DOESN'T IT?
Alex is to keep to bed at least for a week. The diagnosis is a badly twisted ankle. The doctor has just told him that Alex is very unhappy...
It happened like this. Alex felt that he was getting overweight and decided to have a talk with the doctor. The doctor examined him very thoroughly and said there was nothing wrong with him. He also said a bit of exercises would do Alex a lot of good.
Alex liked the idea very much. In fact, he had been thinking about this himself. Both at school and at University Alex was very keen on sports. He was good at games, especially basketball and football. He was also very good at some of the track-and-field events, particularly the long jump.
But after Alex completed his University course he gradually lost interest in sports. He still liked watching hockey and football matches on television though. Sometimes he played basketball with his little son. But it was very seldom.
... The doctor also advised Alex not to rush things. First, he ought to start with morning exercises, later he could take up jogging, cycling and so on.
Never leave until tomorrow what you can do today … After the consultation with the doctor Alex immediately went to the nearest sportswear shop and bought a track suit and tennis shoes.
The next morning Alex got up an hour earlier than usual. He put on his track suit and tennis shoes and went out. It was a lovely morning and Alex felt young and strong. He did a few push-ups and then decided to jog a little. But he had hardly gone a few steps when he stumbled and fell down. When Alex rose to his feet he felt a strong pain in his left leg. As soon as he got home his wife sent for a doctor...
QUESTIONS
1. Do you go in for sport?
2. What sport do you go in for in winter (in summer)?
3. Do you belong to any sport society?
4. What is your favourite outdoor (indoor) game?
5. Are there fine teams at your Institute (place of work)?
6. Enumerate the Russian champions in different kinds of sport?
7. Which football team do you fan?
8. Who won the last chess championship?
9. Do you often go to the stadium?
10. Why must one go in for sport?
UNIT 15.
AT THE LIBRARY
WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS
| local library public library reader’s ticket current periodicals bookmark dog’s ear publishing house university press library card imprint date science fiction foreign literature place of publication table of contents detective story (novel) | line footnote cover title dictionary reference book magazine journal weekly a quarterly fiction issue best-seller volume preface |
to subscribe to a library
to dog-ear the pages
books on…
edited by…
The book is out.
The book is sold out.
The book is nowhere to be found.
It was the real thriller.
Are you keen on reading historical novels?
That book was a great success lately.
I am not much of a reader in that line.
This book ran into five editions.
AT THE LIBRARY
I am a subscriber to our local library. About every fortnight I go there to exchange books. I enter the library and go to the Lending Department. Here I first of all look through the Catalogue. Sometimes I look through the Author Catalogue.
Best of all I like fiction, travel books, biographies. I find the name of the author and the title of an interesting book. I fill in a slit and hand in to the librarian. She goes to the repository to see if the book is there. Soon she comes back and says: “Here is the book you want”. Sometimes however she returns with the words: “I am sorry, the book is taken. What the other book would you like?” In such cases I suggest some other book. The librarian then gives me the book I have chosen. I thank her and go home.
It’s always a fine thing to get an interesting new book to read.
A LIBRARY IN LONDON
A Library is a place where we go to read, or to borrow books. All London districts called boroughs have public libraries. These are the borough libraries.
Library authorities give out library tickets. In the library there are attendants who stand behind the counter and receive books. They also check out books. That means they take your library ticket, sign it with the number of the book, stamp the date on it and then hand over the book. In the book they stamp the date on or before which you must return it.
Students go there to do research work. Engineers may consult books on engineering. They can learn the English technical words which they need for their work.
The reading room of a library has newspapers and periodicals. There are daily papers, morning papers, evening papers and local papers – which come out every day of the week.
In the library you can find the reference library. This is the part of the library with all the reference books. You cannot take the contents of the reference library outside the reference library.
QUESTIONS
1. What kind of books do you read?
2. Are you a subscriber to a library?
3. How many books may you take home from the library?
4. At what time of the day do you generally read?
5. How often do you go to the library to exchange books?
6. Do you ever read in the reading room of the library?
7. What do you see on the title page of a book?
8. What do you find in the contents (table of matters) of a book?
9. Do you often use the dictionary in reading foreign books?
10. Who is your favourite writer or poet?
UNIT 16.
SHOPPING
WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS
| to go shopping to go shopping for smth. to make a purchase a shopping center a supermarket self-service department an expensive (cheap) dress a size larger (smaller) What size suit do you wear? The suit looks nice on you. | to put on to take off to pay cash a salesgirl a salesman a fitting room a cash-desk |
| grocer's greengrocer's baker's butcher's department department store ready-made clothes department | footwear department haberdashery department headwear department perfumery department stationary department dairy |
to be of good (bad) quality
to be (of) one's size
to try on
How much does it cost?
