wife was reading it aloud only last 

night. She could hardly read for tears”. 

“I suppose it’s quite a safe book?” asked the widow anxiously. “I want it for 

my little daughter”. 

“I assure you it’s perfectly safe. In fact, it is written quite in the old style, 

like the dear old books of the past; quite like – “ here the manager paused with 

a slight doubt – “Dickens and Fielding and – er – so on”. 

The widow bought the Golden Dreams, received it wrapped up, and passed out. 

“Have you any good light reading?” called out the next customer in a loud 

cheerful voice – he had the air of a man starting on a holiday. 

“Yes”, said the manager, and his face almost broke into a laugh. 

“Here’s an excellent thing, Golden Dreams; quite the most humorous book 

of the season. My wife was reading it last night. She could hardly read for 

laughing”. 

After that the customers came and went in a string. To one lady Golden 

Dreams was sold as exactly the reading for a holiday, to another as the very 

book for a rainy day, and a fourth as the right sort of reading for a fine day. 

Among the Monkeys was sold as a sea story, a land story, a story of the jun-

gle, a story of the mountains; each time at a different price. 

After  two hours I drew near and from a curiosity I couldn’t resist said, 

“That book, Golden Dreams, you seem to think it’s a very wonderful book?” 

The manager knew that I had no intention of buying the book, so he shook 

his head. “Frankly speaking, I imagine it’s perfectly rotten”. 

“Haven’t you read it?” I asked in amazement.  

“Dear me, no!” said the manager. His air was of a milkman who is offered a 

glass of his own milk. “A pretty time I’d have if I tried to read all the new 

books. It’s quite enough to keep track of them without that”. 

“But those people”, I went on, deeply puzzled, “Won’t they be disap-

pointed?” 

“By no means!” he said. “They won’t read it. They never do.” 

 

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