Reading comprehension exercises

1. a) Consult a dictionary and practise the pronunciation of the following words:

rigidly, nuisance, bouquet, chrysanthemums, transient, exhilarate, intransigence, awe, ensemble, casino, chord, delineate, syncopate, octave, vigorous, intricate, coon, minstrel

b) Get together with another student. Listen to his/her reading. What recommendations would you give to correct any mispronunciations?

2. a) Read out the following sentences from the text; divide them into into nation groups using proper intonation patterns; observe stresses, strong and weak forms. Make them sound rhythmically correct:

1.1 am looking for a young woman of color whose name is Sarah, he said. 2. She is said to reside in one of these houses. 3. He was a stocky man with a red-complected shining brown face, high cheekbones and large dark eyes so intense as to suggest they were about to cross. 4. Mother, not thinking clearly, was suddenly outraged that he had presumed to come in the door. 5. The colored man took another glance at the child, rose, thanked her and departed. 6. One Sunday the colored man left a bouquet of yellow chrysanthemums which in this season had to have cost him a pretty penny. 7. Mother said he was well-spoken and conducts himself as a gentleman. 8. It was important, he said, for a musician to find a place that was permanent, a job that required no travelling. 9. He had heard it in his nightlife period in New York. 10. Well, he said, it appears as if Miss Sarah will not be able to receive me.

b) Get together with your partner. Listen to his / her reading, analyse possible variants in the intonation group division.

3. Complete the following sentences:

1. There is something nice in the way... 2. There is something exciting in (about)... 3. There was something unusual... 4. This is the

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most the girl... 5. This was the most the man... 6. This will be the most the children... 7. Delicious or not the dinner... 8. Pleasant or not... 9. She was about to... 10. We are about to...
4. Paraphrase the following sentences using the speech patterns.
1. He has a pleasant way of looking at her. 2. She has a poetical way of speaking. 3. This was the biggest meal David Copperfield had eaten for a week. 4. She had never before said anything so unpleasant to him. 5. No matter how tired she was she was always ready to give a helping hand. 6. We shall buy the piano whether it is expensive or not. 7. She was just leaving the house when the telephone rang. 8. She was on the point of tears when he suddenly appeared in the doorway.

Make up and act out dialogues using the speech patterns.
Translate the following sentences into English using the speech patterns:

1. Есть что-то странное в том, как она одевается. 2. Было что-то удивительное в том, как он это сказал. 3. Было что-то привлекательное в том, как ребенок протянул цветы. 4. Она позвонит ему обязательно. Но это самое большее, что она может сделать. 5. Она съела ломтик хлеба и снова уснула. Это было самое большее, что она съела за два дня. 6. Интересные рассказы или нет, их нужно прочитать. 7. Болезненная операция или нет, она обязательна. 8. Она собралась что-то сказать, но затем передумала. 9. Она собралась уже взять отпуск, когда заболел ее отец. 10. Она уже сидела у пианино, чтобы начать играть, когда зазвонил телефон.

Note down the sentences containing the phrases and word combinations and translate them into Russian.
Paraphrase the following sentences:

1. We are losing money right and left. 2. Days went past without any news. 3. Judge its size, please. 4. He presumed to tell his manager how the work ought to be done. 5.1 don't mind living in the city but I regret being without my horse. 6.1 would never question his honesty. 7. She suffered the loss of her pupils' respect. 8. "I believe you like your job." "On the contrary, I hate it." 9. It's been proved to my satisfaction that you are telling the truth. 10. "He is very knowledgeable about flowers," he said clearing his throat.
9. Make up and set out dialogues using the phrases and word combinations (pair work).
10. Translate the following sentences into English:
1. Мимо пробежали дети. 2. Она посмела зайти за прилавок магазина, так как очень торопилась. 3. Мне трудно судить о его знаниях физики. 4. Я всегда сожалею о потерянном времени. 5. Я никогда не сомневалась в его честности. 6. К моему великому удивлению, он не страдает от угрызений совести. 7. Сегодня холодно, не правда ли? — Наоборот, сегодня тепло 8. К моему большому удовлетворению она подала заявление в институт. 9. Он блестяще подвел к концу свое исследование.
11. Decide if the following statements are true or false.
1. A new model T-Ford went pass the house, the driver turned the car round the corner and disappeared. 2. He was a tall, lean man, with a pale clean shaven face. 3. The Mother found the girl Sarah sitting at the window as she usually did. 4. Mother went back down stairs and found the black man in exactly the position she had left him. 5. Beginning with that Sunday he appeared at the door and made a lot of noise. 6. Mother and Father knew Sarah's story intimately. 7. Both Mother and Father questioned the propriety of serving tea. 8. He was courteous and correct but he told them nothing about himself. 9. When the piece was over Coalhouse Walker turned on the stool and found nobody in the room because they were not familiar with ragtime. 10. Though the music filled the stairwell to the third floor Sarah still sat at the window ignoring it. 11. The music produced no effect on the family. 12. Father was very knowledgeable in music and he put a lot of specific questions.
12. Finish the following sentences.

