I. Reproduce the following situations based on the works of famous English and American authors. Make sure that you use the active vocabulary:

I

1. After the Micawbers moved to another town David felt very lonely and decided to run away to Dover and look for his only relative Miss Betsy Trotwood. They had never been in touch, but David hoped that his aunt would let him stay with her.

2. It took David a whole week to get to Dover. When he reached the town he wandered aimlessly about the streets for some time as

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he did not dare to ask anybody for help. He was afraid he might be taken for a beggar and sent to a work-house.

He really did look terrible. His eyes were red from lack of sleep and his clothes were ragged and shabby, and he had no jacket.

3. Towards evening he found himself on the outskirts of Dover. He felt faint with hunger and fatigue. No wonder, for he had hardly eaten anything on the way (it was not surprising, for he had hardly eaten...)!

4. He sat down by a garden fence and burst into bitter tears: he had lost all hope of ever finding his aunt.

He must have fainted from hunger and exhaustion; when he came to and looked up he saw an elderly woman standing in front of him. There was a severe expression on her face.

It was none other than Miss Betsy Trotwood, but David did not know that, as he had never seen his aunt.

"Boy, what are you doing here? Go away!"

David did not move. He only stared at the woman.

"Go away, do you hear?" she said sharply.

The voice must have roused David from his state of wretchedness. He rose, holding on to the fence.

"I'm looking for Miss Betsy Trotwood, but nobody knows where she lives," David said, making a great effort to pull himself together.

5. There was a silence. An expression of amazement appeared on the woman's face. For a few seconds she stared at David as if trying to remember something...

"Why, you are David Copperfield, aren't you?" she suddenly exclaimed. "You look very much like my poor nephew. My God! How cruelly they have been treating you... but I'll take revenge on them..."

The next minute she was dragging David towards the house.

David was scared out of his wits.

II

1. When I was twenty-seven years old, I was a mining-broker's clerk in San Francisco. I was alone in the world, and had nothing to depend upon but my wits and a clean reputation; but I hoped to be rich some day.

My time was my own on Saturday afternoons, and I used to spend it on a little sail-boat on the bay. One day I ventured too far, and was carried out to sea. Just at nightfall, when hope was about gone, I was picked up by a small brig which was bound for London. It was a long and stormy voyage, and they made me work my passage without pay, as a common sailor. When I stepped ashore in London my clothes were ragged and shabby, and I had only a dollar in my pocket. This money fed and sheltered me for twenty-four hours. During the next twenty-four I went without food and shelter.

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2. I was slowly walking along the street, looking at passers-by when I felt I was being followed. I looked back and saw an elderly man behind me.

"What do you want of me? Why are you following me?"

"Excuse me, could you come to that house with me?" he said, pointing to a house on the other side of the street. "They are waiting impatiently for you there."

I was about to say "No, I won't" but checked myself. I was curious to know what it was all about.

"They must have taken me for somebody else," I thought, following the man.

3. I was shown into a richly-furnished dining-room. There were two gentlemen there. They were having breakfast. At the sight of the delicious food on the table I felt giddy. I stood staring at them holding tight on to the chair. I hoped that they would give me something to eat, but they did not even offer me a cup of tea!

4. "We've been watching you for some time and have come to the conclusion that you are the right man for us," said one of them.

"We have decided to offer you a job," said the other.

My wonder grew. "What job?" I asked.

They did not seem to pay any attention to my question, as the one who spoke to me first said; "We won't go into details. Here's a letter for you. It explains everything. We wish you luck. We hope that you will live up to our expectations. Good-bye."

5. The servant showed me to a front door and I again found myself in the street.

The street seemed unfamiliar to me. For a while I stood in front of the closed door without understanding what had really happened and what those two gentlemen wanted from me.

"They must have been playing a trick on me," I thought. "If I had known that nothing would come of it I would never have gone in there. No doubt they've taken me for somebody else," I thought, and started off down the street.

"Can they really have played a trick on me?! If they did I shall get even with them somehow..."

6. I was so angry that I completely forgot about the letter they had given me. Only after I had calmed down a little did I find it in my pocket. What I saw in the envelope was beyond my wildest hopes. There was money in it!

