Ex. 1. Retell the story according to the following plan using the words and expressions given below.

1. Mr. Gregg meets Lautisse

happen; as follows; on deck; run into smb; alone; give a nasty look; not want to disturb smb; back away; mumble an apology; discover that smb`s English is good; approach smb; puzzle over smth; suggest the right word;

solve the puzzle; be highly pleased with smb..

2. Lautisse invites Mr. Gregg to his cabin

win the prize; a wallet made of pigskin; be beside oneself with joy;

celebrate; introduce oneself as ...; discuss things over a glass of brandy;

finally; promise not to breathe a word; give one's real name; make no im­pression on smb; not know a thing about smth.

3. The Greggs learn the truth about their fellow-traveller

talk smth over with smb; be puzzled; make up one's mind; find out smth; consult the ship's librarian; a few innocent questions; drop a name;

be surprised to learn that ...; the world's greatest living painter; give up painting; not touch another brush as long as he lived; be delighted; seize the chance; invite smb around for a drink.

4. Lautisse comes to spend a weekend -with the Greggs

get to be real friendly; suggest; arrange to spend a weekend with smb;

arrive on the noon train; drive; ask if smb wants to do anything in particular;

be eager to please smb; have one wish only; sit and relax; show smb about (around); be attentive to smb's wishes.

5. The fence is given a fresh coat of paint

rise early; remember a job; build a fence with one's own hands; one's pride and joy; need a fresh coat of paint; get out a bucket half full of white paint; hear footsteps; decide to postpone the job; seize the brush from smb's hand; show firmness and determination; get on with the job; work fast; be impatient to finish smth; be happy in one's work; do a good job on the fence;

have nothing to do but to return to one's papers; let one's guest have his own way.

6. The papers get hold of the story

not hear of or from smb; give an interview; mention smth; (the story) appear in the papers; a reporter; a photographer; rush; be eager to learn every little detail; take notes; take pictures; not miss anything; show particu­lar interest in smth; mark a turning point in one's life.

7. Bargaining over the fence

publicity; give smb a funny feeling; an eventful week; lots of visitors; at first; be at a loss; take smth for a joke; find smth impossible to understand;

express one's point of view openly; be worthless as a work of art; make smth clear to smb; a genuine Lautisse; be worth a lot of money; be offered large sums; finally; need time to think smth over.

8. Mr. Gregg really has something to sell

get good advice from smb; talk smb into doing smth; hold an exhibition;

be unable to keep from laughing; be cut up into sections; come straight to the point; at the bottom corner; a signature; in black paint; fail to understand smth; offer an explanation; make a great noise; get a good laugh out of smth; shortly before; repay smb for his kindness; play a joke on the public;

sell within a month's time.

Ex. 2. Tell the story in the words of:

a) Mrs. Gregg;

b) Lautisse;

c) a newspaper reporter.

APPOINTMENT WITH LOVE

By S.I. Kishor

Six minutes to six, said the great round clock over the information booth in Grand Central Station. The tall young army lieutenant' who had just come from the direction of the tracks lifted his sunburned face, and his eyes nar­rowed to note the exact time. His heart was pounding with a beat that shocked him because he could not control it. In six minutes he would see the woman who had filled such a special place in his life for the past thirteen months, the woman he had never seen, yet whose written words had been with him and sustained him unfailingly.

He placed himself as close as he could to the information booth, just beyond the ring of people besieging the clerks.

Lieutenant Blandford remembered one night in particular, the worst of the fighting, when his plane had been caught in the midst of a pack of Zeros². He had seen the grinning face of one of the enemy pilots.

In one of his letters he had confessed to her that he often felt fear, and only a few days before this battle, he had received her answer. "Of course you fear ... all brave men do. Didn't King David know fear? That's why he wrote the Twenty-third Psalm. Next time you doubt yourself, I want you to hear my voice reciting to you: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for Thou art³ with me..." And he had remembered, he had heard her imagined voice, and it had renewed his strength and skill.

Now he was going to hear her real voice. Four minutes to six. His face grew sharp.

Under the immense, starred roof, people were walking fast, like threads of color being woven into a gray web. A girl passed close to him and Lieu­tenant Blandford started. She was wearing a red flower in her suit lapel, but it was a crimson sweet pea, not the little red rose they had agreed upon. Besides, this girl was too young about eighteen, whereas Hollis Meynell had frankly told him she was thirty. "Well, what of it?" he had answered. "I'm thirty-two." He was twenty-nine.

