She did this when Ruth confessed that she was in love with Richard Hirst, who had stopped her in the corridor to congratulate her on winning the scholarship and had insisted on taking her down to the refectory for lunch. Anthea's gesture was prompted by the fact that Richard was a prize beyond the expectations of most women and certainly beyond those of Ruth.11 He was one of those exceptionally beautiful men whose violent presence makes other men, however superior, look makeshift. Richard was famous on at least three counts.12 He had the unblemished blond good looks of his Scandinavian mother; he was a resolute Christian; and he had an ulcer. Women who had had no success with him assumed that the ulcer was a result of the Christianity, for Richard, a psychologist by training, was a student counsellor,13 and would devote three days a week to answering the telephone and persuading anxious undergraduates.
Then Richard would wing home to his parish and stay up for two whole nights answering the telephone to teenage dropouts,14 battered wives, and alcoholics. There seemed to be no end to the amount of bad news he could absorb.
Richard had been known to race off on his bicycle to the scene of a domestic drama and there wrestle with the conscience of an abusive husband, wife, mother, father, brother, sister.
He was rarely at home. He rarely slept. He never seemed to eat. His ulcer was the concern of every woman he had ever met in his adult life. His dark golden hair streamed and his dark blue eyes were clear and obdurate as he pedalled off to the next crisis.
Into Ruth's dazed and grateful ear he spoke deprecatingly of his unmarried mothers and his battered wives. She thought him exemplary and regretted having no good works to report back.15 The race for virtue, which she had always read about, was on.
So Ruth took more of Anthea's advice and found a flat for herself.
Proper Names
Ruth [rüT] — Рут
Anita Brookner [@'ni:t@ 'brUkn@] — Анита Брукнер
Miss Parker [mIs 'p¸k@] —мисс Паркер
Anthea [{n'TI@] — Антия
Harrod's ['h{r@dz] — Хэрродз
Balzac [b{l'z{k] — Бальзак
Brian [braI@n] — Брайан
British Council ['brItIS 'kaUnsIl] — Британский Совет
Richard Hirst ['rI¶@d 'hÆ:st] — Ричард Херст
Scandinavian ["sk{ndI'neIvj@n] — скандинавка
Christian ['krIstj@n] — христианин
Vocabulary Notes
1. ... and it was known, how, she did not understand, that she was not on a grant... — и она не понимала, откуда было известно, что стипендию она не получала ...
2. But in the library she came as close to a sense of belonging as she was ever likely to encounter. — Но именно в библиотеке она, как нигде больше, ощущала себя на своём месте.
3. saddle shoes — двухцветные кожаные туфли
4. She was at one with the commuters at the bus stop. — Она вместе со всеми пассажирами стояла на автобусной остановке.
5. In the Common Room there was an electric kettle and she took to supplying the milk and sugar. — В общем зале был электрический чайник, и у неё появилась привычка приносить молоко и сахар.
6. Needing a foil or acolyte for her flirtatious popularity, she had found her way to Ruth unerringly ... — Ей нужна была тень, фон, на котором она, кокетливая и популярная девушка, была бы заметна, и её выбор безошибочно остановился на Руг...
7. Her insistent yet curiously uneasy physical presence inspired conflicting feelings in Ruth ... — Её постоянное, но до странности беспокойное физическое присутствие вызывало противоречивые чувства и было в тягость ...
8. She seemed to have been eating the same food, tracing the same steps for far too long. — Казалось, что она слишком долго занималась одним и тем же, слишком долго шла по накатанной дорожке.
9. Had she but known it, her looks were beside the point... — Знала бы она, что то, как она выглядела, не имело никакого значения ...
10. Sometimes I wonder if you're all there ... — Иногда я думаю, в своём ли ты уме ...
11. ... that Richard was a prize beyond the expectations of most women and certainly beyond those of Ruth. — ... что Ричард был слишком хорош для большинства женщин, и ух, конечно, слишком хорош для Рут.
12. ... on at least three counts — ... по крайней мере, по трём причинам ...
13. ... was a student counsellor — ... был куратором студентов ... (Прим.: куратор — советник, воспитатель)
14. ... to teenage dropouts ... — ... подросткам, бросившим школу ...
