Books and readers
Vocabulary
Childrens books
Adults books
Travel books
Biography
Romantic
Historical novel
Thriller
Detective stories
Science fiction
Fantasy
Non-fiction
Answer the questions
1) Do you like reading books?
2) What do you prefer to read: books, magazines or newspapers?
3) Which books are you reading now?
4) Where is your favourite place to read?
5) Who is your favourite novelist?
6) What is your favourite poem?
7) Who is your favorite character?
8) Which character do you hate most?
9) Which contemporary author do you most admire?
10) Which is the first book you can remember reading?
11) With which character would you most like to have an affair?
12) What is your favourite children book?
13) Which book would you like to see filmed?
14) What is the worst screen adaptation?
15) Which book would you make compulsory reading?
Define the genres of the texts
Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.
Once upon a time as a merchant set off for market, he asked each of his three daughters what she would like as a present on his return. The first daughter wanted a brocade dress, the second a pearl necklace, but the third, whose name was Beauty, the youngest, prettiest and sweetest of them all, said to her father:
"All I'd like is a rose you've picked specially for me!"
Not for the first time, an argument had broken out over breakfast at number four, Privet Drive. Mr. Vernon Dursley had been woken in the early hours of the morning by a loud, hooting noise from his nephew Harry's room.
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.
The Jedi Padawan jumped to a sitting position in his cot on the starship, his eyes popping open wide, sweat on his forehead and his breath coming in gasps. A dream. It was all a dream.
Vocabulary
Absorbing
Ambitious
Amusing
Controversial
Brilliant
Depressing
Delightful
Disturbing
Dull
Fascinating
Gripping
Hilarious
Outrageous
Powerful
Wise
Read and translate the text
Graham Greene
He did not plan on a long life. As a boy, he toyed with suicide, employing, among other means, a dull knife, hay-fever drops and a mild dose of aspirin; he also survived several sessions of Russian roulette. Grown older, evidently in spite of himself, he left his native England as often as possible to court danger and disease, wherever and whenever they might prove most virulent: Africa, Mexico, Indochina, Cuba, Haiti, Central America. None of these places killed him; instead they furnished material for many of his more than fifty books, including novels, short story collections, travel writings, plays, essays autobiography, biography, childrens tales. So Graham Greenes death last week, at 86, prompts not only sadness and tributes, but also a question: What would be contemporary world look like if he had got his wish and not lived to describe it?
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What is your view about this writer? Try to describe him using this extract
Vocabulary
Paperback
Hardback
Binding
Cover
Jacket
Title
Epigraph
Preface
The contents list
Fly leaf ,
Bookplate ,
Blurb
A beautifully printed book
A tome bound in leather
With gilt edges
Dense print
With loose pages
Using the words above describe your favourite book
Speak about childrens books. Consider the following:
1. What do children like to read about? Is the borderline between an innocent pastime and an adventure easy to define? Should the books offer young readers imaginary worlds (magic places where summer days are forever sunny)? Should the books always have happy endings?
2. A toddler of three is sure to love flap-books, pop-up books and picture books. But what about comics and graphic books for older children? Can they become the stepping stones leading to adult literature? Should they be banned?
3. Its a fact that young parents dont read enough for their children. They know its supposed to be a great joy, but sometimes its the last thing they want to do. Is there any alternative?
4. Do you think that parents should read children naughty books with mischievous characters to increase their appetite for reading?
5. They say its very difficult to hit exactly the right age for a particular book. For what age group would you recommend the epic fantasy novel by J.R.R. Tolkien The Lord of The Rings?
6. How early can a child be given books in foreign language?
7. Should girls and boys be given the same books to read?
8. Are children insensitive to poetry? Can they appreciate comic verse and comic stories, nursery rhymes and limerics?
9. Reading should be a normal, easy thing. Children brought up on an early diet of television, video and computer games are reluctant readers. How to make reading a pleasure and not a chore for a boy who views reading as wimpish? Is it possible for television watching not only to discourage but actually to inspire reading?
Make up a list of books (top ten) youd like to suggest for National Year of Reading if it were launched in Russia
Translate the text
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Vocabulary
To form a reading habit early in life
To read silently
Incessantly -
Avidly -
Voraciously ,
To read curled up in a chair
To read a child
To read oneself to sleep -
To be lost in a book
To devour book
To dip into a book
Glance over
Pore over ,
Thumb through -
To browse through periodicals
To scan
To skim ,
A bookworm
An avid reader
Alert -
Keen -
What can you tell about your own reading habits? Where do you prefer to read? Could you read in the buses? Do you need a special atmosphere for reading?
