ENGLISH PRACTICAL COURSE Second Year Course PDF

DOMNICA ERBAN
DENISA DRGUIN
ENGLISH PRACTICAL COURSE

FOR SECOND YEAR STUDENTS
Coperta: Gustav Klimt Lebensbaum (1909)

Referent tiinific: lector univ. Mdlina Crivoi
Editura Fundaiei Romnia de Mine, 2007
Editur acreditat de Ministerul Educaiei i Cercetrii
prin Consiliul Naional al Cercetrii tiinifice
din nvmntul Superior
Descrierea CIP a Bibliotecii Naionale a Romniei

ERBAN, DOMNICA
English practical course for second year students/
Domnica erban, Denisa Drguin. Bucureti:
Editura Fundaiei Romnia de Mine, 2007.
ISBN 978-973-725-943-1
I. Drguin, Denisa
811.111(075.8)
Reproducerea integral sau fragmentar, prin orice form

i prin orice mijloace tehnice, este strict interzis
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Redactor: Andreea DINU

Tehnoredactor: Brndua BRBAT
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Bun de tipar: 26.10.2007; Coli de tipar: 11,25
Format: 16/61X86
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UNIVERSITATEA SPIRU HARET

FACULTATEA DE LIMBI I LITERATURI STRINE
DOMNICA ERBAN
DENISA DRGUIN
ENGLISH PRACTICAL COURSE

FOR SECOND YEAR STUDENTS
EDITURA FUNDAIEI ROMNIA DE MINE

Bucureti, 2007
CONTENTS
Preface
Part I (The First Term)

Introduction .
15
UNIT 1: EDUCATING MAN: GOING TO SCHOOL;

READING BOOKS
A. Pilot Text: The Flight from the Enchanter .
I. Reading Comprehension .
II. Lexical Focus .
III. Vocabulary Practice ...
IV. Grammar Practice ..
V. Translation .
VI. Conversation ..
VII. Composition ..
B. Satellite text ...
I. Reading
II. Comprehension Check-up ..
III. Translation ..
IV. Building Vocabulary ..
V. Conversation ...
VI. Composition
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20
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22
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26
27
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30
30
30
31
31
UNIT 2: PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL LIFE (1): LIFE

AND DEATH; THE HUMAN BODY; RELATIONS
AND FEELINGS
A. Pilot text: A Single Man .
II. Lexical Focus .
32
35
35
5
III. Vocabulary Practice

IV. Grammar Practice ...
V. Translation .
VI. Conversation ..
VII. Composition ..
B. Satellite text ....
I. Reading
II. Comprehension Check-up ...
III. Translation ..
IV. Building Vocabulary ...
V. Conversation ...
VI. Composition
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37
39
40
41
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44
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45
48
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UNIT 3: PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL LIFE (2): INTER-HUMAN

RELATIONSHIPS; LOVE AND MARRIAGE
A. Pilot text: The Betrayed Kingdom ..
II. Lexical Focus .
III. Vocabulary Practice ...
IV. Grammar Practice ..
V. Translation .
VI. Conversation ..
VII. Composition ..
B. Satellite text ...
I. Reading
II. Comprehension Check-up ..
III. Translation ..
V. Conversation ...
VI. Composition
Revision Test I ....
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51
51
52
53
55
56
56
56
56
61
62
62
63
63
64
Part II (The Second Term)

Introduction .
71
UNIT 4: LIFE AND TECHNOLOGY

A. Pilot text: Computers will know us Better than We Know Ourselves .
6
73
75
II. Lexical Focus ..

V. Translation .
VI. Conversation ..
VII. Composition ..
B. Satellite text ....
I. Reading ..
II. Comprehension Check-up
III. Translation ..
V. Conversation
VI. Composition
75
75
76
78
80
80
81
81
84
84
84
86
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UNIT 5: MAN AS ARTIST

A. Pilot text: The Listener ... 87
I. Reading Comprehension . 90
II. Lexical Focus .. 90
III. Vocabulary Practice 91
IV. Grammar Practice ... 91
V. Translation . 94
VI. Conversation .. 94
VII. Composition .. 95
B. Satellite text .... 95
I. Reading 95
II. Comprehension Check-up ... 99
III. Translation .. 99
IV. Building Vocabulary .. 99
V. Conversation ... 102
VI. Composition 102
UNIT 6: MAN IN THE MIDST OF NATURE
A. Pilot text: Reflections on the Death of a Porcupine ...
I.1. Reading Comprehension
I.2. Further Text Discussion .
II. Lexical Focus .
103
106
106
107
107
108
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V. Translation .
VI. Conversation ..
VII. Composition ..
B. Satellite text 1..
I. Reading
II. Comprehension Check-up and Text Discussion .
III. Translation ..
IV. Building Vocabulary ..
V. Conversation ...
VI. Composition
C. Satellite text 2..
I. Reading
II. Comprehension Check-up ...
III. Translation ..
V. Conversation ...
VI. Composition
110
111
111
111
111
114
114
115
115
115
115
115
120
120
120
121
121
Revision Test II .. 122

Instead of a Key . 126
Appendix Grammar Synopses 137
Composition Writing Synopses ... 173
Bibliography .. 179
PREFACE
The English Practical Course is designed to help the second year

students reach and consolidate the upper-intermediate level of English.
It is a skill-based approach, tackling abilities like: reading, writing,
speaking, listening and also, handling grammatical structures.
The course aims at securing an important progress in the domain
of vocabulary and syntactic patterns (at the level of phrases, simple
sentences and complex sentences), the acquisition of which should
allow the students to efficiently apply their knowledge in various
discourse contexts and in a wide range of textual genres. The language
chosen as main variety is Standard General English; besides we also
introduce the basic core of English for Academic Purposes, as well as
the minimal specialized vocabulary of English for Scientific and
Technical Purposes and of English for Arts, with particular focus on
musical terms.
Our material consolidates the upper-intermediate level of English
by covering various other lexical areas. The students grammatical
awareness will be enhanced by applications focused on syntactic
structures at phrase, simple sentence and compound or complex
sentence types.
The students competence in the realm of the four skills will be
refined by means of complex practical activities including discourse
analysis, comprehension checks, reading by skimming and scanning,
talking about controversial topics or writing on given or relatively free
topics.
By the end of the academic year the students will have acquired
the necessary competence in translating fictional and non-fictional
texts into and from the target language, in essay writing, and in
conversing on topics related to the selected text samples.
The present English Practical Course consists of five thematically
oriented units (Educating Man, Physical and Emotional Life, Life and
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Technology, Man as Artist, Man in the Midst of Nature) developed in

six units, three per term.
Each unit is made up of two parts: part A, focusing on the
selected pilot text, mainly conveying the respective topic, and part B,
focusing on the satellite text which is kindred with the pilot one from
a thematic point of view. The latter helps the student go deeper into
the already introduced subject matter; besides it provides further
reading material opening new perspectives.
Every pilot text is followed by reading comprehension, vocabulary
practice and grammar practical activities and exercises, all designed so
as to consolidate both the semantic and syntactic knowledge stored by
the students. Part A also includes a translation section, testing the
students ability to translate from the native language into the target
one, as well as a conversation section, aiming at improving the
students speaking competence.
The last section is focused on composition aiming at developing
the students writing skills, their creativeness.
The second part of the unit, part B, reinforces the topic
announced in part A, being built on the following sub-sections: the
text reading section, introducing the satellite text; the comprehension
check-up section, made up of a set of questions testing the students
understanding of the text; the translation section, assessing the
students ability to translate from the target language into the native
one; the building vocabulary section providing the students with
vocabulary lists of the respective domain; the conversation and the
composition sections consolidating and refining the students speaking
and writing skills.
Two revision tests round off each of the two parts. Their role is
to check the lexical and the grammatical cognitive material introduced
in the respective units.
At the end of the book, in the appendix, there are several
grammar and composition synopses meant to function as working
instruments, which will help the students solve their tasks more
efficiently. These materials also facilitate exam preparation, by the
systematic picture they provide. Linguistic awareness in the domains
of grammar and discourse will also be consolidated if these synopses
are assimilated by the second year student.
We would like to conclude by referring back to the essential
components of our corpus, i.e. the texts we have selected as starting or
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final points of each section. Our choice has been deliberately oriented
towards fictional discourse as prior and non-fictional discourse,
mainly media texts, as secondary. We would like to motivate our
option, by stating most openly that in our capacity as discourse
analysts we consider, alongside many others discourse specialists that
reading a fictional piece of work is tantamount to a new cognitive
experience. This experience is actually more striking from a cognitive
point of view than a real world experience, since, in most cases it
triggers the refreshment or even the building of new mental schemata.
Hence, the greater emotional involvement of the students who thus
penetrate a captivating possible world in the realm of the imagination.
Imaginary worlds activate a richer vocabulary and a very diverse use
of language structures.
We also believe that students have to be confronted with
informative factual discourse, as used daily in the media.
The resulting effect should be an alternation of perspectives, real
and imaginary, hopefully challenging the students intellect and thus
supplying a fertile ground for the acquisition of a rich lexicon and a
variety of linguistic patterns.
This book should be, therefore, not only a teaching tool, but also
a source of intellectual pleasure.
The authors
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PART I
(The First Term)
13
14
INTRODUCTION
The major theme approached in the first semester is the human
universe including topics related to the human being, viewed in both
physical and spiritual terms. The two sub-topics are Educating Man
(one pilot text) and Physical and Emotional Life (two pilot texts).
The unit is divided in two major parts: A and B, each having a
set of sub-sections structured as follows:
PART A (FOCUSED ON THE PILOT TEXT):
The Text Section has a complex structure containing a pilot

text, thematically oriented and a text analysis and vocabulary practice
activities. The pilot texts for the first semester are: The Flight from the
Enchanter by Iris Murdoch; A Single Man by Cristopher Isherwood;
The Betrayed Kingdom by Richard Brautigan; The wide variety of
applications (activities and exercises) helps the students increase their
vocabulary, and improve their reading and speaking skills.
The Grammar Section deals with applied Syntax topics. In
the first semester the following issues are to be studied: sentence types
with respect to word order peculiarities and communicative functions;
uses of be, copula-like verbs, basic and derived predicatives, structures
with predicative adjuncts; monotransitives and ditransitives, the
cognate object, prop-verbs, causatives and ergatives, reflexive and
reciprocal transitives, transitive phrasal verbs; complex intransitive
verbs. Each issue is allocated a range of activities meant to revise and
go thoroughly into the main grammar structures.
The Translation Section contains a corpus of texts focusing
on the grammatical and lexical problems approached. The texts are
chosen from contemporary Romanian prose. Syntactic and stylistic
adequacy are checked.
The Conversation Section consists of three or four topics of
discussion thematically linked with the pilot text.
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The Composition Section consists of two essays per unit

