ИНСТИТУТОВ .
ФАКУЛЬТЕТОВ
ОСТРАННЫХ

С.В. Кирсанова
ОБСУЖДАЕМ
ПРОЧИТАННОЕ
СОБИЕ ПО ДОМАШНЕМУ ЧТЕНИЮ НА АНГЛИЙСКОМ ЯЗЫКЕ
МОСКВА «ВЫСШАЯ ШКОЛА» 1991 ”
ББК 81.2 Англ-923
К 43
Рекомендовано
Государственным комитетом СССР по народному
образованию для использования в учебном процессе
Рецензенты:
кафедра английского языка Кировского государстве
го педагогического института им. В.И. Ленина (зав. кафед-
рой канд. филол. наук, доц. ТЛ. Мошанова)
канд. филол. наук, доц. С.Ф. Леонтьева (Московский об-
ластной педагогический институт им. Н.К. Крупской)
Кирсанова С.В.
К 43	Обсуждаем прочитанное. Пособие по до-
машнему чтению на английском языке. —М.:
Высш, шк., 1991. —127 с.
ISBN 5-06-002022-3
Выбор для пособия произведений англоязычной прозы
XX века обусловлен их художественными достоинствами, гу-
манистической направленностью, остротой проблематики.
Это «Замок на песке» А. Мердок, «Разрисованный занавес»
С. Моэма, «Великий Гэтсби» Ф.С. Фицджеральда и «Повели-
тель мух» У. Голдинга.
Работа построена в строгой системе, каждый этап кото-
рой подготавливает последующий и планомерно рас
речевые возможности студентов.
Для студентов педагогических вузов.
4602020102(43090000001—336
К---------------------------270 -91
001(01)-91
ББК 81.2 Англ-
4И
ISBN 5-06-002022-3
© C.B. Кирсанова, 1!
<
Библиотека
пе/.и.: ;:;г;та
Г.
уч
ПРЕДИСЛОВИЕ
Настоящее пособие предназначено для студентов III и IV курсов
институтов и факультетов иностранных языков.
Назначение пособия—обеспечить планомерное руководство само-
стоятельной (внеаудиторной) и аудиторной деятельностью студентов,
направленной на основательное изучение читаемого художественного
произведения и его обсуждение, по частям и в целом, с применением
смыслового анализа его идейно-образной системы.
Цель пособия—достижение глубокого понимания произведения и
обеспечение реализации этого понимания в речевой деятельности каче-
ственно высокого уровня.
Пособие включает в себя системы целевых заданий к четырем про-
изведениям англоязычной прозы XX века, изданным в СССР сравнитель-
но недавно и поэтому доступным для студентов («Замок на песке» А.
Мердок, «Разрисованный занавес» С. Моэма—для III курса; «Великий
Гэтсби» Ф.С. Фицджеральда и «Повелитель мух» У. Голдинга—
для IV курса). Выбор данных произведений обусловлен их художествен-
ными достоинствами, гуманистической направленностью, остротой про-
блематики.
Каждое отдельно взятое целевое задание (кроме заданий для заклю-
чительного обсуждения) состоит из трех частей: вокабуляра, предназна-
ченного для активизации, упражнений, языковых и речевых, и материала
для обсуждения в аудитории.
Главным принципом отбора вокабуляра для активного усвоения бы-
ло его соответствие задачам речевой коммуникации при обсуждении
произведения по частям и в целом. Предпочтение отдавалось абстракт-
ной и оценочной лексике, представленной как отдельными словами, так
и словосочетаниями, поскольку именно такая лексика соответствует по-
требностям речевой деятельности на планируемом уровне.
Упражнения имеют разную направленность.
Цель лексических упражнений—активизация вокабуляра и предуп-
реждение ошибок в словообразовании и сочетаемости слов; особое вни-
мание уделялось стимулированию употребления активного вокабуляра в
ситуациях, отличных от тех, в которых он фигурирует в тексте. После-
довательность выполнения упражнений в случае необходимости может
быть изменена преподавателем.
Речевые упражнения можно подразделить на регламентируемые и
не регламентируемые вокабуляром. К числу последних относятся уп-
ражнения на истолкование текста, раскрытие подтекста, доказательство
или опровержение тезиса, определение отношения читателя к событиям
и персонажам и многие другие. Цель таких упражнений—облегчить и
направить читательское восприятие смыслового содержания текста, об-
ратить внимание на существенные для его понимания'детали, факты, по-
зволить глубже проникнуть в его смысловую тканы В конечном счете
именно эти упражнения заставят студента вторично перечитать текст,
»*	- - >	,	3
что очень важно для правильности, полноты и глубины его понимания,
поскольку одноразовое чтение текста поверхностно и неполно и не мо-
жет обеспечить последующего обсуждения на требуемом уровне.
Во избежание перегрузки студентов снижена дозировка объема чте-
ния за неделю: на III курсе она не превышает 23 — 25 страниц, на IV кур-
се—27—30 страниц. Восполнить объем чтения до требуемого програм-
мой можно за счет индивидуального (внеаудиторного) чтения. Препода-
вателю рекомендуется осуществлять выборочный контроль упражне-
ний в аудитории и отводить на эту работу не более 20 —25 минут, по-
скольку основное аудиторное время должно быть уделено обсуждению
прочитанного —самой важной части работы, по отношению к которой
упражнения, выполняемые студентами самостоятельно, носят лишь
подготовительный характер.
Материал для обсуждения—третья часть каждого задания. Пере-
сказ прочитанного, еще занимающий значительное место в начале рабо-
ты на III курсе, постепенно все более и более уступает место творче-
ским видам работы, реализуемым в неподготовленной речи. Развитие
умений неподготовленной речи—одна из главных методических целей
настоящего пособия.
Заключительные задания обобщают проделанную работу; сводят
воедино частные смыслы изображаемого в произведении, подчиняя их
главному смыслу—основной авторской идее, оценивают ее с позиции
современного читателя. Не рекомендуется разрешать студентам поль-
зоваться критической литературой до того, как книга прочитана и об-
суждена по главам (во избежание подмены собственного анализа пере-
сказом чужих мыслей).
Работа по данному пособию предполагает привлечение дополни-
тельных сведений из области теории литературы, касающихся образно-
сти, формы и содержания, компонентов внутренней формы, темы, идеи,
способов выражения авторского сознания, символизации и некоторых
других сведений, упомянутых в формулировках заданий. Эти сведения
рекомендуется преподносить студентам в форме подсказов или кратких
напо'минаний при анализе произведения.
Автор
THIRD YEAR
THE SANDCASTLE*
by Iris Murdoch
ASSIGNMENT 1
Chapters 1, 2
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
to sit for an examination £>
vulnerable adj Ъ
to think oneself/to be
in the wrong &
to make a fool of oneself lo
at heart и
to stand high
II. EXERCISES
scholar n
a right-hand man 14
to take to smb &
to sum up । ь
to feel at ease
to make smth of smb
1.	Explain the contextual meaning of the following lexical units
relying on an English-English dictionary.
vulnerable; at heart; scholar; to sum smb up; to take to smb
2.	State the contextual meaning of the combinations with the
verb to make in the dialogue:
—I say, what do you make of this picture?
—To tell the truth, I can’t make head or t^il of it.
—Neither can 1.1 wonder why people make so much of it.
—Don’t let’s discuss it here. I am afraid we are making fools of
ourselves, with all these great scholars around.
3.	Retount the situations in which the active vocabulary is used
in the chapters under discussion.
4.	Make up your own situations with the active vocabulary.
Murdoch I. The Sandcastle. Leningrad, 1975.
5
5.	Answer the questions:	3
1.	When did you have to sit for an examination last? 2.
Whose prestige stands high at school, as a rule? 3. How long
does it take you to sum up a new teacher? 4. What sort of
people do you take to at first glance? 5. Is it honourable to be
somebody’s right-hand man? 6. At what age are people
especially vulnerable? 7. What do you do if you think yourself
in the wrong? 8. Do you feel at ease when it rains heavily and
you are comfortably sheltered?
6.	Point out the active vocabulary relating to: 1) Mor; 2) Nan; 3)
Demoyte.
7.	Explain the following:
a)	a semi-detached house; neo-Gothic; a housemaster; a
. headmaster; a goldsmith; a safe Labour seat; a snob
----b) 1. “You must have money to burn.” (p. 5)
2.	‘Tve got a bone to pick with Don.” (p. 6)
3.	‘He began to have a soporific feeling of conjugal bore-
dom.” (p. 7)
4.	‘I hate to see you as poor Ewy”s henchman.” (p. 16)
5.	‘Demoyte did not believe in seeing his guests off the
premises.” (p. 26) 
III.	QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1.	Where is the scene laid?
2.	Give a brief summary of each chapter.
----'3. Sum up the Mors. Discuss the atmosphere in the Mor
family and its effect on the members. Pay special attention to
Nan’s utterances, her manner and tone, her likings and dislikes
unshared by Mor. How does the author make the reader feel
that the family was insecure, unstable? Whose fault was that?
4.	Discuss Mor’s social status and his secret ambitions.
Why was Nan opposed to them?
5.	Sum up Demoyte, his manner, his principles of a
schoolmaster. Comment on his view of school morality.
6.	Speak about the impression Rain Carter gave to Mor.
Sum up Rain Carter and her background relying on the infor-
mation provided by the two chapters. What did Nan make of
Rain?
6
7.	Discuss the author’s presentation of the characters of the
novel. Specify the share of direct and indirect characterization
r j resorted to by the author.
8.	Why does the novel open with a dialogue? Is it traditional
to start a novel like that? What advantages does it give to the
author?
ASSIGNMENT 2
Chapters 3, 4
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
to come one’s way 2.	л. , „ put up a show
to keep order	г'лЬ,г^До parade smth (a view-point/'
to show smb round a school ?	one’s learning, knowledge,
(an exhibition, a town, etc.) etc-)
vefficient adj
efficiency n
to hang about
to show off
to be on easy (friendly) terms
with smb
to arrange smth behind smb’s
back
to outstay smb
to smooth things over . /
to talk shop
to come round
II. EXERCISES
' 1. Give definitions of these lexical units using, an English-
English dictionary:
efficiency; to show off; to hang about; to talk shop; to come
round
2.	Translate these sentences into Russian:
1.	It was dinnertime, and there was no guide to show us
round the museum.' 2. May good luck always come your way! 3.
What kind of show are you trying to put up here? 4. He has
been trying to arrange his trip to the riyer behind his parents’
back. And now he is not on speaking terms with his family, as a
result of it. 5. Whenever teachers come together, they talk shop,
even at leisure time. 6. The boy is not much of a footballer, but
he is constantly h’&igmg about the stadium.'?. His mother said
she would never/tome round to his marriage. 8. The cook was'
V	‘	'	7
efficient, and the dinner was a success. 9.1 must be off, I don’t
wish to outstay my welcome. 10. To smooth things over, he in-
vited his mother to the theatre. IL The lecturer kept parading
his learning and wisdom to an indifferent audience. ' • * •;
3.	Make up your own situations with the active vocabulary.
4.	Recall the situations in which the active vocabulary occurs in
the chapters under discussion.
5.	Explain the statements relating to education; give your
opinion of them:
1.	Mor knew that keeping order was a gift of nature, (p. 27)
2.	...many teachers, including some who got high reputa-
tions by doing so, contented themselves with putting up a show;
often a brilliant one, in front of those who were to.be in-
structed—and of this performance both sides might be the
dupes, (p. 41)
3.	...the real teacher cares only for one thing, that the matter
should be understood; and into that process he vanishes, (p. 41)
4.	An adult education class will often contain persons who
have come merely to parade a certain view-point, and with no
intention of learning anything, (p. 41)
Ш. TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1.	Give a title to and a brief summary of chapters 3 and 4.
2.	Dwell on Mor as a teacher, relying on all the information
of the two chapters.
3.	Discuss Mor and Donald’s relations.
4.	Mor shows Miss Carter round the school. Comment
upon Miss Carter’s behaviour.
5.	Give a brief account of the WEA class and of the differ-
ent motives that brought the Mors to Marsington.
6.	Speak about Nan’s appearance, manner and treatment of
the people in class.
7.	Mor talks shop to Tim Burke.
tv. QUESTIONS
1.	Why was Jimmy Carde one of Mor’s enemies?
2.	What sort of books did Donald prefer? Why?
8
3.	What was the object of Miss Carter’s going round the
school?
4.	Why did Mor feel a new respect for Miss Carter?
5.	Why did Mor disapprove of secrets?
6.	How did each of the Mors treat Tim Burke?
7.	Why did Tim Burke parade his knowledge?
8.	What human qualities did Mor find irritating or shock-
ing?
ASSIGNMENT
Chapters
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
to be responsible for smth
conventional adj
convention n p
to bring oneself to do smth
ludicrous adj
to get on with smth
to be overcome with some
emotion
3
5, 6
to be pierced to the heart
to be characteristic of
smb/ smth
deplorable adj
to give smb a lift 
. to take refuge in smth
to be in a fix
to involve smb in smth
n. EXERCISES
1.	Explain the contextual meaning of the following lexical units
relying on an Engjish-English dictionary:
convention; ludicrous; to get on with smth; deplorable; to
take refuge in smth; to involve smb in smth
2.	Give the corresponding nouns and translate them into Rus-
sian:
responsible; conventional; ludicrous; to involve; vulnerable;
efficient; to arrange; to parade
3.	Insert the necessary preposition or adverb:
a) — What does your son make... his teacher?
— Oh, John has immediately taken 1.1 him. I know it because
it is characteristic-;!. John to geto.1 well ij/'his work if he
likes the teacher. I am so happy&Zheart that the class has
Mr. Framtorm<^a teacher. He is efficient and seems to be
tigood termsi;..4he boys.
b)—I say, why are you hanging VJ^ith nothing special to do?
And I don’t feeKliease ... that new friendCdyours. He is
sure to involve you no end of trouble before long.
— Sorry, Mum, I think you to be &\the wrong. Ted is a nice
chap, and quite seriousthat.
4.	Translate the sentences into Russian. Make up your own
sentences after the pattern:
1.	It was characteristic of him to walk up and down the
room when in a fix.
2.	The books in the library are in a deplorable state.
3.	The hero of the novel is involved in some mystery.
4.	The little boy was overcome with fear and trembled in
his shoes.
5.	Somerset Maugham states that unconventional women
take refuge in marriage.
6.	How are you getting on with your composition?
7.1 was pierced to the heart by the closing episode of
the film.
8. Who is responsible for watering the flowers?
9. We find the situation too ludicrous for words.
10.1 can hardly bring myself to cross this street with its
heavy traffic.
5.	Recall the whole situation. Give reasons for these utterances
or actions:
1.	...it was Miss Carter who had been responsible for his
ability to decide,... (p. 49)
2.	Eccentric people, he concluded, were good for conven-
tional people,... (p. 49)
3.	Ewy had once tried to persuade Mor to call him by his
Christian name, but Mor could not bring himself to do so. (p.
51)
4.	This he (Bledyard) digl with a sort of slow deliberation
which made his utterance ludicrous, (p. 52)
5.	“Well, Miss Carter,” he said, “and how are we getting on
with the picture? Soon be done, will it?” Miss Carter looked
very shocked, (p. 52)
6.	Mor envied Bledyard’s total disregard of convention, (p.
53)
10
1
7.	Mor looked at Miss Carter too. She seemed to be over-
come with confusion,... (p. 54)
8.	Mor was pierced to the heart. How little imagination I
have! he thought, (p. 54)
9.	"... I suppose I can’t give either of you a lift...?” The invi-
tation did not sound very whole-hearted, (p. 58)
10.	‘Tim!” said Mor.... “Look, I must get home. Гт in an
awful fix.” (p. 71)
6.	Confirm or disprove the following:
1.	Mor thought Nan to be mad.
2.	Bledyard was not much of a painter.
3.	Mor arranged a trip to the river behind his wife’s back.
4.	Tim Burke was a false friend of the Mor family.
Ill QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1.	Mor’s new state of mind. Why did he think Miss Carter
responsible for his ability to decide?
2.	Sum up Mr. Everard. Account for Mor’s inability to
summon up any affection for Mr. Everard.
3.	The luncheon party at Mr. Everard’s. Comment upon the
behaviour of each of those present.
4.	Bledyard talks to Miss Carter. How did the talk lay bare
the artistic essence of the two painters?
5.	Give a brief summary of chapter 6. Dwell on Mor’s atti-
tude to truth and his getting involved in lies.
f 6. Discuss the symbolic significance of the accident at the
river.
И ASSIGNMENT 4
Chapter 7
I.	ACTIVE VOCABULARY
\\ . (
Athe... (noun) in question 2 to have faith in smb/smth
л /^resent vt	to know one thing from 'I
‘Mtfparaphernalia n	another
2'^9 see a situation from the jJto conspire against smb
Ч-n outs*^e	D'bungle vt
£yrto be in company with smb	( morbid adj
ДОо do smth in person	to be fed up withsiftb/smth
j^?o hke doing smth
П. EXERCISES
1.	Give definitions of these lexical units using an English-
English dictionary; give the derivatives of the words in bold
type: /f ..	{
to resent; paraphernalia; to have faith in smb; to conspire
against smb; to bungle; morbid
2.	Translate into Russian. Make up sentences of your own after
the pattern:
1.1 am fed up with your complaints.
2.	They are so ignorant, they don’t know A from B.
3.	The film was dull, and we felt like walking out.
4.	The teachers resent the poor attendance of this group.
5.	Normal people hate bungling and bimglers.
6.	It’s a pity you can’t see yourself from the outside.
7.	The rumour spread he had fallen in love. The lady in
question was much younger.
,	8. It is difficult to cure a person who has no faith in
medicine;
9.	The typist’s paraphernalia were lying all over the room.
10.	Nobody is conspiring against you, it’s morbid to think *
so.
3.	Complete the sentences using the suitable noun with the .
definite article:
1.	When I came they were debating. ... in question was
whether to stay at a hotel or at a friend’s. 2. The customer re-
sented the service at the restaurant. ... in question had a guilty
look, a dirty napkin in his hand. 3. The date of the party was
fixed. ... in question was May 5. 4. Three doctors were
discussing a difficult case. ... in question had a severe
complication. 5. The girl .informed her parents of her
engagement.... in question was an architect. 6. There are some
dangerous symptoms of poor academic discipline.... in question
is in his first year.
4.	Reproduce the situations from chapter 7 where the active vo-
cabulary is employed.
5.	Ask fact-finding questions on the chapter using the active vo-
cabulary.
12
1	. A
у 6. Paraphrase or explain:
1. “I wish you wouldn’t enter rooms like a battering ram,
Handy,” said Demoyte. (p. 77)
2. "... This man doesn’t know a Rubens from a Rembrandt.
He lives in a monochrome world.” (p. 81)
.	3. “Why, it’s Mr. Mor!” said Miss Handforth in her
sonorous voice, scattering the moonlit night about her in frag-
ments. (p. 89)
7.	Expand and comment on the following:
1.	“Every portrait is a self-portrait,” said Rain. (p. 76)
2.	Everything seemed to be conspiring against him to make
something that was really important to look like something
unimportant, (p. 82)
... it occurred to Mor that in a way he was sacrificing Fe-
licity’s future to his own. (p. 87)
8.	Confirm or disprove the statements. Quote the text if neces-
sary.
1.	It is much easier to enter London University than Oxford
or Cambridge.
2.	Mor planned Felicity’s future under Nan’s influence.
3.	Miss Handforth liked Rain Carter.
4,	Demoyte’s friendship summoned up the best qualities in
Mor.
III.	TOPICSTOR DISCUSSION
1.	Rain Carter paints Demoyte’s portrait. Account for her
model’s clothing, her choice of the background and the
accessories,
2.	Discuss Demoyte’s behaviour when he was sitting for
Rain, his attitude to her work and to her.
3.	Mor’s second thoughts about the outing.
4,	Mor calls on Demoyte and passes a letter to Miss Carter.
Account for Demoyte’s manner throughout the evening.
5.	Felicity’s future as regarded by Mor and Demoyte.
6.	Mor’s state of mind when he was leaving Demoyte’s.
7.	Sum up the new information about Demoyte.
ASSIGNMENT 5
Chapters 8, 9
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
\ to pull oneself together
with impunity	9
to poke around '
to fuss about smth - •
'. . expel vt
to report smb to smb else
to be up to smth л
to turn some place ^topsy-
turvy; '
tearful adj > r
to be short with smb -
to get (have) one’s own way
- / .
П. EXERCISES
1.	Give definitions of these lexical units relying on an English-
English dictionary; give the derivatives of the words in bold
type:
with impunity; to pull oneself together; to expel; to be
short with smb; to fuss; to get one’s own way
2.	Study the use of the active vocabulary in the sentences below;
translate them into Russian:
1.	You can’t miss classes with impunity. 2. AU right, have
your own way, let’s stay at home tonight. 3. He has a funny look
as if he were up to something. 4. The dog entered the room and
started poking around. 5. The coach asked the athlete to pull
himself together and break the record. 6. Stop fussing about the
missing book, you are sure to find it soon. 7. The police turned
the flat topsy-turvy to find no evidence whatever. 8. The dean
said that two students had been expeUed for breach of disci-
pline. 9. If you go on being short with me, Г11 think you are an-
gry for my telling the truth. 10. What made you report your best
friend to me, of aU people? 11. If the chUd is tearful, put him to
bed, he may be tired.
3.	Explain in your own words:
1.	Just puU yourself together and do something practical.
2.	Felicity could not see that there was anything innately
wrong in her going into St Bride’s to see her brother and this
being so, the only remaining question was whether she could do
so with impunity.
14
3.	She began to poke around in a coagulated mass of things
on top of the bookcase.
4.	“Why are you fussing about promises? You never keep
any.”
5.	..Any sort of climbing on the school buildings was pun-
ished by immediate expulsion.
6.	“Come on,” said Miss Handforth, “has the cat got your
tongue? What have you two been up to up there, may I ask?”
7.	Nan could be relied upon to turn the place topsy-turvy
before a holiday, and Felicity was being more than usually tire-
some and tearful.
8.	...The boy had been very short with him, and Mor had
gone away hurt and puzzled.
9.	She was totally impervious to reasoning, relentlessly de-
termined to get her own way, and calmly and even gaily certain
that she would get it
4.	State whose utterances these are, what preceded or followed
them. Use the active vocabulary when describing the
episodes:
1.	You can’t behave anyhow to people and expect them to
love you just the same!
2.	That’s an ancient British cake. It was part of Boadicea’s
rations for her troops.
3.	Any breath of this, and Carde and I wouldbe expelled.
4.	1 love these English wild flowers. I really cannot think of
anything that would have pleased me more.
5.	You know our charming little dears as well as I do.
6.	May I suggest that you set your appearance to rights be-
fore you continue your search?
 7.1 really must try to buy it from you, Mr Bledyard, and
hand it over to my dressmaker.
III. QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1.	Whose perception are the episodes of chapter 8 arranged
through? Speak about Felicity’s misery resulting in her wish to
see Donald.
2.	Describe the risks Felicity took to see Donald. What kept
her worrying throughout the visit?
15	.
3.	Sum up Jim Carde. Pay attention to his manner and ut-
terances. Why could Felicity not bring herself to like her
brother’s friend? Do you find Jim Carde a likable figure?
4.	Felicity and Donald’s raid on Miss Carter’s room. Recall
the contents of the letter their father had written to Miss
Carter. Why did the raid end in “tears of blood”?
5.	Characterize Felicity and Donald. Specify their childish
features as well as those of grown-ups. Why was Mor especially
afraid of his children when they brought gifts? Find proof that
Mor himself was of the same kind.
6.	Give a summary of chapter 9. Specify its climax.
7.	Dwell on Mor’s state of mind on the day of Nan’s depar-
ture and on the previous day. Find sentences proving the do-
mestic atmosphere had become too depressive for Mor. Ac-
count for Donald’s having become too short with him and Fe-
licity — more tearful than ever.
8.	Mor comes to realize his love. Discuss his further be-
haviour showing that love had changed him into a new being.
ASSIGNMENT 6
Chapters 10, 11
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
//3 to attribute smth to smb/fry to creaty a stir
smth	to surpass smb’s expectations
//3 to be swayed by some emo- J to takc'onc’s time
. tion	to hold smb in suspense
y/3 *td resist a temptation	within earshot
zyj to take it into one’s head to do/z/ to do wrong
smth	/2 j to run the risk of doing smth
yyy to value smb’s good opinion confront vt
II. EXERCISES
1.	Explain the contextual meaning of these lexical units relying
on an English-English dictionary; give the derivatives of the
words in bold type:
to attribute smth to; to be swayed by; to create a stir; to
surpass smb’s expectations; to take one’s time; within earshot;
to do wrong; to confront; to resist a temptation
16 ‘
2.	Note the use of the active vocabulary in these sentences.
Translate them into Russian:
1; The ballerina’s performance created a stir in the
audience. In the last scene she surpassed herself. 2. When you
are swayed by anger, don’t take any important decisions. 3. The
author took obvious pleasure in holding the reader in suspense
throughout the novcl/Я Why did you take it into your head to
send that idiotic telegram to your grandparents, of all people? 5.