How much is that suit?
I want a pair of shoes for everyday wear.
Have you a suit (dress, etc.) of my size?
Have you a tie to match my shirt?
Have you already tried this jacket on?
Do you think this jumper fits me well?
Can I have 200 grams of sausage at 2.20 a kilogram.
SHOPPING
One day my friend wanted to go shopping. I took him to the State Department Store - GUM. GUM is a huge multiple store. One can get there anything in the way of food and manufactured goods. Besides one can have made to order shoes, coats, frocks, suits and hats. One may also have his photo taken right there. Fashion shows are very often on (held) here. In a word - GUM is a wonderful place.
When we arrived at GUM we first admired the window dressing. Then we went along the first line and looked into the shop-windows of the grocery. We could see all kinds of foodstuffs: meat, fowl, fish, tinned food, sausage, bread, fruit, wine, all kinds of grouts and a hundred and one other foodstuffs.
Next we went along the second line. Here there were on sale: haberdashery, stationery, hosiery and leather-ware.
In the third line we could buy all kinds of household utensils: pots and pans, cutlery, crockery, electric appliances, refrigerators, vacuum-cleaners, cameras, radio and television sets and many other things one may want in the house.
We went into the perfumeries, florist shops and gift and souvenir shops.
The second floor was where we were going to do some real shopping. There one can get everything in the way of clothes wanted by man, woman, or child: footwear, knitwear, ready-made clothes, furs and what not.
Coloured posters delighting little children announced the sale of different things for children, and toys.
We bought a number of things. After paying our money at the cashdesk we were given receipts. We produced our receipts and obtained our purchases.
SHOPPING
When we want to buy something we go to a shop. There are many kinds of shops in every town or city, but most of them have a food supermarket, a department store, men's and women's clothing stores, a grocery, a bakery and a butchery.
I like to do shopping at big department stores and supermarkets. They sell various goods under one roof and this is very convenient.
A department store, for example, true to its name, is composed of many departments: ready-made clothes, fabrics, shoes, sports goods, toys, china and glass, electric appliances, cosmetics, linen, curtains, cameras, records, etc. You can buy everything you like there. There are also escalators in big stores which take customers to different floors.
The things for sale are on the counters so that they can be easily seen. In women's clothing department you can find dresses, costumes, blouses, skirts, coats, beautiful underwear and many other things.
In the men's clothing department you can choose suits, trousers, overcoats, ties, etc. In the knitwear department one can buy sweaters, short-sleeved and long-sleeved pullovers, woolen jackets. In the perfumery they sell face cream and powder, lipstick, lotions and shampoos.
In a food supermarket we can also buy many different things at once: sausages, fish, sugar, macaroni, flour, cereals, tea. At the butcher's there is a wide choice of meat and poultry. At the bakery you buy brown and white bread, rolls, biscuits.
Another shop we frequently go to is the greengrocery which is stocked by cabbage, potatoes, onions, cucumbers, carrots, beetroots, green peas and what not. Everything is sold here ready-weighed and packed. If you call round at a dairy you are sure to buy milk, cream, cheese, butter and many other products.
The method of shopping may vary. It may be a self-service shop where the customer goes from counter to counter selecting and putting into a basket what he wishes to buy. Then he takes the basket to the check-out counter, where the prices of the purchases are added up. If it is not a self-service shop, and most small shops are not, the shop-assistant helps the customer in finding what he wants. You pay money to the cashier and he gives you back the change.
QUESTIONS
1. Do you like to do shopping? Do you go shopping every day?
2. What do you usually buy at a grocery shop?
3. What can you buy at a bakery?
4. Where do you go if you want cabbage or potatoes?
5. Do you usually do your shopping in the morning or in the evening?
6. Are the shops crowded when you do your shopping?
7. What do you usually buy if you are going to celebrate any holiday?
8. On what days do you usually go to the market? What do you usually buy at the market?
9. Which is the biggest department store in our city? Do you often go shopping there?
10. What kind of clothes do you prefer: ready-made or made-to-order?
11. What size dress do you wear? What size coat (suit) do you wear?
12. What size shoes do you wear?
13. At what time are our shops opened and closed?
14. What colour of dress (suit, sweater) do you like to wear?
15. What colour of gloves would you like to buy?
16. When did you last go shopping for clothes?
17. What did you buy?
18. Why did you decide to buy it?
19. How much did it cost?
UNIT 17.