(one of which is obligatory) on topics related to the pilot text.
Self-Evaluation by Revision tests
PART B (FOCUSED ON THE SATELLITE TEXT):
The Reading Section is meant to provide students with

further reading materials in the topic field announced in part A. The
satellite texts for the first term are: Total Effect and the Eighth Grade
by Flannery OConnor, In Bed by Joan Didion, Manners, Customs,
and Observances: Their Origin and Significance by Leopold Wagner.
The Comprehension Check-up Section is designed to see
whether students can get the gist of the prose its underlying purpose
and principal ideas quickly and accurately.
The Translation Section points to the entire satellite text,
practising the students ability to render the syntactic and semantic
structures of the respective text from the target language into the
native language.
The Building Vocabulary Section introduces students to
various lists of words topic related, thus, increasing the students
knowledge of the respective domain.
discussion thematically related to the satellite text.
The Composition Section consists of two essays per unit
(one of which is obligatory) on topics related to the satellite text.
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UNIT 1
EDUCATING MAN: GOING TO SCHOOL;
READING BOOKS
Dame Jean Iris Murdoch (July 15, 1919 February 8, 1999),

born in Dublin, Ireland, is known primarily as a novelist, but also as a
fine philosopher. Her first published novel, Under the Net (1954), was
selected by the editorial board of the American Modern Library in
2001 as one of the 100 best English novels of the 20th century. She
produced twenty five novels throughout her prolific career as a writer.
Besides she wrote quite a few original essays on philosophical issues.
All her works prove a high professionalism and a deep insight into the
human nature.
In 1987, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the
British Empire.
While still in her sixties, Iris Murdoch visited Romania, being
accompanied by her husband John Bayly, a novelist and a university
professor of English literature. She delivered a brilliant lecture on the
relation between art and philosophy to the then students of English in
Bucharest. The lecture was followed by the novelists exciting
discussions with the students and teaching staff at the Bucharest
University Department of English in Bucharest.
Iris Murdoch was stricken by Alzheimers disease, from which
she began to suffer in 1995. She was most devotedly taken care of by
her husband. The bitter years of mental disorder in the context of the
couples tender love have been made into an unforgettable movie,
IRIS, a shocking biopic directed by Richard Eyre. Kate Winslet
portrayed young Iris, Judy Dench created the image of the old writer.
The excerpt below has been selected from her second novel The
Flight from the Enchanter (1956). The text is highly relevant for
topics like: the psychology of teenagers in the context of secondary
school, the power relations holding between the authority as represented
by teachers and the pupils they are trying to train, the childs drive to
break free from the school environment.
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A. PILOT TEXT: THE FLIGHT FROM THE ENCHANTER
(by Iris Murdoch a fragment)

Annette put her coat on and was ready to go. But now when she
reached the door that led into the street she paused suddenly. She
turned around and looked along the corridor. Everything seemed the
same; the expensive flora, the watery reproductions of famous
paintings, the much admired curve of the white staircase. Annette
stared at it all. It looked to her the same, and yet different. It was as if
she had walked through the looking-glass. She realized that she was
free. As Annette pondered, almost with awe, upon the ease with which
she had done it, she felt that Ringenhall had taught her its most
important lesson. She began to walk back, peering through doorways
and touching objects with her fingers. She half expected to find new
rooms hidden behind familiar doors. She wandered into the library.
She entered quietly and found that as usual the room was empty.
She stood there in the silence until it began to look to her like a library
in a sacked city. No one owned these books now. No one would come
here again; only after a while the wall would crumble down and the
rain would come blowing in. It occurred to Annette that she might as
well take away one or two books as souvenirs. Volumes were not
arranged in any particular order, not were they stamped or catalogued.
She examined several shelves. The books were chaotic, but in mint
condition, since reading was not a popular activity at Ringenhall. At
length she selected a leather-bound copy of the Collected Poems of
Browning, and left the room with the book under her arm. She was by
now feeling so happy that she would have shouted for joy if it had not
been for the delicious spell which she felt herself to be under and
which still enjoined silence. She looked about her complacently.
Ringenhall was at her mercy.
There were two things which Annette had wanted to do ever
since she had arrived. One of these was to carve her name on a
wooden bust by Grinling Gibbons, which stood in the common-room.
There was something solemn and florid about this work, which made
Annette itch for a blade. The wood was soft and inviting. However,
she rejected this idea, not because the name of Grinling Gibbons
carried, when it came to it, any magic for her, but because she had
mislaid her pocket-knife. The other thing which she had always
wanted to do was to swing on the chandelier in the dining-room. She
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turned rapidly in the direction of that room and bounded in. Tables
and chairs stood by, silent with disapproval. Annette looked up at the
chandelier and her heart beat violently. The thing seemed enormously
high up and far away. It hung from a stout chain; Annette had noticed
this carefully when she had studied it in the past. She had also
remarked a strong metal bar, right in the centre of it, on which she had
always planned to put her hands. All about and above this bar were
suspended tiny drops of crystal, each one glowing with a drop of pure
light tinier still, as if a beautiful wave had been arrested in the act of
breaking while the sun was shining upon it. Annette had felt sure that
if she could swing upon the chandelier the music which was hidden in
the crystals would break out into a great peal of bells. But now it
seemed to be very hard to get at.
In her imagination Annette had always reached the objective by
a flying leap from the High Table; but she could see now that this was
not a practical idea. Grimly she began to pull one of the tables into the
centre of the room. On top of the table she placed one of the chairs.
Then she began to climb up. By the time she was on the table she was
already beginning to feel rather far away from the ground. Annette
was afraid of heights. However, she mounted resolutely on to the
chair. Here, by standing on tiptoe, she could get her hands over the
metal bar. She paused breathlessly. Then with a quick movement she
kicked the chair away and hung stiffly in mid-air. The chandelier felt
firm, her grip was strong, there was no terrible rending sound as the
chain parted company with the ceiling. After all, thought Annette, I
dont weigh much.
She kept her feet neatly together and her toes pointed. Then with
an oscillation from the hips she began to swing very gently to and fro.
The chandelier began to ring, not with a deafening peal but with a
very high and sweet tinkling sound; the sort of sound, after all, which
you would expect a wave of the sea to make if it had been
immobilized and turned into glass: a tiny internal rippling, a mixture
of sound and light. Annette was completely enchanted by this noise
and by the quiet rhythm of her own movements. She fell into a sort of
trance, and as she swung dreamily to and fro she had a vision of
remaining there for the rest of the afternoon until the boarders of
Ringenhall, streaming in for their dinner, would make their way round
on either side of her swinging feet and sit down, paying her no more
attention than if she had been a piece of furniture.
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At that moment the door opened and Miss Walpole came in.
Annette, who was at the end of one of her swings, let go abruptly of
the chandelier and, missing the table, fell to the floor with a crash at
Miss Walpoles feet. Miss Walpole looked down at her with a slight
frown. This lady was never sure which she disliked most, adolescent
girls or small children; the latter made more noise, it was true, but they
were often in the long run easier to handle.
*
APPLICATIONS
I. Reading Comprehension
What would you feel when entering such a corridor and
library?
What is the important lesson Annette has been taught?
What sort of person would do the two things Annette wanted
to do?
How do you perceive her attitude to the school?
Does the fact that she carries one of them out say anything
about her character?
II. Lexical Focus
Look up the following words and phrases in a dictionary:
Verbs
to ponder
to peer
to itch
to bound
to glow
to arrest
Nouns
awe
leap
peal (a ~ of bells)
ripple
grip
height
Adjectives/Adverbs
complacent(ly)
violent(ly)
breathless(y)
high up
far away
resolute(ly)
Prep. Phrases
at length
at ones mercy
on tiptoe
in the past
on to the chair
with a frown
Use the items from the prepositional phrases column in

contexts of your own.
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1. Collocate the adjectives below with possible noun heads so as to
illustrate their range of meanings (i.e. their polysemy):
wooden; watery; neat; grim; stiff; soft
2. Fill in with a verb indicating cutting and complete the list of
synonyms by further items, such as: carve, trim, clip, hew etc.
a) In spring we always ............ our trees.
b) Lets ............ this interesting article!
c) Her hair is ......... .
d) Youd better ............. this meat rather than ............ it.
e) An unknown artist has ................... the statue of the Happy
Prince.
f) A lot of animals have been ............ for food products.
g) We had to .......... our way through the thick jungle.
3. Supply six items (minimally) in the series of synonyms:
a) for light emission (prototype: to shine)
b) for kinds of looking (prototype: to look)
c) for taking hold of something (prototype: to hold)
Provide minimal contexts and explain by short paraphrases the
main semantic distinctions.
4. State the contextual meaning of the following words and
phrases in the fragment above and supply more contexts to
illustrate the same or a different use.
a) flora
b) watery
c) mint condition
d) complacency
e) florid
f) immobilized
5. Make a list of all the phrasal verbs (with particle and/or
preposition) in the text and supply their contextual meanings.
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IV. Grammar Practice

