Pronunciation

1.The story begins &at a pond

2.The story is told by &a linnet

3.Little Hans was well-known in the country because &there was no garden so lovely as his

4.The Miller had &a big mill

5.The Miller was & quite a rich man

6.Hans &liked to listen to all the wonderful things the Miller used to say about friendship

7.The Miller never asked Hans to his house because &he didn’t want him to see how rich he was

8.The Miller promised to give Hans &s sack of flour

9.The Miller wanted a plank of wood to mend &the roof of his barn

10.The Miller was always sending little Hans on long errands because &Hans had to do something in return

11.One evening the Miller visited little Hans because &he wanted him to go and bring the Doctor to his son

12.On the way back little Hans &was drowned in a great pool of water

13.The Water-rat did not like the story because &it was a story with a moral

 

 

 

Pronunciation

Practice the correct pronunciation of the following words:

Cretan Hugh Chandler

Diana Maberly Frobisher

Caroline chemist atropine

Pre-reading activities:

1. Look at the engraving below and speak about it. What is happening in the scene? Recall the Greek myth about the Cretan Bull and explain why the title refers to this ancient legend.

Hercules was sent to capture the Cretan bull by Eurystheus as his seventh task. He sailed to the island of Crete. The King of the island, Minos, gave Hercules permission to take the bull away and offered him assistance, which Hercules denied because of pride. The bull had been wreaking havoc on Crete by uprooting crops and leveling orchard walls. Hercules snuck up behind the bull and then used his hands to strangle it, and then shipped it back to Athens. Eurystheus, who hid in his pithos at first sight of the creature, wanted to sacrifice the bull to Hera, who hated Hercules. She refused the sacrifice because it reflected glory on Hercules. The bull was released and wandered into Marathon, becoming known as the Marathonian Bull.

Fig. 4. Engraving: Hercules forces the bull to the ground (B. Picart, 1731)

2. The text is divided into six parts. Skim through the content of each chapter and tell the main idea. Suggest a title for each part.

3. Write down the clue words of the story. Compare your clue words with those of your classmates. Discuss the differences and argue your choice.

Vocabulary:

1. Explain the following expressions: to break engagement, to be fond of, by the administration of drugs, to settle things, to be aware of. Make up the sentences with these phrases.

2. Find the synonyms of the following words: mad, sane, to reflect (on smth), the penalty, to murmur, specimen

3. Give the definition or an explanation of the following words: heredity, chemist, atropine, revenge, asylum, hydrophobia

4. Form the derivatives and fill in the blanks.

noun	verb	adjective
courage
		devoted
	to inherit
prescription
		definite

5. Find and write out all the verbs of body movements. Try to explain what they might mean in the context.

e.g., to lift eyebrows – astonishment or wonder.

Reading: Read the text. Make a list of 5 questions to each of the parts. In pairs ask each other these questions and check the partner’s answers.

Comprehension activities:

1. Find the parallels between the ancient myth and the story read.

2. Present the main characters of the story. Find their descriptions in the text and complete them with your own words.

3. Answer the following questions:

1) Why did Diana Maberly come to Hercule Poirot?

2) How did she explain the reason of her fiancé’s leaving the Navy?

3) Had there been any unusual occurrences lately in the neighborhood?

4) What impressed Hercule Poirot when he saw Hugh Chandler?

5) What did Frobisher tell to Poirot about the insanity in the family? Why, according to Frobisher, did Admiral Chandler force his son to leave the Navy?

6) Why did Admiral Chandler object to his son seeing a doctor?

7) What did Poirot learn about Hugh’s mother?

8) Did Hugh know about his insanity? How did he explain his madness to Poirot? What symptoms did he experience?

9) What kind of experiment did Poirot propose to Diana?

10)What incident happened in the house at night?

11) Whom did Poirot suspect of murdering? What did he think of when he was looking for a motive for murder? Why? What was the motive?

4. Describe the crime as it was disclosed by Hercule Poirot. Try to reproduce the course of his reasoning.

Writing:

1. Translate from Russian into English using the vocabulary of the text:

1) Хью разорвал помолвку, потому что считал, что сходит с ума и должен находиться в психиатрической больнице. 2) В окрестностях ходят слухи о его странностях, а недавно была шумиха из-за странного случая с овцами. 3) Его мать утонула, когда он был совсем маленький, и отец жил только для ребенка. 4) Он унаследовал характерные черты своего отца. 5) При наружном применении атропин вызывает сыпь, а при попадании в кровь может вызвать такие симптомы, как сухость во рту, затрудненное глотание и галлюцинации. 6) С тех пор, как Пуаро приехал на место преступления, он стал искать мотив убийства. 7) Чарльз спланировал месть и решил направить всю свою ненависть против невинного ребенка.

2. Find a short text about the role of parents in bringing up children and write your comment on it.