15. ... and regretted having no good works to report back. — ... и жалела, что в ответ она не может рассказать о чём-то хорошем, что она сделала.
Phonetic Text Drills
○ Exercise 1
Transcribe and pronounce correctly the words from the text.
Grant, to share, residence, access, to encounter, elaborate, ball-point pen, to assert, cardigan, blurred, commuter, foil, acolyte, flirtatious, unerringly, triumphant, reminiscence, ghastly, exigent, temperament, conflicting, dissertation, postgraduate, scholarship, thesis, ignorance, gesture, makeshift, unblemished, resolute, ulcer, psychologist, counsellor, abusive, battered, exemplary.
○ Exercise 2
Pronounce the words and phrases where the following clusters occur.
1. plosive + w
Could work, it was known, hot water, at one, satisfied with, that one, would wing, battered wives, good works.
2. plosive +1
Able, pleasure, table, likely, couple, pleated, saddle, kettle, supplying, entitled, at least, good looks, blue.
3. plosive + r
Extreme, approach, greeting, electric, streets, would reach, surprised, protection, grateful, trousers, streamed, presence, oppressed, break, tracing, principally, attractive, striking, brow, congratulate, prize,undergraduates, drama, brother, crisis.
4. plosive + plosive
Bought cardigans, made coffee, front door, escaped quickly, would be, would take, had got, fact, refectory, would devote.
○ Exercise 3
Comment on the phonetic phenomena in the following clusters.
1. Chosen the subject, did this, confessed that, all there, beyond those, assumed that the ulcer.
2. That she, greed for books, bought herself, could hear, blurred faces, slippered feet, asked her friend, found her way, had shed, had your hair, second year, don't you.
3. Through, three.
○ Exercise 4
Say what kind of false assimilation one should avoid in the following clusters.
1. Of being, of working, of belonging, of complaining, of triumphant, of boots, of his.
2. Was still, as taking, as close, as she, which she, like those, was stirring, was the neatest.
○ Exercise 5
Transcribe the following words with negative prefixes.
Uneasy, unerringly, disbelief, unblemished, unmarried.
○ Exercise 6
Transcribe and intone the questions. Compare the intonation pattern of a general and a special question.
'But 'donPt you 'ever 'go /out?' | "asked her "friend An,thea. ||
'Why donPt you 'find a 'flat of your \own? ||
Comprehension Check
1. What was the main advantage of being at college?
2. Why did Ruth consider herself rich?
3. What did Ruth like about working in the library?
4. What did Ruth do while reading?
5. How did Ruth change her image?
6. When did Ruth leave for the university?
7. How did Ruth spend her day in the college?
8. Why did Ruth and Anthea become friends?
9. What sort of questions would Anthea ask?
10. What change took place at the end of the second year in Ruth?
11. What did Ruth do to find a new style of life?
12. When did Anthea say that she was not sure whether Ruth was all there?
13. What kind of gesture accompanied Anthea's words and what did it imply?
14. What did Richard Hirst look like?
15. What kind of responsibilities did Richard have?
16. What kind of lifestyle did Richard have?
17. What did Richard speak of into Ruth's ear?
18. What did Ruth think and do?
EXERCISES
Exercise 1
Find in the text words denoting:
— a short piece of writing on one particular subject that is written by a student;
— a class, usually at college or university, where the teacher and the students discuss a particular topic or subject;
— a long essay that a student does as part of a degree;
— financial aid that the government gives to an individual or to an organisation for a particular purpose such as education, welfare, home, improvements;
— a student at a university or college who has not yet taken his or her first degree;
— a person who has a first degree from a university and who is doing research at a more advanced level;
— someone who has left school or college before they have finished their studies;
— a long piece of written research done for a higher university degree, especially a PhD*;
— money given to a student to help pay for the cost of his or her education;
— a regular meeting in which a tutor and a small group of students discuss a subject as part of the students' course of study;
— a block of flats where students live;
— a person who travels to work in town every day, especially by train;
— a large dining hall in a university.
* PhD — doctor of Philosophy (an academic degree, approximately equal to "кандидат наук" in Russia).
Exercise 2
Make up all possible derivatives from the stems of the verbs below.
Share, assert, adhere, complain, bore, accept, require, inspire, oppress, prompt, absorb, wrestle, report.