1. Match the two columns A and B:
A
a) I would be grateful if you
could pass me the salad.
b) I insist that you come again
tomorrow night.
c) Will you repeat the question?
d) Did you know theyve married
this morning?
e) How many times have I told
you not to do that?
B
declarative and interrogative
interrogative
interrogative and declarative
exclamatory and interrogative
2. Give examples of:

a) simple sentences (one predication finite verb form)
b) compound sentences (coordinated clauses)
c) complex sentences (subordinated clauses)
Then using the following box with the most common
conjunctions make up sentences of your own by:
a) coordinating clauses
and
but
nor
or
then
yet
so
and also
b) subordinating clauses
time
condition
purpose
reason
concession
place
manner
relative
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when
if
in order to
since
although
where
as
which
before
unless
so that
because
though
wherever
like
what
while
as
while
the way
whose
despite
3. Give the correct ordering of the adjectives in the following noun

phrases; resort to the language tip under the list:
a/an (red, washable, cotton) skirt;
(brown, frightened, big) eyes
a/an (fifteen-foot, pale-red, age-old) wall
a/an (Greek, young, bright) student
(volcanic, black, tall) rocks
a/an (little, marble, Egyptian, brownish) statue
a/an (fluffy, pink, narrow, woollen, Turkish) cushion.
Language Tip: The Order of Adjectives in front of a Noun
determiner opinion size shape age colour origin material
a/the/two
nice
big round old
blue French
glass
purpose/
noun
type
bowl
fruit
4. Spot the errors (if any) and try to describe the respective
violation of grammatical rules of the sentences below:
a) *I asked him who was the car owner and he told to me it was
possessed by his brother-in-law.
b) *Yesterday it took place at the Elisabeta Palace a panel on
higher education.
c) *He suggested me that there was the thief in the back yard.
d) *Green peas he never eats, but he likes very much soya beans.
d) *Michael sent Frankfurt a large box.
5. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate preposition:
a) Mary was not at all pleased......... the invitation, on the
contrary she was indignant ....it.
b) I have scarcely been satisfied ..... my performance lately.
c) Some people are afraid ...... spiders.
d) All the passengers were impatient .... delay.
e) She was shocked .... the news of his failure.
f) What is he glad ..... ?
g) My brother is eager .... success.
h) We are all surprised ..... your reply.
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i) Im angry ..... myself for having failed the exam.

j) Stunt mens life is fraught ....... danger.
6. Use the copula-like verbs below to complete the sentences:
become
turn
make
get
run
stand
grow
fall
come
loom
go
lie
a) The prospect of a strike ..... large in everyones mind.

b) He withdrew from the competition when it ...... clear that he
stood no chance.
c) Theres a lot of money ..... idle at the bank.
d) At the Presidents entry everyone ..... silent.
e) The tennis-player .....to pieces in the second set.
f) The cows are ..... dry.
g) Shes ..... to be more and more like her mother.
h) John .... convicted for treason.
i) The snow .... (in)to slush.
j) The seam .... unstitched.
k) The telephone has .... dead.
l) Mikes journal .... open on the table.
m) Susan ... a good wife for Bill.
n) I .... godmother to the child.
o) When her servant left to have a baby, Mrs. Green had to ....
cook.
7. Specify whether the following adjectives are predicative,
modifying or both, and then use them in contexts of your own:
a) leaden
b) ajar
c) chief
d) rural
e) old
f) utter
g) heavy
h) criminal
i) asleep
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8. Identify the copular verb in the following quotations:

a) Painting is a blind mans profession.
b) So are they all, all honourable men.
c) To be or not to be that is the question.
d) It is a terrible thing for a man to find out that all his life he
has been speaking nothing but the truth.
e) A critic is a man who knows the way but cant drive the car.
V. Translation
Translate from Romanian into English:
1. nc din adolescen mi-a plcut sa scriu nuvele, povestiri i
chiar romane fantastice. [...] M-am apucat s scriu ntr-o duminic;
aveam toat ziua i noaptea libere n faa mea. mi amintesc nc
nceputul i sfritul povestirii: m aflam n laborator (n acel an eram
pasionat de chimie i mi alctuisem un mic laborator n pod) i nu
tiu datorit crei mprejurimi am adormit dar, evident, cititorul nu
tia asta; nu i-o spusesem.
2. Pcat. Nici eu nu prea tiu mare lucru. Dac s-ar fi urcat n
tramvaiul sta, l-a fi ntrebat. mi place s intru n vorb cu oameni
culi. Tinerii acetia, domnul meu, erau, desigur, studeni. Studeni
emineni. Ateptam cu ei n staie i i-am ascultat. Vorbeau despre un
anume colonel Lawrence i de aventurile lui n Arabia. i ce memorie!
Recitau pe dinafar pagini ntregi din cartea colonelului.
3. Cnd eram n dragoste cu Hildegard [...] nu visam dect la
asta: s facem mpreun o excursie n Grecia.
Ai fost un prost, l ntrerupse fata. Nu trebuia s visezi, trebuia
s-o iubeti...
Aveam douzeci de ani i ea nu mplinise nc optsprezece.
Era frumoas. Eram amndoi frumoi, adug.
n acea clip i ddu seama c era mbrcat ntr-un costum
ciudat.[...] Se privi mirat n oglind, parc i-ar fi fost greu s se
recunoasc.
25
4. Eti fantastic! exclam, Agripina. [] Credeam c singura ta

aventur, de care i vei aduce aminte toat viaa, va fi ntlnirea cu
mine. De mult voiam s-ti fac surpriza asta: s te smulgi din masa
indivizilor de duzin s evadezi din cotidian i banalitate ntlnindu-te
cu Agripina.
De dou sptmni te urmream de departe, te adulmecam i te
reconstituiam [...]. Aveai un secret i nu-l tiam, nu-l nelegeam.
Ascundeai o tain aa cum ascund i eu. De aceea m interesai. Erai
un personaj. Meritai s-o ntlneti pe Agripina, s ai i tu o aventur
fantastic.
5. n ultima vreme ne ntlneam destul de rar, la civa ani o
dat. Dar pstram legtura, prin prieteni comuni, prin colegi; ne
scriam mai rar, cci eram amndoi foarte prini fiecare cu treburile i
rspunderile noastre. i totui cnd a aflat de la Hagi Pavel c voi veni
n a doua jumtate a lui iunie la Poiana-Dornei, mi-a scris, propunndu-mi s petrecem cteva zile mpreun, toi trei, aici, la caban... Dar
de ce ntrebi?
(Mircea Eliade, adaptare

dup n curte la Dionis)
VI. Conversation
1. The social role of school now and yesterday.
2. Should teachers be role models?
3. How does the educational system in your country differ from the
educational system in other countries?
4. What was your last year in school like?
VII. Composition
Topics for Essay Writing
1. Continue the fragment by imagining the further episode in
Annettes relation with authority.
2. A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his
influence stops. (Henry Adams)
26
B. SATELLITE TEXT
I. Reading
Total Effect and the Eighth Grade
(a short story by Flannery OConnor)
In two recent instances in Georgia, parents have objected to their
eighth and ninth grade childrens reading assignment in modern
fiction. This seems to happen with some regularity in cases throughout
the country. The unwitting parent picks up his childs book, glances
throughout, comes upon passages of erotic detail or profanity, and
takes off at once to complain to the school board. Sometimes, as in
one of the Georgia cases, the teacher is dismissed and hackles rise in
liberal circles everywhere.
The two cases in Georgia, which involved Steinbeckss, East of
Eden, and John Herseys, A Bell for Adono, provoked considerable
newspaper comment. One columnist, in commending the enterprise of
the teachers, announced that students do not like to read the fusty
works of the 19th century, that their attention can best be held by
novels dealing with the realities of our own time, and that the Bible,
too, is full of racy stories.
Mr. Hersey himself addressed a letter to the state school
superintendent in behalf of the teacher who had been dismissed. He
pointed out that his book is not scandalous, that it attempts to convey
an earnest message about the nature of democracy, and that if falls
well within the limits of the principle of total effect, that principle
followed in legal cases by which a book is judged not for isolated
parts but by the final effect of the whole book upon the general reader.
I do not want to comment on the merits of these particular cases.
What concerns me is what novels ought to be assigned in the eighth
and ninth grades as a matter of course, for if these cases indicate
anything, they indicate the haphazard way in which fiction is
approached in our high schools. Presumably there is a state reading
list which contains safe books for teachers to assign; after that it is
up to the teacher.
English teachers come in Good, Bad and Indifferent, but too
frequently in high schools anyone who can speak English is allowed
to teach it. Since several novels cant easily be gathered into one text
book, the fiction that students are assigned depends upon their
27
teachers knowledge, ability and taste, variable factors at best. More

