Short stories
учебно-методический материал по английскому языку по теме

TEXT 2                              LETTERS IN THE MAIL

                                                                      E. CALDWELL

   Almost everybody likes to receive letters. And perhaps nobody in Stillwater liked to get letters more than Ray Buffin. But unfortunately Ray received fewer letters in his box at the post-office than anybody else.

    Guy Hodge and Ralph Barnhill were two young men in town who liked to play jokes on people. But they never meant anything bad. One afternoon they decided to play joke on Ray Buffin. Their plan was to ask a girl in town to send Ray a love letter without signing it, and then tell everybody in the post-office to watch Ray read the letter; then somebody was ask Ray if he had received a love letter from a girl. After that somebody was to snatch the letter out of his hand and read it aloud.

    They bought blue writing paper and went round the corner to the office of the telephone company where Grace Brooks worked as a night telephone operator. Grace was pretty though not very young. She had begun working for the company many years ago, after she had finished school. She had remained unmarried  all those years, and because she worked at night and slept in the daytime it was very difficult for her to find a husband.

    At first, after Guy and Ralph had explained to her what they wanted to do and had asked her to write the letter to Ray, Grace refused to do it.

    “Now, be a good girl, Grace, do us a favour and write the letter.” Suddenly she turned away. She didn’t want the young men see her crying. She remembered the time she had got acquainted with Ray. Ray wanted to marry her. But she had just finished school then and had started to work for the telephone company; she was very young then and did not want to marry anybody. Time passed. During all those years she had seen him a few times but only a polite word had passed between them, and each time he looked sadder and sadder.

    Finally she agreed to write the letter for Guy and Ralph and said that she would send it in the morning.

    After they left the telephone office Grace thought about Ray and cried. Late at night she wrote the letter.

    The next day Guy and Ralph were in the post-office at 4 o’clock. By that time there was a large crowd in the post-office. When Ray came in and saw a letter in his box he looked at it in surprise. He couldn’t believe his eyes. He opened the box, took out the blue envelope and went to the corner of the room to read it. When he finished he behaved like mad. He smiled happily and ran out of the room before Guy and Ralph had time to say anything to stop him. Ray hurried round the corner to the telephone office.

    When Guy and Ralph ran into the room where Grace worked they saw Ray Buffin standing near the girl with the widest and happiest smile they had ever seen on his face. It was clear they had not spoken a word yet. They just stood in silence, too happy to worry about Guy and Ralph watching them.

ЗАДАНИЯ:

1. Find in the text English equivalents for the following words and expressions:

к сожалению, разыгрывать людей, никогда не замышляли ничего плохого, без подписи, выхватить из рук, работала телефонисткой в ночную смену, так и не вышла замуж, оказать услугу, отвернулась, они лишь обменивались вежливыми фразами, в конце концов, много народу, глазам на поверил, быстро пошел за угол.

2. Give Russian equivalents for the following words and expressions from the text and use them in the sentences of your own:

Receive letters, watch smb do smth, read (speak) aloud, explain smth to smb, refuse to do smth, get acquainted with smb, look at smth(smb) in surprise, in silence, worry about smth, witout doing smth.

3. Answer the questions on the text:

1. Did Ray Buffin often receive letters?
2. What did Guy and Ralph like to do?
3. What was their plan?
4. Who was Grace Brooks?
5. Why did two young men ask her to do them a favour?
6. Why didn’t the girl agree at once?
7. What was Ray’s reaction when he saw a letter in his box?
8. What did he do next?
9. What did Guy and Ralph see when they entered the telephone office?  

СПИСОК ИСПОЛЬЗОВАННОЙ ЛИТЕРАТУРЫ:

1. Короткие рассказы для чтения и обсуждения. Составитель Э.Л.Хавина. – М.: Издательство «Менеджер», 2004. -208 с.

TEXT 1                         LOST IN THE POST

A.PHILIPS

    Ainsley, a post-office sorter, turned the envelope over and over in his hands. The letter was addressed to his wife and had an Australian stamp.

    Ainsley knew that the sender was Dicky Soames, his wife’s cousin. It was the second letter Ainsley received after Dicky’s departure. The first letter had come six months before, he did not read it and threw it into the fire. No man ever had less reason for jealousy* than Ainsley. His wife was frank as the day, a splendid housekeeper, a very good mother to their two children. He knew that Dicky Soames had been fond of Adela and the fact that Dicky Soames had years back gone away to join his and Adela’s uncle made no difference to him. He was afraid that some day Dicky would return and take Adela from him.

    Ainsley did not take the letter when he was at work as his fellow-workers could see him do it. So when the working hours were over he went out of the post-office together with his fellow-workers, then he returned to take the letter addressed to his wife. As the door of the post-office was locked, he had to get in through a window. When he was getting out of the window the postmaster saw him. He got angry and dismissed Ainsley. So another man was hired and Ainsley became unemployed. Their life became hard, they had to borrow money from their friends.

    Several months had passed. One afternoon when Ainsley came home he saw the familiar face of Dicky Soames. “So he had turned up,” Ainsley thought to himself.

    Dicky Soames said he was delighted to see Ainsley. “I have missed all of you so much”, he added with a friendly smile.

    Ainsley looked at his wife. “Uncle Tom has died,” she explained, “and Dicky has come into his money”. “Congratulation,” said Ainsley, “you are lucky.”

