НАЗАД К УПРАЖНЕНИЯМ НА ЛЕКСИКУ К ТЕКСТАМ
ОТВЕТЫ К УПРАЖНЕНИЯМ
Mark Twain's biography
1. As a writer he was successful from the very start. 2. He was born in the family of a small town lawyer in 1835. 3. This brought a pessimistic note into his later works. 4. Mark Twain always thought that his days on the Mississippi were the happiest in his life. 5. This story was followed by a number of short stories and novels. 6. Mark Twain is the pen-name of Samuel Clemens, America's greatest humorist. 7. Most of Mark Twain's early writings sparkle with gay humour. 8. So he began to work at a printshop in his home town. 9. When Sam was twelve years old, his father died, and the boy had to earn a living for himself. 10. Mark Twain's story of Jim Smiley and his Jumping Frog made him famous all over America. 11. As he advanced in years, however, all the evils of capitalist America became obvious to him.
Mistaken identity
1. No, you can't, every corner is full. 2. I went off and asked another local official if I could have some poor little corner somewhere in a sleeping-car. 3. This did not improve my condition at all, but just then I noticed that the porter of a sleeping-car had his eye on me. 4. There were crowds of people on the platform, and they were all trying to get into the long sleeper train which was already packed. 5. “Don't talk such nonsense, we'll have to put up with this”, he said, “If they knew who you were, do you think it would help you to get a vacant seat in a train which has no vacant seats in it?” 6. He whispered to the uniformed conductor, pointing to me, and I realizid I was being talked about. 7. “Can I be of any service to you?” he asked. 8. I was eager to say a few words to my companion, but I changed my mind. 9. “We have nothing left except the big family compartment,” he continued, “with two berths and a couple of armchairs in it, but it is entirely at your disposal. 10. The porter made us comfortable in the compartment, and then said, with many bows and smiles. 11. Here, Tom, take these suitcases aboard. 12. Then the conductor came forward, his face all politeness. 13. Years ago I arrived one day at Salamanca, New York, where I was to change trains and take the sleeper. 14. Do you want a place in a sleeping-car? 15. Because you can have just anything you want. 16. Can I have a better lamp fixed just at the head of my bed below the luggage rack, so that I can read comfortably? 17. You see the result, don't you? 18. As I was saying this, the porter's smiling face appeared in the doorway and this speech followed. 19. My companion did not answer. 20. Yes, sir, you can ask for anything you want, the whole railroad will be turned inside out to please you. 21. Don't you like the way you are being served? 22. Oh, sir, I recognized you the minute I set my eyes on you. 23. Didn't their attitude change the moment they understood I was Mark Twain? 24. And all for the same fare. 25. I saw the expression of his face suddenly change. 26. “Yes,” I said, “I'll be grateful to you if you can give me a place, anything will do.” 27. Then he touched his hat, and we moved along. 28. “Can I have some hot water?” I asked. 29. I'll get it from there and fix it here. 30. “Is that so, my boy?” I said handing him a good tip. “Who am I?”
W.S. Maugham's biography
1. He died in 1966 at the age of ninety-two. 2. After graduating from Heidelberg University he worked at a hospital, but the success of his first novel “Liza of Lambeth” (1897) encouraged him to give up medecine and become a professional writer. 3. William Somerset Maugham was born 1874. 4. Somerset Maugham is the author of several well-known novels and plays, and a lot of short stories.
