№1. Read the text. Check the Vocabulary list while reading the text
«The Firm» by J.Grisham
extract
Mitchell Y.McDeere, a Harvard alumnus and a lawyer by profession, is looking for a job. He already has had three job offers — one from Chicago and two from New York — from most prestigious firms in the country. That’s why he has small interest in the offer from a modest and not very well-known firm from Memphis. Nevertheless he decides to take the invitation for the job interview just out of curiosity
The senior partner studied the resume for the hundredth time and again found nothing he disliked about Mitchell Y. McDeere, at least not on paper. He had the brains, the ambition, the good looks. And he was hungry; with his background, he had to be. He was married, and that was mandatory. The firm had never hired an unmarried lawyer, and it frowned heavily on divorce, as well as womanizing and drinking. Drug testing was in the contract. He had a degree in accounting, and wanted to be a tax lawyer, which of course was a requirement with a tax firm. He looked good, on paper. He was their top choice. In fact, for this year there were no other prospects. The list was very short. It was McDeere or no one.
The managing partner, Royce McKnight, studied a dossier labelled «Mitchell Y. McDeere — Harvard.» An inch thick with small print and a few photographs, it had been prepared by some ex-CIA agents in a private intelligence outfit in Bethesda. They were clients of the firm and each year did the investigating for no fee. It was easy work, they said, checking out unsuspecting law students. They learned, for instance, that he preferred to leave the Northeast, that he was holding three job offers, two in New York and one in Chicago, and that the highest offer was $76,000 and the lowest was $68,000. He was in demand. He had been given the opportunity to cheat on a securities exam during his second year. He declined, and made the highest grade in the class. He drank an occasional beer, but drinking was expensive and he had no money. He owed close to $23,000 in student loans. He was hungry.
Royce McKnight flipped through the dossier and smiled. McDeere was their man. Lamar Quin checked his watch. He glanced at the two partners sitting at the small conference table near the windows.
Precisely at two-thirty someone knocked on the door. Lamar looked at the partners, who slid the resume and dossier into an open briefcase.
«Mitchell McDeere?» he asked with a huge smile and a hand thrust forward.
«Yes.» They shook hands violently.
«Nice to meet you, Mitchell. I’m Lamar Quin.»
«My pleasure. Please call me Mitch.»
He stepped inside, and quickly surveyed the spacious room.
«Sure, Mitch.» Lamar led him across the suite, where the partners introduced themselves. They were exceedingly warm and cordial. They offered him coffee, then water. They sat ar ound conference table and exchanged pleasantries. McDeere unbuttoned his coat and crossed his legs. He was now a seasoned veteran in the search of employment, and he knew they wanted him. He relaxed. With three job offers from three of the most prestigious firms in the country, he did not need this interview, this firm. He could afford to be a little overconfident now. He was there out of curiosity.
Oliver Lambert, the senior partner, leaned forward on his elbows and took control of the preliminary chitchat. At sixty-one, he was the grandfather of the firm. He was the counselor, the one the younger associates went to with their troubles. Mr. Lambert also handled the recruiting, and it was his mission to sign Mitchell Y. McDeere.
«Are you tired of interviewing?» asked Oliver Lambert.
«Not really. It’s part of it.» Yes, yes, they all agreed. Seemed like yesterday they were interviewing and submitting resumes and scared to death they wouldn’t find a job and three years of sweat and torture would be down the drain. They knew what he was going through, all right.
«May I ask a question?» Mitch asked.
«Certainly,»
«Why are we interviewing in this hotel room? The other firms interview on campus through the placement office.»
«Good question.» They all nodded and looked at each other and agreed it was a good question.
«Perhaps I can answer that, Mitch,» said Royce McKnight, the managing partner. «You must understand our firm. We are different, and we take pride in that. We have forty-one lawyers, so we are small compared with other firms. We don’t hire too many people; about one every other year. We offer the highest salary and fringes in the country, and I’m not exaggerating. So we are very selective. We selected you. The letter you received last month was sent after we screened over two thousand third-year law students at the best schools. Only one letter was sent. We don’t advertise openings and we don’t solicit applications. We keep a low profile, and we do things differently. That’s our explanation.»
«Fair enough. What kind of firm is it?»
«Tax. Some securities, real estate and banking, but eighty percent is tax work. That’s why we wanted to meet you, Mitch. You have an incredibly strong tax background»
«Why’d you go to Western Kentucky?» asked Oliver Lambert.
«Simple. They offered me a full scholarship to play football. Had it not been for that, college would’ve been impossible.»
«Tell us about your family.»
«Why is that important?»
«It’s very important to us, Mitch,» Royce McKnight said warmly. They all say that, thought McDeere.
«Okay, my father was killed in the coal mines when I was seven years old. My mother remarried and lives in Florida. I had two brothers. Rusty was killed in Vietnam. I have a brother named Ray McDeere.»
«Where is he?»
«I’m afraid that’s none of your business.»
«I’m sorry,» the managing partner said softly.
«Mitch, our firm is in Memphis,» Lamar said.
«Does that bother you?»
«Not at all. I’m not fond of cold weather.»
«Have you ever been to Memphis?»
«We’ll have you down soon. You’ll love it.»
Mitch smiled and nodded and played along. Were these guys serious? How could he consider such a small firm in such a small town when Wall Street was waiting?
«How are you ranked in your class?» Mr. Lambert asked.
«Top five.» That was enough of an answer for all of them.
«Why did you select Harvard?»
«Actually, Harvard selected me. I applied at several schools and was accepted everywhere. Harvard offered more financial assistance. I thought it was the best school. Still do.»
«You’ve done quite well here, Mitch,» Mr. Lambert said, admiring the resume. The dossier was in the briefcase, under the table.
«Thank you. I’ve worked hard.»
«You made extremely high grades in your tax and securities courses.»
«That’s where my interest lies.»
«We’ve reviewed your writing sample, and it’s quite impressive.»
«Thank you. I enjoy research.»
«Tell us about your wife,» Royce McKnight said. It was a standard, non sacred area explored by every firm.
«Her name is Abby. She has a degree in elementary education from Western Kentucky. We graduated one week and got married the next. For the past three years she’s taught at a private kindergarten near Boston College.»
«And is the marriage -»
«We’re very happy. We’ve known each other since high school.»
«Mitch, our firm frowns on drinking and chasing women. We put business ahead of everything. We work very hard. And we make plenty of money,» Oliver Lambert said
«I can live with all that.»
«We reserve the right to test any member of the firm for drug use.»
«I don’t use drugs.»
«Good. What’s your religious affiliation?»
«Methodist.»
«Good. You’ll find a wide variety in our firm. Catholics, Baptists, Episcopalians. It’s really none of our business, but we like to know. We want stable families. Happy lawyers are productive lawyers. That’s why we ask these questions.» Mitch smiled and nodded. He’d heard this before. The three looked at each other, then at Mitch. This meant they had reached the point in the interview where the interviewee was supposed to ask one or two intelligent questions. Money, that was the big question, particularly how it compared to his other offers. If it isn’t enough, thought Mitch, then it was nice to meet you fellas. If the pay is attractive, then we can discuss families and marriages and football and churches.
But, he knew, like all the other firms they had to shadowbox around the issue until things got awkward and it was apparent they had discussed everything in the world but money. So, hit them with a soft question first.
«What type of work will I do initially?» They nodded and approved of the question. Lambert and McKnight looked at Lamar. This answer was his.
«We have something similar to a two-year apprenticeship, although we don’t call it that. We’ll send you all over the country to tax seminars. Your education is far from over. You’ll spend two weeks next winter in Washington at the American Tax Institute. As far as practicing law, it won’t be very exciting for the first two years. You’ll do a lot of research and generally boring stuff. But you’ll be paid handsomely.»
«How much?»
Lamar looked at Royce McKnight, who eyed Mitch and said, «We’ll discuss the compensation and other benefits when you come to Memphis.»
«I want a ballpark figure or I may not come to Memphis.»
He smiled, arrogant but cordial. He spoke like a man with three job offers. The partners smiled at each other, and Mr. Lambert spoke first.
«Okay. A base salary of eighty thousand the first year, plus bonuses. Eighty-five the second year, plus bonuses. A low-interest mortgage so you can buy a home. Two country club memberships. And a new BMW. You pick the color, of course.»
He tried to conceal a smile, but it was impossible. He chuckled.
«That’s incredible», he mumbled. Eighty thousand in Memphis equalled a hundred and twenty thousand in New York.
Mitch thought about this for a second and figured by the time he was thirty he could be well over a hundred thousand, maybe close to two hundred thousand. At the age of thirty! They watched him carefully and knew exactly what he was calculating.
«Tell me about your firm.»
