Английский язык. Стратегии понимания текста. В 2 ч. Ч. 1

УДК 811.111(075.8)
ББК 81.2Англ-923
 
А21

А в т о р ы: Е.Б. Карневская, А.В. Бенедиктович, Н.А. Павлович, Р.А. Стражева, 
В.М. Федосеева

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

 
Английский язык. Стратегии понимания текста : учеб. пособие.
A21 В 2 ч. Ч. 1 / Е. Б. Карневская [и др.] ; под общ. ред. Е. Б. Карневской. –
4-е изд., перераб. – Минск : Вышэйшая школа, 2019. – 320 с.
ISBN 978-985-06-3138-1.

Является первой частью учебного пособия, предназначенного для развития 
навыков чтения и смыслового восприятия письменного текста различных стилистических 
и жанровых видов. Охватывает темы “Человек и семья”, “Место, где 
ты живешь”, “Питание и приготовление пищи”, “Магазины и покупки”, “Ты – 
студент”, “Погода и отдых”, “Культурное и этическое наследие Библии”. Каждая 
тема со держит 2–3 раздела, которые включают урок для аудиторных занятий и 
урок на основе внеаудиторной деятельности. Уроки содержат тексты, задания по 
чтению и восприятию, материал для анализа текста и послетекстовые упражнения.
Для студентов учреждений высшего образования.

УДК 811.111(075.8)
ББК 81.2Англ-923

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

ISBN 978-985-06-3138-1 (ч. 1) 
© Оформление. УП «Издательство 
ISBN 978-985-06-3137-4 
“Вышэйшая школа”», 2019

CONTENTS

Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
8

SECTION I. PEOPLE AND FAMILIES  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
9

UNIT 1. Biographies and Autobiographies  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
9

P a r t  I  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
9

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Titles: My Life (10) My Great Aunt (15)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: A Woman’s Struggle to Believe in Herself (19)

P a r t  II  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
20

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: Mother (22) 
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning (28)

UNIT 2. A British Family  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
31

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

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: A Life in the Day of Diana Harpwood (32)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: What Price More Time with the Children? (38)

P a r t  II  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
40

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: I Sat in My Kitchen (40)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: My Own Personal Space (43)

UNIT 3. Family Problems and Their Solution  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
45

P a r t  I  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
45

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: Dear Editors (46)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: Is Your Friend Hard Work? (51)

P a r t  I I  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
52

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: The Man Who Sold His Wife (53)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: It Was the Last Day of July (58)

UNIT 4. Lonely Hearts  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
60

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: Marriage Advertisements (61)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: Everybody My Age (63)
Reading for Fun  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
65
Optional Reading  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
66
The Mayor of Casterbridge  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
66
The Devoted Friend  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
67
Most Important Hour in a Family’s Day  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
75

SEСTION II. THE PLACE YOU LIVE IN  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
79

UNIT 1. Famous Houses and Buildings  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
79

P a r t  I   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
79
Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Titles: The White House. History (80) The White 
House: Some More Facts (83)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: Sissinghurst Castle (86)

P a r t  I I   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
89
Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: Grandma’s Cottage (90)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: Houses of Englishmen (93)

UNIT 2. A House Needs a Lot of Work  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
94

P a r t  I   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
94
Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: A Night in a Quiet Country Inn (95)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: Welcome to the Model Village (101)

P a r t  I I   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  103
Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Titles: Informal Note. Formal Letter (104)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Titles: Houses of the Twenty-First Century (106)

UNIT 3. Your Home Is Your Fortress  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  108

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Titles: Burgled Seven Times (109) Beat 
the Burglar (113) 
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: Crimes Against Property (117)

UNIT 4. A House to Let …  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  118

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: Advertisements for Flats (119)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Titles: What a Mess! (123) Home Environment (124)
Optional Reading  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  125
Barton Cottage  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  125
Buckingham Palace  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  126
Downing Street, 10  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  128
The Selfi sh Giant  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  130

SECTION III. EATING AND COOKING  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  134

UNIT 1. Foods and Drinks Known Worldwide  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  134

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: Eating Out (135) Fast Food (136)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Titles: The Hot Dog (140) Coca-Cola (141) Fast Work 
for Fast Food (142)

