Focus on vocabulary

1. Transcribe and read out the following words.

novel, memoirs, autobiography, diary, satire, periodical, psychological, rhyme, mankind, refuge, encyclopedia

2. Define the meaning.

1. literature 6. mystery

2. fairy tale 7. plough through a book

3. pore over a book 8. manual

4. manuscript 9. comic, n

5. satire 10. novelette

3. Choose the best answer.

1. I don’t like reading history or biographies, I prefer _____.

a. description b. fiction c. non-fiction d. narration

2. I have just read a lovely _____ about a man who devoted his life to monkeys.

a. fiction b. history c. tale d. story

3. That author has written a fictional _____ of his wartime experience.

a. account b. novel c. story d. tale

4. Ask the publisher to send you their latest _____ of English text books.

a. booklet b. catalogue c. prospectus d. index

5. Don’t read all the book. Just _____ the first few pages.

a. browse through b. glance through c. look round

4. Match each kind of book with what you could normally expect to find in it.

   1. atlas	a. basic coursebook at school or university
   2. autobiography	b. information about subjects in alphabetical order
   3. dictionary	c. lists of words grouped according to their similarity in meaning
   4. directory	d. maps
   5. encyclopedia	e. a list of names of places printed at the end of an atlas
   6. gazetteer	f. a list of important, famous people and brief details of their lives
   7. guidebook
   8. manual	g. meanings of words
   9. textbook	h. tourist information about a country
   10. thesaurus	i. instructions on how to use or repair sth
   11. Who’s Who	j. a list of names, addresses and telephone numbers in alphabetical order
   	k. the story of one’s own life

5. How many compound nouns with the second element BOOK do you know? Write down at least 7 words. Use a dictionary, if necessary, to make sure you know their meaning.

6. Which is the odd-one-out? Explain your choice.

1. a. bibliography b. autobiography c. biography

2. a. best-seller b. thriller c. mystery

3. a. wade through b. thumb through c. flip through

4. a. magazine b. diary c. journal

5. a. handbook b. textbook c. phrasebook

7. Choose the correct word to complete the sentences.

1. literal – literary – literate

a. Jimmy is the __________ critic of the local newspaper.

b. India has had a __________ civilization for thousands of years.

c. The __________ meaning of the word “cat” is an animal.

d. __________ words and phrases are marked “lit” in this dictionary.

2. fictional – fictitious

a. Jules Verne wrote a __________ account of his journey to the Moon.

b. These people were __________, they never lived.

3. classic – classical

a. He read __________ at University.

b. Lewis Carroll wrote __________ children’s stories.

8. Supply verbs for the definitions.

1. read sth for a long time, very carefully, and with great interest

2. read the whole of sth quickly so that you get a general idea of what it is about

3. turn the pages of a book without reading much of it, looking for sth interesting or useful

4. read short parts of a book, because you do not feel like reading the whole thing or because you are looking for a particular piece of information

5. read sth quickly in order to find particular pieces of information or to pick out the main parts of it

6. turn the pages stopping to read the parts of it that interest you or just to choose sth

9. Fill in the gaps with the verbs below.

read, skim, leaf/flick/thumb through, browse, scan, dip into, read through, read aloud

1. An important skill to learn is __________ing a text to gain a general impression.

2. The students were told to __________ the novel for references to the main characters.

3. People watch too much TV and don’t __________ enough today.

4. An encyclopedia is not the kind of book you read from cover to cover, but sometimes to __________ when you need a particular fact.

5. The professor returned to his room and began to __________ his books in search of material for his lecture.

6. She __________ several catalogues before deciding which car to buy.

7. Students are always advised to __________ what they have written before leaving the exam room.

8. Angela __________ the menu outside the restaurant, but decided it looked too expensive.

9. Why do children always __________ when they first start learning to read?

10. Ian had some book by his bed which he would __________ when he couldn’t sleep.

11. If there isn’t enough time you’ll just have to __________.

12. He __________ the newspaper in the hope of finding news of his daughter.

10. Say it in English.

1. бегло просматривать журнал мод

2. читать триллеры по привычке

3. пробегать глазами старую газету

4. читать книги о политике в поисках информации

5. пролистывать книгу стихов

6. сосредоточенно изучать мемуары кинозвезды

7. с трудом осилить любовный роман

8. внимательно читать детектив

9. читать книги о путешествиях, чтобы убежать от реальности

10. с большим трудом читать фантастический рассказ

11. редкая рукопись

12. классическая комедия

13. читать бестселлер из любопытства

14. читать русские народные сказки ради удовольствия

15. бегло просматривать букинистические книги

16. читать эссе с карандашом в руках

17. развлекательный приключенческий роман

18. читать трагедии Шекспира, чтобы найти темы для обсуждения

19. декламировать стихи про себя

20. просмотреть журнал по геологии

21. свободно читать дневник Байрона в оригинале

22. читать юмористический рассказ ради удовольствия

23. читать любовный роман урывками

24. пролистывать автобиографию рок-певца

25. читать исторический роман заполночь