Exercise 3
Pronounce the words correctly and comment on the shift of meaning in the pairs of 1) one-stem nouns and adjectives; 2) one-stem verbs and nouns.
| 1) advantage — advantageous | anxious — anxiety |
| extreme — extremity | attractive — attraction |
| greed — greedy | presence — present |
| conflicting — conflict | violent — violence |
| 2) to note — note | to examine — examine |
| to receive — reception | to devote — devotion |
| to supply — supply | to concern — concern |
| to subject — subject | to absorb — absorption |
Exercise 4
Pick out from the text 1) nouns, denoting different types of classes at the university; 2) nouns, denoting money support for students; 3) nouns, denoting types of written works done by students.
Exercise 5
Give the English equivalents for the following and use them in sentences of your own.
A.
Получать стипендию; студенческое общежитие; страсть к чтению; читать за едой; делать пометки; придерживаться чего-либо; семинар; немедленные результаты; тема дипломной работы; учиться в аспирантуре; последовать совету кого-либо; выиграть стипендию; работать над диссертацией; иметь значение для кого-либо; признавать; по образованию; не ложиться спать целую ночь; поглощать (знания, информацию); достойный подражания.
В.
Не волноваться о деньгах; вместе жить в квартире с кем-либо; огромное удовольствие; встречать день; помятое лицо; ноги в шлёпанцах; испортить утро; войти в привычку; пойти куда-нибудь; подружиться; безошибочно; скучать; состоять из чего-либо; требовать; вызывать чувства; принуждать к чему-либо; влюбиться; иметь успех у кого-либо.
Exercise 6
Explain the meaning of the following English words or phrases and say how the corresponding notions in Russian differ from the English ones.
A dissertation, a thesis, postgraduate work, a tutorial, a grant, a scholarship, an essay, an undergraduate, a student counsellor, a commuter, a hall of residence.
Exercise 7
Complete the sentences.
1. The main advantage of being at college was that...
2. It was known that Ruth ...
3. There was also the extreme pleasure of ...
4. She was never happier than when ...
5. She found a style to which ...
6. As she opened the front door to leave ...
7. There would be lectures until lunch time ...
8. In the Common Room there was an electric kettle and she ...
9. It was more of a home than ...
10. Needing a foil or acolyte for her flirtatious popularity, Anthea ...
11. By the end of the second year ...
12. The work seemed to her too easy and she ...
13. She seemed to have been eating the same food ...
14. Ruth took some ofAnthea's advice ...
15. Ruth confessed that...
16. Richard was a prize beyond ...
17. Richard, a psychologist by training, was ...
18. There seemed to be no end to ...
19. She thought him exemplary and ...
20. So Ruth took more ofAnthea's advice and ...
Exercise 8
Complete the sentences choosing the appropriate word or phrase from the list. Change their form if necessary.
To have no worries about something; in one's own eyes; a hall of residence; read through one's meals; to adhere to something; to be at one with somebody; to go out; to make friends; to find one's way to somebody.; to get rid of something; to need somebody's company; beside the point; to be on one's guard; on three counts; no end to something; the concern of somebody.
1. A communicative person ... with other people very quickly and feels at ease in any company.
2. It is important ... a definite style when choosing clothes; otherwise one risks looking strange.
3. Police ask people ... when strangers approach them, try to make contact with them or ask favours of them.
4. Sharing a room with other people, one has ... all bad habits: smoking, scattering things here and there, coming late.
5. Having passed the exam, she grew .... The exam was very difficult and being through with it meant success.
6. The teacher tried... a little boy in primary school; she spoke with him, made him speak and play too, but he remained aloof and constrained.
7. The child seemed not ... ; he liked to stay all by himself, with no companions to play with.
8. Most British students live either in ... or share flats with other students.
9. In the evening most British students .... They go to pubs, discos or just walk around with their friends.
10. Doctors do not recommend.... It may lead to indigestion.
11. The athlete's physical power was almost.... It was his mental discipline that really made him a champion.
12. There was ... her friend's advice: she always had new ideas and poured them out incessantly.
13. Her success rested ...: she was President of Students' Society, she had only excellent marks and she won a scholarship from the British Council.
14. Hurrying up to the university in the morning, she ... all the rest of the students: she was an integral part of this moving mass.