Work on the English text of the play

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22

Unit four

Text four

DANGEROUS CORNER

By John Boynton Priestley

(Three fragments from the play)

John Boynton Priestley (1894-- 1984) is one of the outstanding English authors of today. His early books (1922-26) were of a critical nature. It was the success of his novel "The Good Companions" (1929) which brought him world fame. In early thirties Priestley began his work as a dramatist. "Dangerous Corner" (1932} -- one of the series of Seven Time Plays -- was his first effort in dramatic art. Priestley's other most famous novels are "They Walk in the City", "Angel Pavement", "Wonder Hero", "Far Away". "Let the People Sing". "Bright Day" and many others.

I

dramatist text sentences translate vocabulary

The scene is laid in a cosy drawing-room. Several men and women -- some of them members of the same family, others their intimate friends -- are idly discussing a wireless play they have just heard. The host and hostess of the party are Robert Caplan and his wife Freda.

Cordon: What did you hear?

Freda: The last half of a play.

Olwen: It was called "The Sleeping Dog".

Stanton: Why?

Miss M.: We're not sure -- something to do with lies, and a gentleman shooting himself.

Stanton: What fun they have at the B.B.C.!

Olwen (who has been thinking): You know I believe I understand that play now. The sleeping dog was the truth, do you see, and that man -- the husband -- insisted upon disturbing it.

Robert: He was quite right to disturb it.

Stanton: Was he? I wonder. I think it a very sound idea -- the truth as a sleeping dog.

Miss M. (who doesn't care): Of course, we do spend too much of our time telling lies and acting them.

Betty (in her best childish manner): Oh, but one has to. I'm always fibbing. I do it all day long.

Gordon (still fiddling with the wireless): You do, darling, you do. [101]

Betty: It's the secret of my charm.

Miss M. (rather grimly): Very likely. But we meant something much more serious.

Robert: Serious or not, I'm all for it coming out, It's healthy.

Stanton: I think telling the truth is about as healthy as skidding round a corner at sixty.

Freda (who is being either malicious or enigmatic): And life's got a lot of dangerous corners -- hasn't it, Charles?

Stanton (a match for her or anybody else present): It can have -- if you don't choose your route well. To lie or not to lie -- what do you think, Olwen? You're looking terribly wise...

Olwen (thoughtfully): Well -- the real truth -- that is, every single little thing, with nothing missing at all, wouldn't be dangerous. I suppose that's God's truth. But what most people mean by truth, what that man meant in the wireless play, is only half the real truth. It doesn't tell you all that went on inside everybody. It simply gives you a lot of facts that happened to have been hidden away and were perhaps a lot better hidden away. It's rather treacherous stuff. ...

II

The conversation drifts to Martin Caplan, Robert's brother, who committed suicide six months ago. Robert insists on knowing certain trifling facts relating to the day of the suicide. Yet, what looks trifling and innocent enough at first, leads to graver and still graver discoveries. Finally Robert is confronted with facts whose ugliness he finds himself unable to bear.

In the beginning of the fragment that follows Olwen, a friend of the Caplans, argues with Robert pointing out to him once more that half truth is dangerous.

Olwen: The real truth is something so deep you can't get at it this way, and all this half truth does is to blow everything up. It isn't civilised.

Stanton: I agree.

Robert (after another drink, cynically): You agree!

Stanton: You'll get no sympathy from me, Caplan.

Robert: Sympathy from you! I never want to set eyes on you again, Stanton. You're a thief, a cheat, a liar, and a dirty cheap seducer.

Stanton: And you're a fool, Caplan. You look solid, but you're not. You've a good deal in common with that cracked brother of yours. You won't face up to real things. You've been living in a fool's paradise, and now, having got yourself out of it by to-night's efforts -- all your doing -- you're busy building yourself a fool's hell to live in.... [102]

III

Freda: I'm sure it's not at all the proper thing to say at such a moment, but the fact remains that I feel rather hungry. What about you, Olwen? You, Robert? Or have you been drinking too much?