"What a fool I am to have been carrying such a treasure in my pocket! If I had opened the envelope earlier I would already be sitting in a restaurant ordering a good dinner!"

And I rushed to a cafe which I had noticed round the corner.

7. At first the owner wouldn't let me in, saying that his cafe .was not a charity institution. I understood that he had taken me for a beggar. "Don't worry, I'll pay," I said, taking out the money and holding it out to the owner. The sight of the money must have struck him dumb because he stared at the bank-note in amazement, unable to utter a word.

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It was then that I saw what I was holding in my hand! I nearly fainted. A million-pound bank-note!

For a while we were both silent. I was the first to pull myself together and said as if nothing extraordinary had happened: "I am sorry if it is inconvenient for you to change it, but I don't happen to have any other money with me..."

My voice seemed to have roused him from his state of shock and he came to himself again. He made a thousand apologies for not being able to change the bank-note. He kept on looking at it, but shrank from touching it as if it were something sacred. Then he stammered out: "Pardon me, sir, I don't at all mind your having lunch in my cafe... I wish you would always have your meals here... anything you wanted, any time you choose..."

After lunch I read the letter. For some reason the gentlemen wanted me to use the money in any way I pleased and return it in a month.

III

1. Alice and Jane were artists. They lived on the outskirts of New York in a small studio. They worked at a porcelain factory where they earned a poor living. But they had one treasure - their friendship - which helped them to bear every hardship.

One night on the way home from the factory Jane felt a sharp pain in her chest.

"What's the matter with you, dear?" Alice asked anxiously. "You don't look well."

"I must have caught cold. But it's nothing serious, I think."

"You'd better get into bed at once," said Alice, looking at her friend's swollen eyes. "I'll give you hot tea and put a mustard plaster on your chest. Let's hope that it will be gone by morning."

"And what if it isn't?" asked Jane. "What am I to do then?"

"Then we'll call in a doctor."

"And what about my work? I can't stay away from work, I'll be sacked."

"One day won't matter. It'll be deduced from your pay. Don't worry, dear. Get into bed," Alice said, trying to speak in a calm, steady voice.

But she knew only too well what might happen if Jane was taken seriously ill.

All night Jane tossed and turned, unable to get to sleep. In the morning she had a splitting headache and breathed with difficultly.

"You'll have to call in a doctor," whispered Jane, and Alice could hardly recognize the girl's voice in this weak hoarse whisper.

2. The doctor examined the sick girl and said: "The case is serious, she has pneumonia. You should have had a doctor in earlier, but with proper care she will recover in a couple of weeks."

Proper care! Couple of weeks! Alice thought anxiously. She would certainly do her best, but she had only a few dollars left to pay the doctor, and they had fallen behind with their rent already!

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Alice held out the few dollars she had and said:

"Excuse us, but we don't have (haven't) enough money to pay you now. I'll give you the rest in a day or so."

The doctor frowned. He was about to say something but thought better of it.

3. For a week the patient's state was very serious. Alice looked after her friend, trying not to show her anxiety. She did not grudge the expense. She sold everything that could be sold. She worked day and night, but she earned very little.

At last Jane recovered. She immediately started looking for a job. Every day she left the house in the morning and came back home in the evening tired and hungry. But there was no job for her. There were hundreds of unemployed crowding the factory gates and offices. Jane was in despair.

IV

1. Old Ellsworth's daughters were on the verge of a nervous breakdown. In spite of the fact that they spied on the old man day and night and took every precaution to prevent him from buying unnecessary things, their efforts were in vain. Old Ellsworth would not listen to anybody.

The only person who seemed to enjoy his confidence was Doctor Caswell. The latter spared no effort to cure the old man of his illness, but so far all his attempts had failed. However, Doctor Caswell lacked neither patience nor persistence, and he did not lose hope.

2. One day Doctor Caswell came to visit his patient. The old man was sitting in his armchair reading a newspaper. When the doctor came into the room the old man put the newspaper aside and said mockingly, looking the doctor up and down.

"Well, doctor, have you got something new to offer me today?"