«It’s an impressive firm, Mitch,» Oliver Lambert said, «and we’re very proud of it. We’re small and we take care of each other. We don’t have the cutthroat competition the big firms are famous for. We’re very careful whom we hire, and our goal is for each new associate to become a partner as soon as possible. Toward that end we invest an enormous amount of time and money in ourselves, especially our new people. It is a rare, extremely rare occasion when a lawyer leaves our firm. It is simply unheard of. We go the extra mile to keep careers on track. We want our people happy. We think it is the most profitable way to operate.» «I have another impressive statistic,» Mr. McKnight added. «Last year, for firms our size or larger, the average turnover rate among associates was twenty-eight percent. At Bendini, Lambert & Locke, it was zero. Year before, zero. It’s been a long time since a lawyer left our firm.» They watched him carefully to make sure all of this sank in. They explained as best they could, for now. Further explanation would come later.
№2. Answer the following questions about the text, use the words and expressions from the Vocabulary list.
1. Why did the senior partner of the law firm in Memphis consider Mitchell Y.McDeere to be their best prospect for the year?
2. Why did ex — CIA agents do investigating for the firm for no fee?
3. What did they find out about Mitch while investigating his background?
4. Why did Mitch think he could afford to be a little overconfident at the interview?
5. What did you learn from the text about Oliver Lambert’s position in the firm?
6. What did Oliver Lambert think all interviewees went through’ when being interviewed for a job?
7. How did Royce McKnight, the managing partner explain to Mitch the difference between their firm and other law firms?
8. What activities was the firm involved in?
9. What questions was Mitch asked at the interview?
10. What did Mitch tell his interviewers about his educational background (his family, his wife, his religious affiliation)?
11. What type of work was Mitch to do initially if he joined the firm?
12. What compensation and benefits was Mitch offered?
13. Why was Mitch impressed by the offer?
14. What kind of clients did the firm deal with?
15. What career prospects did the firm offer Mitch?
16. Why did the firm invest a lot of time and money in their new people?
17. What did Mr. Lambert tell Mitch about the history of their firm?
Questions for Discussion
18. Do you think Mitch will accept the offer? Why?
19. Considering Mitch’s behaviour during the interview, do you think he fancies such a job?
20. Could you trace how Mitch’s attitude and behaviour changed during the interview?
21. Would you take up such a job offer if you were Mitch? Why/ why not?
№3. Study the vocabulary list
frown — intrans. не одобрять, высказывать неодобрение
Eg. critics frown at the idea
womanize — волочиться за женщинами
womanizer — пренебр. бабник
degree — диплом (о высшем образовании), уровень владения специальностью
to hold a degree on — получить степень по какой-либо специальности
Eg. He’s got a degree on accounting and securities.
— степень, мера
to a (certain) degree — в некоторой степени, в какой-то мере
E.g. different in degree, but not in kind
choice — выбор
top choice — лучший выбор
to have big/little/low choice — иметь большой/небольшой выбор
to have no choice — не иметь выбора
outfit –зд. компания, организация, структура, подразделение
Eg. private intelligence outfit
— снаряжение, экипировка, оборудование
fee — гонорар, вознаграждение,
for no fee
tuition fee, admission fee
Eg.The fee is reasonable — плата приемлемая
offer — предложение, оферта
job offer — предложение работы
to hold a job offer — получить предложение работы
Eg. He turned down an offer to run the company.
demand — спрос,
to be in demand — пользоваться спросом
to be on demand — по требованию, по запросу
cheat — зд. cписывать, нарушать правила
Eg. He cheated on the exam and got D on it.
— обманывать, обводить вокруг пальца
Eg. They asked 300 bucks to repair my plasma TV, and I suspected they cheated on me.
preliminary — предварительный
associate — (младший) партнер
Eg. He started as an associate at a law firm.
pride — гордость
take pride in smth — гордиться чем-либо
Eg. He took pride in his service for the country.
exaggerate — преувеличивать
Eg. He tends to exaggerate when he talks about his accomplishments
selective — избирательный
Eg. This organization has a highly selective admission process
profile — личное дело, досье, сведения
to keep a low profile — не привлекать внимания
high profile — широко-известный,
advertise — давать объявление, помещать объявление
Eg. advertise for a secretary
occasion — 1. Случай, обстоятельство
Eg. On what occasion did they visit London?
— Событие (торжественное)
It was quite an occasion. — Это было большое событие.
opening — зд. dакансия
screen over — проводить тщательную проверку, отбирать
apply — подавать заявку
apply for a job — подавать заявление на работу.
sample — образец
to take a sample — взять образец
reserve — гл. сохранять
Eg. We reserve this book for you — мы придержим эту книгу для вас.
reserve — сущ. запас, резерв
stay/be on reserve — быть в запасе
shadowbox — темнить, скрывать факты
apparently — очевидно
apprenticeship — стажировка
mortgage — ипотека
low-interest mortgage — ипотека под низкий процент
to go an extra mile –зд. прилагать дополнительные усилия, не пожалеть времени сделать что-л.
turnover rate — текучесть кадров
cutthroat — жесткий, безжалостный
№4. Retell the text as if you were 1) Mitchell Y.McDeere 2) Royce McNight
№5. Find English equivalents in the text for the following sentences
— В контракте прописано прохождение теста на наркотики.
— Было легко, по его словам, проверять ничего не подозревающего студента юрфака.
— Их главный выбор пал на него.
— Ройс МакНайт просмотрел досье и улыбнулся.
— Он вошел и быстро оглядел просторную комнату.
— Они выказывали чрезмерную теплоту и сердечность.
— Он мог позволить себе быть самоуверенным.
— Кажется, еще вчера они ходили на собеседование и подавали резюме, до смерти боясь, что они не найдут работу и три года поты и пыток окажутся напрасными.
— Мы не берем на работу много людей — одного человека раз в два года.
— Письмо, которое вы получили в прошлом месяце, мы отправили после того, как тщательно проверили больше двух тысяч пятикурсников юридических факультетов лучших университетов.
— Мы не подаем объявления о вакансиях и мы не принимаем заявления со стороны.
— Если бы не это, я бы не смог учиться в университете.
— Митч улыбнулся, кивнул головой и продолжал им подыгрывать.
— Неужели он будет рассматривать маленькую фирму в маленьком городе, когда его ждет УоллСтрит?
— Это означало, что наступил тот момент, когда опрашиваемый задаст пару разумных вопросов.
— Мне нужно знать примерную сумму, а иначе я, возможно, не поеду в Мемфис.
— Он говорил как человек, которому предлагают работу три компании
— Он попытался скрыть улыбку, но то было невозможно.
— Они смотрели на него, точно зная, что в уме он все высчитывает.
— Для нас дело прежде всего.
— Это просто неслыханно!
— Они пристально смотрели на него, чтобы убедиться, что он воспринял все это.
№6. Fill in the gaps with prepositions from the list below. owe fees estate submit on in of with
1. Don’t think the manager will approve… your decision.
2. The firm frowns …divorce, drinking and drugs.
3. They deal only with rich clients who pay their healthy…
4. How much money do you… them?
5. Applicants usually… their resumes.
6. The firm is involved in different activities: tax, securities, real ...and banking.
7. How long have you been… the firm?
8. They take pride….paying top dollar to their employees.
№7. Give equivalents for the following words and phrases
To hold a degree — темнить — tuition fee — top choice — in demand — преувеличивать — selective — широко известный — текучесть кадров — to keep to a low profile — on occasion of one’s birthday — cheat on somebody — по требованию — снаряжение — frown on something
№8. Vocabulary Practice. Translate the following sentences into English in writing. Use the vocabulary list for the translation of the bold words and expressions
— Говорят, что ему две компании предложили работу. Он, должно быть, очень избирателен при выборе места работы.
— Неужели он уже стал партнером в этой фирме?
— Ему предложили высокий оклад, дополнительные льготы и премии. — Не удивительно. В университете он получил высшие оценки по всем предметам, имеет ученую степень по экономике. Специалисты с такой подготовкой и квалификацией очень востребованы.
— Вам придется заниматься научными исследованиями в области маркетинга. — Что ж, именно эта область меня интересует.
— Слышали, как директор говорил о предварительной договоренности с этой компанией.
— Как жаль, что он не одобряет решения провести более широкий анализ этого варианта.
— Он работает в этой фирме уже несколько лет и скоро станет партнером.
— Разве вы еще не выплатили ипотеку? — Нет, мы должны банку еще несколько тысяч рублей. — Должно быть, проценты по этой ипотеке очень большие? — Нет, это ипотека под низкий процент.
— Я не могу сказать, что это процветающая фирма. Она небольшая по сравнению с другими юридическими фирмами. Они почему-то стараются не привлекать к себе внимание.
— Дополнительная информация может быть предоставлена по требованию.
— Я не списывал на экзаменах, потому что боялся, что меня поймают.
— Предполагаемых кандидатов на эту должность обычно подвергают тщательной проверке.
— Один из наших сотрудников ушел на пенсию и у нас есть вакансия. Представьте ваше заявление, мы его рассмотрим
— Вряд ли вам удастся получить эту услугу бесплатно. Учтите, что гонорары таких юристов довольно высокие.
— Не будет преувеличением сказать, что именно на этот товар — самый высокий спрос.
— Вы увлекаетесь историей? — Да, в некоторой степени.
— Для этого похода нам необходимо закупить снаряжение.
— Вы наверняка слышали об этом громком деле. — Да, все газеты писали об этом.
— Мой дядя — подполковник в запасе.
