1 discretionФедеральное агентство по образованию Нижегородский государственный педагогический университет Upbringing. Schooling. Учебное пособие для студентов III курса, специальность «Иностранный язык» Нижний Новгород 2008 2 Печатается по решению редакционно-издательского совета Нижегородского государственного педагогического университета Upbringing. Schooling: Учебное пособие для студентов III курса, специальность «Иностранный язык». –Нижний Новгород: НГПУ, 2008 – Пособие содержит упражнения для изучения, обобщения и закрепления лексики по темам “Upbringing”, “Schooling” к текстам, предлагаемым учебником «Практический курс английского языка 3 курс» (М., 1997, под ред. В.Д. Аракина, а также тексты и лексические упражнения к ним на основе аутентичных материалов. Предназначено для студентов III курса, изучающих английский язык в качестве основной специальности. Автор-составитель: Ю.А. Гаврикова, ст. преподаватель Рецензент: Е.Е. Белова, доц., канд. филол. наук Ответственный за выпуск: Е.Ю. Илалтдинова, доц., канд. пед. наук, зав. каф. ин. яз. ППФ 3 Children Learn What They Live If children live with criticism, They learn to condemn If children live with hostility, They learn to fight. If children live with ridicule, They learn to be shy. If children live with shame, They learn to feel guilty. If children live with tolerance, They learn to be patient. If children live with encouragement, They learn to be confident. If children live with praise, They learn to appreciate. If they live with fairness, They learn justice. If they live with security, They learn to have faith. If children live with approval, They learn to like themselves. If children live with acceptance and friendship, They learn to find love in the world. What words connected with the topic “Upbringing” have attracted your attention while you were reading the poem? Using them, express the idea of the poem. Do you agree with it? But you may lack the necessary vocabulary. To make your answer complete and perfect, start learning it in full measure. 4 EXERCISES TO THE TOPICAL VOCABULARY1 I. Match adjectives with appropriate nouns: 1) mental atmosphere direct` damage (not) authoritarian development stunted approach psychological nerves effective reprimand frayed illnesses 2) beneficial picture dignified development idealized influence inner adolescent corrective atmosphere resentful manner embarrassing offspring relaxed questions 3) juvenile creatures child-rearing permissiveness sheer authority hardy delinquency excessive laxity lax manual parental negligence II. Fill in the gaps with prepositions and adverbs where necessary: 1) to gain independence __ parents to have full faith __ a beneficial and corrective influence __ the books to exaggerate praise __ __ all proportions Практический курс английского языка. 3 курс: Учеб. для пед. институтов по спец-ти «иностранный язык» / под ред. В.Д. Аракина. –М., 1997.С. 124-125. 1 5 to beat the daylights __ __ a disobedient offspring to discipline __ a mischievous child to live __ __ the parents’ expectations to impose one’s way __ thinking __ a teenager 2) To bring __ children isn’t an easy matter. Ann wishes, she kept anger __ control. I hope this boy to progress __ his mental and physical development. The teacher must have said it __ the heat __ the moment. It’s desirable that grown-ups should keep __ __ general remarks __ children’s personality. The psychologist suggested that the parents should leave a decision __ their son who wasn’t a child yet. Roy hated being asked questions __ his opinion of this or that thing, as they seemed to try to trap __ him. When his mother yelled __ him, he became full __ resentment. 3) to avoid __ pitfalls to be sensitive __ one’s feelings (not) to force one’s will __ a child to win smb. __ to shake the life __ __ smb. to tell smb. __ to be pushed __ making __ lies Write down your own sentences with the phrases in (3) using the Subjunctive and Conditional Moods. 4) Correct the mistakes in prepositions, if there are any: a) It’s peculiar to adolescents to rebel adults when they are too strict. b) Lory’s parents may have undermined her confidence of the improvement of her position at the family. c) There was nothing for them to do but to obey to the daughter’s whims. d) The atmosphere of their family is friendly enough out of the mother’s tolerance. e) Extreme permissiveness may result against negative development of the children. f) His father couldn’t stand Tom’s answering up. 6 III. Insert the necessary adjectives from the list below. 1. Some books on handling children may help you to avoid numerous pitfalls which you will inevitably meet during your children’s ... years. 2. If a child does not grow up as he ought to, his development may be ... 3. But for ... home backgrounds, Kate would have become a ... delinquent. 4. Mrs. White always did her best to avoid labeling her pupils ..., ..., ... 5. ... praise of personality seems always ... and ... 6. Words of praise should give a child a ... picture of his accomplishments. 7. What do you expect from a child, if their family atmosphere is so ...? 8. A spanking is known to cause ... damage. P r o m p t s: happy, psychological, formative, embarrassing, stunted, foolish, dullwitted, direct, realistic, authoritarian, impudent, uncomfortable, juvenile. IV. Complete the sentences using suitable words or word-combinations from the list below. Make all necessary changes. 1. I don’t feel like ... . 2. How about ... ? 3. Maggy is in the habit of ... . 4. There is no use ... . 5. Do you mind ... ? 6. Richard must hate the idea of ... . 7. But for an atmosphere of calm and quiet, Johnny wouldn’t ... . 8. If Pete’s parents didn’t ..., he wouldn’t ... . 9. If I were you , I would ... . 10. A rude way of handling children may ... . P r o m p t s: to treat children like equals, to tell your daughter off, to feel part of the family, to discipline your offspring, to have favourites in my class, to beat the daylights out of him, to offend their self-respect, to keep anger under control, to become full of resentment, to ignore the adults’ reprimands, to live up to his parents’ expectations. V. Add necessary words to these ones to make up the word-combinations from the topical vocabulary: previous generations, one’s feelings, arguments and tension, fire, a child’s accomplishments, all sorts of schemes, quarrelsome, a choice, manners, selfconfidence. Put down your own sentences with them. 7 VI. Suggest synonyms to the following words and word-combinations: to bring up children to become angry to inspire a child unrealistic picture tolerance to have to shout and cry loudly gentle, lasting love power to control anger consolation to neglect a child to believe strongly to scold VII. Paraphrase the following sentences using your active vocabulary. 1. They were arrested for constant beating the daylights out of their children. 2. If I didn’t react so quickly and strongly to changes in my daughter’s mood, she would feel as if she weren’t looked after, I suppose. 3. Being too angry and excited to think carefully Mike’s mother said things she would have never said in a peaceful atmosphere. 4. The first step in handling your anger or your strong emotions is to say them aloud. 5. Many grown-ups can’t escape general statements about what they think about people and their characteristics. 6. A beating may do children a very serious psychological harm. 7. If Ann and Tom punished their offspring, he wouldn’t be so impertinent to them. 8. I wish, that hysterical mother didn’t force her will on her boy. 9. But for a dignified atmosphere in their family, Ben’s belief in his own power to do things successfully wouldn’t become greater. 10. To tell the truth, Kate felt tired of living according to what parents expected from her. VIII. Give antonyms to the following words and pronounce them in pairs: love, respect, responsible, patience, security, sensitive, fair, understanding, friendly, dignified, comfortable, mature, effective, direct, peaceful, to progress, to encourage, to exaggerate. IX. Give English equivalents to the following words and word-combinations: быть последовательным, запирать провинившегося ребёнка, выбирать между ложью и ответами, вводящими в смущение, эффективный подход, стать надоедливыми исправительное родителями, влияние на говорить твёрдо, правонарушителя, благотворное задеть и самоуважение подростка, ненавидеть вопросы, которые заманивают в ловушку, ни слова 8 упрёка, выговор вместо битья, сосредоточиться на силе ребёнка, а не на его слабости. X. Using the words from Task VIII and the active (topical) vocabulary make up sentences in the Conditional Mood. Start with: But for... XI. Using the Suppositional Mood say what is possible or impossible in the upbringing of the children (no less than 10 sentences). EXERCISES TO THE TEXT “PARENTS ARE TOO PERMISSIVE”1 I. Substitute the following phrases for the words or possibly wordcombinations. Reproduce the sentences from the text with them. to put an end to to be confused to be impossible books specialized on up-bringing of the children cruelty of the worst kind too much allowing too much freedom not to be good to wear away smth. from beneath, removing support to hear about (especially) accidentally / unofficially not asked for, not used to have control over/command of strong, able to bear (cold, hard work) the state of opposing or fighting against anyone in power to do one is asked or ordered to do II. Give English equivalents to the following words and word-combinations: викторианское отношение к детям, страдать от страха и вины, допускать варварство, чрезмерная вседозволенность, уверенность в своём Практический курс английского языка. 