Phonetic Text Drills

○ Exercise 1

Transcribe and pronounce correctly the words from the text.

Courtyard, elaborate, wrought iron, balding, diagonal, vaguely, scheme, quantity, bewitched, engrossed, chandelier, assess, di­mension, intricately, mythological, beige, fabric, to review, forthcoming, to decipher, to aggrieve, to assume.

○ Exercise 2

Pronounce the words or phases where the following clusters occur.

1. consonant + w

It was, squared, and white, covered with, that way, in­vented one, lined with, and walls, was wooden.

2. plosive + 1

Middle, marble, instantly, almost lost, and letters, tables, glimpse, rectangle, mantelpiece, eagle, that looked, little.

3. plosive + m/n

Gulped nervously, and nodded, had never seen, could not think, did not feel, good many, but most of it, had known, told me.

4. plosive + fricative

Get her, and he, had shutters, glad you came, could have been, but she, looked hard, stirred her cup, occupant for, could hear, that she, directed her, and help, could she.

5. plosive + plosive

Paved courtyard, deep purple, had just seen, white door, but concealed, flowered cover, and postcards, adult deco­rations, great quantity, ancient toys, sit down, coloured carpet, could compare, kept quiet.

○ Exercise 3

Pronounce after the announcer and explain what kind of false assimilation may occur in the phrases below.

1. Was semi-detached, was separated, was painted, was tiled, was hard, was staggered, was she.

2. Of which, of tea, of furniture, of pale yellow, of somehow familiar, of course, of her discovery.

○ Exercise 4

Transcribe and intone the following sentences from the text. Note that the intonation pattern of sentences, starting with "there" is similar to the pattern of predicative statements. Explain the use of the intonation marks.

1. There was 'also a'\bell | and 'Clara 'chose the \bell ||

2. There \was 'also | she 'vaguely \noted | in 'one 'comer a pi\ano | and the 'windows had 'shutters of a ­kind that she had 'never 'seen in \England ||

3. There were a 'good 'many \books in the 'room | 'one 'wall was \lined ,with them | and they 'lay in 'heaps on 'chairs and on the \floor ||

EXERCISES

Exercise 1. Work with the text and say what we call:

— large pieces of cloth that we put as a decoration on a wall or a curtain over a window;

— a measurement in space such as length, width, or height;

— an open space wholly or partly surrounded by buildings, next to or inside a large house;

— a house that is one of a pair of joined houses;

— a paved surface or path at the side of a street for people to walk on;

— a sort of stone that is hard, cold to the touch, smooth when polished, and used for buildings and statues, etc.;

— the opening for a coal fire in the wall of a room, with a chimney above it and a hearth;

— a pair of wood or metal covers that can be unfolded in front of the outside of a window to block the view or keep out the light;

— a block of stone or wood forming the base of a doorway;

— a flight of stairs with a handrail;

— a small partly enclosed space in a room;

— a flat shape with four straight sides forming four right an­gles;

— a person who lives in a place, though without necessarily owning it;

— a frame surrounding a fireplace, especially the part on top which can be used as a small shelf;

— number of things, mass of material, piled up.

Exercise 2. Pick out all the words and word combinations which describe:

1. The hall in the Denhams' house;

2. The bedroom in the Denhams' house;

3. The drawing room in the Denhams' house.

Exercise 3.

I. Find in the text nouns modified by the adjectives:

1. tall/high;

2. flowered/patterned;

3. large/huge.

II. Explain the difference in meaning between these adjectives and say in what other collocations they can be used. Give examples.

Exercise 4

I. Three names of building materials occur in the text: brass, marble, wood. Think of other names of materials and say what is usually made of them.

II. Three nouns denoting a certain number of things are used in the text: heap, quantity, row. Think of other similar nouns and say in what colloca­tions they may occur.

Exercise 5

I. Work with the text and complete the list of participles II:

Paved, painted, ...

II. Complete the list of nouns, denoting furnishings or pieces of furniture:

A fireplace, a pot, ...

III. Complete the list of adjectives, used to describe a building, a room or furniture:

Tall, lovely, ... '

Exercise 6

I. Find sentences with the following adjectives and adverbs in the text. Read and translate the sentences.

elaborate distant solid

amazing ancient familiar

densely deep plain

huge classical intricately

II. Make up other parts of speech from these words where possible.

Exercise 7. Translate into English.

A.

a tall building different fabrics

a steep hillside amazing objects

a large courtyard pale lines

deep purple charming features

throw open familiar books

Exercise 9

I. Find in the text sentences with phrases denoting location of things, translate them into Russian and ask your classmates to translate them back into English.

In front of, in the centre, on the doorstep, in most directions, at the far end, in one comer, to the second floor, on top of a bookcase, on small pedestals, over the mantelpiece, on one wall, on the shelves.

II. Try to reproduce the context where the following phrases occurred.

Covered with, lost beneath, lined with, pinned up, pasted on, carefully arranged, covered by.

Exercise 10. Put in the missing prepositions.