— Я думаю, что вам, как человеку, у которого мало опыта стоит подать заявление на стажировку в этой организации. Возможно, позднее вас могут принять на полный рабочий день.
— Мне кажется, он темнит.
№9. Open the brackets using the necessary tense form of verb. Summarize author’s feelings on getting the job
It (to amaze) me, in retrospect, when I (to consider) how readily I (to be engage): no questions put, no reference asked for. Perhaps, I (to inspire) confidence. I never before (to attempt) to get a job. Getting a job (to be) something which my friends occasionally (to try) to do, and which always (to seem) to be a matter of slow and difficult negotiations or even intrigue. Indeed, it (to be) the spectacle of their ill success which, together with my own temperament, chiefly (to deter) me from any essays in this direction. It never (to occur) to me that it might be possible to get a job simply by going and asking for it, and in any normal state of mind I would never even have made the attempt. You (to point) out, and quite rightly that the job into which I (to step) so easily (to be) in a category not only unskilled but unpopular where a desperate shortage of candidates might well secure the immediate engagement of anyone other than a total paralytic; whereas what my friends perhaps (to find) is so difficult to become (to be) higher civil servants, columnists on the London dailies, officials or the British Council, fellows of colleges, or governors of the BBC. This (to be) true. I nevertheless (to feel) impressed, and not only by my having got the job, but also by the efficient way in which I (to turn) out to be able to perform it.
Discussion point: For what social groups do you think finding a job is most difficult? What do you think is important in job searching process?
№10. Use the articles where necessary
Each day of… year more than 4000 Americans reach …age of sixty-five. On that day they are not older, either physically or mentally, than they were …day before, and most of them still think of themselves as «middle-aged». But in… literature of sociologists they have moved abruptly into… new category — «…aged» or «…eldery». Henceforth they will be treated as «old» by both employers and governmental bureaucracies.
They can now be discharged without… hearing regardless of their health, vigor, intelligence, or alertness. It is not called «firing» — we prefer… euphemism «mandatory requirement» — but …result is… same: denial of… right to continue working at… job one knows best. And while earlier periods of unemployment were temporary, this one is permanent. …man or woman who reaches …age of sixty-five in good health suddenly realizes that he or she faces perhaps twenty years of unemployment — …period as long as infancy, childhood, and adolescence combined. However much he may enjoy… leisure and may have looked forward to vacations during his working years, he knows that this vacation is going to be much too long.
Discussion point: The Government of the RF has been developing the bill for later retirement in age. Think over social consequences that might be associated with it. Weighs pros and cons of it.
№11. Which of the following do you think is essential to mention in your CV?
— Website addresses of the companies you have worked for.
— Details of pre-university qualifications
— A photograph
— Date of Birth
— Mail address
— Telephone number and e-mail address
— Names of referees
— Internships/ work placements
— Computer programs and software used
— Charity work
— Interests
— Position of responsibility
— Title, e.g. Mr/Miss/Ms
№12. Applying for a job. Look at the job vacancies below. Which one would you choose and why? Write a cover a letter and CV. Vacancy 1. About the Company
At FRESH START in Education we specialize in the re-engagement of students who are out of education. This includes students who are at risk of exclusion or have already been permanently or temporarily excluded, schools refuses, young offenders, those with emotional or behavioral difficulties, serious health issues or those who are generally disengaged from education. We work with all ages from early years through to adult/
We provide bespoke, child-centered, high quality education programmes, which ensure that all the students that we work with have outstanding opportunities to re-integrate into regular or specialist education. We provide the encouragement and tools for students to develop and apply the knowledge, skills and understanding that will help them become successful at learning, confident as individuals and to live productive and responsible lives.
Fresh Start in Education are a nationally recognised alternative education provider specialising in delivering programmes specifically designed for students with Special Educational Needs and those disenfranchised from mainstream education. Our purpose is to inspire, equip and provide life changing opportunities for students who have no hope and who have not had a good start in life. Through positive re-engagement and facilitating diverse and complex learning needs Fresh Start in Education strives to make a difference in each young person’s life.
We are looking for qualified and skilled individuals, with relevantprofessional experience, toteach and mentor students who are disengaged from education and those with SEN and SEBD.
Your responsibilities will include:
— Producing lesson plans, risk assessments and reports for each education and engagement session.
— Delivering weekly 1:1 sessions — there will be between 2 to 5 sessions per week and each session can vary from 3 to 6 hours in length.
— Attending occasional training days and professional meetings upon request.
— Ensuring your own Continual Professional Development using the company’s resources and your own initiative.
You will need to be able to demonstrate:
— A commitment to working alongside students with SEN and SEBD
— A flexible and creative approach to teaching
— Emotional resilience
— Relevant teaching knowledge and skills
— Excellent communication and organisational skills
— A positive and caring attitude
Benefits include:
— Additional payment for session preparation and reporting, additional budgets for materials, resources and activities.
— Subsidised travel expenses.
— Opportunity for CPD training and development to enrich yourself and further your career in Special Education.
— To work with a nationally recognised organisation and body of Specialists who are likeminded professionals dedicated to provide an excellent and effective service.
If you are interested in this position and would like to work as an Education Specialist for Fresh Start in Education, please call the recruitment team on 0203 4096410or click «Apply’ now.
The safety of students and staff and their general well-being is our prime concern therefore everything we do has safeguarding at the core. We have robust safeguarding, lone working, supervision and observation policies which safeguards all students and staff. We monitor and we encourage all staff and students to inform us of anything that may give them any concern. We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind on any grounds whatsoever, nor will we tolerate bullying or harassment of anyone by anyone. We also have an accessible Public Interest Disclosure (Whistle Blowing) Policy encouraging anyone involved with the organisation to escalate any problems outside the organisation if it cannot be resolved internally.
Remember that while writing a CV and/or covering you show your command of language skills and you also indicate how motivates you are for the job. Try to use good vocabulary when compiling your CV or covering letter. Words below can be helpful.
Prompts Verbs: Achieve, accomplish, advance to, activate, assist, complete, conduct, construct. contribute, control, coordinate, create, design, determine, develop, direct, establish, expand, explore, implement, improve, increase, initiate, introduce, invent, investigate, launch, maintain, manage, modernize, monitor, negotiate, obtain, organize, participate, perfect, perform, pioneer. plan, prepare, produce, promote, publish, recruit, reduce, reorganize, research, revise, set up, solve, stabilize, standardize, stimulate, strengthen, succeed in, supervise, survey, target, update, upgrade
Descriptive words: Active, adaptable, aggressive, ambitious, articulate, career-oriented, conscientious, cooperative, creative, decision maker, dynamic, easy-going, energetic, enterprising, enthusiastic, even-tempered, flexible, goal-oriented, go-getter, hard-worker, imaginative, innovative, intelligent, intuitive, leadership ability, loyal, modest, optimistic, pace-setter, people-oriented, perceptive, persevering, personable, problem-solver, punctual, reliable, resourceful, self-motivated, self-reliant, self-starter, sociable, tactful, trouble-shooter, versatile, well-groomed, well-organized
№13. Below is the beginning of the story by F.S.Fitzerald (first published in Saturday Evening Post (March 15th, 1924) «Gretchen’s Forty Winks»
Pre- reading questions:
— The story was written in the US in the times of roaring twenties. That were the years of the deepest Depression in the USA. At such economic downfall the situation at the job market is difficult. What do you think the ways to survive are?
— What do you think the story is going to be about?
— Look at the highlighted words. Consult the dictionary if necessary to check the meaning of them.
F.S.Fitzgerald
«Gretchen’s Forty Winks»
The sidewalks were scratched with brittle leaves, and the bad little boy next door froze his tongue to the iron mail-box. Snow before night, sure. Autumn was over. This, of course, raised the coal question and the Christmas question; but Roger Halsey, standing on his own front porch, assured the dead suburban sky that he hadn’t time for worrying about the weather. Then he let himself hurriedly into the house, and shut the subject out into the cold twilight.
The hall was dark, but from above he heard the voices of his wife and the nursemaid and the baby in one of their interminable conversations, which consisted chiefly of «Don’t!» and «Look out, Maxy!» and «Oh, there he goes!» punctuated by wild threats and vague bumpings and the recurrent sound of small, venturing feet.
Roger turned on the hall-light and walked into the living-room and turned on the red silk lamp. He put his bulging portfolio on the table, and sitting down rested his intense young face in his hand for a few minutes, shading his eyes carefully from the light. Then he lit a cigarette, squashed it out, and going to the foot of the stairs called for his wife.
«Gretchen!»
«Hello, dear.» Her voice was full of laughter. «Come see baby.»
He swore softly.
«I can’t see baby now,» he said aloud. «How long ’fore you’ll be down?»
There was a mysterious pause, and then a succession of «Don’ts’ and «Look outs, Maxy’ evidently meant to avert some threatened catastrophe.
«How long ’fore you’ll be down?» repeated Roger, slightly irritated.
«Oh, I’ll be right down.»
«How soon?» he shouted.
