Главная страница «Первого сентября»Главная страница журнала «Английский язык»Содержание №1/2009

Texts for Reading Practice

I.

I always say that I am not little any more and I am not interested in any theme parks. When my classmates invite me to go there with them I always say: “No, I am busy doing more interesting things than going to the amusement park.”
But last weekend I felt sorry that I told everybody at school that. Last weekend my little sister had her birthday and asked me to take her to the amusement park. What could I do? Of course, I went with my sister to the amusement park. It took us half an hour to get to the park by the underground. At first my sister rode on a merry-go-round. She took a ride on a white horse while I watched her. The merry-go-round moved very fast but my little sister was not afraid. Then she saw a roller coaster. It was low and high hills and a tram ran up and down them. She enjoyed the ride very much. Then we came up to the Big Wheel. I was tired of watching my sister and that time I decided to take a ride on the Big Wheel. My sister and I got into the car. There are four seats in each Wheel car. We waited a little and then I saw two girls from my class. They saw me, laughed and took their seats in our car. They had a very good time and laughed a lot. I think they laughed at me. My sister also had a great time… But not me…

Find in the text the sentences with these words and word combinations and write them out:

1. Я больше не маленький.
2. Мне стало жаль.
3. Она попросила меня отвести ее в парк аттракционов.
4. Я наблюдал за ней.
5. Поезд ехал вверх и вниз.
6. Я устал наблюдать за своей сестрой.
7. Моя сестра и я сели в вагонетку.

Lexical Work: fast/quickly

1. Translate the sentences:

1. The planes fly fast.
2. Peter can run fast.
3. Look! Helen is writing very fast!
4. My father drives very fast.
5. You are talking very fast. Please, talk more slowly.

* * *

1. The bell rang and the children ran quickly to the door.
2. Helen heard a noise outside and quickly ran up to the window.
3. The children were walking slowly, when they saw the river they quickly ran to it.
4. Tom Sawyer hated to wash himself with soap. He usually did it very quickly.
5. The teacher asked the question and it was Samuel who answered very quickly.

2. Fill in quickly or fast.

1. I can ride a bike very ___________.
2. In the morning Pete could not find his bag but his mother did it ___________.
3. Mary hated soup. At the lunch time she was eating the soup very slowly but when her mother gave her ice cream she ate it ___________.
4. The children were skating. Helen was skating ___________. But when she saw her friend Daniel she stopped ___________ and called him.
5. There were one hundred pieces in the puzzle. The children did the puzzle ___________. It took them only half an hour.
6. We were walking along the street __________ but when we saw a new beautiful sweet shop we ___________ decided to get in and eat something tasty.

II.

Vocabulary Notes

library is a place where there are a lot of books, readers can take books in a library, keep them for some time and then they must return them back to the library.
librarian a person who works in a library
to advise somebody to do something посоветовать

Read the text and be ready to answer the questions without looking at the text:

I am fond of reading. I like books about nature and animals. My parents buy me books very often. They have already bought me a lot of books about nature and animals. My friends know that I am interested in these books and they always give me books as birthday presents. Now there are a lot of books in my personal library. I keep them in a bookcase and on shelves. Still there are so many books that sometimes I put them in wrong places and then forget where they are. I often find my books in the most unusual places: under the bed, in the corner or even in the bathroom.
One day my parents said, “We are tired of finding your books in different places. Let’s take some books to the library. You have read them all. You don’t need them at all.” It was a very good idea. I took a big bag and put about 10 books in it. The books looked quite new. My father took me to the library in his car. The librarian was glad to get my books and she thanked me. Those books were the most popular ones with children of my age.
Then the librarian asked me, “What books are you interested in?” – “I am fond of books about animals and nature,” I said. “Have you read books by Jerald Durrel?” she asked me. “No, I haven’t read books by this writer yet”, I answered. “I hope you will enjoy these books”, she said and gave me three books by J. Durrel. “I advise you to read them. You will enjoy them greatly.” I thanked the librarian and I really enjoyed those books. I have just read the last one and I’m going to go to this library again and take the books there.

Tasks:

1. Read up and translate all the sentences with Present Perfect.

2. Answer the questions:

1. What books does Linda like?
2. Where does she keep her books?
3. Does she buy books herself?
4. Why does she put her books in wrong places?
5. What did her parents advise her to do?
6. How did Linda get to the library?
7. What books did the librarian give Linda?
8. Did Linda enjoy reading the library books?