Try to tell about your favourite book. Use the given plan or your own ideas:
1. Title
2. Author and his/her contribution to literature and influence on it.
3. Plot.
4. Your favourite part.
5. Your favourite character.
6. What would you add to this story?
7. General impression.
Cinema: Its Past, Present and Future
Vocabulary
Accelerated
Actor
Leading actor
Character actor ,
Supporting actor
Adventure film
Animated cartoon
Audience
Camera
Cameraman
Cast , .
Close-up
Comedy
Credits
Crime film
Crowd scene
Dialogue
Direct ( )
Documentary
Dub
Dubbed film
Educational film
Feature film
To film a book
Film-goer
Flashback
To make a film
Message
Montage
Newsreel
Part
Performance ,
Photograph ,
Photography
Producer
Role
Science fiction film -
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Screen version
Screen test
Script
Serial
Shoot
Short-length film
Silent film
Slow-motion
Slow-moving
Sound
Special effects
Star
Thriller
Translate
Video
Video-recorder
Work with cards. Each student gets a card with the word concerning cinema. The student should explain this word without mentioning it. The task of other student guess the given words.
| ADVENTURE FILM | AUDIENCE |
| LEADING ACTOR | CAST |
| CAMERAMAN | CLOSE-UP |
| SILENT FILM | SCIENCE FICTION FILM |
| PRODUCER | PART |
| DIALOGUE | FILM-GOER |
| ROLE | FEATURE FILM |
| ANIMATED CARTOON | DIRECTOR |
| EDUCATIONAL FILM | SCREEN VERSION |
| COMEDY | STAR |
Do the same task with the posters.
Read and translate the text.
Silent movies
Talk to people who saw films for the first time when they were silent, and they will tell you the experience was magic. The silent film, with music, had extraordinary powers to draw an audience into the story, and an equally potent capacity to make their imagination work. They had to supply the voices and the sound effects, and because their minds were engaged, they appreciated the experience all the more. The audience was the final creative contributor to the process of making a film.
The films have gained a charm and other worldliness with age but, inevitably, they have also lost something. The impression they made when there was no rival to the moving picture was more profound, more intense; compared to easily accessible pictures of today, it was the blow of a two-handed axe, against the blunt scraping of a tableknife.
The silent period may be known as The Age of Innocence but it included years unrivalled for their dedicated viciousness. In Europe, between 1914 and 1918 more men were killed to less purpose than at any other time in history.
In publications of the time, one reads horrified reactions against films showing life as it is. You did not leave the problems at home merely to encounter them again at the movies. You paid your money initially, for forgetfulness.
Answer the following questions
1. Why were the silent films so popular?
2. Could they be popular even today? Why? Why not?
3. How do you understand the phrase The Age of Innocence?
4. Could we say that the inventions of the sound killed the silent films?
5. Is it right to show the life as it is or is it better to show the imagined worlds?
Read and translate the given text.
Feature: Daniel Craig
Nobody Does It Better
With Casino Royale about to hit cinemas we profile new 007 Daniel Craig and find out why hes going to be the best James Bond yet
When it was announced in late 2005 that acclaimed British actor Daniel Craig was to be taking over the role of super-spy James Bond, there was an outcry from the UK press who dubbed him James Bland. Worst of all, many diehard Bond fans disapproved of the choice, with some even setting up an online petition to have him removed from the role before cameras had even started rolling on the 21st Bond adventure, Casino Royale.
Many claimed that Craig didnt have the right look for Bond, his fair hair, blue eyes and slightly weather worn appearance being quite a departure from the sleek, suave, dark haired look traditionally associated with the character. Dans predecessors Pierce Brosnan, Timothy Dalton, Roger Moore,George Lazenby and Sean Connery all had the classic Bond looks as described in the novels of Ian Fleming, who created the character. It came as quite a shock to 007 aficionados that the films producers would choose an actor so physically different from Flemings Bond, although they clearly hadnt taken into account the actors formidable talent.
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Daniel Wroughton Craig was born on March 2, 1968 in Chester, England to father Tim Craig, who was a merchant seaman, before becoming a steel erector and then a pub landlord, and mother Carol Olivia Craig, who worked as an art teacher. Daniels parents split in 1972 and he, along with his older sister Lea, were taken to live in Prescot, near Liverpool. Carol had, in her earlier days, turned down a place at the prestigious Royal Academy for the Dramatic Arts, but had still had a love for theatre and frequently attended the famous Everyman Theatre.