He had trouble every day at this hour in adapting his voice from the urgent key of the city to the proper casualness for a model home. But tonight he was deliberately impatient. It almost disappointed him when Gretchen came running down the stairs, three at a time, crying «What is it?» in a rather surprised voice.
They kissed — lingered over it some moments. They had been married three years, and they were much more in love than that implies. It was seldom that they hated each other with that violent hate of which only young couples are capable, for Roger was still actively sensitive to her beauty.
«Come in here,» he said abruptly. «I want to talk to you.»
His wife, a bright-coloured, Titian-haired girl, vivid as a French rag doll, followed him into the living room.
«Listen, Gretchen’ — he sat down at the end of the sofa — ’beginning with tonight I’m going to — What’s the matter?»
«Nothing. I’m just looking for a cigarette. Go on.»
She tiptoed breathlessly back to the sofa and settled at the other end.
«Gretchen — ' Again he broke off. Her hand, palm upward, was extended towards him. «Well, what is it?» he asked wildly.
«Matches.»
«What?»
In his impatience it seemed incredible that she should ask for matches, but he fumbled automatically in his pocket.
«Thank you,» she whispered. «I didn’t mean to interrupt you. Go on.»
«Gretch — »
Scratch! The match flared. They exchanged a tense look.
Her fawn’s eyes apologized mutely this time, and he laughed. After all, she had done no more than light a cigarette; but when he was in this mood her slightest positive action irritated him beyond measure.
«When you’ve got time to listen,» he said crossly, ’you might be interested in discussing the poorhouse question with me.»
«What poorhouse?» Her eyes were wide, startled; she sat quiet as a mouse.
«That was just to get your attention. But, beginning tonight, I start on what’ll probably be the most important six weeks of my life — the six weeks that’ll decide whether we’re going on forever in this rotten little house in this rotten little suburban town.»
Boredom replaced alarm in Gretchen’s black eyes. She was a Southern girl, and any question that had to do with getting ahead in the world always tended to give her a headache.
«Six months ago I left the New York Lithographic Company,» announced Roger, ’and went in the advertising business for myself.»
«I know,» interrupted Gretchen resentfully; ’and now instead of getting six hundred a month sure, we’re living on a risky five hundred.»
«Gretchen,» said Roger sharply, ’if you’ll just believe in me as hard as you can for six weeks more we’ll be rich. I’ve got a chance now to get some of the biggest accounts in the country.» He hesitated. «And for these six weeks we won’t go out at all, and we won’t have anyone here. I’m going to bring home work every night, and we’ll pull down all the blinds and if anyone rings the doorbell we won’t answer.»
He smiled airily as if it were a new game they were going to play. Then, as Gretchen was silent, his smile faded, and he looked at her uncertainly.
«Well, what’s the matter?» she broke out finally. «Do you expect me to jump up and sing? You do enough work as it is. If you try to do any more you’ll end up with a nervous breakdown. I read about a — »
«Don’t worry about me,» he interrupted; «I’m all right. But you’re going to be bored to death sitting here every evening.»
«No, I won’t,» she said without conviction — ’except tonight.»
«What about tonight?»
«George Tompkins asked us to dinner.»
«Did you accept?»
«Of course I did,» she said impatiently. «Why not? You’re always talking about what a terrible neighbourhood this is, and I thought maybe you’d like to go to a nicer one for a change.»
«When I go to a nicer neighbourhood I want to go for good,» he said grimly.
«Well, can we go?»
«I suppose we’ll have to if you’ve accepted.»
Somewhat to his annoyance the conversation abruptly ended. Gretchen jumped up and kissed him sketchily and rushed into the kitchen to light the hot water for a bath. With a sigh he carefully deposited his portfolio behind the bookcase — it contained only sketches and layouts for display advertising, but it seemed to him the first thing a burglar would look for. Then he went abstractedly upstairs, dropping into the baby’s room for a casual moist kiss, and began dressing for dinner.
They had no automobile, so George Tompkins called for them at 6.30. Tompkins was a successful interior decorator, a broad, rosy man with a handsome moustache and a strong odour of jasmine. He and Roger had once roomed side by side in a boarding-house in New York, but they had met only intermittently in the past five years.
«We ought to see each other more,» he told Roger tonight. «You ought to go out more often, old boy. Cocktail?»
«No, thanks.»
«No? Well, your fair wife will — won’t you, Gretchen?»
«I love this house,» she exclaimed, taking the glass and looking admiringly at ship models. Colonial whisky bottles, and other fashionable débris of 1924.
«I like it,» said Tompkins with satisfaction. «I did it to please myself, and I succeeded.»
Roger stared moodily around the stiff, plain room, wondering if they could have blundered into the kitchen by mistake.
«You look like the devil, Roger,» said his host. «Have a cocktail and cheer up.»
«Have one,» urged Gretchen.
«What?» Roger turned around absently. «Oh, no, thanks. I’ve got to work after I get home.»
«Work!» Tompkins smiled. «Listen, Roger, you’ll kill yourself with work. Why don’t you bring a little balance into your life — work a little, then play a little?»
«That’s what I tell him,» said Gretchen.
«Do you know an average business man’s day?» demanded Tompkins as they went in to dinner. «Coffee in the morning, eight hours’ work interrupted by a bolted luncheon, and then home again with dyspepsia and a bad temper to give the wife a pleasant evening.»
Roger laughed shortly.
«You’ve been going to the movies too much,» he said dryly.
«What?» Tompkins looked at him with some irritation. «Movies? I’ve hardly ever been to the movies in my life. I think the movies are atrocious. My opinions on life are drawn from my own observations. I believe in a balanced life.»
«What’s that?» demanded Roger.
«Well’ — he hesitated — ’probably the best way to tell you would be to describe my own day. Would that seem horribly egotistic?»
«Oh, no!» Gretchen looked at him with interest. «I’d love to hear about it.»
«Well, in the morning I get up and go through a series of exercises. I’ve got one room fitted up as a little gymnasium, and I punch the bag and do shadow-boxing and weight-pulling for an hour. Then after a cold bath — There’s a thing now! Do you take a daily cold bath?»
«No,» admitted Roger, «I take a hot bath in the evening three or four times a week.»
A horrified silence fell. Tompkins and Gretchen exchanged a glance as if something obscene had been said.
«What’s the matter?» broke out Roger, glancing from one to the other in some irritation. «You know I don’t take a bath every day — I haven’t got the time.»
Tompkins gave a prolonged sigh.
«After my bath,» he continued, drawing a merciful veil of silence over the matter, «I have breakfast and drive to my office in New York, where I work until four. Then I lay off, and if it’s summer I hurry out here for nine holes of golf, or if it’s winter I play squash for an hour at my club. Then a good snappy game of bridge until dinner. Dinner is liable to have something to do with business, but in a pleasant way. Perhaps I’ve just finished a house for some customer, and he wants me to be on hand for his first party to see that the lighting is soft enough and all that sort of thing. Or maybe I sit down with a good book of poetry and spend the evening alone. At any rate, I do something every night to get me out of myself.»
«It must be wonderful,» said Gretchen enthusiastically. «I wish we lived like that.»
Tompkins bent forward earnestly over the table.
«You can,» he said impressively. «There’s no reason why you shouldn’t. Look here, if Roger’ll play nine holes of golf every day it’ll do wonders for him. He won’t know himself. He’ll do his work better, never get that tired, nervous feeling — What’s the matter?»
He broke off. Roger had perceptibly yawned.
«Roger,» cried Gretchen sharply, ’there’s no need to be so rude. If you did what George said, you’d be a lot better off.» She turned indignantly to their host. «The latest is that he’s going to work at night for the next six weeks. He says he’s going to pull down the blinds and shut us up like hermits in a cave. He’s been doing it every Sunday for the last year; now he’s going to do it every night for six weeks.»
Tompkins shook his head sadly.
«At the end of six weeks,» he remarked, ’he’ll be starting for the sanatorium. Let me tell you, every private hospital in New York is full of cases like yours. You just strain the human nervous system a little too far, and bang! — you’ve broken something. And in order to save sixty hours you’re laid up sixty weeks for repairs.» He broke off, changed his tone, and turned to Gretchen with a smile. «Not to mention what happens to you. It seems to me it’s the wife rather than the husband who bears the brunt of these insane periods of overwork.»
«I don’t mind,» protested Gretchen loyally.
«Yes, she does,» said Roger grimly; ’she minds like the devil. She’s a shortsighted little egg, and she thinks it’s going to be forever until I get started and she can have some new clothes. But it can’t be helped. The saddest thing about women is that, after all, their best trick is to sit down and fold their hands.»
«Your ideas on women are about twenty years out of date,» said Tompkins pityingly. «Women won’t sit down and wait any more.»
«Then they’d better marry men of forty,» insisted Roger stubbornly. «If a girl marries a young man for love she ought to be willing to make any sacrifice within reason, so long as her husband keeps going ahead.»
«Let’s not talk about it,» said Gretchen impatiently. «Please, Roger, let’s have a good time just this once.»
When Tompkins dropped them in front of their house at eleven Roger and Gretchen stood for a moment on the sidewalk looking at the winter moon. There was a fine, damp, dusty snow in the air, and Roger drew a long breath of it and put his arm around Gretchen exultantly.