The Creative Impulse. Part 1
1. A lot of people very much wanted to be invited to the parties she gave every Saturday, but only a few were among her guests. 2. Her great talent, however, remained undiscovered by ordinary readers and this was the reason her books did not sell, though they were highly praised by the critics. 3. The suits he wore always looked shabby, the expression on his face was gloomy and he never said anything worth listening to. 4. The only person who spoiled these parties was Mr Albert Forrester, her husband. 5. Her only difficulty was that she did not know which party to choose. 6. When Mrs Forrester's first detective story “The Achille's Statue” was published, she had reached the respectable age of fifty-seven, and the number of her works was considerable. 7. Mrs Forrester was deeply interested in politics and even thought of going into Parliament. 8. All her friends considered him a bore and often asked one another how she had ever married him. 9. He was known among them as the Philatelist because a young writer had once said that he was collecting stamps. 10. Mrs Forrester, however, was kind to him and always knew how to put to shame anyone who tried to make fun of him in her presence. 11. Albert, I should explain, was an ordinary businessman and not a very rich one. 12. What do you mean by “the new cook”? 13. “Well, Carter, what is it?” Mrs Forrester asked the maid. 14. Mrs Forrester read the letter and cried out: “Oh, how unfair! How terrible!” 15. The guests sat in a circle of which Mrs Forrester was the centre. 16. The short-sighted Mr Simmons put on his glasses, and holding the letter very close to his eyes read this. 17. The event that had such a great influence on Mrs Forrester's literary activities happened towards the end of one of her most successful parties. 18. The porter dropped it as he was bringing it in and the cook got all upset about it. 19. Suddenlt there came a noise as if something heavy had fallen, and then came the sound of voices. 20. “Mrs Bullfinch went away this afternoon, ma'am,” said the maid. 21. Is the house falling down? 22. Mrs Bullfinch needs a change and has decided to leave, and as I do not wish to stay on without her I'm going too. 23. One of her lady friends told me that at the sight of Mrs Forrester reading the letter she thought that Albert, feeling responsible for the cook's departure, and beeing afraid he would be punished, had thrown himself in the Thames. 24. The maid left the room, and Mrs Forrester opened the letter. 25. I have had all the literature I can stand and I'm sick and tired of art. 26. I've hired a new cook instead of Mrs Bullfinch and I hope you will be pleased with her. 27. «Does Mr Forrester know about it?” Mrs Forrester asked for matters like that were his responsibility. 28. “Read it”, she said. “Just read it.” 29. She was talking and the rest of the company were listening with great attention, only interrupting her from time to time to ask a question. 30. The moment Mr Forrester comes in, tell him that I want to speak to him. 31. He said I was to give you this letter when you asked for him. 32. The silence that followed was broken by Mr Simmons, who said: “You must get him back.” 33. Mrs Bullfinch does not care about marriage but if you wish to divorse me, she's willing to marry me. 34. “You will go and see him tomorrow, won't you? asked Mr Simmons. 35. For my art's sake, not for mine! 36. “I was just coming to that,” said Mr Simmons coldly. 37. But if you think you can make your living by writing the sort of books you do, I must tell you that you haven't a chance. 38. A dancer or a lady of title wouldn't do you any harm, but a cook would finish you. 39. She rang the bell, and when the door opened, she recognised her cook. 40. The Philatelist must come back. 41. “But I can't fight with my cook for him!” Mrs Forrester cried out. 42. “He's quite right”, said one of her guests. 43. It was rather late in the afternoon of the next day when Mrs Forrester set out on her journey to Kennington Road. 44. I will never see him again as long as I live! 45. Mr Simmons had explained to her by telephone how to get there, and it did not take her long to find the house she wanted. 46. Mrs Forrester did not answer for some time and finally said. 47. But Mr Simmons continued calmly: “I've been your agent for twenty years, and you can consider me one of your best friends”.