If any sort of danger confronts you, let me know immediately.
6. Shall I attribute your silence to a shock? 7. “Now, tell us all
you know about the accident. Take your time, little boy,” said
the policeman. 8. Let us run the risk of telling him the whole
truth. 9. ‘I happened to be within earshot and heard them
mention your name.” “You certainly do wrong by overhearing
what you oughtn’t to.”-10. The shop-window looked inviting,
and he could not resist the temptation of dropping in.
3.	Make up your own sentences after the pattern:
l.	-Let’s run the risk of crossing the river.
2.	Dbn’t attribute my question to rfi^eness.
3.	Your hat will create a stir in the street
4.	The result of the examination surpassed our best ex-
pectations.
5.	You have certainly done wrong by opening that let-
ter.	~~
6.	You’ll have to confront, the worst if you forget the ad-
dress.
7.1 could not resist the__temptation of buying a box of
chocolates.
8.	The film held us in suspense to the very end.
4.	Recall the situations in chapters 10 and 11 in which the active
vocabulary is employed.
5.	Ask-fact-finding questions on the chapters under discussion.
Employ the active vocabulary.
6.	Paraphrase or explain:
L The House Match, which was the final in a knock-out
contest, normally lasted for two days,.... (p. 112)	й
БиблиоУвна /Т 17
пединститута- I .
2.	Mor looked at her, and he felt as if an enormous vehicle
had driven straight through him, leaving a blank hole to the
edges of which he still raggedly adhered, (p. 114)
3.	He could not afford, at this time in the summer term, th
have two crises on his hands at once. (p. 116)
4.	But Donald always looked more grown-up in the context
of something that he could do well. (p. 116)
7.	State whose words these are, what motives they are
prompted by. Recount the circumstances:
1.	Your pappa’s poppet!
2.	A fine show young Don put up.
3.	Miss Carter, my expectations were high, but you have
surpassed them.
4.	You came and released me from a spell.
5.	You’ve wakened the whole house up. You were leaning
against the bell.
III.	QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1.	The House Match. Describe Mor’s state of mind*on that
day. Account for his depression and exasperation during the
game.
2-	arrival. Why did it create a stir? Whose perception
is the scafe given through? Why?
3.	Mof s WK with Tim Burke. What prevented him from
makmg a final decision?
Q^Mor sees the portrait. Why was it a shock to him? Com-
pare the opinions of all those present. What do you think
provoked Bledyard’s criticism?
5. Give a summary of chapter 11.
6. Speak of the instances of symbolization resorted to by the
author in chapters 10 and 11.
ASSIGNMENT 7
Chapters 12-14
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
to confide in a person
confidant(e) n
18	*	.. '*
tpjj^at a loss
to be hard On smb
„5 fi О ' ’	<
't,'.	-f' ••
4
tqcopc with smth	to make a mess of smth
|^:makc a scene about smth ' self-righteous adj
pathetic adj	,, accomplice n
-tokccp an eye on smb	to interpret smth as
jsto carry smth out	to find oneself in control of a
/ to recover from a shock.	situation
frustrate vt
П. EXERCISES
1.	a) Explain the contextual meaning of these lexical units re-
lying on an English-English dictionary:
to confide in smb; a confidant; to cope with smth; pathetic;
to frustrate; self-righteous; accomplice
b) Give the corresponding nouns:
to confide; to frustrate; to interpret; to recover; self-.
righteous
2.	Translate these sentences:
1.	How could you confide in a false friend? — I think you are
hard on poor Tom. 2. Will you keep an eye on my child in my
absence? 3. The criminal and his accomplice went to prison. 4.
If you marry that self-righteous fox, she’ll make a mess of your
life. 5. His complete recovery from that shock took a couple of
minutes. 6. The librarian made a violent scene about the loss of
the book. 7. The child was at a loss as to which way to go. 8.1
hope the students will cope with this test. 9. The dog was wet to
the skin and looked pathetic. 10. The teacher said that the boy’s
mother, a woman of character and will, had frustrated her son
in every possible way. 11. Soon the chairman found himself in
complete control of the meeting. 12. Let us interpret his words
as readiness to help. 13. We can’t carry out the work in time.
3.	Make up your own sentences with the active vocabulary.
4.	Recount the situations from chapters 12-14 in which the ac-
tive vocabulary is employed.
5.	Explain in your own words:
1.	“Yes,” he (Tim) said, “you are the strong one, you know.”
(p.132)
19
2.	Everything had happened that might overturn his love for
Rain: the sheer shock of being found out, from which he had
not still recovered,... and now in addition the reasonableness of
Nan and the manifest sense of what she urged, (p. 140)
3.	‘...the suspension of judgement is not charity but the fear
of being judged in return.’ (p. 145)
4.	The gifts of spirit do not appeal to the imagination, (p.
146)
6.	Say why these things did not happen:
1.	She (Nan) had never in her life allowed Bill to cause her
real unhappiness, (p. 130)
2.	...suddenly she (Nan) wished desperately that she could
stay with Tim Burke that morning and talk to him about any-
thing at all,.... (p. 134)
3.	Rain listened to him silently throughout,... until he had
told her everything—except for one thing. In all his outpouring
he made no mention of his political ambitions, (p. 141)
4.	He (Mor) had a rendezvous with her in twenty minutes’
time. He had asked her to meet him at the squash courts.... (p.
142)
5.	She (Nan) had never reflected so much in her life. (p.
148)
7.	State whose utterances these are. Speak of the underlying
motive of each and the feeling it conveys:
•1. Don’t forget me.... Don’t forget me!
2.	1 overheard the children talking on the telephone.
3.	Going to Dorset? Wouldn’t it be better if you stayed
here?
4.	You will prevent her from being a great painter.
5.	You only say this because you’re jealous, because you’re
in love with her yourself!
6.1 saw a fish that a man had caught. It was a big fish. It
was lying all by itself on the sand, and struggling and gasping. I
wanted to pick it up and throw it back into the sea. But I wasn’t
brave enough to.
8. Discuss the moral aspect of the actions or utterances:
1.	Nan, who did not think that children should have secrets
20
from their parents, had lifted-the receiver in the bedroom and
was disquieted indeed at what she heard, (p. 129)
2.	She thought of writing a letter to Miss Carter, and even
began in her mind to compose one whose venom amazed her.
But that was foolish, (p. 129)
3.	‘Did you know what was happening?” said Nan, drying
her eyes. ‘Did you ever see them together?” “No,” said Tim, “I
didn’t...” (p. 132)
4.	“Nan,” said Tim, “I do love you, you know that, don’t
you?” (p. 133)
5.	‘If you could only come to me,” said Tim, “be with me
somehow — ” Nan turned from him. With coldness, with vio-
lence, the reality of her situation touched her, the irresponsible
silliness of her present conduct. She shook her head. (p. 134)
6.	He (Ewy) had taken it into his head lately to preach a se-
ries of sermons on popular sayings, (p. 140)
7.	He had deliberately given Rain the impression that his
marriage was a complete failure, a wash-out, something that
was already breaking up, quite independently of her arrival, (p.
143)
8.	‘I want to talk to you about the things you are doing
now,” said Bledyard, “to your wife and Miss Carter.”
‘Suppose you mind your own goddam business!” said Mor.
He was trembling. Bledyard’s impertinence was almost beyond
belief, (p. 144)
III. QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION	b&cty-
(Jj Give a brief summary of each chapter. Specify through
whose perception the chapters are presented and why.
Ф Dwell on Nan’s shock at the discovery of her husband’s
infidelity. Make a list of words conveying Nan’s emotional state
and reaction; use them when discussing the point.
V ф Nan’s attempts to take refuge in Tim Burke’s'sympathy.
♦ Say what you think of Nan’s moral standards.
V Nan confronts her husband. Speak of Nan’s attempts to
have her own way^Which of the two was the more pathetic?
♦Specify the peculiar blending of the dramatic and the comic in
the situation. Discuss the elements of symbolization in the
Mor’s thoughts of the shock he had undergone^Why are
they given against the background of the Mass in the chapel?
21
6. Bledyard’s talk with Mor. Recount his arguments. Say
what you make of their moral value. Find proof that Bledyard
had faith in Miss Carter as a painter.
7. Nan’s frustrated inner world. Discuss the symbolic sig-
nificance of the end of chapter 14.
ASSIGNMENT 8
Chapters 15, 16
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
to be under a strain	b to consider smb
torment vt	^toki/d^nffbounds
г' to fix a date	to scare one out of one’s wits
K novelty n	r* to lose one’s nerve
to summon up one’s good/ <2 heart-rending
bad qualities у л v to lose one’s consciousness
connoisseur
II. EXERCISES
1.	Give the contextual meaning of these lexical units using an
English-English dictionary; give the derivatives of the
words in bold type:
to torment; novelty; connoisseur; to Jose one’s nerve; to
consider smb; heart-rending /
2.	Study the use of the active vocabulary in the sentences below.
Make up your own sentences with the words in bold type:
1.	Will you fix the date of your first lecture?
2.	The young teacher could hardly keep order in class and
often lost his nerve.
3.	At the end of the term students are usually under a
strain.
4.	The clown gave out a heart-rending cry and fell over
himself when he saw a lion.
5.	You will have to consider other people if you want to
cope with the situation.
6.	His joy knew no bounds when he was asked to join the
expedition.
7.	There is no novelty in the facts you are making so much
of.
22
8.	1 can’t summon up my courage to come into this icy
water.
9.	The young nurse saw a bleeding man and lost her con-
sciousness.
10.	‘Well, what do you make of this picture?” “I am afraid I
am not much of a connoisseur.”
11.	Don’t turn on the tape-recorder! You’ll scare the baby
out of its wits.
3.	Make up your own sentences after the pattern:
1.	Let’s fix the date of our departure.
2.	You’ll have to consider your parents if you feel like
travelling a lot.
3.	My happiness knew no bounds when I entered the in-
stitute.
4.	The noise outside scared me out of my wits.
5.	Don’t lose your nerve if you confront naughty chil-
dren.
4.	Answer these questions:
1.	Are you a connoisseur of painting? What makes you
think so? 2. What novelties can life offer you this year?
3. What can small children be tormented by? 4. Who fixes the
dates of your parties at the institute? 5. What kind of people
summon up your best qualities? 6. What do you call the people
who seldom or never consider others?
5.	Give all the word combinations you know with the verbs to
make, to take, to come, to get, to feel, to know, to
lose. Translate each of them.
6.	Recount the situations in which the active vocabulary is em-
ployed.
7.	Ask for additional information throwing light upon the state
of things:
1.	During those days Mor learnt what it was to have a mind
? diseased, (p. 151)
“	2. They had to have novelties and distractions, (p. 152)
3.	He began to think at once that he might hate the exhibi-
tion. (p. 155)
4.	‘Is there no picture here of your mother?” Mor said at
last. “No,” said Rain. “My father hardly ever painted her.”
They moved a pace or two and Mor wondered to himself
how much that missing face would have told him. (p. 157)
5.	So far as he could he prevented himself from considering
the children, (p. 159)
III. QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
a)LMor is tormented by indecision. What was there about
his new life that aroused his doubt?
2.	Mor comes to know more of Rain. How did the newly-
acquired knowledge influence him?
3.	Mor and. Rain go round the exhibition. Discuss the
thoughts Mor was preoccupied with when looking at the pic-
tures.
4.	Mor takes his final decision. Describe his state of mind
after it.
5.	The school on the day of Bledyard’s lecture. What did the
boys look forward to at the lecture?
'6	. The news of Don and. Carde’s climbing the tower. Dis-
cuss the behaviour of those present and the decisions they took
7.	The result of climbing. What made Donald run away
when he found himself safe? Comment upon his father’s state.
b)	1. Look up in a dictionary the unknown words among
those listed below to make sure of their meaning and pronunci-
ation:
breach of discipline; challenge; self-assertion; hooliganism;
exploit; public stunt; reminder; vengeance; punishment; catas-
trophe; showing off; disgrace
2.	Use those words as well as the verbs to attribute to, to
interpret as, to regard as, to look upon as, to consider when
answering the following question:
How was climbing the tower regarded by:
1. Donald and Carde —when planning it? when carrying
out their plan? after climbing? 2. the teaching staff and the
headmaster? 3. the schoolboys? 4. Mor? 5. Jimmie Carde’s par-
ents?
Substantiate your opinion. Quote the text if necessary.
24
ASSIGNMENT 9
Chapters 17, 18
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
to have a miraculous escape^ to realize one’s lifelong ambi-
tion
ingenious adj
conformity n
to corner smb by smth
да crucial moment
to hold smb prisoner
from smth j
to cross smb P
compliant adj f
to refrain from doing smth
whereabouts n
apprehensive adj
Dutch courage
to wear the look of condes-
cension
П. EXERCISES
1.	Give the contextual meaning of these lexical units relying on
an English-English dictionary, point out the derivatives of
the words in bold type:
to cross; compliant; whereabouts; apprehensive; Dutch
courage; ingenious; to corner; conformity; a crucial moment
2.	Think of the nouns that can be modified by the adjectives:
ingenious; compliant; pathetic; tearful; miraculous; de-
plorable; ludicrous
3.	Note the use of the active vocabulary; translate the sentences:
1.	The cat crossing the street had a miraculous escape from
a car. 2. What do you make oFTT teacher who likes only
compliant pupils? 3. Don’t cross your granny, do as you are
told. 4.1 want you to refrain from makingTurther unpleasant
remarks. 5. The atmosphere of the Hermitage held me
prisoner, 6. He realized his lifelong ambition by publishing that
collection of poems. 7. Eli Whitney’s ingenious machine
separated cotton from its seeds. 8. Who doe's not need a friend
to turn for Sympathy or help to at a crucial moment? 9. It is
^conformity that makes some people keep silent when they
actually disagree. 10. Do you really want to corner me by your
i questions? 11. The headmaster resented the look of condescen-
sion worn^by_the boy he was talking to. 12. He saw an
ambulance at the entrance and immediately felt apprehensive,
f' 25
13.	If you find out the student’s whereabouts, let me know. 14.
How long will it take you to realize that Dutch courage is
ludicrous?
4.	Make up your own sentences based on the contents of chap-
ters 17 and 18 using the active vocabulary.
5.	Explain in your own words:
1.	...Nan, as if once more to cross him, had been since her
return enormously calm, reasonable, and compliant, ... . (p.
175)
2.	The opening date of the chemistry exam had come and
gone, but Donald Mor had not come home, nor had any news
been received that might provide the slightest clue to his where-
abouts. (p. 181)
3.	A lifetime of conformity was too much for him. He
stayed where he was. (p. 191)
4.	The scene held him prisoner, his wife’s presence and her
words pinned him to his chair, his whole previous life contained
him like a straitjacket, (p. 192)
6.	Discuss the motives underlying the following utterances or
actions:
1.	Nan thrust her arm through Mor’s as they began to walk
slowly back up the hill,.... (p. 174)
2.	“He said they’re going ahead with the presentation dinner
for Demoyte’s picture,” said Nan. “It’s happening on Tuesday.”
“Yes, I know it’s Tuesday. Will you come — or shall we send
.an excuse? It’s perfectly easy to get out of it now.”
‘I shall come, I think,” said Nan. (p. 176)
3.	“Mor,” said Rain, “I cannot wait.... But I think we should
tell Nan the truth now, even if it is a bad moment.” (p. 179)
4.	Sir Leopold rose to his feet and a serene silence felt He
contrived to say nothing pleasant about Demoyte by saying
nothing about him at all. (p. 186)
5.	“...it is a consolation to think that if St Bride’s is in the
years to come distinguished for nothing else, it will at least be a
place of pilgrimage for those who are interested in the early
work of one who — can we doubt it in the face of such evi-
dence — is destined to be one of the most remarkable painters
of her age.” (p. 188)
26
6."... After a long period of patient work, my husband has
v a great happiness of being able to realize his lifelong ambi-
l The nearby borough of Marsington have decided to adopt
i as their Labour candidate —...” (p. 190)
%. Discuss the moral aspect of the following actions and utter-
ances:
1.	Against both Carde and Donald Mor Mr Everard had
reluctantly invoked the law that decreed instant expulsion for
dimbers. He had been so apologetic to Mor about this that the
latter had virtually had to make up his mind for him, pointing
out that he had no choice but to expel them both. (p. 175)
2.	Nan said, “... What are you going to do, Bill?”
Mor was going to see Rain at Brayling’s Close. He said, ‘Til
go down to the Public Library on my bike —....” (p. 178)
3.	Poor Nan, thought Mor. He tried to catch her eye. She
turned towards him — and he was startled by scared and wide-
eyed expression with which she looked at him. He smiled and
made an encouraging gesture with his hand. (p. 189)
4.	"... We have discussed the matter fully, and we are at last
agreed that there is no other bond or tie which can prevent us
from adventuring forward together....” (p. 190)
5.	To rise now and to go out with Rain would set the seal on
all his intentions. But Rain had turned away her eyes — and al-
though Mor struggled in his seat he could not bring himself to
get up. (p. 191)
6.	Demoyte got up and left the room, slamming the door
behind him. (p. 192)
HI. QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1.	The outcome of the climbing of the tower. Discuss the
way it changed the domestic atmosphere in the Mor family and
affected Mor’s plans.
2.	Mor goes to Brayling’s Close. Dwell upon the scene
made by Rain. Account for Mor’s indecision about declaring
the truth to Nan.
3.	Mor’s state of mind before the presentation dinner. Why
did he feel apprehensive?
4.	The arrival of the guests and the beginning of the dinner.
27
Comment upon the atmosphere of the proceedings. Dwell on
Nan’s looks and behaviour.
5.	Give the gist of Demoyte’s speech. Specify the features
lending grace, wisdom, and dignity to it.
6.	Nan’s speech. Point out its items that were blatant lies.
What made it possible for Nan to frustrate her husband’s hopes
by declaring his political ambitions in public?
7.	Mor’s reaction to Nan’s speech. Account for Demoyte’s
fury after Rain’s departure. Give your opinion of Mor’s be-
haviour.
ASSIGNMENT 10
Chapters 19, 20
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
trick n, vt
to take in
to complicate things v
to deprive smb of smth
to sweep smth away
IL EXERCISES
to be overwrought
inevitable adj
inevitability n
to bear resemblance to
to take on the candidature
1.	Define the contextual meaning relying on an English-English
dictionary:
trick; to take in; to deprive; inevitable; to complicate
2.	Translate into Russian:
1.	There is nothing to fear! You were just tricked by a light
effect in the dark 2.1 am afraid this photo bears no resem-
blance to me. Are you sure it is mine? 3. After the battle at
Stalingrad the enemy’s defeat began to seem inevitable.
4. “Are you sure you aren’t complicating the matter?” “I am
afraid you are.simplifying it.” 5. This action of yours may de-
prive you of freedom of choice. 6. You mustn’t be taken in by
the child’s compliant look 7. This is an argument that can’t be
easily swept away. 8. After the working day everybody seemed
to be overwrought and hungry.
3.	Make up your own sentences based on the active vocabulary.
4.	Recount the situations from the concluding chapters of the
novel where the active vocabulary is used.
28
s’ 5. Ask one another fact-finding questions stimulating the use of
i the active vocabulary.
6.	Recount the situations from the novel. Give reasons under-
lying the facts or the utterances given below:
1.	“You are a growing tree. I am only a bird...”
2.	“You’ve made me exist for the first time.”
3.	“If you lovejj me—” he said.
‘That word cannot guide us any more.”
4.	Tt was inevitable,” he said dully.
“Coward and fool!” said Demoyte. “Nothing was inevitable
here. You have made your own future.”
5.	“Aren’t you going to take this?” He indicated the sketch
which still lay on the table.
“No,” said Mor, “you keep it for me. I should like it to be
kept here.”
6.	He looked at Nan.... She looked very tired and like an old
woman.
7.	Everything was all right. Why was it then that she was
starting to cry? ...She gave a little sob into her handkerchief.
Everything was all right now. It was all right. It was all right.
• III. TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1.	Mpr runs about in search of Rain. Account for his state of
mind.
2.	Give the gist of the conversation between Rain and Mor.
Comment upon the elements of symbolization resorted to by
the author.
3.	Mor comes to know about Rain’s departure. Give a
summary of his talk with Demoyte.
4.	Rain’s last message.
5.	Speak about the upshot of the novel Dwell upon its
symbolic significance.
IV. QUESTIONS
1.	Do you remember another incident in the novel when
Rain was able to work after a crisis? Could Mor work under
similar circumstances?
2.	Why was it a shock to Rain that Mor had wished to take
on the candidature?	___
3.	How didNan’s tricks help Rain to see the matter in a
new light?
4.	Was it correct of Mor to leave Rain all to herself at that
crucial moment?
5.	Why did Rain give up Mor?
6.	Which word said by Mor to Demoyte shows that Mor
had been prepared for the loss of Rain?
7.	Do you think Mor a traitor?
8.	Was the reunion of the Mor family caused by Mor’s
choice or by a combination of circumstances? Does the author
regard it as Mor’s moral victory or defeat?
9.	WhattSort of future awaited the Mor family? Was Nan
able to change radically her treatment of her husband?
10.	Do you find the ending of the novel optimistic or pes-
simistic?
ASSIGNMENT 11	т
Discussion of the Novel
I.	Revise the active vocabulary of Assignments 1-10.
II.	Use the active vocabulary when discussing the items:
1.	The nature of the main conflict of the novel. Group the
personages according to the sides taken by them in the conflict.
Delineate the major characters from the minor personages, the
dynamic and the static ones.
2.	William Mor:
a)	his profession, social background, political ambitions;
b)	his principal values**4*'
c)	his frustration caused by the domestic atmosphere;
d)	the essence of the relations: Mor —Nan, Mor —Rain,
Mor — Demoyte, Mor — his children;
e)	Mor’s behaviour at the crucial moment and its cause;
f)	the meaning of Mor’s character.
3.	Nan:
a)	her social background;
b)	her scope of vision and activities;
c)	Nan’s opinions of the people around;
d)	the essence of the relations: Nan—Mor, Nan —
Demoyte, Nan — Rain, Nan — her children, Nan—Tim Burke;
30
e)	Nan’s behaviour at the crucial moment;
f)	Nan’s triumph and its meaning.
4.	Rain Carter:
a)	her social and professional background;
b)	her main values;
c)	her personal features as seen in the relations with Mor,
Demoyte, Bledyard;
d)	compare Rain and Nan;
e)	specify the cause of Rain’s defeat.
5.	Demoyte as the author’s mouthpiece.
6.	The author’s point of view and the mcans-of its expres-
sion.
7.	The author’s main idea as reflexion of the philosophy of
existentialism.
THE PAINTED VEIL*
by William Somerset Maugham
ASSIGNMENT 1
Chapters I-XI
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
in an emergency
irresistible adj
to count on smb •1 17
prudent adj
sordid adj*
common adj
to put on airs
snobbish adj
snob n
II. EXERCISES
-Ao kick up a row
to provide smb with smth
to set one’s hopes on smb/,
smth
eligible adj у
not to know a person from
Adam
to get smb off one’s hands
J to make a hash of things
1.	Point out the contextual meaning of these lexical units re-
lying on an English-English dictionary:
* Maugham W. The Painted Veil. M., 1981.
31
emergency; prudent; sordid; common; to put on airs; eligi-
ble; not to know a person from Adam; to make a hash of things
2.	Express the same notion in one word:
careful forethought; one who respects others on account of
their rank or wealth; fit to be chosen; impossible to oppose; a
sudden happening that makes it necessary to act quickly; not
knowing or using good manners or speech
3.	Study the use of the active vocabulary and make up your own
sentences with it:
1.	The lecture was dull, and the audience felt like sleeping
irresistibly. 2. I don’t know this man from Adam. I’ve never
seen him in my life. 3. The girl made snobbish remarks about
all those present, and we wondered why she was putting on
airs. 4. Her parents could be counted on to kick up a row if she
came home late. 5. During the war all-eligible young men
fought at the front and a lot of girls remained single. 6. You
may make a hash of your life if you choose the wrong profes-
sion. 7. Who provides you with these wonderful books on art?
8. People like you can be counted on in an emergency. 9. It
would be imprudent of you to make friends with that girl. I
think her common and silly. 10. The landlady showed us to her
house which we found sordid and overcrowded with furniture.
4.	Recount the episodes from the novel in which the active
vocabulary is employed.
5.	Ask fact-finding questions on the chapters under discussion
using the active vocabulary.
6.	Paraphrase or explain:
1.	How unfortunate to be called Dorothy! It dated you. (p.
17)
2.	... There was one (photo) of her father too, ... . It Lad
befcn done when he took silk and it represented him in a wig
and gown. (p. 22)
3.	Mrs Garstin did not mince her words in the domestic cir-
cle and she warned her daughter tartly that she would miss her
market, (p. 27)
4.	Kitty spoke with her tongue in her cheek,... (p. 33)
32
Ш. QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1.	Speak about the author of the book.