«I can make more money than he can,» he said tensely. «And I’ll be doing it in just forty days.»
«Forty days,» she sighed. «It seems such a long time — when everybody else is always having fun. If I could only sleep for forty days.»
«Why don’t you, honey? Just take forty winks, and when you wake up everything’ll be fine.»
She was silent for a moment.
«Roger,» she asked thoughtfully, ’do you think George meant what he said about taking me horseback riding on Sunday?»
Roger frowned.
«I don’t know. Probably not — I hope to Heaven he didn’t.» He hesitated. «As a matter of fact, he made me sort of sore tonight — all that junk about his cold bath.»
With their arms about each other, they started up the walk to the house.
«I’ll bet he doesn’t take a cold bath every morning,» continued Roger ruminatively; ’or three times a week, either.» He fumbled in his pocket for the key and inserted it in the lock with savage precision. Then he turned around defiantly. «I’ll bet he hasn’t had a bath for a month.»
Questions and tasks
— What season is it? In what mood Roger is coming back home after work?
— Who is home when Roger came back from work? Has anyone come down to meet him?
— What is Roger’s occupation? Is he well paid and/ or satisfied with his life?
— What iss the question Roger wants to discuss with his wife? How does he feel about the conversation? How has it started?
— How has Gretchen perceived the news her husband told her?
— What is Gretchen’s forty winks about?
— Why have they decided to go out nevertheless?
— Who is Tompkings? What does he do for a living?
— What advice does Tompkings give to Roger? What has prompted him to do so?
— Do you think Roger fancied the life and work Tompkings was leading?
— How has the evening ended?
— What opinion do you think Roger had about Tompkings?
— What kind of life do you think the young couple led?
— Whose attitude to work appeals to you more — Roger’s or Tompkings’?
— How do you think the story will end? Write your own continuation of the story.
— UNIT 2. GENERATION GAP
№1. Read the text. Check the Vocabulary list while reading the text
Old Folks’ Christmas
By Ring Lardner
Tom and Grace Carter sat in their living-room on Christmas Eve, sometimes talking, sometimes pretending to read and all the time thinking things they didn’t want to think. Their two children, Junior, aged nineteen, and Grace, two years younger, had come home that day from their schools for the Christmas vacation. Junior was in his first year at the university and Grace attending a boarding-school that would fit her for college.
I won’t call them Grace and Junior any more, though that is the way they had been christened. Junior had changed his name to Ted and Grace was now Caroline, and thus they insisted on being addressed, even by their parents. This was one of the things Tom and Grace the elder were thinking of as they sat in their living-room Christmas Eve.
Other university freshmen who had lived here had returned on the twenty-first, the day when the vacation was supposed to begin. Ted had telegraphed that he would be three days late owing to a special examination which, if he passed it, would lighten the terrific burden of the next term. He had arrived at home looking so pale, heavy-eyed and shaky that his mother doubted the wisdom of the concentrated mental effort, while his father secretly hoped the stuff had been non-poisonous and would not have lasting effects. Caroline, too, had been behind schedule, explaining that her laundry had gone astray and she had not dared trust others to trace it for her.
Grace and Tom had attempted, with fair success, to conceal their disappointment over this delayed home-coming and had continued with their preparations for a Christ mas that would thrill their children and consequently themselves. They had bought an imposing lot of presents, costing twice or three times as much as had been Tom’s father’s annual income when Tom was Ted’s age, or Tom’s own income a year ago, before General Motors’ acceptance of his new weather-proof paint had enabled him to buy this suburban home and luxuries such as his own parents and Grace’s had never dreamed of, and to give Ted and Caroline advantages that he and Grace had perforce gone without.
Behind the closed door of the music-room was the elaborately decked tree. The piano and piano bench and the floor around the tree were covered with beribboned packages of all sizes, shapes and weights, one of them addressed to Tom, another to Grace, a few to the servants and the rest to Ted and Caroline. A huge box contained a sealskin coat for Caroline, a coat that had cost as much as the Carters had formerly paid a year for rent. Even more expensive was a «set» of jewelry consisting of an opal brooch, a bracelet of opals and gold filigree, and an opal ring surrounded by diamonds.
Grace always had preferred opals to any other stone, but now that she could afford them, some inhibition prevented her from buying them for herself; she could enjoy them much more adorning her pretty daughter. There were boxes of silk stockings, lingerie, gloves and handkerchiefs. And for Ted, a three-hundred-dollar watch, a de-luxe edition of Balzac, an expensive bag of shiny, new steel-shafted golf-clubs and the last word in portable phonographs.
But the big surprise for the boy was locked in the garage, a black Gorham sedan, a model more up to date and better-looking than Tom’s own year-old car that stood beside it. Ted could use it during the vacation if the mild weather continued and could look forward to driving it around home next spring and summer, there being a rule at the university forbidding undergraduates the possession or use of private automobiles.
Every year for sixteen years, since Ted was three and Caroline one, it had been the Christmas Eve custom of the Carters’ to hang up their children’s stockings and fill them with inexpensive toys. Tom and Grace had thought it would be fun to continue the custom this year; the contents of the stockings — a mechanical negro dancing doll, music-boxes, a kitten that meowed when you pressed a spot on her back, et cetera — would make the «kids» laugh. And one of Grace’s first pronouncements to her returned offspring was that they must go to bed early so Santa Claus would not be frightened away.
But it seemed they couldn’t promise to make it so terribly early. They both had long-standing dates in town. Caroline was going to dinner and a play with Beatrice Murdock and Beatrice’s nineteen-year-old brother Paul. The latter would call for her in his car at half past six. Ted had accepted an invitation to see the hockey match with two classmates, Herb Castle and Bernard King. He wanted to take his father’s Gorham, but Tom told him untruthfully that the foot-brake was not working; Ted must be kept out of the garage till tomorrow morning.
Ted and Caroline had taken naps in the afternoon and gone off together in Paul Murdock’s stylish roadster, giving their word that they would be back by midnight or a little later and that tomorrow night they would stay home.
And now their mother and father were sitting up for them, because the stockings could not be filled and hung till they were safely in bed, and also because trying to go to sleep is a painful and hopeless business when you are kind of jumpy.
«What time is it?» asked Grace, looking up from the third page of a book that she had begun to «read» soon after dinner.
«Half past two,» said her husband. (He had answered the same question every fifteen or twenty minutes since midnight.)
«You don’t suppose anything could have happened?» said Grace.
«We’d have heard if there had,» said Tom.
«It isn’t likely, of course,» said Grace, «but they might have had an accident some place where nobody was there to report it or telephone or anything. We don’t know what kind of a driver the Murdock boy is.»
«He’s Ted’s age. Boys that age may be inclined to drive too fast, but they drive pretty well.»
«How do you know?»
«Well, I’ve watched some of them drive.»
«Yes, but not all of them.»
«I doubt whether anybody in the world has seen every nineteen-year-old boy drive.»
«Boys these days seem so kind of irresponsible.»
«Oh, don’t worry! They probably met some of their young friends and stopped for a bite to eat or something.» Tom got up and walked to the window with studied carelessness. «It’s a pretty night,» he said. «You can see every star in the sky.»
But he wasn’t looking at the stars. He was looking down the road for headlights. There were none in sight and after a few moments he returned to his chair.
«What time is it?» asked Grace.
«Twenty-two of,» he said.
«Of what?»
«Of three.»
«Your watch must have stopped. Nearly an hour ago you told me it was half past two.»
«My watch is all right. You probably dozed off.»
«I haven’t closed my eyes.»
«Well, it’s time you did. Why don’t you go to bed?»
«Why don’t you?»
«I’m not sleepy.»
«Neither am I. But honestly, Tom, it’s silly for you to stay up. I’m just doing it so I can fix the stockings, and because I feel so wakeful. But there’s no use of your losing your sleep.»
«I couldn’t sleep a wink till they’re home.»
«That’s foolishness! There’s nothing to worry about. They’re just having a good time. You were young once yourself.»
«That’s just it! When I was young, I was young.» He picked up his paper and tried to get interested in the shipping news.
«What time is it?» asked Grace.
«Five minutes of three.»
«Maybe they’re staying at the Murdocks’ all night.»
«They’d have let us know.»
«They were afraid to wake us up, telephoning.»
At three-twenty a car stopped at the front gate.
«There they are!»
«I told you there was nothing to worry about.»
Tom went to the window. He could just discern the outlines of the Murdock boy’s roadster, whose lighting system seemed to have broken down.
«He hasn’t any lights,» said Tom. «Maybe I’d better go out and see if I can fix them.»
«No, don’t!» said Grace sharply. «He can fix them himself. He’s just saving them while he stands still.»
«Why don’t they come in?»
«They’re probably making plans.»
«They can make them in here. I’ll go out and tell them we’re still up.»
«No, don’t!» said Grace as before, and Tom obediently remained at the window.
It was nearly four when the car lights flashed on and the car drove away. Caroline walked into the house and stared dazedly at her parents.
«Heavens! What are you doing up?»
Tom was about to say something, but Grace forestalled him.