3 курс: Учеб. для пед. институтов по спец-ти «иностранный язык» / под ред. В.Д. Аракина. –М., 1997 с. 126 11 9 авторитете, невостребованные советы, командовать с самого раннего детства, родительская слабость, отпрыск, полностью контролировать, подростковое сопротивление, слабый авторитет, подчиняться, стойкие создания, преступность среди несовершеннолетних, полная халатность, бродить по улицам, бить детей. III. Translate the following sentences into English: 1. Современные подростки кажутся очень выносливыми, так как вынуждены противостоять любому посягательству родителей на свою свободу и самовыражение. 2. Кэрролл всегда жалела, что так и не постигла искусства жить вместе с родными. 3. Желательно, чтобы в многодетных семьях у родителей не было любимчиков. 4. Учительница Тома настаивала, чтобы его отец покончил с варварскими методами воспитания, которые приняты в их семье. 5. Если бы не переходный возраст, большинство подростков не находились бы в состоянии постоянного сопротивления (бунта) против своих родителей. 6. Если бы со мной намеренно не разговаривали после каждой моей провинности, я бы чувствовала себя отвергнутой и в небезопасности. 7. Наверняка, в этой ситуации лучший способ критики — это вообще ничего не говорить. 8. Психолог предположил, что скорее сарказм, чем прямой упрёк (выговор) приводит ребёнка в ярость. 9. Мэри рассердилась и очень расстроилась, когда Энн не подчинилась ей и отказалась порвать отношения с подростками, которые всё свободное время проводили на улице. 10. Отец не сдержался и дал выход своему негодованию, пронзительно крича и бранясь — и этим только подлил масла в огонь. IV. Develop the sentences into situations: 1. You cannot force your children to grow and develop. 2. The child does something wrong, and the parent reacts with a rude, cutting remark. 3. In most cases a beating does nothing but harm. 4. Praise should deal specifically with what the child has accomplished. 10 5. “Let me first finish telling Aunt Jane what I have to say. Then you can have your turn.” 6. Children hate questions which try to trap them. 7. Anger is a tremendous weight and some time or the other it becomes too heavy. 8. Responsibility must grow from within children. 9. All children must be great imitators. 10. My John is a problem child. 11. Parents are at a loss what method of upbringing to choose. 12. There seems so much unsolicited advice on child care. V. Make up situations using the key-words and word-combinations: a) to avoid pitfalls b) (not) to be mature enough responsible adults to answer back not to create tension to become spiritless frayed nerves in the heat of the moment to encourage inner development to teach smb. manners an effective approach to win smb. over c) to show plenty of love excessive permissiveness to have full faith in the needs of their offspring harmful influence let him grow naturally *** I. Before reading the text predict its content from the title. Read the text filling in the gaps with the words that are immediately obvious. After reading it say what is the next subtopic you are going to speak about. Causes Of Conflicts Between Adolescents And Their Parents The (1) … between adolescents and their parents are sometimes stressful, and some (2) … discoveries have been (3) … by psychologists studying the nature of this conflict. One notable feature is that they seldom argue (4) … such major topics 11 (5) … sex, drugs, religion or politics. This is surprising given that great (6) … often exist between the attitudes of parents and adolescents (7) … such issues. Researchers speculate that these differences may not lead to much (8) … because they do not affect many day-to-day interactions (9) … family members. It appears that what is not directly relevant (10) … family life is (11) … discussed. Instead, (12) … and their (13) … children tend to (14) … out over everyday family matters like jobs in the house and disagreements over siblings. Despite many changes that have (15) … place over the past fifty years, adolescents appear to have the (16) … kinds of arguments with their parents as their parents had (17) … they themselves were young. It seems to come (18) … to the conflict between the adolescent’s desire for independence (19) … their parents’ authority. Teenagers emphasized their right to be (20) … of restrictions, while parents were equally (21) … of their right to exert control, backing this up (22) … referring to the needs of the family as (23) … whole. Interestingly, both groups could see the other’s (24) … of view even though they disagreed with it. Check up if your words coincide with the original ones given on p. 12 EXERCISES TO THE DIALOUE 1 I. Complete the sentences, using the information from the dialogue 1. Mr. Alden considers youngsters to be pretty lost without … 2. Mrs. Brent doesn’t understand the music because of … 3. Mr. Alden finds the … … to be a … as teenagers aren’t so … 4. Mrs. Brent doesn’t … with Mr. Alden that teenagers are quite traditional in their …. 5. She is complaining about their … and the way they … . 6. The concepts of “approval” and “disapproval” seem for Mr. Alden to … matters. 7. The styles and habits of today’s teenagers prove for Mrs. Brent basically … . 8. Mr. Alden hopes Mrs. Brent to visit regular … and … her opinion about … . Практический курс английского языка. 3 курс: Учеб. для пед. институтов по спец-ти «иностранный язык» / под ред. В.Д. Аракина. –М., 1997. С. 128-129. 1 12 II. Choose from the key-words below the ones you will use standing to your point if you were: a) Mr. Alden, b) Mrs. Brent: traditional, regular, unacceptable, disapprove, a myth, isn’t of my generation, practical, no excuse. III. Express your point of view on the problem of generation gap on behalf of: a) Mrs. Brent, b) Mr. Alden Key-words to the text “Causes of conflicts between adolescents and their parents”: 1 relations 2 interesting 3 made 4 about 5 as 6 differences 7 on 8 conflict 9 among 10 to 11 not 12 parents 13 adolescent 14 fall 15 taken 16 same 17 when 18 down 19 and 20 independent 21 sure / certain 22 by 23 a 24 point The following texts may help you to broaden the information got by you in tasks I-III Text A It is still impossible to solve the problem of “fathers and sons”. It is not so easy, because it’s not a problem of a particular family, but a problem of generations. Elder people must be in horror for the young generations. They don’t understand young people, or they don’t want to, they only criticize it everywhere. They hate our music, our hairstyles, the clothes we wear, our language and the way of behaviour. They believe them to be extreme and ugly though one may think it’s the way of showing their individuality and self-defense. Our generation is said to be lazy, cruel and selfish. But why do they generalize? Not all young people are so bad. There are hundreds of talented, clever young people, who have wonderful qualities and characters. Old people say it’s too much freedom and self-expression. They got used to the society where all people were homogeneous; they had the same views, ideals. And now when everything has changed they still can’t understand our self-expression. They criticize, but they don’t try to understand what makes people behave in such a way. They may have problems, they may need help? But nobody asks if they 13 need help, nobody gives them advice. Everybody likes to criticize. They say it’s too much of self-expression. But if an individual does not need self-expression he is a faceless being… No one has the right to prevent him from striving for selfexpression. I. Complete the sentences: 1. It’s not a problem of … 2. They hate our … 3. There are hundreds of … 4. They got used to … 5. They …, but they don’t try … II. Insert prepositions where necessary: to be … horror … a generation the way … showing … their individuality to get used … the society to behave … such a way too much … self-expression to prevent somebody … striving … self-expression III. Finish the sentences using the Conditional Mood: 1. If it were a problem of a particular family … 2. If elder people understood young people … 3. If elder people didn’t generalize … 4. If old people didn’t have the same views, ideals … 5. If young people didn’t strive for self-expression … Text B Children will never know the love of the parents till they become parents themselves because of the lack of understanding… Children need concern for themselves from their parents… It’s good when a family is friendly. In loving family people share joys and sorrows, take care of each other. It’s very important to be on good terms with parents. They are the only dearest people in the world, always ready to help. They 14 always share grief and happiness with their children. There’s nothing like home, like a good friendly family in this cruel world. Understanding and respect between fathers and sons will come sooner, if both try to be patient and attentive to each other and if the whole society improves the social situation in the country. The surrounding situation is known to influence children’s character greatly. What really matters is that youth is corrupted by spirits, smoking and drugs today… the source of these problems is society. Parents may be the first to make the first step for mutual understanding. But some consider their children to be the first. And that is the main problem. Quite a lot of grown-ups want their children to be good boys and girls without any efforts. In different countries young people have different problems, but some of them are common. In essence a great part of these problems boils down to the fact that succeeding generations can’t understand each other. According to their attitude towards this problem parents may be subdivided into 2 groups: the first try to understand their children and we can only envy them; the second even don’t try. I. In the words below choose a key-word to each paragraph of the text B: the first step, the lack of understanding, common problems, a good friendly family, corrupted by, patient and attentive. II. Make up sentences with the key-words from ex. I. Develop them into the situations from Text B. III. Suggest the English equivalents from the extract for the following sentences. What grammar do you use? 1. Дети, должно быть, нуждаются в родительской заботе. 