It was here that the young Daniel Craig first developed a love of theatre and, by the time he was 16, he had already decided that he wanted to spend the rest of his life acting. Dan had not performed well academically at school and at the age of 16 decided to pack in education and, after attending auditions in Manchester, he headed to London to join the National Youth Theatre, later gaining a place at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Here, alongside future stars Ewan McGregor, Joseph Fiennes and Damien Lewis he was tutored by Royal Shakespeare Company veteran Colin McCormick, gaining an education that would form the basis of his acting career.
Things got off to a good start for Dan who, after graduating in 1991, landed a supporting role in the powerful apartheid themed movie The Power of One (1992). Acting alongside Morgan Freeman must have been a thrill for Daniel, but offstage his life was going equally well as in 1992 he married Scottish actress Fiona Loudon, with whom he had a daughter named Ella. The marriage, however, would only last for two years. In the meantime, his career moved ahead steadily, if unspectacularly, for a few years with the young actor taking on a variety of TV parts, including roles in topical comedy Drop the Dead Donkey (1993), historical adventure Sharpes Eagle (1993) with Sean Bean and an episode of the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles in which he played a vicious German officer named Schiller.
Use this feature as a sample and write down the composition about your favourite actor or actress. Pay attention to the key phrases and underlined words in the text above.
Key phrases:
My favourite actor/actress is
He/she is really prominent and prolific.
His/her works are the following
I cant imagine more talented actor than
His/her most popular film is
His/her influence on the cinema is great.
He is incomparable master of movies.
The theatre
Read the text
The theatre in Russia
The Mariinsky Theatre is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in St Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov received their premieres. Since Yuri Temirkanov's retirement in 1988, the conductor Valery Gergiev has served as its general director. The Mariinsky Theatre is home to the Mariinsky Ballet, Mariinsky Opera and Mariinsky Orchestra.
The theatre is named after Empress Maria Alexandrovna, wife of Tsar Alexander II. There is a bust of the Empress in the main entrance foyer.
The Imperial opera and ballet theatre in St Petersburg was established in 1783 at the behest of Catherine the Great, although an Italian ballet troupe had performed at the Russian court since the early 18th century. Originally, the ballet and opera performances were given in the wooden Karl Knipper Theatre on Tsaritsa Meadow, near the present-day Tripartite Bridge (also known as the Little Theatre or the Maly Theatre). The Hermitage Theatre, next door to the Winter Palace, was used to host performances for an elite audience of aristocratic guests invited by the Empress.
A permanent theatre building for the new company of opera and ballet artists was designed by Antonio Rinaldi and opened in 1783. Known as the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre the structure was situated on Theatre Square. Both names were coined to distinguish it from the wooden Little Theatre: "Kamenny" is the Russian word for "stone" and "Bolshoi" is the Russian word for "big". In 1836, the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre was renovated to a design by Albert Cavos (son of Catterino Cavos, an opera composer), and served as the principal theatre of the Imperial Ballet and opera.
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On 29 January 1849, the Equestrian circus ( ) opened on Theatre Square. This was also the work of the architect Cavos. The building was designed to double as a theatre. It was a wooden structure in the then-fashionable neo-Byzantine style. Ten years later, when this circus burnt down, Cavos rebuilt it as an opera and ballet house with the largest stage in the world. With a seating capacity of 1,625 and a U-shaped Italian-style auditorium, the theatre opened on 2 October 1860 with a performance of A Life for the Tsar. The new theatre was named Mariinsky after its royal patroness, Empress Maria Alexandrovna.
Under Yuri Temirkanov, Principal Conductor from 1976 to 1988, the Opera Company continued to stage innovative productions of both modern and classic Russian operas. However, since 1988, under the artistic leadership of Valery Gergiev, the Opera Company has entered a new era of artistic excellence and creativity.
Read the words in bold and translate them. Pay attention to the pronunciation
Make up 5 sentences using the words in bold
1) ________________________________________________________________
2) ________________________________________________________________
3) ________________________________________________________________
4) ________________________________________________________________
5) ________________________________________________________________
Find out the names of famous people. Read them
Underline the name of well-known performance. Try to translate it
Translate the given phrases.
preeminent music theatre
home to
named after
at the behest of
renovate
auditorium
Principal Conductor
artistic excellence
Make up the dialogue. Mary doesnt like theatre. She prefers cinema and rock concerts. John is fond of Russian theatre, especially Mariinsky Theatre. He is persuading her to go to the theatre
_____________________________________________________
Translate the whole text
Read the small texts about theatre. Say your own opinion. Do you agree or not? What is your attitude to the theatre?
