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Mr Wormwood, the Great Car Dealer

I. Choose the correct variant:

 

1. Her father was a dealer in second-hand cars and it seemed he did pretty ______at it.

a) good, b) well,

c) nice, d) fine.

 

2. “That’s because you’re an ignorant little_______” the father said.

a) girl, b) fool,

c) twit, d) thing.

 

3. “I’m telling you ________ secrets” the father said.

a) family, b) trade,

c) great, d) sacred.

 

4. “But Daddy, that’s even more dishonest than the sawdust. It’s disgusting. You are ________people who trust you”

a) lying, b) dishonourable,

c) cheating, d) indecent.

 

5. Mrs Wormwood sat munching her meal with her eyes ________ to the American soap-opera on the screen.

a) sticked, b) attached,

c) glued, d) stared.

 

6. The father glanced up _______. “I would mind!” he snapped.

a) coldly, b) calmly,

c)indifferently, d) sharply.

7. Another thing. She resented being told constantly that she was_______ when she knew she wasn’t.

a) pretty and clever, b) ignorant and funny,

c) ignorant and stupid, d) ill-bred and cunning.

 

8. She could feel the anger ________ inside her

a) boiling up, b) arousing,

c) torturing, d) starting in.

 

9. If only they read a little Dickens or Kipling they would soon________ there was more to life than cheating people and watching television.

a) learnt, b) knew,

c) opened, d) discover.

10. You must remember that she was still hardly five years old and it is not easy for somebody as small as that to _________an all-powerful grown-up.

a) fight, b) stand at bay,

c) stand from under, d) score points against.

II. Mark the statements as True or False. Correct the false statements:

 

1. Matilda’s parents owned quite a poor house with no bedrooms and kitchen.

2. Matilda’s father believed the girl to be an ignorant little twit.

3. Mr Wormwood’s speech was always delicate and polite.

4. Mr Wormwood didn’t mind telling little Mike about his business.

5. Mr Wormwood was fair and didn’t cheat people.

6. Mr Wormwood’s business was to sell speedometers.

7. Matilda wasn’t good at mathematics.

8. The father was proud of his daughter.

9. The family always had their meal in the dining-room.

10. Matilda was happy with her parents and she wasn’t determined to have a go.

 

III. Complete the sentences with the words from the text:

1. His speech was so _______ that it made people believe him.

2. That teddy-bear was so shabby that the _____ crumbled away.

3. She couldn’t sell the car until the _____ was repaired.

4. Then all I do is mix a lot of sawdust with the oil in the gear-box and it runs as sweet as _____.

5. No one ever go_____ being honest.

6. He was driving his car at a ______ speed .

7. Every single car that comes through my hands gets the _______ .

8. Stop _________ at the table!

9. Kate was so sentimental that she couldn’t stop watching American ________ on TV every day.



10. Nobody liked to mix with Frank because he was a ______ man.

 

IV. Find in the text the words and word-combinations which mean the following (Pay attention to the postpositions used). Reproduce the sentences where they were used:

 

1. Someone who buys and sells a particular product, especially an expensive one;

2. To encourage someone to do something foolish or risky;

3. Cheat or swindle someone so as to deprive them on something;

4. Interfere with something in order to cause damage or make unauthorized alterations;

5. To reduce a number of miles travelled or covered;

6. To make a slight or indirect indication or suggestion;

7. Deliver a sermon or religious address to an assembled group of people, typically in church;

8. Be paying very close attention to something, especially a television;

9. Take a brief or hurried look;

10. Bravely intervene in an attempt to thwart a criminal.

 

V. Match the halves to make phrases used in the text. Translate them. Restore the sentences where they were used:

1. To egg smb. 2. To put 3. To give smb. 4. To have 5. To keep 6. To inherit 7. To make smb 8. To preach 9. To glance up 10. To tolerate one’s     a) a view of life b) a hint c) sharply d) on shamelessly e) idiocies f) to smb. about honesty g) in jug h) one’s love to crookery i) a go j) one’s mouth shut

 

VI. Make up sentences of your own with the phrases from ex.V.

VII. Convert into reported speech:

1. “Sawdust”, he would say proudly, is one of the great secrets of my success. And it costs me nothing. I get it free from the sawmill”.

2. “That’s because you’re an ignorant little twit”, the father said.

3. You must be very clever to find a use for something that costs nothing”, she said. “I wish I could do it’.

4. “So I scratch my head”, the father said. “I use my brains”.

5. “Can you really turn the mileage back with an electric drill?” young Michael asked.

6. “I won’t tell a soul”, the boy said. “do you do this to many cars, Dad?”

7. “Mummy”, Matilda said, “would you mind if I ate my supper in the dining-room so I could read my book?”

8. “What’s wrong with watching the telly, may I ask?” the father said.

9. “Ha!” the father said. “Wouldn’t you like to know”.

10. “How long will it run like that before it starts rattling again?” Matilda asked him.

 

VIII. Explain or paraphrase and recall the situation from the text:

1. She could feel the anger boiling up inside her.

2. “Who the heck do you think you are”, he shouted, “the Archbishop of Canterbury or something, preaching to me about honesty?”

3. “So I buy an old damp that’s got about a hundred and fifty thousand miles on the clock. I get it cheap.”

4. “Long enough for the buyer to get a good distance away”, the father said grinning.

5. “No one ever got rich being honest”.

6. “If you don’t like it then don’t eat the food in this house”, the father said. “It’s bought for the profit”.

7. “Quite right, Harry”, the mother said. And to Matilda she said, “You’ve got a nerve talking to your father like that”

8. “Supper is a family gathering and no one leaves the table till it’s over!”

9. Matilda didn’t trust herself to answer him, so she kept quiet.

10. Even so, she was determined to have a go.

 

IX. Translate the following extract into Russian:

Another thing. She resented being told constantly that she was ignorant and stupid when she knew she wasn’t. The anger inside her went on boiling and boiling, and as she lay in bed that night she made a decision. She decided that every time her father or her mother was beastly to her, she would get her own back in some way or another. A small victory or two would help her to tolerate their idiocies and would stop her from going crazy.

X. Give a summary of the chapter.

 


Date: 2015-01-12; view: 2144


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