2. Наверное, нет ничего лучше в этом жестоком мире, чем хорошая дружная семья. 3. Возможно, взаимопонимание между отцами и детьми наступит быстрее, если социальная обстановка в стране улучшится. 4. Должно быть, общество является причиной испорченности (развращения) молодёжи. 15 5. Неужели многие взрослые не хотят первыми сделать шаг к взаимопониманию. 6. Наверное, большая часть этих проблем сводится к тому, что сменяющие друг друга поколения не могут достигнуть взаимопонимания. Text C There is also no denying that a new distinctive generation has grown which is rather practical and cautious of life values, skeptical of any authority. Weighing all pros and cons, it might be more fair to say that today’s youth is a many-coloured mosaic, though there are some dark spots in it. It’s common knowledge that grown-ups are alarmed by the behaviour of the growing generation, by increasing disorders, even vandalism and cruelty of the youngsters, their violence and crime. Adults can call the teenagers’ behaviour shocking, intolerable and aggressive. The younger generation has a different outlook, a different approach to life, different values. And the depth of this difference must depend on how much adults understand the world of the young and their problems. Sometimes the grown-ups feel helpless in their relations with the young. Respect the opinion of others even if you disagree with them — that is likely to be born in mind by both generations to avoid unkind criticism. The teenage world is the world of extremes. Actually the teenager’s motto is “Everything or nothing”, there is no middle. Indeed, home is too narrow a place for youngsters to grow up. Though home and family are the most important things for children, they also need “street upbringing”. It means they must also mix with other people. They must be allowed to move away, involve themselves in their own society and work out their problems. Children escape from home thinking that their friends can understand them better than parents. The mentality of today’s youth differs a lot from their parents’ way of thinking. And this must be the reason for the problems in relationship between grown-ups and youth. Only tenderness, warm-heartedness, respect and 16 understanding between fathers and sons help a child to become not only a human being but a Man. I. Scan the text and find the key-words with which you will outline it. II. Agree or disagree with the following statements: 1. A new distinctive generation has grown. 2. Grown-ups are likely not to be alarmed by the behaviour of the growing generation. 3. Adults must feel helpless in their relations with the young. 4. The teenage world doesn’t prove to be the world of extremes. 5. The children may be allowed to involve themselves in their own society. 6. The mentality of today’s youth doesn’t differ from the parents’ one. 7. Only mistrust, misunderstanding and selfishness will help a child to become a Man. III. Answer the following questions: 1. What is today’s youth compared to? Why? 2. Are adults pleased with the behaviour of the growing generation? 3. How did the grown-ups feel in their relations with the young? 4. What possible way out is thought to help both generations to avoid unkind criticism? 5. Why must the teenagers be allowed to move away? 6. What must be the reason for problems in relationships between grown-ups and youth? TASKS ON TEXTS A, B, C I. Using the Suppositional Mood in the structures It’s necessary… and I suggest… make up sentences showing possible and impossible ways of development between generations of different ages. II. Expand on the following sentences to the situations: 1. Adults think the adolescent way of life to be extreme and ugly. 2. They say it’s too much of self-expression 3. Children need concern for themselves from their parents 17 4. Parents may be the first to make the first step for mutual understanding 5. A great part of common problems boils down to misunderstanding between the succeeding generations. 6. Grown-ups must be alarmed by the behaviour of the growing generation. 7. Home seems too narrow a place for youngsters to grow by. 8. This must be the reason for problems in relationship between grown-ups and youth. III. Pick up from the texts the ideas opposite to the following ones: 1. Grown-ups are eager to understand the music, language style and fashion of the generation. 2. Elder people can’t but find much in common between themselves and the young. 3. Impatience, mutual disrespect and resentment between fathers and sons lead to their understanding each other. 4. The children are sure to make the first step for mutual understanding between the generations. 5. Adults usually exaggerate praise out of all proportion when speaking about the succeeding generation. 6. Children are sure that only their home let them grow naturally. IV. Make up situations using the following words and word-combinations: homogeneous concern for the best way to criticize happy home background in horror for consistent in but for generalization with understanding and sympathy feel like self-expressing being corrupted shouldn’t neglect on the ground of pros and cons create arguments and tension affect the relationship rather than stay at home adults wish, wouldn’t differ a lot 18 THE TASKS TO THE TEXT “TEACHING RESPONSIBILITY”1 I. Divide the text into several parts according to the number of passages and find key-words or phrases peculiar to each part. II. Find in the text the words derived from the following ones: responsible, judge, act, high, decide, care, prefer, benefit, correct, allow. III. Insert the missing prepositions or adverbs where necessary: to teach responsibility __ children to impose responsibility __ children to be criticized __ actions to grow __ within to build __ a sense __ responsibility to be given opportunities __ choosing __ different things __ themselves to heighten __ their self-confidence to exert a beneficial and corrective influence __ each other to spend the allowance __ chewing gum IV. Fill in the gaps with the words: 1. Every parent is … to teach responsibility to their children. 2. Children may get … opportunity to use their … judgment and to … a sense of responsibility. 3. The first lesson in … a sense of responsibility is not to … . 4. It’s much better to leave the … to the child. 5. There may be some ways of … … the children’s sense of responsibility and … their self-confidence. 6. The responsibility of choosing his own friends is a … matter and needs careful ... 7. It may be … for a shy child to have a friend who is an … . 8. A child should always feel that he is … to choose the friends he wishes. Практический курс английского языка. 3 курс: Учеб. для пед. институтов по спец-ти «иностранный язык» / под ред. В.Д. Аракина. –М., 1997. С. 131-132. 1 19 9. Don’t interfere with your child’s intention to spend his … his way. V. From the following word-combinations make up sentences to form arguments for the necessity to teach children responsibility: to get little opportunity, to stop criticizing, to heighten one’s self-confidence, to exert a beneficial and corrective influence, to make decisions, to spend one’s allowance. VI. Using the Suppositional Mood say what is desirable to do to teach children responsibility. E.g: It’s desirable that children should get more opportunity to use their own judgment. VII. In the following group of words pick up the ones you consider the keywords to discuss the arguments against teaching the children responsibility: suspicion, judgment, council, alternative, consequences, irritation, discretion, behaviour, dangerous mistakes, practice, influence, administration, good examples. VIII. Match the word-combinations on the left with the corresponding ones on the right to form arguments against teaching children responsibility: too young to decide parent’s judgment not to be wasted in the wrong way have no experience to gain experience dangerous mistakes to realize its value complicated problems petty features good examples to be in the wrong IX. From the given word-combinations form the sentences to add to the information got in ex.VII: advice, to criticize one’s actions, to bear the consequences, to guide the children’s friendship, the lack of discretion, responsibility. X. Using the structure But for make up sentences to form arguments against teaching the children responsibility E.g: But for the absence of experience in their children (the children’s lack of experience) parents’ judgment and advice wouldn’t be necessary. 