3. Ask questions. The answers are given.

1. Where _________________________________?

– Her parents find the books in the most unusual places.

2. What __________________________________?

– They advised Linda to take some books to the library.

3. Who __________________________________?

– The librarian advised her to read books by J. Durrel.

4. Learn the dialogue between the librarian and the girl.

5. Make a dialogue of your own.

Use:

– Have you read the book by?
– No, I haven’t read it yet. What is it about? It is about...
– I have already read it. I can give it to you.
– Thank you. I hope I will like it.

III.

Read the story and fulfill the tasks following it:

Bob hates living in the country. He enjoys traveling with his parents in summer. But last summer his parents were busy working in the summer and they stayed in Moscow. So, Bob went to the country to live with his grandmother.
His grandmother is fond of her garden. She likes to grow vegetables and flowers. There is a greenhouse in the garden. In the spring, she planted (посадила) some special kind of pumpkin (тыква) in the green house. But Bob’s grandmother felt unwell. She worried about her unusual pumpkins. Bob is a very good grandson. He took good care of the pumpkins and every day, early in the morning, he watered the soil. Soon green leaves came through the ground. Bob was interested in the pumpkin.
Soon Bob’s grandmother felt better but it was so nice when her dear Bob watered not only the pumpkins but the whole garden. Bob worked hard all summer. Still (однако) he didn’t like the results of his work. The pumpkin in the greenhouse was small and green. At the end of August, Bob and his grandmother went to Moscow and Bob forgot about his pumpkin. But in late autumn Bob and his parents came back to their country place. They picked the apples and cleaned the garden. Bob decided to have a look at the pumpkin. What he saw was a great surprise for him! The pumpkin was very big and yellow. Bob could not lift it, his father tried to lift it too but he couldn’t. Then the father took his camera and made a picture of the pumpkin. He sent it to the newspaper (газета). Many people were interested in the unusual pumpkin. They wrote letters to Bob’s grandmother.
In the winter Bob enjoyed eating the pumpkin porridge. It tasted sweet and it smelt so wonderful!

The title?

1. Last Summer
2. Hard Work in the Garden
3. A Great Surprise!

Complete the sentences:

1. Bob’s grandmother asked Bob to take care of the pumpkin because…

a) Bob was interested in the pumpkin.
b) she couldn’t take care of it herself.
c) Bob was very lazy.

2. Bob was surprised to see the pumpkin because…

a) it was small and green.
b) it was very big and yellow.
c) it smelt very good.

False or true?

1. Bob’s grandmother was fond of her garden.
2. Bob hates living in the country.
3. His grandmother asked him to take care of the pumpkin.
4. Bob loved his grandmother.
5. He watered only the pumpkin.
6. Bob’s father lifted the big pumpkin.
7. Bob’s father took the pumpkin to the exhibition.
8. The pumpkin smelt wonderful.

Answer the questions:

1. Where did Bob spend his last summer holidays?
2. Why did he work hard in the garden?
3. What vegetables did he take care of?
4. What surprised him?
5. What did the family do with the pumpkin?

Translate it:

1. Его бабушка любит цветы. _________________________________
2. Боб попытался поднять тыкву. _________________________________
3. Боб усердно работал. _________________________________
4. Он заботился о тыкве. _________________________________
5. Боб беспокоился о саде. _________________________________

IV.

