Английский язык. Стратегии понимания текста. Ч. 2

3-е издание, переработанное

2

УДК 811.111(075.8)
ББК 81.2Англ-923
 
А21

А в т о р ы: Е.Б. Карневская, В.М. Федосеева, З.Д. Курочкина, Н.И. Малиновская

Р е ц е н з е н т ы: кафедра иностранных языков Белорусского государственного педагогического университета им. Максима Танка; заведующий кафедрой английского языка 
Белорусской государственной политехнической академии, кандидат филологических 
наук, доцент С.А. Хоменко

Все права на данное издание защищены. Воспроизведение всей книги или любой ее 
части не может быть осуществлено без разрешения издательства

Английский язык. Стратегии понимания текста : учеб. пособие.
А21 В 2 ч. Ч. 2 / Е. Б. Карневская [и др.] ; под общ. ред. Е. Б. Карневской. – 
3-е изд., перераб. – Минск : Выш. шк., 2013. – 255 с.
ISBN 978-985-06-2169-6.

Является второй частью учебного пособия, предназначенного для развития 
навыков чтения и восприятия текстов различных стилистических и жанровых видов. Охватывает темы “Работа в жизни человека”, “Здоровье и медицинское обслуживание”, “Спорт”, “У карты мира”, “Городская жизнь”, “Путе шествия по миру”, 
“Этическое учение христианства”. Каждая тема содержит 2–3 раздела, которые 
включают урок для аудиторных занятий и урок на основе внеаудиторной деятельности. Уроки содержат тексты, задания по чтению, восприятию и анализу текста.
Второе издание вышло в 2011.
Для студентов высших учебных заведений.

УДК 811.111(075.8)
ББК 81.2Англ-923

ISBN 978-985-06-2169-6 (ч. 2) 
© Оформление. УП «Издательство
ISBN 978-985-06-2170-2 
 “Вышэйшая школа”», 2013

CONTENTS

Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
6

SECTION I. WORK IN A PERSON’S LIFE  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
7

UNIT I. Ambitions and Opportunities  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
7

P a r t  I .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
7

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text title: Missed Opportunities (10)
Lesson B. Practice Tests. Text titles: What Are They Looking At? (15)  How 
to Research Your Family Tree (17)

P a r t  I I .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
18

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text title: Mrs. Garstin’s Hopes 
and Disappointments (20)
Lesson B. Practice Tests. Text titles: My Mother (27)  Behind Every Great Woman (29)

UNIT II. Teaching as a Career . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
31

P a r t  I .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
31

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text title: Why I Teach? (32)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text title: What Do Babies Know? (37)

P a r t  I I .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
39

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text title: An English Language Teacher in Bath (41)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text title: The City College of Technology (48)

UNIT III. A Teacher Through a Child’s Eyes  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
50

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text title: Snowdrops (51)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text title: My Memories of a Boarding School (58)
Optional Reading  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
60
Her Life  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
60
In Praise of Teachers  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
64

SECTION II. HEALTH AND MEDICAL CARE  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
69

UNIT I. To Be a Doctor  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
69

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text title: How to Be a Doctor (69)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text title: Coping With Stress (72)

UNIT II. The Past and the Present  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
73

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text title: A Letter (74)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text title: Smallpox – Epitaph for a Killer (80)

UNIT III. Threatening Millions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
81

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text title: Aids Hysteria (82)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text title: Back-Chat (86)

UNIT IY. Facts and Attitudes  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
88

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text title: If Only They Could Talk (89)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text title: Assisted Suicide (93)

SECTION III. SPORTS AND GAMES  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
95

UNIT I. Good Friends or Rivals?  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
95

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text title: Where Have All the Fans Gone? (96)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text title: Surf It (100)

UNIT II. Different Attitudes to Sport. Sport at the International Level  . . . . . . .  101

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text title: The Sporting Spirit (102)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text title: Get Active (107)

UNIT III. Sport as Part of a National Culture  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  109

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text title: Americansʼ Appreciation of Sports (110)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text title: Well Suited for Shark-fi lled Waters (115)

SECTION IV. AT THE MAP OF THE WORLD  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  118

UNIT I. What Is the Earth Coming To?  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  118

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text title: The Population Bomb (120)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text title: There’s Plenty of Room Aboard Planet Earth (125)

UNIT II. Developed and Developing Countries in the Modern World  . . . . . . . .  128