«We were talking over old Christmases,» she said. «Is it very late?»
«I haven’t any idea,» said Caroline.
«Where is Ted?»
«Isn’t he home? I haven’t seen him since we dropped him at the hockey place.»
«Well, you go right to bed,» said her mother. «You must be worn out.»
«I am, kind of. We danced after the play. What time is breakfast?»
«Eight o’clock.»
«Oh, Mother, can’t you make it nine?»
«I guess so. You used to want to get up early on Christmas.»
«I know, but — »
«Who brought you home?» asked Tom.
«Why, Paul Murdock — and Beatrice.»
«You look rumpled.»
«They made me sit in the «rumple’ seat.»
She laughed at her joke, said good night and went upstairs. She had not come even within hand-shaking distance of her father and mother.
«The Murdocks,» said Tom, «must have great manners, making their guest ride in that uncomfortable seat.»
Grace was silent.
«You go to bed, too,» said Tom. «I’ll wait for Ted.»
«You couldn’t fix the stockings.»
«I won’t try. We’ll have time for that in the morning; I mean, later in the morning.»
«I’m not going to bed till you do,» said Grace.
«All right, we’ll both go. Ted ought not to be long now. I suppose his friends will bring him home. We’ll hear him when he comes in.»
There was no chance not to hear him when, at ten minutes before six, he came in. He had done his Christmas shopping late and brought home a package.
Grace was downstairs again at half past seven, telling the servants breakfast would be postponed till nine. She nailed the stockings beside the fireplace, went into the music-room to see that nothing had been disturbed and removed Ted’s hat and overcoat from where he had carefully hung them on the hall floor.
Tom appeared a little before nine and suggested that the children ought to be awakened.
«I’ll wake them,» said Grace, and went upstairs. She opened Ted’s door, looked, and softly closed it again. She entered her daughter’s room and found Caroline semiconscious.
«Do I have to get up now? Honestly I can’t eat anything. If you could just have Molla bring me some coffee. Ted and I are both invited to the Murdocks’ for breakfast at half past twelve, and I could sleep for another hour or two.»
«But dearie, don’t you know we have Christmas dinner at one?»
«It’s a shame, Mother, but I thought of course our dinner would be at night.»
«Don’t you want to see your presents?»
«Certainly I do, but can’t they wait?»
Grace was about to go to the kitchen to tell the cook that dinner would be at seven instead of one, but she remembered having promised Signe the afternoon and evening off, as a cold, light supper would be all anyone wanted after the heavy midday meal.
Tom and Grace breakfasted alone and once more sat in the living-room, talking, thinking and pretending to read.
«You ought to speak to Caroline,» said Tom.
«I will, but not today. It’s Christmas.»
«And I intend to say a few words to Ted.»
«Yes, dear, you must. But not today.»
«I suppose they’ll be out again tonight.»
«No, they promised to stay home. We’ll have a nice cozy evening.»
«Don’t bet too much on that,» said Tom.
At noon the «children» made their entrance and responded to their parents’ salutations with almost the proper warmth. Ted declined a cup of coffee and he and Caroline apologized for making a «breakfast» date at the Murdocks’.
«Sis and I both thought you’d be having dinner at seven, as usual.»
«We’ve always had it at one o’clock on Christmas,» said Tom.
«I’d forgotten it was Christmas,» said Ted.
«Well, those stockings ought to remind you.»
Ted and Caroline looked at the bulging stockings.
«Isn’t there a tree?» asked Caroline.
«Of course,» said her mother. «But the stockings come first.»
«We’ve only a little time,» said Caroline. «We’ll be terribly late as it is. So can’t we see the tree now?»
«I guess so,» said Grace, and led the way into the music-room.
The servants were summoned and the tree stared at and admired.
«You must open your presents,» said Grace to her daughter.
«I can’t open them all now,» said Caroline. «Tell me which is special.»
The cover was removed from the huge box and Grace held up the coat.
«Oh, Mother!» said Caroline. «A sealskin coat!»
«Put it on,» said her father.
«Not now. We haven’t time.»
«Then look at this!» said Grace, and opened the case of jewels.
«Oh, Mother! Opals!» said Caroline.
«They’re my favorite stone,» said Grace quietly.
«If nobody minds,» said Ted, «I’ll postpone my personal investigation till we get back. I know I’ll like everything you’ve given me. But if we have no car in working order, I’ve got to call a taxi and catch a train.»
«You can drive in,» said his father.
«Did you fix the brake?»
«I think it’s all right. Come up to the garage and we’ll see.»
Ted got his hat and coat and kissed his mother good-by.
«Mother,» he said, «I know you’ll forgive me for not having any presents for you and Dad. I was so rushed the last three days at school. And I thought I’d have time to shop a little when we got in yesterday, but I was in too much of a hurry to be home. Last night, everything was closed.»
«Don’t worry,» said Grace. «Christmas is for young people. Dad and I have everything we want.»
The servants had found their gifts and disappeared, expressing effusive Scandinavian thanks.
Caroline and her mother were left alone.
«Mother, where did the coat come from?»
«Lloyd and Henry’s.»
«They keep all kinds of furs, don’t they?»
«Yes.»
«Would you mind horribly if I exchanged this?»
«Certainly not, dear. You pick out anything you like, and if it’s a little more expensive, it won’t make any difference. We can go in town tomorrow or next day. But don’t you want to wear your opals to the Murdocks’?»
«I don’t believe so. They might get lost or something. And I’m not — well, I’m not so crazy about — »
«I think they can be exchanged, too,» said Grace. «You run along now and get ready to start.»
Caroline obeyed with alacrity, and Grace spent a welcome moment by herself.
Tom opened the garage door.
«Why, you’ve got two cars!» said Ted.
«The new one isn’t mine,» said Tom.
«Whose is it?»
«Yours. It’s the new model.»
«Dad, that’s wonderful! But it looks just like the old one.»
«Well, the old one’s pretty good. Just the same, yours is better. You’ll find that out when you drive it. Hop in and get started. I had her filled with gas.»
«I think I’d rather drive the old one.»
«Why?»
«Well, what I really wanted, Dad, was a Barnes sport roadster, something like Paul Murdock’s, only a different color scheme. And if I don’t drive this Gorham at all, maybe you could get them to take it back or make some kind of a deal with the Barnes people.»
Tom didn’t speak till he was sure of his voice. Then: «All right, son. Take my car and I’ll see what can be done about yours.»
Caroline, waiting for Ted, remembered something and called to her mother. «Here’s what I got for you and Dad,» she said. «It’s two tickets to „Jolly Jane,“ the play I saw last night. You’ll love it!»
«When are they for?» asked Grace.
«Tonight,» said Caroline.
«But dearie,» said her mother, «we don’t want to go out tonight, when you promised to stay home.»
«We’ll keep our promise,» said Caroline, «but the Murdocks may drop in and bring some friends and we’ll dance and there’ll be music. And Ted and I both thought you’d rather be away somewhere so our noise wouldn’t disturb you.»
«It was sweet of you to do this,» said her mother, «but your father and I don’t mind noise as long as you’re enjoying yourselves.»
«It’s time anyway that you and Dad had a treat.»
«The real treat,» said Grace, «would be to spend a quiet evening here with just you two.»
«The Murdocks practically invited themselves and I couldn’t say no after they’d been so nice to me. And honestly, Mother, you’ll love this play!»
«Will you be home for supper?»
«I’m pretty sure we will, but if we’re a little late, don’t you and Dad wait for us. Take the seven-twenty so you won’t miss anything. The first act is really the best. We probably won’t be hungry, but have Signe leave something out for us in case we are.»
Tom and Grace sat down to the elaborate Christmas dinner and didn’t make much impression on it. Even if they had had any appetite, the sixteen-pound turkey would have looked almost like new when they had eaten their fill. Conversation was intermittent and related chiefly to Signe’s excellence as a cook and the mildness of the weather. Children and Christmas were barely touched on.
Tom merely suggested that on account of its being a holiday and their having theatre tickets, they ought to take the six-ten and eat supper at the Metropole. His wife said no; Ted and Caroline might come home and be disappointed at not finding them. Tom seemed about to make some remark, but changed his mind.
The afternoon was the longest Grace had ever known. The children were still absent at seven and she and Tom taxied to the train. Neither talked much on the way to town. As for the play, which Grace was sure to love, it turned out to be a rehash of «Cradle Snatchers» and «Sex,» retaining the worst features of each.
When it was over, Tom said: «Now I’m inviting you to the Cove Club. You didn’t eat any breakfast or dinner or supper and I can’t have you starving to death on a feast-day. Besides, I’m thirsty as well as hungry.»
They ordered the special table d’hôte and struggled hard to get away with it. Tom drank six high-balls, but they failed to produce the usual effect of making him jovial. Grace had one high-ball and some kind of cordial that gave her a warm, contented feeling for a moment. But the warmth and contentment left her before the train was half way home.
The living-room looked as if Von Kluck’s army had just passed through. Ted and Caroline had kept their promise up to a certain point. They had spent part of the evening at home, and the Murdocks must have brought all their own friends and everybody else’s, judging from the results. The tables and floors were strewn with empty glasses, ashes and cigaret stubs. The stockings had been torn off their nails and the wrecked contents were all over the place. Two sizable holes had been burnt in Grace’s favorite rug.
