Exercises

 

I. Find in the text English equivalents for the following words and expressions:

жить в одной каюте; невысокий; водянистые глаза; фамильярный; были совершенно чужими; никогда не приходило в голову; спустить с лестницы; проводить аукционы; прямо в глаза; особенно невыносим; сменить тему разговора; склонить на свою сторону; случайно зашел разговор о…; красивая нитка; держу пари; подделка; увеличительное стекло; победная улыбка; не говоря ни слова; покраснел

 

II. Give Russian equivalents for the following words and expressions from the text and use them in the sentences of your own:

a chatty man; to address smb; to be certain; to be a good mixer; to take smth as a compliment; a way of thinking; to be mistaken; pleasant manners; a sense of humour; to dress simply; to get furious; to be worth doing; can afford to do smth; to examine smth closely; to stare at smb with wide eyes; to make an effort over oneself; trembling hands

 

III. Couple the words with their synonyms in brackets:

sturdy, hooked, snub, certain, slam, drift, chain, faint, pretty (bonny, nip, float, swoon, fetter, bent, bold, bany, indubitable)

 

IV. Answer the questions:

1) Where did the author get acquainted with Mr. Kelada?

2) What did Mr. Kelada look like?

3) Why did the author doubt whether his companion was an Englishman?

4) Prove that Mr. Kelada was chatty and familiar.

5) In what way did Mr. Kelada force himself upon his fellow-travellers?

6) Why did the passengers call him Mr. Know-All? 

7) When and why was he most intolerable?

8) What was Mr. Ramsay and why had he flown to New York?

9) Describe his wife.

10) What subject did the conversation drift to one evening?

11) What did Mr. Kelada's companions find out about his business?

12) How did Mr. Kelada value Mrs. Ramsay's string of pearls?

13) Why did Mr. Kelada and Mr. Ramsay make a bet?

14) Why was Mr. Know-All so certain that he would win the bet?

15) What made him say the thing he didn't want to?

16) What was Mr. Ramsay's and other passengers' reaction?

17) What happened next morning?

18) How did Mr. Kelada explain his strange behaviour the night before?

 

V. Say if the following statements are true or false:

1)   The author met Mr.Kelada when he was going by train from London to Dublin.

2)   Mr.Kelada was not a talkative and sociable man.

3)   The author didn’t doubt whether his companion was an Englishman.

4)   Kelada was the best-loved man in the ship.

5)   He was often mistaken.

6)   Kelada was going to Japan to look into the pearls’ business.

7)   He said that Mrs. Ramsay’s chain of pearls cost fifty dollars.

8)   Mr. Ramsay was surprised, because his wife bought that thing for a much higher price.

9)   Mr. Kelada was mistaken, because the pearls were an imitation.

10)         Kelada lost a hundred-dollar note.

 

VI. Discuss the following:

1)   Give a character sketch of Mr. Kelada.

2)   Was his gentle behaviour during the last argument a surprise to you? Does it contradict the author's previous portrait of his? Why do you think the author gave such a contrast?

3)   Why did Mr. Kelada's words cost him a lot of effort? Analyse other possible variants of his behaviour.

4) Who was the letter from? What was in the envelope? 

 

VII. Retell the story on the part of 1) Mr. Kelada, 2) Mr. Ramsay, 3) the doctor.