II. Vocabulary and speech Exercises

Find the English equivalents in text 1.

1. доставлять письма; выплачивать пенсии по старости; подписываться на периодические издания; принимать и доставлять посылки; выемка писем; адресат; конверт с маркой; марки различной стоимости; приклеивать марку; в верхнем правом углу; почтовый индекс; заказное письмо; взвесить посылку; застраховать посылку с объявленной ценностью; послать деньги почтой; заполнить бланк почтового перевода; имя получателя; выдавать квитанцию

2. Explain in English what the following words and word combinations mean.

The G. P. O., a postman, a letter-box, a pillar-box, a depositor, a registered letter, a poste restante letter, a money-order, a slot machine, a book of stamps, an stamped envelope, to cash a money-order, a payee, a bank-book, an identity card, a reply paid telegram, to forward a letter, a letter of attorney, to insure a parcel, an unstamped letter, rows of letter-boxes.

3. Paraphrase the words and word combinations in italics

1. After I closed the envelope I remembered that I had forgotten to put in the postcard I had long promised my friend's little son.

2. The letter was not signed, that's why he paid no attention to it.

3. On her handkerchief were the first letters of her name beauti­fully embroidered in silk. 4. If you want to know his address find it out at the address bureau. 5. Seeing the mark of the Moscow post-office on the envelope I was very much surprised, for I had no friends there. 6. Some people are fond of collecting picture postcards. 7. If you want to receive money for your friend you are supposed to produce a document signed by a witness and your passport. 8. I'll telegraph my arrival at once.

4. Answer these questions:

1. When is it advisable to send your letter registered? 2. What happens to a letter marked "Post Restante"? 3. Why do some people collect stamps of various countries? 4. What does the postage on a letter depend on? 5. When are senders given receipts? 6. Why is it more convenient to send a letter by air-mail? 7. What do you do to receive a parcel? 8. What kinds of letters are there? 9. When is it not convenient to send a postcard? 10. What is the difference between a regular telegram and a phototelegram? 11. When does a receiver have to produce his documents? 12. Do you always ensure your parcels? 13. What are the duties of a postman?

 

5. Find a word in list b to fit each word in list a:

 Model: a foreign telegram

a) typewritten, anonymous, foreign, "Odessa", postal illegible, timely

b) stamp, rate, sheet, telegram, signature, delivery, letter, post­mark

6. Find nouns in list b to fit the verbs in list a

Model: to declare the value

a) to deliver, to make, to declare, to witness, to ensure, to en­close, to cash, to get

b) a signature, a money-order, a parcel, a receipt, an inquiry a photo, the mail, the value

6. Give synonyms to:

to lip, to telegraph, to guarantee, to enclose

7. Give opposites to:

handwritten, legibly, addressee

8. Express the following in one word:

1. that can easily be read, plain and clear; 2. the mark of a post-office; 3. to make certain, guarantee, secure certainty; 4.  a post-office department to which letters can be addressed to be kept there until called for; 5. to put something else in an envelope with the letter; 6. the first letters of a person’s name; 7. anything added in writing, esp. to a letter after it has been signed; 8. the amount charged by the post-office for carrying letters, parcels, etc.

9. What would you do or say if:

1) you wanted to draw some money from your account;

2) you wanted to send some printed matter;

3) you received a letter marked "Collect";

4) you wanted to send a valuable parcel (a letter with some important documents);

5) you forgot the postal district of your addressee;

6) your morning papers were not delivered in time;

7) you had no wrapping paper to wrap your parcel;

8) you didn't know how to fill a money-order form properly;

9) you had some bills to be paid;

10) you wanted to have your mail to your new address;

11) you wanted to get your poste restante mail but left your identity card at home.

10. Answer the following questions.

1) Do you like to receive letters? Are you a good correspondent?

2) On what occasions do we send greeting telegrams and postcards?

3) What different reasons might people have for making stamps-collecting a hobby?

4) Does it have much time to have one's letter or parcel registered?

5) How do we send money a) by post; b) by telegraph.

6) Have you ever sent a telegram by phone? How is it done?

Fill in the Subscription Order Form.

(Title of newspaper, magazine)

Please, enter a subscription for one year (-issues) by

surface mail ($ ____ ) yes, no

Airspeed mail ($ ____ ) yes, no

I enclose cheque for _____________ (or)

I have sent the sum of through my local post office

Please write your name and address in capital letters NAME_______________ ADDRESS _____________ ZIP CODE _____________ COUNTRY _____________

Today's date __________ Please send this order to the (    ) Newspaper, Magazine,

Subscription department (address).

Describe the occasion when you sent

a) a greeting telegram;

b) some books by book post;

c) a parcel by parcel post.

13. At the parcel counter 3 people are standing:

a) an old lady with a very small neatly-wrapped box,

b) a boy of about 17 with a enormous parcel roughly tied up with a string,

c) a middle-aged man with a long, rather thin parcel.

Guess the contents of each one.

Say what you know about pigeon post.

Give reasons why some people collect stamps, postcards, coins, envelopes.

Read the following story and say if you approve of such kind of people as Mr. Grace was.

For many years Mr. Grace had kept a busy correspondence with all manner of people all over the world. He wrote to a great many people he had never met. If he read a book he liked, or a short story, or a poem in a magazine, whenever he heard on the radio a piece of music by a contemporary composer, he wrote the author a letter of congratulation.

Say on what occasions people send telegrams

Make up a story developing the idea.

1) I want you to send a telegram at once. It's very urgent. You know what happened today ...

2) I've sent a telegram to Ann telling her I'll meet her at the station but now I can go ...

19. Read a story and say:

a) Where the action takes place;

b) What the telegram could read.

The telegram must have come early. The envelope was on the reception desk, when I came past at 9.30 in the morning. I carried it with me to my table in the dining-room. The envelope was white and addressed in pencil. The message was in pencil too. So that until I read it I didn't realize it was a telegram which had been telephoned written down. It read ...

20. You've received a letter without a sender's address. You can't recognize the hand-writing. The letter is signed "Nick", but you have several friends whose name is Nick. Try to guess who it might be from, (make a dialogue).

21. You are at the post office sending a telegram. There are three more people in front of you sending telegrams too. The first man is sending a greeting telegram, the second - an arrival telegram, the third - a silver wedding greeting to his parents. What will the contents of each telegram be?

Speak on the following topics.

1) Stamps teach history and geography, art and technology. What do you think about it?

2) Writing letters is a real art.

3) Do you agree that all means of communication through letter writing seems to be the most reliable though not the fastest? How do you get in touch with people?