Vocabulary

to sink (sank, sunk) – тонуть, топить

Short-sighted – близорукий

Hardships – трудности

Fare – стоимость проезда

Fortune – состояние, богатствоSolicitor – адвокат

Witness – свидетель

to be sentenced – быть приговорённым

an impostor –самозванец, мошенник.

Exercises:

Ex.1 Answer the questions

1 Why did Sir Roger Tichborne leave England?

A He had always wanted to see other parts of the world.

B His mother told him to leave the family home.

C His fiancée refused to marry him.

D He wanted to escape from a difficult situation.

2 When Sir Roger was officially declared dead, what did his mother do?

A She accepted the fact.

B She went in search of her son.

C She used the press to help look for him.

D She gave away the family fortune.

3 How did the claimant account for the fact that he was physically different from Sir Roger?

A He said the climate in Australia had affected him.

B He explained that he had had little to eat.

C He declared that he had had a very tough life.

D He said an accident had damaged his back.

4 When Lady Tichborne gave Castro J 1000 a year, how did he react?

A He asked for more money.

B He was pleased with what he had received.

C He wanted the family fortune.

D He immediately went to court.

5 When the case came to court, what affected Castro’s chances of success?

A He was being greedy.

B Lady Tichborne’s solicitor opposed him.

C People important to his case were not available.

D He was unable to answer questions in French.

Ex.2 Join two parts of the following sentences

1 Sir Roger Tichborne fell in love with his cousin Katherine 2 His ship sank off the coast of America 3 Thomas Castro, a butcher in Wagga Wagga, Australia, wrote to Lady Tichborne 4 Castro explained that the hardships of his life in Australia 5 Castro insisted that 6 The real Sir Roger had been brought up in France 7 Castro was then arrested

A and he drowned. B had changed his appearance. C he was the rightful heir of the title and to the entire family fortune. D and proposed her. E claiming to be Sir Roger Tichborne and apologizing for not having written her for 12 years. F and charged with perjury. G and spoke French fluently.

Ex.3 True or false

1 Sir Roger Tichborne left England to travel around the world and try to forget.

2 His body was never recovered and the family fortune passed to his mother.

3 Castro discovered as much as he could about the Tichborne family and visited Bogle, an elderly and short-sighted gentleman.

4 When she met Castro, Lady Tichborne was convinced that he was her son.

5 In fact Thomas Castro was Arthur Orton who had been born in London and had spent most of his life in England.

6 After a second trial he was found guilty and sentenced to 5 years in prison.

Ex.4 .Answer the following questions

1 Why did Sir Roger Tichborne leave England?

2 Did Sir Roger’s mother refuse to believe that he was dead?

3 What did Thomas Castro write to Lady Tichborne?

4 Lady Tichborne sent enough money to pay the fare back to England, didn’t she?

5 Who started to look for evidence to disprove Castro’s claims?

6 Did Castro finally admitted that he was an imposter?

Ex.5 Arrange the sentences logically

-Thomas Castro finally admitted that he was an imposter.

-Apart from Lady Tichborne and the family solicitor, members of the family and friends

were not convinced and started to look for evidence to disprove his claims.

-Lady Tichborne was overjoyed that her son had been found.

-Henry Tichborne’s lawyers soon discovered that not only Thomas Castro was not Sir Roger Tichborne, he wasn’t Thomas Castro either.

-In 1854 a young English aristocrat, Sir Roger Tichborne, fell in love with his cousin Katherine and proposed to her.

-His ship sank off the coast of America and he drowned.

Every man is an architect of his future

Albert Edward Foreman had been verger at St Peter’s , a fashionable church in Neville Square, London, for sixteen years. Albert Edward was very proud of his job and his church. But there was one special feature about Albert: he couldn’t read or write. When one day a new vicar discovered this, he told him that unless he learnt to read and write in within three months, he would lose his job. Albert Edward refused and the vicar gave him a month’s notice to leave. That evening Albert sadly locked the church and began to walk home.

As he walked along the street he looked for a shop to buy a packet of Gold Flake. It was a long street but there was not a single shop where he could buy cigarettes.

“That’s strange,” Albert Edward stopped and said to himself. “That’s an idea!”

Next day he went along the street and by good luck found a little shop to let that looked as though it would exactly suit him. Twenty-four hours later he had taken it, and a month after that Albert Edward Foreman set up in business as a tobacconist and a newsagent. He did so well that in the course of ten years he had acquired no less than ten shops and he was making money hand over fist.

One morning when he was at the bank the cashier told him that the manger would like to see him.

“Mr. Foreman,” said the manager, “I wanted to have a talk with you about the money you’ve got with us. It’s a very large sum of money and I think you would better to invest it.”

A troubled look appeared on Mr. Foreman’s face. “I’ve never had anything to do with investments,” he said.

“We’ll do everything. All you’ll have to do is just sign some forms next time you come in.”

“I could that all right,” said Albert uncertainly. “But how should I know what I signing?”

“I suppose you can read,” said the manger a little sharply.

“Well, sir, that’s just it. I can’t. I know it sounds funny, but there it is. I can’t read or write, only my name, and I only learnt to do that when I went into business.”

The manger was so surprised that he jumped up from his chair. “That’s the most extraordinary thing I’ve ever heard. And do you mean to say that you’ve built up this important business and made a fortune of thirty thousand pounds without being able to read or write? Good God, man, what would you now be if you had been able to?”

“I can tell you that, sir,” said Mr. Foreman, a little smile on his aristocratic features. “I’d be a verger of St Peter’s, Neville Square.”

Note

a verger- someone who looks after a church

Gold Flake- a once-popular brand of cigarette

Exercises:

Ex.1 True or false

1 Albert Foreman had been satisfied with his position at St. Peter’s.

2Albert left the church as soon as he found a little shop to buy.

3 Albert learned to sign his name after he had left the church.

4 Albert would not have become rich if he had done what the new vicar demanded of him.

Ex.2 Answer the following questions

1What kind of business did Albert Foreman start?

2 For how long had he been in business when the bank manager offered him to invest money?

3 Why did Albert have a troubled look when he had heard the manger’s offer?

4 What was the manger’s reaction when he had learned the truth about Mr. Foreman?

Ex.3 Correct the following sentences

1 Albert Foreman had been verger at a little quiet church in London.

2 When Mr. Foreman came to see the bank manger at his request, he was the owner of 16 shops.

3 The manager of the bank was so reserve and he didn’t react on Mr. Foeman’s words.

4 If Mr. Foreman had been able to write he’d buy a big factory.

Ex.4 Write 8-10 sentences to express your4 opinion on the topic of the text “Every man is an architect of his future.”