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a conversation with my father grace paley
my father is eighty-six years old and in bed. his heart, that bloody motor, is equally old and will not certain jobs any more. it still floods his head with brainy light. but won’t let his legs carry the weight of his body around the house. despite my metaphors, this muscle failure is not due to his old heart, he says, but to a potassium shortage. sitting on one pillow, leaning on three, he offers last minute advice and makes a request.
“i would like to write a simple story just once more,” he says,” the kind de maupassant wrote, or chekhov, the kind you used to write. just recognizable people and then write down what happened to them next
i say, “yes, why not? that’s possible.” i want to please him, though i don’t remember writing that way. i would like to try to tell such story, if he means the kind that begins: “there was a woman…” followed by plot, absolute line between two points which i’ve always despised. not for literary reasons, but because it takes all hope away. everyone, real or invented, deserves the open destiny of life.
finally i thought of a story that had been happening for a couple of years right across the street. i wrote it down, then read it aloud. “pa,” i said, “how about this? do you mean something like this? ”
once in my time there was a woman and she had a son. they lived nicely, in a small apartment in manhattan. this boy at about fifteen became a junkie, which is not unusual in our neighborhood.
in order to maintain her close friendship with him, she became a junkie too. she said it was part of the youth culture, with which she felt very much at home. after a while, for a number of reasons, the boy gave it all up and left the city and his mother in disgust. hopeless and alone, she grieved. we all visited her.
reading comprehension test
put “+” next to the true sentences and “-” next to the false ones.
1. my father is an energetic 68-year-old man.
he wants his daughter to write a complex epic novel.
he likes simple stories with recognizable people.
i will write him a simple story.
the woman’s boy was 10 years old.
her son left her wealthy and well cared for.
circle the correct letter
my father spends his time in …
a) bed; b) church; c) the cafes; d) pain and sufferings
his heart is weak but has not reduced the follow of blood …
a) to his legs; b) to his strong arms and shoulders; c) to his head; d) to his liver
he thinks i write simple stories like …
a) shultz and dilbert; b) bulgakov and shevchenko; c) chekhov or de maupassant; d) chekhov and marquis de sade
i was … to write a simple story for my father.
a) unwilling; b) eager; c) saddened; d) unable
the woman and her son lived in …
a) sumy; b) poland; c) manhattan; d) washington d. c.
the boy became a junkie, which was … where we lived.
a) common; b) uncommon; c) looked down upon; d) held in high esteem
iii. fill in the blanks
make up 5 questions of different types.
once in my time there was a woman and she had a son. they lived in a small apartment in manhattan. this boy at about fifteen became a which is not in our neighborhood.
in order to her close friendship with him, she became a junkie too. she said it was part of the , with which she felt very much at home. after a while, for a number of reasons, the boy gave it all up and left the city and his mother in hopeless and alone, she grieved. we all visited her.
1.nicely 2.unusual 3. youth
disgust 5. junkie 6. maintain
primary school – начальная школа
secondary school – средняя школа
a teacher – учитель
a school principal (a headmaster, a headmistress) – директор школы
an assistant principal – завуч
a pupil – ученик
a schoolboy (a schoolgirl) – школьник (школьница)
a classmate – одноклассник
school uniform – школьная форма
a classroom – классная комната
a library – библиотека
a principal’s office – кабинет директора
a laboratory – лаборатория
a computer room – кабинет информатики
a canteen – столовая
a gym (a gymnasium) – спортзал
a stadium – стадион
a playground – игровая площадка
a swimming pool – бассейн
a cloakroom – раздевалка, гардеробная
a school hall – актовый зал
a first-aid room (a nurse’s office) - медпункт
a toilet (a lavatory) – туалет
a lesson – урок
a break - перемена
lunch - обед
a timetable - расписание
a test – контрольная работа, тест
a dictation – диктант
a composition (an essay) – сочинение (эссе)
an exam – экзамен
a mark - оценка
homework - домашнее задание
a certificate of secondary education – аттестат о среднем образовании
Fox (Лиса )
Cunning beautiful fox is a favorite character of many Russian folk tales. You probably can’t find a single animal that wasn’t tricked by this scamp. It managed to eat even elusive Kolobok that was chased by all the forest creatures. Bus is a fox really so cunning?
(Хитрая красавица-лиса — любимая героиня многих русских народных сказок. Наверно, не найдется ни одного зверя, которого бы не сумела провести эта плутовка. Ей удалось съесть даже неуловимого колобка, за которым не могли угнаться остальные лесные жители. Но так ли хитра лисица на самом деле? )
It is really one of a kind animal when it comes to dexterity. It has well developed brain and can easily track down its victim, even if it is a field mouse hiding under thick snow, a fox can hear the noise a mouse makes. When a fox understands where exactly a mouse is, it jumps right there and gets back with the prey in its mouth.
(В ловкости ей действительно нет равных. Имея развитый интеллект, лиса с легкостью выследить свою добычу — полевую мышь даже под толстым слоем снега, ориентируясь на звуки, издаваемые грызуном. Поняв, где находится зверек, она делает мощный бросок в нужном направлении, а затем выныривает из норы уже с полевкой в зубах. )
It is hard to catch a fox even for predators that hunt it. Impressive hearing and keen sense of smell warn an animal that the danger might be near and its fast paws helps it to run away. When a fox runs away from its stalker it seems like it literally flies above the ground. If this scamp feels that a predator is stronger than him then it hides in one of the digs it finds on the way.
(Поймать лису хищникам, охотящимся на нее, также совсем не просто. Чуткий слух и острое обоняние вовремя предупреждают ее об опасности, а быстрые ноги уйти от погони. Когда лисица убегает от преследователя, кажется, что она буквально летит над землей. Если же эта плутовка чувствует превосходство противника, то тогда она прячется в одну из нор, попавшихся ей на пути. )
Frequently those digs are not abandoned. Badgers, white foxes and woodchucks may live in there. However, a fox doesn’t ask their permission to become a neighbor and just stays in there as an uninvited guest. That’s probably why a fox takes hosts off their homes and stays to live in there alone in most of the folk tales.
(Зачастую такие норы оказываются вовсе не заброшенными. В них могут обитать барсуки, песцы или сурки. Но лиса не спрашивает у законных хозяев, нужно ли им такое соседство, а попросту остается жить в приглянувшейся норе незваной гостьей. Вероятно, именно по этой причине во многих сказках лисица обманом выселяет героев из дому, становясь полноправной хозяйкой новых владений. )
Folk tales often make hares look like they are foxes’ main enemy but it is not always the case. Foxes hunt hares very rarely and they don’t ravage chicken coops in villages either.
(Народное творчество часто делает лис главными врагами зайцев, но на самом деле это не совсем правда. На зайцев эти животные охотятся крайне редко, так же, как и разоряют курятники в деревне.)
They actually benefit people a lot. They kill a lot of field mice and bad insects which help to preserve crops. That’s why farm owners are not in a hurry to get rid of them and set up traps if foxes decided to live near a farm, other way around, people are happy to have such guests.
(А вот пользы людям лисы приносят немало. Истребляя полевых мышей и насекомых-вредителей, они сохранить урожай зерна. Поэтому, если лисы поселяются вблизи фермы, хозяева не спешат избавляться от них и ставить капканы, а, напротив, с благосклонностью относятся к таким гостям.)
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