Tom took his wife by the arm and led her into the music-room.
«You never took the trouble to open your own present,» he said.
«And I think there’s one for you, too,» said Grace. «They didn’t come in here,» she added, «so I guess there wasn’t much dancing or music.»
Tom found his gift from Grace, a set of diamond studs and cuff buttons for festive wear. Grace’s present from him was an opal ring.
«Oh, Tom!» she said.
«We’ll have to go out somewhere tomorrow night, so I can break these in,» said Tom.
«Well, if we do that, we’d better get a good night’s rest.»
«I’ll beat you upstairs,» said Tom.
NOTES
— With studied carelessness — с нарочитой небрежностью;
— «Cradle Snathers» — пожилые женщины или мужчины, охотящиеся за молодыми людьми или девушками;
— High-balls — виски с содой и со льдом, поданные в высоком стакане
VOCABULARY
old folk — старики
pretend — притворяться, симулировать, делать вид
E.g. He pretended that she was ill. She pretended a headache. He pretended not to see us.
NB. В значении «претендовать на что-либо» используется глагол to claim. Eg. Claim some post, some territories. He claims to be a judge of art.
fit (adj) — годный, подходящий, соответствующий
Eg. He is not fit for the job. The food was not fit to eat. That’s the fit place for the show.
freshman, fresher — первокурсник
sophomore — студент второго курса
undergraduate — студент старших курсов
post –graduate — аспирант
terrific (adj) — 1) ужасный, страшный
Eg. A terrific explosion, noise, etc.
2) колоссальный, необычный, потрясающий
Eg. Terrific success, news, etc
burden (n) — ноша, тяжесть, груз, бремя
Eg. The burden of studying, the burden of taxation
To be a burden to somebody — быть кому-либо в тягость
To make smb’s life a burden — портить кому-либо жизнь
schedule (n) — расписание, план, таблица
Eg. behind schedule — c опозданием Syn. behind the time
The train was behind schedule
on schedule — по расписанию Syn. on time
He was always on schedule.
Ahead of schedule — досрочно
Eg. The work was done ahead of schedule.
astray: to go (to run) astray — сбиться с пути, заблудиться
Eg. Children should be taken good care of or they may go astray.
lead smb. astray — сбить с пути, ввести в заблуждение
trace — выследиь
Eg. to trace the lost goods
trace (n) — след
Eg. They lost traces of him after the war.
without a trace — бесследно
delay (v) — 1) задерживать
Eg. The mails were delayed by heavy snows
He was delayed at his office (but he was detained by the police)
2) откладывать
Eg. We must delay our trip until the weather gets better
Syn. To put off
delay (n) — задержка
without delay — безотлагательно Eg. We must start without delay.
consequently (adv) — следовательно, поэтому
Eg. He has missed many lessons and consequently he has fallen behind the group.
enable — давать возможность.
Eg. Training enables people to earn a living.
go/do without — обходиться без Eg. We can go without such luxuries as expensive jewelry.
formerly (adv) — прежде, раньше
inhibition — запрещение, запрет
adorn (v) — украшать Eg. They adorned the room with flowers.
adornment — украшение
custom — привычка, обычай
Eg. Every nation has customs of its own.
Customary (adj) — обычный, привычный
offspring — отпрыск, потомок
long-standing — давнишний
date (n) — 1) свидание (неделовое)
Eg. She had a date with a friend in town.
Make a date — назначить свидание
Keep a date — прийти на свидание
Break a date — не прийти на свидание
2) человек, с которым назначают свидание, встречу Eg. She is my date — Я с ней встречаюсь.
date (v) — назначать свидание, встречаться Eg. He only dates younger women.
sit/stay up (v) — не ложиться спать
Eg. We sat up late last night. Don’t sit up for me. I’ll come rather late.
jumpy (adv) — нервный, раздражительный
Eg. Why is she so jumpy today? Is anything wrong?
inclined (adj) — склонный, расположенный.
Eg. Special school for children who are inclined toward arts. She is inclined to put on weight.
Inclination — склонность, предрасположенность
Eg. To have inclination for languages;
doze off — задремать
Eg. He dozed off while sitting up for his children.
discern (v) — разглядеть, увидеть, заметить.
forestall (v) — предупреждать, опережать
rumple (v) — 1) мять, приводить в беспорядок
rumpled — 1) помятый, взъерошенный
guess (v) — 1) угадывать, отгадывать
Eg. Can you guess her age?
by guess — наугад
semiconscious — в полусознательном состоянии
to be conscious of smth — сознавать что-л.
Eg. He was conscious of his faults
fashion conscious — следящий за модой
subconscious (a) — подсознательный
Eg. a subconscious feeling, idea
cozy (adj) — уютный, удобный
Eg. a cozy chair, room
bet (bet, bet) — держать пари, биться об заклад
Eg. He bet 5$ on the game. I bet against the favorite and I lost.
decline (v) — отклонять, отказываться от
Eg. He declined my offer.
fix (v) — починить
Eg. Have you had your I-phone fixed?
effusive (a) — экспансивный
pick out (v) — выбирать
Eg. Will you pick out what you like best?
pick and choose — быть слишком разборчивым
obey (v) — повиноваться, подчиняться
Eg. His dog has learned to obey several commands.
obedient (a) — послушный, покорный,
Eg. He is an obedient boy.
Ant. disobedient
obedience — послушание, покорность
deal (n) — сделка, соглашение
to make a deal — выполнить соглашение
to break a deal — нарушить соглашение
deal in — торговать чем-л. Eg. He deals in old pictures.
treat (n) — удовольствие, наслаждение
Eg. It’s a treat to get away from the noise of the city. Seeing her again was a treat.
elaborate (v) — 1) тщательно разрабатывать
2) развивать (мысль), излагать подробно
Eg. He didn’t elaborate on the news. He said a few words but didn’t elaborate.
intermittent — прерывистый, прекращающийся на некоторое время
relate (v) — относиться, иметь отношение
Eg. This doesn’t relate to me… the reading relates to his lecture
barely (adv) — едва Eg. We barely caught the train.
rehash (n) — переделка чего-либо на новый лад
retain (v) — сохранять Eg. The music has retained its freshness though it was composed a century ago.
starve (v) — страдать или умирать с голода
feast — пир, праздник
festive — праздничный
jovial — веселый, общительный
contented — довольный, удовлетворительный
strew (strewed, strewn) — разбрасывать, усыпать
№2. Answer the questions about the text
— What preparations had been made by Tom and Grace for their children’s home-coming?
— What do we know from the text about the Carters’ children, Ted and Caroline?
— How did Ted and Caroline spend their Christmas Eve? Why was it a disappointment to their parents? Do you think Ted and Caroline should have spent that evening with their parents?
— Why was the Christmas day itself a disappointment to their parents again?
Questions for Discussion
— Do you think Ted and Caroline would have changed their plans for Christmas if they had known how their parents felt?
— If the children had been younger would they have obeyed their parents?
— Do you consider Ted and Caroline heartless and ungrateful? Is it typical of young people to behave the way they did? If the children had been more considerate and loving would they have declined their friends’ invitation?
— Could you possibly account for all the circumstances that might have led to the children’s behavior?
— Could you possibly explain why the parents should have so easily taken their children’s behavior for granted?
— Do you think Ted and Grace understood their children well enough?
— Could you possibly account for the part the parents’ overindulgence might have played in the children’s upbringing?
— What is the moral of the story (if any)?
— What is your impression of the story and the characters?
№3. Find English equivalents in the text of the following
— Другие первокурсники университета, которые раньше были здесь, вернулись двадцать первого, в тот день, когда должны били начаться каникулы.
— «Ты не думаешь, что что-нибудь могло случиться?», — сказала Грейс. «Нам бы сообщили, если бы что-нибудь случилось.», — сказал Том. «Конечно, это маловероятно, — сказала Грейс, — но с ними мог произойти несчастный случай в таком месте, откуда некому было сообщить об этом или позвонить или сделать еще что-нибудь».
— Я тебе говорил, что не о чем беспокоиться.
— «Где Тед?» «Разве он еще не вернулся? Я не видела его с тех пор, как мы его высадили у хоккейной площадки».
— «Ну, ты иди сразу спать», — сказала мать. «Ты, должно быть, очень устала».
— «Мы с сестренкой думали, что вы будете обедать в семье, как обычно».
— Тед и Каролина в какой-то мере сдержали свое обещание. Они провели часть вечера дома, а Мердоки, должно быть, привели к ним всех своих и чужих друзей, судя по последствиям.
№4. Retell the text as close to the original as possible
— tell the story as it is told by the author;
— as it might have been told by Tom or Grace, Ted or Caroline.
