1. Your friend says that people are as good as they are beautiful. You disagree with him, saying: "Beauty's but skin-deep." Generally speaking, you don't believe that a person's looks reflect his character in any way.
2. Your friend believes that honesty is the best policy. You personally think that sometimes it's better to be tactful than truthful.
Ex 63 Subjects for oral and written composition.
1. Give character-sketches of (a) Mrs Setliffe; (b) the man who came to rob old Setliffe; (c) old Setliffe.
2. Say whether you think the man did right when he came to old Setliffe's house to take back what he believed to be his own.
3. Explain why the man didn't turn to the police for help.
4. Give a description of Mrs Setliffe as she looked to the man at the beginning of the story and at the end of it.
5. Explain how it happened that Mrs Setliffe's fine words fooled the man for some time.
6. Explain why the man was so sure that Mrs Setliffe would not shoot.
7. Write an article (a) giving a true story of what happened; (b) of the kind that Mrs Setliffe would like to see in the papers.
8. Tell a story to illustrate each of these proverbs: A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed. . Appearances are Deceptive. .
9. Explain the paradox: "If you want to be thought a liar, tell the truth."
10. It is often said that people look without seeing. What does this mean?
LESSON SIX
Text: An Unfinished Story (from "A Writers's Notebook" by W. Somerset Maugham)
Grammar: Modal Verbs. Can, May, Must and their Equivalents.
AN UNFINISHED STORY
A week ago someone told me an incident. He said he wanted me to write a story on it, and since then I have been thinking it over. I don't see what to do. The incident is as follows.
Two young fellows were working on a tea plantation in the hills and they had to fetch the mail from a good way off so that they only got it at rather long intervals. One of the young fellows, let us call him Adams, used to get a lot of letters by every mail, ten or twelve and sometimes more, but the other, Brown, never got one. He used to watch Adams enviously as he took his packet and started to read, he was eager to have a letter, just one letter, and one day, when they were expecting the mail, an idea came into his head. He said to Adams: "Look here, you always have a packet of letters and I never get any. I'll give you five pounds if you let me have one of yours." "I don't mind," said Adams. So Adams agreed to sell one of his letters, and when the mail came in he at once handed Brown his letters and told him he could take any letter he liked. Brown gave him a five-pound note, looked over the letters, chose one and returned the rest. In the evening Adams joined Brown for a whisky and soda. For some time they were silent. Then Adams,eagerto find out about the letter, broke the silence, saying: "By the way,what was the letter about?" "I'm not going to tell you," said Brown. Adams was rather surprised and upset. He said: "Well, tell me at least, who it was from?" "That's my business," answered Brown. They had a bit of an argument, but Brown stood on his rights and refused to say anything about the letter that he had bought. Adams got angry, and as the weeks went by he did all he could to make Brown let him see the letter. Brown continued to refuse. At last Adams felt he could not stand it any longer and made up his mind to talk the matter over with Brown once again. One day he followed Brown into his office and said: "Look here, here's your five pounds, let me have my letter back again." "Never," said Brown. "I bought and paid for it, it's my letter and I mean to keep it."
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That's all. I'm not a writer of the modern school and that is why, perhaps, I can't write it just as it is and leave it. It's against my principles. I want a story to have form, and I don't see how I can give it that if you are unable to give the story the right kind of end.
VOCABULARY
fetch vt ; , fetch a book (chair, taxi, doctor, etc); fetch help (children, etc)
rather adv , The story is rather sad. It took him rather long to read the book. I rather enjoyed the play.
envy vt envy sb sth He envied me my trip round the world. I don't envy you anything, envy n They say such things about him out of envy; envious n Phr be envious of sb/sth
mind n 1. , a great (strong, weak, etc) mind Phr come to one's mind (come to one's head) ( ); Phr be on one's/sb's mind -; ( ); 2. , We are all of the same mind. Phr to my (his, her, etc) mind no (, ..) ; (, , ..) Phr make up one's mind (); change one's mind , ; mind vt/vi , - ( ) Do you mind if I open (my opening) the window? I don't mind it at all. Would you mind opening the window? , . He doesn't mind the cold weather a bit. Phr Never mind! He ! ! Phr Mind your own business! ! He ! absent-minded ; light-minded a
(dis)agree vi () ; () agreed to do it. I can't agree with you (your idea). He agreed to the arrangement. We agreed about/(up)on the price; (dis)agreement n (); agreement n , Phr come to an agreement
sell vt (sold) sold his photo camera for a large sum of money. What does this shop sell?
