Translate the dialogue into English.

Мэри встречает свою подругу Джулию на улице.

Мэри: Добрый день, Джулия. Как дела? Ты выглядишь озабоченной. Что-то случилось?

Джулия: Я бегу в больницу. Том попал под машину. У него серьезные травмы. Очень боюсь, как бы он не стал калекой.

М: А как это случилось?

Д: Он спешил на работу и пересек улицу, не дождавшись, пока загорится зеленый свет. Джип не успел затормозить и переехал его. У него пострадали ноги, перелом обеих голеней и сломано одно ребро.

М: Что говорят врачи?

Д. Врачи делают все, что от них зависит, но боятся, что он будет хромать.

М: Прими мои соболезнования. И не отчаивайся, Том еще молод, я думаю, что все обойдется. Врачи часто ошибаются.

Д. Мне бы хотелось в это верить. Мне так жаль его, он очень страдает. Я решила, что если все обойдется, мы не будем жить в городе. Уедем в деревню. Там жизнь намного спокойнее.

М. Но ведь в деревне свои проблемы. Во-первых, необходимо найти работу. И вообще, городскому жителю не так легко привыкнуть к сельской жизни.

Д. Видишь, мои родители живут в деревне. У них своя ферма. Жизнь в сельской местности очень спокойная, размеренная. Они уже не так молоды и давно предлагают перебраться к ним. Я ведь там родилась .

М: Подумайте хорошо, прежде принять такое решение. (Think before you leap.) Ведь все мы так привыкли к удобствам городской жизни, к ее ритму.

Д. Позволь мне не согласиться с тобой. Что хорошего в городской жизни? Грязный воздух, нечем дышать, множество машин, которые наполняют воздух выхлопными газами, суета, люди все куда-то спешат, им некогда остановиться, подумать о смысле жизни, просто пообщаться. Не говоря уже о том, что мы забыли, как пахнут полевые цветы, мы забыли вкус и аромат яблок, запах свежескошенной травы. А главное, там человек не должен напряженно думать о том, чтобы не попасть под машину.

М: Мне кажется, ты идеализируешь прелести деревенской жизни. Сельскому жителю приходится так много трудиться, чтобы его ферма не разорилась.

Д: Но трудиться на свежем воздухе полезно для здоровья.

М: Но ведь там так скучно. Некуда пойти. Нет ни театров, ни музеев, ни выставок…

Д: И нет шума, загазованности суеты. Кстати, а когда ты была в театре последний раз?

М: М… Ну, месяца два назад.

Д: Я думаю, что раз в два месяца мы тоже сможем с Томом выбираться в театр или на выставку. Лишь бы он только поскорей поправился.

М: Да, это сейчас самое главное. Пожелай ему от меня скорейшего выздоровления. Кстати, если вам понадобится какая-либо помощь, звони. Всегда будем рады помочь.

Д: Спасибо, передам. Привет Дэвиду. До свидания, Том, думаю, уже меня ждет.

М: До свидания. Удачи вам обоим.

IV. At Leisure

Proverbs and Sayings About Town

Take heed when crossing the street.

Rome was not built in a day.

A city that parleys is half gotten.

A hedge between keeps friendship green.

All roads lead to Rome.

Every country has its customs.

The furthest way about is the nearest way home. (~ Тише едешь – дальше будешь.)

The way (road) to hell is paved with good intentions.

There are more ways to the wood than one.

To carry coals to Newcastle.

To send owls to Athens.
To fiddle while Rome is burning. (~Пир во время чумы)

When at Rome, do as the Romans do.

Poems About Town

Many windows

Many floors

Many people

Many stores

Many streets

And many bangings

Many whistles

Many clangings

Many, many, many, many —

Many of everything, many of any.

Donald J. Bisset

LONDON SNOW

(fragment)

When men were all asleep the snow came flying,

In large white flakes falling on the city brown,

Stealthily and perpetually settling and loosely lying,

Hushing the latest traffic of the drowsy town;

Deadening, muffling, stifling its murmurs failing;

Lazily and incessantly floating down and down:

Silently sifting and veiling road, roof and railing;

Hiding difference, making unevenness even,

Into angles and crevices softly drifting and sailing.

 Robert Bridges

SKYSCRAPERS

Do skyscrapers ever grow tired

Of holding themselves up high?

Do they ever shiver on frosty nights

With their tops against the sky?

Do they feel lonely sometimes

Because they have grown so tall?

Do they ever wish they could lie right down

And never get up at all?

Rachel Field

 ROADWAYS

One road leads to London,

One road runs to Wales,

My road leads me seawards

To the white dipping sails.

One road leads to the river,

As it goes singing slow;

My road leads to shipping,

Where the bronzed sailors go.

My road calls me, lures me

West, east, south, and north;

Most roads lead men homewards,

My road leads me forth.

John Masefield

V. CREATIVE TASKS

Make up dialogues on the following situations.

1. You’ve got lost in a large foreign city, which you are supposed to leave tonight. Nobody speaks Russian there, not too many people speak English. What are you going to do?