Robert: Yes, I've been drinking too much.

Freda: Well, it's very silly of you. it

Robert (wearily): Yes. (Buries his face in his hands.) I

Freda: And you did ask for all this.

Robert (half looking up): I asked for it. And I got it.

Freda: Though I doubt if you minded very much until it came to Betty.

Robert: That's not true. But I can understand you're thinking so. You see, as more and more of this rotten stuff came out, so more and more I came to depend on my secret thoughts of Betty -- as someone who seemed to me to represent some lovely quality of life.

Freda: I've known some time, of course, that you were getting very sentimental and noble about her. And I've known some time, too, all about Betty, and I've often thought of telling you.

Robert: I'm not sorry you didn't.

Freda: You ought to be.

Robert: Why?

Freda: That kind of self-deception's rather stupid.

Robert: What about you and Martin?

Freda: I didn't deceive myself. I knew everything -- or nearly everything -- about him. I wasn't in love with somebody who really wasn't there, somebody I'd made up.

Robert: I think you were. Probably we always are.

Olwen: Then it's not so bad then. You can always build up another image for yourself to fall in love with.

Robert: No, you can't. That's the trouble. You lose the capacity for building. You run short of the stuff that creates beautiful illusions, just as if a gland had stopped working.

Olwen: Then you have to learn to live without illusions.

Robert: Can't be done. Not for us. We started life too early for that. Possibly they're breeding people now who can live without illusions. I hope so. But I can't do it. I've lived among illusions --

Freda (grimly): You have.

Robert (with growing excitement): Well, what if I have? They've given me hope and courage. They've helped me to live. I suppose we ought to get all that from faith in life. But I haven't got any. No reli-[103] gion or anything. Just this damned farmyard to live in. That's all. And just a few bloody glands and secretions and nerves to do it with. But it didn't look too bad. I'd my little illusions, you see.

Freda (bitterly): Then why didn't you leave them alone, instead of clamouring for the truth all night like a fool?

Robert (terribly excited now): Because I am a fool. Stanton was right, That's the only answer. I had to meddle, like a child with a fire. I began this evening with something to keep me going. I'd good memories of Martin. I'd a wife who didn't love me, but at least seemed too good for me. I'd two partners I liked and respected. There was a girl I could idealise. And now --

Olwen (distressed): No, Robert -- please. We know.

Robert (in a frenzy): But you don't know, you can't know -- not as I know -- or you wouldn't stand there like that, as if we'd onlyjust had some damned silly little squabble about a hand at bridge.

Olwen: Freda, can't you -- ?

Robert: Don't you see, we're not living in the same world now. Everything's gone. My brother was an obscene lunatic --

Freda (very sharply): Stop that.

Robert: And my wife doted on him and pestered him. One of my partners is a liar and a cheat and a thief. The other -- God knows what he is -- some sort of hysterical young pervert -- (Both women try to check and calm him.) And the girl's a greedy little cat on the tiles -

Olwen (half screaming): No, Robert, no. This is horrible, mad. Please, please don't go on. (Quieter.) It won't seem like this tomorrow.

Robert (crazynow): Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I tell you, I'm through. I'm through. There can't be a tomorrow. (He goes swaying to the door.)

Freda (screaming moves to Olwen and grips her arm):. He's got a revolver in his bedroom.

Olwen (screaming and running to the door): Stop, Robert! Stop! Stop!

For the last few seconds the light has been fading, now it is completely dark. There is a revolver shot, a woman's scream, a moment's silence, then the sound of a woman sobbing.

ESSENTIAL VOCABULARY

Vocabulary Notes

1. malicious a feeling, showing or caused by, ill-will or spite, as a malicious person (remark, tone, face, etc.), e.g. How can you set the [104] child against his parents? It's a malicious thing to do. Why do you always speak ill about all your comrades? Don't be so malicious.

malice n active ill-will; spite; desire to harm others; bear smb. malice wish smb. harm, e.g. I bear you no malice.