hand vt , , Hand the papers to the secretary, please. Hand (= pass) me the bread, please. Phr hand in sth , , was to hand in his report by the end of the month.
choose vt (chose, chosen) choose a book (picture, place, seat; friend, etc); choice n a good (wide, poor etc) choice Phr make a choice ()
return vi/vt () promised to return soon. I'll return the book as soon as I've read it; return n Phr on one's return
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rest n ; , the rest of the story (day, way, time, money, etc); the rest of the books (things; people, students, etc); The rest of the way was more difficult. The rest of the students have already come.
join vt 1. () May I join you in the game (in the conversation; on the trip; for an excursion; etc); 2. (); (, ..) join a sports club (society, etc); join the army
break vt/vi (broke, broken) 1. (), break a window (pencil, cup, watch, car, etc); break one's arm (leg, nose, etc); 2. ; ; break one's promise (one's word, a rule, traffic regulations; an agreement, a contract, a marriage; the silence, the lesson, the journey, the work, etc)
surprise vt His answer surprised everybody; be surprised We were surprised to see him there. He was so surprised that he couldn't say a word. We were surprised at his unexpected arrival; surprise n ; , looked at me in (with) surprise. It was a surprise to us all.
upset vt (upset) , The news upset her; be upset , We were upset by the bad news. He was upset over (about) the mistake.
argue vi 1. , They can argue for hours; 2. , Copernicus argued that the Earth moves round the Sun; argument n 1. , ; 2. , ,
right n You have no right to speak to me like that. Phr have the right to work (rest and leisure, etc) ( ..)
refuse vt/vi () They refused our help. . refused to join us. We asked him to go with us but he refused; refusal n
stand vt (stood) ( ) , ; I can't stand the cold.
follow vt 1. , () What season follows winter? Spring (does). He felt that somebody was following him. He followed his elder brother in everything. Phr follow sb's example (advice) (no) - (); Phr as follows The letter read as follows. ; Phr follow the policy of peace (cooperation, etc) (); 2. ( , , - , , ) spoke very fast and it was difficult to follow him; follow the newspapers (situation, etc) Do you follow me? following adj , the following day (week, month, etc); the following He said the following.
mean vt (meant) 1. , , What does this word mean? What does his silence mean? Your help means a lot to us; 2. , ; I never meant to upset you. He didn't mean anybody when he said it. Phr mean well ; meaning n
keep vt (kept) 1. , ; () Where do you keep your books (clothes, money, food, etc)? Can you keep all these facts in your head? May I keep your book for two days more? Phr keep a secret () ; keep a tradition () , ..; 2. , , I hope he won't keep us too long. Phr keep sb waiting - () didn't keep us waiting long; vt/vi 3. (), (), ( , ) keep quiet (silent, busy, warm, etc); I hope this fine weather keeps a little longer. The work kept him very busy. Phr Keep to the right (left)!. () !
WORD COMBINATIONS
think sth over -
look over sth () -
at least
stand on one's rights
at last
talk sth over -
Look here! !
that is why
as it is
EXERCISES
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COMPREHENSION
Ex 1 Answer the following questions.
1. Where did the incident happen? 2. How often did the two young men get the mail? 3. Which of them used to get a lot of letters by every mail? 4. Why was Brown so eager to get a letter? 5. What idea did Brown have one day when they were expecting the mail? 6. How did Adams like Brown's idea? 7. What agreement did they come to? 8. Why was Adams rather surprised when Brown refused to tell him a single word about the letter that he had bought? 9. Why did the refusal upset Adams? 10. How long did it take Adams to make up his mind that he needed the letter more than the money? 11. Why did Brown refuse to return the letter to Adams? 12. What did Maugham mean when he said that he was not a story writer of the modern school? 13. Why was Maugham unable to write a story on the incident?
Ex 2 Look through the text once again, and:
1. See if you can tell in what part of the world the incident took place. 2. Say how old were Adams and Brown, and what sort of work they did. 3. Explain why Maugham did not give the real names of the two men. 4. Say what conclusions can be made about (a) Adams's character, (b) Brown's character. 5. See if you can explain why Adams used to get a lot of letters, while Brown never got one. 6. Say which episode, in your opinion, may serve as an illustration to the proverb "Actions speak louder than words". 7. Say what, in Maugham's opinion, is the most essential characteristic of a story.
Ex 3 Find in the text the English for the following phrases, and use them in retelling and discussing the text.
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