2.	Where is the scene laid? Point out words conveying the
local colouring. Is there any exposition in the opening chapter?
How does the reader come to know the place, the time and the
characters?
3.	Discuss the behaviour of each of the young lovers in the
predicament. Pay attention to their attitude to each other. Find
proof that Townsend’s reaction to the danger was somewhat
strange for a lover.
4.	Specify what Kitty found attractive in Townsend. Point
out Townsend’s utterances persuading Kitty to count on him in
an emergency. How did Kitty regard- the situation she found
herself in?
5.	Speak about Kitty’s background. What features of her
mother’s was she especially influenced by? Why was her fa-
ther’s influence so small? Was Kitty a good daughter to her fa-
ther?
6.	Make a summary of all the motives that made Kitty
marry Walter Fane. Do you think them serious enough? Dwell
on Walter Fane. Was he a match to Kitty?
7.	Why was their marriage a mistake? Whose fault was it?
Had Mrs Garstin’s influence anything to do with the mistake?
Does the mistake justify Kitty’s unfaithfulness?
ASSIGNMENT 2
Chapters XII-XXI
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
flatter vt
considerate adj
casual adj
to feel &( home with smb
self-conscious adj
exasperate vt
to be no great fry
reserved adj
to do smb a good turn
2—287
conceited adj
to take pains to do smth
accomplishment n
to see smb by stealth
repulsive adj
to wash one’s dirty linen
in public
to know which side one’s
bread is buttered
'	33
II. EXERCISES
1.	Define the contextual meaning of these lexical units relying
on an English-English dictionary:
considerate; casual; self-conscious; to exasperate; reserved;
to do a good turn; conceited; accomplishment; to take pains to
do smth; repulsive
2.	Give the corresponding nouns, translate them:
to flatter; considerate; casual; self-conscious; to exasperate;
reserved; conceited; repulsive
3.	Point out adjectives applying to human behaviour or personal
qualities. Combine them with suitable nouns.
M о d e 1: A conceited man (fool, clerk, ass, youth, etc.).
4.	jTranslate these sentences:
1.	At the party the young man felt self-conscious and
tongue-tied. He could hardly feel at home among the dressed
up people who took pains to show off their accomplishments
and social gifts. The hostess decided to do him a good turn and
engage him in a conversation. The youth found her tactful and
considerate and her attention flattering.
2.	A casual remark caught his attention. “You say you lovb
animals and you think snakes and insects repulsive. How is
that?” “Oh, but insects and snakes are sb different,” answered a
small boy in an exasperated tone.
3.	The woman takes great pains to keep her house clean
and tidy, that is why her daughter may have no animals. The
girl keeps a kitten in the cellar and sees her pet by stealth, poor
child.
5.	Find good Russian equivalents of the sayings:
to wash one’s dirty linen in public; to know which side one’s
bread is buttered
Make up your own situations with them.
6.	Make up short comic stories based on your own experience.
Use the sentences below as suggestions:
1.	The girl took pains to look beautiful.
2.	A casual word caught my attention.
34
3.	You may do me a good turn if you ask me no questions.
4.1 like reserved people.
5. This young man is no great fry, but he knows which side
his bread is buttered.
6.1 don’t want to see you by stealth.
7. Thank you, you are so considerate to me.
8. Who is this conceited ass?
9.1 am flattered.
10.	Unfortunately, I can’t feel at home with self-conscious
people.
11.	Her tone slightly exasperated me.
12.	A repulsive sight, wasn’t it?
7.	Recall the episodes from the chapters under discussion in
which you came across the following words and expres-
sions:
to feel at home with smb; to be no great fry; to do smb a
good turn; accomplishment; to see smb by stealth; conceited
8.	Point out words of evaluation applying to Walter; to
Townsend.
9.	Paraphrase or explain:
1.	He /Walter) could not bring himself to play the round
games which Kitty with her high* spirits found such a lark. (p.
38)
2.	He (Charles) never let red tape interfere with him. (p. 42)
3.	If he (Walter) wanted to make a scene, it was his look-
out; he must not be surprised if he got more than he bargained
for. (p. 49)
4.	He danced rottenly, he was a wet blanket at a party,... (p.
50)
5.	“...when you come down to brass tacks a bacteriologist is
no great shakes.... ” (p. 56)
10.	Say'whose utterances these are and what provoked them.
Interpret their meaning:
1.	He plays a winning hand very well, but when he has bad
cards he goes all to pieces. J
2.	He had a broad back, he told her, ...and it did not matter «,
about him; but for her sake they mustn’t take the smallest risk. L li,
2**	35
3.	Well, you know, women are often under the impression
that men are much more in love with them than they really are.
4.	The doctor says I must get out of the heat if I don’t want
to go all to pieces.
Ш. QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1.	Speak about Walter Fane as seen by Kitty. What features
of his made him an excellent husband? What was Kitty exas-
perated in him by? Did Kitty’s opinion of Walter differ much
from the others’? Why was Walter not popular? Summarize all
the references to the social status of a bacteriologist.
2.	Charles Townsend as Kitty saw him. Find proof that
Kitty constantly compared him with Walter. Why did she make
so much of Townsend’s accomplishments? What do you make
of them?
3.	In what Way was Kitty’s love predetermined by her up-
bringing? Do you think it was love or infatuation? Did it make
Kitty deeper, nobler, wiser or did it bring forth her shallowness,
selfishness, vulgarity?
4.	What was humiliating about the position Kitty was put
into by Townsend? How did Kitty plan her future and
Dorothy’s, Walter’s? Could she see that she might cause them a
lot of pain, misery?
5.	Discuss how Townsend regarded the situation and its
possible outcome. Why did he think that Walter would kick up
no row? Which utterances of Townsend’s show that he was not
much in love with Kitty?
6.	How did Walter take the shock? Point out words and
phrases conveying his state of mind. Why do you think he kept
silence about the matter?
7.	Whose point of view is predominant in the novel? How
does the author manage to introduce other points of view?
ASSIGNMENT 3
Chapters XXII-XXVII
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
of one’s own free will
to be frightened out of one’s
commonplace adj
second-rate adj
vindictive adj
wits
36
to get into a mess (a scrape) ,
 to let smb down
' to make a clean breast of smth
to smb
to be keen on smth
to hush smth up

tabbing an ajtior
ttf^udge smbacc
callous adj'f' *
self-seeking adj
ivorce
IL EXERCISES
1. a) Define the meaning of these lexical units:
of one’s own free will; commonplace; second-rate; vindic-
tive; to let smb down; to hush smth up; callous; self-seeking
b) Give the corresponding nouns and translate them:
vindictive, commonplace, to let down, callous
i2.	Translate into Russian. Make up your own sentences 'with
these word combinations:
a)	a second-rate film (novel); a commonplace joke; a vin-
dictive creature; a self-seeking adventurer; a callous word
b)	to hush up a scandal; to make a clean breast of the past;
to get the children out of harm’s way; to be keen on sight-see-
ing; to let down the best friend; to go to the front of one’s own
free will; to judge the principal character accurately
3.	Translate these sentences:
1.	In the XVII century a group of Puritans left England for
. Holland. On finding that the Dutch were keen on life’s plea-
sures, they felt scandalized and fled to North America to get
their children out of harm’s way.
2.	When he made a clean breast of everything to his father,
the old man said: “You should judge the situation accurately.
You will be better off if you hush up this row. People have to
think twice before they bring an action for divorce. As to your
taking offence... vindictive people are second-rate? It is not for
nothing that vindictiveness gbes hand in hand with Жапде,
1 callousness, and what not. My son should not be involved in
this.”
4.	Complete these sentences:
1.1 was frightened out of my wits when I found... 2. If you
37
get into another mess like that,... 3. Second-rate people are keen
bn... 4. I shall make a clean breast of everything if... 5. You
mustn’t hush up...
5.	Recall the situations in which the following words and
phrases occur:
vindictive; to let down; to get out of harm’s way; to bring an
action for divorce; to judge accurately; callous; self-seeking
6.	State whose utterances these are and under what cir-
cumstances they were made:
1.1 go of my own free will. $/-
2.1 should be frightened out of my wits. It’s just asking for
trouble.
3.1 knew that your aims and ideals were vulgar and com-
monplace... I knew that you were second-rate. //'
4. It’s a bloody mess we’ve got into. <' Д.
f jCS. Unless we can hush this up I don’t stand a dog’s chance.
6.	You can’t send me to certain death.
7.	Paraphrase or explain:
1.	Suicide. It was nothing short of that. (p. 63)
2.	“... I shall immediately file my petition.” (p. 64) *
3.	“You didn’t commit yourself, did you?...” (p. 71)
4.	“...we can’t take it lying down.” (p. 73)
5.	“Is it his idea to make me co-respondent?” (p. 74)
6.	“...There shouldn’t be any publicity and people are pretty
broad-minded nowadays.” (p. 77)
8.	Say who made these utterances and under what circum-
stances. Discuss the motives of the speaker and the moral
implication of each utterance:
1.	It would be madness for me to go.
2.	Unfortunately I always found you physically repulsive.
3.1	say, my dear, you really mustn’t come here in working
hours.
4.1	don’t suppose you want to be divorced any more than I
do.
5.	You know I shall never let you down.
б.	I know that every man has his price.
38
7.	If the worst came to the worst, I should make a clean
breast of it to Dorothy.
8.1 am very keen on my career.
9. One can be very much in love with a woman without
wishing to spend the rest of one’s life with her.
10. In point of fact there’s no great risk if you are careful.
IL He knew that you’d run like a hare at the approach of
danger.
12.1 suppose I needn’t take more than a few summer frocks
and a shroud, need I?
9. Say why these things happened or did not happen:
1.1 shall immediately file my petition.
2.	He’s only too anxious to marry me.
3.	You dragged me round those interminable galleries in
Venice.
4.	We’ve got into an awful scrape.
5.	I’ve already told your amah what you’ll want.
TIL TOPICS FORDISCUSSION
1.	Walter and Kitty have a talk. Comment on the motives of
Katy’s refusal to go to Mei-tan-fu. Account for Walter’s
mocking manner throughout the talk.
2.	Walter brings up the subject of divorce. Kitty discusses
the details of the divorce suit.
3.	Kitty comes to Townsend’s office. Account for his reac-
tion to her coming his manner and all the changes of his mind.
4.	Townsend’s readiness to bring pressure against Walter.
Find proof of his misjudging Walter.
5.	Kitty comes to see her position in true light. Compare
Townsend’s reaction to Mei-tan-fu at the first mention and on
second thought.
6.	Discuss the drama Kitty had to live through within one
day.
IV. QUESTIONS
1.	Why did Walter bring the subject of Mei-tan-fu before
his mention of their divorce?
2.	Had Walter any right to send his wife to certain death?
39
3.	Why did Kitty insist on her bringing an action for di-
vorce?
4.	Had Walter any illusions about his wife? Was his love
creative?
5.	What shows that the mess Townsend got into was not
the first in his life?
6.	What do you think of people who are keen on their ca- »
reers?
7.	What made it possible for Walter to judge Townsend ac-
curately?
8.	What price was Kitty to pay for her illusions?
ASSIGNMENT 4
Chapters ХХУШ-ХХХУШ
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
to turn smth over in one’s
mind
to get on well
disdain n
to take precautions against
smth
to be panic-stricken
to put on (no) frills
П. EXERCISES
cunning adj,n
to cause smb inconvenience
(trouble, pain, etc.)
complatency n
to hold smb in contempt
shrewd ad]
to take a risk
to swear by smb
1.	Give definitions relying on an English-English dictionary;
give the derivatives of the words in bold type:
to swear by smb; to hold smb in contempt; to take precau-
tions against smth; disdain; to put on frills; cunning; compla-
cency; shrewd
2.	Study the use of the active vocabulary in these word
combinations and sentences; translate them into Russian:
a)	a shrewd look (face, observer); a cunning smile (hunter,
politician); a disdainful word (phrase, look, manner, grin); a
complacent smile (air, philistine, snob)
b)	1. The father’s prestige stood high in the family, and the
children swore by him. 2. The hotel faced a busy street, and the
40
traffic noise caused a lot of inconvenience to the guests. 3. In
autumn and spring you should take precautions against catch-
ing a cold. Don’t go bareheaded in cold weather, you needn’t
ta^e, risks. 4. After that incident the class thought the boy a
coward and held him in contempt. 5. Being a shrewd man, the
teacher saw at a glance that something had happened. 6. When
the fire broke out, all the neighbourhood was panic-stricken. 7.
I have been turning your advice over and over in my mind and I
have come to like it 8. The newcomer was an easy-going man,
he put on no frills, and the staff got on well with him.
3.	Make up situations of your own based on your personal
experience. Use the phrases given below:
1.	1 hate to cause you any inconvenience.
2.	He was complacency itself, and we could not get on well.
3.	Come, come, there’s nothing to be panic-stricken about
4.	You needn’t take unnecessary /frits.
5.	If you don’t take all precautions...
6.	His shrewd eyes rested on me for a moment.
7.	Why should I hold you in contempt? Who am I to put on
frills?
8.	We had turned the matter over in our minds before we
came to that conclusion.
4.	Recount the situations from the chapters under discussion in
which the active vocabulary is employed.
5.	Paraphrase or explain:
1.	He’s made a science of popularity, (p. 98)
- 2. Of course he will get on. He knows all the official ropes.
(p.99)
3.	When I’m there you are acting both of you, and acting
damned badly, by George. You’d neither of you get thirty bob a
week in a touring company if that’s the best you can do. (p. 108)
6. Say under what circumstances and why this happened:
i
1.	Kitty passed through the country with unseeing eyes.
2.	...I’ve ordered your dinner and Pve invited myself.
3.	...Kitty found herself much alone.
4.	...she brought the conversation round to Charlie.
5.	...they ate salad every night.
41
6.	He is doctoring the sick, clearing the city up, trying to get
the drinking water pure.
7.	She could not hold back the sob that choked her.
Ш. TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1.	Kitty’s state of mind on the way to their destination.
2.	Gather as much information as possible about the epi*
domic and the state of things in Mei-tan-fu.
3.	Speak about Waddington. Dwell on the way he treated
life, people at large and the situation in Mei-tan-fu.
4.	Kitty’s mode of life and state of mind in the new place.
Compare them with Walter’s.
5.	Discuss the change in Kitty’s attitude to Townsend.
Speak about Kitty’s talk with Waddington about Townsend,
Waddington’s opinion of him. Point out his utterances that
Kitty must have been hurt by.
6.	Walter’s work and popularity in Mei-tan-fii.
IV. QUESTIONS
1.	On the way to Mei-tan-fu Kitty asked herself questions.
Try and answer them from your own point of view..
a)	...she had never known that one could suffer so much;
and she asked herself desperately what she had done to deserve
it. (p. 86)
b)	Did you cease to love a person because you had been
treated cruelly? (p. 87)
c)	Was it possible that his love had left him (Walter)
entirely? Was it possible that he really designed her death? (p.
88)
2.	Was Kitty cowardly by nature? How did Kitty feel about
the epidemic and her role in Mei-tan-fu?
3.	Do you think Waddington guessed, why Kitty had
brought Townsend as the subject of their talk?
4.	Who had been the first to use the word “second-rate” in
reference to Kitty? Under what circumstances?
5.	Why had Walter been unpopular in Hong Kong? Why
was it different in Mei-tan-fu?
6.	Did Kitty know much about Walter’s work?
7.	Do you regard Walter as a hero?
42
ASSIGNMENT 5
Chapters XXXIX-XLIX
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
indiscreet adj
grave adj
appraisal n
to form an opinion of smb/
smth
to come to smb’s rescue
amiable adj
obedience n •
austere adj
II. EXERCISES
worthlessness n
to be blind to smb’s merit
to harbour malice
mortify vt
to ascribe some qualities
to smb
to commit adultery
to live on make-believe
1.	Give definitions using an English-Englisn dictionary; point
out the derivatives of the words in bold type:
indiscreet; grave; appraisal; amiable; obedience; austere;
worthlessness; to harbour malice; to mortify; to live on
make-believe
2.	Arrange these words and word combinations in pairs of
antonyms and say what they mean:
indiscreet,'naughty, grave, to make much of smb, excellent,
‘ to be on amiable terms,’second-rate, self-seeking,-obedient, to
•be one’s enemy, selfless, light-minded, to hold smb in con-
tempt, discreet
3.	Note the use of the active vocabulary in these word com-
binations and sentences; translate them into Russian:
a)	an indiscreet word (question, phrase, remark, appraisal,
act); a IbtOiFap^msM, a c^cTappraisjdT'a sifcnfappraisal, a
word of appraisal, appraising eyes (excTamations, words); an
amiable glance (reception, smd^^^Yamiable questions,
(eyes, people, relations); to (Jehraricf obedience, to commana
obedience-, to show obedience, to expect obedience, to enjoy
obedience, in obedience to the authorities; to obey discipline, to
obey in silence, to show disobedience, to i^sem disobedience;
obedient servants, disobedient children (schoolboys, people);
an austere face (man, life, room, residence, manner)
43
b)	b mjj ascribe meFe disobedience to the children, you
shouldjroj^p^rman'that. 2. Living on make-beliereispmj^of
the advantages of the young, but soon they are to confront real-
ity. 3. Your father is the last person to be blind to your merit. 4.
We saw all the worthlessness of the film where the people lied
to one another, put on airs, mortified their best, committed
adultery and ascribed the worst qualities to the rest of the
world. 5. He was an amiable chap, quite unable to harbour
malice or to ask indiscreet questions. 6. The mountaineers were
caught in a snowstorm, and there was nobody to come to their
rescue. 7. The austere surroundings helped us to form an
opinion of their earlier inhabitants. 8. A grave look of appraisal
turned on the boy made him blush.
4.	Paraphrase using the active vocabulary:
1.	Well, what do you make of this book?
2.	When he was in trouble, whose helping hand was
extended to him?
3.	Please, don’t attribute carelessness to my coming late.
4.	Let the child five in his dream land.
5.	The new lab assistant was friendly and easy to get on
with.
6.	The last remark hurt the girl’s feelings.
7.	,When tly:: heroine of the story learned that her husband
had fjeen unfmthraF to her, she decided to leave him for
good.	(//'*
8.	You’ll find these children able and compliant if you have
away with them.
g.	ТЫ landlady being a puritan, the room she offered was
colourless with its bare walls and simple furniture.
10.	The situation was so critical that everyone looked quiet
and serious. y0--'4-
5.	Make up situations of your own based on your personal
experience. Include the following phrases:
1.	1 saw at a glance that she had harboured malice.
2.	Why should you ascribe to people your own feelings?
3.	Surely I’ll come to your rescue in an emergency.
4.	For all his worthlessness, he got on well with people.
5.	Once a casual indiscreet remark caught my attention.
6.1 saw an amiable smile and felt at home.
44
7.	How quick you are to form opinions!
8.	A cold look of appraisal was turned on me.
6.	Recall the situations from the book where the active vo-
cabulary is used.
7.	Paraphrase or explain:
1.	And yet all round about the epidemic was raging and the
people,..., were kept in check but by the strong will of a soldier
who was more than half a brigand, (p. 115)
2.	He told her nothing of his work, but even in the old days
he had been reticent on this: he was not by nature expansive.
(p.127)
3.	... it was difficult to imagine, on that blithe, fresh, and
smiling morn, that the city lay gasping, like a man whose life is
being throttled out of him by a maniac’s hands, in the dark
clutch of the pestilence, (p. 130)
4.	... but the Mother Superior paid no attention to her en-
treaties and Kitty stood sufficiently in awe of her not to be im-
portunate. (p. 136)
8.	Point out historical, political or social causes behind the state
of things:
1.	"... We English have no very strong attachment to the
soil, we can make ourselves at home in any part of the world,
...”(p.lll)
2.	She had grown used to the untidiness of a Chinese street,
but here was the litter of weeks, garbage and refuse; and the
stench was so horrible that she had to put her handkerchief to
her face. (p. 112)
3.	Two of our girls have been attacked this morning and
nothing but a miracle can save them. These Chinese have no
resistance, (p. 132)
9.	Find the underlying reasons for:
1.	She shuddered a little, for in their uniform dress, sallow-
skinned, stunted, with their flat noses, they looked to her hardly
human. They were repulsive, (p. 117)
2.	"The lady’s husband will be pleased with them,” ... “I
think he could play by the hour with the babies....” (p. 120)
3.	By some magic he seemed able by his mere presence to
relieve your suffering, (p. 122)
4.	She alone had been blind to his merit, (p. 123)
5.	There was a barrier between her and them (the nuns).
(P.124)
6.	“It is not easy work or pleasant work. I doubt if it would
amuse you long.” (p. 127)
7.	Kitty found the work a refreshment to her spirit, (p. 135)
8.	But suddenly the child, with an idiot perversity, left her; it
seemed to lose interest in her, and that day and the following
days paid her no attention, (p. 137-138)
10.	Confirm or disprove the statements:
1.	“... That sort of thing doesn’t mean very much to a
woman when it’s over. I think women have never quite under-
stood the attitude that men take up.” (p. 126)
2.	"... I suppose I shouldn’t have been taken in by him if I
hadn’t been as worthless as he....” (p. 126)
3.	“It’s not fair to blame me because I was silly and
frivolous and vulgar. I was brought up like that....” (p. 129)
4.	“...one cannot find peace in work or in pleasure, in the
world or in a convent, but only in one’s soul.” (p. 135)
III.	QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1.	Waddington speaks to Kitty about the convent Why was
he, not Walter, chosen the bearer of a message to her?
2.	Discuss the convent, the nuns and their work. What was
its underlying motive? What was Waddington’s opinion of the
nuns and their activities?
3.	Speak about the people and things that struck Kitty at the
convent. Dwell on the things Kitty learned about her husband.
Did they make her form another opinion of him?
4.	Kitty speaks with Walter about their future and past.
Comment upon the new view she took of her adultery. Point
out the fragment? of her talk that might have caused Walter’s
great exasperation. Find proof, that she treated adultery much
lighter than her husband.
5.	Discuss the work Kitty was set to do at the convent and
the way she treated its repulsive sides.
6.	Speak of the author as master of the suggestive detail
(the episodes with the beggar in the street, with the idiot girl at
the convent, and some others).
46
7.	Find proof that Kitty’s perception of some people and
things was that of a commonplace philistine.
ASSIGNMENT 6
Chapters L-LVII
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
wicked adj
to love smb to distraction
to distract one’s mind
to regain one’s spirits
to attach importance to smth
inscrutable adj
to be a blow (a wound) to
one’s vanity
sensitive adj
to throw everything
to the winds
to be seized with terror
(horror, panic, etc.)
j to be overwhelmed with joy
nuisance n ‘ ‘
petty adj
to summon up one’s resolu-
tion (courage, will)
II. EXERCISES
1.	Give definitions using an Engjish-Engjish dictionary, give the
derivatives of the words in bold type:
wicked; to regain one’s spirits; inscrutable; sensitive; to be
overwhelmed with joy; nuisance; petty; to summon up one’s
resolution; to distract one’s mind
2.	Translate into Russian. Make up sentences of your own:
a)	a wicked man (child, smile, look, remark, behaviour, ac-
tion); an inscrutable smile (face, countenance), inscrutable
eyes, inscrutable ways of nature; a sensitive сйИ (girl, plant,
flower, skin); sensitive to blame (beauty, charm, heat, cold, the
sun, gossip); a petty man (snob, trouble, offence); petty
vindictiveness (snobbery, wickedness, feelings, regulations)
b)	1. Don’t let any petty feeling come between us. 2. It was
wicked of your friend to bring that girl to the party. 3. I am
sorry if I am a nuisance, but do you mind changing places with
me? 4. The'/umbur nad it that I had been too sensitive to your
criticism. Don’t you believe it, it was somebody’s wicked
tongue, no more. 5.1 don’t attach much importance to what
ignorant people have to say on the subject. 6. When your face
5   	47
becomes inscrutable, I am prepared for the worst 7. Summon
up your courage and face reality, man! You can’t live on make-
believe all your life. 8. When I read that story, I was seized with
horror. 9. The story runs that a young girl loved a boy to
distraction and when she was ready to throw everything to the
wnds for his sake, she encountered him with another girl in the
street. It was a mortal blow to her vanity. To drstracMier mind,
she married another man, old enough to be her father, to find
out later that that girl was her boy’s aunt. A charming story,
isn’t it? I could hardly regain my spirits for laughing my head
off, after reading it. Love is blind.
3.	Paraphrase using the active vocabulary:
1.	When the youth became an officer, his joy knew no-
bounds.
2.	The young mother loved her child madly.
3.	Turn off the radio, it is getting on my nerves.
4.	None of the soldiers was panic-stricken at the sight of
the approaching enemy.
5.	Time is the best healer: in a month after the accident the
girl became her former self again.