The Creative Impulse. Part 2
1. “How are you, my dear?” said Albert cheerfully, putting aside the paper. 2. Mrs Forrester gave him her best smile. 3. Mrs Bullfinch hesitated for a second, then held the door wide open. 4. “Well, my dear, what have you to say to me?” Albert asked. 5. She turned her head, “Albert, here's Mrs Forrester to see you.” 6. “I don't blame you for anything, Albert, I know it isn't your fault and I'm not angry with you, but a joke's a joke and should not be carried too far. 7. “Won't you sit down, ma'am?” said Mrs Bullfinch, pushing a chair forward. 8. Keeping well, I hope? 9. I think she should be present. 10. I wish to see your master. 11. “Could I see you alone, Albert?” Mrs Forrester asked, sitting down. 12. “Then I think you're wasting your time, my dear,” said Albert. 13. Mrs Forrester went in quickly and there was Albert sitting by the fire, leaning back in an old armchair and reading the evening paper. 14. “Have you not been happy with me, Albert?” asked Mrs Forrester in a deeper tone, trying not to show that her feelings were hurt. 15. “I'm afraid not,” Albert answered, “because of Mrs Bullfinch.” 16. Nothing will ever make me live with you again. 17. “Good afternoon, Bullfinch,” said Mrs Forrester. 18. We have been married for thirty-five years, my dear. 19. You're literary and I'm not. 20. I've come to take you home. 21. You have a wonderful pen, my dear. 22. “Aren't ashamed of yourself, Albert?” asked Mrs Bullfinch. 23. “But all this time I've been doing everything in my power to interest you in art and literature,” said Mrs Forrester. 24. Let me tell you a secret, my dear. 25. You're artistic and I'm not. 26. You know very well that my books don't bring me any money. 27. At your parties I I often very much wanted to take of my clothes just to see what would happen. 28. It's a very long time, isn't it? 29. The publishers always say that they lose by them. 30. “How am I to live on that?” cried Mrs Forrester, using the last argument she could think of. 31. But I don't like the books you write. 32. Mrs Forrester burst out laughing. 33. That's true and I can only blame myself if I didn't react properly. 34. Why don't you write a good detective story? 35. “Mrs Bullfinch wants me to retire,” Albert continued. 36. And just then Mrs Bullfinch suddenly asked. 37. And I don't like the people who surround you. 38. You're a good woman in your own way, but not suitable for me. 39. They will buy me out, and I shall have an income of just under nine hundred pounds. 40. I disc ussed the matter with my partners today, and they agree to settle everything nicely. 41. You haven't got the right figure for that at all! 42. There are three of us, so it gives us nearly three hundred a year each. 43. What a wild idea! 44. You haven't got the right figure for that at all! 45. “Aren't you ashamed of yourself, Albert?” asked Mrs Bullfinch. 46. “Me?” she exclaimed. 47. I could never hope to please the masses and I have never read a detective story in my life. 48. “We can give you all the advice you need, my dear,” said Albert, smiling kindly at Mrs Forrester. 49. Now I wish it no longer. 50. “I see exactly what you mean,” said Mrs Bullfinch. 51. Give me a lady in evening dress lying dead on the library floor and I know I'm going to enjoy it. 52. I've read hundreds of detective stories. 53. He knew an important secret , and his murderers had said they would kill him unless he kept his mouth shut. 54. “It's not a bad idea at all,” said Albert. 55. He just didn't manage to run away from them. 56. Mrs Forrester rose to her feet. 57. There's something particalarly interesting to the reader in the murder of a respectable man. 58. There's always a difference when you compare them. 59. But you think over the detective story. 60. He's going to collect postage stamps. 61. I came here willing to come to a reasonable agreement and take you back home. 62. I shall take the tram. 63. “Now I see what a gulf separates us,” she said and her voice shook a little. 64. Mrs Forrester walked downstairs, and when Mrs Bullfinch opened the door and asked if she would like to hire a taxi, she shook her head. 65. And of course, he'll have a hobby. 66. I know how to run a house and I'm not a bad cook, as you know. 67. It was the very man Albert had described lying dead in Hyde park. 68. You've been surrounded for thirty years with all that was best in English literature and all this time you've been reading detective novels! 69. “You needn't be afraid that I won't look after Mr Forrester properly, ma'am,” said Mrs Bullfinch, seeing Mrs Forrester to the tram stop. 70. She felt she must walk. 71. They looked at her with open mouths. 72. They were all there. 73. Her heart was beating fast. 74. Did you manage to get hold of him? 75. After all Edgar Allan Poe had written detective stories... 76. I'm going to raise the detective story to the level of art. 77. She went into the drawing-room. 78. She could not sit still any longer. 79. Have you had no tea? 80. As she passed the Achilles Statue she stopped for a minute and looked at it. 81. At Hyde Park Corner she suddenly made up her mind to get out. 82. I've kept you waiting so long! 83. My dears, I've got something quite wonderful to tell you, I'm going to write a detective story. 84. He asked the conductor to stop and she saw him go down a small, dark street. 85. When she reached her flat at last and opened the door, she saw several hats in the hall. 86. Wondering what time it was, she looked up at the man sitting opposite her to see whether he was the kind of person she could ask and suddenly started; as sitting there was a respectable-looking gentleman wearing a gold watch chain. 87. Mrs Forrester was about to say something, but just then a tram pulled up at the stop and she got in. 88. Then you haven't seen Albert? 89. Let Albert keep his cook. 90. I'm going to write a detective story. 91. I knew I went out to do something about Albert, but I've quite forgotten what it was. 92. I can't bother about Albert now. 93. “But what about Albert?” the young writer asked. 94. It's a murder story and I shall call it “The Achilles Statue”! 95. She gave a laugh. 96. It came to me suddenly in Hyde Park. 97. My dear, I say I forgot all about him.