"You're right, Mr. Ellsworth. A brilliant idea has occurred to me. Why shouldn't you take up art? I'm sure you'll make a good artist... How does the idea strike you?"

"But, doctor, I haven't got the slightest idea about how to paint! I've always been a businessman. How can I ..."

Mr. Ellsworth checked himself. "Well, now that I come to think of it, I don't mind learning a bit of painting..."

"Fine, it's settled then, Mr. Ellsworth. We shall find a young artist to teach you and you will very soon get acquainted with modern art," the doctor said cheerfully.

3. That day Doctor Caswell spoke to the old man's daughters and explained to them what he was going to do.

"Dear Doctor, we have grave doubts whether it will cure the old man of his mania, but we agree to everything (consent to it)."

"I assure you, it is a splendid method of treatment. I wish I had suggested it earlier. If I had thought of it some years ago, Mr. Ellsworth would be quite well now and would not be giving you so much trouble."

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4. The whole of the next week the old man was busy reading books on art. Then a student from the Art School began to teach him painting. It was quite a job! But the student needed money and he did everything he could to please Mr. Ellsworth.

5. One day the student suggested going to the local gallery to see an exhibition of modern art which had just opened there. The old man was about to refuse but then all of a sudden he agreed, as if an idea had struck him.

At the exhibition the old man got into conversation with cne of the visitors. The student did not interfere. He did not even know what was the subject of their conversation. He only noticed that the old man looked very pleased.

All the way home old Ellsworth was in high spirits. He kept talking about art, about the pictures which he had just seen and about how glad he was to have taken up art.

The student wondered as he listened to him. Never before had he seen the old man in such a splendid mood. He thought that painting was really doing him good.

6. When old Ellsworth returned home, he declared:

"I'm going to have my pictures exhibited at the gallery next week. I bet you anything my pictures will be the best."

Everybody kept silent. The pictures the old man was painting were monstrous, but nobody argued. They were afraid that he might have a heart attack if he got angry. It did not occur to anybody that the old man had already devised a plan to get even with them.

You know what happened afterwards.

Naturally the student was to blame for everything. He should not have let the old man speak to the stranger at the exhibition. What could the poor student have done?

V

"Now I'm going to tell you about a funny thing that happened in our family," began Herman Thurber, "if I had not seen it with my own eyes I would never have believed it. This is how it all happened.

One night my younger brother Roy could not get to sleep. He had a headache and was slightly feverish. He had been tossing and turning for a long time when all of a sudden a brilliant idea struck him. He decided to play a joke on Father.

The clock had just struck two when Roy stole into Father's bedroom which was next to his. He shook Father by the shoulder and said in a low voice: "Get up! Your time has come!"

Father awoke and for a while stared at Roy without understanding anything.

"What's the matter? Why aren't you in bed? Has anything happened to Mother?"

"Get up, your time has come," repeated Roy, without paying attention to Father's questions.

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"He must have gone mad! He's been sick the whole day... we should have called a doctor," thought poor Father.

Trying to keep his presence of mind Father said in a gentle voice as if nothing had happened:

"Wait for me here. I'll be back in a minute."

He flung the door open and rushed to his wife's bedroom.

"Get up, I think Roy must be seriously ill. He's been saying such strange things!"

"You must have had a bad dream!" said Mother. "It's those detective stories you read. If you did not read them before you went to bed, you would never have nightmares."

"You are free to think whatever you please, but I tell you, I've just been talking to him. I can't have imagined it. You, you, all of you take me for an idiot..." Father began, losing his temper completely.

"Oh, please, don't get agitated, it's bad for you. I'm sure Roy is sleeping peacefully in his room."

2. Meanwhile Roy had got into bed and was pretending to be a-sleep. When Father and Mother entered his room Roy seemed to be fast asleep. Mother said:

"The boy is not to blame. You've had a bad dream and waked everybody up. You shouldn't have been reading that book you bought yesterday when you were in bed. You must be convinced now that reading it is not doing you any good."

Father was silent, unable to understand enything.

That night he did not sleep a wink. One thought went through his mind, "And what if I really did dream all that?"

At breakfast he resumed the conversation trying to convince them that Roy had come to his bedroom in the night. But nobody believed poor Father.