often than not, the teacher assigns what he thinks will hold the
attention and interest of the students. Modern fiction will certainly
hold it.
Ours is the first age in history which has asked the child what he
would tolerate learning, but that is a part of the problem with which I
am not equipped to deal. The devil of educationalism that possesses us
is the kind that can be cast out only by prayer and fasting. No one has
yet come along strong enough to do it. In other ages the attention of
children was held by Homer and Virgil, among others, but by the
reverse evolutionary process, that is no longer possible; our children
are too stupid now to enter the past imaginatively. No one asks the
student if algebra pleases him or if he finds it satisfactory that some
French verbs are irregular, but if he prefers Hersey to Hawthorne, his
taste must prevail.
I would to put forward the proposition, repugnant to most
English teachers, that fiction, if it is going to be taught in the high
schools, should be taught as a subject and as a subject with a history.
The total effect of a novel depends not only on its innate impact, but
upon the experience, literary and otherwise, with which it is approached.
No child needs to be assigned Hersey or Steinbeck until he is familiar
with a certain amount of the best work of Cooper, Hawthorne, Melville,
the early James and Crane, and he does not need to be assigned these
until he has been introduced to some of the better English novelists of
the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The fact that these works do not present him with the realities of
his own time is all to the good. He is surrounded by the realities of his
own time and he has no perspective whatever from which to view
them. Like the college student who wrote in her paper on Lincoln that
he went to the movies and got shot, many students go to college
unaware that the world was not made yesterday; their studies began
with the present and dipped backward occasionally when that seemed
necessary or unavoidable.
There is much to be enjoyed in the great British novels of the
19th century, much that a good teacher can open up in them for the
young student. There is no reason why these novels should be either
too simple or too difficult for the eighth grade. For the simple they
offer simple pleasures; for the more precocious, they can be made to
yield subtler ones if the teacher is up to it. Let the student discover,
after reading the 19th century British novel, that the 19th century
28
American novel is quite different as to its literary characteristics, and

he will thereby learn something not only about these individual works
but about the change which a new historical situation can effect in a
literary form. Let him come to modern fiction with this experience
behind him, and he will be better able to see and to deal with the more
complicated demands of the best twentieth-century fiction.
Modern fiction often looks simpler than the fiction which
preceded it, but in reality it is more complex. A natural evolution has
taken place. The author has for the most part absented himself from
direct participation in the work and has left the reader to make his own
way amid experience dramatically rendered and symbolically ordered.
The modern novelist merges the reader in the experience; he tends to
raise the passions he touches upon. If he is a good novelist, he raises
them to effect by their order and clarity a new experience the total
effect which is not in itself sensuous or simply of the moment.
Unless the child has had some literary experience before, he is not
going to be able to resolve the immediate passions the book arouses
into any true, total picture.
It is here the moral problem will arise. It is one thing for a child
to read about adultery in the Bible or in Anna Karenina and quite
another for him to read about it in most modern fiction. This is not
only because in both the former instances adultery is considered a sin,
and in the latter, at most, an inconvenience, but because modern
writing involves the reader in the action with a new degree of intensity
and literary mores now permit him to be involved in any action a
human being can perform.
In our fractured culture, we cannot agree on morals, we cannot
even agree that moral matters should come before literary ones when
there is a conflict between them. All this is another reason why the
high schools would do well to return to their proper business of
preparing foundations. Whether in the senior year students should be
assigned modern novelists should depend both on their parents
consent and on what they have already read and understood.
The high school English teacher will be fulfilling his
responsibility if he furnishes the student a guided opportunity, through
the best writing of the past, to come, in time, to an understanding of
the best writing of the present. He will teach literature, not social
studies or little lessons in democracy or the customs of many lands.
And if the student finds that this is not to his taste? Well, that is
regrettable. Most regrettable. His taste should not be consulted; it is
being formed.
29

1. What faults in the usual methods of teaching fiction to highschool students does the author set forth?
2. What objections does the author have to assigning contemporary
novels in high school?
3. What does the author want to be taught in high school?
4. What is the authors opinion with respect to students tastes?
5. What is the authors view on high school education?
III. Translation
Translate the first three paragraphs of the satellite text.
IV. Building Vocabulary
30
Write an essay on your own personality (self-portrait with

focus on the intellectual and emotional features) and
education (all the stages)
V. Conversation
1. What was good and what was wrong about your high school
years?
2. If you were in a position to change something about the
education system, what would you change? Argument your answer.
3. His taste should not be consulted; it is being formed. How
do you respond to this statement?
VI. Composition
Write an essay on each of the following topics:
1. My own high school experience.
2. Owls are not really wise they only look that way. The owl
is a sort of college professor. (E. Hubbard)
31
UNIT 2
PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL LIFE (1):
LIFE AND DEATH; THE HUMAN BODY;
RELATIONS AND FEELINGS
Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood was an AngloAmerican novelist.

The son of a British Lieutenant-Colonel belonging to the upper
gentry, he was born in his familys ancestral seat, Wyberslegh Hall,
High Lane, near Stockport in the northwest of England, and spent his
childhood in various towns where his father was stationed. His first
novel, All the Conspirators, is an anti-heroic story, written in a pastiche
of many modernist novelists, about a young man who is defeated by
his mother. His second novel, The Memorial (1932), was another of
his stories of intergenerational conflict between mother and son, based
closely on his own family history.
Isherwood wrote a lightly-fictionalized autobiographical account
of his childhhood and youth, Lions and Shadows (1938), using the
title of an abandoned novel.
In the opinion of many reviewers, Isherwoods finest achievement
was his 1964 novel A Single Man. During 1964 Isherwood collaborated
with the American writer Terry Southern on the screenplay for the
Tony Richardson film adaptation of The Loved One, Evelyn Waughs
caustic satire on the American funeral industry.
A. PILOT TEXT: A SINGLE MAN
(by Cristopher Isherwood a fragment)

Waking up begins with saying AM and NOW. That which has
awoken then lies for a while staring up at the ceiling and down into
himself, until it has recognized I, and there from deduced I AM, I AM
NOW. HERE comes next, and is at least negatively reassuring;
because HERE, this morning is what it had expected to find itself
whats called at home. But now isnt simply now. NOW is also a cold
reminder; one whole day later than yesterday, one year later than last
year. Every NOW is labelled with its date, rendering all past NOWS
32
obsolete, until later or sooner, perhaps no, not perhaps quite

certainly: It will come. Fear tweaks the vagus nerve. A sickish
shrinking from what waits, somewhere out, dead ahead.
But meanwhile the cortex, that grim disciplinarian, has taken its
place at the central controls and has been testing them one after
another the legs stretch, the lower back is arched, the fingers clench
and relax... And now, over the entire inter-communication system, is
issued the first order of the day: UP.
Obediently, the body levers itself out of bed, wincing from
twinges in the arthritic thumbs and the left knee, mildly nauseated by
the pylorus in a state of spasm and shambles naked into the
bathroom, where its bladder is emptied and it is weighed; still a bit
over 130 pounds, in spite of all toiling at the gym. Then to the mirror.
What it sees there isnt much a face as the expression of a
predicament. Heres what it has done to itself, heres the mess it has
somehow managed to get itself into, during its fifty-eight years;
expressed in terms of a dull harassed stare, a coarsened nose, a mouth
dragged down by the corners into a grimace, as if at the sourness of its
own toxins, cheeks sagging from their anchors of muscles, a throat
hanging limp in tiny wrinkled folds. The harassed look is that of a
desperately tired swimmer or runner; yet there is no question of
stopping. The creature we are watching will struggle on and on until it
drops. Not because it is heroic: it can imagine no other alternative.
Staring and staring into the mirror, it sees many faces within its
face the face of a child, the boy, the young man, the not-so-young
man all present still, preserved like fossils on superimposed layers,
and like fossils, dead. Their message to this live dying creature is:
Look at us we have died what is there to be afraid of?
It answers them: But that happened so gradually, so easily. I AM
AFRAID OF BEING RUSHED.
It stares and stares. Its lips part. It starts to breathe through its
mouth. Until the cortex orders it impatiently to wash, shave, brush its
hair. Its nakedness has to be covered. It must be dressed up in clothes,
because it is going outside, into the world of the other people; and
these others must be able to identify it. Its behaviour must be
acceptable to them.
Obediently, it washes, shaves, brushes its hair; for it accepts its
responsibilities to the others. It is even glad it has its place among
them. It knows what is expected of it.
33
It knows its name. It is called George.

By the time it has gotten dressed, it has become HE; has become
more or less George though still not the whole George they demand
and are prepared to recognize. Those who call him on the phone at this
hour of the morning would be bewildered, maybe even scared, if they
could realize what this three-quarters-human thing is they are talking
to. But, of course, they never could its voices mimicry of their
George is nearly perfect. Even Charlotte is taken in by it. Only two or
three times has she sensed something uncanny, and asked: George,
are you ALL RIGHT?
He crosses the front room, which he calls his study, and comes
down the staircase. The stairs turn a corner; they are narrow and steep.
You can touch both handrails with your elbows and you have to bend
your head even if, like George, you are only five feet eight. This is a
tightly planned little house. He often feels protected by its smallness;
there is hardly enough room here to feel lonely.
Nevertheless Think of two people, living together day after day, year after
year, in this small space, standing elbow to elbow cooking at the same
stove, squeezing past each other on the narrow stairs, shaving in front
of the same bathroom mirror, constantly jogging, jostling, bumping
against each others bodies by mistake or on purpose, sensually,
aggressively, awkwardly, impatiently, in rage or in love think what
deep, though invisible tracks they must leave, everywhere, behind
them! The doorway into the kitchen has been built too narrow. Two
people in a hurry, with plates of food in their hands are apt to keep
colliding there. And it is here, nearly every morning, that George,
having reached the bottom of the stairs, has his sensation of suddenly
finding himself on an abrupt, brutally broken-off, jagged edge as
though the track has disappeared down a landslide. It is here that he
stops short and knows with a sick newness, almost as though it were
for the first time: Jim is dead. Is dead.
He stands quite still, silent or at most uttering a brief animal
grunt, as he waits for the spasm to pass. Then he walks into the kitchen.
These morning spasms are too painful to be treated sentimentally.
After them he feels relief, merely. It is like getting over a bad attack of
cramp.
*
34
APPLICATIONS
Which are the main stages in the characters waking process?
How is the relation between the brain and the parts of the body
reflected in the text?
What referential expressions are used to mark the identity of
the main character?
What tragedy is evoked by George in the final part of the
fragment? Is it a climax or an anti-climax?
What is the role of the house in the fragment above?
II. Lexical focus
Look up the following words in a dictionary:
Verbs
Nouns
Adjectives
to tweak
to shrink
to clench
to wince
to shamble
to lever
to harass
to bewilder
to squeeze
twinge
nausea(+ed)
bladder
predicament
reminder
vagus nerve
pylorus
mimicry
handrail
obsolete
sick(-ish)/ ly
coarse/ ly
limp
uncanny
awkward
brutally
sentimentally
merely
Memorize the items used to describe the human face.