His mind went back to that book — the book the Lord Himself must have put into his hands out of the hundreds of army library books sent to the Florida training camp. Of Human Bondage, it was; and throughout the book were notes in a woman's writing. He had always hated that writing-in habit, but these remarks were different. He had never believed that a woman could see into a man's heart so tenderly, so understandingly. Her name was on the bookplate:Hollis Meynell⁴. He had got hold of a New York City Tele­phone book and found her address. He had written, she had answered. Next day he had been shipped out but they had gone on writing.

For thirteen months, she had faithfully replied, and more than replied. When his letters did not arrive, she wrote anyway, and now he believed he loved her, and she loved him.

But she had refused all his pleas to send him her photograph. That seemed rather bad, of course. But she had explained: "If your feeling for me has any reality, any honest basis, what I look like won't matter. Suppose I'm beautiful. I'd always be haunted by the feeling that you had been taking a chance on just that, and that kind of love would disgust me. Suppose I'm plain (and you must admit that this is more likely). Then I'd always fear that you were going on writing to me only because you were lonely and had no one else. No, don't ask for my picture. When you come to New York, you shall see .me and then you shall make your decision. Remember, both of us are free to stop or to go on after that — whichever we choose..."

The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away.

One minute to six...

Then Lieutenant Bladford`s heart leaped higher than his plane had ever done.

A young woman was coming toward him. Her figure was long and slim;

her blond hair lay back in curls from her delicate ears. Her eyes were blue as flowers; her lips and chin had a gentle firmness. In her pale green suit she was like springtime come alive.

He started toward her, entirely forgetting to notice that she was wearing no rose, and as he moved, a small, provocative smile curved her lips.

"Going my way, soldier?" she murmured.

Uncontrollably, he made one step closer to her. Then he saw Hollis Meynell.

She was standing almost directly behind the girl, a woman well past forty, her graying hair tucked under a worn hat. She was more than plump; her thick-ankled feet were thrust into low-heeled shoes. But she wore a red rose in the rumpled lapel of her brown coat.The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away.

Blandford felt as though he were being split in two, so keen was his de­sire to follow the girl, yet so deep was his longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned and upheld his own; and there she stood. Her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible; he could see that now. Her gray eyes had a warm, kindly twinkle.

Lieutenant Blandford did not hesitate. His fingers gripped the small, worn, blue leather copy of Of Human Bondage⁵' which was to identify him to her. This would not be love, but it would be something precious, something perhaps even rarer than love — a friendship for which he had been and must ever be grateful...

He squared his broad shoulders, saluted, and held the book out toward the woman, although even while he spoke he felt choked by the bitterness of his disappointment.

"I'm Lieutenant John Blandford, and you — you are Miss Meynell. I'm so glad you could meet me. May — may I take you to dinner?"

The woman's face broadened in a tolerant smile. "I don't know what this is all about, son," she answered. "That young lady in the green suit — the one who just went by — begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said that if you asked me to go out with you, I should tell you that she's waiting for you in that big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of a test. I've got two boys with Uncle Sam⁶ myself, so I didn't mind to oblige you."

Notes:

1. Lieutenant [lef'tenqnt; IH'tenqnt]

2. Zero ['zlqreu] — single-seat fighter plane used by the Japanese Navy in World War II

3. Thou art [Dau 'Rt] (archaic) — "you are"

4. Hollis Meynell ['hLlIs 'melnql]

5. Be with Uncle Sam — be in the Army

6. "Of Human Bondage" — one of the most famous novels by S. Maugham

I. COMPREHENSION

Ex. 1. Answer the following questions.

1. For whom was the lieutenant waiting for at the information booth?

2. Why was he so excited?

3. How did he make the woman's acquaintance?

4. Why was Lieutenant Blandford so anxious to see the girl?

5. What made the friendship of the two people who had never seen each other so strong?

6. Why didn't she send him her photograph?

7. How old were the lieutenant and the girl?

8. Why did he start toward the girl in the green suit?

9. What made Lieutenant Blandford step forward without hesitation to meet the plump plain woman in her late forties?

10. Why did Hollis Meynell ask the woman to play the role?

Date: 2016-04-22; view: 3881