wonderful! But... er... would you mind if I say this?" Pauline was amused.

"Probably. But go ahead!" "Well, at the end of the Second Act, when you learn

that your lover is back and waiting for you, couldn't it he better to drop

everything from your hands and then run out into the garden?" Pauline looked at

the girl with interest. "Why, as a matter of fact I wanted to do it like that, only

the producer wouldn't let me. Look here — you are a real actress!" "I know I

am," cried the girl, "but I could be a thousand times better if only I get a chance

in a Cheveril play! Please, Miss Fraser, I don't want to be a nuisance, but I

simply must talk with him." "I'm afraid he won't speak with you, but I'll try to

persuade him. You'd better wait outside, he may come any moment." "Oh, Miss

Fraser, you're a darling!" said Ann and went out.

Some minutes later Cheveril entered the room carrying his script. "We've

made a little cut and the scene is all right now, Pauline. You'll be wanted on the

stage in a minute or two."

"I'm ready, Martin. Oh! I quite forgot! There is a girl here who is eager to see

you. She's with a local repertory company, and I shouldn't be surprised if she's

quite a good actress. You'll see her, won't you?" Without turning Martin

answered firmly: "No. I'm sorry, Pauline, but I'm fed up with young promising

actresses." "But... but you must see her!" Pauline was reproachful. At that

moment she was called to the stage and left the room.

Cheveril was looking through his script when he heard a young voice behind

him: "Mr. Cheveril, I'm that young

Rep. — repertory theatre

actress... !" "You had no right to come here. Will you please go?" He didn't

even look at her. "But... but I've acted in lots of your plays — and loved them

all!" "I don't care. Please, go out at once." There was a strange little pause.

"You'll be sorry soon you said that..." The girl spoke with an odd certainty. .

(After J. B. Priestley "A Story of the Theatre")

b) Determine the main idea of the extract, c) Make up a plan of the extract, d)

Choose a suitable headline to the story from those suggested:

1) "Ann Looks for a Job"; 2) "Meeting a Famous Actress"; 3) "He was Fed

Up!" 4) "Talent or... Chance?"; 5) "The Crash of Hopes".

e) Give a short summary of the extract, f) Give your own ending to the story.

XXX. Say a few words: about your last visit to the theatre.

LABORATORY WORK

I. a) Repeat the sentences alter the tape, b) Make them interrogative and negative.

II. Answer the questions and record your answers in the intervals.

III.

Translate the sentences into English using the active vocabulary*

IV. Spell and transcribe the words.

V. Translate the phrases into English.

VI.

Listen to the wrong statements. Correct them.

#

VII.

a) Listen to the dialogue "At the Theatre", b) Write it down.

Mark the stresses and tunes. Practise the dialogue following the model,

c) Learn it by heart.

Lesson Twenty

л =

A

Grammar: The Present Perfect Continuous Tense. Texts: 1.

Home. 2. Dialogue.

У

T a b l e No. 1 THE PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

TENSE

He (She) Father Mary, Johnhas ( not) beenwaiting for you for 20 minutes, working at this

problem two

months, sleeping rather long already.I (We)

You

They

Ann and Petehave (not) beenwriting this translation since

the morning, living in this vil age nearly

a month, playing tennis for about an hour.

T a b l e No. 2

Hashe (she) Father Mary, Johnbeenwaiting for you for 20 minutes? working at this

problem two

months? ' sleeping long?HaveI (we)

you

they

Ann and Petebeenwriting this translation since the . morning?

living in this village nearly a month? playing tennis for about an hour?

GRAMMAR EXERCISES

STUDY THE FOLLOWING

I. a) Make up sentences using Substitution Table No. 1. b) Compose your own

sentences of the same kind.

II. Give the interrogative and negative forms of the following

sentences:

1. He has been working at his report since 10 o'clock. 2. They have been

writing their test for nearly two hours already. 3. She has been waiting long. 4.

His daughter has been playing the piano since the morning. 5. They have been

discussing this problem for rather a long time. 6. The child has been sleeping too

long. 7. Ann and Roger have been quarrelling for fifteen minutes. 8. She has

been dreaming to become an actress all her life. 9.1 have been doing my lessons

since 4 o'clock.

III.

Put the verbs in brackets in the Present Perfect or the Present Perfect

Continuous:

1. How long you (to wait) for me? 2.1 (to know) her since my childhood. 3.

He (to think) about it for three days. 4. They always (to prefer) theatre to TV. 5.

How long she (to study) music? — Oh, she (to study) music since her early

childhood. 6. Since she was a little girl she (to try) not to take things seriously. 7.

The students (to write) their test for two hours already.

8. She (to live) in that house round the corner about thirty years.

9. You (to play) too long. It's high time to do your lessons.

10.

She (to be ill) for more than two weeks. I (to miss) her terribly.

IV. Translate the following sentences into English:

1. Я жду вас уже двадцать минут. 2. Ученые работают над этой

проблемой много лет. 3. Джин всю жизнь мечтает поехать куда-нибудь на

восток. 4. Я перевожу статью с самого утра. 5. Она спит уже очень долго.

Пора ее будить, б. Анна и Роджер ссорятся с самого утра. 7. Мы живем в

этой маленькой деревушке целую неделю. 8. Вы слишком долго обсуждаете

этот вопрос. 9. Вы давно здесь живете? 10. Неужели он действительно так

долго занимается? 11. Ты уже уложила вещи? Такси уже десять минут ждет

нас 12. Он всегда интересовался физикой. Сейчас он работает над новой

проблемой. Он работает над ней уже два месяца. 13. Н. пишет очень

хорошие повести. Недавно он закончил одну повесть и сейчас пишет новую

Он пишет ее больше месяца и говорит, что пишет ее с удовольствием. 14.

Мы здесь уже с начала месяца, но все это время погода плохая. 15. Дождь

идет с самого утра.

TEXT 1

HOME

After W. S. Maugham1

The farm, an old-fashioned stone house, was built in 1673, and for three

hundred years the people had been born and died in it and had farmed the

surrounding land.

George Meadows was a man of fifty and his wife, Mrs. George, was a year or

two younger. They were both fine people in the prime of life. Their three

daughters were lovely and their two sons were handsome and strong. They had

no notions about being gentlemen and ladies; they knew their place, were happy

and deserved their happiness, as they were merry, industrious and kindly.

The master of the house was not George, but his mother, who was twice the

man her son was, as they said in the village. She was a woman of seventy, tall,

upright, with gray hair and a wrinkled face. Her eyes were bright and shrewd