Английский язык : практикум по домашнему чтению (к рассказам Дж. Арчера и Р. Даля)

МИНИСТЕРСТВО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ И НАУКИ РФ 

ФЕДЕРАЛЬНОЕ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОЕ АВТОНОМНОЕ ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНОЕ УЧРЕЖДЕНИЕ  
ВЫСШЕГО ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ  
«НАЦИОНАЛЬНЫЙ ИССЛЕДОВАТЕЛЬСКИЙ ТЕХНОЛОГИЧЕСКИЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ «МИСиС» 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 
 

 

№ 296 

Кафедра русского и иностранного языков и литературы

 
 
 

Английский язык

Практикум 

 

Рекомендовано редакционно-издательским 
советом университета 

Москва  2012 

УДК 811.111 
 
A64 

Р е ц е н з е н т  
кандидат филологических наук И.В. Цветкова 

Авторы: М.С. Алехина, Т.А. Булановская, С.Н. Вековищева, 
Д.К. Каримова, И.А. Клепальченко 

 
Английский язык: Практикум по домашнему чтению (к рас- 
A64 сказам Дж. Арчера и Р. Даля) / М.С. Алехина, Т.А. Булановская, 
С.Н. Вековищева и др. – М.: МИСиС, 2012. – 211 с. 

Практикум представляет собой сборник упражнений на понимание прочитанного, развитие навыков устной речи, расширение словарного запаса 
студентов. Часть упражнений направлена на отработку определенных грамматических конструкций, а также на развитие навыков письма. 
Предназначен для студентов лингвистического факультета. 

© НИТУ «МИСиС», 2012 

CONTENTS 
A la carte (by J. Archer) .............................................................................4 
Just good friends (by J. Archer)................................................................12 
The perfect murder (by J. Archer)............................................................19 
Clean sweep ignatius (by J. Archer).........................................................31 
Not a penny more, not a penny less (by J. Archer)...................................37 
Parson’s pleasure (by R. Dahl).................................................................46 
Genesis and catastrophe (by R. Dahl).......................................................56 
Taste (by R. Dahl) ....................................................................................62 
Man from the south (by R. Dahl)..............................................................70 
Dip in the pool (by R. Dahl).....................................................................76 
Galloping foxley (by R. Dahl)..................................................................85 
Skin (by R. Dahl)......................................................................................94 
The great automatic grammatizator (by R. Dahl)...................................101 
Appendix ................................................................................................111 
 

A LA CARTE (BY J. ARCHER) 

1. Answer the questions: 
1) What was your childhood ambition? 
2) When did you overcome a childish phase? 
3) Did you dream of going in for service? What do you mean by ‘dream 
job’? 
4) What and who influenced your choice of careers? 
5) What did your parents want you to be? 
6) What was your parents’ attitude to your choice at first? 
7) Has your parents’ attitude changed? 
8) Do you think it’s a tough job to be a porter, a cook? 

2. Read the following passage. Do you agree or disagree with the 
author’s point of view? 
I am Blake Morrison – a poet, a writer. My father was a practitioner 
helping with medical problems. I grew up with medical terms. Father 
wanted me to take over from him as a doctor. Mom wanted me to follow 
in father’s footsteps. I was a great disappointment to them. I never did 
biology well. It was obvious to me that I would never become a doctor. 
My parents forgave me many years later. I graduated from the university 
with the degree. I became a Doctor, PhD (Doctor of Philosophy – but doctor anyway). You get interested in a subject, meeting a person can be inspiring – it was my teacher of English literature. The main idea is that you 
should make up your choice voluntarily – when something is not imposed 
but you choose.  
I believe in heart therapy. Poetry can help, cure. Feeling miserable and 
unhappy – you write for yourself.  

3. Why do you think the story is entitled in French? Think of the 
English variant of the title of the story. 

4. Read the story. Which of the meanings of ‘a la carte’ suits the title best of all? 
• 
with each dish charged individually at the price shown on the menu 
or 
• 
(figurative) with the freedom to pick and choose. 

5. Recall the situation from the text where the following phrases 
occurred. 
1) …Arthur was demobbed… 

9) …’Land fit for heroes’… 
10) “That’s the ticket.” 
11) …settled second best. 
12) …to screw knobs a hundred times a shift. 
13) They can’t wait to get started. 
14) He lavished everything he could on the boy (put in hours of overtime 
to earn money to ensure that the boy could have extra tuition). 
15) “Go there over my dead body.” 
16) His old comrade-in-arms. 
17) …to be in good hands. 
18) It was more of a bustle than the lobby had been. 
19) They were edging away from him. 
20) … he must be doing something half-right. 
21) …but actually muttered his greatest accolade – “Bon.” 
22) …he would be happy to give you a reference… 
23) …who had taken the George Cinq for granted… 
24) Standards are bound to fall. 
25) …yearn for his homeland… 

6. Answer the following questions: 
1) Was Arthur’s post-war fate a typical one? 
26) What did he want his son to become (a solicitor, an accountant, an 
army officer, a schoolmaster)? 
27) What prospects attracted Arthur to end up at Triumph? Did it prove to 
be ‘the ticket’? 
28) What was the routine like (fitting wheels on cars: screw four knobs 
onto a wheel a hundred times a shift)? 

