Lesson 4 (pp.28 - 41). November 15th– On the Eve

Ex.1 a) Find these words and phrases in the text; read and translate into Russian the sentences in which they are used.

it doesn't sound true	rough and uphill road
to be handed down from smb to smb	to stamp smb as queer
thank goodness	to commence doing smth
to eat into one’s soul	a Sophomore
to obliterate the scar	to recapitulate
a properly assorted family	to pretend to oneself
to know much by absorption	to plump on (a word)

b) Find the English equivalents of these words and phrases in the text. Read and translate into Russian the sentences in which they are used.

вы так и не ответили	утруждать себя чем-л.
«нависшие», «косматые» брови	Это было так здорово!
наверстывать, догонять	смириться с чем-л.
воспитываться на чём-л.	намереваться сделать что-л.
купить за 1 доллар 12 центов	зайти, заглянуть
быть взбудораженным, взволнованным	происходить из Ноева ковчега

c) Give your variant of translation of the following sentences:

1. Six dresses, all new and beautiful and bought for me--not handed down from somebody bigger. Perhaps you don't realize what a climax that marks in the career of an orphan?

2. That wouldn't be an awfully big wardrobe for Julia Rutledge Pendleton, perhaps, but for Jerusha Abbott – Oh, my!

3. I suppose you're thinking now what a frivolous, shallow little beast she is, and what a waste of money to educate a girl?

4. Given a tall rich man who hates girls, but is very generous to one quite impertinent girl, what does he look like?

5. Oh, you see, I know! You're a snappy old thing with a temper.

6. Instead, I read just plain books – I have to, you know, because there are eighteen blank years behind me.

7. You wouldn't believe, Daddy, what an abyss of ignorance my mind is; I am just realizing the depths myself.

8. The Christmas holidays begin next week and the trunks are up.

9. Your five gold pieces were a surprise! I'm not used to receiving Christmas presents. You have already given me such lots of things – everything I have, you know – that I don't quite feel that I deserve extras. But I like them just the same.

10. Before I thought, I started to tell the others what an experience I was having. The cat was almost out of the bag when I grabbed it by its tail and pulled it back. It's awfully hard for me not to tell everything I know.

11. I meant this to be just a short little thank-you note--but when I get started I seem to have a ready pen.

12. Fifty-seven irregular verbs have I introduced to my brain in the past four days – I'm only hoping they'll stay till after examinations.

Ex.2 Listen to the tape (Judy’s letter to Daddy-Long-Legs written “Towards the End of the Christmas Vacation” - pp.35-36) and say if the statements below are true or false.Correct the false statements.

1. It’s snowing and the flakes are coming down as big as pop-corns.

2. The present that Daddy-Long-Legs sent Judy for Christmas proved to be the first one in the girl’s life.

3. With the money her guardian sent her Judy bought new dresses and a hat.

4. Judy bought five hundred sheets of yellow manuscript paper and a dictionary of synonyms, because she is going to commence being an author pretty soon.

5. Also Judy bought a pair of silk stockings but didn’t want to confess this fact.

6. Judy bought a pair of silk stockings because she was envious of Julia Pendleton.

7. Judy pretends to herself that her presents came in a box from her family in California.

8. One of the latest additions to Judy’s vocabulary is the word “to summarize”.

Ex.3 Discuss the following points:

1. “...Are you awfully old or just a little old? And are you perfectly bald or just a little bald?” What does “Daddy-Long-Legs” look like in Judy’s fantasies? How do you imagine his appearance?

2. “It's a fine thing to be educated – but nothing compared to the dizzying experience of owning six new dresses”. What can you say about Judy’s character judging by her story about dresses?

3. Do you think Judy is a persistent person? How can you characterize her will for studying?

4. “The things that most girls know by absorption, I have never heard of”. Make a list of books – any books you like – which, to your mind, are a must-reading for everyone. Do you think we can judge a person’s intelligence and wit by books he reads? by quotes he mentions? etc.

5. Do you think Judy is an optimist? Prove your answer.

6. “I'm a very confiding soul by nature; if I didn't have you to tell things to, I'd burst”. Why, do you think, Judy speaks so much and goes into details? Does she feel obliged to be sincere, or is she just glad to have gained an ear?

7. “But I must love somebody, you'll HAVE to put up with it...” Do you think Judy is really attached to her guardian and addressee, or she simply loves her own idea of him? How does “Daddy-Long-Legs” express his attitude to Judy, if you think he does at all?

8. “The Freshman's lot is not a happy one”. How can you comment on this statement? Do you share this point of view?

9. What is your personal opinion about Judy? What is she like?

10. Speak about the style of Judy’s messages. Do you find it peculiar?

Do you think it’s a kind of art – to write letters? or a sort of a gift? What, in your opinion, makes a master of epistolary genre?

Do you think Judy has a talent for writing? Prove your answer with the passages from her letters.