Unit 3

Chapters IV-V

1. Work on vocabulary

   1. Translate the sentences from English into Russian orally. Pay attention to the underlined words and expressions. Consult the dictionary, practice pronunciation of these words and expressions and memorize them.

      1. a snatch

Taking someone or something away from place by force

1. She heard of the snatch and was frightened to death. b) He was suspected of the bank snatch. c) It was the first snatch that had ever taken place in the town.

2. to preside at something

To be in charge of a formal ceremony, meeting

1. They could find no clergyman who would agree to preside at the funeral. b) Dr Jones was presiding at the Committee. c) Who presides at your meetings?

3. speculation

The fact of guessing without knowing all the facts about something, or the guesses that you make

1. There is some speculation that the president was aware of the situation. b) The jury should disregard the witness’s last statement as pure speculation. c) The government increased speculation about the possibility of tax cuts.

4. to patter

To talk quietly, quickly and repeatedly

1. He pattered something so that nobody could understand him. b) “I do not realize how it could take place”, he pattered.

5. to allot

To decide officially to give something to someone or use something for a particular purpose

1. You may find it useful to allot twenty minutes each day to this task. b) The boys were allotted a room each for studying. c) The organization was allotted a big sum of money to implement all their projects.

1. harsh

1. very uncomfortable, cold (about climate/ conditions); 2) treating people in a very cruel or strict way

1. The prisoners had to endure harsh living conditions and near starvation. b) Brando has had to endure some harsh criticism from the press. c) He was experiencing harsh realities of adult life.

7. to fluster

To make someone nervous and confused

1. He is constantly flustering his mother. b) Your words are flustering me.

8. to twitter

To talk very quickly and nervously in a high voice

1. She was happily twittering with her friend. b) When he came in, she was twittering with her mother.

9. to jerk

To move or make something move in short, sudden movements

1. Suddenly the train jerked to a halt. b) The car jerked to a stop at the lights. c) They were jerking every five meters.

1. Transcribe the following words and read them aloud:

• coup

• benign

• mezzanine

• façade

2. Work on stylistics

Notes on style: ELLIPSIS is an absence of one or both principal parts (the subject, the predicate). The missing parts are either present in the syntactic environment of the sentence (context), or they are implied by the situation. Ellipsis is typical of colloquial speech. The omission of the above-mentioned parts makes a sentence sound more emphatic.

e.g. “A snip having his spell of fine weather,” said Michael. “Tom’s been a success, hasn’t he? Pity he can’t stay over a week.”

“Yes, a terrible pity” (Theatre, 150).