forehead
cheek
chin
temple
nose
jaw
eye
mouth
ear
cheekbone
angle of the mouth
dimple in the chin
35

1. Explain the meaning of the Noun, Adjective and Verb single in
the sentences below:
a) The mountaineers were climbing in a single file.
b) She decided to buy herself a single.
c) He had to pay extra for a single room.
d) Yesterday they played womens singles.
e) He asked me to pay in singles.
f) His article starts by singling out the five key goals of US
foreign policy (for praise/ blame/ criticism).
g) The peasants were singling the maize.
h) He was wearing a single-breasted coat, as well as a single
eyeglass.
i) The single-engined train was puffing along the single track.
j) When I first met him he was a single man.
k) Cigarette smoking is the single most important cause of lung
cancer.
l) Have you heard their latest single?
What do you think the compounds single-handed and singleminded might mean?
2. Complete the following sentences with the correct preposition:
to, toward, on, onto, in, or into:
a) Mary has returned .her home town.
b) The little duck jumped the pond.
c) Tom fell ..the floor.
d) She drove .. the river for two hours, but then she turned
back before reaching it.
e) Jane got .. Toms brand new car.
f) My little girl spilled her cereal the floor.
3. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate verb in the series of
verbs of holding: clasp, clench, clutch, grasp, grip, press, snatch,
seize, cling , claw:
a) She climbed into the car ...ing her hat so that the wind
wouldnt blow it off.
36
b) The baby monkey ... to its mothers back until it could climb
by itself.
c) David suddenly ...ed my arm and pulled me away from the
road.
d) The hawk ...ed the fowl by its talons.
e) The kid ... my hand with warm affection.
f) The boxer ...ed his fists and started a new attack.
g) She ..ed the knife in her hand and started carving the turkey.
h) He was ...ed from the claws of death.
i) She ...ed at her husbands sleeve, trying to stop him.
j) The policeman ...ed the thief in the act of escaping.
IV. Grammar practice
1. Fill in with a suitable preposition so as to form a prepositional
phrase:
a) She has applied ... a transfer.
b) She has applied the ointment .... the wound.
c) She applied ... the task most diligently.
d) For details you may apply ... the secretary or .... the booking
office.
2. Fill in with the appropriate particle or preposition (or both) and
then explain the meaning of the phrasal verb thus formed:
a) The smoke drifted ......... to reveal the blackened shell of the
building.
b) He was excited by novel ideas which came drifting ....... .......
all kinds of sources.
c) His upbringing seems to have left him incapable of sustained
effort, he just drifts .... .
d) He and his wife are drifting ............ ............ mutual
indifference.
3. Use the following intransitive verbs in contexts of your own so
as to illustrate their syntactic behaviour:
live
stretch
cost
weigh
walk
come
go
dash
arrive
last
37
4. Complete the sentences beginning as shown so that the meaning

stays the same. Use constructions including the word in italics and
add any other words, if necessary.
a) My brother mended my vacuum cleaner for me.
had
I ........................ mended.
b) Yesterday, I took my car to a garage to be washed.
had
I ..........................yesterday.
c) Someone is coming to repair the broken door.
am
I ..........................repaired.
d) A famous designer made her dress.
had
She ............................ by a famous designer.
e) Im having my passport photograph taken on Sunday.
is
Someone .................... on Sunday.
f) Her hairdresser has coloured her hair red.
had
She ......................... red.
g) The dentist has taken out one of my teeth.
have
I .................... taken out.
5. Insert the appropriate particle and check whether it can be
moved after the Direct Object:
a) He rarely managed to get .... (his jokes).
b) The newspaper whipped ..... (sympathy) for them.
c) They attempted to drum .... (support) from the students.
6. Complete the sentences using the reflexive pronoun themselves
or the reciprocal pronominal phrase each other.
a) They always send ..... a card at New Years Eve.
b) They really enjoyed ...... on the cruise.
c) Frank and Bruce hadnt met ..... before.
38
d) Joan and Angelina went shopping together and looked .... out
of the house.
e) Neither Patrick nor Robert would take responsibility for the
accident. They both blamed
f) Patrick and Robert were dreadfully sorry about the accident.
They blamed .... for it.
g) The twin brothers smiled happily at .....
h) A lot of people injure ... doing jobs about the house.
7. Analyse the underlined verb phrases in terms of meaning and
structure:
a. If you take a breath and feel like a broken window, then you
have to tell whats happening.
b. There was nothing that would keep me from taking a walk
along the docks.
Give other examples of verbs that behave in a similar way,
i.e. entering constructions where the respective verb loses its
primary meaning.
V. Translation
1. Dac m-a tunde n fiecare zi ar trebui s pltesc o groaz de
bani coafezei.
2. A fi chemat ieri pe cineva s acordeze pianul, dac puteam
gsi un om n stare s-o fac.
3. Dac nu faci ce vreau, am s pltesc s mi se trimit rochiile
de la Paris i o s te coste mult mai mult dect dac fceai ce te-am
rugat.
4. E ciudat c nu i-ai vopsit nc poarta.
5. E neateptat c i-a reparat maina n loc s-o vnd dup un
accident aa de grav.
6. Trebuia s-i repari de mult cntarul, fiindc e stricat de un an
ncoace i toi clienii ti se plng de luni de zile c-i neli.
7. Nu se poate s-i fi spoit camera nainte ca nevasta lui s
termine de scos mobilele din ea.
39
8. Se vede c i-a dat la reparat pantofii, fiindc atunci cnd neam desprit pierduse un toc, iar acum vd c are amndou tocurile,
ca de obicei.
9. Puteai pune s fie antrenat calul acela, dac ai fi vrut s
ctige cursa.
10. Dac mai pui copilul s nvee toat ziua, am s m supr pe tine.
11. Eram nsurat de doi ani i jumtate cu o coleg de facultate
i bnuiam c m nal.
Din cauza asta nici nu puteam s-mi dau examenele la vreme.
mi petreceam timpul spionndu-i prieteniile, urmrind-o, fcnd
probleme insolubile din interpretarea unui gest, din nuana unei rochii
i din informarea luntric despre cine tie ce vizit la vreuna din
mtuile ei. Era o suferin de nenchipuit care se hrnea din propria ei
substan. Ne luasem din dragoste, sraci amndoi, dup randez-vousuri din ce n ce mai dese pe slile universitii i dup lungi plimbri
pe jos, prin toate cartierele pavate cu asfalt ale Capitalei, care erau i
cele mai singuratice, pe atunci. Dup nunta noastr, care a fost ntr-un
anumit fel tinuit, mi-a murit un unchi bogat, a crui avere mprit
in cinci pri [...] a putut s nsemne pentru fiecare o adevrat
rsturnare social.
Cnd zic tinuit e un fel de a vorbi, cci eram major i din
familia noastr nimeni nu m-ar fi putut opri. Mama tria destul de
greu, din pensia rmas de pe urma tatlui meu, dimpreun cu surorile
mele, dar cred c nu m-ar fi mpiedicat niciodat s m nsor dup
voia inimii, dei, n general, cei care s-au cstorit din dragoste i
mpiedic pe copiii lor s fac acelai lucru.
(Camil Petrescu, adaptare dup
Ultima noapte de dragoste, ntia noapte de rzboi)
VI. Conversation
1. Talk about the most important goals in your life right now.
2. Describe any frustrations you may be experiencing in trying to
achieve your goals.
3. Talk about the time of day, the day of the week, and the season of
the year you enjoy most.
4. What are some of the activities you value most in life, and how do
you find the time to pursue them?
40
VII. Composition
1. Every mans life is a fairy-tale written by Gods fingers.
(Hans Christian Andersen)
2. Life is not measured by the time we live. (George Crabbe)
3. The drama of losing a good friend literally as well as spiritually.
B. SATELLITE TEXT
I. Reading
In Bed
(a short story by Joan Didion)
Three, four, sometimes five times a month, I spend the day in
bed with a migraine headache, insensible to the world around me.
Almost every day of every month, between these attacks, I feel the
sudden irrational irritation and the flush of blood into the cerebral
arteries which tell me that migraine is on its way, and I take certain
drugs to avert its arrival. If I did not take the drugs, I would be able to
function perhaps one day in four. The physiological error called
migraine is, in brief, central to the given of my life. When I was 15,
16, even 25, I used to think that I could rid myself of this error by
simply denying it, character over chemistry. Do you have headaches
sometimes? frequently? never? the application forms would demand.
Check one. Wary of the trap, wanting whatever it was that the
successful circumnavigation of that particular form could bring (a job,
a scholarship, the respect of mankind and the grace of God), I would
check one. Sometimes, I would lie. That in fact I spent one or two
days a week almost unconscious with pain seemed a shameful secret,
evidence not merely of some chemical inferiority but of all my bad
attitudes, unpleasant tempers, wrongthink.
For I had no brain tumor, no eyestrain, no high blood pressure,
nothing wrong with me at all: I simply had migraine headaches, and
migraine headaches were, as everyone who did not have them knew,
imaginary. I fought migraine then, ignored the warnings it sent, went
41
to school and later to work in spite of it, sat through lectures in Middle
English and presentations to advertisers with involuntary tears running
down the right side of my face, threw up in washrooms, stumbled
home by instinct, emptied ice trays onto my bed and tried to freeze the
pain in my right temple, wished only for a neurosurgeon who would
do a lobotomy on house call, and cursed my imagination.
It was a long time before I began thinking mechanistically
enough to accept migraine for what it was: something with which I
would be living, the way some people live with diabetes. Migraine is
something more than the fancy of a neurotic imagination. It is an
essentially hereditary complex of symptoms, the most frequently
noted but by no means the most unpleasant of which is a vascular
headache of blinding severity, suffered by a surprising number of
women, a fair number of men (Thomas Jefferson had migraine, and so
did Ulysses S. Grant, the day he accepted Lees surrender), and by
some unfortunate children as young as two years old. (I had my first
when I was eight. It came on during a fire drill at the Columbia School
in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I was taken first home and then to the
infirmary at Peterson Field, where my father was stationed. The Air
Corps doctor prescribed an enema.) Almost anything can trigger a
specific attack of migraine: stress, allergy, fatigue, an abrupt change in
barometric pressure, a contretemps over a parking ticket. A flashing
light. A fire drill. One inherits, of course, only the predisposition. In
other words I spent yesterday in bed with a headache not merely
because of my bad attitudes, unpleasant tempers and wrongthink, but
because both my grandmothers had migraine, my father has migraine
and my mother has migraine.
No one knows precisely what it is that is inherited. The
chemistry of migraine, however, seems to have some connection with
the nerve hormone named serotonin, which is naturally present in the
brain. The amount of serotonin in the blood falls sharply at the onset
of migraine, and one migraine drug, methysergide, or Sansert, seems
to have some effect on serotonin. Methysergide is a derivative of
lysergic acid (in fact Sandoz Pharmaceuticals first synthesized LSD25 while looking for a migraine cure), and its use is hemmed about
with so many contraindications and side effects that most doctors
prescribe it only in the most incapacitating cases. Methysergide, when
it is prescribed, is taken daily, as a preventive; another preventive
which works for some people is old-fashioned ergotamine tartrate,
42
which helps to constrict the swelling blood vessels during the aura,
the period which in most cases precedes the actual headache.
Once an attack is under way, however, no drug touches it.
Migraine gives some people mild hallucinations, temporarily blinds
others, shows up not only as a headache but also as a gastrointestinal
disturbance, a painful sensitivity to all sensory stimuli, an abrupt
overpowering fatigue, a strokelike aphasia, and a crippling inability to
make even the most routine connections. When I am in a migraine
aura (for some people the aura lasts fifteen minutes, for others several
hours), I will drive through red lights, lose the house keys, spill
whatever I am holding, lose the ability to focus my eyes or frame
coherent sentences, and generally give the appearance of being on
drugs, or drunk. The actual headache, when it comes, brings with it
chills, sweating, nausea, a debility that seems to stretch the very limits
of endurance. That no one dies of migraine seems, to someone deep
into an attack, an ambiguous blessing.
My husband also has migraine, which is unfortunate for him but
fortunate for me: perhaps nothing so tends to prolong an attack as the
accusing eye of someone who has never had a headache. Why not
take a couple of aspirin, the uninflected will say from the doorway,
or Id have a headache, too, spending a beautiful day like this inside
with all the shades drawn. All of us who have migraine suffer not
only from the attacks themselves but from this common conviction
that we are perversely refusing to cure ourselves by taking a couple of
aspirin, that we are making ourselves sick, that we bring it on
ourselves. And in the most immediate sense, the sense of why we
have a headache this Tuesday and not last Thursday, of course we
often do. There certainly is what doctors call a migraine personality,
and that personality tends to be ambitious, inward, intolerant of error,
rather rigidly organized, perfectionist. You dont look like a migraine
personality, a doctor once said to me. Your hairs messy. But I
suppose youre a compulsive housekeeper. Actually my house is kept
even more negligently than my hair, but the doctor was right
nonetheless: perfectionism can also take the form of spending most of
a week writing and rewriting and not writing a single paragraph.
But not all perfectionists have migraine, and not all migrainous
people have migraine personalities. We do not escape heredity. I have
tried in most of the available ways to escape my own migrainous
heredity (at one point I learned to give myself two daily injections of
43
histamine with a hypodermic needle, even though the needle so

