I. 1. Read the article and say in 2-3 sentences what it is about.
Mr Wemmick’s “Castle”
Wemmick’s house was a little wooden cottage in the middle of a large garden. The top of the house had been built and painted like a battery loaded with guns. I said I really liked it. I think Wemmick’s house was the tiniest I had ever seen. It had very few windows and the door was almost too small to get in.
‘Look,’ said Wemmick, after I have crossed this bridge, I raise it so that nobody can enter the Castle.’
The ‘bridge’ was a plank1and it crossed a gap about four feet2wide and two feet deep. But I enjoyed seeing the smile on Wemmick’s face and the pride with which he raised his bridge. The gun on the roof of the house, he told me, was fired every night at nine o’clock. I later heard it. Immediately, it made an impressive sound.
‘At the back,’ he said, ‘there are chickens, ducks, geese, and rabbits. I’ve also got my own little vegetable garden and I grow cucumbers. Wait until supper and you’ll see for yourself what kind of salad I can make. If the Castle is ever attacked, I will be able to survive for quite a while,’ he said with a smile, but at the same time seriously.
Then Wemmick showed me his collection of curiosities. They were mostly to do with being on the wrong side of the law: a pen with which a famous forgery3had been committed, some locks of hair, several manuscript confessions written from prison.
‘I am my own engineer, my own carpenter, my own plumber and my own gardener. I am my own Jack of all Trades4,’ said Wemmick, receiving my compliments. Wemmick told me that it had taken many years to bring his property to this state of perfection.
‘Is it your own, Mr. Wemmick?’
‘Oh yes, I have got a hold of it a bit at a time. I have absolute ownership now. You know, the office is one thing, and private life is another. When I go to the office, I leave the Castle behind me, and when I come to the Castle, I leave the office behind me. If you don’t mind, I’d like you to do the same. I don’t want to talk about my home in a professional manner.
1plank [plæŋk] брус, доска
2feet [fiːt] – мн. ч. от foot – мера длины, равная 30,48 см
3 forgery [ˈfɔdʒərɪ] подделка
4 Jack of all Trades – мастер на все руки
2. ‘An Englishman’s home is his castle’. Read aloud the extract which proves this idea.
3. What do we understand about Wemmick’s home life?
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4. Why does Wemmick call himself Jack of all Trades?
II. Listen to a part of the interview with a thirteen-year old writer, Sally Myers, and answer the questions below.
1. What made Sally write the book?
2. What did Sally’s Dad think about the book?
3. How did Sally’s life change after publishing the book?
Script:
Interviewer: Sally Myers is a thirteen-year-old writer whose first book was published last year. Sally, tell us about that book.
Sally: Well, I loved writing. I'd had a diary for a couple of years. I wrote about my day, poems, stories... But I never showed people what I wrote. Then, because my pen-friend was moving to a new city with her family, just like I'd done the year before, I wrote down some advice for her — the things which had helped me. She thought it was great and she said I should write a little book about it for other kids. So I did.
Interviewer: Did anybody help you?
Sally: Not with the writing. I only showed it to my Dad after it was finished. He thought it was good, but he tried to stop me from sending it to any publishers. He thought I'd feel disappointed and frustrated if they didn't like it. So, I sent it to just one company.
Interviewer: Has being an author changed you?
Sally: I don't really think so. I just go to school, hang out with the same friends. People think I make lots of money, but it's not true. But I do get letters from kids who've read my book and that's cool as they share their own experience with me. I've also become more confident and now I am planning to write one more book.
III. Let’s talk about tourism.
№ 17
I. 1. Read the article and say in 2-3 sentences what it is about.
Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa was a simple nun1. She never wanted to be famous, but everyone in the world knows who she is.
Mother Teresa was born in 1910 in what is now Macedonia2. She was the youngest of three children. Agnes’s father died when she was a child. Her mother made dresses to support the family. Agnes’s mother also liked to do charity work, such as visiting the sick. Agnes often went with her, and she enjoyed helping these people.
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Even as a child, Agnes wanted to be a nun. When she was 18 years old, she joined a group of nuns in India. There, she chose the name Teresa. Then she went to Calcutta to work at St. Mary’s School, in a convent3. Sister Teresa worked there for 20 years and eventually became the principal.
One day in 1946 Sister Teresa was riding on a train to Darjeeling4. She looked out of the window and saw dirty children wearing rags and sleeping in doorways. Sick and dying people were lying on dirty streets. At that moment, she believed God sent her a message. She decided to go to work with the poor.
Two years later, Sister Teresa left the convent and opened a school for the kids from poor families. Though at the very beginning the school had no roof, no walls, and no chairs, later it became wellknown all around India. In 1948, Sister Teresa started her own group of nuns. They were called the Missionaries of Charity. The nuns lived in the slums5 with people who were poor, dirty, and sick. It was hard work and the days were long. But many young nuns came from around the world to join Mother Teresa.
Later, she started homes for children without families. She also started clinics. Over the years, news of her work spread around the world. Many people sent her donations of money, others came to work with her. By 1990 the Missionaries of Charity were working in 400 centres around the world.
Mother Teresa got the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. But she always said her greatest reward was helping people. Her message to the world was: ‘We can do no great things – only small things with great love’.
1 anun [nʌn] монахиня
2 Macedonia [mæsəˈdəʊnɪə] страна Македония
3 a convent [ˈkɒnv(ə)nt] монастырь
4 Darjeeling [daːˈdʒiːlɪŋ] город Дарджилинг
5 slums – трущобы
2. The author writes about Mother Teresa’s family. Read aloud the extract which says about it.
3. Why did Mother Teresa decide to devote her life to people in need?
4. What did Mother Teresa do for people?
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