UNIT 2. Eating Traditions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  143

P a r t  I   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  143
Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: English Food (144)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Titles: Food in Britain (149) Ice-Cream (151)

P a r t  I I   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  152
Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Titles: Food for Thought (153) The British Diet (156)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Titles: Food for All (159) Salt (161) Convenience
Food (163) Eating Stereotypes (164)
Reading for Fun  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  165
Optional Reading  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  165
The Luncheon  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  165
Goldilocks and the Three Bears  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  168

SECTION IV. SHOPPING  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  170

UNIT 1. Things We Buy  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  170

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: Shopping with Mom (171)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Titles: Blue Jeans (175) What Kind of Shopper Are 
You? (176)

UNIT 2. Places We Shop In  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  178

P a r t  I   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  178
Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: Big Business (179)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: Street Markets (185)

P a r t  I I   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  187
Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: Famous London Department Stores (187)
Lesson B. Practice Tests. Text Titles: The Birth of the Penny Bazaar (190) Shopping 
Malls (192)
Reading for Fun  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  194
Optional Reading  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  195
Business and Money  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  195
Consumer Resistance to Austere Life Style  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  196
Advertising Can Sell You Anything  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  197

SECTION V. YOU ARE A STUDENT NOW  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  199

UNIT 1. At the University  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  199

P a r t  I   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  199
Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: Roommates (200)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Titles: Organizing Yourself (205) Alcot University (207)

P a r t  I I   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  208
Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Titles: University of Oxford (208) University 
of Cambridge (211)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Titles: Home’s No Place to Study (214) Courses 
Abroad (215)

P a r t  I I I   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  217
Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: What Degree of Success Can You Expect 
from the Open University? (218) 
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: Adult Education Courses at Dale Community
Centre (223)

UNIT 2. From Junior School to University  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  225

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: How Ruth Made History at Oxford (226)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: Talent Knows no Boarders (230)

UNIT 3. Modern Technologies in Education  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  233

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: The Fun They Had (234)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: When a Computer Error is a Fatal Mistake (240)
Optional Reading  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  242
How Studying Works at the OU  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  242
History of the OU  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  243
Intelligence and IQ  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  244
The Nightingale and the Rose  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  246

SECTION VI. IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE WEATHER  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  251

UNIT 1. The World and Its Weather  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  251

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Titles: The World’s Climate in the Future (251)
Lightning (255)
Lesson B. Practice Tests. Text Titles: Weather Forcasting (257) What’s It Going to Be 
Like Tomorrow? (259) Thunderstorms (261)

UNIT 2. Holiday Making in All Types of Weather  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  262

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: Three Men In a Boat (263) 
Lesson B. Practice Tests. Text Titles: Lightning Strike (268) Getting Away from 
It All (269)

UNIT 3. Letters and Diaries  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  272

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: My Journey (273)
Lesson B. Practice Tests. Text Titles: Letters to the Times about Daffodils (278) Ice
Breaks (281)
Reading for Fun  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  282
Optional Reading  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  283
When Love Bloomed in Secret  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  283
I’m Glad It’s January  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  284

SECTION VII. THE CULTURAL AND ETHICAL HERITAGE 
OF THE BIBLE  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  286

UNIT 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  286

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: Christ’s Sermon on the Mountain (287)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: The Beginning of Knowledge (290)

UNIT 2  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  293

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: Parable of the Prodigal Son (294)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: The Excellence of Wisdom (298)

UNIT 3  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  301

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: Repentance and Confession (302)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: The Lord by Wisdom Founded the Earth (306)

UNIT 4  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  309

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Titles: Lord’s Supper (310) Jesus Prays Alone (311)
Jesus Is Arrested (311)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: Better Is the Poor Who Walks in His Integrity (316)