frightened me that I had to close my eyes when I did it), but I still
have migraine. And I have learned now to live with it, learned when to
expect it, how to outwit it, even how to regard it, when it does come,
as more friend than lodger. We have reached a certain understanding,
my migraine and I. It never comes when I am in real trouble. Tell me
that my house is burned down, my husband has left me, that there is
gunfighting in the streets and panic in the banks, and I will not
respond by getting a headache. It comes instead when I am fighting
not an open but a guerrilla war with my own life, during weeks of
small household confusions, lost laundry, unhappy help, canceled
appointments, on days when the telephone rings too much and I get no
work done and the wind is coming up. On days like that my friend
comes uninvited.
And once it comes, now that I am wise in its ways, I no longer
fight it. I lie down and let it happen. At first every small apprehension
is magnified, every anxiety a pounding terror. Then the pain comes,
and I concentrate only on that. Right there is the usefulness of
migraine, there in that imposed yoga, the concentration on the pain.
For when the pain recedes, ten or twelve hours later, everything goes
with it, all the hidden resentments, all the vain anxieties. The migraine
has acted as a circuit breaker, and the fuses have emerged intact.
There is a pleasant convalescent euphoria. I open the windows and
feel the air, eat gratefully, sleep well. I notice the particular nature of a
flower in a glass on the stair landing. I count my blessings.
1. In what way do migraines differ from ordinary headaches?
2. When did the author have her first migraine?
3. What do migraines do to people?
4. How does the author come to manage her migraines in the end?
5. What does the author do between two attacks of headaches?
III. Translation
Translate the last three paragraphs of the satellite text.
44

Word
(part of speech)
Meaning
abnormal (adj)
not normal for the human body
ache (noun/verb)
pain that wont go away
acute (adj)
quick to become severe/bad
allergy (noun)
allergic (adj)
a bodys abnormal reaction to certain foods or

environmental substances (eg causes a rash)
amnesia (noun)
a condition that causes people to lose their memory
amputation
(noun)
amputate (verb)
permanent removal of a limb
anaemia (noun)
anaemic (adj)
occurs when the body doesnt have enough red blood

cells
anti-depressant
(noun)
medication that helps relieve anxiety and sadness
arthritis (noun)
a disease that causes the joints to become swollen and

crippled
asthma (attack)
(noun)
a condition that causes a blockage of the airway and

makes it difficult for a person to breathe
bedsore (noun)
wounds that develop on a patients body from lying in

one place for too long
blood pressure
(noun)
the rate at which blood flows through the body

(high/low)
bruise (noun)
bruised (adj)
injured body tissue that is visible underneath the skin
cancer (noun)
disease caused by the uncontrollable growth of cells
45
cardiopulmonary restoring a persons breath and circulation

resuscitation
(CPR) (noun)
cast (noun)
a hard bandage that is wrapped around a broken bone

to keep it in place
chickenpox
(noun)
a virus commonly contracted by children,

characterized by itchy spots all over the body
coroner (noun)
a person who determines the cause of death after a

person dies
critical condition requiring immediate and constant medical attention

(noun)
disease (noun)
a medical disorder that is harmful to a persons health
flu (influenza)
(noun)
many types of respiratory or intestinal infections

passed on through a virus
heart attack
(noun)
instance in which blood stops pumping through the

heart
HIV (noun)
the virus that infects the human T-cells and leads to

AIDS
hives
(noun)
bumps that appear on the surface of the skin during an

allergic reaction
illness (noun)
ill (adj)
general term for any condition that makes a person

feel sick for a certain period of time
life support
(noun)
a machine that keeps patients alive by helping them

breathe
numb (adj)
no feeling in a certain body part
pain killer, pain

reliever (noun)
type of medicine that takes away some or all of the

discomfort of an illness or injury
routine check-up a doctors appointment to check a persons general

(noun)
health
46
scrubs
(noun)
plain uniform (usually green, white, or blue) worn by

medical professionals
scrub up (verb)
carefully wash hands before and after seeing a patient
seizure
(noun)
sudden violent movements or unconsciousness caused

by electrical signal malfunction in the brain
side effects
(noun)
other symptoms that might occur as a result of a

certain medication or procedure
sore (adj)
painful
spasm (noun)
the uncontrollable tightening of a muscle
sprain
(noun/verb)
an injury (less serious than a break) to a joint (ankle,

wrist, knee etc)
stable condition
(noun)
a patient is stable if their medical condition is no

longer changing rapidly
sting (noun/verb)
sharp, temporary pain
stress (noun)
stressed (adj)
worry that causes muscles to tighten and blood

pressure to rise
swelling (noun)
swollen (adj)
ligaments (parts that hold the joints together) growing

bigger and rounder after an injury to a joint
tender (adj)
painful when touched or used
ultrasound
(noun)
a test that examines the bodys internal organs and

processes using sound waves (often used during
pregnancies)
urine sample
(noun)
a small amount of the bodys liquid waste that is

tested for different medical reasons
vein
(noun)
the thin tubes that transport blood around the body and
back to the heart
virus
(noun)
a dangerous organism that causes the spread of minor

and major diseases
47
ward
(noun)
a section of a hospital or health facility where patients

stay
wheelchair
(noun)
a chair on wheels used for transporting patients from

place to place
wound (noun)
wounded (adj)
injury to body (flesh wound means not deep)
x-ray
(noun/verb)
a photograph of a persons bones and organs
Use twenty of the items above to describe the patients in a

hospital ward.
V. Conversation
1. Are we impartial or impressionistic when we describe the
symptoms of an illness?
2. What makes you most suffer: the pain or the others incredulous
attitude?
3. What do you usually do when you are in pain?
VI. Composition
1. The blues the unwelcome mood of adolescents.
2. The best doctors in the world are Doctor Diet, Doctor Quiet,
and Doctor Merryman. (J. Swift)
48
UNIT 3
PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL LIFE (2):
INTER-HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS;
LOVE AND MARRIAGE
Richard Gary Brautigan was an American writer, best known

for the novel Trout Fishing in America. During the late sixties,
Brautigan recorded a spoken-word album for The Beatles short-lived
record-label, Zapple. The label was shut down by Allen Klein before
the recording could be released, but it was eventually released in 1970
on Harvest Records as Listening to Richard Brautigan.
Brautigans writings are characterized by a remarkable and
humorous imagination. The permeation of inventive metaphors lent
even his prose-works the feeling of poetry. Evident also are themes of
Zen Buddhism like the duality of the past and the future and the
impermanence of the present. Zen Buddhism and elements of the
Japanese culture can be found in his novels like The Tokyo-Montana
Express and Sombrero Fallout: A Japanese Novel.
A. PILOT TEXT: THE BETRAYED KINGDOM
(a short story by Richard Brautigan)