6.	Do you really find my opinion so important?
7.	He was mortified by his girl marrying his bitterest
enemy.
8.	She wondered if there was a man who could ruin his
future, make a sacrifice of his career, forget himself for
her sake.
9.	To prevent myself from thinking about my trou-
bles, I went to the cinema.
10.	This flower can’t stand the sunshine, it is too ten-
der.
4.	Recount the episodes from chapters XXXIX-XLIX where
the active vocabulary is employed.
5.	Give as much information as possible on the subjects
prompted by these sentences from the novel:
1.	Kitty had been conscious from the beginning that the
personality of this woman dominated the convent.
2.	...They are quite charming sometimes, these Manchu
women.
48
3.	She loved him no longer. Oh, the relief and the sense of
liberation!
4.	He did now what he did seldom; he looked her full in the
face; his professional instincts were stronger than his personal.
6.	Paraphrase or explain:
1.	The moment they arrived they began to save the poor lit-
tle unwanted girls from the baby-tower... (p. 141)
2.	It was lucky that Waddington knew nothing, she could
never have endured his malicious eyeing and his ironical innu-
endoes. (p. 144)
3.	The epidemic seems to be abating and the cool weather
should see the end of it. (p. 147)
4.	She could not tell why the way he spoke of her (the
Manchu woman),... gave her (Kitty) the impression so strongly
of the woman’s intense and unique devotion.
“It does seem a long way to Harrington Gardens,” she
smiled, (p. 149)
5.	She could count on him (Walter) never to throw the past
in her teeth, (p. 156)
6.	‘I shouldn’t have thought you were the sort of person to
put yourself out for a few stuffy nuns and a parcel of Chinese
brats.” (p. 163)
7.	Say who made these utterances and under what circum-
stances. Comment on the feelings that prompted the
utterances and the moral implication they suggest:
1.	“One is not even grateful to the people who love one; if
one doesn’t love them, they only bore one.”
“I have no experience of the plural,” he replied. “Mine is
only in the singular.”
2.	“Your husband is much too busy to be troubled. In five
minutes you’ll be perfectly well.”
3.	“Am I the father?”
... ‘1 don’t know,” she said.
4.	"This isn’t a place fot a woman in your condition.”
5.	“You must know that by bringing you here I’ve condoned
the offence.”
III.	QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1.	Kitty comes to know the nuns better. Speak about Sister
49
St Joseph’s traits making her different from a typical nun. What
did Kitty learn from her about the Mother Superior? Why did
Kitty feel a wall between the nuns and herself?
2.	Compare what Sister St Joseph told Kitty about
Waddington’s private life with what he told Kitty himself. What
new light does it throw on Waddington’s personality? Whom is
he contrasted to in the novel? r
3.	Kitty feels free from Townsend. Dwell on her reaction to
the discovery. What do you think helped her to regain her
heart?
4.	Kitty learns that she is with child. Account for her reac-
tion. Compare it with what the nuns felt about it.
5.	Kitty breaks the news to Walter. Dwell on her inner
struggle before she told her husband all the truth. Point out the
signs of Walter’s changing somewhat to her after the talk. Ac-
count for the change.
6.	Walter insists on Kitty’s leaving Mei-tan-fu. Give his rea-
sons. Comment upon what he told her about his aim in having
brought her there. Do you think him vindictive?
7.	Discuss a change in Kitty’s personality brought about by
her life in Mei-tan-fu. Find proof that the change was none too
deep.
ASSIGNMENT 7
Chapters LVIII-LXIII
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
to resume one’s work (studies*/ self-control n
a meeting, etc.)	'admirable, ud/
to feel all thumbs » г “	to^ve smb'peaceofmihd
,to have an inkling of smth	to такё abends fgr smth
profound adj	tcjgiveione a pang
on a pretext	. v. ’ л ,> i	v .
v
II. EXERCISES
1.	Give definitions using an English-English dictionary; give the
derivatives of the words in bold type:
to resume; to feel all thumbs; to have an inkling of smth;
profound; pretext; admirable; to make amends
50
2.	Give the corresponding verbs, translate them:
self-control, self-defence, self-examination, self-possession,
self-respect^ self-sacrifice, self-neglect, self-satisfaction
3.	Note the use of the active vocabulary in these word com-
binations and sentences; translate them into Russian:	r
a)	a profound book (novel, idea, knowledge, investigation);
a scholar of profound learning; an admu-afele woman (jjjilot, ~
cook, poet, jgiecg. of advice, collection of poems, quality, trait);
to keep (heed/lose, exercisejself-control
b)	1. The newcomef excjfett interest, and his neighbours
came to see hhn'oh any pretext. your knowledge of the
subject lacks’ profundity^ there is a good library just rpund the
comer.” “Thank you, I think I shall take yoyr at^irafale advice.”
z3. The secretary said that Mr Brown had re^Ver&Ka^d would
' reSiimelus work the next day. 4. None of us had an irdmtfeftt
what was going on behind opr backs. 5. The old manured to z
say that only a dear conscience could give ohe peace^of mmdj^''
His native land being gradually lost sight of in the distance cave
him a 7. The guests insisted on making amends fo? the
burnt carpet, but the host would not hear of it.'8. If you lose
self-control at a lesson, no good will come out of your work. 9.1
felt all thumbs under his cold stare.'''	- 
4.	Make up a comic short story based on your own experience.
Use some of the suggested phrases, changing them if neces-
sary:
What an admirable creature!
The idea gave me no peace of mind.
Who will make amends for my ruined suit?
There was a profound innocence in his blue eyes.
I had an inkling of what was to come next.
We felt all thumbs in the presence of such self-importance.
It gave me a pang to see... vanish.
Soon he came back on a funny pretext.
5.	Recount the episodes from the chapters under discussion
using the sentences below as suggestions:
1.	Her restlessness had induced her immediately to resume
her work.
51
2.	She was unreal, like a picture, and yet had an elegance
which made Kitty feel all thumbs.
3.	Now she seemed on a sudden to have an inkling of
something remote and mysterious.
4.	She was astonished at the interest the nuns took in her:
the sisters... on a flimsy pretext came into the room...
5.	Ah, I do not know what we should have done without
that admirable man.
6.	She wanted him io forgive her, not for her sake any
more, but for his own, for she felt that this alone could give him
peace of mind.
7.	Oh, this British self-control! There he is delighted beyond
measure and when you speak to him of it he becomes quite
pale.
8.	The thought haunted her now that in thus giving him
peace of mind she would make the only possible amends for
the anguish she had caused him.
9.	She was looking at Walter and she saw that his eyes were
wet with tears. It gave her a pang.	. ; л
6.	Paraphrase or explain:	, "
1.	They (the hands) suggested the breeding of un-
counted centuries, (p. 165)
2.	"... Men are incalculable; I thought you were like every-
body else and now I feel that I don’t know the first thing
about you.”(p. 167) '“vM'
3.	One day, firmly convinced that a heretic could know
nothing of such matters, she told Kitty of the Annunciation, (p.
169)
4.	She had an idea that he would welcome an uprush of
emotion which would liberate him from his nightmare of
resentment,... (p. 171)
5.	... in the shadow of the shuttered shops sometimes a
form seemed to be lying but you did not know whether it was a
man who slept to awake at dawn or a man who slept
to awake never;... (p. 181)	’
7.	Give your own opinion of the following utterances:
1.	“A well-bred woman does nothing which shall make peo-
ple talk of her.” (p. 173)
52
: 2. “...men often have a deepdr feeling for their daughters
thaii they ever have for their sons.” (p. 174)
3.	“There is only one way to win hearts and that is to make
oneself like unto those of whom one would be loved.” (p. 175)
8.	Interpret the following utterances after stating whom they
belong to and in what circumstances they were made:
1.	It is all the same way and it leads nowhither. " =; 7 •;
2.	This is a pretty kettle of fish. V r ,
3.	The dog it was that died,	ч.; t *... ъс;;
Ш. QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1.	Kitty has a cup of tea with the Manchu. Dwell on the
latter’s appearance and manner. Why was Kitty so interested in
meeting the woman? What was she looking for? Did the
meeting help her to find it? Comment upon Waddington’s
words on the way back.
2.	Discuss the attitude the nuns took up to Kitty. Why were
they exdted about her condition? Do you think they misjudged
the Fanes’ relations?	'' 4 ’' ‘ 1
3.	Pay attention to the author’s manner of unfolding the
narration: a detail cursorily mentioned in a chapter becomes
the subject-matter of a succeeding one. What is the effect thus
achieved? Discuss chapter LX from that point of view. Point
out the chapter where the Mother Superior’s family was first
mentioned.
4.	Kitty’s state of mind after her new life experience. How
did she regard her infidelity now? Why did she not regard it as
.wicked? Do you share her opinion? Speak about the change in
her attitude to Townsend and Walter. Do you think it pro-
found?
5.	Walter is taken ill. Kitty comes to see the last of him.
Comment on Kitty’s attempts to give him peace of mind and
their effect. Why could Kitty not interpret Walter’s last words?
6.	Gather all information of Colonel Yu and give your
opinion of him. What made him stay for hours at Walter’s
deathbed?
(
ASSIGNMENT 8
Chapters LXIV-LXXIV
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
futile adj
iX'to die a martyr
g^jyield vi
^to be reluctant to do smth
2#to have one’s tongue in one’s
cheek
llS despicable adj
fiJjpto keep out of smb’s way
degrade vt
Q^fast adj
Ao misjudge smb
to do the right thing
xXto make much of smb
to pull smb’s leg
n. EXERCISES
1.	Define the contextual meaning of these words and word
combinations:
futile; to yield; despicable; to degrade; fast; to have one’s
tongue in one’s cheek; to make much of smb; to pull smb’s leg
2.	Give the corresponding abstract nouns and translate them:
futile, reluctant, despicable, to degrade, wicked, petty, grave
3.	Translate into Russian. Make up your own sentences or
situations:
a)	a futile action (life, attempt, effort, remark); to die a
martyr to science (duty, homeland, the right cause); to be re-
luctant to get into a mess (to send smb to certain death, to
make a risk, to resume one’s work); a fast woman (behaviour),
to lead a fast life, to move 'with a fast crowd; to make much of
an actress (a great traveller, people of consequence); to yield to
a temptation, to yield in a dispute
b)	1. — Do you know that you’ve got chalk on your back?
—Are you pulling my leg?
—Not L Today is the second of April.
2.	—Have you noticed that he has his tongue in his cheek
when he speaks about his family?
— It’s all the fashion nowadays to be ironical about one’s
near and, dear, I find it despicable.
3.	— Don’t decade yourself by telling me lies! Your father
has been complaining that you are leading a fast life.
54
Yesterday I saw you in company of people whom it was
impossible to misjudge.
—My dear mamma, why can’t you see all the futility of
your effort to make a decent man of me? Whom should
I keep company with if I don’t like the people you make
so much of? I do keep out of their way because they
bore me to death., z
4.	If you are really keen on doing the right thing, ask him to
join our expedition. He may be reluctant, though, to go such a
long way at his age.
4.	Say what you find: a) despicable; b) degrading; c) imprudent
in human behaviour. Begin your sentences as in the model.
Model: 1. It is despicable to kick up rows in public.
2. I think it degrading to feel all thumbs in
somebody’s presence.
3.1 find it imprudent to go about bare-headed in
frosty weather.
5.	Discuss the episodes from the novel where the active vo-
cabulary is employed.
6.	Use the active vocabulary applying it to situations in the
chapters previously read.
7.	Paraphrase or explain:
1.	...at the memorial arch he said good-bye to her, and
looking at it for the last time she felt that she could reply to
the enigmatic irony of its appearance with an equal
irony of her own. (p. 200)
2.	The habiliments of woe could not but serve as an ef-
fective disguise to her unexpected feelings, (p. 205)
3.	1 know I can do nothing to make up for your terrible
loss, but I want you to know how deeply, how sincerely I feel
for you. (p. 207)
8.	Say who and under what circumstances made these ut-
terances. What feelings and motives were they prompted
by?
1'’ 1. Have you ever been to a symphony concert?	
•Vх 2. Walter died of a broken heart. ’
- 3.1 wish he could have minded his own business. <
V	55
4. The only thing that counts is the love of duty.
. 5. You can’t go and live all by yourself in your own house.
S' 6. He was a thundering good chap, and he’ll be missed here
more than I can say. \У‘‘
9.	Discuss why these things happened or did not happen:
1.	They gave up everything, their home, their country, love,
children, freedom.
2.	He was actually experimenting on himself.
3.	She did not want the Mother Superior to see into her
heart.
! 4. The convent door closed for the last time behind her.
i 5. She wondered if all her fellows had in their hearts
shamefill secrets which they spent their time guarding from
curious glances.
ч 6. She wished Dorothy Townsend would go away.
7.	Kitty did not understand. She did not know what amends
Charlie’s wife owed her.
8.	He began talking of the autumn race meeting, and the
polo... and a chat he had had that morning with the Governor.
9.	For a moment she had a picture before her mind’s eye of
the beggar... who had lain dead against the compound wall.
10.	Dorothy had had a letter from him, and he had said all
manner of things about her devoted work at the convent, about
her courage and her self-control.
Ш. QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1.	Walter’s burial. Discuss Kitty’s state of mind during the
burial and after it. Does it strike you as unusual under the cir-
cumstances?
2.	Kitty’s talk with Waddington after the burial. How did
Kitty treat the nuns, their work and way of life? What weak
point did she find in their outlook? Comment upon Wadding-
ton’s words about the meaning of human life.
M 3. Waddington breaks the news of the cause of Walter’s
death. How did Kitty react to it? Compare Waddington’s ver-
sion of the cause with Kitty’s. Which was closer to the truth?
(£)The Mother Superior insists on Kitty’s leaving Mei-tan-
fu. Why could she not understand Kitty’s reluctance to go?
Point out facts confirming that she liked and respected Kitty.
5.	Kitty’s thoughts, feelings and plans on the way to Hong
Kong. What did she appreciate most of all in her newly-ac-
quired freedom? Why did she find it despicable to lie to herself?
6.	Dorothy takes Kitty by surprise. What motives prompted
Dorothy to offer Kitty hospitality? Why was Kitty reluctant to
take the offer? Do you think Dorothy knew about her hus-
band’s love affair with Kitty?
7.	Why did Townsend not in the least look as Kitty had
pictured him? Comment on his manner during Kitty’s stay.
Find proof that he did not quite share his wife’s respect for
Kitty.
8.	Kitty’s way of life at the Townsends’. What made her re-
call Mei-tan-fu every now and then? Comment on the change
in her estimation in Hong Kong.
IV. TOPICS FOR ANALYSIS AND DETAILED DISCUSSION
1.	Sum up Walter’s life. Say what role Kitty played in it and
what role she might have played.
2.	Give a character sketch of Waddington.
3.	Compare the Kitty that arrived in Hong Kong with the
Kitty that had left it several weeks before.
4.	Discuss the way of life of Hong Kong’s colonial adminis-
tration.
5.	Specify the place in chapter LXIX that comes close to the
explanation of the title of the novel. Give a summary of the
view on life at large as expressed in it.
ASSIGNMENT 9
Chapters LXXV-LXXX
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
compunction n
disown vt
morbid adj
broadminded adj ' t
to heave a sigh of relief
to take smb/smth for granted
to break with the past
to make claims on smb
to make a better (good) job
of smth
to have smth in store for smb
57
П. EXERCISES
1.	Give definitions of these lexical units relying on an English-
English dictionary:
compunction; to disown; morbid; broadminded; to take
smth for granted; to make a good job of smth; to have smth in
store for smb
2.	Give antonyms to these words and word combinations:
profound; broadminded; reluctant; admirable; to feel all
thumbs; to give peace of mind; to make a good job of smth; to
make claims on smb
3.	Give all the word combinations you have learned while
reading ‘The Painted Veil” with the verbs:
to make, to give, to put, to know, to take, to get, to come, to
do	'
4.	Translate into Russian:
a)	a morbid imagination (reaction, idea, veiwpoint, convic-
tion, feeling); a broadminded person (scholar, teacher, philoso-
pher); to make claims on one’s family (friends, children, fellow-
citizens)
b)	1. The boy was so wicked that his father disowned him.
2. The headmaster kept us waiting without the slightest com-
punction. 3. The journalist is fairly broadminded in regard to
the problems of education. 4. When Mrs Brown got all her
three daughters off her hands, she heaved a sigh of relief. 5.1
can’t take these data for granted without making inquiries into
their sources. 6. Life has a lot of surprises in store for you at
your green age. 7. You might have made a better job of your
test. 8. To break with the past completely, Arthur went to Latin
America under an assumed name.
5.	Make up short situations of your own similar to the sen-
tences given below. Don’t change the words in bold type:
1.	It is morbid to turn unpleasant memories over in one’s
mind.
2.	The passenger heaved a sigh of relief when he at last
got on the train.
58
3.	The author of the play condemns the snobbery and con-
ceit of fashionable society.
4.	Nowadays people are fairly broadminded about early
marriages.
5.	You can’t take your health for granted all your life.
6.	On the New Year’s eve people wonder what the coming
year has in store forthem.
7.	You might have made a better job of your transla-
tion.
8.	Mr Murdstone made David work from morning till night
without the slightest compunction.
9.	If you really want to break with the past, give up your
bad habits altogether.
10.	Even in an emergency you can’t make claims on ab-
solute strangers.
11.	Strickland was in his forties when he disowned his
family on a sudden.
6.	Make up situations on the subject-matter of the books or
plays you have seen or read, using the active vocabulary.
7.	Recall the situations from the chapters under discussion
relying on the prompts:
1.	You can hardly expect me to forget that you sent me to
almost certain death without a shadow of compunction.
2.	Fm not that hateful, beastly, lustful woman. I disown her.
3.	It’s so unreasonable, the way you look at it; it’s so mor-
bid.
4.	Well, I’m fairly broadminded, but sometimes you say
things that positively shock me.
-. 5. He would heave a sigh of relief when ... he had finally
seen her off.
6.	...he had never counted in the house and had been taken
for granted...
7.	...now this chance to break entirely with the past had of-
fered him freedom.
8.	...I make no claims on you because Fm your daughter,
you owe me nothing.
9.	...I want her to take life like a free man and make a better
job of it than I'have.
59
10.	She could not know what the future had in store for
her...
8.	Say who and under what circumstances made these ut-
terances:
1.	She is one in a thousand. I should never have had a mo-
ment’s peace if we’d bolted.
2.	It was fair game.
3.	He died because of you and me.
4.	Have you ever thought that you owned her any loyalty?
5.	Am I by any chance the father?
6.	The offer arrived too late to tell your poor mother.
9.	Make a list of the proverbs Townsend used when he talked to
Kitty. Say what he implied by them and why he, of all
people, resorted to them. (Add those from chapters XX and
XXI.)
III.	QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1.	Townsend and Kitty have a talk by themselves. Why
could Townsend not do without that talk? Pay attention to his
speech and manner.
2.	How did Kitty regard her fall? Can you justify it psycho-
logically? Whom did she blame for it?
3.	Kitty makes arrangements before leaving Hong Kong.
Discuss her last talk with Townsend. Compare what she had
told Walter about her child’s father with what she told
Townsend.
4.	Speak about the changes in the Garstin family. Account
for Kitty’s reaction to her mother’s death. What did Mrs
Garstin’s death mean for the whole family?
5.	Kitty discusses her future with her father. Comment on
the change in her attitude to him.
6.	Dwell on the closing paragraph of the novel. Is it opti-
mistic? Do you find Kitty’s ideas of the future convincing?
IV.	QUESTIONS FOR ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
1.	Why was it necessary for Townsend to degrade Kitty in
order to regain his conceit? Was his victory final?
60
2.	Most English critics were shocked by Kitty’s relapse and
attacked the author for it Maxwell Anderson, an American
critic, called this turn of the novel a masterstroke. Why this
difference of opinions? Do you agree with Anderson?
3.	What moral lesson did Kitty’s relapse teach her? What
change in her attitude to people did it evoke?
4.	What evolution did Kitty’s opinion of Townsend un-
dergo? Which phrase of hers summed him up?
5.	When Kitty spoke with Townsend and, later, with her
father, she managed to shock them. What exactly did each of
them find shocking? Was it Kitty’s choice of words or the sub-
ject of the talk?
6.	How do you picture Kitty’s future?
ASSIGNMENT 10
Discussion of the Novel
I. Rerise the active vocabulary.
П. Enumerate the personages of the novel. Specify the dynamic
and the static ones. Group them into the major characters
and the minor personages. Point out those who may be
considered the author’s mouthpiece.
Ш. Discuss Kitty as the protagonist of the novel.
IV. Answer the questions:
1.	What was Kitty’s social background? In what way was
she brought up? To what extent is she the product of her
environment?
2.	Can Kitty be regarded as the modem woman? What
essential qualities does she lack? What are the essential
features of the modern woman, in the author’s opinion? Where
and how does the author give to understand that the modern
woman still belongs to the future? Is loose feminine morality
part of the past or of the future, according to the author?
3.	In what spheres of life does Kitty look for a meaningful
pattern of life? What patterns does the line Walter —
Townsend —the nuns —the Manchu offer? Why does Kitty
61
reject each of the patterns? Which of the patterns proves the
most difficult for Kitty to reject?
4.	What stages does Kitty’s spiritual evolution pass? Why
does it go hand in hand with her estimation of Townsend and
adultery, and her self-estimation?
5.	D. Urnov, the author of the preface to the book, calls
Kitty a worthless philistine and denies her spiritual evolution or
progress. Do you agree with it? Can you regard Kitty as a
positive character?
6.	What is the main idea of the novel?
. k*..	~ ^fm^
FOURTH YEAR
THE GREAT GATSBY*
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
ASSIGNMENT 1
Chapters I, П
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
to reserve judgements
tolerance n
drift й
supercilious adj
irrelevant adj
sophisticated adj
to give smb a heart-to-heart
talk
peremptory adj
to slap smb on the shoulder
vitality n
affected adj
shiftlessness n
to be below smb
repel vt
II. EXERCISES
1.	Give definitions of the contextual meaning of the words; give
the derivatives and the antonyms of the words in bold type:
to reserve, tolerance, to drift, supercilious, peremptory,
irrelevant, sophisticated, vitality, shiftlessness, affected, to
repel
2.	Express the same notion in one word:
to be carried along by circumstances; to cause a feeling of
dislike; the use of unnatural manners; allowing no denial or
refusal; wordly wise; having nothing to do with the point; to
keep back one’s opinion for later use; reluctance to interfere
with the freedom of thought or action of others
у
3.	Study the use of the active vocabulary in these word
combinations and sentences; use the same vocabulary in
situations of your own:
Fitzgerald. F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. M., 1984.
63
a)	a peremptory order (demand, command, request, tone);
a supercilious manner (air, smile, remark, assumption); an
irrelevant question (criticism, pause, laugh, joke); a
sophisticated woman (learner, admirer, writer); an affected
gesture (manner, pose, laughter); to show (need, demand, insist
on) tolerance, to treat smth tolerantly, to be tolerant of different
religious views, to be intolerant of smoking; to be shiftless, to
hate shiftlessness, to confront shiftlessness and disorder'
b)	1. Reserve your judgement before the matter becomes
quite clear. 2. The Stuart kings showed great intolerance of the
Puritans. 3. The youth’s ever growing sophistication alarmed
his parents. 4. In the thirties a great many people drifted in the
USA in search of work of any kind. 5. If people dislike
peremptory words, why are they so blind to their own? 6. ‘Well,
what do you expect me to say to this?” he asked superciliously.
7. Now I see who has given you a heart-to-heart talk. 8.
Affected phrases are hardly relevant at a meeting. 9. ‘Where we
hoped to see determination and discipline, we found
shiftlessness and lack of order,’’said the dean. 10. The actress’s
mastery and vitality brought down the house. 11.1 hope it won’t
be below you to see that there are other people waiting. 12. You
can use this sort of greeting only with the people you can slap
on the shoulders. 13. Unfortunately, the smell of this flower
does not repel people, and they develop headaches.
4.	Make up short situations of your own similar to the
sentences given below. Don’t change the words in bold
type:
1.	Then she added irrelevantly: “You ought to see the
baby.”
2.	Daisy peremptorily called: ‘Wait!”
3.	“Hello, Wilson, old man,” said Tom, slapping him jovially
on the shoulder.
4.	‘I told that boy about the ice,” Myrtle raised her
eyebrows in despair at the shiftlessness of the lower or-
ders.
5.	Recall the situations in which these sentences were used:
1.	... I am inclined to reserve all judgements...
2.	And, after boasting this way of my tolerance, I come to
the conclusion that it has a limit
64
3.	They... drifted here and there.
4.	Now he was a sturdy straw-haired man with ... a
supercilious manner.
5.	...an irrelevant criticism... made it no less charming.
6.	“Sophisticated — God, I’m sophisticated!”
7.	“Did you give Nick a heart-to-heart talk on the veranda?”
8.	...Daisy peremptorily called: “Wait!”