Literature  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  319

INTRODUCTION

This book is intended for Upper-Intermediate University and College stu-
dents majoring in English. It is aimed at developing the students’ reading 
skills and improving their ability to understand written English texts of dif-
ferent stylistic varieties and genres.
Reading in this book is viewed as a self-contained course and as such has a 
logic of its own both in the overall structure and composition of each individu-
al unit. At the same time Reading Comprehension is an integral component of 
the general course of Speech Practice, and this factor predetermines the lexical-
semantical contents of the book and the choice of reading materials. These 
particularly relate to the following broad domains, or topics: People and Fam-
ilies; Houses and Flats; Eating and Cooking; Shops and Shopping; College 
Life; Weather and Holidaymaking; Ethical Teaching of Christianity.
According to the number of topics covered, the book contains 7 sections 
consisting of 2–4 units each. The units are further subdivided into 2 kinds of 
lessons: A and B. Lesson A is aimed at developing skills of text analysis cov-
ering both the form and the contents of the text. Special emphasis is laid on 
specifi c text features such as the structure and composition of the text, its 
cohesion, expressiveness and modal-stylistic features. In the focus of atten-
tion are comprehension skills such as synthesizing, summing up and compar-
ing information, extracting main ideas, identifying topic (key) sentences, etc.
Lesson A as an in-class activity is clearly based on an out-of-class prepa-
ration stage and is in this sense prepared reading. Lesson B, on the other 
hand, does not assume out-of-class preparation. It is intended for in-class 
teacher-guided work and is focused primarily on testing the skills of ‘quick’ 
reading, skimming for the gist and scanning for specifi c details. 
Each lesson within type A has an identical structure and includes three 
main stages: Reading and Comprehension Tasks, Text Features and Lan-
guage Focus and Follow-Up Activities. Each stage provides a variety of 
different exercises and activities which will, hopefully, be interesting and 
stimulating for students. 
Special attention in this book is paid to vocabulary development and rein-
forcement. Apart from pre-reading vocabulary lists intended as an aid for 
comprehension, there are vocabulary tasks in Language Focus too. These 
include multiple choice and matching exercises, word-meaning defi nitions 
and word-building practice, as well as Russian-English translation exercises, 
aimed at implementing new vocabulary in speech. 
The purpose of the Follow-Up stage is to encourage students to use the 
acquired linguistic skills and knowledge of the subject in communicative 
activities.

SECTION I
PEOPLE AND FAMILIES

A well-written life is almost as rare as a well-
spent one.

Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881)

UNIT 1.
UNIT 1. Biographies and Autobiographies

PART I

LESSON A. INTENSIVE READING

Text 1

I. Pre-reading, Reading and Comprehension Tasks 

1. The following words are essential for understanding the text and discussing its 
contents. Learn their meaning and pronunciation.

accept   (v)  принимать
afford   (v)  позволять себе
bother   (n)  хлопоты, заботы
care (for)  (v)  заботиться
charity   (n)  благотворительность
council   (n)  совет
distasteful  (a)  неприятный
notice   (n)  объявление
particular  (a)  особенный, исключительный
plain   (a)  черно-белый
recollection   (n)  воспоминание
treasure   (n)  сокровище
odd-job    man разнорабочий

2. The vocabulary notes below will help you understand some details of the text.

basin [] a bowl for liquids or food
char  to work as a cleaner in a house, offi ce
comic  a magazine for children containing comic strips

dripping  the fat that has come from meat during cooking
plaster [] to put a substance on a wall or ceiling and give it 
a smooth surface

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

My Life
My Life

by Margaret Powell

Margaret Powell (1907–1984) – the author of such books as Below Stairs, Climbing the 
Stairs, The Treasure Upstairs, Servant’s Hall, The Butler’s Revenge, My Mother and U, 
The Housekeeper and others.
I 
was born fi fty-eight years ago in Hove, the second child of a family of 
seven. My earliest recollection is that other children seemed to be better 
off than we were. But our parents cared so much for us. One particular thing 
that I always remember was that every Sunday morning my father used to 
bring us a comic for a half-penny plain and a penny coloured. Sometimes 
now when I look back at it, I wonder how he managed to do it when he was 
out of work and there was no money at all coming in.
My father was a painter and decorator. Sort of general odd-job man. He 
could do almost anything: repair roofs, or do a bit of plastering; but painting 
and paper-hanging were his main work. Yet in the neighbourhood where we 
lived, there was hardly any work in the winter. People didn’t want their hous-
es done up then; they couldn’t be painted outside and they didn’t want the 
bother of having it done up inside. So winters were the hardest times.
My mother used to go out charring from about eight in the morning to six 
in the evening for two shillings a day. Sometimes she used to bring home lit-
tle treasures: a basin of dripping, half a loaf of bread, a little bit of butter or a 
bowl of soup. She used to hate accepting anything. She hated charity. But we 
were so glad of them that, when she came home 
and we saw that she was carrying something, 
we used to make a dive to see what she’d got.
It seems funny today, I suppose, that there 
was this hatred of charity, but when my parents 
brought us up there was no unemployment 
money. Anything you got was charity.
I remember my mother, when we only had 
one pair of shoes and they all needed mending, 
she went down to the council to try and get 
more for us. She had to answer every question 