This love story took place during the last spring of the Beat
Generation. She must be in her middle thirties and I wonder what
shes doing now and if she still goes to parties.
Her name slips my memory. It has joined all the other names
that I have forgotten that swirl through my head.
She lived in Berkeley and I saw her often at the parties I
attended that spring.
Shed come to a party all sexied up and really move it around
and drink wine and flirt until midnight came ant then shed lay her
scene on whomever was trying to get into her pants, which happened
to be a lot of my friends who had cars. One after another they
answered the fate that she had waiting for them.
49
Is anyone driving to Berkeley? I need a ride to Berkeley, she

would always announce erotically. She wore a little gold watch to
keep track of the midnight.
One of my friends would always say yes behind too much wine
and drive her to Berkeley and shed let them into her little apartment
and tell them that she wouldnt go to bed with them, that she didnt
sleep with anybody, but if they wanted to, they could sleep on her
floor. She had an extra wool blanket.
My friends would always be too drunk to drive back to San
Francisco, so they would sleep on her floor, curled around that green
army blanket and wake up in the morning stiff and grouchy as a
coyote with rheumatism. Neither coffee nor breakfast was offered and
she had gotten another ride to Berkeley.
A few weeks later I would see her at another party and come the
midnight shed sing her little song Is anybody driving to Berkeley? I
need a drive to Berkeley. And some poor son-of-a-bitch, always one
of my friends, would fall for it and keep an appointment with that
blanket on her floor.
Obviously, I was never able to understand the attraction that
existed for her because she did nothing to me. Of course, I didnt have
a car. That was probably it. You had to have a car to understand her
charms.
I remember one evening when everybody was drinking wine and
having a good time, listening to music. Oh, those Beat Generation
days!, talking, wine and jazz!
Miss Berkeley Floor was drifting through the place spreading
joy wherever she went, except among those friends of mine who had
already availed themselves of her hospitality. Then midnight came and
Is anybody driving to Berkeley? She always used the same words. I
guess because they worked so well: perfectly.
A friend of mine who had told me of his adventures with her,
looked at me and smiled as another friend, a virgin to the experience
and quite aroused behind the evenings wine, took the hook.
Ill give you a ride home, he said.
Wonderful, she said with a sexy smile.
I hope he enjoys sleeping on the floor, my friend halfwhispered to me, loud enough for me to hear, but not quite loud
enough for him to hear because he was kismeted to make an
acquaintance with a Berkeley floor. In other words, this girls scene
50
had become a very in-joke among the stud and they were always
amused to see somebody else take that carnival ride to Berkeley.
She went and got her coat and out they went, but she had drunk
a little too much wine herself and she got sick when they got to his car
and she puked all over his front fender. After she had emptied her
stomach and was feeling a little better my friend drove her to Berkeley
and she made him sleep on the floor wrapped in that God-damn
blanket. He came back to San Francisco the next morning: stiff,
grouchy, hangover and so mad at her that he never washed her puke
off that fender. He drove round San Francisco for months with that
stuff residing there like a betrayed kingdom until it wore away.
*
APPLICATIONS
Why is the main female character named Mrs. Berkeley Floor?
How would you characterize Mrs. Berkeley Floor?
What does the Betrayed Kingdom stand for?
What would be the conclusion of the text?
II. Lexical Focus
Verbs
to slip
to swirl
to fall for smth.
to drift
to avail
to take the hook
Nouns
curl
kismet
in-joke
fender
rear
Beat Generation
Adjectives/adverbs
stiff
grouchy
erotically
betrayed
wrapped
carnival
Use the nouns from the second column in contexts of your

own.
51

1. Insert the appropriate word: embrace, clasp, hug, nestle, nuzzle,
cuddle:
a) The dog............the sleeping child.
b) He....................the Muslim religion.
c) He had knelt with his hands.................ed in prayer.
d) The treatise.................several different subjects.
e) She.............down among cushions.
f) She gave her mother a big.............. .
g) The children.....................up together under the blankets.
h) This bracelet wont ............ .
2. Which of these characteristics would you like your ideal person
to have? Choose the five most important. Argue for your choice.
Show how the italicised words are derived lexically.
modesty
style
charm
caution
loyalty
intelligence
sense of humour
resourcefulness
honesty
bravery
faithfulness
taste
generosity
judgement
sociability
common sense
reliability
patience
talent
beauty
For each of them give the corresponding adjective.

3. Explain the following collocations/expressions. Then use them
in sentences of your own:
a) stiff
cardboard
pair of shoes
neck
dough
exam
competition
welcome
breeze
drink
b) a curl of ones hair;
a curl of smoke;
a curl of lip
52
4. Paraphrase the following expressions, and use them in contexts