9.	...there was an immediately perceptible vitality about
her...
10.	Her laughter, her gestures, her assertions became more
violently affected moment by moment...
11.	‘I knew he was below me.”
12.	I was ... enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible
variety of life.
6.	Paraphrase or explain:
1.	Reserving judgments is a matter of infinite hope. (p.
14)
2.	Conduct may be founded on the hard rock or the
wet marshes, ... (p. 15)
3.	...one of those men who reach such an acute limited
excellence at twenty-one that everything afterward savors of
anticlimax, (p. 17)
4.	Something was making him nibble at the edge of
stale ideas as if his sturdy physical egotism no longer
nourished his peremptory heart, (p. 27)
5.	It had occurred to me that this shadow of a garage must
be a blind, and that sumptuous and romantic apartments
were concealed overhead,... (p. 29)
6.	Tom deferred that much to the sensibilities of those
East Eggers who might be on the train, (p. 30)
7.	...as she expanded the room grew smaller around her,
until she seemed to be revolving on a noisy, creaking pivot
through the smoky air. (p. 33)
7.	Say how the following utterances characterize the speaker:
1.	“It’s up to us who are the dominant race, to watch out or
these other races will have control of things.”
2.	“Did you give Nick a heart-to-heart talk on the veranda?”
“Did I? I can’t seem to remember, but I think we talked about
the Nordic race.”
3—287
65
3.	“It’s just a crazy old thing. I just slip it on sometimes
when I don’t care what I look like.”
4.	“Well, they say he’s a nephew or a cousin of Keiser
Wilhelm’s. That’s where all his money comes from.”
5.	‘I never was any more crazy about him than I was about
that man there.”
6.	“You’ll give Me Kee a letter of introduction to your
husband, so he can do some studies of him.”
8.	Find sentences which may serve as answers to the following
questions:
1.	When is the scene laid? 2. Did Nick take part in World
War I? 3. What was Tom’s social background? 4. Was Jordan
Baker’s fame nation-wide? 5. Did Nick think fascist ideas new
or old? 6. What disappointed Nick in the Buchanans after
seeing them? 7. Did Tom find his mistress on a dumping
ground? 8. Was Myrtle beautiful? 9. What caused Myrtle’s
disappointment in her husband? 10. Myrtle hoped to marry
Tom, didn’t she? 11. Did Tom think that Myrtle was below
Daisy?
Ш. TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1.	Speak about the author of the book.
2.	Dwell on the narrator —his age and vocation, his
background, mode of life, environment.
3.	Give a summary of Nick’s visit to the Buchanans.
Comment on the behaviour of those present before and after
the telephone call.
4.	Nick meets Myrtle Wilson. Describe the party at the
apartment house and its climax.
IV. QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR ANALYSIS
1.	What are the advantages and disadvantages of first-
person narration?
2.	Is Nick Carraway trustworthy as narrator?
3.	Discuss the elements of direct and indirect char-
acterization in the portrayal of Tom, Daisy and Myrtle.
4.	Give a character sketch of Tom. Find the passage on p.
18: “He had changed... who had hated his guts”. Point out
66
nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs which reveal a general
tendency in the passage. Find instances of Tom’s indirect
characterization in the chapters you have read.
5.	Give a character sketch of Daisy. Why does indirect
characterization prevail in Daisy’s portrayal? Dwell on Daisy’s
manner of speech.
6.	Give a character sketch of Myrtle. Say why her flat, her
furniture, her books, her guests are dwelt on by the author.
Was Myrtle proud of her position? How does the author
emphasize its precariousness?
7.	Compare Daisy and Myrtle.
8.	Sum up all the references to Gatsby.
9.	Comment upon the blending of the comic and dramatic
in the chapters.
ASSIGNMENT 2
Chapters III, IV
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
to be in full swing
prodigality n
elemental adj
to pick one’s words with care
sinister adj
to set smb off from the others
to retract one’s statement
to be at a disadvantage
to deal in subterfuges
a cardinal virtue
bootlegger n
to be engrossed in smb/smth
to move with a fast crowd
П. EXERCISES
1.	Define the contextual meaning of these lexical units relying
on an English-English dictionary; give the derivatives of the
words in bold type:
prodigality; elemental; sinister; bootlegger; to be in full
swing; to retract smth; to deal in subterfuges; a cardinal virtue;
to be engrossed in smb/smth
2.	Arrange these words and phrases into pairs of antonyms:
prodigal; to insist on the truth of one’s words; to be
engrossed in smth; to deal in subterfuges; to lead a modest life;
to draw to an end; mean; to neglect smth; to behave honestly;
3**	67
to have an advantage; to retract one’s statement; to be in full
swing; to move with a fast crowd; to be at a disadvantage
3.	Study the use of the active vbcabulary; make up your own
sentences with it:
a)	elemental forces of nature (feelings, passions, impulses);
a sinister face (took, sight, person); to be engrossed in a book
(plan, work, dispute); to deal in subterfuges (lies, gossip, libel);
to retract one’s statement (words, hints, questions)
b)	1. Great erudition sets off this student from the rest of
the group. 2.1 strongly advise you to pick your words with care
when discussing the matter. 3. The host’s prodigality was much
spoken of by his guests. 4. I can’t see you in June when our
examinations are in full swing. 5. The Gothic castle in desolate
mountains looked somewhat sinister. 6. Bootleggers were born
by the Prohibition Law. 7. If you deal in subterfuges instead of
learning, you are sure to fail at your examination. 8. She says
she does not regard prudence as a cardinal virtue. 9.1 am afraid
that you are engrossed in merry-making rather than in work,
whereas a student is supposed to study, mind you. 10. The
picture was suggestive of elemental forces of nature,
tremendous and terrible.
4.	Answer the questions:
1.	What makes it possible for one to move with a fast
crowd? (Easy money? Wrong values? Low tastes? Bad
company? ...?) Does it depend on upbringing? 2. What cardinal
virtues would you insist on? What cardinal virtues does
Christianity prescribe? What do you make of them? 3. What
sort of people deal in subterfuges? 4. Do all people hate being at
a disadvantage? 5. Is prodigality a cardinal virtue?
5.	Speak about incidents from your own life when: a) somebody
had to retract his statement; -b) somebody was at a
disadvantage and took it in good part.
6.	Recall the situations which are suggested by the sentences
below:
1.	The bar is in full swing...
2.	Laughter is easier minute by minute, spilled with
prodigality...
68
3.	...the scene had changed before my eyes into something
significant, elemental, profound.
4.	...he was picking his words with care.
5.1 could see nothing sinister about him.
6.1 wondered if the fact that he was not drinking helped to
set him off from his guests...
7.	A caddy retracted his statement...
8.	She wasn’t able to endure being at a disadvantage...
9.	...she had begun dealing in subterfuges when she was
very young...
10.	Every one suspects himself of at least one of the
cardinal virtues.
11.	“He’s a bootlegger.”
12.	They were so engrossed in each other that she didn’t see
me...
13.	They moved with a fast crowd...
7.	Apply the words and word combinations given below to
personages and situations different from those the author
depicted:
prodigality; sinister; a cardinal virtue; to set smb off from
the others; to deal in subterfuges; to move with a fast crowd
8.	Paraphrase or explain:
1.	The lights grow brighter as the earth lurches away
from the sun, and now the orchestra is playing yellow
cocktail music, and the opera of voices pitches a key
higher, (p. 39)
2.	...they conducted themselves according to the rules of
behavior associated with amusement parks, (p. 40)
3.	It was testimony to the romantic speculation he
inspired that there were whispers about him from those who
had found little that it was necessary to whisper about
in this world, (p. 42)
4.	Even Jordan’s party, the quartet from East Egg, were
rent asunder by dissension, (p. 46)
5.	...the world and its mistress returned to Gatsby’s
house and twinkled hilariously on his lawn. (p. 51)
9.	Find sentences in chapters III, IV which may serve as
answers to the following questions:
1.	Was the Prohibition Law obeyed by Gatsby?
2.	What sort of rumours about Gatsby were in circulation
among his guests?
3.	Did Gatsby’s appearance and manner justify the sinister
rumours about him?
4.	What details, episodes and scenes emphasize Gatsby’s
isolation and loneliness?
5.	Why did Gatsby bother to give his parties?
6.	Was the scope of Wolfsheim’s activities nation-wide?
(Give several proofs.)
7.	Was Tom faithful to Daisy from the very start of their
married life?
10.	Say why these things happened:
1.	Sometimes they came and went without having met
Gatsby at all. (p. 40)
2.	‘When I was here last I tore my gown on a chair,
... — inside of a week I got a package from Croirier’s with a new
evening gown in it.” (p. 41)
3.	Most of the remaining women were now having fights
with men said to be their husbands, (p. 46)
4.	The thing approached the proportions of a scandal — then
died away. (p. 50)
5.	...she had deliberately shifted our relations,... (p. 51)
6.	He reached in his pocket, and a piece ofinetal,..., fell into
my palm. (p. 55)
7.	1 turned towards Mr Gatsby, but he was no longer there.
(p.60)
8.	The officer looked at Daisy..., in a way that every young
girl wants to be looked at some time,... (p. 61)
9.	I came into her room half an hour before the bridal
dinner, and found her lying on her bed... as drunk as a monkey.
(P.61)
10.	He... bought a mansion where he dispensed starlight to
casual moths... (p. 63)
11.	“And Daisy ought to have something in her life,”
murmured Jordan to me. (p. 64)
11.	Say whose utterances these are and give your opinion of
" their ideas:
1.	“And 1 like large parties. They are so intimate. At small
parties there isn’t any privacy.”
70
2.	“Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame
deeply.”
3.	“It takes two to make an accident.”
4.	“Every one suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal
virtues.”
III.	QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1.	Gatsby’s party. Pick out details in its description
suggestive of the scope of the host’s wealth and prodigality.
Discuss the features of the epoch as reflected in chapter Ш.
2.	Gatsby’s guests. What sort of people were attracted by
the party? What layers of society did they represent? Dwell
upon their behaviour. Pick out episodes showing the behaviour
of the same people: a) when the party was in full swing; b) at
the end of it.
3.	Nick meets Gatsby. Dwell on Gatsby’s appearance and
manner of speech.
4.	Why does the author give the names of Gatsby’s guests
(chapter IV)? What are the names like “the Beckers”, “the
Leeches”, “the Dancies”, “the Smirkes”, “Beaver”, “Ferret”, etc.
suggestive of? Were all Gatsby’s guests to his credit? What
generation did they represent? Sum up the references to their
fates.
5.	' Gatsby has a talk about himself with Nick. What things
mentioned by Gatsby made Nick think that Gatsby was pulling
his leg? How many times did Nick change his opinion
throughout the talk?
6.	Nick has lunch with Gatsby and Wolfsheim. In what
emotional key is the scene presented? What is Wolfsheim’s
contribution to the atmosphere surrounding Gatsby as a
businessman?
7.	The story of Gatsby’s love. Dwell upon Daisy’s
background. Why did Daisy not wait for Gatsby to return? How
does the story characterize Daisy? Does she excite your
sympathy?
8.	Sum up Jordan Baker relying on Nick’s direct
characterization, her behaviour at Gatsby’s and other parties.
Pay attention tQ the epithets that constantly accompany her
description. Comment upon Nick’s attitude to her. Why was
71
Jordan Baker chosen to tell Nick Gatsby’s story:
b) by the author?
IV.	QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR ANALYSIS
1.	In what manner does Nick describe the proceedings al
Gatsby’s party, humorous or sarcastic? Account for the change
of manner in chapter IV. Analyse the opening passages of the
chapter from this point of view.
2.	Speak about the author’s use of speaking names
(antonomasia) in the novel. Discuss the connotations evoked by
the names of Mr Mumble, Katspaugh, Wolfsheim, Daisy as
well as some guests’ “grey” names.
3.	Comment upon the way the author surrounds Gatsby
with mystery, destroying it partly sometimes to create it anew.
What role do telephone calls play?
4.	Specify the features of the subject-matter common to
most of the chapters you have read. Which of the chapters
seem to be connected with the title of the novel? What glimpses
of Gatsby’s greatness have you got so far?
ASSIGNMENT 3
Chapters
V, VI
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
to render a service
to be consumed with some
feeling
to tumble (fall) short of smth
notoriety n
loaf vi
meretricious adj
glamour n
to be employed in some
capacity
to run around
celebrity n
appal vt
IL EXERCISES
1.	a) Give definitions of the contextual meaning of these lexical
units:
notoriety; to loaf; meretricious; glamour; celebrity, to appal
to tumble short of smth; to run around
72


b)	Give synonyms of:
to render a service; notoriety; to appal; to be employed in
some capacity; to be consumed with some feeling
c)	Give the corresponding adjectives:
notoriety; glamour; celebrity; to appal
2.	Compare the meaning of the verbs with the word around.
Translate the sentences:
1.	...mostly I was in New York, trotting around with
Jordan... (p. 77)
2.	“...women run around too much these days to suit me....”
(p.79)
3.	“Look around,” suggested Gatsby. “Fm looking around.
...”(p. 80)
4.	“We don’t go around very much,” he said. (p. 80)
3.	Translate into Russian:
a)	a meretricious beauty (glitter, style), meretricious
jewelry; to be consumed with joy (panic, passion, terror); a
scene full of glamour, the glamour of moonlight on a tropical
sea, to smile glamorously; to be employed in the capacity of an
engineer, janitor, editor-in-chief
b)	1. Your criticism fell short of its object. 2. The bird was
looking at me, consumed with curiosity. 3.1 shall render you a
bad service if I let you deal in subterfuges. 4. The criminal’s
notoriety caused the circulation of absurd rumours appalling
the inhabitants of the town. 5. “In what capacity have you been
employed so far?” “In the capacity of a nurse.” 6. Is it right to
loaf around when there is so much work to be done? 7. The
room looked untidy and the taste of its occupants showed itself
in the photos of movie celebrities covering the walls. 8. Surely
you are the last person to be enchanted by the meretricious
beauty of these glossy fashion plates!
4.	Make up short situations of your own round these sentences:
1.	She is quite a celebrity now.
2.	Will you render me a service?
3; Our journey fell short of its aim.
4. We were appalled by the news.
5. He turned up with his glamour girl.
6.1 have never been employed in this capacity before.
7.	Don’t loaf away your time!
8.	You have been running around too much.
5.	Recall the situations in chapters V and VI where these
sentences occur:
1.	But, because the offer was obviously and tactlessly for a
service to be rendered, I had no choice except to cut him off
there.
2.	After his embarrassment and his unreasoning joy he was
consumed with wonder at her presence.
3.	There must have been moments even that afternoon
when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams...
4.	Gatsby’s notoriety ... had increased all summer until he
fell just short of being news.
5.	It was James Gatz who had been loafing along the beach
that afternoon...
6.	...he must be about His Father’s business, the service of a
vast, vulgar and meretricious beauty.
7.	...that yacht represented all the beauty and glamour in the
world.
8.	He was employed in a vague personal capacity...
9.	...women run around too much these days to suit me.
10.	Tom and Daisy stared, with that peculiarly unreal
feeling that accompanies the recognition of a hitherto ghostly
celebrity of the movies.
11.	She was appalled by West Egg...
6.	Paraphrase or explain:
1.	His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one.
(P-72)
2.	No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man
will store up in his ghostly heart, (p. 74)
3.	For a while these reveries provided an outlet for his
imagination; they were a satisfactory hint of the unreality of
reality, a promise that the rock of the world was founded
securely on a fairy’s wing. (p. 76)
4.	The transactions in Montana copper... found him
physically robust but on the verge of soft-mindedness, and,
suspecting this, an infinite number of women tried to separate
him from his money, (p. 76)
74
5.	She was appalled by West Egg, ... by the too obtrusive
fate that herded its inhabitants along a short-cut from nothing
to nothing, (p. 82)
7.	Say what previous proceedings or actions these statements or
utterances drop a hint at:
1.	“Does the gasoline affect his nose?”
2.	It was strange to reach the marble steps and find no stir
of bright dresses in and out of the door, and hear no sound but
bird voices in the trees.
3.	1 was going to ask to see the rubies when the phone rang,
and Gatsby took up the receiver.
4.	“Did we interrupt your exercises?” inquired Daisy
politely.
5.	“My God, I believe the man is coming. Doesn’t he know
she doesn’t want him?”
6.	“How do you feel, Miss Baedeker?”
7.	“And she doesn’t understand,” he said. “She used to be
able to understand.”
8.	Say under what circumstances and why these things
happened:
1.	...when I asked him what business he was in he an-
swered: “That’s my affair”...
2.	Suddenly, with a strained sound, Daisy bent her head
into the shirts and began to cry stormily.
3.	...I knew that except for the half-hour she’d been alone
with Gatsby she wasn’t having a good time.
4.	He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go
to Tom and say: “I never loved you.”
9.	Say who is the speaker and how his words characterize him:
1.	“I’ve got my hands full. I’m much obliged but I couldn’t
take on any more work.”
2.	“I'd like to just get one of those pink clouds and put you
in it and push you around.”
3.	“We’ll all come over to your next party, Mr Gatsby. What
do you say?”
4.	‘Well, he certainly must have strained himself to get this
menagerie together.”
75
5.	“They simply force their way in and he’s too polite to
object.”
6.	“You can’t repeat the past.” “Can’t repeat the past? Why
of course you can!”
10.	Comment upon:
1.	Americans, while occasionally willing to be serfs, have
always been obstinate about being peasantry, (p. 69)
2.	It is invariably saddening to look through new eyes at
things upon which you have expended your own powers of
adjustment (p. 80)
III.	QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1.	Nick agrees to invite Daisy to tea. Speak about the
preparations Gatsby saw to.
2.	The tea-party at Nick’s. Discuss the behaviour of all those
present after Daisy’s arrival. How does the author convey
Gatsby’s terror, tension, despair and exultation?
3.	Why do you think Gatsby made a point of Daisy’s seeing
his house? Speak about the impression Gatsby’s wealth made
on Daisy.
4.	Discuss the role Dan Cody played in Gatsby’s life. Why is
their acquaintance referred to as the beginning of Gatsby’s
career?
5.	Tom Buchanan accepts Gatsby’s hospitality for the first
time. How does the scene characterize Gatsby and his guests?
6.	The Buchanans come to Gatsby’s party. What motives do
you think caused each of them to come? Dwell on the way Tom
succeeded in casting a gloomy shadow over the proceedings.
Account for Daisy’s disliking the party.
IV.	QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR ANALYSIS
1.	Find proof that Daisy’s, visit to Nick’s was a critical
moment for Gatsby’s love. What glimpses into Gatsby’s
greatness does the situation provide?
2.	Comment upon Nick’s role in arranging Gatsby and
Daisy’s meeting and its moral aspect. What made it possible for
Nick to render Gatsby that service without scruples?
3.	Specify the way the author constantly reminds the reader
76
of Gatsby as a businessman at inappropriate moments of his
private life.
4.	Discuss Gatsby’s assumed name and its symbolic sig-
nificance.
5.	Speak about “the American dream” and its reverse side
as reflected in Dan Cody’s fate.
6.	Account for the necessity of retrospective digressions in
the narration.
ASSIGNMENT 4
Chapter VII
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
villainous adj
in a grudging way
to fall in like a card house
to be under (no) obligations
to smb
to make an investigation of
smb/smth
to keep one’s vigil
inexplicable adj
to make personal remarks
to cause a row
to be out in the open
to get ideas into one’s head
to go (off) on a spree
to leave smb in the lurch
to draw into oneself
II. EXERCISES
1.	Give definitions of the contextual meaning of the lexical units
below; use an English-English dictionary; point out the
derivatives of the words in bold type:
villainous; to grudge; inexplicable; to keep one’s vigil; to
make personal remarks; to be out in the open; to go on a spree;
to leave smb in the lurch; to draw into oneself
2.	Give antonyms from the active vocabulary:
to be obliged; to come to smb’s rescue in a fix; easy to
explain; noble; to sleep; willingly; to harbour malice secretly; to
keep smth in the dark
3.	Study the use of the active- vocabulary in these word
combinations and sentences:
a)	a villainous face (smirk, act, robbery); an inexplicable
reason (lateness, absence, tension, silence); to cause a row
77
(trouble, inconvenience, misery); to make an investigation of
smb’s activities (affairs, crime, an accident)
b)	1. “Let’s avoid making personal remarks, they’ll do you
no good.” “Once we are out in the open, it’ll be easier to settle
the matter. You have been getting ideas into your head lately.
It’s time to be realistic about your future.”
2.	The proprietor of the hotel thought that since the guests
had a roof above their heads, he was under no further
obligations to them. This light treatment of his responsibilities
caused a row once when a guest of consequence put up at the
hotel.
3.	For some inexplicable reason, the cat of the house made
friends with the dog and once treated him to a mouse which the
dog politely refused to eat. On his part, the dog kept vigil over
the sleeping cat and showed his respect and tolerance in many
other little ways.
4.	The road was barred. A policeman explained in a
grudging way that a house had been set fire to that night. The
security of a large family fell in like a card house. The police
were making an investigation of the villainous crime.
5.	They used to be friends. Once they went on a spree
together but returned separately. They had hardly spoken to
each other since then. The rumour had it that one of them had
left the other in the lurch. When Bob was asked about it, he
drew into himself and looked away.
4.	Make up situations of your own round these sentences:
1.	Don’t make personal remarks in an argument.
2.	1 am glad we are out in the open.
3.	Your light treatment of life will fall in like a card house
when you start living on your own.
4.	For some reason, he drew into himself.
5.	Do you want to cause a row?
6.	Your behaviour is inexplicable.
7.	Have you left him in the lurch?
8.	Sometimes you get funny ideas into your head!
9.	He spoke in a grudging way.
10.	What a villainous face! Who is this the picture of?
5.	Recall the situations in which the active vocabulary is used.
78
6.	Paraphrase or explain:
1.	“Her voice is full of money,” he said suddenly, (p. 89)
2.	The immediate contingency overtook him, pulled him
back from the edge of the theoretical abyss, (p. 90)
3.	His "wife and his mistress, until an hour ago secure and
inviolate, were slipping precipitately from his control, (p. 93)
4.	Flushed with his impassioned gibberish, he saw himself
standing alone on the last barrier of civilization, (p. 96)
5.	The transition from libertine to prig was so complete, (p.
96)
6.	I was thirty. Before me stretched the portentous,
menacing road of a new decade, (p. 100)
7.	Say why these things happened:
1.	Gatsby stood in the centre of the crimson carpet and
gazed around with fascinated eyes.
2.	Afterward he kept looking at the child with sur-
prise.
3.	He (Tom) got up, his eyes flashing between Gatsby
and his wife.
4.	“I never loved him (Tom),” she said, with perceptible
reluctance.
5.	I glanced at Daisy, who was staring terrified between
Gatsby and her husband, and at Jordan, who had begun to
balance an invisible but absorbing object on the tip of
her chin.
6.	...Wilson wouldn’t say a word — instead he began to
throw curious, suspicious glances at his visitor and ask
him what he’d been doing at certain times on certain days.
7.	In a little while I heard a low husky sob, and saw that the
tears were overflowing down his (Tom’s) face.
8.	...and this woman rushed out at us... It all happened in
a minute, but it seemed to me that she wanted to speak to
us, thought we were somebody she knew.
9.	There was an unmistakable air of natural intimacy about
the picture, and anybody would have said that they were
conspiring together.
10.	So I walked away and left him standing there in the
moonlight —watching over nothing.
79
8.	Say who are the speakers and what motives and feelings
brought forth the following utterances:
1.	“Ah, you look so cool.”
2.	“Come on, Daisy. I’ll take you in this circus wagon.”
3.	“My wife and I want to go West.”
4.	“Why not let her alone, old sport?”
5.	“By the way, Mr Gatsby, I understand you are an Oxford
man.”
6.	“Your wife doesn’t love you.”
7.	“Do you know why we left Chicago?”
8.	‘Tve made a little investigation into your affairs — and I’ll
carry it further tomorrow.”
9.	“I was bringing you that coupe we’ve been talking about.
That yellow car I was driving this afternoon wasn’t mine.”
10.	“I don’t trust him, old sport.”
9.	Discuss the moral implication of the speaker’s words:
1.	“Once in a while I go off on a spree and make a fool of
myself, but I always come back, and in my heart I love her all
the time.”
2.	“She never loved you, do you hear? She only married you
because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me.”
3.	“I did love him once — but I loved you too.”
4.	“You ought to hear Walter on the subject of you.”
5.	‘Was Daisy driving?” “Yes, ...but of course I’ll say I was.”
6.	“That yellow car I was driving this afternoon wasn’t
mine — do you hear? I haven’t seen it all afternoon.”
III.	QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1.	Speak about the sudden change in Gatsby’s way of life as
discovered by Nick.
2.	The reception at the Buchanans. Compare it with the one
described in chapter I. What changes had the host’s family
undergone since then? Point out the signs that the family
relations reached a crucial moment.
3.	How did it come about that Tom learned all the truth?
Dwell upon his behaviour at home and on the way to New
York.