David Stone, 42, artist. I am quite fond of the theatre, even though I dont go there too often. In my opinion, the value of the theatre is rather the same as of art in the broad sense of the word: it is the focus of the spiritual life of the nation. As for the contemporary theatre, I think that it sadly lacks genuine poetry, harmony and heroic spirit. The prevailing tendency of today is to stage the tragedy in such a way that it loses its noble spirit and lofty passions. I dont think that is the appropriate way to bridge the gap between, let us say, Shakespeare and the contemporary audiences. Somehow, Shakespearean atmosphere should be preserved. I am all for high tragedy.
Charles Sanders, 30, musician. The theatre is a splendid art. It is also a very difficult art, and a defenceless one, because everyone sees only the tip of the iceberg but is quite sure that he sees it all, and has something to say about it.
Personally I am not a passionate theatre-goer. I prefer to sit at home and read the play. The theatre dictates to me: they put their dish before me and insist on my swallowing it. I wont have it. I prefer to have my own vision of the play.
Of course, one mustnt lose sight of the educational role of the theatre. But education should by no means become the primary aim, it shouldnt be too obvious, too didactic. The educational aim is best achieved when suddenly some secret spring is touched, and the spectator feels: here is the moment of Truth. It is for this precious moment of Truth that people go to the theatre.
How often do you go to the theatre? What do you prefer: cinema or theatre? What are their advantages and disadvantages? Prove your own ideas
Look at the pictures of various theatres. Try to match them with their names: Asian theatre, Globe theatre, Russian theatre.Explain your choice
Make up the flier of your own theatre. It can be classical or modern. Think about slogan and name, dont forget about the famous actors and plays
Travelling. Holiday-Making. Environmental Protection
Vocabulary
Air travel
Beauty spots
Be swarming with tourists
Birds eye view
Cable railways
Camping equipment
Camp site
Chemical waste
Cut down forests
Discharge sewage into rivers
Do sightseeing
Environment
Get a tan
Get back to nature
Laze around
Litter
Off the beaten track
Package tour
Put up the tent
Play it off the cuff
Pollute
Pollution
Sea travel
See the sights
Sleep rough
Snorkel
Soak up the sun
Sunbathe
Take a chance with the weather
Tourism
Tourist
Travel agency
Travel for pleasure
Wind-surf .
Read and translate the following passages. Then discuss the problem and tell your own opinion.
For 30 years the Crowchester Chemical Company has got rid of its waste by dumping it in the River Crow or by burning it. Most of the people living in Crowchester work for the company, so there have been few complaints. Recently, however, doctors at the local hospital found that cases of throat cancer in Crowchester were 20 times higher than the national average and tests proved that air and water pollution were responsible.
Mrs Mabel Bloxford, the wife of a former employee of the Crowchester Chemical Company who is suffering from throat cancer Last year when my husband found out that he had cancer, the doctor advised us to leave Crowchester. We planned to buy a farm 50 miles away. But before we could save enough money for the deposit, he lost his job. Now well never be able to get away from here.
Leonard Miles, editor of the local newspaper For the last 30 years, Crowchester Chemical Company has not only blackened our skies and polluted our rivers, it has been slowly and surely poisoning us in our own homes. Other big companies treat their chemical waste. Not Crowchester Chemical Company. They think that money is more important than our comfort and our health. And the suffering of Crowchester cannot be measured in terms of pounds and pence. 37 people are seriously ill. Hundreds more are living in misery. The Crow River will never again be fit for drinking water. Crowchester Chemical Company must compensate us all for the trouble and the suffering they have brought among us.
Brian Thatcher, a lawyer representing local cancer victims We are suing for over a million pounds in compensation, and were also asking for a court order to close the factory. Im confident that we shall win. What worries me is that its impossible to stop this kind of thing until its too late. The Government should have introduced strict pollution controls long ago.
Henry Murdoch, the president of Crowchester Chemical Co. I do not accept that my company is responsible. We cant be held responsible. If people choose to work here or live nearby, they must accept the risks. We did not bring the company to the town. The town grew up round the chemical factory. And part of the reason the town is such a thriving community today, is because of my company. Of course, there is a little pollution. There is always pollution in the chemical industry. It cant be helped because this country needs chemicals. Crowchester needs chemicals too without this company 3000 people would be jobless.
Veronica Wade, a Member of Parliament Already many towns are worse than Crowchester. If we dont act soon, this country will become uninhabitable. Pollution is a crime against society and must be punished. I propose to fix strict limits for discharge of pollution. All companies which exceed the limits negligently will pay heavy fines. All companies which exceed these limits deliberately will be closed and their managers will go to prison.
Say what do you do personally to protect the environment? Share with other students. And what should we do to save our planet?
Read and translate the given texts. Who is right in this situation?
