Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an
A. Shchoutsky, A. Sauko, V. Konovalik
Of books & authors,
And
what not
BARANOVICHI 2007
Foreword
This book begins a series of study materials intended for upper intermediate and advanced students of English at Faculties of Foreign Languages. Thematically, it meets the requirements of the curriculum and is designed to upgrade the students language and interaction skills as well as training them in text processing including the stylistic analysis of works of fiction and their interpretation.
The compilation includes authentic materials selected with the view to covering such areas of verbal communication as The Role of Reading in Shaping a Personality, Books and Authors, Books and Children, Literacy versus Computer Literacy. Emphasis is also laid on building up and updating thematic vocabulary, revising grammar and polishing up listening and reading comprehension skills.
The book comes with an audio cassette and a CD version of classroom tasks and activities. Appended to the book are a glossary, a set of classroom expressions and a list of used resources.
Authors
Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an
exact man (Francis Bacon, Of Studies)
TIME TO HIT THE BOOKS
Books&Reading
Vocabulary revision & development
1 What associations do you have with the word books? Add as many as you can to complete the books maze.
interesting writer
novel
exciting
author
short story
&
2 Read the passage below and say if there is something you agree or disagree
with.
Why read books?
Is it worth reading books, since nowadays there are so many other forms of entertainment? Some people say that even paperback books are expensive, and not everyone can borrow books from a library. They might add that television is more exciting and that viewers can relax as they watch their favourite programmes. All that may be true, but books are still very popular. They encourage the reader to use his or her imagination for a start. You can read a chapter of a book, or just a few pages, and then stop. Of course, it may be so gripping that you cant stop! There are many different kinds of books, so you can choose a crime novel or an autobiography, or a book which gives you interesting information. If you find it hard to choose, you can read reviews or ask friends for ideas. Personally, I cant do without books, but I can give up television easily enough. You cant watch television at bus stops!
3 In pairs, discuss the following.
1 Would you agree with the writer who regards reading as a form of
entertainment?
2 Are there any other functions that reading or books can perform? What are
they, if any?
3 Which side of reading appeals to you most: entertaining, informative,
educational, psychological, emotional, developmental or other?
4 As a future teacher, what would you recommend your students to read in
Russian, Belarusian, English? Why?
5 What would your answer to the title of the story be?
4Look at the statements below and decide which function each statement
describes.
1 Reading is not only limited to bridging the information gap for academic
purposes.
2 The more you read, the wider your horizons.
3 Reading may arouse deep emotions and improve our mood.
4 It can make us sentimental or optimistic and remove us from dull thoughts.
5 Reading stirs peoples imagination, fills their minds with new ideas, makes
them think and inspires to greater efforts.
6 Reading creates a special spiritual world that is very important for ones
development as a human being.
7 Collecting books can be an exciting experience, pastime and/or hobby.
8 Reading is an excellent means of entertainment and relaxation.
5 Look back at Ex. 2 and Ex. 4 and find words and expressions in italics which mean the following. Which of them are [1]phrasal verbs?
- books in soft cover
- exciting and interesting
- smth you need badly
- stop doing smth
- a big difference between the situations, amounts, etc.
- the limit of your ideas, knowledge, etc.
- to make someone have a strong feeling or reaction
- to encourage someone by making them feel confident and eager to do smth
- rest
- an article in a newspaper or magazine that gives an opinion about a new book, play, film, etc.
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6Below are names of most popular literary genres. Can you match them
with their definitions?
a short story
- the story of your own life which you have written yourself, especially about your involvement in important political or military events
a novel
- a piece of writing that expresses emotions, experiences, and ideas, especially in short lines using words that rhyme
a poem
- a long written story in which the characters and events are usually imaginary
a fable
a children's story in which magical things happen
a fairy tale
a short piece of writing giving someone's ideas about politics, society etc.
a play
- a short piece of writing in which the writer tells a story
an essay
- a story that is written to be performed by actors, especially in a theatre
memoirs/`memwɑːz/
- a book about someone's life, written by another person
biography
- stories about events in the future which are affected by imaginary developments in science, for example about travelling in time or to other planets with life on them
an autobiography
- a short story in prose or verse which is written so that a moral may be learnt from it.
science fiction (sci fi)
- a book in which you write down the things that happen to you each day
a diary/`daɪəri/
- a book in which someone writes about their own life
²Listening Comprehension
7As is known, stories may vary according to the subject matter and include thrillers, mysteries, horror stories, ghost stories, spy stories, crime stories, adventure stories, detective stories, love stories,etc.and, of course, sci fi storiesand fairy tales.
Now listen to some stories and identify the genre of the story. Write it in the blanks below.