Зачем им столько времен?

31. «The Wizard of Oz» by Frank Baum

Vocabulary: stuff – набивать, straw – солома, tailor – портной

Tenses to use: Present Simple, Past Simple, Future Simple, Past Continuous, Present Perfect, Present Simple Passive, Past Simple Passive

Dorothy and the Scarecrow (sit) by a small river. «Please, tell me about your country,» (ask) the Scarecrow.

Dorothy (tell) her new friend about grey Kansas prairie where everything (burn) by the hot sun and that (be) nothing like this beautiful land. Her story (listen) to with great interest. The Scarecrow (say), «I (not/understand) why you (want) to return to such dry and dusty place».

«Kansas (be) my homeland. There (be) no place like home,» (answer) Dorothy.

The Scarecrow (smile), «I (stuff) with straw. It (grow) in the field by the farmers. My clothes (make) by the tailor and my boots (make) by the shoe-maker. Where (be) my home?»

Dorothy (not/know) what to say, and they (be) silent for some time.

«Now you (tell) me something,» (ask) Dorothy.

The Scarecrow (look) at her. «My life (be) so short yet. I (take) to the field and (leave) there. At first the birds (frighten) of me, but soon they (stop) being afraid. One day I (tell) about the brains by one of the crows. Now this (be) what I (want) most of all – brains. I (hope) that the Great Wizard (give) them to me».

Answer the questions:

1. What did the Scarecrow ask Dorothy about?

2. What did Dorothy tell him about her country?

3. What couldn’t the Scarecrow understand?

4. Why couldn’t the Scarecrow say where his homeland was?

5. What did he want most of all?

32. «Three Men in a Boat» by Jerome K. Jerome

Vocabulary: hide (hid, hidden) – прятать, edge – край, the rest of – остальное

Tenses to use: Present Simple, Past Simple, Past Continuous, Past Perfect, Past Simple Passive,

We (sit) in the field near the river. Harris (prepare) the food and we (wait) with our plates.

«You (have) a spoon?» Harris (ask). «I (need) a spoon».

The basket (be) behind us and George and I both (turn) to get a spoon. It (take) five seconds. When we (look) back again, Harris and the food were gone. It (be) an open air, no trees, nowhere to hide. He (not/fall) into the river, because we (be) between him and the water. But Harris (disappear)!

Sadly, we (look) at each other and at the place where Harris and the food (be). And then, to our horror, we (see) Harris’s head – and only his head – in the grass. The face (be) red and very angry.

«Say something!» George (cry). «You (be) alive or dead? Where (be) the rest of you?»

«Oh, don’t be stupid!» Harris’s head (say), «you (tell) me to sit there». And from the middle of the grass Harris (appear), dirty and wet.

Harris (not/know) that he (sit) on the edge of the hole. It (hide) by the grass. Then, suddenly, he (fall) backwards into it.

Harris still (believe) that George and I (plan) it.

Answer the questions:

1. What was each of the friends doing in the field near the river?

2. What happened when George and the narrator turned to get a spoon?

3. What did they see some time later? How did Harris’s head look?

4. What had happened to Harris?

33. «Three Men in a Boat» by Jerome K. Jerome

Vocabulary: ladder – лестница-стремянка, hammer – молоток, nail – гвоздь.

Tenses to use: Present Simple, Past Simple, Past Continuous, Past Perfect, Past Simple Passive, Future Simple Passive.

Uncle Podger (keep) everybody in the house busy when he (do) a job. One day he (come) home with a picture.

«I just (buy) it,» he (say), «where we (put) it? I (do) it myself.»

Then he (take) off his coat and (begin). One of the girls (send) out to buy some nails, and then one of the boys (send) to tell her the size of the nails.

«Now, Bill,» he (shout), «you (go) and (get) my hammer, and Jim (bring) me a ladder, and the light (hold) by Maria.»

Then he (lift) the picture up – and he (drop) it. He (try) to catch the glass – and he (cut) his finger. So, for a long time he (run) around the house and he (shout) at everybody.

Half an hour later, the finger (tie) up, a new glass (bring), and everything (be) ready. Uncle Podger (try) again. The chair (hold) by two people, a nail (give) by the third, the hammer (pass) by the fourth. He (take) the nail… and he (drop) it. Everybody (get) down to look for it. At last, the nail (find), but then the hammer (lose). We (find) the hammer for him, but he (lose) the mark for the picture on the wall. So, it (look) for by each of us, and each of us (find) it on a different place.

Uncle Podger (try) again. This time he (fall) off the chair on the piano. His head and his body (hit) the piano at the same time. The music (be) beautiful, but Uncle’s words (not/be). Aunt Maria (say) that she (not/want) the children to listen to those terrible words.