2) Retell the story using the following words and phrases:

to cut out everything; to go on like this; to put a stop to; the hands of the weight-clock; to feel like weeping; bony ankles; neat feet; on the edge of the lake; to crumble bread; to snatch the thrown bread; out of range; slim and elegant; to stare across the water; to have stockings on; stitched lad­ders; just for decency; could not bear it; I've been wondering if; startled; excuse my speaking to you; anything special; to get desperate; she's crazy; to go into an explanation; to be sick of; to attend dinners; nothing but; suspender belt; it felt loose; that's how it went on; it tastes queer; bacon-rind; frying-pan; to multiply by; to have to go through; to make it last; it costs me a fortune; I've got to; I'm done; to lose weight; it wears me out; to change everything; can't help it; it's no use; to make the child cry; easy-going; my nerves are on edge; can't stand it; moist hand; to walk away; to revolve against the sun

Exercise XIII. Make up sentences using as if, as though.

Examples:

1. She looked as if she were actually starving.

1. It appeared as if she wore false legs.

1. He looked as though he had been too long without sleep.

Exercise XIV. Choose the correct words from those in brackets:

(change — alter)

1. She has ... her address and I don't know how to find her. 2. The suit doesn't fit him well. It must be ... . I've got to rush home to ... my clothes for dinner. Let's ... seats. I can see very little because of the tall man in front of me. 5. He intended to spend the summer in town, but then he ... his mind. 6. She slightly ... the original plan and handed it in.

(pare — peel)

1. Shall I ... an apple for you? 2. She hated to — potatoes, therefore she usually boiled them in their jackets.

(lucky — happy)

1. By some ... chance she caught sight of him in the crowd. 2. That kind of life doesn't make me .... 3. Her husband has returned safe and she is as ... as ... can be.

Exercise XV. Answer the following questions (using the Complex Object Construction):

1. What did Mrs. Victor see the hands of the bathroom weight-clock do? 2. What could she see the gulls snatch? 3. What did the girl remember doing long ago? 4. How long did the girl make a banana last? 5. Who made the child cry? 6. How did the girl see herself moving along the street?

Exercise XVI. Use the following phrases in sentences of your own:

1. to feel like doing something

In the text: She felt like weeping.

Example: He didn't feel like eating.

2. for the sake of doing something or for his (her, somebody's) sake

In the text: She couldn't go on eating for the sake of eating (= just because she liked it).

Examples: 1) He sacrificed everything for the sake of his motherland (=for the good of). 2) Let me try for your sake.

Exercise XVII. Make these sentences emphatic as in b).

Examples:

1. If you fried bacon-rind, it jumped in the frying-pan like snakes.

2. If you did fry bacon-rind (instead of cutting it off), it jumped in the frying-pan like snakes.

1. He went to the lake.

2. He did go to the lake.

1. Mrs. Victor ate a lot at dinner parties and social func­tions. 2. Don't think she did nothing to lose weight. She tried slimming creams and massage. 3. He sent her the money at last. 4. She felt like sitting there for ever, but she rose to go. 5. She had promised to come and she came.

Exercise XVIII. Translate into English:

1. He морите себя голодом. Вы очень похудели. 2. Я не выношу, когда плачут дети. 3. Интересно, соблюдает ли она диету. 4. Вы должны перестать есть хлеб и булки, если вы хотите похудеть. 5. Интересно, съедобны ли ягоды (годятся ли для еды). 6. Интересно, присутствовал ли он на приеме вчера. 7. Ее платья стоят ей массу денег. 8. Ее тошнит от еды. Она ничего не может поделать с этим. 9. Если ты хочешь похудеть, надо сесть на диету. 10. Этот шум дей­ствует ей на нервы. 11. Она такая худая, как будто совсем ничего не ест.

Exercise XIX. Topics for discussion:

1. Speak on the setting of the story (the lake, the gulls, the children, etc.) What do you think is their role in the story?