2. match n 1) a game; a contest of skill, strength, etc. 2) a person who is able to meet another as an equal (in skill, strength, intellect, etc.), e.g. He has met his match. Soon it became clear that the younger boy was quite a match for the big one. 3) a person or thing that is exactly like another, or that agrees or corresponds perfectly, e.g. The coat and the hat are a good match (i.e. agree in colour and style), 4) a marriage, e.g. I'm told they are going to make a match of it (i.e. they are going to get married). 5) a person considered from the point of view of marriage, e.g. He is a very good match.

3. treacherous a I) false; untrustworthy; disloyal, as a treacherous friend 2) betraying smb.' s trust; involving disloyalty, as a treacherous action 3) appearing good, but not to be depended on, as treacherous weather, a treacherous smile, e.g. The mountain roads were enveloped in such a treacherous fog that driving at night involved a serious risk.

treachery n treacherous action; act of betraying smb., e.g. No one knew yet by whose treachery it was that the deepest secrets of the family had become public property. Syn. betrayal, e.g. This act of his was a betrayal of all that they both had held sacred.

treacherousness n quality of being treacherous, e.g. Before that incident I hadn't been aware of the latent treacherousness in his nature. Note: An act of treachery is described by the verb betray, e.g. You may be confident that I'll never betray your secret. A person guilty of treachery is described by the noun traitor, e.g. Mrs. Cheveley knew that Sir Robert Chiltern had begun his political career as a traitor, by selling a Cabinet secret for a considerable sum of money.

4. deceive v cause smb. to believe what is not true, e.g. Don't try to deceive me, I know what really happened.

deception n the act of deceiving or being deceived, e.g. There are few things as difficult to forgive as deception; self-deception believing something not because it is true but because one wants to believe it, e.g. With a shock I realized that she didn't lie when she told everybody about her coming marriage; she half-believed it herself: it was a pitiful case of self-deception. Syn. deceit n

Word Discrimination: deception, deceit.

Deception and deceit are closest when used in the meaning of act of deceiving. Yet, even in this case there is a difference. Cf. The boy's [105] deceit made his mother very unhappy. (Deceit here implies telling lies.) As a politician he often practised deception. {Deception implies making false promises, producing a false impression, treacherous tricks, cheating, etc.) Deceit may be also used as a characteristic of a person, e.g. Deceit is quite foreign to her nature.

deceitful a inclined to lying; intentionally misleading, e.g. I can't stand deceitful people.

deceptive a deceiving, producing a false impression, e.g. Appearances are deceptive. The evidence against him was rather deceptive.

5. breed (bred, bred) vt 1) give birth to young, e.g. Rabbits breed quickly. Birds breed in spring. 2) cause animals, birds, etc. to have young by choosing pairs (male and female) and bringing them together, e.g. He makes a living by breeding horses. 3} bring up, look after, teach, educate, e.g. It is a heroic country indeed that breeds such sons. He's an Englishman born and bred (i.e. by birth and education). 4) be the cause of, e.g. War breeds misery and ruin. Familiarity breeds contempt. Syn. bring up (corr. noun upbringing).

breeding n good manners and behaviour; knowledge given by training and education, e.g. He's a man of fine breeding.

Word Discrimination: upbringing, breeding.

Upbringing denotes process, breeding denotes result.

well-bred a having or showing good manners

ill-bred a badly brought up, rude, e.g. A well-bred person is always mindful of others, an ill-bred one is so absorbed in himself, that the rest of the world might as well not exist.

6. faith n - trust, confidence, reliance, e.g. Faith means believing something without proof. Have you any faith in what he tells you? Robert shot himself because he had lost faith in the people surrounding him. put one's faith in smth. (smb.) trust; feel confidence in smth. (smb.), e.g. I advise you not to put your faith in such a remedy. 2) a system of religious belief, as the Christian or Mohammedan faiths

faithful a loyal; keeping faith; deserving trust, as a faithful friend, a faithful wife

unfaithful a treacherous; be (un)faithful to smb. (often applied to husband or wife)

faithfulness n loyalty, the quality of being true to smb. or smth., e.g. His faithfulness to duty was never doubted.