7. Father belongs to the so-called “lost generation” and this influenced his choice of job. Explain why his son also wanted to take up 
this career. Do you think Mark also belongs to the “lost generation”? 

8. Do you think the works’ manager at Triumph was right when he 
was saying: 
“The car’s no longer a toy for the eccentric rich or even just a necessity 
for the businessman. In fact, management are preparing for the ‘two-car 
family.’” 

9. Discuss the relations in the Hapgoods family. Speak on Mark’s 
mother’s role. How did the family influence the boy’s future and formation of his personality? 

10. Characterize the head porter’s personality and his attitude towards Mark. 

11. Give your reasons for dress requirements in some jobs. 

12. Which of the jobs Mark tried needed a uniform? 

13. Read the following information and comment on it. 
In the USA you would tip waiters, hairdressers, bellhops (hotel porters), taxi drivers, valets who park your car, wine waiters. 
10 or 15% is fine. In New York restaurants 15% is minimum. Tip bellhops, valets, doormen $1. 
In Britain, tipping is less frequent, but it would be normal. 10% is the 
general rule, in more expensive restaurants tip is 12,5 to 15%. You don’t 
have to tip if the menu says service included. Don’t tip if the service is 
bad. Calculate your tip on the price before restaurant adds Value Added 
Tax (VAT). 
Tip hotel porters about 50p per bag. 
In Spain – a few coins is enough in most restaurants. In taxis, don’t 
wait for small charge. 
The Japanese don’t tip. 

Why do people pay tips? (overtime job, well-done job, very hard 
job, very unpleasant job, quickly done job, etc.) 

Do you have to tip in Russia? 

14. What issues should be taken into consideration if you are training for any job in service? 
• 
personal insults don’t worry you; 
• 
you are bored by mundane tasks; 
• 
if you can choose, you do things your way; 
• 
success in your job is very important; 
• 
you like tasks that require a lot of physical and mental energy; 
• 
you like to keep things in order; 
• 
traditional solutions are the best; 
• 
you don’t finish tasks on time; 
• 
you like working under pressure; 
• 
you enjoy being challenged by new tasks; 
• 
checking details is not your strong point; 
• 
the beauty often astounds you; 
• 
you prefer doing practical things to creative; 

• 
you are not very inventive; 
• 
unconventional people make you feel uncomfortable; 
• 
thinking up new ideas is easy to you; 
• 
you enjoy organizing things in advance; 
• 
mending things is not your strong point; 
• 
you try to solve problems by intuition; 
• 
your independence is very important. 

15. Describe Mark’s duties as a junior porter; an apprentice in the 
kitchen, a trainee chef. 

16. Write a letter of recommendation for Mark as if you were 
Jacques, the maître chef de cuisine. 
Use the following phrases: 
To whom it may concern 
…..has worked in our hotel for … months 
As his supervisor, I have been able to observe him closely. He learns 
fast and made good progress. He is interested in a career in…, and we 
regard him very highly. 

17. What is important to Mark in a job? Choose the most important factors and arrange them in order of priority. 
A. free meals B. flexible working hours C. high salary D. socially useful E. independence F. creativity G. close to home H. job satisfaction I. working with other people J. promotion prospects K. fame Here are some disadvantages of a job. Add some other… 
• 
dealing with difficult clients 
• 
loosing touch with friends and relatives 

18. The story is logically and syntactically divided into three parts. 
The author manages to create certain images in each of them. One of 
the means used to achieve this purpose is opposition. Find examples in 
the text and prove your point of view. 

19. It is also possible to create the image system by application of 
descriptions as it is done at the beginning of the second part.  
Find examples and explain your point of view or associations caused 
by these images (e.g. the picture of the Laughing Cavalier; the uniform 
that didn’t fit, etc.). 

20. Images may also be created by using comparison, details or 
metonymy.  
Find examples in the text and explain the associations (e.g., like a prisoner; a thin smile, he’ll cut your ear off).  

21. Find the difference between the following words: 
• 
regular, ordinary, common, usual, average, normal, everyday 
• 
standard, conventional, typical 
• 
mentor, patron, trainer 
• 
profession, job, work, career 

22. Fill in the gaps with prepositions 
1) to be back ….. the place – вернуться на место 
2) ….. the outskirts … Coventry – на окраине Ковентри 
3) to read …. smb’s success – читать о чьем-нибудь успехе 
4) to consist … carrying cases – состоять в ношении чемоданов 
5) to hand … all his tips – отдавать все чаевые 
6) to dance … Elvis Presley – танцевать под музыку Э. Пресли 
7) to sympathize … problems – сочувствовать проблемам 
8) is not good ….. his legs – проблемы с ногами 
9) reserve the table …. the name – заказать столик на имя 

23. Exchange your ideas on some of the following questions in 
small groups. Prove it with the facts from the text and your personal 
experience. 
1) Does the job involve a lot of stress because of the nature of work or 
because of circumstances? 
2) Did he get on well with his parents all his life?  
3) Did Arthur feel well-rewarded with Mark’s study achievements? 
4) Do you think it is important to know how this organization really 
works? 
5) What was Mark’s responsibility being a porter? a potatoes peeler? 
6) Were they friendly with the other boys in the hotel, did they cover up 
for each other? 
7) Why did Arthur think that Mark shouldn’t follow his footsteps? 
8) Did he inherit the interest in food from his mother? 