2. Describe Mrs. Victor.

3. Describe Mrs. Victor's husband (as you imagine him).

4. Outline the character of the girl (describe her appear­ance, clothes, her thoughts, etc.).

5. Tell the story of the girl's life (as you imagine it). What do you think has reduced her to the state she was in?

6. Think of a possible end of the story. What do you think happened after the girl went down to the post office?

7. Compare the two women and speak on one of life's, ironies as illustrated in this story.

8. Why does the author Introduce the episode with the bun?

9. Describe a public dinner or a company luncheon.

10. Describe a person who diets.

11. Tell the class a story you have read in which the heroine finds herself in a hopeless position.

12. Speak on unemployment in capitalist countries. Give examples from literature.

Exercise XX. Render in English:

а) В семье итальянского бедняка Сальваторе Арена случилось несчастье: врачи сказали, что его старшей до­чери Розетте (а всего в семье одиннадцать детей) придется ампутировать ногу (have her leg amputated). Ее уже опе­рировали (had been operated on) дважды, но рана не зажи­вала (the wound wouldn't heal). Заболела Розетта еще не­сколько лет тому назад у себя на родине, в одной из нищих деревушек Южной Италии, где многочисленное семейство Арена едва перебивалось с хлеба на воду (live from hand to mouth) и не могло даже помышлять о дорогих лекарствах для больной девочки (couldn't dream of).

Отчаявшиеся родители решили бросить свой дом и от­правиться искать счастья (seek their fortune) в прославлен­ной (vaunted) столице индустриальной Италии — Милане. Но оказалось, что и здесь никому не нужны рабочие руки. Просто в Милане стало одним безработным больше, а во- семнадцатилетняя Розетта, поняв, что помощи ждать не­откуда, решилась на крайний шаг. Она поместила объяв­ление о том, что согласна продать одну почку (kidney) за сумму, которая необходима для лечения ноги.

Через некоторое время девушка получила уведомление из полиции, смысл которого сводился к тому (a notice to the effect that), что сейчас семидесятые годы 20-го века, а не средневековье, и что законом запрещено (be against the law) продавать свое тело целиком и по частям (as а whole or in part). По-видимому, такой закон в Италии дей­ствительно существует. Нет только закона, обеспечиваю­щего (guarantee) людям право на труд и на медицинскую помощь (medical aid).

b) Помни о весе!

Всем известно, что если вы будете есть много булочек, пирогов и пирожных и при этом вести малоподвижный об­раз жизни (do hardly any exercise), то вы начнете полнеть (put on weight). Для того чтобы похудеть (lose weight) и иметь стройную (slim) фигуру, надо соблюдать диету.

Но как трудно порой бывает отказаться от жареных уточек (roast ducks), отбивных (chops) и пирожных! И как грустно, встав на весы, обнаружить, что вы опять приба­вили в весе.

Для слабовольных (weak-willed) людей, не способных соблюдать диету и воздерживаться от обильной еды (refrain from rich food), во Франции изобретена специальная элект­ровилка. Если вы прикоснетесь к «запретному плоду» (forbidden fruit), вы почувствуете, как она начнет покалы­вать вас электрическими разрядами (feel "pin-pricking" caused by the electric current). Новый прибор (gadget) на­зывается «Помни о весе!» (mind your weight).

THE HUNGRY WINTER

by Elizabeth H. Middleton

When the launch ¹ which was to take him out of the hin­terland ² of northern Canada failed to show up,³ Spencer Scott found himself in a difficult situation. There was appar­ently nothing for him to do but to wait. Bob Hilton, a hunt­er, living in the small village, offered him hospitality which he gladly accepted.

Time passed quickly. Hilton was an entertaining old man, always ready with a story.

One evening the two men were sitting in front of the fire when an Indian brought in an armful of wood.

"Thank you, Uncle."

"Why do you call him that?" Spencer asked as soon as the Indian had left the room. It seemed an odd way for the old man to address a man so much younger than himself.

"Oh, everyone does. Julius is a great favorite around here." He filled his pipe with fresh tobacco.

Uncle reappeared, this time carrying a pot of tea. He set it down on a table, together with two glasses, then silently disappeared.

"Well, Bob, how about another Indian tale? They're such strange people, so hard to understand."

"They're not so different as you think. At times seemingly childlike, perhaps, yet sometimes far superior to us." He drew on his pipe,⁴ and kept silent for a while.

"You have never been here in the winter," Bob Hilton went on. "Ah! Then the North is truly magnificent. That's when she really lays her hold on you.⁶ The Indians know it well. In spite of discomfort and even privation, they prefer it to any season of the year. They hitch up the dogs, and visit one another, often for weeks at a time. Feasts last not hours, but days. One that I attended continued three days.