Litter
Last weekend Nick West was jogging along a popular path when he stumbled on a broken bottle and injured his leg. He wrote a letter to the editor of the local newspaper complaining about litter.
Nick West. People who leave litter behind them are anti-social. They spoil the countryside and create all sorts of danger for other people. Broken bottles and rusty cans cause serious injuries, especially to children. Old magazines and empty packages help to start fires when fools throw away matches and cigarette butts. Why cant people be more careful?
Ann Scott, a housewife with two children. Dropping litter is a disgusting habit. If you dont do it in your won house why should you do it anywhere else? I never drop litter and I dont allow my children too. Unfortunately, most parents these days dont bring their children up properly. Its a mothers duty to teach her children how to behave and to set a good example herself.
Linda Mitchell, a member of a local anti-litter group. I belong to an anti-litter group. Recently we cleaned up a beach. We collected over 150 tons of garbage. We burned half of it and we sold the rest to scrap dealers for $ 100. We spent that money on litter cans which we placed at regular intervals along the beach. Every local government ought to do same thing.
Nina Haines, a journalist of the local newspaper. The problem of litter reflects a lack of responsibility on all sides. The local government has a duty to provide litter cans and the citizens have a duty to use them. The police have a duty to report people who litter public places and the courts have a duty to punish such people. Last, but not least, the companies which manufacture throw-away products should stop using materials which cant be burned or recycled.
Fred Hurst, a representative of the local council. Theres not much we can do. There are a thousand square miles of countryside around this town. We cant afford to supply a million litter cans to empty them regularly. Why should local taxpayers be responsible for litter left by holiday visitors from other towns?
Reg Giles, a local policeman. Littering is a crime and carries a heavy penalty. But the police are too busy preventing serious crime to worry about litter. If someone drops a ton of poisonous chemical waste in the forest, well try to catch him, but we cant arrest everyone who leaves a few empty cans around after a picnic. Were policemen, not babysitters.
Albert Greaves, the manager of a soft drinks company. We used to sell drinks in glass bottles and we refunded a little money when empty bottles were returned to us, because we could wash them and use them again. But glass is heavy and breaks easily, so we changed to plastic. Its cheap, light, strong and unbreakable. Of course, we dont collect empty bottles because its cheaper to make new ones.
Look at different symbols and pictures. Make up your own symbol and motto for protecting the environment. Work in groups
Read and translate the text. Do you agree or disagree with the author?
The only way to travel is on foot.
The past ages of man have all been carefully labeled by anthropologists. Descriptions like Paleolithic Man, Neolithic Man, etc., neatly sum up whole periods. When the time comes for anthropologists to turn their attention to the twentieth century, they will surely choose the label Legless Man. Histories of the time will go something like this: In the twentieth century, people forgot how to use their legs. Men and Women moved about in cars, buses and trains from a very early age. There were lifts and escalators in all large buildings to prevent people from walking. This situation was forced upon earth-dwellers of that time because of their extraordinary way of life. In those days people thought nothing of travelling hundreds of miles each day. But the surprising thing is that they didnt use their legs even when they went on holiday. They built cable railways, ski-lifts and roads to the top of every huge mountain. All the beauty spots on earth were marred by the presence of large car parks.
The future history books might also record that we were deprived of the use of our eyes. In our hurry to get from one place to another, we failed to see anything on the way. Air travel gives you a birds eye views of the world or even less if the wing of the aircraft happens to get in your way. When you travel by car or plane a blurred image of the countryside constantly smears the windows. Car drivers, in particular, are forever obsessed with the urge to go on and on: they never want to stop.
And as for sea travel, it hardly deserves mention. It is perfectly summed up in the words of the old song: I joined the navy to see the world, and what did I see? I saw the sea.The typical twentieth century traveler is the man who always says, Ive been there. You mention the remotest, most evocative place names in the world like El Dorado, Kabul, Irkutsk and somebody is bound to say Ive been there meaning, I drove through it at 100 miles an hour on the way to somewhere else.
When you travel at high speeds, the present means nothing: you live mainly in the future because you spend most of your time looking forward to arriving at some other place. But actual arrival, when it is achieved, is meaningless. You want to move on again. But travelling like this, you suspend all experience; the present ceases to be a reality; you might just as well be dead.
The traveler on foot, on the other hand, lives constantly in the present. For him travelling and arriving are one and the same thing: he arrives somewhere with every step he makes. He experiences the present moment with his eyes, his ears and the whole of his body. At the end of his journey he feels a delicious physical weariness. He knows that sound satisfying sleep will be his: the just reward of all true travelers.
Describe the given pictures about the travelling