Pulling up before the boy the driver idled his throttle and
The man switched off the motor,
the coloured man was respectful but
Mother could not
He was dressed in the affection of wealth to which
This was the most she had said
Mother not thinking clearly was

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The colored man left a bouquet of yellow chrysanthemums which
Mother was exhilarated by the situation. She
She decided the next time
Father questioned
On the contrary he acted as if
There seemed to be no other possibilities for life than
The music filled the stairwell to the third floor where
He had left the coat on the chair. He put it on and ignoring them all

13.	a) Match the words on the left with the words on the right.
1 2	particular disturbingly	a b	one's intransigence octaves
3 4	neat to have	с d	music more of a visit
5 6 7 8 9 10 11	a pretty to regret to give deferential clusters of thumping robust	e f g h i J к	syncopating chords composition a caller address penny resolute manner
12	vigorous	1	moustache

b) Write 10 sentences incorporating these word combinations. 14. Explain what is meant by:
1. He was dressed in the affection of wealth to which colored people lent themselves. 2. She is said to reside in one of these houses. 3. A bouquet of yellow chrysanthemums which in this season had to have cost him a pretty penny. 4. The surroundings did not awe him nor was his manner deferential. 5. Oh, yes, Mother said, we are terrible about that. 6. There seemed to be no possibilities for life than those delineated by the music. 7. This was a most robust composition, a vigorous music that roused the senses and never stood still a moment. 8. ...until the entire room was made to glow with its own being. 9. His taste ran to Carrie Jacobs Bond. 10. He thought Negro music had to have smiling and cakewalking.
15. Answer the questions and do the given assignments:

1. Who was the man who arrived one Sunday afternoon at the house? 2. Why was the man looking for the young woman of color? 3. Why was the girl Sarah accustomed to sitting at the window? 4. What made Sarah ask Mother to send the visitor away? 5. Why was Mother outraged when she returned downstairs? 6. Why did Mother decide to give him more of a visit next time? 7. Why did the Negro suffer no embarrassment in the parlor? 8. How did the Negro describe his career as a pianist? 9. What was the source of Father's irritation when he finally asked the Negro to play the piano? 10. Why did the Negro agree to play the piano for them? 11. What was it in the music he played that changed the mood of the family? 12. Do you think the Negro accomplished what he had hoped for from the visit?
The title "Ragtime" is supposed to be the symbolic representation of the atmosphere which characterizes the scene of the novel. Do you feel that the rhythm and the intonation of E. Doctorow's prose imitate those of ragtime? (whose characteristic features are syncopation, swing, high tension, fluctuation* between the regular rhythm of sharp harmonic accents and a lively irregular ragged melodic line, the incongruity, that is a special charm of the music).

c) 1. Discuss the stylistic means the author uses to create tension:
1) the incongruity of the sensational plot and the dry tone in which it is described, 2) the common situation and the formal tone, 3) the contrast of different styles, 4) the contrast of actions and their implications.
2. Describe how the author contrasts the young man's behaviour and appearance with the music he plays. Pay attention to the epithets, similes, metaphors, repetitions and gradation, abrupt changes from short sentences to long ones, and then back again. Observe the proportion of short sentences, the telegraphic style, the use of asyndeton, polysyndeton, inversion and parallel constructions; how is the compact, dynamic way in the speech of the characters presented? Pay attention to the fact that the characters have no names. What effect is achieved by this? Should proper names have been used, in your opinion? Justify your answer. In whose voice is the narration of the story? Where do the narrator's sympathies lie?

16. Give a summary of the text.
17. Make up and act out dialogues between:

Mother and Father before the tea.
Mother and Sarah after the visit of the Negro, pianist.
Father and Mother's Younger Brother about the pieces the pianist had played.

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