20 XI. Discuss in pairs the problem of teaching the children responsibility: a) one of the pair supposes that children should be taught responsibility and the other partner completely agrees with it; b) one of the pair considers it to be too early and the other partner supports this point of view; c) one of the pair insists that children should be taught responsibility and the other partner defends the opposite point of view. Read the extract from one of the most well-known and exciting stories by O. Henry: The Ransom of Red Chief …We selected for our victim the only child of a prominent citizen named Ebenezer Dorset. The father was respectable and tight, a mortgage fancier and a stern, upright collection-plate passer and forecloser. The kid was a boy of ten, with bas-relief freckles, and hair the colour of the cover of the magazine you buy at the news-stand when you want to catch a train. Bill and me figured that Ebenezer would melt down for a ransom of two thousand dollars to a cent. But wait till I tell you. About two miles from Summit was a little mountain, covered with a dense cedar brake. On the rear elevation of this mountain was a cave. There we stored provisions. One evening after sundown, we drove in a buggy past old Dorset's house. The kid was in the street, throwing rocks at a kitten on the opposite fence. "Hey, little boy!" says Bill, "would you like to have a bag of candy and a nice ride?" The boy catches Bill neatly in the eye with a piece of brick. "That will cost the old man an extra five hundred dollars," says Bill, climbing over the wheel. That boy put up a fight like a welter-weight cinnamon bear; but, at last, we got him down in the bottom of the buggy and drove away. We took him up to the cave and I hitched the horse in the cedar brake. After dark I drove the buggy to the little village, three miles away, where we had hired it, and walked back to the mountain. Bill was pasting court-plaster over the scratches and bruises on his features. There was a burning behind the big rock at the entrance of the cave, and the boy was watching a pot of boiling coffee, with two buzzard tailfeathers stuck in his red hair. He points a stick at me when I come up, and says: "Ha! Cursed paleface, do you dare to enter the camp of Red Chief, the terror of the plains? 21 "He's all right now," says Bill, rolling up his trousers and examining some bruises on his shins. "We're playing Indian. We're making Buffalo Bill's show look like magic-lantern views of Palestine in the town hall. I'm Old Hank, the Trapper, Red Chief's captive, and I'm to be scalped at daybreak. By Geronimo! that kid can kick hard." Yes, sir, that boy seemed to be having the time of his life. The fun of camping out in a cave had made him forget that he was a captive, himself. He immediately christened me Snake-eye, the Spy, and announced that, when his braves returned from the warpath, I was to be broiled at the stake at the rising of the sun. Then we had supper; and he filled his mouth full of bacon and bread and gravy, and began to talk. He made a during-dinner speech something like this: "I like this fine. I never camped out before; but I had a pet 'possum once, and I was nine last birthday. I hate to go to school. Rats ate up sixteen of Jimmy Talbot's aunt's speckled hen's eggs. Are there any real Indians in these woods? I want some more gravy. Does the trees moving make the wind blow? We had five puppies. What makes your nose so red, Hank? My father has lots of money. Are the stars hot? I whipped Ed Walker twice, Saturday. I don't like girls. You dassent catch toads unless with a string. Do oxen make any noise? Why are oranges round? Have you got beds to sleep on in this cave? Amos Murray has got six toes. A parrot can talk, but a monkey or a fish can't. How many does it take to make twelve?" Every few minutes he would remember that he was a pesky redskin, and pick up his stick rifle and tiptoe to the mouth of the cave to rubber for the scouts of the hated paleface. Now and then he would let out a war-whoop that made Old Hank the Trapper shiver. That boy had Bill terrorized from the start. "Red Chief," says I to the kid, "would you like to go home?" "Aw, what for?" says he. "I don't have any fun at home. I hate to go to school. I like to camp out. You won't take me back home again, Snake-eye, will you?" "Not right away," says I. "We'll stay here in the cave a while." "All right!" says he. "That'll be fine. I never had such fun in all my life." We went to bed about eleven o'clock. We spread down some wide blankets and quilts and put Red Chief between us. We weren't afraid he'd run away. He kept us awake for three hours, jumping up and reaching for his rifle and screeching: "Hist! pard," in mine and Bill's ears, as the fancied crackle of a twig or the rustle of a leaf revealed to his young imagination the stealthy approach of the outlaw band. At last, I fell into a troubled sleep, and dreamed that I had been kidnapped and chained to a tree by a ferocious pirate with red hair. Just at daybreak, I was awakened by a series of awful screams from Bill. They weren't yells, or howls, or shouts, or whoops, or yelps, such as you'd expect from a manly set of vocal organs — they were simply indecent, terrifying, humiliating screams, such as women emit when they see ghosts or caterpillars. It's an awful thing to hear a strong, desperate, fat man scream incontinently in a cave at daybreak. I jumped up to see what the matter was. Red Chief was sitting on Bill's chest, with one hand twined in Bill's hair. In the other he had the sharp case-knife we 22 used for slicing, bacon; and he was industriously and realistically trying to take Bill's scalp, according to the sentence that had been pronounced upon him the evening before. I got the knife away from the kid and made him lie down again. But, from that moment, Bill's spirit was broken. He laid down on his side of the bed, but he never closed an eye again in sleep as long as that boy was with us. I dozed off for a while, but along toward sun-up I remembered that Red Chief had said I was to be burned at the stake at the rising of the sun. I wasn't nervous or afraid; but I sat up and lit my pipe and leaned against a rock. "What you getting up so soon for, Sam?" asked Bill. "Me?" says I. "Oh, I got a kind of a pain in my shoulder. I thought sitting up would rest it." "You're a liar!" says Bill. "You're afraid. You was to be burned at sunrise, and you was afraid he'd do it. And he would, too, if he could find a match. Ain't it awful, Sam? Do you think anybody will pay out money to get a little imp like that back home?" "Sure," said I. "A rowdy kid like that is just the kind that parents dote on. Now, you and the Chief get up and cook breakfast, while I go up on the top of this mountain and reconnoiter." I went up on the peak of the little mountain and ran my eye over the contiguous vicinity. Over toward Summit I expected to see the sturdy yeomanry of the village armed with scythes and pitchforks beating the countryside for the dastardly kidnappers. But what I saw was a peaceful landscape dotted with one man ploughing with a dun mule. Nobody was dragging the creek; no couriers dashed hither and yon, bringing tidings of no news to the distracted parents. There was a sylvan attitude of somnolent sleepiness pervading that section of the external outward surface of Alabama that lay exposed to my view. "Perhaps," says I to myself, "it has not yet been discovered that the wolves have home away the tender lambkin from the fold. Heaven help the wolves!" says I, and I went down the mountain to breakfast. When I got to the cave I found Bill backed up against the side of it, breathing hard, and the boy threatening to smash him with a rock half as big as a cocoanut. "He put a red-hot boiled potato down my back," explained Bill, "and he mashed it with his foot; and I boxed his ears. Have you got a gun about you, Sam? I took the rock away from the boy and kind of patched up the argument. "I'll fix you," says the kid to Bill. "No man ever yet struck the Red Chief but what he got paid for it. You better beware!" After breakfast the kid takes a piece of leather with strings wrapped around it out of his pocket and goes outside the cave unwinding it. "What's he up to now?" says Bill, anxiously. "You don't think he'll run away, do you, Sam?" "No fear of it," says I. "He don't seem to be much of a home body. But we've got to fix up some plan about the ransom. There don't seem to be much excitement around Summit on account of his disappearance; but maybe they haven't realized 23 yet that he's gone. His folks may think he's spending the night with Aunt Jane or one of the neighbours. Anyhow, he'll be missed to-day. To-night we must get a message to his father demanding