under the sun and she was made to feel that there was something distasteful 
about her because she hadn’t got enough money to live on.
It was very different getting somewhere to live in those days. You just 
walked through the streets, and there were notices up, “Rooms to let”.
When we were extra hard up, we only had one room or two rooms in 
somebody else’s house. But when Dad was working, we would go around 
looking for half a house. We never had a house to ourselves. Not many peo-
ple could afford a house in those days, not to themselves. As for buying a 
house, why, such things were never even dreamed of!

(From “Below Stairs”)

4. Check your understanding of the gist by answering these questions about the text.
1. What kind of text is it: a newspaper article about the author or an au-
tobiography supplied to a job application (CV)? 2. When was the text writ-
ten? 3. What were the author’s parents’ jobs? 4. What are the author’s earli-
est recollections of her family? 5. Did the family get any unemployment 
money? 6. What kind of houses did the family use to live in?

II. Text Features and Language Focus

A. Text Organisation. Paragraphs

A paragraph is a section of a piece of writing. An essential feature of a 
paragraph is unity. This means that the collection of sentences in any 
paragraph should be related to each other in some way. There must be a 
common subject-matter holding the paragraphs together.
According to the way they are marked in a written text paragraphs 
can be indented or blocked.
In an indented paragraph there is a space on the fi rst line of each 
paragraph except the one beginning the text. Within a paragraph all the 
sentences follow on from each other without any spaces left.
e.g. It seems funny today, I suppose, that there was this hatred of charity, 
but when my parents brought us up there was no unemployment 
money. Anything you got was charity.
I remember my mother, when we only had one pair of shoes and 
they all needed mending, she went down to the council to try and get 
more for us. She had to answer every question under the sun and she 
was made to feel that there was something distasteful about her be-
cause she hadn’t got enough money to live on.
It was very different getting somewhere to live in those days. 
You just walked through the streets, and there were notices up, 
“Rooms to let”.

In a blocked paragraph there is no space either on the fi rst line or at 
the beginning of the rest of the lines. However, one line is left between 
each paragraph to show where it begins and ends.
e.g. Mention the word dolphin and most people think of the bottlenose 
dolphin. It is well known for its habit of cruising in the bow wave of 
ships.
 
It grows up to 3.6 m (12ft) in length and is named after its bottle-
shaped snout. Its friendly, curious and intellectual nature has made it 
the star of fi lms, television shows and dolphinariums. Its speed and 
new tricks continue to astonish trainers.

 
 State how many paragraphs the text “My Life” is divided into.
 
 Say how the paragraphs are marked in the text.
 
 Identify the subject-matter of each paragraph.

B. Reinforcing Vocabulary

1. Go over the text and find the words which correspond to the definitions below:

– something you remember;
– a person doing many kinds of manual work;
– local government administration;
– with very little money;
– black and white;
– trouble or inconvenience caused by small matters;
– a very valuable thing;
– a group of people and their homes forming a small area in a town;
– unpleasant, disagreeable;
– to repair something that is torn;
– to do work on something damaged;
– to repair an old building.

2. Go over the text again and pick out the words and phrases denoting: 

a) jobs about the house; b) quantities of food; c) attitudes and relations.

