3. Listen and practise reading the poem imitating speaker’s intonation. Lay stresses and tone marks. Choose a piece of the poem you like best and learn it by heart. Travel

By R.L.Stevenson

I should like to rise and go

Where the golden apples grow; -

Where below another sky

Parrot islands anchored lie,

And, watched by cockatoos and goats,

Lonely Crusoes building boats; -

Where in sunshine reaching out

Eastern cities, miles about,

Are with mosque and minaret

Among sandy gardens set,

And the rich goods from near and far

Hang for sale in the bazaars;-

Where the Great Wall round China goes,

And on one side the desert blows,

And with bell and voice and drum,

Cities on the other hum; -

Where are forests, hot as fire,

Wide as England, tall as a spire,

Full of apes and cocoa-nuts

And the negro hunters' huts; -

Where the knotty crocodile

Lies and blinks in the Nile,

And the red flamingo flies

Hunting fish before his eyes; -

Where in jungles, near and far,

Man-devouring tigers are,

Lying close and giving ear

Lest the hunt be drawing near,

Or a comer-by be seen

Swinging in a palanquin; -

Where among the desert sands

Some deserted city stands,

All its children, sweep and prince,

Grown to manhood ages since,

Not a foot in street or house,

Not a stir of child or mouse,

And when kindly falls the night,

In all the town no spark of light.

There I'll come when I'm a man

With a camel caravan;

Light a fire in the gloom

Of some dusty dining-room;

See the pictures on the walls,

Heroes, fights, and festivals;

And in a corner find the toys

Of the old Egyptian boys.

• Say if the general mood created by the poem is sad or joyous. Give your reasons.

• Can you tell what countries / places the poet describes?

• What images strike you most of all?

Section VI Consonants in comparison

  

1. a). Listen and practise the following pairs of words:

chip – trip

cheat – treat

chance – trance

choose – truth

charity – tragedy

chasing – tracing

fountain – counting

mountain – mounting

ran – rang

son – sung

shone – song

run – rung

jaw – draw

jug – drug

jam – dram

Jane – drain

1. b). Read the following sentences, lay stresses and tone marks:

1. It’s no concern of mine.

2. You are fancying and imagining things.

3. Begin from the very beginning.

4. Everything’s going wrong.

5. Skating on thin ice is a very dangerous thing, I think.

6. Sleeping and eating in tents seemed interesting.

7. They help by sweeping, cleaning the rooms and washing up.

1. c). Learn the proverbs, define their intonation and accentual patterns.

1. A drowning man will catch at a straw.

2. Misfortunes tell us what fortune is.

3. Little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

4. A good beginning makes a good ending.

5. Seeing is believing.

6. Nothing venture, nothing have.

7. No living man all things can.

1. d). Use one of the proverbs in your own situations.

2. Listen to the following monologue and dialogue extracts. Say stresses and tone marks. Note that changes in extralinguistic factors lead to modifications of the language features: phonetic characteristics, vocabulary, etc. Define the speakers’ social status (equal, superior, inferior) the degree of formality (formal, informal) the subject-matter of the texts. Practise reading them.