1. There was a marble statue of a Greek warrior... the far end of the hall.

2. The window of the bedroom looked ... the green park.

3. A long corridor led... the direction of a huge home library.

4. The garden was separated ... the street... a hedge running in a neat line.

5. The piano was placed ... the corner of a big dancing hall and so there remained enough space for dances.

6. Small semi-detached houses are scattered ... the hillside.

7. All walls in the library were lined ... bookshelves.

8. The two girls were standing ... the doorstep when they saw somebody in the garden.

9. The room was in a mess: everything lay ... heaps on the floor.

10. The hostess appeared... the back door so that it was hard to notice when she entered.

11. The house gave the impression ... a glass cube under a steel roof.

12. The walls of the bathroom were tiled ... green and white squares.

13. The book was lost... a heap of papers on the table.

14. There were lots of framed photographs... the mantelpiece.

Exercise 11. Paraphrase the italicized part of each sentence choosing the appropriate phrase from the text.

1. Clara, uninvited, thought she might as well come in, and did it.

2. There were plenty of books in the room; and they lay in piles on chairs and on the floor.

3. The man swallowed and nodded.

4. There were so many pictures on the walls that it was hard to tell whether or how they were papered.

5. It was separated from the pavement by a high, ornamented, wrought iron fence.

6. The door of the Denhams' house was covered with wooden panels.

7. The floor was covered with squares of marble.

8. It was such a large, high, long room crammed with furniture and mirrors and pictures that the eye could not at first sight evaluate its size.

9. She did not feel that she had to hide her astonishment.

10. Clara, when she looked closely, could just make out a bed, almost hidden, beneath a cover.

11. There was a great quantity of toys, neatly put in order.

12. Clara felt amazed and charmed.

13. She didn't follow the conversation, so absorbed was she by the visual aspect of the scene presented to her.

14. Over the marble mantelpiece was an enormous oval mirror, embellished with an eagle.

15. And help was coming for there was a whole line of books which she somehow knew.

16. The name on the back, she could just discern it, was some­thing like Candida.

17. Most of the floor was covered by a big elaborately orna­mented carpet.

18. Clara, seeking for help, directed her excellent vision at the distant titles of books.

19. Mrs Denham herself was a suitable inhabitant for such a room.

20. 'Who was that that opened the door and allowed me to enter' asked Clara.

Exercise 12

Complete the following sentences choosing the appropriate word or phrase from the list. Change the form of the words if necessary. Translate the sen­tences into Russian.

to be lined to be full of to be covered

to be pinned up to lie in heaps to be concealed

to be lost beneath to stand open to be pasted

to lead to be arranged to be tiled

to be separated to be painted to be papered

1. If the floor ... ... one can easily hear footsteps on it.

2. Other walls ... ... with white bookshelves from which books overflow to the floor.

3. The door between the office and a small dark room at the back always ... ... .

4. The floors downstairs ... ... with Indian carpets.

5. The walls ...... with pictures of aircrafts.

6. A staircase ... from the ground floor to the first floor.

7. The notice ... ... ... and became the centre of attention.

8. A typewriter, some writing paper, pens and pencils — everything ... carefully ... on top of the bookcase.

9. The walls in the sitting-room ... ... but not painted, which made the room look a lot cosier.

10. The room ... ... ... dark expensive furniture. Oriental car pets, smart lamps, everything first-class.

11. The incident...... and nobody ever learned anything.

12. A sick child ... nearly ... ... the heap of blankets.

13. Books, papers, manuscripts, stacks of letters ... ... ... all around the study.

14. The dining room ... ... from the rest of the house by a nar­row passage.

15. As the tiny house ...... green, it was almost lost on the green background of the garden.

Exercise 13

Remember a situation when you came to somebody's place and experi­enced strong emotions. Tell the class about it, ending the story with one of the sentences given below.

1. I vaguely noted.

2. I said it with pride and display.

3. I did not feel at all obliged to conceal the amazement.

4. I was staggered and bewitched.

5. I was engrossed in the visual aspect of the scene presented to me.

6. I did not betray the novelty of my discovery.

Exercise 14. Speak of Clara's visit to the Denhams' house.

1. in the third person;

2. in the person of Clara;

3. in the person of Clelia;

4. in the person of Mrs Denham.

Exercise 15. Discussion points.

1. What impression does the description of the Denhams' house produce on you?

2. What can you say about the people who inhabit it?

3. What do you think of Clara?

4. Have you ever experienced anything like that in your life?

5. Do you believe that homes reflect their owners' mode of life, occupation, character?

Exercise 16. Translate into English.

Look at the picture. It depicts the living-room of a large family. Look at it for two minutes, then hide it and agree or disagree with the following state­ments. Test your perception and memory.

► Pattern: The living-room is rather small. — No, I don’t think so, it is rather spacious.

1. In the middle of the room there is a big table.

2. The table is laid for dinner.

3. At the table there are two armchairs.

4. The armchairs are very comfortable with tall backs.

5. On the right there is a fireplace.

6. On the mantelpiece there is a clock.

7. Just opposite the fireplace there is a sofa.

8. There are four cushions on the sofa.

9. The sofa is small and comfortable.

10. In the foreground we can see a desk.

11. In the far left comer there is a standard lamp.

12. The walls are covered with beautiful carpets.

Exercise 18

Look at the picture. Describe this picture in detail. What would you bring in or take away to make it look cosier? How would you furnish it to your taste?

Date: 2015-01-12; view: 2560