7. check v to examine a thing to find out whether it is accurate, usually by comparing it with something else, e.g. Will you check these figures (see that they are right) ? check on smb. (smth.) try and find out whether the previous information or knowledge about [106] smb. or smth. is true to fact, e.g. "Here are some names and addresses of people who were witnesses," said the police inspector. "Of course, they'll have to be checked on." 2) hold back, control, stop, e.g. We have checked the advance of the enemy. He couldn't check his anger.

check n 1) a control; a person or thing that keeps back or makes it impossible to do things, e.g. Wind acts as a check on speed, keep (hold) in check control, e.g. Human emotions are held in check by social convention. 2) a sudden stop or delay, e.g. Tom's illness gave a check to our plans. His ambitions received a sharp check. 3) an examination of the accuracy of a thing, e.g. If we both add up the figures, your result will be a check tin mine. 4) a ticket or a piece of paper, wood or metal with a number on it given in return for smth. (for hats and coats in a theatre, for bags, luggage, etc.)

Word Combinations and Phrases

get at smth. (coll.] set eyes on smb. (smth.) (coll.] face up to things (coll.) fool's paradise make up smth. (smb.) (as in "smb. I'd made up")

run short of smth. clamour for smth. keep smb. going dote on smb. everything's gone come out (about facts, truth, etc.)

EXERCISES

1. a) Listen to the recording of Text Four and mark the stresses and tunes. b) Repeat the text in the intervals after the model

2. Consulting a dictionary, transcribe the following words and practise their pronunciation:

intimate, hostess, wireless, serious, discovery, cynical, dissipated, addict, noble, capacity, illusion, gland, malicious, enigmatic, dangerous, route, treacherous, suicide, innocent, civilised, sympathy, seducer, paradise, wearily, represent, sentimental, courage, religion, clamour, idealise, squabble, obscene, pervert [107]

3. Read the following paying attention to the phonetic phenomena of connected speech (assimilation, linking "r", all kinds of plosions, etc.):

their intimate friends; called "The Sleeping Dog"; what fun they have at the B.B.C.; who has been thinking; I understood that play; was quite right to disturb it; who doesn't care; I'm all for it coming out; every single little thing; what most people mean by truth; what that man meant in the wireless play; that happened to have been hidden away; certain trifling facts; you can't get at it this way; after another drink; and you're a fool; with that cracked brother of yours; I asked for it; that's not true; as more and more of this rotten stuff came out; my secret thoughts; another image; I had to meddle; a greedy little cat on the tiles; please, don't go on; and grips her arm

4. Read the following word combinations out loud paying attention to the pronunciation of the nasal sonorant [n] in the intervocalic position:

are idly discussing a wireless play; upon disturbing it; I'm all for it coming out; with nothing missing at all; trifling and innocent; in the beginning of the fragment; pointing out to him; to blow everything up; living in a fool's paradise; half looking up; with growing excitement; not living in the same world; screaming and running to the door

5. Read the text and consider its following aspects

a) Comment upon the choice of words in:

I'm always fibbing (why not "lying" ?); I never want to set eyes on you again (why not "I never want to see you again"?); you've a good deal in common with that cracked brother of yours {why not "you've much in common with that mad brother of yours?"); some damned silly little squabble (why not "quarrel"?)

b) Explain a considerable number of abbreviations occurring in the text (we're, it's, that's, you'll, you're, I've, etc.).

c) Indicate the figure of speech in "What fun they have at the B.B.C.!"

d) Explain the allusion in:

1. The sleeping dog was the truth, do you see, and that man insisted upon disturbing it, 2. To lie or not to lie -- what do you think, Olwen ? [108]

e) Express in your own words:

I think telling the truth is about as healthy as skidding round the corner at sixty. -- What stylistic device is used in the sentence ? Comment upon its effectiveness. How does the statement characterize the speaker?

f) Indicate the stylistic devices in:

1. And life's got a lot of dangerous corners -- hasn't it, Charles? 2. It can have -- if you don't choose your route well.

g) Explain:

a match for her or anybody else present; you won't face up to real things; that cracked brother of yours; fool's paradise; you're busy building yourself a fool's hell to live in; someone who seemed to me to represent some lovely quality of life; you were getting very sentimental and noble about her; in love with somebody who really wasn't there; I began this evening with something to keep me going; we'd ... had some silly little squabble; a hand at bridge; on the tiles

h) Comment on the methods used for heightening the emotion in the concluding episode.

6. Copy out from Text Four the sentences containing the word combinations and phrases and translate them into Russian

7. Paraphrase the following sentences using the word combinations and phrases:

1. We've very little sugar left. You'11 have to go out and get some. 2. There was a certain weakness in him which prevented him from accepting things as they were. 3. Before that day I had never seen the man. 4. It was obvious that the facts he had given were not real: he had invented them. 5. Her child was all her world, the only thing that supported and encouraged her. 6. The real truth is sure to be revealed sooner or later. 7. He had been living in a secret happy world of his own which had nothing to do with reality. Now it was all over. 8. He found he had little petrol left and stopped to fill in. 9. The flower grew so high on the steep bank that the child couldn't get hold of it. 10. The infuriated crowd shouted angrily demanding their money back. 11. Hope and courage alone helped them to survive. [109]

8. Compose two dialogues using the word combinations and phrases. Mind the intonation patterns in the stimuli and responses to convey proper attitudes

9. Translate the following sentences into English using the word combinations and phrases:

1. Ричард Стэнли был из тех людей, которые не умеют и не хотят взглянуть в лицо реальности. Стараясь забыть о своей унылой безрадостной жизни, он выдумывал красивые сказки, в которых он сам был главным действующим лицом. Эти мечты помогали ему жить. Он был по-своему счастлив в этом выдуманном раю. 2. Теперь, когда мы добрались до некоторых фактов, остававшихся до сих пор неизвестными, можно надеяться, что в скором времени истинные обстоятельства дела будут выяснены. 3. У тебя нет лишней ручки? У меня кончились чернила. 4. У ворот роскошной виллы губернатора грязные оборванные люди шумели и кричали, требуя работы. 5. Не понимаю, как это можно так сходить с ума по кому-то, кого и в глаза не видел до прошлого месяца. 6. Чтобы смотреть правде в глаза, требуется определенная сила характера. 7. Я слышал, вы потеряли работу. У вас, наверное, кончились деньги? -- Да, почти. Но дело не в этом. Я любил свою работу и жил только ею. Теперь, когда у меня ее отняли, все погибло.

10. Answer the following questions:

1. How do you understand the words: "The truth, like a sleeping dog, is not to be disturbed" ? 2. What was Robert Caplan's view on Truth? 3, What was Stanton's opinion on the same point? Explain his words and comment on them. 4. What was Olwen's view on Truth? Comment on it. 5, Why did Stanton think Robert a fool? Was he right? 6. What was Robert's attitude to Betty? 7. What discoveries did Robert make during the evening which distressed him so much? 8. Why did he shoot himself? 9. What type of man is represented in the character of Robert?