THEATRE
WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS
| conductor [kən′dΛktə] stands out in my memory overture [′ouvətjuə] vividly [′vividli] evening performance to be in raptures [′ræpt∫əz] cloak-room [′kloukrum] program [ ′prougræm] extra ticket [′ekstrə] orchestra[′o:kistrə] to tune in [′tju:n ′in] dress-circle [′dres ′sə:kl] fairy-tale [′fεəriteil] balcony [′bælkəni] house (audience) [′o:rdjəns] interval [′intəvəl] the last curtain fell | It was ages ago at twelve sharp aisle [ail] curtain [kə:tn] ballet [′bælei] stage [steid ] sign [sain] usher [′Λ∫ə] «House Full» pit [pit] stalls [sto:lz] box [boks] tier [tiə] my hands ached dancing to sound [saund] encore [′oŋko:] |
matinee performance [′mætinei pə′fo:məns]
to burst into applause [′bə:st intə ə′plo:z]
«Sleeping Beauty» [′sli:piŋ ′bju:ti]
decor (scenery) [deiko: (′si:nəri)]
to applaud (to clap) [ ə′plo:d (klæp)]
bouquet of flowers [bu′kei]
to be a success with
to get curtain calls
to present [pri′zent]
AT THE THEATRE
I'll never forget my first visit to the Bolshoi Theatre. It was ages ago, but it stands out in my memory quite vividly.
My mother bought beforehand two tickets for a matinee performance of the ballet «Sleeping Beauty» by Chaikovsky. We came to the theatre long before the performance began. A sign at the entrance of the theatre said: «House Full». Many people were standing at the theatre asking if we had an extra ticket.
We left our coats in the cloak-room and bought a program from the usher to see what the cast was. I remember we were glad to see that Lepeshinskaya was dancing the main part.
When we came into the hall we saw many people walking down the aisles looking for their seats. The orchestra were tuning in their instruments. We found our seats which were in the stalls and went exploring the theatre.
My mother showed me the boxes, the pit, the dress-circle, the tiers and balconies. At twelve sharp the lights went down. The conductor appeared and the overture began. After the overture the curtain went up. I was in raptures at what I saw on the stage. I had never seen anything more wonderful. The decor and the dancing were superb. The ballet seemed to me a fairy tale. When the curtain fell the house burst into applause. I applauded (clapped) so much that my hands ached. During the first interval we went to the foyer and looked at the portraits on the walls of the singers and dancers of the Bolshoi Theatre. During the second interval we went to the refreshment room. When the last curtain fell cries of «encore» sounded all over the theatre.
The dancers got many curtain calls and were presented with large bouquets of flowers. The performance was a great success with the public.
This first visit to the Bolshoi Theatre is one of my brightest memories.
MOSCOW THEATRES
When in Moscow, one finds himself in a difficult situation as it is no easy matter to decide which theatre to choose.
Newspapers and posters tell you what is on at different playhouses. The repertoires of the theatres usually offer us a wide choice of plays modern and classical, by Russian as well as by foreign playwrights. There would be no mistake to say that our Russian theatres rank with the best theatres of the world and arouse great interest and unanimous praise of the public and critics.
Grown-up people prefer to attend evening performances, while children are admitted only to matinees. There are special theatres for young people, too. Some of them though are frequented by grown-ups as well. This can be said about the famous Obraztsov Puppet Theatre.
If you go to the Moscow Art Theatre, the "Sovremennik", the Vakhtangov Theatre you will have a real treat enjoying the artistry of superb actors and actresses doing the leads. To amuse yourself and have a good laugh you'd better go to the Moscow Satire Theatre.
For passionate music-lovers there is the legendary Bolshoi Theatre with its marvelous ballets and magnificent operas.
It is always difficult to get tickets for the above mentioned theatres even if you try to book them in advance. But it is especially hard to get tickets for a first-night performance or a production of a celebrated foreign company which has come on tour to our country. In this case tickets are likely to be sold out long before and you are sure to see a sold-out sign posted up over the box-office.
If you have a stroke of luck and manage to get a ticket, in the evening you enter the theatre which is alive and warm with preparation. Soon the last bell rings, the lights go down and the hall plunges into a soft darkness. The conductor raises his baton, the overture sets in, the curtain goes up and the actors step into the stage, they step into a magic world of art.
QUESTIONS
1. Do you remember your first visit to the Bolshoi Theatre (Art Theatre, Puppet Theatre)?
2. Where do you prefer to sit at the theatre?
3. Who played the title role (leading part) in the last play which you saw?
4. When do actors get many curtain calls?
5. When and how do you book tickets for the theatre?
6. What plays have you lately seen on TV?
7. Why do people buy programs at the theatre?
8. Which plays that are now on in your city? Are you a success with the public?
9. Do you like music?
10.Which theatre do you prefer?
11.What theatres are there in Moscow?
12.What concerts are on at the Moscow Conservatoire?
13.Do you play the violin (the piano)?