O.Henry's biography
1. Through the gaiety and humour of his stories, however, the hard life of the poor can be seen. 2. O. Henry's first story was published in 1899, when the writer was in prison on a false charge of stealing money from a bank. 3. In his early years he tried many jobs, among which were several literary ones. 4. After he came out of prison, O.Henry became a professional writer. 5. His stories are still popular today. 6. O.Henry describes the life of the “little people”: clerks, shop assistants and farm workers. 7. He was born in 1862 in a small provincial town. 8. His tories are mainly humorous and amusing, with the traditional happy end. 9. O. Henry whose real name was William Sydney Porter, was an American short-story writer.
He overdid it
1.But I would prefer to keep my plans secret for a while. 2. At the age of eighteen she had left the place and become an actress at a small theatre in a large city, and here she took the name of Carrington. 3. She was brought up in a village, you know, she won't be deceived when a Broadway fellow goes on the stage with a straw in his hair and calls himself a village boy. 4. Miss Posie Carrington had begun life in the small village of Cranberry Corners. 5. “Me boy”, said Mr. Goldstein, the manager of the theatre, when the young man went to him for advice, “take the part if you can get it.” 6. Now Miss Carrington was at the height of her fame, the critics praised her, and in the next season she was going to star in a new play about country life. 7. He stayed three days in that small and distant village. 8. He upset one chair, sat in another one, and turned red at the approach of a waiter. 9. Miss Posie Carrington used to spend her evenings at a small restaurant where actors gathered after performances. 10. “You may fetch me a glass of beer”, he said, in answer to the waiter's question. 11. “ I don't seem to rememeber any Bill Summers,” she said thoughtfully, looking straight into the innocent blue eyes of the young man. 12. And yet it doesn't look the same place that it used to be. 13. Now, Bill, come over here and tell me some more. 14. Eliza Perry told me to see you in the city while I was here. 15. She took him to a vacant table in a corner. 16. They still rememeber you there. 17. And then Highsmith decided to show Miss Posie his abilities as a tragic actor. 18. She was sitting by the front door when I saw her last,” said Bill. 19. Your Ma asked me to sit down. 20. The part is mine, don't you think? 21. You'd better visit Miss Carrington early tomorrow and see how she feels about you. 22. He was shown up and received by the actress's French maid. 23. The little lady never once guessed. 24. “Well,” she said, “I'm really very glad to have seen you, Bill.” 25. At 11:45 the next morning Highsmith, handsome and dressed in the latest fashion, sent up his card to Miss Carrington at her hotel. 26. Miss Carrington has cancelled all engagements on the stage and has returned to live in that – what do call the place? - Cranberry Corners! 27. Come round and see me at the hotel before you leave the city. 28. Posie went away down that road and something tells me she'll come back that way again when she gets tired of the world and begins to think about her old mother. 29. She's older than she was, Miss Posie. 30. “I didn't hear your conversation,” said Goldstein, “but your make-up and acting were perfect.” 31. She's always been a sensible girl. 32. Here's to your success. 33. After she had left, Highsmith, still in his make-up, went up to Goldstein. 34. But everything in the house looked just the same. 35. There aren't many changes to speak of. 36. Have you seen any of my people? 37. “Miss Posie,” said Bill Summers, “I was at your people's house just two or three days ago. 38. Why, you people, excuse me a while – this is an old friend of mine – Mr – what was it? 39. I've grown up since you left Cranberry Corners. 40. He looked around the place and then seeing Miss Carrington, rose and went to her table with a shining smile.