the two thousand dollars for his return." Just then we heard a kind of war-whoop, such as David might have emitted when he knocked out the champion Goliath. It was a sling that Red Chief had pulled out of his pocket, and he was whirling it around his head. I dodged, and heard a heavy thud and a kind of a sigh from Bill, like a horse gives out when you take his saddle off. A niggerhead rock the size of an egg had caught Bill just behind his left ear. He loosened himself all over and fell in the fire across the frying pan of hot water for washing the dishes. I dragged him out and poured cold water on his head for half an hour. By and by, Bill sits up and feels behind his ear and says: "Sam, do you know who my favourite Biblical character is?" "Take it easy," says I. "You'll come to your senses presently." "King Herod," says he. "You won't go away and leave me here alone, will you, Sam?" I went out and caught that boy and shook him until his freckles rattled. "If you don't behave," says I, "I'll take you straight home. Now, are you going to be good, or not?" "I was only funning," says he sullenly. "I didn't mean to hurt Old Hank. But what did he hit me for? "I'll behave, Snake-eye, if you won't send me home, and if you'll let me play the Black Scout to-day." "I don't know the game," says I. "That's for you and Mr. Bill to decide. He's your playmate for the day. I'm going away for a while, on business. Now, you come in and make friends with him and say you are sorry for hurting him, or home you go, at once." I made him and Bill shake hands, and then I took Bill aside and told him I was going to Poplar Cove, a little village three miles from the cave, and find out what I could about how the kidnapping had been regarded in Summit. Also, I thought it best to send a peremptory letter to old man Dorset that day, demanding the ransom and dictating how it should be paid. "You know, Sam," says Bill, "I've stood by you without batting an eye in earthquakes, fire and flood -- in poker games, dynamite outrages, police raids, train robberies and cyclones. I never lost my nerve yet till we kidnapped that two-legged skyrocket of a kid. He's got me going. You won't leave me long with him, will you, Sam?" "I'll be back some time this afternoon," says I. "You must keep the boy amused and quiet till I return. And now we'll write the letter to old Dorset." Bill and I got paper and pencil and worked on the letter while Red Chief, with a blanket wrapped around him, strutted up and down, guarding the mouth of the cave. Bill begged me tearfully to make the ransom fifteen hundred dollars instead of two thousand. "I ain't attempting," says he, "to decry the celebrated moral aspect of parental affection, but we're dealing with humans, and it ain't human for anybody to give up two thousand dollars for that forty-pound chunk of freckled 24 wildcat. I'm willing to take a chance at fifteen hundred dollars. You can charge the difference up to me." So, to relieve Bill, I acceded, and we collaborated a letter that ran this way: Ebenezer Dorset, Esq.: We have your boy concealed in a place far from Summit. It is useless for you or the most skilful detectives to attempt to find him. Absolutely, the only terms on which you can have him restored to you are these: We demand fifteen hundred dollars in large bills for his return; the money to be left at midnight to-night at the same spot and in the same box as your reply -- as hereinafter described. If you agree to these terms, send your answer in writing by a solitary messenger to-night at half-past eight o'clock. After crossing Owl Creek, on the road to Poplar Cove, there are three large trees about a hundred yards apart, close to the fence of the wheat field on the right-hand side. At the bottom of the fence-post, opposite the third tree, will be found a small pasteboard box. The messenger will place the answer in this box and return immediately to Summit. If you attempt any treachery or fail to comply with our demand as stated, you will never see your boy again. If you pay the money as demanded, he will be returned to you safe and well within three hours. These terms are final, and if you do not accede to them no further communication will be attempted. TWO DESPERATE MEN. I addressed this letter to Dorset, and put it in my pocket. As I was about to start, the kid comes up to me and says: "Aw, Snake-eye, you said I could play the Black Scout while you was gone." "Play it, of course," says I. "Mr. Bill will play with you. What kind of a game is it?" "I'm the Black Scout," says Red Chief, "and I have to ride to the stockade to warn the settlers that the Indians are coming. I'm tired of playing Indian myself. I want to be the Black Scout." "All right," says I. "It sounds harmless to me. I guess Mr. Bill will help you foil the pesky savages." "What am I to do?" asks Bill, looking at the kid suspiciously. "You are the hoss," says Black Scout. "Get down on your hands and knees. How can I ride to the stockade without a hoss?" "You'd better keep him interested," said I, "till we get the scheme going. Loosen up." Bill gets down on his all fours, and a look comes in his eye like a rabbit's when you catch it in a trap. "How far is it to the stockade, kid?" he asks, in a husky manner of voice. "Ninety miles," says the Black Scout. "And you have to hump yourself to get there on time. Whoa, now!" The Black Scout jumps on Bill's back and digs his heels in his side. 25 "For Heaven's sake," says Bill, "hurry back, Sam, as soon as you can. I wish we hadn't made the ransom more than a thousand. Say, you quit kicking me or I'll get up and warm you good." I walked over to Poplar Cove and sat around the post-office and store, talking with the chawbacons that came in to trade. One whiskerando says that he hears Summit is all upset on account of Elder Ebenezer Dorset's boy having been lost or stolen. That was all I wanted to know. I bought some smoking tobacco, referred casually to the price of black-eyed peas, posted my letter surreptitiously and came away. The postmaster said the mail-carrier would come by in an hour to take the mail on to Summit. When I got back to the cave Bill and the boy were not to be found. I explored the vicinity of the cave, and risked a yodel or two, but there was no response. So I lighted my pipe and sat down on a mossy bank to await developments. In about half an hour I heard the bushes rustle, and Bill wabbled out into the little glade in front of the cave. Behind him was the kid, stepping softly like a scout, with a broad grin on his face. Bill stopped, took off his hat and wiped his face with a red handkerchief. The kid stopped about eight feet behind him. "Sam," says Bill, "I suppose you'll think I'm a renegade, but I couldn't help it. I'm a grown person with masculine proclivities and habits of self-defense, but there is a time when all systems of egotism and predominance fail. The boy is gone. I have sent him home. All is off. There was martyrs in old times," goes on Bill, "that suffered death rather than give up the particular graft they enjoyed. None of 'em ever was subjugated to such supernatural tortures as I have been. I tried to be faithful to our articles of depredation; but there came a limit." "What's the trouble, Bill?" I asks him. "I was rode," says Bill, "the ninety miles to the stockade, not barring an inch. Then, when the settlers was rescued, I was given oats. Sand ain't a palatable substitute. And then, for an hour I had to try to explain to him why there was nothin' in holes, how a road can run both ways and what makes the grass green. I tell you, Sam, a human can only stand so much. I takes him by the neck of his clothes and drags him down the mountain. On the way he kicks my legs black-and-blue from the knees down; and I've got to have two or three bites on my thumb and hand cauterized. "But he's gone" -- continues Bill -- "gone home. I showed him the road to Summit and kicked him about eight feet nearer there at one kick. I'm sorry we lose the ransom; but it was either that or Bill Driscoll to the madhouse." Bill is puffing and blowing, but there is a look of ineffable peace and growing content on his rose-pink features. "Bill," says I, "there isn't any heart disease in your family, is there? "No," says Bill, "nothing chronic except malaria and accidents. Why?" "Then you might turn around," says I, "and have a look behind you." Bill turns and sees the boy, and loses his complexion and sits down plump on the ground and begins to pluck aimlessly at grass and little sticks. For an hour I was afraid for his mind. And then I told him that my scheme was to put the whole 26 job through immediately and that we would get the ransom and be off with it by midnight if old Dorset fell in with our proposition. So Bill braced up enough to give the kid a weak sort of a smile and a promise to play the Russian in a Japanese war with him is soon as he felt a little better… I. Find Russian equivalents to the following words and word-combinations: captive, little imp, rowdy, to fix smb., to come to senses, to lose one’s nerves, to be subjugated to smth., to kick smth. black and blue. Reproduce the situations with them from the text. II. Give English equivalents to the following Russian words and wordcombinations: прижимистый, веселиться вовсю, шайка разбойников, души не чаять, домосед, свирепые дикари, занять к-л. (2var.), бледнеть. Put down situational sentences of your own with them. III. Develop the following sentences into the situations from the text: a) That boy put up the fight like a welter-weight cinnamon bear/ b) …I was to be broiled at the stake… c) …I had been kidnapped and chained to a tree by a ferocious pirate with red hair. d) …do you know who my favourite Biblical character is? e) “I ain’t attempting… to decry the celebrated moral aspect of parental affection, but...” f) “I’m the Black Scout…” g) … but there came a limit. h) “ I’m sorry we lose the ransom” IV. What grammar mistakes does the narrator make during the story? Point to them. V. What influenced the boy’s behavior and vocabulary much? Write out the necessary words to prove it. VI. Find synonyms to the word “cry”. What situation were they used in? What feelings did you experience while reading this episode? 