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text title: Progress in Samoa (129)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text title: Projects Abroad (135)

UNIT III. Comparisons and Stereotypes  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  138

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text title: Traveller’s Tales (139)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text title: Zanzibar (145)
Optional Reading  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  147
Challenges for Humanity  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  147
How I Began My Shore Adventure  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  148

SECTION V. CITY LIFE  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  151

UNIT I. In a Big City  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  151

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text title: Saturday Night in London (152)
Lesson B. Practice Tests. Text titles: The London Underground (157)  Shopping 
in Dublin (158)

UNIT II. Famous Names  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  159

P a r t  I .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  159

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text title: Shakespeare (160)

P a r t  I I .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  163

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text title: Madame Tussaud’s (164)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text title: Vermeer: A Young Woman Standing 
at a Virginal (168)

UNIT III. Theatre  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  170

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text title: Drama in Cambridge (171)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text title: The Craft of Designing Costume (176)

SECTION VI. GOING PLACES AND SEEING THE WORLD  . . . . . . . . . . . . .  177

UNIT I. On a Long Railway Journey  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  177

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text title: The Trans-Siberian Express (179)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text title: Slow Train to China (189)

UNIT II. What a Wonderful World  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  190

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text title: Traveler (191)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text title: An Extract from a Novel (196)  The Art 
of Travel (196)  Should I Stay or Should I Go? (197)

UNIT III. It’s a Delightful Experience  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  198

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text title: Advertising a Voyage to the Indonesian 
Islands (199)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text title: Make Up Your Mind (205)

SECTION VII. THE ETHICAL TEACHING OF CHRISTIANITY  . . . . . . . . . .  208

UNIT I. Creation of the Universe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  208

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text title: Six Days of Creation (209)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text title: History Set in Stone (216)

UNIT II. The Temptation and Fall of Man  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  217

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text titles: Life in God’s Garden (218) The Fall 
of Man (219)
Lesson B. Practice Test (227)

UNIT III. The Ethics of a Christian Marriage  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  230

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text titles: The Sacrament of Martimony (231)
Lesson B. Practice Test (237)

UNIT IV. Spiritual Standards of Christianity  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  240

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text titles: Cristian Virtues (241) Sins and Struggle 
With Them (243)
Lesson B. Practice Tests (251)

Literature  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  254

INTRODUCTION

This book is intended for Second-Year University 
and College students majoring in English (from UpperIntermediate to Advanced levels). It is aimed at perfecting the students’ reading skills and improving their ability to understand authentic English texts of different 
stylistic varieties and genres.
Reading in this book, as in Book 1, is treated as a 
self-contained course with its own requirements to the 
overall structure and the composition of each individual 
part. At the same time Reading Comprehension is integrated into the general course of speech practice through 
the lexical-semantical contents and the choice of reading materials. These particularly relate to the following 
broad areas, or topics: Work in a Person’s Life, Health 
and Medical Care, Sports and Games, At the Map of the 
World, City Life, Going Places and Seeing the World, 
Ethical Teaching of Christianity. 
According to the number of topics covered, the book 
contains 7 Sections consisting of several units each. The 
units are further subdivided into 2 lessons: A and B. 
Lessons A are based on ‘prepared’ out-of-class activities 
and presuppose careful analysis of the essential elements of the text contents and structure. They lay special emphasis on text features such as linking, cohesion, 
expressiveness and modal-stylistic differentiation. The 
lessons include three main stages: Reading and Comprehension Tasks; Text Features and Language Focus; 
Follow-Up Activities or Discussion, each stage providing a variety of exercises and analytical-communicative 
activities. Lessons B focus primarily on the skills of 
‘quick’ reading and developing reading strategies such 
as synthesizing, summing up and comparing information, extracting main ideas, identifying topic (key) sentences, completing paragraphs, etc. 
Special attention in this book is paid to vocabulary 
development and reinforcement. Apart from pre-reading 
vocabulary lists intended as an aid for comprehension 
there are vocabulary tasks in Language Focus including 

multiple choice and matching exercises, word-meaning 
defi nition and word-building practice as well as RussianEnglish translation, aimed at implementing new vocabulary in speech. 
The purpose of the Discussion and Follow-Up stages 
is to develop the students’ creative speaking and writing 
skills by providing them with the necessary background 
information and relevant problematic issues encouraging 
communicative activity.

SECTION I
WORK IN A PERSON’S LIFE

UNIT I.
UNIT I. Ambitions and Opportunities

A man can succeed at almost anything for which 
he has unlimited enthusiasm.

Charles M. Schwab

PART I

LESSON A. INTENSIVE READING

I. Reading and Comprehension Tasks

1. The following words are essential for understanding and discussing the main 
ideas of the text. Learn the meaning and pronunciation of these words.

Permanent Under-Secretary: senior civil servant responsible for advising the elected Minister and effectively in charge of the department.
The crisis in 1973: the oil crisis which caused the price of oil to rise 
very quickly and was responsible for a fall in industrial production.
Palm Springs: a place in California famous for the wealth of the inhabitants.

Nouns
gambler    a person who risks money or possessions on cards, 
horse races, etc
misery    great suffering or discomfort caused by being very 
poor or sick

Verbs
anticipate    think about something that is going to happen 
and be ready for it
invest   give money to business companies to get profi t
miss    fail to use an opportunity to do smth
part    end a relationship with someone
regard    think about smth in a particular way
succeed smb come next after smb to take their place in a position

Adjectives
civil    connected with the ordinary people or things in a country 
rather than the military ones
crazy    not sensible
reasonable    fair and sensible

Adverbs
inevitably    unavoidably
sharply    quickly and suddenly

2. Practise the pronunciation of the following proper, geographical and official 
names.

Paulette 
Marilyn 
James Graham  
Alaska  
Los Angeles   
Palm Springs  
Government Service  
Martian Invaders  
Social Security  
Merchant Navy  

3. Read the text and do the tasks that follow.

Missed Opportunities
Missed Opportunities
I 
t was about six o’clock on a winter afternoon. Everyone else who had attended James Graham’s ‘goodbye party’ 
had gone home. I had intended to go home 
myself but James insisted on my staying. 
He looked rather sad and lonely, and I 
knew how he felt because I had been in the 
same position two years earlier when he 
had succeeded me as Permanent UnderSecretary to the Ministry of Social Security. I imagined he was looking forward to his retirement because he would 
have more time to spend in his garden but was wondering if he would fi nd 
enough to do.
“It’s not easy, after a lifetime of service”, I said to cheer him up, “but at 
least you’ve got a good pension.”

“Yes, I’m not worried about that”, he said. “I was thinking about my 
brother, actually.”
I had never heard that he had a brother, so naturally I was curious. 
“Rick’s about ten years younger than me”, James said. “He’s always been 
regarded as ‘the black sheep’ of the family. As you know, my father was a 
senior civil servant and he expected us both to follow him into Government 
service. I did, but Rick didn’t. When he was 17, he ran away and joined the 
Merchant Navy. My father couldn’t do anything to prevent it as Rick was 
already at sea. We should have done something to bring him back and fi nd 
him a reasonable job, but he never answered our letters. We heard nothing 
until a few years later, when he sent us a postcard from Los Angeles to say 
he was getting married. He had got a job as a fi lm extra*, and the leading 
actress, Paulette, had fallen in love with him.
Once he had decided to become an actor, he should have taken it seriously but he just had a good time and inevitably there was a divorce. If Paulette had been like my wife, Margaret, she wouldn’t have had any more to do 
with him, but they parted good friends and she even invested in his crazy 
schemes. He rang me up one day and asked me what I thought of investing 
money in Alaska! If they hadn’t found oil there, he would have lost all the 
money…” “Then they found oil,” I said, interrupting him. 
“Oh, yes. They had no right to do so, up there in the ice and snow. However, they did well as the price of oil had gone up sharply after the crisis in 
1973 and Rick became a rich man. Anyone with any sense would have 
stopped there, but instead of that he threw all the money into another mad 
idea. By that time, he had married again, and he and his wife – Marilyn, I 
think her name is – had two children. He should have had some consideration for them but instead he put all the money into some Japanese games 
called “Martian Invaders”, or something like that...”
“So where is he now?” I asked, anticipating a further tale of disaster.
“Oh, he’s a millionaire. He retired fi ve years ago, and lives in Palm 
Springs. He belongs to the same golf club as Bob Hope. It makes you wonder whether we did the right thing, you and I. Perhaps we should have been 
gamblers, like Rick”.
“But you have to take into account that for every Rick there are 100 people who lose everything and fi nish up in misery.”
“No doubt”, he said, “but I can’t help thinking that when I was young I 
believed Rick had missed all his opportunities. And now I wonder whether I 
was the one who did that.”