Dreiser's biography
1. Dreiser's literary career started in 1900 when “Sister Carrie” was published. 2. Later on he becomes a typical capitalist who stops at nothing to become rich and powerful. 3. He began to work for his living when he was sixteen. 4. In this novel and also in his later works, the writer exposed the true nature of American “democracy”. 5. In 1945, at the age of 74, he joined the Communist Party of the USA. 6. The passage below comes from “The Financier”. 7. He had a number of jobs, and at one time was a newspaper reporter. 8. Dreiser was deply impressed by the Great October Socialist Revolution. 9. Frank Cowperwood at thirteen is shown as a boy who is already fully aware of the power of money. 10. As a reporter he gained a wide experience of life, which was a great help to him when he took up novel-writing. 11. Theodore Dreiser , the great American progressive writer, was born in a poor family in 1871. 12. In 1927-28 he visited the Soviet Union and from that time on was a true friend to our country.
A future businessman
1. There were trees in the street – a lot of them. 2. Henry Cowperwood, the father of the family, started life as a bank clerk, but when Frank, his elder son, was ten, Henry Cowperwood became a teller at the bank. 3. Young Cowperwood took an interest in his father's progress. 4. At ome also he listened to considerable talk of business and financial adventure. 5. He was quite often allowed to come to the bank on Saturdays, when he would watch with great interest the quick exchange of bills. 6. His father, pleased at his interest, was glad to explain, so that even at this early age – from ten to fifteen – the boy gained a wide knowledge of the condition of the country financially. 7. Frank realized that his father was too honest, too careful. 8. This time, however, however he showed much more interest in the Cowperwoods, particularly in Frank. 9. He was also interested in stocks and bonds, and he learned that some stocks and bonds were not even worth the paper they were written on, and other were worth much more than their face value shown. 10. He wanted to know where all the different kinds of money came from, and what the men did with all the money they received.11. He often told himself that when he grew up, he was going to be a broker, or a financier, or a banker, and do some of the risky things he so often used to hear about. 12. How would you like to come down to Cuba and be a plantor, my boy? - he asked him once. 13. Just at this time there came to the Cowperwoods an uncle, Seneca Davis, who had not appeared in the life of the family before. 14. He looked at Frank carefully now. 15. Uncle Seneca became a frequent visitor to the house and took an increasing interest in Frank. 16. “Keep in touch with me,” he said to his sister one day. 17. I want to get out and get to work, though. 18. You'll be a man soon enough. 19. You'll get a good training there. 20. It can't do you any harm. 21. Well, you can't leave school much before sixteen. 22. I don't want to be a boy. I want to get to work. 23. Well, when the time comes, if everything is all right and you've behaved well and you still want to, I'll help you get a start in business. 24. He talked to Frank about his studies, and found that the boy took little interest in books or most of the subjects he had to take at school. 25. Don't go too fast, son. 26. If you are going to be a banker, you must work with some good company a year or so. 27. That's what I want to do. 28. “You're very young, my son,” his uncle said. 29. You'll do better if you stay until seventen or eighteen. 30. And, meantime, keep you health and learn all you can. 31. “I like book-keeping and mathematics,” he said. 32. When that boy gets old enough to find out what he wants to do, I think I'll help him to do it. 33. And with these words he gave the boy a ten-dollar gold piece with which to start a bank-account. 34. She told him she was very grateful. 35. You want to be a banker, don't you? 36. There was something in the boy... no doubt of it. 37. What have you against it? 38. Henry Cowperwood was pleased at the arrival of this rather rich relative, for before that Seneca Davis had not taken much notice of Henry Cowperwood and his family. 39. “I am not so sure that I'd like to,” replied the boy. 40. The brokers knew him as a representing a well-known film and considered him to be a most reliable person. 41. Behind each house there was a garden with trees and grass and sometimes flowers. 42. Buttonwood street, Philadelphia, where Frank Cowperwood spent the first ten years of his life, was a lovely place for a boy to live in. 43. As his position grew more responsible, his business connections increased.