3. Check your understanding of the following expressions from the text choosing the 
right or the more suitable alternative. Account for your choice.

were better off
a) were recovering  
b) had more money

were out of work
a) to be missing from work 
b) to be unemployed

no money coming in
a) no money being earned  
b) no money given

every question under the sun
a) all kinds of questions  
b) questions about the world

used to make a dive
a) used to jump into water  
b) used to move quickly and suddenly 
 
 towards smth

to have to oneself
a) didn’t share the house  
b) to possess smth, were the owners

were extra hard up
a) were pressed for money  
b) needed money badly in 
 more than ever 
 addition to other problems

4. Match the verbs on the left with the postpositions on the right to make up phrasal 
verbs as they are used in the text. There’s one extra postposition.

bring 
back
go 
up
care 
out
look 
for
do 
over
come 
in

5. Look at the words in the chart below and find their derivatives in the text.

Verbs
Nouns
Adjectives

bother

employ

hate

neighbouring

recollect

taste

6. 
Translate the bracketed parts of these sentences into English, using the vocabu-
lary of the text.

1. Sorry for (беспокойство), but could you show me how the photocopier 
works.
2. The town (совет) has fi nally found a new place for a new school.
3. His earliest (воспоминание) was a branch of lilac hanging outside the 
window.
4. You should pay (особое) attention to spelling.
5. Everybody agreed that there was something (неприличное) about his 
behaviour.
6. The family (очень нуждалась).
7. Our friends (отремонтировали) their old house and sold it for a vast 
profi t.
8. All the money raised by the concert will go to (благотворительность).
9. My secretary is a real (сокровище).
10. She (заботилась о) her father in his old years.
11. The police aren’t allowed (брать) rewards.
12. Will they give you an offi ce (в ваше распоряжение)?
13. He used to be (разнорабочий) before he got a job with an engineering 
company.
14. There was (объявление) up on the house, “(Сдаются комнаты)”.
15. The closure of the factory will mean (безработицу) for about 500 workers.

III. Follow-Up Activities

 
 Do you know anyone who was brought up in a less privileged fami-
ly than you were? Tell the group about them.

Text 2

I. Reading and Comprehension Tasks

1. The following words are essential for understanding the text and discussing its 
contents. Learn their meaning and pronunciation.

appeal (to)   (v)  быть привлекательным, интересным
assume   (v)  предполагать, допускать
confi ne  (v)  зд. приковывать
count   (v)  иметь значение
determined   (a)  решительный, непреклонный
encourage   (v)  поощрять, поддерживать

eventually  u (adv)  в конце концов, в итоге
female   (a)  женский 
male   (a)  мужской
settle down   (v)  остепениться
submissive   (a)  покорный
wealthy   (a)  богатый, состоятельный

2. Learn the pronunciation and spelling of these international words. Compare their 
meaning in English and in Russian/Belarusian.

audience  
model 
dominate  
physically 
enthusiastic  
privilege 
journalism  
role 
magazine  
typical 

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

My Great Aunt 
My Great Aunt 
M 
y Great Aunt’s name is Mary Grieve. She is my grandmother’s aunt, 
and as I’m not sure exactly what name she should be given, I always 
call her my Great Aunt. I do not know her very well having always lived a 
long way away, but she has always been a woman I have respected for many 
different reasons.
She is now over eighty years old and was born in Scotland in 1912. She 
had one brother called Tom. Her family were wealthy for those times and 
luckily for Mary, her father believed in educating both his children. He did 
not send her to one of the typical schools for daughters of the rich where they 
only learnt skills preparing them for marriage. She was obviously intelligent 
and when she left school she went to Oxford University.
In the 1930’s there were very few women at University or who were al-
lowed to go. However, Mary is not a quiet, submissive woman. In fact, she 
has always been very determined and prepared to be different. At this time it 
was assumed that women of her class would spend a few years enjoying their 
freedom and then settle down and get married. Mary did not do this.
After fi nishing University she got a job in journalism writing for a news-
paper. Newspapers were increasingly popular and to sell them to a wider audi-
ence some papers realized that appealing to women was important. She not 
only worked for newspapers but also wrote articles and books later in her life.
After the Second World War, she got a job with one of the new women’s 
magazines that were to become more and more popular. After many years of 
hard work and struggling in a male dominated profession she eventually