4.	The stop at Wilson’s garage. Speak about the changes in
the Wilson family. Whom do you hold responsible for them?
80
5.	The row at the Plaza Hotel. On whose initiative did the
rivals come out in the open? Dwell upon Tom’s manner, his
transition from libertine to prig.
6.	What was the basic difference in the way Daisy and
Gatsby regarded the future? Point out pieces of evidence
showing Daisy’s reluctance to be out in the open, her being
capable of double-dealing, of retracting her words. Which turn
of the row do you think shocked her most? What was Gatsby
shocked by?
7.	Give a brief summary of what happened at the Wilsons’.
Was anybody guilty of Myrtle’s death?
8.	Dwell on all changes of Nick’s attitude to Gatsby on that
particular day.
IV.	QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR ANALYSIS
1.	Which of the chapters you have read so far open with
references to Gatsby’s reputation in society? What is the
emotional effect of these openings? Can chapter VII be
regarded as the turning point in the succession?
2.	What was there about Gatsby that caused Tom’s infinite
contempt for him?
3.	What made Gatsby defenceless against Tom’s cynicism?
4.	Sum up all pieces of evidence proving Gatsby’s absolute
devotion to Daisy as well as his blindness.
5.	Discuss the sources of Gatsby’s wealth as reported by
Tom. Were the sinister rumours spread by his guests true?
6.	Speak about the reasons for the Buchanans’ drifting as
seen from the chapter.
7.	Discuss the elements of symbolization in the chapter: a)
the weather; b) Myrtle’s death and Myrtle’s murderer; c) the
concluding scene of the chapter and its role in laying bare the
essence of Gatsby’s drama.
ASSIGNMENT 5
Chapters VIII, IX
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
to make the most of smth
unscrupulous adj
to clutch at a hope
to pervade smth with smth
81
stratum (pl strata)/:
to throw smb over
to crv for smth
to throw dust in smb’s eyes
to dean up the mess
squeamishness n
П. EXERCISES
1.	Explain the meaning of these words and word combinations;
point out the derivatives of the words in bold type:
to pervade; unscrupulous; stratum; squeamishness; to
throw dust in smb’s eyes; to make the most of smth
2.	Explain the meaning of these phrases:
to cry for the moon; an unscrupulous politician; a
squeamish mother; to throw over old friends; to belong to the
same strata; to make the most of one’s victory; a novel
pervaded with romantic mystery
3.	Paraphrase these sentences using the active vocabulary:
1.	It was wicked of you to publish these letters without the
family’s consent.
2.	The writer died in Paris, deserted by his admirers and
friends.
3.	You are wrong on account of the girl’s talent, perhaps,
she managed to mislead you.
4.	We used our time to the best advantage when we
stayed in Moscow.
5.	Look at the walls, they badly need a new coat of paint.
6.	1 wonder who is going to settle that sordid matter for
you.
7.	The doctor set all his hopes on the patient’s recovery.
8.	Wherever they went, they met people belonging to the
same class they belonged to, so what could they know of life?
9.	Recently you have become too sensitive as to what Mrs
Grundy would say.
4.	Translate into Russian, make up sentences of your own after
the same pattern, don’t change the words in bold type:
1.	The novel is pervaded with the atmosphere of mystery
and romantic adventure.
2.	The popular man’s unscrupulous conduct was the
talk of the town till it fell short of being news.
82
3.	Her aunt passed for a saint as she always threw dust in
stranger’s eyes.
4.	His father’s squeamishness in questions of honour
was the boy’s secret pride.
5.	It’s monstrous to throw over your best friend when he
is ill.
6.	What a beautiful coat of tan! You seem to have made
the most of this resort.
7.	Come back as soon as possible, the home is crying for
you.
8.	You’ve made a poor job of your marriage and who is
going to clean up the mess for you?
5.	Complete the sentences using the active vocabulary;
a)	1. Whatever strata people belong to... 2. It is
unscrupulous to... 3. His father said that if he threw over that
girL. 4. The morning was fresh, the air was pervaded... 5.
Where was your squeamishness when...
b)	1. I want some change and novelty! My life... 2. He
couldn’t have paraded his knowledge! He is the last person to...
3. Look, somebody has been having a picnic here. Let us... 4.
When finally we caught sight of a taxi, we...
6.	Recall the situations from the novel suggested by the
sentences:
1.	He was clutching at some last hope and I couldn’t bear to
shake him free.
2.	He felt their presence all about the house, pervading the
air with the shades and echoes of still vibrant emotions.
3.	So he made the most of his time.
4.	He took what he could get ravenously and un-
scrupulously...
5.	...he let her believe that he was a person from much the
same stratum as herself...
6.	1 even hoped for a while that she’d throw me over...
7.	And all the time something within her was crying for a
decision.
8.	He threw dust into your eyes like he did in Daisy’s...
83
9.	They were careless people, Tom and Daisy —they
smashed up things and creatures... and let other people clean up
the mess they had made...
10.	Then he went to the jewelry store... rid of my provincial
squeamishness forever.
7.	Apply the vocabulary below to situations different from those
in the novel:
unscrupulous; to throw smb over; to cry for smth; to be
pervaded with; to throw dust in smb’s eyes
8.	Paraphrase or explain:
1.	It was this night that he told me the strange story of his
youth with Dan Cody—told it to me because “Jay Gatsby”
had broken up like glass against Tom’s hard malice,
and the long secret extravaganza was played out. (p. 97)
2.	She was the first “nice” girl he had ever known. In
various unrevealed capacities he had come in contact with
such people, but always with indiscernible barbed wire
between, (p. 107)
3.	...he was one of those who used to sneer most bitterly
at Gatsby on the courage of Gatsby’s liquor, and I
should have known better than to call him. (p. 122)
9.	Quote the text to confirm or disprove the following:
1.	Gatsby lived surrounded by criminals who passed for his
servants.
2.	The military uniform concealed the social differences of
its wearers at the wartime.
3.	Wilson was a religious man.
4.	Wilson convinced himself that Myrtle had had a love
affair with Gatsby.
5.	The war made Gatsby wealthy and secure.
6.	Tom got Gatsby murdered by Wilson.
7.	Cruelty can’t combine with sentimentality.
8.	A villainous act must be justified in the villain’s eyes.
9.	Nick described some events he had never witnessed.
10.	Tom’s villainy was one of many other episodes of the
same kind in his life.
10.	Discuss the moral side of the actions or the utterances:
84
1.	He had intended, probably, to take what he could and
go... (p. 108)
2.	‘Tve left Daisy’s house.” (p. 112)
3.	...Catherine, who might have said anything, didn’t say a
word. (p. 117)
4.	“What I called up about was a pair of shoes I left there.
...”(p.l21)
5.	“Let us learn to show our friendship for a man when he is
alive and not after he is dead.” (p. 123)
6.	“The poor son-of-a-bitch.” (p. 125)
7.	...I could only remember, without resentment, that Daisy
hadn’t sent a message or a flower, (p. 125)
8.	1 saw Jordan Baker and talked over and around what had
happened to us together, and what had happened afterward to
me,... (p. 127)
9.	‘Well, I met another bad driver, didn’t I?” (p. 127)
10.	‘I told him the truth... He was crazy enough to kill me if
I hadn’t told him who owned the car.” (p. 128)
11.	On the white steps an obscene word, scrawled by some
boy with a piece of brick, stood out clearly in the moonlight,
and I erased it, drawing my shoe raspingly along the stone, (p.
129)
III.	QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1.	The story of Gatsby’s love told by himself on his last day.
Discuss the glamour of wealth as seen by young Gatsby.
Compare Gatsby’s attitude to it with Daisy’s.
2.	Nick’s state of mind on the same day. Find proof that
Nick was sure of the coming disaster. Account for Nick’s refusal
to see Jordan Baker.
3.	Give a summary of what happened at Wilson’s place
after Myrtle’s death. Speak of the peculiar blending of sober-
mindedness and madness in Wilson’s ideas and behaviour.
4.	Gatsby’s death. Who do you think was Gatsby’s real
murderer?
5.	Speak about Nick’s attempts to get people to come to
Gatsby’s funeral.
6.	Sum up all the new information of Gatsby’s youth, life
aftef the war and business that Nick came by after Gatsby’s
death. Discuss the sources of information.
85
7.	Specify the moment in the novel when Nick gives up
reserving judgements. Speak of all the episodes involved. Dwell
on Nick’s final judgement of the Buchanans.
8.	The contrast between East and West as seen by Nick.
IV.	QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR ANALYSIS
1.	Point out elements of symbolization in chapters VIII and
IX and discuss their meaning.
2.	Find proof that Gatsby’s dreamland was collapsing just
when his death came.
3.	Speak about the emotional key of the dosing paragraphs
of the novel. Is its ending optimistic or pessimistic?
ASSIGNMENT 6
Discussion of the Novel
I.	Revise the active vocabulary of chapters I-V.
II.	Use the vocabulary when speaking on the subjects:
1.	The features of “the Jazz-Age” as reflected in the novel.
2.	Jay Gatsby:
a)	his social background;
b)	the formation of his ideals and values;
c)	Dan Cody’s role in Gatsby’s life;
d)	Daisy’s role in his life;
e)	Gatsby’s greatness as you see it;
f)	Gatsby as a romantic figure;
g)	Gatsby as a businessman;
h)	the essence of Gatsby’s drama and tragedy;
i)	Nick Carraway’s view of Gatsby.
3.	“The American dream” as reflected in the novel.
4.	The lost generation: the Buchanans; Jordan Baker;
Gatsby’s guests.
5.	Nick Carraway and his evolution.
86
LORD OF THE FLIES*
by William Golding
ASSIGNMENT 1
Chapter 1
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
to pick one’s way
offhand adj
to say smth with a touch
of pride
adolescence n
ill-omened adj
intimidate vt
furtive adj
to have a vote for smth
to set smb apart
mortification n
to be in charge of smth
enormity n
contradict vt
П. EXERCISES
1.	Give definitions of the contextual meaning of the lexical units
below, use an English-English dictionary. Point out the
derivatives of the words in bold type:
offhand; adolescence; ill-omened; to intimidate; furtive;
mortification; enormity; to contradict
2.	Study these word combinations:
a furtive glance (manner, smile, movement), furtive
behaviour, to pack things furtively; to say something (to speak)
with a touch of pride (envy, conceit, contempt, flattery); to
sound offhand, in an offhand manner, to act in an offhand way;
an ill-omened look (sight, cry, sign, smile); the enormity of the
offence, to see the enormity of intimidation, to reveal the
enormity of the crime, to expose the enormity of nuclear
weapons; to contradict a person (the authorities, the truth, bare
facts, the previous statement), a contradiction in terms,
contradictory feelings (rumours, versions); the mortification of
failure (denial, unpopularity)
Golding W. Lord of the Flies. M., 1982.
87
3.	Translate into Russian:
1.	Let us have a vote for the agenda as it stands. 2. He spoke
of his native town with a touch of sadness. 3. It was hard to
stand the clerk’s offhand manner. 4. This is one of the most ill-
omened faces I have ever seen in my life. 5. The butler made a
furtive gesture as if to hide the letter rather than hand it in. 6. A
dean is in charge of each faculty. 7. Don’t you see the
mortification of being treated like a piece of furniture? 8. The
article showed a great confusion and contradiction in terms. 9.
The tallness of an English policeman is meant to set him apart
from the rest of the people. 10. The lecturer was shocked to see
a solitary figure picking its way to the exit. 11. The enormity of
your suspicion seems to be beyond your understanding. 12. The
girl spent her childhood and adolescence in Poland, that is why
she speaks Polish so fluently. 13. The police succeeded in
intimidating two witnesses into silence, but a new witness
emerged who would not surrender to intimidation.
4.	Make up situations of your own round these sentences. Don’t
change the words in bold type:
1.	“You can’t intimidate children by your beard, young
man,” said the headmaster. “Not these children,” he added with
a touch of irony.
2.	He was picking his way along the muddy road.
3.	Who is in charge of this form?
4.	The boy was furtively reading a detective story.
5.1 saw mortification in his eyes.
6.	Don’t contradict me.
7.	There was an ill-omened silence.
8.	Do you remember your adolescence?
9.	He failed to see the enormity of the situation.
10.	You speak to them in an offhand way.
11.	His quiet manner set him apart.
5.	Complete the following sentences. Make your comparisons
somewhat exaggerated or comic.
M о d e 1: He spoke with a touch of bitterness as if I had
frustrated all his lifelong ambitions.
1.	He picked his way carefully as if... 2. You speak of your
adolescence as if... 3. She has a way of interrupting you in an
88
offhand manner as though... 4. He glanced at me furtively as if...
5. There was an ill-omened pause in his speech as though... 6.
You contradict every phrase I utter as if... 7. He said it with a
touch of envy as if... 8. Her beauty set her apart as though...
6.	Recall the situations from chapter 1 in which these
utterances occur:
1.	The boy with fair hair... began to pick his way towards
the lagoon.
2.	He tried to be offhand and not too obviously un-
interested, but the fat boy hurried after him.
3.	“I was the only boy in our school what had asthma,” said
the fat boy with a touch of pride.
4.	He was... not yet old enough for adolescence to have
made him awkward.
5.	Protected from the sun, ignoring Piggy’s ill-omened talk,
he dreamed pleasantly.
6.	He was intimidated by this uniformed superiority and the
offhand authority in Merridew’s voice.
7.	There was a slight, furtive boy whom no one knew...
8.	“Let’s have a vote.” “Vote for chief!”
9.	The being that had blown that... was set apart.
10.	...the freckles on Jack’s face disappeared under a blush
of mortification.
11.	“Jack’s in charge of the choir.”
12.	The pause was only long enough for them to understand
what an enormity the downward stroke would be.
13.	He looked round fiercely, daring them to contradict.
7.	Apply the words and word combinations below to situations
and personages different from those in the novel:
ill-omened; to set smb apart; mortification; to contradict; to
say smth with a touch of
8.	Explain in English:
scarfcreeper; reef; lagoon; jetty; coign; crag
9.	Paraphrase or explain:
1.	The fair boy stopped and jerked his stockings with an
automatic gesture that made the jungle seem for a
moment like the Home Counties, (p. 40)
89
2.	You could see now that he might make a boxer, as far
as width and heaviness of shoulders went, but there was a
mildness about his mouth and eyes that proclaimed no devil.
(p.44)
3.	This last piece of shop brought sniggers from the
choir,... (p. 58)
4.	...what intelligence had been shown was traceable
to Piggy... (p. 60)
5.	He (Ralf) hovered between the two courses of
apology or further insult, (p. 64)
III.	QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
1.	Speak about the author of the book.
2.	Where is the scene laid? What had happened on the
island before Ralph and Piggy met? Give your idea of the time
of the action.
3.	Give a character sketch of Ralph relying on the
references to his appearance, manner, background.
4.	Sum up Piggy: his appearance, manner, background.
Point out the grammar peculiarities of his speech, instances of
his cleverness, of his being able to give good advice. Why was
Piggy set apart from the others from the very start? Was it
betrayal on Ralph’s part to mention Piggy’s nickname?
5.	Discuss Jack: his appearance, manner, position in the
choir, his features of a leader, his opinion of himself. What did
his authority rest on?
6.	Why did the children prefer Ralph for their chief? How
did Ralph and Jack react to it?
7.	Why did Ralph and Jack like each other?
8.	Pay attention to the way Ralph, Piggy and Jack expressed
their strong emotions. How does it characterize each?
9.	How did Ralph, Piggy, Jack, Simon regard their finding
themselves on an uninhabited island?
10.	Discuss Ralph’s first steps as a leader.
11.	Dwell on the episode with the piglet.
12.	Account for the title of the chapter. Trace all the
references to the shell, its physical properties, its functions, the
power it gave to Ralph.
13.	Make a list of words and expressions characteristic of
schoolboys’ slang.
90
ASSIGNMENT 2
Chapters 2, 3
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
to break in
to convey smth to smb
challengingly adv
hinder vt
nightmare n
spontaneously adv
to catch smb’s eye
savage n
to shout smb down
to set smth on fire
by tacit consent
II. EXERCISES
1.	Give definitions of the contextual meaning of these lexical
units:
to break in; to convey; to challenge; to hinder; sponta-
neously; by tacit consent; nightmare
2.	Note the use of the active vocabulary in these word
combinations; suggest some more:
to look round challengingly, to challenge, to challenge a
person to a duel; to convey some meaning (peace and
understanding, amiable feelings, local colour); by tacit consent
(understanding, agreement, approval); to act (react, answer)
spontaneously, a spontaneous reaction (act, question)
3.	Translate into Russian;
1.	Words fail to convey my feelings. 2. The speech he made
was spontaneous but impressive. 3. By tacit consent we went on
working after the bell. 4. Please, don’t break in till I have
finished. 5. See to it that the child is not hindered in his work. 6.
There was a challenge in his voice which nobody dared to
answer. 7- The walk along the muddy road in the dark was a
nightmare. 8. There was a tumult at the end of the meeting
caused, by the speaker’s sarcasm. Somebody tried to shout him
down but thought better of it after catching the chairman’s eye.
9. Don’t drop matches here. You may set the forest on fire in
this hot weather. 10. Fancy him calling us a mob of savages!
Did savages dance to a tape-recorder?
91
4.	Answer the questions:
1.	What can one do challengingly? 2. Can you make a
spontaneous five-minute speech in English? 3. Is it polite to
break in when the speaker is in the middle of a phrase? 4. What
is your reaction when you are hindered in your work? 5. What
was the name of the ancient Greek whose ambition made him
set a temple on fire? 6. Are there any savage tribes in the world
nowadays?
5.	Describe an incident from your life when:
1.	you had a nightmare; 2. somebody failed to convey
something important to you; 3. something was done by tacit
consent; 4. somebody tried to shout you down.
6.	Recall the situations from the book under discussion
suggested by the sentences:
1.	Jack broke in, “All the same you need an army —for
hunting”
2.	All three of them tried to convey the sense of the pink
live thing struggling in the creepers.
3.	Jack slammed his knife into a trunk and looked round
challengingly.
4.	“You are hindering Ralph.”
5.	“He must-have had a nightmare.”
6.	Spontaneously they began to clap and presently the
platform was loud with applause.
7.	Piggy opened his mouth to speak, caught Jack’s eye, and
shut it again.
8.	“After all, we’re not savages.”
9.	They stirred and began to shout him down.
10.	“Now you... set the whole island on fire.”
11.	...by tacit consent they left the shelter and went towards
the bathing-pool.
7.	Paraphrase or explain:
1.	He stood now, warped out of the perpendicular by
the fierce light of publicity,... (p. 77)
2.	The older boys agreed; but here and there among the
little ones was the dubiety that required more than
rational assurance, (p. 79)
92
3.	Then, with the martyred expression of a parent who has
to keep up with the senseless ebullience of the children,
he picked up the conch,... (p. 82)
4.	His voice lifted into the whine of virtuous re-
crimination. (p. 89)
8.	Explain the meaning of the words humour and heart in these
sentences (p. 80-81):
1.	The eyes that looked so intently at him were without
humour.
2.	Ralph lifted the conch again and his good humour came
back..
3.	Again came the sounds of cheerfulness and better heart.
9.	Find sentences in chapters 2 and 3 which may confirm the
following statements:
1.	The parents could not know the children’s whereabouts.
2.	The children had a bookish idea of the fun they could
have on the island.
3.	At first hard work done together united the children and
made them enthusiastic.
4.	The children hated long and systematic work.
5.	The children saw only immediate ends.
6.	Jack did not like the power of the conch from the start.
7.	Jack’s first act of violence was directed against Piggy.
8.	Jack’s eyes became mad whenever hunting was frus-
trated or mentioned.
9.	Hunting became more important to Jack than rescue.
10.	There was no understanding between Jack and Ralph.
11.	Ralph grew disappointed in the children.
12.	Simon was thought of as somewhat insane.
10.	Say whose utterances these are, what preceded them, what
state of mind they convey:
1.	“He wants to know what you’re going to do about the
snake-thing.”
2.	“But if there’s a snake we’d hunt it and kill it.”
3.	“But there isn’t a beast!”
4.	‘I can hardly see! You’ll break the conch!”
5.	“Where the conch is, there’s a meeting. The same up
here as down there.”
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6.	“We’re English; and the English are best at everything.”
7.	“You got your small fire all right.”
8.	“Meetings. Don’t we love meetings?”
9.	“You are chief. You tell ’em off.”
10.	“You and your fires!”
III.	QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1.	What difference was there between the first and the
second meeting on the platform? Discuss the information
Ralph gave to the audience. Why did Ralph accentuate the
glamour of living on an uninhabited island? What made Jack
constantly break in?
2.	Comment on the first measures taken by Ralph to ensure
discipline and order.
3.	The episode with the little boy who was afraid of “the
beastie”. Why did Ralph insist that there was no beast? What
was the danger of Jack’s reaction to it?
4.	The boys regard the possibility of being rescued. Why did
Ralph follow the others when they rushed to the mountain to
make a fire?
5.	The boys gather the fuel. Whom did the work unite?
Which of the boys was set apart?
6.	Whose idea was it to use Piggy’s glasses to light the fire?
What was dangerous about the way the idea was put into
practice? Why did Piggy protest so violently? What made Jack
choose Piggy an object of his scorn?
7.	The first death on the island. Was it an accident? How
did the boys take it?
8.	Jack’s hunting activities. Was it only meat he was after?
Quote the text to confirm your view.
9.	Ralph is disappointed in the boys. Why did Ralph and
Jack treat hunting differently? Discuss the growing antagonism
between them.
10.	Sum up all the references to the conch and its growing
importance. What does the conch symbolize? Point out the
episode when danger to the conch meant violation of order
among the boys. Why was Piggy the protector and Jack —the
enemy of the conch?
11.	Comment upon the titles of chapters 2 and 3. Specify
their implications.
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ASSIGNMENT 3
Chapter 4
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
to adjust oneself to smth
dubious adj
to huddle together
to exercise control over smb/
smth
taboo n, v
bloodthirsty adj
outsider n
disinclination for smth
chant vt, n
to impose smth upon smb
to assert one’s chieftainship
II. EXERCISES
1.	Explain the meaning of these words and word combinations:
to adjust oneself; dubious; to huddle together; taboo;
disinclination; to chant; to impose; to assert
2.	Arrange these words into pairs of synonyms:
to impose; to adjust oneself; to hinder; barbarian; dubious;
to prevent; to adapt oneself; sinister; disinclination; ill-omened;
to force; savage; doubtful; unwillingness
3.	Study these word combinations, add some more:
a dubious result (compliment, influence), dubious help
(progress, advice, value); bloodthirsty eyes (cries, savages,
wolves); disinclination for manual labour (continuous effort,
planning one’s actions), inclination for research (self-analysis,
exaggeration, aggressive actions); to impose advice upon
people, to impose one’s friendship upon the younger, to impose
one’s opinion upon the indifferent, to impose one’s authority
upon the audience; to assert one’s rights (claims, statements,
power), to assert oneselfj self-assertion; to exercise control over
the activities of some people (a committee, an institution, a
department)
4.	Translate the sentences into Russian:
1.	The woman was the self-assertive type: peremptory,
admitting of no criticism but provoking a lot. 2. His aunt’s
arrival was a dubious surprise. 3. It will be difficult for you to
adjust yourself to the new routine within a fortnight. 4. Your
95

inclination for laughing at the wrong moments and your
disinclination for serious effort go hand in hand, don’t they? 5.
When it started raining, the sheep huddled together under an
enormous oak-tree. 6.1 don’t want to impose my will upon you
nor exercise control over your actions, but I strongly advise you
to think twice before taking your final decision. 7. The football
fans chanted encouragements to their favourites producing a lot
of unwelcome noise throughout the match. 8. The boy playing
the role of the wolf made such bloodthirsty cries that the
spectators looked at him in terror. 9. The errant son’s name
became a taboo in the Hyde family.
5.	Make up sentences of your own with these words and
expressions:
dubious, outsider, to huddle together, to impose smth on
(upon) smb, disinclination for smth
6.	Discuss episodes from your own life when:
1.	somebody tried to assert his (her) authority in the wrong
way, 2. you turned out to be an outsider; 3. somebody gave you
dubious advice; 4. you failed to adjust yourself to a new rule,
regulation or way of life; 5. somebody’s name was tabooed.
7.	Recall the situations from the book where the following
sentences occur:
1.	Nevertheless, the northern European tradition of work,
play and food right through the day, made it impossible for
them to adjust themselves wholly to this new rhythm.
2.	...though there was a dubious region inhabited by Simon
and Robert and Maurice, nevertheless no one had any difficulty
in recognising biguns at one end and littluns at the other.
3.	They suffered untold terrors at night and huddled
together for comfort.
4.	He became absorbed beyond mere happiness as he felt
himself exercising control over living things.
5.	Here, invisible but strong, was the taboo of the old life.
6.	He began to dance and his laughter became a
bloodthirsty snarling.
