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Английский язык для студентов университетов. Чтение, письменная и устная практика (стр. 11 из 42)

washing — washing up

to squeeze something — to squeeze something on to some­thing

to drop something — to drop something in something

to go — to go along to hang —

to hang out — to hang up by the heels

Exercise 5

Provide your own words or phrases similar and opposite in meaning to the following.

Gingerly, horrid, a mess, tacit, ragged, to clear up, to come off, tedious, thankfulness, to disappear.

Exercise 6

Choose the right word or phrase for each of the sentences below. Use each of them only once:

Become a mess of an even greater magnitude, a hideous mess, be piled high with plates and dishes, neat, thoroughly domesti­cated, "Daily", up by the heels, cookery-books, get some prac­tical experience, get it into the dustpan, a "Liver-in".

1. Monica was happy that she was a ... and not a ....

2. Doing the work of a flat any young girl can ... .

3. The trouble about housework is that if you leave things till tomorrow it will ....

4. My brother never makes his bed or tidies his own room so it's always in ... .

5. ... are very helpful if you cannot cook well enough.

6. My elder sister is .... She can iron and do the washing and she's an excellent cook.

7. Men can do very many things: lay a fire, repair electrical appliances but they hate washing up. When they stay alone a sink may ... .

8. Hanging out the clothes Mum hangs socks and sto­ckings ... .

9. Little Bob was told to sweep up the dirt but he couldn't.... 10. If you often do cleaning your flat looks ....

Exercise 7

Give the English equivalents for the following Russian words and phrases.

A.

Рассортировать; полоскать; отдельные мелкие поруче­ния; убирать очень маленькую квартиру; по локти в мыле; опытный работник; опереться рукой о стену; закатать ру­кава; замести в совок; делать что-либо неправильно; вы­тереть руки о рабочий халат; грязь хорошо отмылась; ещё больший беспорядок; отжимать; развешивать; выворачи­вать; прожечь; передник; разжигать огонь; подметать; грязный контур; тереть намыленной тряпкой; оставить грязную отметину; развести порошок в тазу; гладить; гора белья для стирки; уметь делать всё по дому; хозяйничать на кухне; прислуга, выполняющая обязанности кухарки и горничной.

В.

Удержаться от того, чтобы сказать; затраченное время; полный надежд; ни свет ни заря; оставить всё как есть; за­платить из расчёта шиллинг за час; у тебя дела идут хоро­шо; оставить записку; направиться на кухню; оставить до завтра; мелкая неприятность; высказать мнение; что душе угодно; вдруг чудесным образом само собой сделается; приняться за мытьё посуды.

Exercise 8

Replace the phrases in italics with one of the words or phrases below.

to fix the courses a pile of washing

a dustbin to give off a burst of sparks and fuse

to rinse to lay a fire to come off all right

to do odd jobs an old hand

1. Mary's husband is so handy that he could even repair the iron when it sparkled and melted.

2. If you need a container for household refuse you can buy it at any supermarket.

3. When Jack made a grimy mark on the wall playing football Mum robbed at it with a soapy cloth and she managed to re­move it.

4. While doing washing you put clothes through clean water to remove soap.

5. Mother left a lot of linen for me to wash.

6. To heat the house Dad first collects ash in a small box and then puts wood ready for lighting.

7. Before giving a party we bought lots of delicious things and decided what to cook.

8. My wife is quite an expert at cooking.

9. The employer wanted a Daily for doing casual jobs.

Exercise 9

Fill in the gaps with prepositions.

1. Monica could guess what Miss Cattermole thought ... her and was grateful that she did not call the agency.

2. The girl had to open the door and answer the telephone covered ... soap to the elbow.

3. The maid in the house did not feel like giving an opinion ... the state of things there.

4. Mrs. Robertson could not hide her annoyance ... the mis­hap with her best camisole.

5. The two ladies' relations ended ... Mrs. Robertson's paying out the money and saying nothing.

6. The prospective employer was groomed ... the last eyebrow and looked nice.

7. While sweeping up the cinders Monica put her hand ... the wall and made a grubby mark.

8. The stain would not come off and Monica had nothing to do but leave it ... its fate.

9. The Daily had rubbed ... the stain patiently ... a soapy cloth until it came off.

10. Every day the servant had to go ... the tedious business of cleaning, dusting and washing.

11. The most difficult thing about ash is getting it ... the dust­pan.

12. Wiping one's hands ... the overall or apron is considered to be a bad habit.

13. An inexperienced cook always rushes to cookery books ... help and wastes a lot of time.

14. At ten Monica started ... the washing-up and at eleven she was still... it though she was enormously tired.

Exercise 10

Fill in the gaps in the following sentences with suitable words or phrases from the text.

