Are you a careful reader?

1. Complete the sentences: a) Mr Lees was … . b) … was Thos. c) The Reverend Thomas Pearce was … . 2. What did Thos call ‘democracy’? 3. Julius’s cake was stuffed with raisins, chocolate and nuts. (True or False?) 4. Julius was the only son of the Duke of Downshire. (True or False?) 5. How many words did the telegram of Julius’s father contain?

10. “To this Mr Lees turned a deaf ear…”. What other phrases with the word ear do you know? Give Russian equivalents of the following idioms:

to be all ears; to fall on deaf ears; to go in (at) one ear and out (at) the other; to have an ear to the ground; to prick up one’s ears; to be up to one’s ears with work; to be wet behind ears; to have an ear for music; to play it by ear; (sb’s) ears must be burning; to make a pig’s ear of sth

Rephrase the sentences using these idioms instead of the underlined parts:

1. Xavier wasn’t allowed to sing in the school choir, because the choirmaster said he was bad at recognizing sounds. 2. I warned you against cooperating with this company a month ago. But you ignored my warning then. 3. I don’t know anything about their plans yet, but I’ll find it out to be in the know. 4. Now, what’s up? I’m listening to you very attentively. 5. He’d been rehearsing the part for 5 months, but when it came to the premiere he played badly. 6. The kid didn’t seem to take any interest in the conversation, but as soon as his Mum said something about keeping pets, he began listening carefully. 7. The teacher asked his students to write the essay in their exercise-books, but it had no effect, because the pupils were inattentive when writing down their homework, that’s why they wrote it in their test books. 8. It’s impossible to foresee everything, that’s why you’ll have to act according to the situation. 9. How come they’ve made him executive manager! He’s too young and has no experience! 10. She can’t help me now. She says she’s very busy.

11. Answer the questions and do the following tasks:

1. What do you know about the author of the story?

2. Summarise the information about the school described in the story (type of school, location, headmaster, pupils, rules, discipline, subjects, etc.) Would you like to study at Brian Friars? Why (not)?

3.Is discipline important in education? Is it possible to maintain discipline without humiliation?

4.What made Julius refuse to eat treacle tart, do you think: a)snobbery? b)non-conformism? c) his desire to show off? d) dignity and self-respect? e) (your variant)? Explain your choice.

5. Does a person’s wealth have anything to do with their dignity and self-respect?

NUNC DIMITTIS

By R. Dahl