7.	There had grown tacitly among the biguns the opinion
that Piggy was an outsider... by fat, and ass-mar, and specs, and
a certain disinclination for manual labour.
96
8.	They were chanting, something to do with the bundle
that the errant twins carried so carefully.
9.	His mind was crowded with memories; memories of the
knowledge... that they had outwitted a living thing, imposed
their will upon it...
10.	So Ralph asserted his chieftainship and could not have
chosen a better way if he had thought for days.
8.	Apply the words and word combinations below to situations
different from those in the novel:
dubious; to exercise control over smth; bloodthirsty;
outsider; disinclination for smth; to impose smth upon smb
9.	Paraphrase or explain:
1.	The littlun Percival had early crawled into a shelter and
stayed there for two days, talking, singing, and crying, till they
thought him batty and were faintly amused, (p. 108)
2.	In his other life Maurice had received chastisement
for filling a younger eye with sand. (p. 110)
3.	Roger’s arm was conditioned by a civilization that
knew nothing of him and was in ruins, (p. 113)
4.	He (Jack) capered towards Bill, and the mask was a
thing of its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame
and self-consciousness, (p. 115)
5.	Not even Ralph knew how a link between him and Jack
had been snapped arid fastened elsewhere, (p. 127)
6.	Numberless and inexpressible frustrations com-
bined to make his rage elemental and awe-inspiring, (p. 129)
10.	Find sentences confirming that:
1.	the children were afraid of the dark; 2. the younger
imitated the older; 3. Roger enjdyed throwing stones at Henry;
4. Jack’s mask had more than one function; 5. Jack made some
children disobey Ralph’s orders; 6. Jack took delight in the act
of killing; 7. Jack’s violence shifted Ralph and Piggy’s relations.
11.	Say why this happened:
1.	Roger led the way straight through the castles, kicking
them over, burying the flowers, scattering the chosen stones, (p.
110)
2.	The mask compelled them. (p. 115)
4—287	97
3.	Ralph picked out Jack easily, ... tall, red-haired, and
inevitably leading the procession, (p. 121)
4.	He (Jack) took a step, and able at last to hit someone,
stuck his fist into Piggy’s.stomach. (p. 125)
5.	Then to his (Jack’s) surprise, Ralph went to Piggy and
took the glasses from him. (p. 127)
6.	Simon,... wiped his mouth and shoved his piece of meat
over the rocks to Piggy, who grabbed it. (p. 128)
7.	Jack, recovering, could not bear to have his story told. He
broke in quickly, (p. 129)
12.	Say whose utterances these are and what emotions they
convey:
1.	“We could make a sundial..” “And an airplane, and a TV
set, and a steam engine.”
2.	“They let the bloody fire out.”
3.	“You and your blood, Jack Merridew! You and your
hunting! We might have gone home — ”
4.	“ —I apologize.”
5.	“That was a dirty trick.”
6.	“I got you meat!”
III.	QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1.	The daily routine on the island. Discuss the pastime of
the younger and the bigger boys. What relations existed
between the two age groups? Compare the treatment of the
“littluns” by Ralph, Piggy and Simon on the one hand and
Roger and Jack on the other. How does the author give to
understand that the taboos of civilization might be soon
discarded by Roger and his like?
2.	Point out instances when “the littluns” blindly followed
the examples set by the bigger boys. Where did the danger of it
lie, if any?
3.	What new idea was Jack preoccupied with? What
difference did wearing a mask make to him? How did it affect
the others?
4.	What reasons had the boys for treating Piggy as an
outsider? Account for Piggy’s disinclination for manual labour.
Why did Piggy seek Ralph’s company? How did Ralph treat
him?
98
5.	The smoke, on the horizon and the boys’ frustration.
Whom do you think responsible for the missed chance of
rescue?
6.	Jack leads the procession of hunters. Comment on their
chant and the emotional dash of Ralph’s and Jack’s groups.
How did Jack react to the news? Do you regard Jack’s violence
to Piggy as a typical sort of fight between boys?
7.	The meat-eating scene. How did Jack turn it into
humiliation of those who had not participated in the hunt?
Comment upon his account of the hunt. How did he impose on
everybody his exceptional role in 'it? Note his use of the
pronoun ‘T’ and the reiterated phrases. What light do they
throw on what he really enjoyed in the hunt?
8.	What change was there in the relations of Ralph and
Jack? Ralph and Piggy? Ralph and the hunters? Jack and the
hunters? Why did the hunters not resent Jack’s methods of self-
assertion?
9.	Comment upon the boys’ behaviour after the feast. What
was there in common between their actions and those of the
people generally described as savages? What enormity of their
behaviour was the starting point of their going savage?
10.	Sum up Jack Merridew as presented in the chapter. Is
there any link between his joy of killing and his rage for
leadership? What cardinal defects of his made the boys’ rescue
impossible under the circumstances?
ASSIGNMENT 4
Chapter 5
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
jeeringly adv
urgency n
to break up (of a meeting)
to put things straight
inarticulate adj
inspiration n
to stick to the rules
tough adj
to make sense
incantation n
II. EXERCISES
1.	Explain the contextual meaning:
4**
99
jeeringly, urgency, inarticulate; inspiration; tough; in-
cantation
2.	Arrange the lexical units into pairs of antonyms:
inarticulate; meek; to make a mess of things; to get
together; to sweep away obstacles; to throw over order; distinct;
tough; to put things straight; to stick to the rules; to break up; to
hinder
3.	Study these word combinations and add some more:
inarticulate words (phrases, cries, fears); to jeer at enemy, a
half-jeer, a jeering reply, to have a sudden inspiration, to draw
inspiration from nature, to inspire people with awe (exultation,
joy); a tough fellow (soldier, politician)
4.	Translate into Russian:
1.	The party broke up well after midnight 2. Do you see the
urgency of my request? 3. The baby smiled and pronounced a
series of inarticulate sounds. 4. If you can’t put the things
straight, who would? 5. I have read this article and I must
confess it does not make much sense to me. 6. The poets of the
Lake School drew inspiration from the wonderful scenery of
the Lake District. 7. A leader is supposed to be tough in certain
circumstances, but if your sole reason for choosing a leader is
his imposing appearance, you look for toughness in the wrong
quarters. 8. Football has been played since times immemorial,
but it was only in the XIX century that strict rules were made
for the players to stick to. 9. “I don’t object to your using that
name like an incantation, it will make the scene all the funnier,”
the producer said with a touch of weary tolerance.
5.	Make up situations of your own round these sentences:
1.	He was a tough one.
2.	An inarticulate phrase reached my ear.
3.	The urgency of the matter is obvious.
4.	We’ve got some rules to stick to.
5.	The meeting broke up very late.
6.	It doesn’t make sense, I am afraid.
7.	Am I to put these things straight for you?
6.	Recall the situations from the book suggested by the
sentences:
100
1.	He stopped... and remembering that first enthusiastic
exploration as though it were part of a brighter childhood, he
smiled jeeringly.
2.	At that he walked faster aware all at once of urgency...
3.	Assembly after assembly had broken up in laughter when
someone had leaned too far back...
4.	“We need an assembly. Not for fun. Not for laughing and
falling off the log... But to put things straight.”
5.	Simon became inarticulate in his effort to express
mankind’s essential illness. Inspiration came to him.
6.	...we can’t have proper assemblies if you don’t stick to the
rules.
7.	“You got to be tough now. Make ’em do what you want.”
8.	“’Cos things wouldn’t make sense.”
9.	Percival Wemys Madison... was living through cir-
cumstances in which the incantation of his address was
powerless to help him.
7.	Apply the vocabulary below to Jack and the situation on the
island:
jeeringly (to jeer); to put things straight; inspiration; tough;
incantation
8.	Paraphrase or explain:
1.	He (Ralph) found himself understanding the weari-
someness of this life, where every path was an impro-
visation and a considerable part of one’s walking life was
spent watching one’s feet. (p. 131)
2.	Again he fell into that strange mood of speculation that
was so foreign to him. (p. 133)
3.	Percival Wemys Madison would not shut up. A spring
had been tapped, far beyond the reach of authority or
even physical intimidation, (p. 145)
4.	The assembly looked with him; considered the vast
stretches of water, the high sea beyond, unknown indigo
of infinite possibility; ... (p. 146-147)
9.	Confirm or disprove the statements by quoting the text:
1.	Ralph thought Piggy cleverer than himself.
2.	The children did not like assemblies.
3.	The children created real danger to the environment.
101
4.	Simon liked to be all by himself.
5.	Jack was not afraid of anything on the island.
6.	Ralph realized that Jack was actually becoming chief.
10.	Say what incidents in the past these statements refer to:
1.	“...we can start again and be careful about things like the
fire.” A picture of three boys walking along the bright beach
flitted through his mind. “And be happy.” (p. 139)
2.	“Am I a hunter or am I not?” They nodded, simply. He
was a hunter all right. No one doubted that. (p. 140)
3.	Ralph remembered another small boy who had stood like
this and he flinched away from the memory, (p. 144)
4.	“Percival Wemys Madison, The Vicarage, Harcourt St
Anthony, Hants, telephone, telephone, tele-” (p. 145)
11.	Say whose utterances these are and how they throw light
upon the speakers’ wishes:
1.	“The fire is the most important thing on the island.”
2.	“Life is scientific.”
3.	“Maybe there is a beast... What I mean is... maybe it’s
only us.”
4.	“You can’t hunt, you can’t sing — ”
5.	“You got to be tough now.”
6.	“Go on being chief.”
7.	“If only they could send us something grown-up... a sign
or something.”
12.	Say why these things happened:
1.	Once more that evening Ralph had to adjust his values.
(p.133)
2.	Ralph felt a kind of affectionate reverence for the conch,
...(p.134)
3.	Simon felt a perilous necessity to speak;... (p. 148)
4.	There was the sound of a brief tussle and the conch
moved to and fro. (p. 149)
5.	The world, that understandable and lawful world, was
slipping away. (p. 150)
6.	The sound of mock hunting, hysterical laughter, and real
terror came from the beach, (p. 152)	r
7.	The three boys stood in the darkness, striving un-
successfully to convey the majesty of adult life. (p. 155)
102
Ш. QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1.	Ralph’s state of mind before the assembly. Why did he
find the chiefs position trying? What features of the life on the
island was he especially irritated by?
2.	Ralph’s speech. Discuss the boys’ way of life on the
island as made obvious by the speech.
3.	Why was the question of fear so urgent? Who suffered
from fear most? What state did fear reduce Percival to? What
was the danger of it? What arguments did the big boys give to
do away with fear?
4.	Follow the mood of the audience throughout the
assembly, the boy’s reaction to Ralph’s, Jack’s, Piggy’s and
Simon’s speeches. Specify instances when the assembly
behaved hysterically.
5.	Note Jack’s behaviour and his attempts at self-assertion
and hurting Ralph. How did the assembly break up?
6.	Ralph, Piggy and Simon hold a conference. How did
Piggy and Simon react to Ralph’s wish to give up being chief?
What advice did Piggy give to Ralph as to his proper line of
conduct? What features of a good chief did Ralph lack?
7.	Sinn up the new information about Simon. Why did
Simon break with the hunters? What attempts did Simon make
to give help to Ralph? Why did he fail?
8.	Point out words or phrases used as incantation by Ralph,
Jack, Simon, the hunters.
9.	Pay special attention to the change in the colour of the
conch. What symbolic significance is attached to the change by
the author? Mark all the references to black in the chapter.
What do black and white stand for? What did Jack’s attempts to
snatch the conch from Piggy symbolize?
10.	Trace the growing symbolic meaning of fire, hunting,
Piggy’s glasses, the hunters’s chant and dance.
11.	How does the author strike! a pessimistic note at the end
of the chapter?
ASSIGNMENT 5
Chapters 6, 7
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
sensible a	to toss and turn
103
to be on the lookout
to escape responsibility
incredulity n
to be nuts on smth
to come in handy
funk n, v
vicious(ly) adj
to take strides
П. EXERCISES
1.	Give definitions of these lexical units relying on an'English-
English dictionary; point out the derivatives of the words in
bold type:
sensible; to toss and turn; incredulity; to be nuts on smth;
to come in hadly, funk; vicious
2.	Study the use of the active vocabulary in these word
combinations and sentences:
a)	an incredulous listener (smile, look), to show (to conceal,
to feel) incredulity, an incredible story (version); a vicious smile
(remark, temper, kick), to ask (to speak, to laugh) viciously; to
take great (giant, dangerous) strides in the right (wrong)
direction; a sensible idea (answer, fellow, action); to be nuts on
sightseeing (embroidery, psychology, pictures, minerals,
curiosities)
b)	1. Civilization is taking great strides towards further
material progress. 2. “Why can’t you be like the Happy Prince?”
asked a sensible mother of her little boy who was crying for the
moon. (O. Wilde) 3. The carpet is dusty. A vacuum-cleaner
would come in handy. 4. “You are nuts on making rules for
others,” his sister remarked viciously. 5. Nightmarish visions
made him toss and turn all through the night. 6. “I can foresee
your incredulity, but the poem was written by myself,” said the
student with a touch of modesty. 7. The biologist was always on
the lookout for rare butterflies. 8. Some war criminals fled to
Latin America to escape responsibility after the war. 9. The boy
was about to ask a question, he put up his hand but funked at
the last moment.
3.	Paraphrase the words in bold type using the active vo-
cabulary:
1.	The boy is a great lover and connoisseur of post
stamps.
104
2.	“Are you afraid?” he asked with a touch of contempt.
3.	That was a spiteful phrase, unworthy of a lady.
4.	They have such a poor time in the evening. A TV set
might be very useful.
5.	If you show that you don’t believe him, the dear old
man will be mortified.
6.	Suddenly we became aware that a policeman was taking
long steps in our direction.
7.	You should take great care so that cows might not
break into the orchard.
8.	He could not get a wink of sleep and spent the
night restlessly.
9.	Your decision stands to good reason, I think.
10.	The engine-driver can’t but account for his actions
before the passengers.
4.	Make up sentences of your own after the pattern:
1.	You should be always on the lookout for snakes.
2.	1 can’t put on this shoe, a shoe horn might come in
handy.
3.	You had better consult my cousin, he is nuts on
chemistry.
4.	Don’t show your incredulity if he tells you his age.
5.	Don’t funk, the river is shallow, children cross it.
5.	Recall the situations from chapters 6, 7 suggested by these
sentences:
1.	But they could never manage to do things sensibly if that
meant acting independently.
2.	He had fallen asleep after what seemed hours of tossing
and turning noisily among the dry leaves.
3.	“Stay here? and be cramped into this bit of the island
always on the lookout?”
4.	Ralph walked in the rear, thankful to have escaped
responsibility for a time.
5.	Simon... felt a flicker of incredulity...
6.	“You’re nuts on the signal.”
7.	He passed his tongue experimentally over his teeth and
decided that a toothbrush would come in handy too.
8.	Maurice spoke, hesitating, not wanting to seem a funk.
105
9.	The words came from Jack viciously, as though they
were a curse.
10.	There was a slithering noise high above them, the sound
of someone taking giant and dangerous strides on rock or ash.
6.	Paraphrase or explain:
1.	By custom now one conch did for both twins, for then-
substantial unity was recognized, (p. 162)
2.	Ralph dismissed Simon and returned to his personal hell.
(p.167)
3.	On the other side of the island, ... one might dream of
rescue; but here, faced by the brute obtuseness of the ocean, the
miles of division, one was clamped down, one was helpless, one
was condemned,... (p. 176)
4.	They went more slowly than Ralph had bargained for;...
(p.178)
5.	At that word the other boys forgot their urge to be gone
and turned back to sample this fresh rub of two spirits in the
dark. (p. 189)
6.	So they sat, the rocking, tapping, impervious Roger and
Ralph, fuming;... (p. 191)
7.	...the darkness and desperate enterprise gave the night a
kind of dentist’s chair unreality, (p. 192)
8.	Roger and Ralph moved on, this time leaving Jack in the
rear, for all his brave words, (p. 193)
7.	Confirm or disprove the statements by quoting the text:
1.	The importance of the conch grew in Ralph’s eyes.
2.	Jack thought and spoke sometimes like a fascist.
3.	Ralph came to like hunting after taking part in it. ,
4.	The chant of the hunters was quite harmless.
5.	Jack hated Ralph’s protection of Piggy.
6.	Jack was incapable of treating “the beast” sensibly.
7.	Jack, Ralph and Roger were equally brave.
8.	The rest of the boys were funks.
9.	Jack became aggressive when he did not lead.
8.	Say whose utterances these are and interpret the full
meaning of each:
1.	“Conch! Conch! We don’t need the conch any more.”
106
2.	“I just think you’ll get back all right.”
3.	“I hit him. I hit him with my spear, I wounded him.”
4.	“Use a littlun.”
5.	‘Til go if you like. I dop’t mind, honestly.”
6.	“Why do you hate me?”
7.	“I am going up the mountain to look for the beast — now.
Coming?”
III.	QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1	“The sign” from the adult world. Was that world as
sensible as the boys pictured it in their minds?
2.	The twins see “the beast” and spread the news. Point out
fantastic details in the twins’ story. Note the contrast between
Ralph’s dream and the dreadful reality he had to face.
3.	Specify Jack’s, Ralph’s and Piggy’s reaction to the news.
Point out the most sensible things Ralph insisted on. Account
for Jack’s aggressiveness.
4.	Discuss Ralph’s behaviour as chief when they came up to
the castle. What made him come forward and face the
unknown all by himself?
5.	Comment upon the lack of order and discipline among
the boys at the most dangerous moments and after them.
Describe what they looked like. What necessities were they
devoid of on the island?
• 6. What glimpses of Ralph’s childhood does the author
afford? Find proof that Ralph felt nostalgic about it. Which of
the lost benefits of his childhood did he regret most?
7.	The hunt with Ralph’s participation. Were Ralph’s
feelings different from Jack’s under the circumstances?
Describe the game of mock hunt. What dangerous instincts did
hunting release in the boys?
8.	The expedition to the mountain. Compare Ralph’s and
Jack’s attitude to its aim. Comment upon Jack’s attempts to
compromise Ralph before the boys. Did the expedition make
sense in the dark?
9.	Sum up the result of the expedition. Whose fault was its
failure? Imagine the same expedition in broad daylight.
10.	Account for the titles of these chapters.
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ASSIGNMENT 6
Chapters 8, 9
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
to be astir
menace n
rebuke vt
derisive adj
derision n
to have the daring to do smth
to steal off
to unburden oneself -"
evolve vi
to raid smb/smth for smth
lame adj
demented adj
II. EXERCISES
1.	Define the contextual meaning of these lexical units relying
on an English-English dictionary; give the derivatives of
the words in bold type:
to be astir; menace; to rebuke; derision; to steal off; to
evolve; lame; demented
2.	Arrange these lexical units into pairs of antonyms;
lame; sane; to threaten; sensible; to have the daring to do
smth; to praise; demented; unreasonable; to funk; to be astir;
valid; to quieten down; to rebuke; to menace
3.	Study the use of the active vocabulary. Account for the use or
absence of the articles in the sentences (b):
a)	a derisive word (laughter, reply, question), to excite
(stimulate, provoke, escape) derision, to be an object of social
derision, to deride inefficiency (clumsiness, ugliness, stupidity);
a lame excuse (story, theory, argument); demented people
(society, children), demented with frenzy (worry, alarm, panic);
to have the daring to insist on justice (to contradict an authority,
to stick to.one’s opinion, to make an experiment); a menace to
world peace (to life, to health, to civilization), to menace a
nation by war, to brandish a spear menacingly
b)	1. The village was astir with alarm when the enemy
forces got near. 2. A mystery evolved round the Baskerville
family. 3. The boy needed sympathy but found only derision. 4.
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Nobody will have the daring to go to the party uninvited. 5.
Does your mother rebuke you when you sit down to table with
your hands dirty? 6. When adolescents raid orchards for fruit,
they are after the excitement of risk rather than green apples or
plums. 7. He was about to unburden himself, but saw
unfriendly prim faces around, thought better of it and produced
a lame story to incredulous ears. 8. When seeing the dog ap-
proach the kitten, the cat gave out a demented shriek and
rushed to protect her little one.
4.	Make up sentences of your own after the pattern:
l.	Who will have the daring to cross the river?
2.	When the fire broke out, the children were demented
with horror and panic.
3.	The film was rotten, and people stole off to the exit one
by one.
4.	Feeling out of sorts is a lame excuse for coming late.
5.	The woods were astir with the first rays of the sun.
6.	A new theory evolved to explain the origin of life on the
Earth.
7.	Don’t rebuke him for being too slow in thinking, it
won’t help.
8.	Corruption was an object of Gogol’s derision.
9.	What do you think of people who unburden them-
selves to strangers?
5.	Recall episodes from your life when:
1.	somebody had the daring to do something extraordinary;
2. you heard a lame story; 3. you felt a menace to common
sense in somebody’s behaviour; 4. you had to steal off to avoid
wasting time; 5. you had to rebuke a child; 6. somebody tried to
unburden himself to you at the wrong moment; 7. you resented
somebody’s derision.
6.	Recall the situations from the book suggested by the
sentences:
1.	..Jack went on blowing till the shelters were astir...
2.	“All right then,” he said in tones of deep meaning and
menace...
3.	Piggy gave up the attempt to rebuke Ralph.
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4.	Simon broke off and turned to Piggy who was looking at
him with an expression of derisive incomprehension.
5.	Only Piggy could have the intellectual daring to suggest
moving the fire from the mountain.
6.	“I seen them stealing off when we were gathering wood.”
7.	Ralph, having begun the business of unburdening
himself, continued.
8.	A taboo was evolving about that word too.
9.	“They raided us for fire.”
10.	...Ralph’s remarks seemed lame, even to the littluns.
11.	Piggy once more was the centre of social derision...
12.	Piggy and Ralph, under the threat of the sky, found
themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly
secure society.
7.	Make up your own statements based on the proceedings in
chapters 8,9 applying the vocabulary below to:
a)	Jack: derision, to have the daring to do something, to
menace, lame, demented;
b)	Ralph: to steal off, to have the daring to do something,
demented, menace.
8.	Paraphrase or explain:
1.	Jack’s voice went on, tremulous yet determined,
pushing against the uncooperative silence, (p. 197)
2.	They agreed passionately out of the depths of their
tormented private lives, (p. 207)
3.	They were regarding him (Ralph) gravely, not yet
troubled by any doubts about his sufficiency, (p. 218)
4.	‘Taney thinking the Beast was something you could hunt
and kill!” said the head. For a moment or two the forest and all
the other dimly appreciated places echoed with the
parody of laughter. “You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you?”
(p. 220-221)
5.	Power lay in the brown swell of his forearms: authority
sat on his shoulder and chattered in his ear like an
ape. (p. 229)
9.	Quote the text to confirm the following:
1.	Jack put the matter of being chief to the vote at the
wrong moment.
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2.	Ralph openly declared his defeat.
3.	Where Simon expected Piggy’s understanding he met
with derision.
4.	Piggy was the first to evolve a taboo round Jack’s name.
5.	In Jack’s absence Piggy twice surpassed himself.
6.	No one suspected Simon of stealing off.
7.	Ralph was developing a nervous breakdown.
8.	Ralph as chief was unused to honours.
9.	Jack bought his followers with meat.
10.	Roger was the worst sadist of all the hunters.
11.	Simon’s talk with the sow’s head was imaginary.
12.	The head menaced Simon by death.
13.	Jack’s followers are referred to as savages by the author.
14.	Jack’s camp attached little or no importance to the
conch.
15.	Ralph’s laughter at Piggy in Jack’s camp was betrayal.
16.	Ralph and Piggy witnessed Simon’s murder.
10.	Say why this happened:
1.	The sound of the inexpertly blown conch interrupted
them. (p. 196)
2.	The humiliating tears were running from the comer of
each eye. (p; 199)
3.	Piggy and the other two were by him. They were laden
with fruit, (p.205)
4.	Fifteen yards from the drove Jack stopped; and his arm,
straightening, pointed at the sow. (p. 208)
5.	...Jack grabbed Maurice and rubbed the stuff over his
cheeks, (p. 210)
6.	Demoniac figures with faces of white and red and green
rushed out howling......Ralph saw Piggy running, (p. 216)
7.	The two savages looked at each other, raised their spears
together and spoke in time. “The Chief has spoken.” (p. 217)
8.	The Lord of the Flies spoke in the voice of a
schoolmaster, (p. 221)
9.	The beast was harmless and horrible; and the news must
reach the others as soon as possible, (p. 224)
10.	The beast was on its knees in the centre, its arms folded
over its face. It was crying out against the abominable noise
something about a body on the hill. (p. 232)
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III.	QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1.	Explain the meaning of the titles of chapters 8 and 9.
2.	Jack blows the conch. Why did Jack choose that moment
to seize power? Go over Jack’s arguments against Ralph’s being
chief. Were all of them true? Why did the boys not vote against
Ralph?