27 VII. What is Bill compared to closer to the end of the story? Does the comparison correspond to his usual nature? What fragments may testify to your conclusion? VIII. Imagine what Bill and Hank could wish Red Chief hadn’t done. IX. What end of the story can be expected? Do you know how it really ends? Tell it the group. X. Characterize the main hero of the story. What is your attitude towards him? *** I. Before reading the text concerning one more problem in upbringing teenagers say what it is about according to its title. During the first reading don’t try to fill in the gaps immediately, but be ready to point how many negative effects of watching TV you’ve found out. Teenage TV Addicts Prone To Crime Teenagers who watch more than four hours television a night are more prone to crime, drug-taking and becoming (1) … from society, according to the (2) … research. The (3) … followed publication of a report which found that TV addicts — those who (4) … at least four hours a night in front of the television — are more likely to have anti-social attitudes, (5) … on badly with their parents and feel disillusioned. The researchers said that these youngsters developed spectator mentalities which prevented them from taking an active (6) … in life. Of the 20,000 teenagers aged between 13 and 15 who participated in the (7) …, more than a quarter said they watched at least four hours a night. After comparing their answers with those of the other respondents, the researchers said that their findings (8) … a disturbing picture. Almost 50 per cent of the addict group dismissed school as boring compared with fewer than 30 per cent of those who watched less television. TV addicts were also happier to accept that they might be unemployed after (9) … school and more than 20 per cent would prefer it to work they did not like. More than one in ten condoned shoplifting, compared 28 with one in five (10) … graffiti as acceptable. TV addicts were also more tolerant of drug-taking. II. Now read the text again and decide which word (A, B, C, D) best fits each space. Write one letter in each gap. 1 A isolated B distracted C disappointed D deprived 2 A current B recent C new D latest 3 A notice B warning C saying D advice 4 A use B last C relax D spend 5 A get B put C go D take 6 A play B part C place D position 7 A report B survey C questionnaire D examination 8 A displayed B showed C described D painted 9 A graduating B leaving C abandoning D stopping 10 A noticed B observed C remarked D regarded III. Discuss the problem Do you agree with the ideas expressed in the article? Can you give any examples from your own experience to support these ideas? Can it be the truth that the television is the only thing to influence the teenagers negatively? Don’t you think the contemporary adolescents suffer much more from another technical invention? Which one? *** Read the text. Can You Raise A Polite Kid In This Rude World? (by S. Chazin)1 Mention ill-mannered children and most people roll their eyes at the memory of a little hellion and his boorish parents. I still get angry about an incident that happened last summer. We were staying at a country inn that had a small movie theatre. Before every evening’s presentation, my husband and I instructed our three-year-old son 1 Growing Up. 1998. № 46. P.15. 29 to sit quietly. Except for an occasional whispered question, he sat in rapt attention. The soundtrack, however was impossible to hear. That’s because two children bounced on their seats, talked loudly and raced up and down the aisles. Never once did I see a parent. After several evenings of this, I followed the children to the dining room. There sat a man and a woman enjoying a relaxed meal. “My family is having a hard time watching the film with your children running all over the theatre,” I said. “Do you think if they’re not interested in the movie, you could keep them out here?” The father regarded me coolly. “We’ve paid for the use of the inn’s facilities,” he said. Our children can go anywhere they please.” I was dumbfounded. What could make a seemingly rational couple condone behaviour that is so obviously rude? Have we as a society become so consumed with our own needs and the impulses of our children that everyone else’s rights are ignored? “Take a look at television these days, and it’s becoming almost commonplace to be arrogant and crude,” notes psychologist Thomas Achenbach of the University of Vermont. While teenagers laugh at the vulgar antics of “Beavis and Butthead” their parents yuk it up with the acerbic soap-operas. Cruel unrestrained actions, coarse words, well-known people behaving in a most disorderly manner — everything is shown on TV. It can’t but have a profound effect on kids. Comparing assessments of American children in the mid-1970s and the late 1980s Achenbach found that children in the latter group were, on average, more impulsive and disobedient than their counterparts a decade and a half earlier. The fraying of the nuclear family and the demands on working parents, many experts believe, have produced a generation of children who can program a computer but don’t know how to write a thank-you note. Even parents who strive to teach their children manners are appalled at how easily those lessons can be undone by what takes place beyond their homes. Lean 30 Aykut of Scottsdale, Arizona, knows this well. One day her 11-year-old son found his sister using his telephone in his room. “Get off my phone,” he yelled, calling her an obscene name. Aykut raced to her son’s room. “You have no right to talk to your sister like that,” she scolded. The boy shrugged. He explained that a friend had been arguing with his mother and called her by that term. “We never talk that way in this house.” Aykut said firmly. While you can’t protect your children from what goes on outside your home, experts believe that with patience, parents can do a lot to make their children beauties in our world full of beasts Be a Model. When a 16-year-old Florida high-schooler came home from volleyball practice one day, she appeared troubled. “What’s wrong?” her mother asked. The teen explained that her coach chose another girl over her best friend for the varsity team. Her friend’s mother was livid. Driving the girl home, she flew into a rage, cursing and calling the coach all sorts of names. Many parents appear to have adopted the attitude “My child, right or wrong” — with devastating results. “Being a parent means being mature enough to help a child adapt to disappointment,” Achenbach says. “Parents who can’t accept when their child isn’t №1 send the message that when you’re frustrated, you blame the source of frustration instead of looking for a way to cope.” Instead of urging a child to study harder for better grades, some parents blame the teacher. Instead of punishing a child for violating a school policy, they battle the policy. A better message, experts say, is to teach children that while they cannot always control the outcome of every situation, they can control how they respond. “Children must learn to behave more gallantly than they feel,” says “Miss Manners” columnist and author Judith Martin. Being gallant, says Martin, is about more than simply saying “please” and “thank you”. It’s about not boasting or calling someone names behind their back, about winning fairly and losing graciously, and treating everyone with respect. Of course, all the training in the world won’t persuade a child to behave gallantly if his parents become aggressive, demanding and rude at the slightest 31 provocation. That’s why experts agree the best way for parents to improve a child’s manners is to improve their own first. Parents need to be especially vigilant not to say something casually that may be alarmed to hear later in the mouths of their offspring. A wife who tells her husband to shut up and a father who calls a neighbor a jerk are likely to hear their children speak the same way to them. If we aren’t practicing good manners, how can we expect our children to? I. Find English equivalents to the following words and word-combinations. Recall the situations with them from the article. сердиться, когда вспоминаю, приучать ребёнка к ч-л., холодно посмотреть на к-л., быть поглощённым ч-л., существенно влиять на, обозвать, создать / породить поколение, украсить мир, прийти в ярость, занять позицию в ч-л., искать способ справиться с ч-л., контролировать ч-л., красиво проигрывать, улучшить манеры / поведение, соблюдать / иметь привычку II. Match the following adjectives with the corresponding nouns: a) rapt antics b) profound television condone family ill-mannered names little attention arrogant effect vulgar parents vigilant children impulsive behaviour better provocation boorish hellion aggressive parents nuclear results obscene message devastating children slightest grades III. Choose from the given qualities those you may use to characterize the parents described in the article. Prove your choice with the facts from there. tolerant uncultured prudent callous tactful irritable impartial overindulgent 32 exacting permissive benevolent indifferent sympathetic narrow-minded responsible unwise IV. Ask the questions to the article using the following prompts: depict / centre around, reason for, dumbfounded, conclusion, the result of, contribute to, typical of / peculiar to, a desirable goal, to deal with, the best way out, provoked by. V. Formulate possible educational goals adults can set themselves to avoid pitfalls in the upbringing. The following key-word-combinations may help you: to raise the younger generation, to be at one’s guard / guardian, to be concerned with / in charge of the educational development of children, to prepare smb. for life, to maintain a correct sense of values, to mould one’s character / personality, to bring up / mould / nurture a worthy person / man / citizen, to teach children the art of living together, to develop one’s personality / talent / outlook / abilities, to broaden / deepen one’s scope of knowledge. PROBLEMS FOR DISCUSSION ~ To mould a child’s character is no easy matter. ~ Child rearing is discussed by educationalists, psychologists, sociologists. ~ The parent / child relationships take a great deal of experience. ~ Permissiveness or overstrictness — what is the way out? ~ Overindulgence may lead to friendly and relaxed atmosphere at home. ~ Overexactingness in family relationships justifies itself by the pressure of modern society. ~ Violence in the family may result in juvenile rebellion. ~ Juvenile delinquency is provoked by parental negligence. ~ Choosing the friend they wish children assert themselves as quite responsible people. ~ Creating harmonious relations takes a great deal of time and patience. 33 ~ Moral support of adolescents by adults encourages mutual understanding between the generations. ~ Uncultured, narrow-minded parents nurture the very picture of themselves. ~ The children’s background can account for their bad language and misconduct. ~ Such technical inventions of the 20th century as television, computers can’t but have a profound effect on adolescents. ~ Teaching offspring manners may become not an easy matter for the parents. TASKS TO THE TEXT “TO SIR, WITH LOVE.”1 I. Recall the sentences from the text which describe teacher’s routine work. The following words will help you: a successful teacher, individual and collective interests, to get closer to smb., the psychology of teaching, to get through to, to reach smb., to provide children with, illustrations from, within the domestic framework, to encourage, to inveigle. II. Using the word-combinations from ex. 1 make up sentences on the basis of the text beginning all of them with If the hero hadn’t wanted to be a successful teacher, he … III. Using the Suppositional Mood make up sentences with the wordcombinations from ex. I: a) I offer that a teacher … b) It’s desirable, that … IV. Translate into English: комментировать что-либо, совершенствовать навыки, уделить мало внимания, временный учитель, отвечать требованиям, глухие и незаинтересованные, без интереса и энтузиазма, умышленное безразличие, виновник, грубо прерывать, никакого чувства порядочности, укоренилась. Практический курс английского языка. 3 курс: Учеб. для пед. институтов по спец-ти «иностранный язык»/под ред. В.Д. Аракина.-М., 1997. С.71. 1 грязь 34 V. From the following words choose the ones to match the words from ex. IV: suggested methods, teachers, in terms of spelling, construction and style, their minds, “blackie” teacher, ugly viciousness, no point in wasting, purely for their own benefit, through a thick pane of glass, innocent eyes, without question or protest, to fall pitifully flat. VI. Unite the words and word-combinations from ex. IV, V and recall the situations with them from the text, describing the pupils’ behaviour at the lessons. VII. Find the synonyms and synonymous expressions from the text to the following: ~ to succeed in ~ not to make an impression ~ existing or staying somewhere for a short period of time ~ in a way that is appropriate to the situation ~ distant in space ~ to persuade smb. to do smth. by using clever methods ~ to put forward a problem causing some mental activity ~ to give someone confidence or hope to take part in smth. ~ the type of family, social position, or culture that someone comes from ~ to shake slightly because of a loud sound that is repeated many times VIII. Explain the meaning of the following words and expressions: pet scheme pointless reach smb. try hard comment on within the framework in terms of uninterested in overcome by IX. Using the words and word-combinations from ex. VII, VIII make up situational sentences of your own. X. Finish the sentences using the prompts: But for the pupils’ viciousness, the teacher … But for the pupils’ vulgar language, the teacher … 35 But for the pupils’ misconduct, the teacher … But for the pupils’ “noisy treatment”, the teacher … But for the pupils’ nonchalance, the teacher … But for the pupils’ disrespect for their teacher, he … P r o m p t s: sick at heart, to lose the temper, disappointed, frustrated, leave the classroom, with aplomb, to be overcome by anger and disgust. XI. Characterize the pupils described in the story. Use the following expressions: I can characterize them as … They may be characterized as … They proved … The episode … testifies to their … The episode … reflects their … nature XII. Using the characteristics from ex. XI make up pairs of words that consist of an adjective and the correspondent noun, e.g.: vicious — viciousness XIII. Make up sentences, using the vocabulary about the pupils described in the text: a) The teacher wished … b) I wish … XIV. Make up situations, using the key-words and expressions below: a) to set a task b) had nothing to do with to fall flat to inveigle a pretty good idea my first association Hardly had the teacher begun reading intellectual challenge lack of words must have failed without interest or enthusiasm a successful teacher 36 c) not to make the grade d) full of optimism of their own background rather than to interrupt rudely noise precluded wouldn’t have felt angry and frustrated had reached contempt for planning the work reverberate in respect for *** Read the extract from the book “Matilda” by R. Dahl The Trunchbull In the interval, Miss Honey left the classroom and headed straight for the Headmistress's study She felt wildly excited. She had just met a small girl who possessed, or so it seemed to her, quite extraordinary qualities of brilliance. There had not been time yet to find out exactly how brilliant the child was, but Miss Honey had learnt enough to realize that something had to be done about it as soon as possible. It would be ridiculous to leave а сhild like that stuck in the bottom form. Normally Miss Honey was terrified of the Headmistress and kept well away from her, but at this moment she felt ready to take on anybody. She knocked on the door of the dreaded private study. 'Enter!' boomed the deep and dangerous voice of Miss Trunchbull. Miss Honey went in. Now most head teachers are chosen because they possess a number of fine qualities. They understand children and they have the children's best interests at heart. They are sympathetic. They are fair and they are deeply interested in education. Miss Trunchbull possessed none of these qualities and how she ever got her present job was a mystery. She was above all a most formidable female. She had once been a famous athlete, and even now the muscles were still clearly in evidence. You could see them in the bull-neck, in the big shoulders, in the thick arms, in the sinewy wrists and in the powerful legs. Looking at her, you got the feeling that this was someone who could bend iron bars and tear telephone directories in half. Her face, I'm afraid, was neither a thing of beauty nor a joy for ever. She had an obstinate chin, a cruel mouth and small arrogant eyes. And as for her clothes . . . they were, to say the least, extremely odd. She always had on a brown cotton smock which was pinched in around the waist with a wide leather belt. The belt was fastened in front with an enormous silver buckle. The massive thighs which emerged from out of the smock were encased in a pair of extraordinary breeches, bottle-green in colour and made of coarse twill. These breeches reached to just below the knees and from there on down she sported green stockings with turn-up tops, 37 which displayed her calf muscles to perfection. On her feet she wore flat-heeled brown brogues with leather flaps. She looked, in short, more like a rather eccentric and bloodthirsty follower of the stag-hounds than the headmistress of a nice school for children. When Miss Honey entered the study, Miss Trunchbull was standing beside her huge desk with a look of scowling impatience on her face. 