11. Study the vocabulary notes and translate the examples into Russian

12. Translate the following sentences into Russian paying attention to the words and word combinations in italics:

A. 1. He heard Mrs. Baines's voice like a voice in a nightmare; it was sharp and shrill and full of malice, louder than people ought to [110] speak. 2. "Same tidy creature," he said. "A place for everything and everything in its place." He laughed with a faint malicious note in the laugh. 3. She is the gentlest creature living; not at all the type to bear malice or nurse grievances. 4. "So glad to hear your girl's going to get married -- at last," she went on sweetly. "He's a charming boy; a good match and a fine catch, as they put it." The malicious words made her wince; the ill-bred hint sent an indignant flush to her cheeks. 5. I've an elder brother who's a match for two like you,.. 6. "This skirt and that blouse? Doyoucallitamate/i?" -- "Why, they are both blue, aren't they?" -- 'These shades of blue don't harmonize; the bright one completely kills the other one. This electric blue is a treacherous colour..." 7. Mrs. Lawson, accustomed to dominate and to bully, had little dreamt that in the young daughter-in-law she was meeting her match. 8. The deceitful people, the treacherous climate, -- how she hated it all. 9. Forests have ears/And fields have eyes; /Often treachery lurking lies./ Underneath the fairest hair. (Longfellow) 10. Gives not the hawthorn bush a sweeter shade/To shepherds, looking on their silly^** silly = blessed (arch.) sleep/ Than doth a rich embroider' d canopy/To kings that fear their subjects' treachery? ", (Shakespeare. "Henry VI") 11. Sensing the treacherousness of the ground they were treading, he checked himself in embarrassment. 12. Unfaithfulness was hard to bear, but deceit was even harder. The treacherous warmth of her smile, the deceptive frankness of her eyes... 13. There can be no genuine relationship which involves deceit. The very essence and beauty and joy of our relation depend upon its being honest and frank. 14. The deceptive friendliness of his manner misled people into expecting sympathy and understanding where there were none of these excellent qualities.

B. 1. ...two people who don't understand each other, breeding children whom they don't understand and who will never understand them... 2. Her upbringing was rather conventional. She was taught that it was wicked to hurt others if you knew you were hurting them. 3. Of course, the best solution would have been to kick the fellow out, but unfortunately his breeding cut off that simple and beautiful way of dealing with the painful situation. 4. Martin had faith in himself, but he was alone in that faith. 5. Love should be absolute love. /Faith is in fullness or nought... (R. Browning) 6. Friends meet to part; love laughs at faith; /True foes once met, are join'd till death. (G. Byron) ? Even Mr. Jaggers started when I said those words. It was the slight- [111] est start that could escape a man, the most carefully repressed and the soonest checked, but he did start. 8. There were times when she would come to a sudden check in this tone of mockery and would seem to pity me. 9. This extravagant spending must be checked. 10.1 tried very hard to ieep my silly self in check, but felt the treacherous blush spread all over my face and neck.

13. Translate the following sentences into English using your active vocabulary:

1. Я не желаю ему зла, но и сочувствовать ему я тоже не могу. Нужно смотреть правде в глаза: его поведение по отношению к товарищам было предательским. 2. Тяжелее всего было видеть злорадные лица тех, кого еще вчера он считал верными друзьями. 3. Он попытался поднять ее на смех, но оказалось, что она ничуть не уступает ему в злом остроумии. 4. У меня есть чудесный сюрприз для тебя. Я нашла пару для твоей голубой китайской вазы. 5. В предательском тумане очертания знакомых предметов казались пугающе необычными. 6. То обстоятельство, что она была без ума от своих двух девочек, не очень помогало ей в их воспитании. Они росли лживыми и невоспитанными детьми. 7. Я из полиции. Мне нужно проверить некоторые данные показаний свидетелей. 8. Ее спокойствие было обманчивым. Однако никто не понял бы этого, если бы не предательская слеза, которая вдруг скатилась по ее щеке. 9. Если мы говорим о ком-то, что он невоспитанный человек, мы имеем в виду его грубость, бестактность и, главное, неспособность и нежелание считаться с окружающими. 10. Миссис Финни еще ни разу не встречала девушку, которую она могла бы счесть подходящей партией для своего сына. 11. Под оболочкой воспитанности и хороших манер скрывалась лживая и злобная душа. 12. Что же это было, что остановило его на полпути в задуманном им предательстве? Мы не знаем. Да и не все ли равно? Намерение предать -- само по себе уже предательство.