1. Nick's grandfather lives alone and has nobody to look after him and do ... of a flat.

2. After... cooking Mrs. Jackson washes up because the sink is piled high with plates and dishes.

3. I couldn't squeeze anything on to the table: it was just ... with peelings, basins, saucepans and spoons.

4. Before sending the linen to the laundry I ... the pile of washing and did the marking.

5. The flat was in a ... condition and it needed decorating.

6. Mary is such a lazy-bones that she always does washing or ironing ... and no wonder it takes her quite twice as long as it should.

7. Mike didn't feel in ... of helping his wife in the home as he was not handy enough.

8. 'There's the phone', — said Grandma. She ... her hands on her apron and rushed to the dining-room to answer the telephone.

9. To keep my room clean and tidy I ... the furniture twice a week using a soapy cloth and also sweep the floor.

10. The agency ... me a job of a Liver-in but I had to refuse.

Exercise 11

Speak about Monica's efforts to carry out her duties as a Daily:

1. in the third person;

2. in the person of Monica;

3. in the person of the woman in the agency;

4. in the person of Mrs. Robertson;

5. in the person of Miss Faulkener.

Exercise 12

Give a character sketch of Monica and describe her attitude towards her duties.

► Use:

to get some experience, one's first experience, one's bad expe­rience, absent-minded, fussy, neat, reliable, handy, an old hand, efficient, good, economical, hard-working, diligently, listlessly, to be domesticated in every way, to leave smth. till tomorrow, ...

Exercise 13

Discussion points.

1. What prevented Monica from becoming thoroughly do­mesticated: her laziness, her mother's bad example or something else?

2. What is Monica's attitude to her troubles while getting some practical experience?

3. Monica assured the agency that she was thoroughly domes­ticated in every way. Was she right, in your opinion, or should she have told them the troth?

4. Which of the two employers did Monica like better? Give your reasons.

5. Does anything suggest that Monica can become an experi­enced housewife?

Exercise 14

Imagine that Monica's employers (Mrs. Robertson and Miss Faulkener), were friends. They discover that they hired the same girl as a Daily. What would they tell each other?

Exercise 15

Imagine what Monica might have done when she worked at Miss Cattermo-le's as a Daily and why she didn't hit it off with her employer.

Exercise 16

Express your opinion on the following.

'...I told myself that there are so many people in the world that it doesn't matter if one doesn't hit it off with one or two of them.'

'The trouble about housework is that whatever you do seems to lead to another job to do or a mess to clear up.'

'...If it was you, you'd be thinking of how depressing it will be tomorrow morning to arrive at crack of dawn and find things filthy.'

Exercise 17

Give a description of:

a) an untidy kitchen

Use:

To squeeze something on to something, to be piled high with something, to be cluttered with peelings, basins etc., to be in an awful mess, to spill rice, flour etc., not to manage one's household chores properly, to leak, to drip something all over the floor, to scrub, a stiff brush, ragged;

b) a room in a mess

Use:

Unattractive, shabby, broken, to give the place a clean-out, to be littered with something, to stain, finger marks, to put things tidy, to do the repairs, to need decorating, to be crammed with something, to find chaos, not to have been decorated for years, to be in a hideous mess, to be in a horrid condition, to smell unaired, can hardly move about, to knock smth. over, to leave the bed unmade, to be not much of a housewife, to do a thor­ough turn out;

c) a neat room

Use:

An efficient housewife, to clean the room from top to bottom, a lovely colour scheme, to look neat, spacious, to have a mini­mum of furniture, newly decorated, vivid colours of upholstery and paintings, in good taste, to be comfortably furnished with something, potted flowers, spick and span, to vacuum the room, to owe much of its charm to something, to give a bright mood;

d) the most boring house chores

Use:

To get bored with something, to make somebody nervous, to hate doing something, to get through the usual tedious busi­ness of doing something, to turn a blind eye to the state of things.

Exercise 18

Translate into Russian.

1. When Mum came in she was horrified to see that I hadn't cleared up the mess in my room.

2. My brother and I do hate washing up. Dad persuaded us to form an agreement between us that we should do it in turn.

3. Every other day I sweep the carpets with the car­pet-sweeper, or vacuum them and dust the furniture. It re­ally helps me to keep my room clean and tidy.

4. John's son is rather untidy. He always leaves such a mess in his room. John doesn't like things left around in the room and he makes his son tuck things away and clean the room every day.

5. Once a season we turn out our flat. We usually vacuum the floor, the furniture, beat the carpets and rugs, mop the floor, and dust all the rooms. It's a messy and dull job, I should say.