"But not all winters are good ones.' There are the lean years.' I can recall winters when it seemed there were no animals alive in the entire North. Even rabbits, which are taken for granted,⁸ sometimes die of some unknown disease by the thousand.⁰ But the worst of all are the winters with­out caribou.¹⁰ It is about one of these that I am going to tell you.

"The men of this village, about twenty of them, went out as usual in the fall ¹¹ to hunt the caribou which migrate each year from the Barren Lands.¹² But this particular year the hunters could not find them. The caribou, you know, travel in a large herd, an immense solid mass of creatures which has been estimated at over a million. If the hunters miss this herd, they can seldom kill enough meat to last out the win ter.

"How well I remember the day the men returned! They were gaunt, exhausted, their eye sockets red from loss of sleep. They were men without hope; they knew death was not far from them and their families.

"Julius detached himself from the group and came to me.

'"I know where there is a cache.'¹⁸

"At once I knew he had made it. On one of his hunting trips he must have laid by food, drying it and caching it so it would be safe.

"'Is it a big one?' I asked him.

'"Pretty big,'¹⁴ he said.

"'I think we should wait a while yet,' I told him. "We still have some food. We will make it last as long as possible, and in the meantime something may turn up.' ¹⁶

"But nothing did. By mid-January everything edible ¹⁶ was gone, even the dogs to pull the sledges. I imagine it is difficult for you to realize our predicament.¹⁷ You are prob­ably thinking, why didn't they go to some other village? Why didn't they send out for help before it was too late? But we were extremely isolated. Besides, it was almost cer­tain that the famine was general. If the migration of caribou was so erratic ¹⁸ our hunters could not find it, it was improb­able others had succeeded where we had failed. Thus, no one would have more food than we, nor, if they had, could they spare it.¹' Even if we had saved the dogs, by the time a trip could have been made to the outside and the few provi­sions the teams could haul had been brought back, all our people would be dead.

"When all the food was gone, I went to Julius.

"'Now we will go to your cache.'

"I shall never forget that trip. The entire village set out on 8nowshoes. The distance was not great, but when your stomach is drawn together, and your legs are like boiled macaroni, when your eyes are blurred and watery, even a mile seems endless. To make matters worse,²⁰ the weather turned very cold. We were, you must remember, close to the Barrens ²¹ where temperatures of seventy below are not at all uncom­mon. And in addition a blizzard overtook us, lashing our faces with icy particles. It is impossible to describe our suf­ferings.

"I am not sure how long we travelled, but at last we came to the shore of a small lake and there, exactly as Julius had promised, was the cache. It was made of rawhide bundles fastened to a platform, raised on poles off the ground so that animals could not reach it. A shout of joy went up from all of us.

"Eagerly the men brought down the bundles and tore them open. Alas! They had already been opened; they were empty. Someone else had visited the cache. A different cry arose, one of rage ²² and anguish. Even the children, infected with their elders' grief and despair, sobbed bitterly.

"We lay down in the snow, and even 1, who should have known better,²³ wept as bitterly as the rest. But Julius did not weep. When I became calmer, I noticed that he stared fixedly ai the frozen lake, and instantly I guessed his thought: under the ice there must be fish.

"Now the cache, for all it was devoid of food,²⁴ did con­tain some fishhooks." We baited some of these with pieces of rawhide, having nothing else for bait, and dropped them into the water through holes chopped in the ice. We waited and waited, but nothing happened. The fish refused to bite. That night, at my suggestion, the men lighted torches to at­tract the fish to the holes, lying in wait with knives fastened to poles. Still no fish appeared. Our efforts came to nothing.

"Morning dawned at last. All around us as we sat on that desolate shore were the dark, enclosing trees covered with snow. The wind, rising slowly, moaned across the ice. Above us the sky was ominous and heavy; a new storm was brewing.²⁶ Soon we must inevitably die, every one of us. Now, 1 had often watched individuals await death, but never an entire commu­nity. It defies description.²⁷

"Suddenly Julius rose and ran to one of the open holes.

"He sat down on the ice and removed a moccasin " and legging.²⁰ Then, before we guessed what he was about, he had pulled out his knife and had cut a strip of flesh from his own leg. Aghast, we saw him bait a hook with this still liv­ing tissue,³⁰ and fling it into the open hole."

Bob Hilton ceased speaking. In spite of the crackling flames in the fireplace, Spencer knew he dwelt on³¹ that frozen shore. He himself shivered sympathetically. To break the spell he asked a question.