№5. Translate from Russian into English and from English into Russian as quickly as possible
Накануне чего-либо — freshman — аспирант — sophomore — to trace — по расписанию — terrific — fit for studies — портить кому-либо жизнь — go without — to be inclined to do smth — не ложиться спать — to keep a date — inclination — adorn — притворяться — trace the lost goods — бесследно — barely — довольный — разбрасывать — obedient — to keep a deal — уютный — pick out — pretend to be writing — have one’s cell phone fixed — назначить свидание — without delay — to go astray — ahead of schedule — непослушный — в полусознательном состоянии — rehash — праздник — adornment
№6. Translate these sentences into English using the words from the text (aurally)
— Он притворился, что не понимает сути вопроса.
— Пусть он не притворяется таким смущенным.
— Смит претендует на то, что его машина — последнее слово техники.
— Делайте, как считаете нужным.
— После аварии в шахте Том оказался непригодным ни к какой работе.
— Он, по-видимому, не счел нужным говорить ей об этом.
— Ты случайно не знаешь расписание поездов?
— Мы ждем автобуса уже полчаса! — Он опаздывает из-за снегопада.
— Поезда метро ходят строго по расписанию.
— Я бы хотел, чтобы вы сделали эту работу без промедления.
— С которого часа вы его ждете? — С девяти. — Он, должно быть, задержался на ферме.
— Оборудование уже установлено? — Нет еще. — Из-за чего же задержка? — Оно все еще в ремонте.
— Я бы предпочел, чтобы вы прекратили этот давнишний спор.
— Им давно пора забыть об это давнишней ссоре.
— Вам лучше установить дату встречи на месте.
— Сколько времени он уже встречается с ней?
— На вашем месте я бы запретила детям сидеть допоздна.
— Было бы лучше, если бы дети не засиживались так поздно.
— Он, должно быть, сразу же подчинился приказу.
— Это заставило его тогда не послушаться родителей?
— Если бы он послушался нас тогда, он бы не попал в ловушку.
— Ребенок послушно отложил книгу.
— Угадай кто звонит?
— Я полагаю, он починил свой ноутбук.
— Интересно, догадался ли он о нашем намерении.
— Почему бы нам не отложить встречу?
— Я бы предпочел, чтобы он отложил этот разговор.
— С усилием летчик поднял руку и ощутил острую боль.
— Вы уверены, что он осознал свою вину?
— Жаль, что вы отказались от их приглашения.
— Ему только что предложили интересную работу. Почему он отказался от нее?
— Напомните ему, чтобы он получил доступ к новым материалам.
— Кого он напоминает вам?
— Какую телефон вы выбрали? Сенсорный или кнопочный?
— Интересно, какую профессию выберет его сын?
— Кто был избран президентом США?
— Интересно, какие приложения он выбрал?
— С его братом поговорить — одно удовольствие!
— Было бы лучше, если бы обращались с сыном как со взрослым человеком.
— К тому времени, как я подошел, подарок был уже куплен.
— Он очень одаренный физик.
— У него большие способности к музыке.
№7.Translate from Russian into English (in writing)
— Вы напомнили ему о собрании? Почему он сделал вид, что не знает об этом?
— На вашем месте я бы выбрал другую книгу.
— Почему бы нам не отложить встречу?
— Когда он предъявил претензию на это изобретение?
— Было бы лучше, если бы вы не отказались от их предложения.
— Он наверняка подчинился этому распоряжению.
— О его последней книге много говорили. Стыдно сказать, но я ничего не знаю о ней.
— Автобус опаздывает. Мы ждем его уже тридцать минут.
— Если бы меня не задержали на работе я бы пришел вовремя.
— Вашей дочери давно пора выбрать профессию.
— Он оказался непригодным ни к какому делу.
— Если ты посмотришь этот фильм, ты получишь настоящее удовольствие. — Полагаю, что это вопрос вкуса.
— Он собирается работать в детском лагере этим летом и ему придется сдать экзамены досрочно.
— Он подсказал ему неправильное решение задачи и тем самым ввел его в заблуждение.
— Он пригласил ее на свидание, но она не пришла по непонятной причине.
— Они украшали рождественскую елку допоздна.
— Ему сказали, что он подходит для этой работы, потому что он безответственный человек.
— Он притворился, что он читает или пишет, но он не читал и не писал.
— В парламенте был предложен законопроект об ослаблении налогового бремени.
— Она нарушила запрет и тем самым испортила жизнь себе и другим.
№8. Сhoose one of the following situation and make up a dialogue on your own
— A sophomore is having fun at a friend’s party and runs late home. He/she knows that a father is coming back from a business trip and they were going to have a family dinner together. Make up a telephone call trying to get permission from the parents for a late coming.
Vocabulary to use: to be somewhat delay; to sit up late the previous night; to have a jolly party; terrific; delay at a friend’s place; go out seldom; to have a chat with friends; to cook a delicious meal; to relish the quiet and appealing atmosphere of a family dinner; let smbd stay as long as smbd wishes; to show disrespect for one’s family;
— One of you is an elder sister/brother who is a magistrate student. He/she has a younger brother/sister who is a fresher at one of the most prestigious universities. The younger thinks that parents are over-protective and should allow him/her more freedom. The elder give advice for the younger about how to avoid arguments and respect the folks.
Vocabulary to use: to be over-protective; jumpy; to be anxious about smbd/smth; to treat as a child; to be conscious about smth; to behave like an adult; obedient; to know better than; family values; to know life; to retain patience; as the custom is; to be crazy about; to bent under one’s burden; so many families so many customs.
№9. Complete the story using some of the words and expressions given below
A Date with Love
It was close on eight o’clock in the evening. Jack stood at the customary corner, roses in his hand. The crowd was busily screaming past him. Minutes seemed like hours to Jack. He kept on looking up and down the street. Still there was no sign of Susan. He tried to reach her by cell but the telephone was dead.
to make a date with smb; a custom of long standing; to date smb for months; to be smbd’s date; to be always on schedule; to sit up late the previous night; to be devilishly jumpy; to be conscious of it; the subconscious mind prompted that; to retain patience; guess who is it; to keep one’s date after all; a dree of elaborate design; to be detained by a traffic accident; to be not in the habit of; to be conscious of one’s guilt; to be a crying shame that; that looks a wonderful gift; it’s a real treat for me; not to decline smbd’s proposal but; to obey one’s parents; as the custom is
№10. You are going to read the article devoted to various attitudes to work among the elder generation and so called Y-generation
You can see representatives of four generations depicted on the picture. The gap between each group is considered to be quite narrow.
— Guess the age of each age group. In what way do you think their values and attitudes differ?
— As for the attitude to work in what way do you think it differs for each age group?
The don’t live for work… they work to live
The Guardian
May 28th, 2008
Settling down on the shiny black sofa in the front room of their student house in Jesmond, Newcastle, Ailsa McNeil and her flatmates discuss what they would do once they had left university.
«The idea of moving into the financial world of London and working long hours inside a massive company does not appeal to me,» said McNeil, placing a textbook down on the cream carpet, among scattered magazines, scarves and revision notes. The 20-year-old had a final-year exam for her economics degree the next day.
People in their late teens and early twenties, she argued, were far keener to have a ’good life with a standard amount of money’ than ’slog’ their guts out like their parents. «I saw my mum and dad work really hard, but my work ethic is different,» said McNeil. «I want to do well but I want to have great fun in life. Money and work are not the be all and end all. If you put all your effort into your job you lose sense of what you are living for.»
McNeil is not alone. New research has found that a similar attitude to work is burgeoning among the group of people known as Generation Y — usually defined as those between the ages of 11 and 25. A study of more than 2,500 people born after the early eighties found that they were rebelling against their parents’ values and were determined not to lead lives that revolved so heavily around the world of work.
Here is a group that has never known, or even witnessed, hardship, recession or mass unemployment and does not fear redundancy or repossession, according to researchers. The result is a generation that believes it can have it all and is not embarrassed to ask for it; a generation that will constitute the majority of the workforce within a decade.
They have grown up in relatively affluent families. They want to be sure that they can strike a balance between work and their personal life, and so the opportunity to take time off, to travel, to work for a company with a strong social responsibility record.
Instead of just stressing higher salaries, some international companies are highlighting the opportunity for flexible hours, the chance to work from home, the offer of up to a year of ’family leave’ to look after children or elderly parents, and the promise of regular three-month sabbaticals.
Officials in the US have estimated that a typical member of Generation Y will have 10 jobs by the age of 38. The study found that 85 per cent of Generation Y wanted to spend 30 per cent to 70 per cent of their time working from home. More than half wanted a flexible working arrangement.
«The Boomer generation [who are over 45] created the culture of long working hours and Xers [aged between 28 and 45] reluctantly accepted it,» the report said. «But not Generation Y. While they are not work-shy, they don’t live to work. They will get the job done on time… but on their own terms.»
The confidence, it said, came from a feeling of security: «Unlike Xers and Boomers, they are not remotely daunted by the spectre of unemployment.»
Simon Walker, a founding director of Talentsmoothie, said this generation considered work something to do, not somewhere to go. «As long as they achieve what they need to they are not worried about being seen to do it at their desks,» he said, explaining why things were different for the older generation. «I am 40 and when I was 10, 12, 14, there was the winter of discontent, Thatcherism and miner strikes. Three million were unemployed, so subconsciously