13. Легче всего обмануть того, кто хочет, чтобы его обманули.

14. Первые впечатления часто обманчивы. 15. Его спокойная верность долгу вызывала уважение. 16. «Я всецело за то, чтобы вы высказались», -- сказал он с вежливой улыбкой. 17. Полностью довериться такому человеку, как он, так же опасно, как довериться бушующему морю. 18. Только хорошее воспитание сдерживало эту необузданную натуру. [112]

14. Give brief situations in which you will say the following (may be done in pairs). Convey proper attitudes:

1. you are being malicious; 2. a good match (in both meanings);

3. a match for; 4. faith in; 5. be unfaithful to; 6. a check on; 7. check smb.; 8. deceitful -- deceptive; 9. treacherous (wind, climate, weather, fog, etc.)

15. Render Text Four in detail (use indirect speech)

16. Give the gist of Text Four

17. Answer in detail and discuss the following questions:

1. Why is the play called "Dangerous Corner" ? What is meant by "dangerous corner" ? 2. What is the point of the play (so far as you can judge by the given fragments)? 3. Would it be correct to state that the author is against the truth and warns people against it? 4. What is generally understood by 'illusions' ? 5. Is it good or bad for people to have illusions? Give your reasons. 6. Do you agree with Robert that people are always in love with somebody "who really isn't there", somebody they have made up?

18. Reread Text Four to speak on the following points of style

a) Exemplify the use of colloquialisms. How can you explain their comparatively limited number in a dramatic text?

b) Is the speech of the characters individualized? Illustrate your point.

c) Analyse the language of the extracts in a few well-motivated sentences. Compare the language of the text with that of "The Escape". Account for the differences.

19. a) Study the following proverbs and explain their meaning,

b) Give brief situations to illustrate them:

1. Trust is the mother of deceit. 2. All fails where faith fails. 3. Love asks faith, and faith firmness. 4. A faithful enemy is better than a treacherous friend. 5. He is easiest deceived who wants to be deceived. 6. Deceit breeds deceit. 7. Familiarity breeds contempt. 8. Appearances are deceptive. 9. Let the sleeping dog lie. 10. Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

c) Make up dialogues on proverbs 8,9,10 in which one of the speakers will support the idea conveyed by the proverb, and the other will argue it. [113]

20. Complete the following dialogues. Give a brief preface pointing out who is talking and under what circumstances. Then continue the dialogue. Use your active vocabulary and convey proper attitudes:

1. " Now, I want to know exactly what really happened. 'Can you give me all the details with nothing missing at all?"

" I could try. But what's the use ? "

"We must get at the truth somehow. I'm not at all satisfied with what I know."

"Well, you ought to be."...

2. "Having got himself out of the trouble, he is simply asking for another. Couldn't you do something?"

"Could you? Can any one?"

"Oh, it's a silly way to talk. Of course, we can. I'm all for us doing something." ...

3. "You are meddling like a child with a fire." "Well, people do sometimes, you know." "I'm sure I never do."

"I'm sorry you don't. It's pure lack of imagination that makes you so sensible. And, after all, what am I to be blamed for?" ...

4. "You are their teacher. You ought to knowwhat's going on inside the heads of those pupils of yours."

"It's more difficult than you think."

"But what about that girl of yours who wrote the letter? Do you know her well?"

"I've always thought so." ...

5. "I still think him a fully reliable and faithful person." "Don't you remember that famous quotation -- is it Shakespeare? -- something about a villain faithful only to his own treachery?" "Now, I don't quite see what you mean by it." ...

21. Render the following text in English. The italicized parts should be reproduced close to the text:

«Опасный поворот» -- первая пьеса Джона Пристли, и сам автор склонен был рассматривать ее скорее как «техническое упражнение в драматическом искусстве, чем подлинное исследование (study) человеческих характеров».