2. You saw a car accident and you are trying to discuss it with your friend.

3. Your friend has just returned from Great Britain. He pays you a visit and you discuss the English way of life.

4. It’s the rush hour. Your friend and you are afraid to miss the train because of the jam. You are discussing the situation.

5. You are in Moscow and try to stop a passer-by to ask the way to Red Square. To your great surprise you run into an acquaintance of yours.

Make up situations, using the following words or word combinations.

1. accident; to meet with an accident to walk/to run into smb. to take/to board a tram

to witness an incident (accident); heavy traffic     

2. knock down; run over; to cross a street at a crossing under the red light

3. right-hand traffic; pavement; crooked street; traffic-lights 

4. to turn to the right (to the left, round the corner); an apartment house 

5. to keep streets clean; greenery; flowerbed; passenger; vacant 

Write your essay on one of the following points.

1. The town I was born in.

2. The town I would like to see.

3. The town I’ve visited lately.

4. The town of my dream.

5. The town I would like to live in.

6. The best town of the world.

7. The problems of large cities.

8. Advantages and disadvantages of living in a large town.

Translate one of the above poems into Russian.

Do a project on your kaleidoscope of he capitals of the world and get ready to discuss it with your fellow-students.

THE POST OFFICE

Text 1

THE POST OFFICE

The General Post Office and local post offices have many duties. They not only deliver letters, telegrams, newspapers and magazines, but, among other things, they pay out old age pensions, subscribe to periodicals and take and deliver parcels.

Inside the post office is a long counter divided into departments for parcels, stamps, registered and air-mail letters, telegrams, money-order, etc.

There is a post-box in all post offices, or you can drop your letters and postcards into one of the familiar red and blue post-boxes attached to some houses in the street.

There are several collections a day and your letter will soon reach the addressee.

Do you want to send a telegram? Just ask for a telegram form at the post office counter or take one from the box in the small compartments provided for the writing of telegrams and fill it in.

Perhaps you want to buy a stamp or a stamped envelope to send a letter, then you go to the counter where they sell postcards, envelopes, blocks of stamps and stamps of different denominations, or get them from the slot machine.

When we have written a letter we sign it, fold it up and put it in an envelope. We stick down the flap, write the address of both the addressee and stick on a stamp in the upper right-hand corner. Don't forget to write the mailing code - it includes the index number and the post office number which serves the addressee.

If your letter contains anything valuable, it is a good idea to register it. When you register a letter the clerk gives you a receipt and you pay the registration fee.

If you go to the post office to send off a parcel you will have the parcel weighed at the parcel-counter. You may also have your parcel insured if you want to declare its value.

At the post office you can send money by post. You should fill in a money-order form stating the name of the recipient or payer, his address, as well as the sender's address, and the sum of money you are sending. The clerk takes your money together with the money-order and gives you a receipt.

Text 2

At the post office on the wall or inside the building, you will see openings into which you drop your letters. You will also see red pillar-boxes for the same purpose. In London the openings are often marked LONDON AND ABROAD and COUNTRY.

Country here means all places in Great Britain except London; it includes large towns such as Glasgow and Manchester.

Inside a large post office you will see, over the long counters, notices telling you what kind of business is done below them; POSTAGE STAMPS, PARCELS, TELEGRAMS, PENSIONS, INSURANCE STAMPS, WIRELESS LICENCES. The post office does a wide variety of business. You must have a licence for your wireless set and for your car. You can pay for this at the post office. Old Age Pensions and Family Allowances and various sorts of National Insurance benefits are paid out there. The post office is a busy place, and it would be convenient if we could buy stamps at the tobacconists' or in the newsagent's shop, as we can in some European countries. This is not possible in England.

 Learn the terms connected with bank and money operations.

ACCOUNT. Current account. It is a bank account from which you get money by writing a cheque (UK),check (US). In America a current account is called a checking or check account.

AUTOMATIC CREDIT TRANSFER. It is when money is automatically put into a bank account (for example, pay) or taken out of a bank account (for example, to pay rent for a flat).

CHECK. In America a check is a form issued by a bank on which you write details for the bank to pay money from you account. The British spelling of check is cheque.

CREDIT. This is money that you can use, usually in a bank account or an account at a shop or similar place.

DEPOSIT. It is money that you put into an account at a bank. Credit Card is a piece of plastic which allows you to buy goods or services for some shops. You pay the credit card company later, the shop gets their money from the card company.

Phonecard is a special card of credit that can be used to work public instead of putting coins in them.

Remember the following.

A person's correspondence is usually private, meant only for a specific friend, relative, or colleague. But in some instances, a letter or collection of letters becomes public

A letter written to the editor of a newspaper or magazine may be printed in the section of that publication set aside for public opinion Readers can write in response to an article expressing their own points of view.

The correspondence of a particular historical figure or from a certain time period may be collected into a book Such h books often provide a highly personal and revealing look at the times being collected.