6. Frank is very good at helping his wife. She is proud of him and says that he is always ready to share household chores with her. And apart from that he's an old hand at repairing all sorts of electrical appliances.

7. My wife left a note for me and asked me to vacuum the liv­ing-room as we were giving a party that day. That was a chance for me to try out the new vacuum-cleaner and I got on so well that I cleaned the living-room and the bedroom. It was a real joy cleaning with such a marvellous vacuum. 1 was amazed at the speed with which time went when I was working.

8. I was pressed for time and had a lot of work to do about the house. So I bolted down some coffee and started washing up. The kitchen was just in a hideous mess but I realised that I couldn't leave all that till tomorrow, otherwise it would become a mess of a greater magnitude.

9. 'Bill, go and empty the dustbin. It's full. And you didn't wipe your feet on the doormat again', said Bill's mother. She was more than frank in her annoyance over the mess she discovered on her coming back home. It really made her upset.

10. Fiona is so fastidious! When she comes home she starts cleaning the flat and she never finishes until she cleans it from top to bottom. It's so depressing, to my mind. Always the same. I would get bored with all these things. I don't like it when people make a fuss about housekee­ping.

Exercise 19

I. Arrange the words and word combinations given below in a logical order to show how you usually do the following household chores:

washing:

to wring (squeeze); to rinse; to sort out the lights, darks, and whites; to hang (out) the laun­dry on the washing-lines; to starch; to take a wash-basin; to dry the linen; to blue; to add de­tergent (washing powder); to use laundry soap; to pour out warm water; to bring a pile of wash­ing; to bleach; to do a big wash; to choose a wash(ing) day; to pin with clothes-pegs.

ironing:

to press diligently; to scorch; to iron; to get rid of the creases; to use a damp cloth; to set up an ironing board; to switch on an electric iron.

washing up:

to put cups, etc. in the plate rack; to do the dishes; to dry (up) plates and dishes; to pile eve­rything up tidily; to scrape all scraps of solid food from the dishes; to take washing liquid or laun­dry soap; to rinse the plates; to start with china and cutlery; to do greasy frying pans and large saucepans; to use a bottlebrush.

dusting the furniture:

to keep clean and tidy; to vacuum; to get through the tedious business of doing something; to throw things away; to mb over with a soapy cloth; to air the room; to use a duster; to look spick and span; to prepare for a messy job.

II. Tell your groupmates how you do the washing, the ironing, etc.

Exercise 20

I. Match the names of household objects with the verbals denoting house­hold chores:

Pattern: a) A toaster is used for making toasts.

b) It's nice to have a toaster as you can easily make a couple of pieces of toast for breakfast.

1. a vacuum (cleaner) A. washing up

2. a sewing machine B. ironing and pressing

3. a dish washer C. peeling potatoes

4. a washing machine D. heating a flat

5. an electric iron E. polishing the floor

6. an electric potato-peeler F. beating carpets

7. a floor polisher G. washing clothes

8. a refrigerator (a fridge) H. mixing all sorts of foodstuffs

9. a boiler I. making and mending clothes

10. a carpet beater J. refrigerating food

11. a mixer K. vacuuming (cleaning)

Say which of the household objects you need to perform activities men­tioned in the left column.

Pattern:a) Dusting the furniture is done best of all if you have a soapy cloth.

b) It's much better to use a soapy cloth for dusting the furniture.

1. Cleaning washbasins, sinks and baths A. a detergent

2. washing B. a dustbin

3. mopping the floor C. a stiff brush

4. drying cups and plates D. a washbasin

5. scrubbing the floor E. clothes-lines

6. keeping household refuse F. a broom

7. sweeping the floor G. a dustpan

8. hanging (out) one's washing H. a cleanser

9. washing up I. a plate rack

10. getting the dirt with a broom J. a mop

Exercise 21

Work in groups. Tell your partners about: a) a disappointing experience you had while doing household chores; b) an experience you had that was un­expectedly pleasant. Ask your partners for comment.

Exercise 22

Work in threes. Find out from your partners who they consider to be an effi­cient housewife. Make notes and summarize the main points.

Exercise 23

Work in pairs. Make up a dialogue: "I hate doing everyday domestic chores", "I enjoy doing everyday domestic chores". Use the vocabulary of the Lesson.

Exercise 24

Translate from Russian into English using words and expressions from the lesson.

1. Вести хозяйство, конечно, не просто, но моя мама лю­бит всем этим заниматься. И если она делает уборку, то не останавливается до тех пор, пока весь дом не будет безукоризненно чистым.