(From “Synthesis Advanced”)

* fi lm extra – one hired to act in group scenes in a motion picture or stage production.

4. Give evidence from the text to prove or disprove the following statements.

1. The narrator and James had been colleagues for a long time.
2. James didn’t need to worry about his fi nancial position in the future.
3. James had been in the civil service all his life.
4. Rick had always stayed in close contact with the family.
5. Rick remained true to his fi rst choice of a career.
6. James had always approved of his brother’s bold undertakings.
7. Rick was living and working in an elite area in California.
8. Rick’s case is rather an exception than a rule. 
9. James often wondered whether he had always made the right decisions.

5. Focus on the details of the text to answer these questions.

1. Why did the narrator stay behind at the party?
2. What was Rick’s fi rst independent decision?
3. Why couldn’t the family do anything to bring him back?
4. How did Rick meet his fi rst wife?
5. Did James believe they would fi nd oil in Alaska?
6. Was investing money in Alaska the last of Rick’s crazy schemes?
7. Where did Rick move after he had retired?

II. Text Features and Language Focus

1. Text Interpretation: Inference

When reading a story we have to take into account the attitude of the 
person who is telling it, and sometimes not all the information we can 
deduce from it, is expressed clearly. It is then inferred from the facts and 
opinions given.

 
Decide which of the following interpretations is true.

1. James blamed
a) his father for Rick’s decision to run away.
b) himself.
c) Rick.

2. He thinks Rick
a) should have stayed in the Merchant Navy.

b) would have been a good actor if he had made an effort.
c) owed it to Paulette to earn money as an actor.

3. He thinks Rick’s investments succeeded because he was
a) clever.
b) dishonest.
c) lucky.

4. His remark about Rick’s second wife suggests that
a) he has a bad memory.
b) he has never met her.
c) he doesn’t like her.

5. The impression we have of James’ attitude towards his brother in telling 
the story is that 
a) he is very fond of him.
b) he would have been a successful gambler himself.
c) he thinks life is unfair.

2. Expressiveness

The language of the text is, on the whole, neutral both in style and in the 
degree of expressiveness. In other words, it is neither formal nor conversational in its vocabulary or structure and it is not emotionally coloured 
either. Yet, the text is not devoid of some features of expressiveness without which the narration would be less interesting for the reader. These 
features particularly include: 
a) idioms and set phrases such as e.g. ‘the black sheep’, etc.;
b) words and word-combinations conveying the author’s opinion and 
evaluation of the facts and events being described, e.g. ‘a crazy scheme’.

 
Go over the list of word-combinations below and pick out those 
which add expressiveness to the text.

a crazy scheme 
fi nish up in misery
a further tale of disaster 
have consideration for smb 
a mad idea 
put money into smth
the black sheep 
take smth into account
look forward to 
take smth seriously
go up sharply 
throw money into smth
not to have any sense 
make smb wonder

III. Reinforcing Vocabulary 

1. Look at the words below and decide on their meaning in the text choosing
the correct variant.

actually
attend
consideration
curious
miss 
reasonable 
sense

a) at the moment
a) assist
a) care
a) interested
a) be absent from
a) decent
a) creativity

b) urgently
b) be present
b) advice
b) intelligent
b) long for 
b) justifi able
b) practicality

c) in fact 
c) enjoy
c) doubt
c) strange
c) lose a chance
c) wise
c) imagination

2. Replace the italicized words in the sentences below by their equivalents from 
the text.

1. Mr. Brown took over after I had retired.
2. As the prices of gas had risen dramatically the overall economic situation changed for the worse.
3. When deciding on your fi nal assessment the teachers will take your recent illness into consideration.
4. If that teenager doesn’t stop shoplifting, he’ll end up in prison one day.
5. The community authorities are encouraging businessmen to put money 
into local industry.
6. Their marriage was bound to break up eventually.
7. She has always been regarded as a failure by the members of her family.
8. We have always thought of Jack as our personal friend.
9. Any reasonable person must agree that praising children for good behaviour is better than punishing them for bad.
10. Anyone interested in the history of art is recommended to read this book.

3. Fill in the appropriate boxes with the words from the text related to the ones 
in the chart.

Verbs
Nouns
Adjectives/Adverbs

act

consider

million

miserable

reason

retire

success