children? 4. Do you hear any noise? It's coming from above, isn't it? 5. What kind of people can you
see on the platform and what are they doing there?
P a t t e r n 4 : 1. When did you start to learn English? 2. Which of your friends have
started to learn a second foreign language? 3. When do they finish to serve meals in your canteen? 4.
We shall begin to write the test when everybody comes.
V. Write 12 questions suggesting answers with these patterns. (The questions
in Ex. IV may serve as a model.)
TEXT. ROSE AT THE MUSIC-HALL From "They Walk in the City" by J. B.
Priestley
Priestley, John Bointon (1894-1984) is the author of numerous novels, plays and literary
essays well-known all over the world. Of his pre-war novels the most famous are "The Good
Companions", "Angel Pavement", "They Walk in the City", and "Wonder Hero". His war novels
"Blackout in Greatley", "Daylight on Saturday" and "Three Men in New Suits", were very popular
with the readers during and after the Second World War. The daring and unusual composition of
some of his plays (such as "Dangerous Corner", "Time and the Conways") is a device for revealing
people's real selves hidden under conventional masks.
Priestley loves people. His favourite character is a little man, an unimportant shy person, lost
in the jungle of the big city, helpless in the face of forces which he cannot combat. In the description
of an elderly comic actor in the given extract you will find something of the sad tenderness and
compassion characteristic of Priestley's attitude towards "little men".
When they arrived at the music-hall,73 the doors for the second house were just opening,74 and
they walked straight into the stalls, which were very cheap. The audience made a great deal of noise,
especially in the balcony. Mrs. Burlow led the way to the front and found two very good seats for
them. Rose bought a programme for twopence, gave it to Mrs. Burlow, then looked about her
brightly.
It was a nice friendly little place, this music-hall, warmer and cosier and altogether more
human than the picture theatres75 she usually attended. One thing she noticed. There were very few
young people there. They were nearly all about Mrs. Burlow's age. So were the attendants. So were
the members of the orchestra, who soon crept into their pit, wiping their mouths. Very few of the
turns76 were young; they themselves, their creased and fading scenery, their worn properties, their
jokes and many of their songs were getting on in years. And the loudest applause always came when
a performer said he would imitate "our dear old favourite" So-and-so, and named a music-hall star
that Rose had never heard of, or when a singer would tell them that the new songs were all very well
in their way but that the old songs were best and he or she would "endeavour to render" one of their
old favourite ditties. The result of this was that though the whole place was so cosy and friendly, it
was also rather sad. Youth had fled from it. There was no bloom on anything here. Joints were stiff,
eyes anxious behind the mask of paint.
One turn was an eccentric fellow with a grotesque makeup, a deadwhite face and a very red
nose, and his costume was that of a ragged tramp. He made little jokes, fell over himself, and then
climbed on to the back of a chair, made more little jokes and played the accordion, Rose thought him
quite funny at first, but very soon changed her mind about him. She was sitting near enough to see
his real face, peering anxiously through that mask. It was old, weary, desolate. And from where she
sat, she could see into the wings and standing there, never taking her eyes off the performer, was an
elderly woman, holding a dressing gown in one hand and a small medicine glass in the other. And
then Rose wanted him to stop clowning for them, wanted the curtain to come down, so that he could
put on that dressing gown, drink his medicine or whatever it is, and go away with the elderly
woman, and rest and not worry any more.
But she said nothing to Mrs. Burlow, who was enjoying herself, and laughing and clapping as
hard as anyone there, perhaps because she too was no longer young and was being entertained by
people of her own age.
VOCABULARY NOTES
1. way n 1. путь, дорога, е.g. The way we took lay through the forest. Syn. road, path,
track.
2. направление, е.g. Can you show me the way to Trafalgar Square? (Как пройти...?)
N o t e : way is but seldom used to denote a specially built means of communication
between two places, the usual word for which is road; way is more often used to denote direction,
е.g. 1 can show you the way to the nearest village (i. e. I can tell you what direction you should take
in order to get to the village). But; I can show you a very good road to the village.; path denotes a
track made by the feet of people who pass along (тропа, тропинка) as a path through the woods. Of
73 music-hall: a hall or theatre used for variety entertainment: songs, dancing, acrobatic performances, juggling. (Note: "music-hall"
must not be confused with "concert-hall".)
74 the doors for the second house were just opening: the second performance was about to begin. In music-halls and in
circuses two or more performances with the same programme are given every day.
The same term is used with reference to cinemas: the first (second, third) house первый (второй, третий) сеанс.
75 picture theatre (colloq.): a cinema
76 turns: ( here) actors taking part in the programme. Turn — a short performance on the stage of a music-hall or a variety theatre
(номер программы). The programme of a variety perfomance usually consists of various turns.
the three synonyms abstract usages are most typical of way, е.g. way to knowledge, way to
happiness, etc., path is also sometimes used in such combinations, as "The Path of Thunder",
dangerous path, etc.
to make one's way идти вперед, проходить, е.g. They made their way through the silent
streets of the sleeping city.
to lead the way вести за собой, идти во главе, е.g. The guide led the way through the forest
till we reached a narrow path. This way, please. Пожалуйста, пройдите сюда.
on the way по дороге, е.g. Let's discuss it on the way home.
to lose one's way заблудиться, е.g. The children lost their way in the forest.
by the way кстати, между прочим, е.g. By the way, what was it she told you?
to be (stand) in smb.'s way мешать, стоять поперек дороги, е.g. Let me pass, don't stand
in my way. They couldn't even talk in private: there was always someone in the way. What was it
that stood in the way of her happiness?
to be (get) out of smb.'s way не мешать, не препятствовать, уйти с дороги, е.g. Get out of
my way! I shall get her out of the way for ten minutes, so that you can have an opportunity to settle
the matter.
in one's (own) way в своем роде, е.g. The music was unusual but quite beautiful in its own
way.
to have (get) one's own way настоять на своем, добиться своего, е.g. She likes to have her
own way in everything. Have it your own way.