'Yes, Miss Honey' she said. 'What is it you want? You're looking very flushed and flustered this morning. What's the matter with you? Have those little stinkers been flicking spitballs at you?' 'No, Headmistress. Nothing like that.' 'Well, what is it then? Get on with it. I'm a busy woman.' As she spoke, she reached out and poured herself a glass of water from a jug that was always on her desk. 'There is a little girl in my class called Matilda Wormwood ...' Miss Honey began. 'That's the daughter of the man who owns Wormwood Motors in the village,' Miss Trunchbull barked. She hardly ever spoke in a normal voice. She either barked or shouted. 'An excellent person, Wormwood,' she went on. 'I was in there only yesterday. He sold me a car. Almost new. Only done ten thousand miles. Previous owner was an old lady who took it out once a year at the most. A terrific bargain. Yes, I liked Wormwood. A real pillar of our society. He told me the daughter was a bad lot though. He said to watch her. He said if anything bad ever happened in the school, it was certain to be his daughter who did it. I haven't met the little brat yet, but she'll know about it when I do. Her father said she's a real wart.' 'Oh no, Headmistress, that can't be right!' Miss Honey cried. 'Oh yes, Miss Honey, it darn well is right! In fact, now I come to think of it, I'll bet it was she who put that stink-bomb under my desk here first thing this morning. The place stank like a sewer! Of course it was her! I shall have her for that, you see if I don't! What's she look like? Nasty little worm, I'll be bound. I have discovered, Miss Honey, during my long career as a teacher mat a bad girl is a far more dangerous creature than a bad boy. What's more, they're much harder to squash. Squashing a bad girl is like trying to squash a bluebottle. You bang down on it and the darn thing isn't there. Nasty dirty things, little girls are. Glad I never was one.’ 'Oh, but you must have been a little girl once, Headmistress. Surely you were.’ 'Not for long anyway,’ Miss Trunchbull barked, grinning. 'I became a woman very quickly.’ She's completely off her rocker, Miss Honey told herself. She's barmy as a bedbug. Miss Honey stood resolutely before the Headmistress. For once she was not going to be browbeaten. 'I must tell you, Headmistress,’ she said, 'that you are completely mistaken about Matilda putting a stink-bomb under your desk.' 'I am never mistaken, Miss Honey!' 'But Headmistress, the child only arrived in school this morning and came straight to the classroom . . .' 'Don't argue with me, for heaven's sake, woman! This little brute Matilda or whatever her name is has stink-bombed my study! There's no doubt about it! Thank you for suggesting it.' 'But I didn't suggest it, Headmistress.' 'Of course you did! Now what is it you want, Miss Honey? Why are you wasting my time?' 'I came to you to talk about Matilda, Headmistress. I have extraordinary things to report about the child. May I please tell you what happened in class just now?’ 'I suppose she set fire to your skirt and scorched your knickers!’ Miss Trunchbull snorted. 'No, no! Miss Honey cried out. 'Matilda is a genius. At the mention of this word, Miss Trunchbull's face turned purple and her whole body seemed to swell up like a bullfrog's. 'A genius!’ she shouted. 'What piffle is this you are talking, madam? You must be out of your mind! I have her father's word for it that the child is a gangster!' 38 'Her father is wrong, Headmistress.' 'Don't be a twerp, Miss Honey! You have met the little beast for only half an hour and her father has known her all her life!' But Miss Honey was determined to have her say and she now began to describe some of the amazing things Matilda had done with arithmetic. 'So she's learnt a few tables by heart, has she?' Miss Trunchbull barked. 'My dear woman, that doesn't make her a genius! It makes her a parrot!' 'But Headmistress, she can read' 'So can I,' Miss Trunchbull snapped. 'It is my opinion’ Miss Honey said, 'that Matilda should be taken out of my form and placed immediately in the top form with the eleven-year-olds.’ 'Ha!’ snorted Miss Trunchbull. 'So you want to get rid of her, do you? So you can't handle her? So now you want to unload her on to the wretched Miss Plimsoll in the top form where she will cause even more chaos?” 'No, no!” cried Miss Honey. 'That is not my reason at all!” 'Oh, yes it is!” shouted Miss Trunchbull. 'I can see right through your little plot, madam! And my answer is no! Matilda stays where she is and it is up to you to see that she behaves herself.” 'But Headmistress, please . . .” 'Not another word!” shouted Miss Trunchbull. 'And in any case, I have a rule in this school that all children remain in their own age groups regardless of ability. Great Scott, I'm not having a little five-year-old brigand sitting with the senior girls and boys in the top form. Whoever heard of such a thing!” Miss Honey stood there helpless before this great rednecked giant. There was a lot more she would like to have said but she knew it was useless. She said softly, 'Very well, then. It's up to you, Headmistress.' 'You're darn right it's up to me!' Miss Trunchbull bellowed. And don't forget, madam, that we are dealing here with a little viper who put a stink-bomb under my desk 'She did not do that, Headmistress!' 'Of course she did it,” Miss Trunchbull boomed. “And I'll tell you what. I wish to heavens I was still allowed to use the birch and belt as I did in the good old days! I'd have roasted Matilda's bottom for her so she couldn't sit down for a month!' Miss Honey turned and walked out of the study feeling depressed but by no means defeated. I am going to do something about this child, she told herself. I don't know what it will be, but I shall find a way to help her in the end. I. What words correspond to the following definitions? ~ excellence or distinction in physical or mental ability; exceptional talent; ~ having or showing an exaggerated opinion of one's own importance, merit, ability, etc.; ~ to make or become confused, nervous, or upset; ~ a child, especially one who is ill-mannered or unruly (used contemptuously or playfully); ~ a person with exceptional ability, especially of a highly original kind; 39 ~ to be overcome in a contest or competition; to lose a victory II. Explain in English the following word-combinations: ~ to have children’s interests at heart; ~ a most formidable female; ~ a pillar of the society; ~ to be of one’s rocker; ~ to cause a chaos; ~ to roast one’s bottom III. Choose from the words below those to match Miss Honey and the rest — Miss Trunchbull. Can they help you to characterize these teachers? terrified, barked, formidable, flushed, barmy as a bedbug, resolute, snap, helpless, bellow, softly, depressed. IV. See what verbs are used to show Miss Trunchbull’s manner of speaking. V. Write out the words used by Miss Trunchbull to characterize Matilda. Try to describe your feelings aroused by them. VI. Do you share Miss Trunchbull’s favourite method of teaching? Have you met such teachers in your school life? VII. Express your wishes concerning Miss Trunchbull’s behavior (using Oblique Moods). VIII. Expand on the following: 1. To be cut out for teaching contributes to stimulating pupils’ interest in education. 2. Creating a business-like atmosphere at the lessons, teachers get pupils interested in their subjects. 3. To win pupils’ respect and confidence is of vital importance. 4. It’s next to impossible to be a successful teacher without asserting authority. 5. Not establishing discipline a teacher plays in pupils’ hands. 6. Maintaining a correct sense of values, teachers prepare children for life. 40 Учебное издание Upbringing. Schooling Учебное пособие для студентов III курса, специальность «Иностранный язык» Автор-составитель Ю.А. Гаврикова Печатается в авторской редакции Подписано в печать 31.10.08г. Объём 2,5 п.л. Печать оперативная Тираж 40 экз. Заказ __________________________________________________________________ Нижегородский государственный педагогический университет. Отдел полиграфии АНО «МУК НГПУ» 603950, г. Нижний Новгород, ГСП – 37, ул. Ульянова, 1 41 РЕЦЕНЗИЯ На “Upbringing. Schooling”: Учебное пособие для студентов III курса, специальность «Иностранный язык» Гавриковой Ю.А. Рецензируемые материалы предназначены для использования на III курсе дневного отделения специальности психолого-педагогического «Иностранный язык» и факультета отвечают по требованиям государственного образовательного стандарта высшего профессионального образования. Учебное пособие включает лексико-грамматические упражнения по темам Upbringing, Schooling и направлены на систематизацию и закрепление данной лексики на базе изучаемых грамматических структур, а именно Oblique Moods, в нужных речевых ситуациях. Несомненной заслугой автора является удачный подбор тренировочных упражнений для активизации употребления лексических единиц, включение оригинальных текстов, что значительно активизирует как аудиторную, так и самостоятельную работу студентов. Учебное пособие написано на должном теоретическом уровне и могут быть рекомендованы к опубликованию и использованию. 42 43