    Adela turned to Dicky. “Tell Arthur the rest,” she said quietly. “Well, you see,” said Dicky, “Uncle Tom had something over sixty thousand and he wished Adela to have half. But he got angry with you because Adela never answered the two letters I wrote to her for him. Then he changed his will and left her money to hospitals. I asked him not to do it, but he wouldn’t listen to me!” Ainsley turned pale. “So those letters were worth reading after all,” he thought to himself. For some time everybody kept silence, “It’s strange about those letters. I’ve often wondered why you didn’t answer them?” Adela got up, came up to her husband and said, taking him by the hand. “The letters were evidently lost.” At that moment Ainsley realized that she knew everything.

* No man had less reason for jealousy – Никто не имел меньше оснований для ревности.  

ЗАДАНИЯ:

1. Find in the text English equivalents for the following words and expressions: сортировщик почты, вертел в руках, отъезд, великолепная хозяйка, Адела ему нравилась, увезет, сотрудники, уволил, наняли другого, знакомое лицо, скучал без вас, остальное, изменил завещание, подумал про себя, взяв его за руку, очевидно.
2. Give Russian equivalents for the following words and expressions from the text and use them in the sentence of your own.

Be addressed to smb, make some (much, no) difference to smb, lock the door, get in through…, become unemployed, borrow smth from smb, be delighted, come into one’s money, be lucky, turn pale, be worth doing, keep (break) silence.

3. Answer  the questions on the text:

1. What was Ainsley?
2. Who was Dicky Soames?
3. What was the main reason for Ainsley’s hiding Dicky’s letters from Adela?
4. How did Ainsley behave when the second letter arrived?
5. What happened as a result of his behavior?
6. Was Adela’s uncle a rich person? Prove it.
7. Did he want Adela to come into his money? Why did he have to change his will?
8. What did Ainsley mean saying, “Those letters were worth reading”?
9. What proves that Ainsley’s wife guessed everything?
10. Why do you think she said that the letters had been lost?

СПИСОК ИСПОЛЬЗОВАННОЙ ЛИТЕРАТУРЫ:

1. Короткие рассказы для чтения и обсуждения. Составитель Э.Л.Хавина. – М.: Издательство «Менеджер», 2004. -208 с.

TEXT 3                                 A GOOD START

    Bill liked painting more than anything in life. He started painting when he was fifteen and people said that as a painter he had quite a lot of talent and had mastered most of the technical requirements. At twenty-two he had his first one-man show when he was discovered by the critics and his pictures were all sold out. With the money he could afford to marry Leila, rent a studio and stop being a student. To complete his education he went to Italy but after five months all the money was spent and he had to return.

    Bill never had another show like the first one, though he became a better painter. The critics did not think him modern enough and said he was too academic. From time to time he managed to sell some of his paintings but eventually things had got very tight and he was obliged to look for a job.

    The day before he went for an interview with his uncle Bill was especially gloomy. In the morning he went up to one of his unfinished pictures in the studio but he felt he couldn’t paint. He threw down his brush and a bright red spot appeared on the board already covered with black and yellow paint from his previous work. The board had been used to protect the floor and was at that moment a mixture of bright colours.

    When Bill left, Leila got down to cleaning the studio. She took up the board and put it against the wall to clean the floor. At that moment Garrad, Bill’s dealer, came in. Bill had asked him to come, look at his work and arrange a show but the dealer had for some time been uncertain on the matter. So he was looking around  the studio, explaining how the gallery was booked up for a year and how he could really promise Bill a show yet for two years or so.

    Suddenly the board against the wall attracted his attention.

    “Leila, my dear,” he exclaimed. “I felt that there must be something like this. Tell me, why is he keeping it away from us?”

    Leila was too shocked to answer. But Garrad went on: “I think it’s wonderful. I never doubted Bill would catch up with the modern trends. Now Leila, are there more pictures for a full show? I must go now but I’ll be ringing him up. I am going to change the whole plan and show his new work in the autumn. Tell him not to waste time. As to this one if he wants to sell it, I’ll buy it myself.”

    Leila stayed in the studio till Bill came back. She was too excited to tell him the story clearly and Bill could not understand anything at first. When he realized what had happened he shook with laughter. “You didn’t explain the whole thing about the board to him, did you?” he managed to say at last.

    “No, I didn’t. I couldn’t really, I believe I should have, but it would have made him look too silly. I just said I didn’t think you’d sell it.”

    What was Bill to do?

   ЗАДАНИЕ:  Think of your own ending.

1. Find in the text English equivalents for the following words and expressions:

Больше всего в жизни, индивидуальная выставка, о ней узнали критики, мог позволить себе, чтобы закончить образование, не считали его достаточно современным, в конце концов, дела пошли совсем плохо, мрачный день, ярко-красное пятно, начала убирать студию, поставила у стены, организовать выставку, современные тенденции, выставить его новую работу, не терять время, была слишком взволнована, вразумительно рассказать, затрясся от смеха.

СПИСОК ИСПОЛЬЗОВАННОЙ ЛИТЕРАТУРЫ:

1. Короткие рассказы для чтения и обсуждения. Составитель Э.Л.Хавина. – М.: Издательство «Менеджер», 2004. -208 с.