"Obviously you survived the winter. Was it because Julius caught a fish?"

With obvious effort, the hunter returned to the fireside. "Yes, the lake was full of them. After the first, we always had bait. There was never any more trouble. We spent the rest of the winter there, and fortunately spring came early that year. Nature showered us with food.³² There were quan­tities of small game and swarms of ptarmigan.³³ It was like a miracle."

There was a pause. For a while both men were silent.

"Well!" suddenly the hunter became his usual jovial self. "It's quite a good story, don't you think?"

"A very good story." But in Spencer's mind, a doubt lurk­ed.³⁴ In a way he believed the story, in a way he did not. He suspected that the events just related might have happened to someone else. Or the story might have no factual basis, but have arisen from a legend or myth. His face must have betrayed his skepticism.

"I don't think you believe my little tale," Bob Hilton smiled. "No matter. It is not important. But come, we haven't touched our tea. It must be stone cold. I'll have Uncle bring in ³¹ some fresh."

When the Indian entered the room, Hilton called to him.

"By the way, how is that bad ankle of yours? May I take a look at it?"

He leaned over, lifting the bottom of the Indian's trouser. Spencer saw, as he was sure he was meant to," a long depressed area, a puckered whitish scar, extending up the man's leg for more than four inches.

NOTES

1. launch— a boat used for carrying passen­gers on short journeys for pleasure or business (Russ. баркас, моторная лодка)

2. hinterland — the land lying behind a stretch of coast or the bank of a large river (Russ. Глубинный район)

3. failed to show up — did not arrive

4. he drew on his pipe — раскурил трубку (затя­нулся)'

5. she lays her hold on you (fig.) — the country gains pow­er (influence) over you (the pronoun she is used when speak­ing of a country)

6. good ones=good winters; one is a pronoun used instead of the noun to avoid repetition (here in the plural ones)

7. lean years=not productive, during which not much is produced (e.g. lean harvest —

8. rabbits ... are taken for granted — one is sure that there will be plenty of rabbits (to take something for grant­ed — to accept something as a fact (Russ. Считать само собой разумеющимся).

9. by the thousand — a thousand at a time (also by the dozen, score, hundred, etc.)

10. caribou— канадский олень

11. fall (Am.) — autumn

12. " the Barren Lands — the treeless plains or tundras of Northern Canada inhabited by Indians and a few hunters

13. cache — a hiding-place for food

14. pretty big (colloq.) — rather big

15. " something may turn up — something may be found

16. edible— fit to eat (Russ. съедобный)

17. predicament — dangerous situation

18. erratic — (here) unusual

19. to spare — to find it possible to give to others; e.g. Can you spare me a box of matches? He has no money to spare.

20. to make matters worse — Russ. в довершение ко всему

21. the Barrens — see Note 12

22. one of rage — a cry of rage; see Note 6

23. to know better — to be wise enough not to do so; e.g You ought to know better than to spend all the money you have on trifles.

24. for all It was devoid of food — although it did not con­tain food (for all — although, in spite of; e.g. For all her beauty there was no charm in her.)

25. did contain some fishhooks — yet (the cache) contained some fishhooks (did is used for emphasis and must be pronounced with a stress; Russ. всё же)

26. "а ... storm was brewing — a ... storm was gathering force (to brew — надвигаться, назревать)

27. " It defies description.— It's impossible to describe it.

28. ²⁸ moccasin I'mokasin] — a shoe made of soft deerskin (Russ. мокасин)

29. ²⁸ leggings — leather outer coverings for the legs up to the knee (Russ. краги)

30. bait a hook with this still living tissue — attach the strip of flesh to a hook

31. he dwelt on (upon) — he thought of; to dwell 1) to live; 2) to dwell on (upon) — to think, speak or write about something for a long time; e.g. Now let me dwell on our trip to Canada (=speak about it).

32. showered us with food — gave us food in abundance

33. ptarmigan |'tamigan| — белая куропатка

34. a doubt lurked (in his mind) — there was some secret doubt (in his mind); to lurk — to lie in wait, to remain secret (Russ. Таиться, прятаться, скрываться)

35. I'll have Uncle bring In — I'll make Uncle bring in (to have somebody do smth.— to cause somebody to do smth.)

36. he was meant to — Hilton wanted him to see the In­dian's ankle (meant to — meant to see, to is used instead of the infinitive to avoid repetition).