It Was Naughty of Them to…

Alex and Victor live in the centre of Moscow. They are ten years old. They often spend time together. One day they were watching TV at Victor’s home and the man on TV was talking about an exhibition of cats. It was Saturday. The boys’ parents were shopping. It was dull for them to stay at home and they decided to visit the exhibition. They took a map of Moscow and found the place where the exhibition was. It was on the other end of Moscow. The boys’ home was not far from the underground station. So they walked to the underground station, got on the train and it took them half an hour to get to their station. When they found themselves in the street they started looking for the bus. They were lucky – there were many other people who wanted to see the cats and it was not difficult for the boys to find the bus. When they got off the bus they saw a park. The cats exhibition was in that park.
There were dozens of different cats there. They were sitting, lying, sleeping and mewing. It took the boys two hours to see all the cats. It’s not that they were so much interested in the cats but it was so unusual to be far from home, alone without parents and teachers. The boys were tired and hungry and they sat down on a bench to have a rest (отдохнуть). They didn’t look very happy. The way back home was long. And at that moment they heard a loud voice of their classmate Anne who was Chatter-Box No 1 in the whole school. “Hello, boys! What are you doing here? Have you been to the exhibition? Which cats did you like best? Have you got a camera? Have you taken pictures of some cats? How did you get here? Are you tired?” When at last she stopped asking her questions, the boys told her they were there alone. And again the boys were lucky! Anne’s father took them home in his car. It was so kind of him!
On Monday morning when the boys came to school two girls came up to them and said: “We know you are so fond of cats. Our cats have very nice kittens and we have brought you two nice kittens.” And they gave the boys a box with the little kittens. What could they do? The boys brought the kittens home and told their parents about their visit to the exhibition.

Answer the questions:

1. What were the boys doing at Victor’s home?
2. Where were their parents?
3. Where did the two friends decide to go?
4. How did they get to the exhibition?
5. How many cats were there?
6. How long did it take the boys to see the cats?
7. How did they feel after they saw the cats?
8. Were they really interested in the cats?
9. Who noticed them on the bench?
10. What kind of girl was Anne?
11. Who helped the boys to get home?
12. What surprise did the two friends have on Monday morning at school?
13. What did the boys do with the kittens?

V.

Carolina wanted her parents to give her a kitten and Carolina got it. The pussycat was very nice and in a year it grew into a naughty cat with a beautiful thick brown fur coat. Carolina called the cat Fly because it jumped easily from the floor onto the table and then on top of the bookcase, of the wardrobe or of the cupboard. Fly had soft paws and walked very quietly.
One summer day, Carolina’s grandmother came home very tired and brought a very heavy bag.
“What have you brought, granny?” Carolina asked. “I have bought cherries and I am going to make cherry jam – it is your and your mother’s favourite jam.”
Soon Grandmother was busy cooking jam and watching it on the stove (плита), the cat was watching Grandmother and Carolina was watching TV. Everybody was busy. The jam smelt sweet and looked very tasty. Carolina thought, “Tonight we will have tea with jam and butter and buns.”
It took Grandmother two hours to make the jam. She put it on the table in the living room.
“Look out!” she said to Carolina, “The jam is hot. Let it cool down here.” (пусть он остынет)
Fly was sleeping on top of the cupboard in the living-room. Usually it jumped from the cupboard onto the table and it was silly of Grandmother to forget that fact.
After a long and sweet sleep the cat jumped from the cupboard right into the pan with the jam on the table. Fly was lucky because the jam was only warm. The cat fell into the jam with a loud noise. When Carolina and Grandmother ran into the room, Fly was getting out of the pan. It was mewing and was going to jump from the table on the new carpet. Carolona rushed (бросилась) to the cat, caught it and ran to the bathroom. It took Carolina and her grandmother an hour to wash and then dry the cat with a towel.
In the evening, Carolina was very sad. No Jam and no tea with her favourite jam. Carolina was sorry for the cat and angry with her grandmother. But after that the cat stopped jumping on the tables.

Find in the text and read up the sentences which correspond to the Russian sentences:

1. Каролина хотела, чтобы родители подарили ей кошку.
2. Я собираюсь сварить вишнёвое варенье.
3. Бабушка была занята приготовлением вишнёвого варенья.
4. Все были заняты.
5. Было глупо со стороны бабушки забыть об этом.
6. Им понадобился целый час, чтобы отмыть кота.

Answer the questions:

1. What did Carolina want her parents to give her?
2. What kind of cat was Fly?
3. What did Grandmother buy one day?
4. What was she going to cook?
5. What were the cat and the granddaughter doing when Grandmother was busy cooking?
6. Where did Fly like to sleep very often?
7. Why did Grandmother put the pan with the jam on the table?
8. Why did Carolina and her grandmother run into the living-room?
9. What did they see?
10. Who caught the cat?
11. Where did Carolina run together with the cat in her arms?
12. How long did it take the girl and her grandmother to wash and dry the cat?
13. Why was Carolina sad?

Compiled by Lyudmila Milovanova ,
Gymnasium No. 1520, Moscow