Однако, как показало время, автор, по-видимому, недооценил художественных достоинств своей пьесы: иначе трудно было бы объяснить тот неизменный успех, с которым она шла на сценах чуть ли не всех стран Европы и Америки. [114]

Несомненно, если рассматривать пьесу с чисто «технической» стороны, можно с уверенностью сказать, что это блестяще написанная пьеса. Особенно это относится к композиции -- к этому знаменитому «трюку со временем» (time trick), к которому теперь мы уже привыкли по множеству подражаний -- особенно в кино, -- но который во время написания пьесы (1932г.) был ошеломляющим новшеством, повергавшим в изумление зрителей, читателей и критиков.

«Трюк» заключается в том, что в третьем действии, после того как прозвучал роковой выстрел Роберта, на сцене гаснет свет, после паузы зажигается снова, и мы, вместе с героями пьесы, возвращаемся в ту точку времени, в которой мы были в начале первого действия. Иначе говоря, начало первого действия повторяется почти слово в слово -- с некоторыми сокращениями. Думаете это скучно? Нет! Это настолько захватывающе, что у вас мороз пробегает по коже. Мы снова видим этих людей, таких спокойных и счастливых; дружная любящая семья и их близкие друзья. Но мы теперь уже знаем, что это обман, что под маской дружелюбия и воспитанности скрываются ложь, предательство и измена. Каждая фраза пустой светской беседы звучит теперь двусмысленно, ибо за ней стоит та правда, которую мы знаем об этих людях и которую они хотят скрыть. Получается так, как будто мы видим одновременно эту уютную сцену в гостиной и сквозь нее те подлинные факты, которые вышли наружу на протяжении пьесы. Вот каков этот «технический трюк». Он подчеркивает и углубляет основную мысль пьесы. Б этой концовке окончательно спадают маски. Мы больше не верим любезным улыбкам и лживым словам, и если вся пьеса разоблачает моральное падение большинства этих людей, то концовка мастерски подчеркивает еще и их лживое лицемерие. Вот таким образом «чисто технический трюк», блестяще задуманный и выполненный, способствует углублению и раскрытию характеров и идейного содержания пьесы.

22. Additional topics for students' talks, discussion and written composition:

A. 1. Priestley's play "Danqerous Corner". 2. Priestley as a playwright.3. A novel by Priestley.

B. The character of Louka and his theory of "consoling deceit" (Maxim Gorky. "At the Bottom of Life"). [115]

С. The difference between the writer's optimism and the writer's "fool's paradise". Speak on concrete books and authors.

PROFESSION-ORIENTED QUESTIONS AND ACTIVITIES

I. Listen attentively to your fellow-students' reading of Ex. 2; correct their mistakes in the pronunciation of the sounds and stresses.

II. Listen to your fellow-students' reading of the word combinations from Ex. 3. What advice will you give them if they fail to pronounce them correctly?

III. Ask your fellow-student to read Ex. 4. In what way would you correct his mistake, should he intrude the [gj sound after [rj|? What recommendation would you give schoolchildren if they made a similar mistake?

W. There is no denying the fact that appropriate reading matter in the target language can effectively be used for educational objectives as well. Try to recollect an interesting class discussion you had in the course of teacher training that was both entertaining and instructive. Describe the discussion in terms of teaching methods.

V. Think up a list of topics that could raise debates in your class. Select the best one and prepare yourself to conduct a class discussion on it. Use the following phrases (for the discussion leader):

1. Avoid elliptical, loaded or vague questions. 2. First arrange in your mind all you are going to say. 3. Don't monopolize the discussion! 4. You are too subdued. 5. What do you think on the point? 6. Do you share her view? 7, Give your reasons, etc.

VI. It has been acknowledged by educationists that drama can help the development of children in a number of specific ways. What are the implications of that view for teacher training in general/foreign-language teaching in particular?

VII. Take up problem-solving situations 6-10 (See the Appendix). Discuss them in class. [116]

Практический курс английского языка 5 курс. /Под ред. Аракина В.Д. - М.: ВЛАДОС, 1999. С. 101 - 116

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