3.	Piggy makes a contribution to the good of society.
Comment upon the change in his spirits after Jack’s departure.
4.	Jack declares his programme to his followers. Why could
Jack solve the problem of “the beast” so easily? Compare Jack’s
treatment of the beast with savages’ treatment of natural
phenomena causing fear.
5.	Why does the author give a detailed description of the pig
hunt? Compare what the hunters had been in the civilized
A'orld and what they were becoming under Jack’s leadership.
How does the author stress the enormity of the proceedings?
6.	Which of the former choir-boys felt the enormity most
acutely? What made him look for solitude in his shelter? Do
you think Simon demented (‘batty”) or over-sensitive to the
wrong? What was Simon’s reaction to the sight of the sow’s
head?
7.	Follow the sow’s head evolving into a symbol. Note the
first mention of “the Lord of the Flies”. What does it stand for?
Who is referred to as the flies? Why did the head pick out
Simon, of all the boys, to preach before? Find proof that “the
head” was afraid of Simon. Pay special attention to the use of
pronouns showing the creatures “the head” identified itself
with. Why did the Lord of Flies insist on Simon’s joining the
others?
8.	The savages’ raid for the fire and Jack’s speech. What
tactics did Jack resort to to win over new followers? What
historical parallel can you draw when identifying the tactics?
9.	Ralph calls a meeting. Why did the boys find his speech
lame? Could Ralph carry away the audience by tempting
promises? What did the children value more: meat, fun,
companionship or rescue? Could an average child realize the
ugliness of Jack’s methods or the price of preferring immediate
things? Which of the boys knew that the price was degradation?
10.	Simon’s heroic deed. Why did Simon succeed in doing
what Jack and Ralph had failed to do?
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11.	Jack’s party. Discuss Jack’s attributes of power and his
new manner. Speak about the boy’s open betrayal of Ralph.
What made Piggy feel a menace of violence in the proceedings?
12.	The thunderstorm over the island. Jack organizes the
boys’ restlessness into a savage dance. Compare the words of
the chant with its original version. Discuss the dance turning
into an orgy of violence, and its victim.
13.	Account for Ralph’s failure as chief. Compare Ralph’s
and Jack’s ideas of power. Comment on the danger of Jack’s
coming to power.
14.	Follow all the referential meanings of the word “beast”
in the chapters under discussion.
15.	Note the author’s use of gradation and contrast in
developing the boys’ treatment of hunting. Specify the stages of
their human degradation resulting in a crime.
ASSIGNMENT 7
Chapters 10, 11
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
fragile adj
impaired adj
loathing n
to sneak in
to flinch away from smth
to disguise oneself
to keep on the right side of smb
to exult in smth
to smarten up
ferocity n
II. EXERCISES
1.	Define the contextual meaning of these lexical units; give the
derivatives of the words in bold type:
fragile; impaired; loathing; ferocity; to smarten up; to
disguise; to exult in smth; to flinch away from smth; to keep on
the right side of smb
2.	Find antonyms of the words and phrases below in your active
vocabulary:
to steal off; indestructible; to improve; attraction; to keep
on at smb; to unmask oneself; to grieve over smth
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3.	Note the use of the active vocabulary in these word
combinations and sentences:
a)	impaired sight (health, memory); fragile flowers (china,
health, happiness); to loathe a person (a smell, a colour), a
loathsome smell (sight, disease, crime); to flinch away from a
memory (a vision, a sight); to have a tooth pulled out without
flinching; to disguise one’s appearance (voice, face), to disguise
oneself as a policeman (woman, sultan); to exult in one’s
triumph (victory, liberation), to cause exultation, to be exultant
over a success; an act of ferocity, to provoke ferocity, a
ferocious tiger (savage, man-eater, fight)
b)	1. At the fancy dress ball she disguised herself under a
black domino. 2. The man was well over ninety, but his
memory was unimpaired. 3. Whenever the champion scored a
new victory, his fans exulted in it as if it were their own. 4. The
children caught in a thunderstorm saw a long zig-zag lightning
and flinched away from it. 5. The cat, a graceful and tender
creature, showed unsuspected ferocity when seeing a dog. 6.
We decided to smarten up before the party. 7. The fort was well
guarded, nobody could sneak in or steal off without being
observed. 8. Where is that marvellous fragile figurine you kept
on the mantelpiece? 9. “The young teacher took pains to keep
on the right side of the children, and what did he get in return?”
“He oughtn’t to have done it! Children loathe such tricks, and
they are quite right about it.”
4.	Use the active vocabulary to express these notions:
a delicate piece of china; to be disgusted with a scene; to
change one’s appearance to conceal one’s identity; to move
away with fear at the sight of a burning wall; to try to please a
child using dubious methods; to ruin one’s health; to make
oneself clean, tidy and smart; a fierce, cruel, bloodthirsty
animal; to rejoice greatly in a victory; to get into an enemy
camp by stealth
5.	Make up situations of your own round these sentences:
1.	You ought to smarten up a bit.
2.	He looked ferociously at me.
3.	1 could hardly conceal my loathing.
4.	She wanted to disguise her fear but failed.
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5.	Your eyesight is impaired.
6.	How fragile you look!
7.	Let’s sneak in through the hole in the fence.
8.	He was exulting in his triumph.
9.	The patient flinched away from the dentist.
10.	Is that your way of keeping on the right side of me?
6.	Recall the situations from the book suggested by these
sentences:
1.	...the fragile white conch still gleamed by the polished
seat.
2.	They continued to sit, gazing with impaired sight at the
chiefs seat and the glittering lagoon.
3.	There was loathing, and at the same time a kind of
feverish excitement in his voice.
4.	‘The defenders of the gate will see that the others don’t
sneak in.”
5.	In the silence that followed each savage flinched away
from his individual memory.
6.	T expect the beast disguised itself.”
7.	“We’d better keep on the right side of him.”
8.	The chief led them, trotting steadily, exulting in his
achievement.
9.	“We could smarten up a bit...”
10.	Then they were facing each other again, panting and
furious, but unnerved by each other’s ferocity.
7.	Apply the vocabulary below to Jack’s savages:
to smarten up; to disguise oneself; to exult in smth; to keep
on the right side of smb; ferocity; impaired
8.	Paraphrase or explain:
1.	...Roger received this news as an illumination. He
ceased to work at his tooth and sat still, assimilating the
possibilities of irresponsible authority, (p. 241)
2.	A theological speculation presented itself. “We’d
better keep on the right side of him, anyhow.” (p. 242)
3.	Ralph dredged in his fading knowledge of the
world, (p. 244)
4.	Piggy sought in his mind for words to convey his
passionate willingness to carry the conch against all odds. (p.
257)
5.	Samneric protested out of the heart of civilization.
(p.266)
6.	The hangman’s horror clung round him. (p. 270)
7.	Roger advanced upon them as one wielding a nameless
authority, (p. 270)
9.	Find sentences in the text confirming that:
1.	a taboo was'evolving round the murder of Simon in both
camps; 2. the adolescents admired Jack’s cruelty; 3. new boys
distinguished themselves under Jack’s rule; 4. Jack’s savages
liked rites; 5. Jack took on risky work to assert himself as chief;
6. Samneric realized the danger of Jack’s rule; 7. Jack exulted in
getting things done; 8. The hunters murdered Piggy without
flinching.
10.	Say why this happened:
1.	Memory of the dance that none of them had attended
shook all four boys convulsively, (p. 239)
2.	Dartmoor was wild and so were the ponies. But the
attraction of wildness had gone. (p. 247)
3.	The twins were examining Ralph curiously, as though
they were seeing him for the first time. (p. 259)
4.	The booing rose and died again as Piggy lifted the white,
magic shell, (p. 267)
5.	High overhead, Roger, with a sense of delirious
abandonment, leaned all his weight to the lever, (p. 268)
11.	Say whose utterances these are and what caused them:
1.	‘That was murder.”
2.	“We left early because we were tired.”
3.	‘He is a proper Chief, isn’t he?”
4.	“We might get taken prisoner by the reds.” ‘They’d be
better than — ”
5.	“If we don’t get home soon we’ll be barmy.”
6.	‘He is the only one who ever got anything done.”
7.	“You are a beast and a swine and a bloody, bloody thief!”
8.	“Which is better — to have rules and agree, or to hunt and
kill?”
9.	Tm Chief!”
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III.	QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1.	The four boys start living on their own. Describe Ralph’s
physical and mental condition after the orgy. Why did Piggy try
his best to convince Ralph that the murder had been an
accident? For whose sake was Piggy telling lies? Do you think
that the boys had actually participated in the murder? Why did
Samneric tell lies and hear as much in return?
2.	The new arrangements at the Castle Rock. How did Jack
treat those he ruled? What made them accept the treatment?
Did they deserve a leader like Jack? Which words were tabooed
by the savages?
3.	Ralph’s friends face new problems. Discuss the hunters’
theft of Piggy’s glasses and its consequences for the boys.
4.	Specify the conditions when Piggy became Ralph’s nurse
or Ralph turned into Piggy’s nurse. Why had these relations
been previously unthinkable?
5.	Ralph blows the conch at the Castle Rock. Why were his
demands met with the savages’ laughter? What made them
lame under the circumstances? Dwell on Ralph and Jack’s
confrontation. What advantage did Jack boast of that had never
been achieved by Ralph?
6.	Jack forces Samneric to join the tribe. Point out Jack’s
utterances showing that Samneric had already been captured
once but succeeded in running away. What had made the
brothers stick to Ralph’s camp?
7.	Piggy’s last speech. Do you regard it as a feat? What did
Piggy have to overcome to make it?
8.	The murder of Piggy. Find proof that the enormity of the
crime was lost upon the savages. Say what events had prepared
the murder. Compare it with the previous murder and specify
the difference as the new stage in the savages’ degradation.
9.	Follow all the references to the conch in the chapters
under discussion. Mark the epithets conveying its beauty,
fragility and magic. Pay special attention to reiterated epithets.
Account for the reiteration. Point out the culminating reference
uniting all the admirable qualities of the sheik Discuss the
symbolic significance of the conch, of its being shattered by the
savages and of the fact that Piggy and the shell ceased to exist
simultaneously.
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10.	Discuss the functions of fire valued by Ralph and by the
savages.
11.	Speak about the symbolic meaning of Piggy’s glasses.
ASSIGNMENT 8
Chapter 12
I. ACTIVE VOCABULARY
to make an outlaw of smb
outcast n
to set one’s teeth
to give the alarm
to stand a chance
to have a stroke of luck
to give smb a clue to smth
to smoke smb out
scarecrow n
II. EXERCISES
1.	Give definitions of each lexical unit of the active vocabulary.
Use an English-English dictionary.
2.	Translate into Russian:
1.	The hut was half ruined and could hardly stand a chance
against the storm. 2. On long winter evenings the young doctor
felt an outcast in the small village buried under snow. 3. When
it started raining, the team went on digging the potatoes, with
their teeth set. After the work they looked like scarecrows in
their damp and dirty clothes. 4. The enemy’s message ran that if
the defenders of the fortress did not surrender, they would be
smoked out like snakes; but the garrison was past caring and
went on fighting. 5. The book is in great demand and hardly
available. If you have a stroke of luck you may find it on sale in
the remotest parts of the region. 6. The footprints gave a clue to
the lost hunter’s whereabouts. 7. In medieval England the
Norman feudals made outlaws of people who showed their
independent spirit; the outlaws lived in forests and attacked
rich travellers. 8. Once, when the Norsemen wanted to take the
Scots by surprise in the dark, one of them stepped on a thistle
and shrieked. The alarm was given in the Scots’ camp and the
Norsemen had to flee. That is how the thistle became the Scots’
national emblem.
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3.	Make up situations of your own round these sentences:
1.	What a stroke of luck I had yesterday!
2.	Whose idea was it to smoke out the mosquitoes?
3.	You can’t stand a chance against that boy!
4.	Set your teeth and go on with it.
5.	What a scarecrow I am looking.
6.	He saw a shadow and gave the alarm.
7.	It will give you a clue to the truth of it.
8.1 feel an outcast without your letters.
4.	Recall the situations from chapter 12 suggested by these
sentences:
1.	He argued unconvincingly that they would let him alone;
perhaps even make an outlaw of him.
2.	Lying there in the darkness, he knew he was an outcast.
3.	He set his teeth and started to climb.
4.	Terrified that they would run and give the alarm, he
hauled himself up.
5.	‘Won’t you come with me? Three of us — we’d stand a
chance.”
6.	Certainly no one could attack him here — and moreover
he had a stroke of luck.
7.	Another double cry at the same distance gave him a clue
to their plan.
8.	They had smoked him out and set the island on fire.
9.	The officer inspected a little scarecrow in front of him.
5.	Apply the vocabulary below to Jack’s tribe:
to stand a chance; to have a stroke of luck; to give smb a
clue to smth; scarecrow; outcast
6.	Paraphrase or explain:
1.	But really, thought Ralph, this was not Bill. This was a
savage whose image refused to blend with that ancient
picture of a boy in shorts and shirt, (p. 271)
2.	“I came to see you two—” Words could not express the
dull pain of these things. He fell silent, while the vivid stars
were split and danced all ways. (p. 277)
3.	Here... was a place to be in for the night, not far from the
tribe, so that if the horrors of the supernatural emerged,
one could at least mix with humans... (p. 281)
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4.	Sooner or later he would have to sleep or eat — and then
he would awaken with hands clawing at him; and the
hunt would become a running down. (p. 288)
5.	...“I should have thought that a pack of British boys...
would have been able to put up a better show than
that...” (p. 296)
7.	Confirm the following by quoting the text:
1.	The little ones from Ralph’s camp were left to
themselves.
2.	Ralph was wounded by Jack’s spear.
3.	Ralph thought that the savages were madder at night
than in broad daylight.
4.	Ralph broke the sow’s skull.
5.	Samneric’s joining the tribe was a blow to Ralph.
6.	Samneric were kind-hearted.
7.	Roger tortured Samneric more than once.
8.	Ralph understood what the savages meant to do to him
only when the chase was in full swing.
9.	The savages would soon have perished on the island but
for a stroke of luck.
10.	Roger surpassed Jack in sadistic cruelty.
8.	Say why this happened:
1.	But the hunters had only sneaked into the fringes of the
greenery, retrieving spears perhaps, and then had rushed back
to the sunny rock as if terrified of the darkness under the
leaves, (p. 271)
2.	These painted savages would go further and further, (p.
272)
3.	The skull regarded Ralph like one who knows all the
answers and won’t tell. A sick fear and rage swept him. Fiercely
he hit out at the filthy thing in front of him... (p. 274)
4.	The tribe was dancing, (p. 275)
5.	While he was eating, he heard fresh noises — cries of pain
from Samneric, cries of panic, angry voices, (p. 281)
6.	He heard a savage say “No!” in a shocked voice; and then
there was suppressed laughter, (p. 286)
7.	The officer knew, as a rule, when people were telling the
truth, (p. 295)
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8.	“Who’s boss here?” “I am,” said Ralph loudly, (p. 296)
9.	A little boy who wore the remains of an extraordinary
black cap on his red hair and who carried the remains of a pair
of spectacles at his waist, started forward, then changed his
mind and stood still, (p. 296)
10.	But the island was scorched up like dead wood... (p. 296)
9.	Discuss the implication of the utterances:
1.	“You two aren’t painted. How can you — ?”
2.	“Never mind what’s sense. That’s gone—”
3.	‘You don’t know Roger. He’s a terror.”
4.	‘Roger sharpened a stick at both ends.”
5.	“Heave! Heave! Heave!”
10.	Say what circumstances on the island the naval officer’s
phrases echo with:
1.	“Fun and games.” 2. “I know. Jolly good show. Like the
Coral Island.” 3. “We saw your smoke.” 4. “Two? Killed?” 5.
“How many of you are there?” 6. “Who’s boss here?” 7. “I
should have thought that a pack of British boys... would have
been able to put up a better show than that...”
III.	QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1.	Ralph is an outcast. Dwell on his physical and mental
condition. What were his ideas of the savages’ intention in
regard to himself? What caused Ralph’s mistakes in
judgement?
2.	Ralph confronts the pig’s skull. Account for his reaction
to its grin. Discuss the symbolic significance of Ralph’s
smashing the skull.
3.	Ralph speaks to Samneric. What information and advice
did they give Ralph? What phrase of theirs frustrated Ralph’s
hopes for the savages’ human treatment of him? How did the
talk end for the twins?
4.	Ralph wakes to face the horrors of reality. Who had told
Jack and Roger his whereabouts? Comment upon their method
of extracting information. What developments showed Ralph’s
naivety in thinking the savages’ human?
5.	Who set the island on fire? Why? What sort of future
could the savages look forward to? Why was it a natural
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outcome of Jack’s leadership? Compare the state of the island
when the children landed on it and when they were leaving it.
6.	Ralph meets with the naval officer. Discuss the shift of
the point of view and scope of narration. What sight did the
children present to the naval officer?
7.	What principle of Ralph’s triumphs in the end, though
colossally distorted by reality? Do you think the, ending
optimistic or pessimistic? Substantiate your opinion.
8.	Discuss the symbolic meaning of fire in its full
comprehension.
ASSIGNMENT 9
Discussion of the Novel
1.	What do the island and the situation on it allegorically
represent?
2.	Discuss the allegoric meaning attached to Ralph, Jack,
Piggy, Simon, Roger and the rest of the children.
3.	The essence of the conflict between Ralph and Jack.
4.	Symbolization as a means of projecting the author’s
views. Symbolic images and details.
5.	The symbolic meaning of the title of the book.
6.	The author’s message as you see it.
7.	What sort of people would Ralph, Jack and Roger grow
into?
BIOGRAPHICAL COMMENT ON THE AUTHORS
Iris Murdoch (bom in 1919)
Iris Murdoch was born in Dublin and educated at
Badminton School, Bristol, and Somerville College, Oxford,
where she read the classics. After World War II she held a
studentship in philosophy at Cambridge and later returned to
Oxford where for a number of years she was a Fellow and
Tutor in philosophy at St. Anne’s College.
Iris Murdoch began her literary career with a critical work
"Sartre, the Romantic Rationalist” (1953). Her first novels
“Under the Net’ (1954) and ‘The Flight from the Enchanter”
(1956) reflected her interest in existentialism. Since then she
published a book almost every year, her abundant output
including ‘The Sandcastle” (1957), "The Bell” (1958), “An
Unofficial Rose” (1962), ‘The Unicorn” (1963), ‘The Italian
Girl” (1964), “Bruno’s Dream” (1969), ‘The Black Prince”
(1972), ‘The Sea, the Sea” (1978) and other novels. Murdoch’s
novels of the 70ies undergo a considerable change: their
philosophical and moral contents oppose some abstract
concepts of existentialism: the idealistic notion of man, absolute
freedom, moral choice and fatal predestination; the authoress
denounces egotism, irresponsibility and voluntarism. She
expounds the idea that ‘The inevitable” is created by people and
the motives and actions prompted by their passions.
Iris Murdoch is one of the most complex writers in modern
English fiction. She is interested in character and depicts people
in most bizarre situations, without making a clear moral
comment on them. The intensity of the story is enhanced by
Murdoch’s use of symbolism. Her inexhaustible powers of
invention, the brilliance and maturity of her style turn most of
her books into remarkable events in modern letters.
William Somerset Maugham (1874-1965)
/ W.S. Maugham was born in Parisi in the family of a solicitor
at me British Embassy/His parents died when he was still a
child, and he was brought up by his unde)vicar of Whitstable in
Kent(Maugham was educated at ling’s School, Canterbury,
and Heidelberg University, Germany. He also took his medical
training at St. Thomas’s Hospital in London, but the success of
his first novel (“Liza of Lambeth”, 1897) won him over to
letters. His second novel “Of Human Bondage” (1915) passed
unnoticed in the years of World War I, and it was Theodore
Dreiser who called public attention to its merits in 1919, this
giving it a new life. Maugham’s novel “The Moon and Sixpence”
(1919) tells the story of a man of genius who devoted himself
entirely and selfsacrificingly to painting. Maugham’s favourite
among his novels is “Cakes and Ale” (1930) depicting the
backstage life of the world of letters. His other popular novels
include “The Painted Veil” (1925), “The Narrow Corner”
(1932), ‘Theatre” (1937), ‘The Razor’s Edge” (1944). Maugham
also got an established reputation as a dramatist and a short-
story writer. In his lifetime he published more than ten
collections of stories. AU of them demonstrate his realistic
manner, democratic tendencies and brilliant mastery of form.
Maugham is also a prolific author of travel books, essays and
literary criticism.
Maugham’s fiction has little romance or idealism, for he
takes a sceptical view of human nature. However, his readers
are confronted with the problems of good and evil, reward and
punishment, justice and injustice, offering no easy solutions.
Francis Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940)
F.S. Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was
educated at Princeton, but left it for the army in 1917. He did
not get to the front as the hostilities were over before he
reached his destination in Europe. Back in New York, he began
to work at an advertizing agency. Simultaneously he wrote
stories, verses, sketches and screenplays, working in a hurried
manner at his spare time. The magazines he sent them to
refused to publish them. His first novel ‘This Side of Paradise”
came out in 1920 and brought him great success. It was
foUowed by two volumes of short stories. In one of them, ‘Tales
of the Jazz Age”, he gave a name that stuck to an age that he
was to live through and see burn out. His second and biggest
novel, ‘The Beautiful and the Damned” (1922) came out when
the author was already well-known in the USA. However,
when his masterpiece “The Great Gatsby” appeared in 1925, it
did not meet with the recognition the author hoped for.
124
Discouraged by its failure, Fitzgerald devoted his artistic
endeavour to short-story writing. In the thirties his two other
novels were created, “Tender is the Night” (1934) and “The Last
Tycoon” (1940), his last and unfinished work.
In the mid-thirties Fitzgerald lived through a deep spiritual
crisis which was reflected in his autobiographical essays “The
Crack-Up” (1936). He went to Hollywood where he spent his
last years writing screenplays that were constantly rejected.
Lonely, poor and dispirited, he drank himself to death.
Many years after his death Fitzgerald’s literary heritage was
revised and revalued. After World War П American critics
became almost unanimous in recognizing the merit of his best
novels, although his short stories are still argued about.
Nowadays Fitzgerald ranks among the best American authors
of the XX century.
William Golding (bom in 1911)
William Golding was bom in Cornwall. He finished
Marlborough Grammar School and for two years studied
science at Oxford (Brasenose College), but English literature,
his great attraction, finally won him over. When World War II
broke out, he joined the Royal Navy. The end of the war found
him commanding a rocket ship. In 1945 he became a
schoolteacher at Bishop Wordsworth’s School, Salisbury. At the
same time he devoted himself to writing poetry and fiction.
When “Lord of the Flies” came out in 1954, it brought him real
fame. The theme of the book was prompted by the author’s war
experience which enabled him to see what highly civilized man
could do to man. According to Golding, the book was an at-
tempt ‘To trace the defects of society to the defects of human
nature... The shape of a society must depend on the ethical
nature of the individual”. The idea recurs in his subsequent
works which are allegoric parables —“The Inheritor^’ (1955);
‘TincherMartin” (1956), ‘Tree Fall” (1959), ‘The Spire” (1964).
Golding is deeply concerned with the fate of mankind. His
recurrent themes are man and progress, man and civilization.
Dealing with the tragic in human life, most of his later novels
are permeated with philosophical pessimism (‘The Pyramid”,
1967; “Darkness Invisible”, 1979; “Rites of Passage”, 1980.
125

CONTENTS
Предисловие................................................. 3
Third Year
I. Murdoch. The Sandcastle.................................. 5
Assignment 1....................................... ,'. 5
Assignment?............................................. 7
Assignment 3............................................ 9
Assignment 4........................................    11
Assignments........................................     14
Assignment 6...................................         16
Assignment?............................................ 18
Assignment 8........................................... 22
Assignment?............................................ 25
Assignment 10......................................
Assignment 11......................................
W.S. Maugham. The Fainted Veil.........................
Assignment 1 ......................................
Assignment 2.......................................
Assignment 3.......................................
Assignment 4_______________________________________
Assignment 5.......................................
Assignment 6.......................................
Assignment?----------------------------------------
Assignment 8.......................................
Assignment?........................................
Assignment 10......................................
S3 Я Я Я 8 3 3 S 8 3 S Й 3
Fourth Year
F.S. Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby.........................................
Assignment 1 ........................................................
Assignment 2........................... -............................
Assignment 3
Assignment 4---------------------------------------------------------
Assignment 5.........................................................
Assignment 6.........................................................
W. Golding. Lord of the Flies............................................................................. 87?
Assignment 1.........................................................................................	87$
Assignment 2---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------     яЛ
Assignment 3---------...--------------.....--------------------------- "J
Assignment 4___________—..— -----------------------------------------
126	Я
Assignment 5............................................ 103
Assignment б............................................ 108
Assignment 7..........................................   113
Assignment 8............................................ 118
Assignment 9............................................ 122
Biographical Comment on the Authors......................... 123
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