9) Did he miss his home? Give your reason. 
10) How did people treat him: clients, head porter, trainees in the kitchen?  
11) Did he use to love going down to kitchen being the bellboy/a porter? 
12) Who did he pick up a lot of cooking tips from? 
13) Did he make up his own recipes? 
14) Did he work for fun? 
15) Did he introduce his father and mother slowly to the idea? 
16) How long did he put off telling his father the truth of his idea of future 
plans? 
17) When he brought the subject up to his parents were they taken aback? 
18) Do you think that cooking is an art of creation or a boring mundane 
job? 
19) Were his parents proud of him? 
20) Did his father get over it and they made it up? 
21) Was his mother delighted that he was doing something he enjoyed? 
22) How did he make them respect his opinion? 
23) Do you think he made the right choice? Give your reasons. 
24) Did it turn out for the best? 
25) Why did he make up his mind to accept the…offer on the way home? 
26) Is it socially demanding and challenging job? 
27) Did he have regular contacts with his parents and enjoy good relationship, was he supportive enough despite their geographic distance? 
28) Prove the fact that Mark had also managerial and administrative skills, 
as well as intuition, a sense of enterprising, good luck. 

24. Who and why felt like this? 
• 
puzzled 
• 
disappointed 
• 
taken aback 
• 
furious 
• 
contented 

25. Some of the following phrasal verbs are from the story. Find 
them, reproduce the situation and use in sentences of your own. 

• 
set eyes on smb. 
• 
to set foot in 
• 
set off in the direction 
• 
set about the task 
• 
to be back into (a routine) 
• 
bring up 

• 
make up  
• 
pick up 
• 
take up the career 
• 
be taken aback 
• 
turn out 
• 
put in hours 

• 
end up 
• 
get on with 
• 
get over 
• 
go through  
• 
carry out the task 

• 
hand it over to 
• 
turn down (an application) 
• 
come up (with a compromise) 
• 
work out a routine 
• 
bound for 

26. Translate the following sentences into English. 
1) Он не проявляет интереса в этом вопросе. 
2) Она успешно завершила учебный год 
3) Они не стали рассматривать это непривлекательное предложение 
4) Пора было принимать меры – искать выход. 
5) Бывший армейский друг убеждал его за кружкой пива. 
6) Он сразу же пожалел о своем решении. 
7) Вы проходили воинскую службу в 2000 году? 
8) Они получили одобрение отца. 
9) Он скажет, что я не сдержал слово. 
10) Я готов согласиться при условии, что мы поедем туда вдвоем. 
11) Вы что, с ума сошли? 

27. Match the words with characters from the story. Outline the 
situation. 
1) ‘Your time will come, lad.’ 
2) ‘Bet they don’t cook as well as you.’ 
3) ‘You must be out of your mind.’ 
4) ‘It’s only a few more months.’ 
5) ‘You realize I have been left with no choice but to sack you.’ 
6) ‘I’m off to home.’ 
7) ‘A wasted talent.’ 
8) ‘I can’t pretend that happens every day.’ 

28. Reproduce the dialogue between Jacques and his potential protégé, Mark. Keep to the emotions stated below: 
• 
repeated as if he didn’t comprehend the word 
• 
with genuine interest 
• 
looked puzzled 
• 
was mocking him 
• 
in disbelief 
• 
looked uncertain 
• 
enunciating each word 
• 
quietly 
• 
shrugged 

29. Observe the use of adverbs and define the state expressed in 
adverbs. 
• 
warned solemnly 
• 
reminded cheerfully 
• 
continued unwillingly 
• 
set off smartly 
• 
yell hysterically 
• 
move reluctantly 

30. Read the following piece of information and answer the questions. 
J. Archer’s manner of writing is rich in details, grammatically incorrect 
structures, manner of speaking of illiterate people, usage of expressions in 
foreign languages. What is the author’s intention in these cases? Does it 
help readers to keep interest? 
Does it make his stories true to life? Explain the choice of the place of 
the action (remember that Savoy means ‘royal, expensive, fashionable’). 

31. Write a biography of Mark, maître chef de cuisine. 
Look through the list of possible contents for it: 
• 
name 
• 
profession 
• 
marital status 
• 
current living arrangements 
• 
crucial events in life 
• 
key influences in his life 
• 
regrets and frustrations 
• 
unfulfilled ambitions 
• 
his main hopes for the future 
• 
leisure activities (if any) 
• 
his attitude toward family, relationship, work, other issues 
• 
how do other people see him 
• 
his managerial skills, 
• 
pioneered ‘nouvelle cuisine’ 
• 
had been awarded the coveted third star, the first English restaurant 
ever to be so honored. 

32. Write a short essay on the topic: “Parents should influence 
their children’s choice of careers.”