of your own so as to illustrate their meaning:
to come in for something, to come down on somebody, to come
to terms with something, to come out with something, to come to
the point.
5. Supply the meaning of the following idiomatic expressions:
a wet blanket, an armchair critic, a stuffed shirt, a nosy parker,
a fair weather friend.
Use them in contexts of your own.
1. Try to obtain a synonymous dative structure.
a) John has handed his room key to the receptionist.
b) Robert has taught English to all the youth of Ceylon and India.
c) Rose bought a splendid TV set for her living room.
d) The latest earthquake brought disaster to Japan.
e) The girl gave my son a punch in the nose.
2. Comment upon the structural and semantic differences between
the alternative structures.
a) She carried her brother to Rome. / She carried Rome her brother.
b) She wrote letters for three hours. / She wrote three hours letters.
c) She wrote letters to her friend for three hours. / She wrote
three hours letters to her friend.
3. Turn into the passive and decide whether to include the agent
or not.
a) The postman has delivered a lot of letters this morning.
b) Someone has stolen some money from my bag.
c) People are drinking more coffee than tea these days.
d) You are not permitted to smoke in this room.
e) You have to return all videotapes to the shop before 5 p.m.
53
4. Change the voice of the verb in bold. Give two passive constructions
wherever possible.
a) Tchaikovsky used many folk songs in his compositions.
b) The coach gave the boxer some instructions.
c) They will grant me a leave in July if there is no urgent work
to be done.
d) His friends never forgave him his disloyalty.
e) The management offers me several jobs and I cannot decide
which to take.
5. Look at the four pairs of sentences. Explain the semantic
difference between the agentless and the agentive passive:
a) Jim beat Gunther yesterday. / Jim was beaten by Gunther
yesterday.
b) She hasnt paid the money yet. / She hasnt been paid the
money yet.
c) They will send the money tomorrow. / They will be sent the
money tomorrow.
d) I dont want to see him. / I dont want to be seen with him.
6. Fill in each of the gaps with a suitable word or phrase.
a) My motions were rejected and I was .... retreat.
b) I believe he needs ... told to keep a low profile.
c) Her daughter is believed ...... kidnapped by terrorists.
d) Under the old suggestions, contestants were .... an extra 20
minutes to round off their essays.
7. Correct the following sentences:
a) *Man and wife they were pronounced.
b) *He was explained the procedures.
c) *His faults were forgiven to him.
d) *She was earned a lot of money from her gambling.
e) *I was suggested an excellent bookshop.
54
V. Translation
1. Se deschideau prvlioare n tot lungul strzii nguste.
2. Se scriau, se publicau i se vindeau multe cri noi pentru copii.
3. Se lustruiau cizmele stpnului ntruct avea s mearg la
vntoare a doua zi.
4. n tot oraul se vindeau ziare anunnd ncetarea ostilitilor.
5. Erau aduse cri de geografie i de istorie destinate colarilor.
6. Se construia un teatru nou pentru ca actorii s-i interpreteze
rolurile pe o scen modern.
7. La radio se transmitea un concert care i se prea plicticos.
8. Se trimiteau flori doamnelor mai n vrst din sat, ntruct
triau izolate de toi i se bucurau de orice semn de prietenie.
9. Copilul era mustrat pentru fapta sa de ctre ambii prini.
10. Se retipreau cri care fuseser scrise naintea romanului ei
de debut, aa c atepta cu rbdare s-i vin rndul.
11. Deci i ea era o cetate care trebuia cucerit, am gndit, dar
una mai grea, cci mi sugera legtura ei strns cu moartea. Att, alte
ziduri nu avea, dar sta, singurul, cum s-l escaladezi? Am nceput s
ieim, s ne plimbm mpreun prin ora. Nineta era bine mbrcat,
chiar elegant i strada o schimba, devenea grav, aproape strin,
tcut i veselia i pierea de pe chip. Avea chiar un ochi cercettor,
imobil cnd se uita la ceva. Se uita cu o lcomie pe care n-o descifram, oricum strada o schimba, aveam chiar impresia c nu mai era cu
mine i nu tiam ncotro i zburau gndurile i ce fel de gnduri. Apoi
acas la ea devenea alt fiin... Aceste plimbri au adus ruptura,
neateptat pentru mine, incredibil. Ieirea n lume e plin de surprize,
da, e bine ntre noi doi, dar mpreun cu alii privirea ei nu-i mai
aparine, sursul ei nu-i mai nflorete pe chip cnd o priveti, rde pe
neateptate de ceea ce spune altul i eti stupefiat s descoperi c dei
e aceeai nu-i mai aparine, aici e drama, e aceeai...
(Marin Preda, adaptare dup
Cel mai iubit dintre pmnteni)
55
VI. Conversation
1. Who do you think has more free time: men or women? Why
do you think so?
2. What are some of the more popular leisure activities in your
country?
3. How important is body language at a first date?
4. What topics for conversation would you find appropriate for
blind dates?
VII. Composition
1. Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have lost at
all. (Samuel Butler)
2. Love ceases to be a pleasure when it ceases to be a secret.
(Aphra Behn)
B. SATELLITE TEXT
I. Reading
Manners, Customs, and Observances: Their Origin
and Significance
(by Leopold Wagner*)
Courtship and Marriage
JOINING hands over a running streamlet was a favourite mode
of Plighting Troths in former times. There is a pretty meaning in this.
A modern poet has well expressed the sentiment in these words:
Like the waters at our feet, which never cease to flow,
Constant love I crave from thee thro life, for weal or woe.
WEDDING PRESENTS are a survival of feudal times, when
tenants were bound to render aid at the knighting of their lords
eldest son, and at the marriage of his eldest daughter. When feudalism
declined, the usual tribute on such occasions was commuted into a
56
present, at the discretion of, and in accordance with the means of the
individual, as a happy augury. Poor folk, who could afford nothing
better, generally sent the bride the symbolical coronals. During the
reign of Elizabeth the most usual wedding present among the middle
classes of society was a pair of knives, i.e., scissors, whose purpose
is thus defined in Davisons Poetical Rhapsody:
Fortune doth give these pair of knives to you
To cut the thread of love if it be untrue.
This explains why the gift of a penknife or a pair of scissors is
regarded as an ill omen, because it cuts love in twain.
The origin of the WEDDING RING must be sought among the
ancient Egyptians, who regarded the bracelet as the symbol of
marriage, because, being round, it was endless. Egyptian wives wore
no other ornaments than a pair of bracelets. Among the Assyrians, the
Babylonians, and other nations of antiquity, the bracelet had the like
signification. The Jewish women, we read, were so fond of these
ornaments that they wore them on their ankles as well as on their
arms. Hence the allusion in Isaiah to the jingling ornaments on the
feet of the haughty daughters of Jerusalem. To this day married
women in the East are addicted to wearing bracelets so massive as to
greatly oppress the wearer. This, like the long finger-nails of the
Chinese, is looked upon as indicative of high birth, inasmuch as they
are thereby rendered incapable of personal exertion. On the overthrow
of the Persian empire by the Greeks, they, being a highly imaginative
people, and observing that most of the leaders of the vanquished host
wore bracelets on their wrists as ornaments of distinction, invested
their brides-elect with a miniature bracelet, to be worn on the
medicated finger (see 178); and themselves bestowed bracelets upon
their heroes and generals as rewards of valour. By this means the
original symbolism of the bracelet was in part destroyed; but a deeper
significance attached itself to the plain gold band upon the finger,
which was supposed to have a direct communication with the heart.
The Romans, who copied nearly everything from the Greeks, also
rewarded their military heroes with bracelets as badges of honour.
Like the Greeks, too, they bestowed a plain gold ring upon their
brides-elect, in strict accordance with a time-honoured custom amongst
themselves of delivering a ring as an earnest upon the conclusion of a
bargain. In the course of the marriage ceremony, however, the
57
betrothal ring was exchanged for the bridegrooms signet, the emblem
of investiture and authority, to show that the newly made wife was
fully admitted into her husbands confidence, that he endowed her
with equal rights with himself over his property.
Though at first the marriage ring was a signet, it eventually gave
place to a plain one of iron, called a ronubum, symbolical of the
lasting character of the contract. It was not until after they had seen
the wedding ring come into general use among the Roman conquerors
of the East that the Jews adopted it in their own marriage rite.
Wedding rings did not obtain in the Christian Marriage Service until
the ninth century. The Anglo-Saxons established the custom of
wearing plain gold rings, and these have been worn by married
women ever since. There is no rubric on the subject; a ring is all the
Church stipulates for. Consequently, we sometimes hear of a bride
being married with the ring of the church-door key, in the absence of
the more desirable article.
The custom of wearing the Wedding Ring on the fourth Finger
of the Left Hand had unquestionably a pagan origin. Both the Greeks
and the Romans called the fourth left-hand finger the Medicated
Finger, and used it to stir up mixtures and potions, out of the belief
that it contained a vein which communicated directly with the heart,
and therefore nothing noxious could come in contact with it without
giving instant warning to that vital organ. When the ring supplanted
the bracelet as the symbol of matrimony, the deep sentimentality of
the Greeks dictated that it should be worn on the medicated finger.
The fallacy of the connection between that finger and the heart was in
more modern times completely exploded, but after such long usage the
so-called medicated finger still continued to be the annular. Some
attempts were indeed made to improve matters by shifting the ring on
to the corresponding finger of the right hand, as was, and is, the
custom of bishops and cardinals; yet it was not long before the
improvers reverted to the old order. To commence with, the left hand
was found to be more suitable, because less used, as the depository of
such ornaments than the right. With regard to the finger, our
forefathers knew very well that the fourth finger was used much more
sparingly than any of the others, so a ring placed on that finger would
be little liable to be bruised or damaged; for whereas the other fingers
can be put out singly to their full length, the fourth, or ring finger,
cannot be extended in this way except in company with the rest.
58
The WEDDING CAKE is the modern development of an

ancient practice which had its origin in the Roman form of marriage
called Confarreatio, or eating together. When the Roman bride gave
her right hand to the bridegroom, she held in her left three wheat ears,
symbolical of plenty; and at the conclusion of the ceremony all the
contracting parties sat down together to partake of a cake made of
flour, salt, and water (see 101). In the reign of the Emperor Tiberius
this Confarreatio was suffered to fall into general disuse, though the
wheat ears continued to play their original part in the marriage
ceremonial as a happy augury of future plenty. All through the Middle
Ages, and long afterwards, the symbolical wheat ears were never
wanting in one form or another; i.e., either carried by the bride or
worn as a chaplet on her head. Eventually it became a custom with the
marriageable girls of the neighbourhood to assemble outside the
church porch with full measures of wheat, the contents of which they
threw over the head and shoulders of the bride as soon as she
reappeared after all was over. This idea was doubtless derived from
their Jewish neighbours who, while the bridegroom walked three
times round the bride, threw handfuls of wheat over them, exclaiming,
Increase and multiply! as their descendants still do to-day. Then
ensued a scramble among the witnesses for the grains as they lay
scattered on the ground; in compliment to the bride it was considered
the proper thing to eat them on the spot. At last, however, there came a
time when people lost their appetite for uncooked kernels, and the
natural outcome of mans ingenuity was a kind of biscuit. Easy
enough it would have been to distribute portions of the wedding
biscuit; but popular sentiment demanded that it should be broken over
the brides head, and scrambled for in the good old-fashioned way. In
the Scottish Highlands at the present day an oatmeal cake is broken
over the brides head by the best man and first bridesmaid as she
enters the house on her return from church, and distributed to the
company. By the time of Elizabeth these thin dry biscuits began to
take the form of small rectangular cakes or buns, made of eggs, milk,
sugar, currants, and spices. The number of such articles always
brought together at a wedding was very considerable; for not only did
every guest make his appearance with a packet, but all the neighbours
were expected to send in their contributions before the bride returned
home from church. The instant she crossed the threshold, those
members of the household who had remained at home to prepare the
59
feast, energetically threw the whole collection over her head. Those
which by any chance alighted upon her head and shoulders were
prized most of all; they were eaten at once by the married, but by the
single they were religiously preserved in order to be placed under their
pillows at night, so as to make them dream of their future partners for
life. The remainder were divided into two equal portions; the one
distributed to the poor who had followed the party home from church,
the other placed in a huge pile in front of the happy couple on the
festive board. Towards the conclusion of the repast the newly made
husband and wife exchanged a kiss over the dish of cakes, and then
proceeded to distribute them. The next step in the direction of the
modern wedding cake was the coating of the little square cakes with
almond paste or comfits. After this, it needed little to convert the pile
into a single mass, covered with hardened white sugar and ornamented
with tiny cupids and other devices suggestive of matrimonial bliss.
This occurred during the Restoration period, when the art of preserving
fruits was first cultivated, and, thanks to the ingenuity of the pastry
cooks, dainties found their way into English households such as had
never before been heard of. It only remains to be added that the cake
continued to be broken over the brides head, or rather tossed and
suffered to break on the ground, long after its introduction in the
modern form; but, in order that its appearance on the table might not
be spoiled, good housewives generally provided two cakes-one for the
table, the other for breaking and distribution. Nowadays the cake cut
by the bride is considered all-sufficient.
The Scottish custom of LIFTING THE BRIDE OVER THE
DOORSTEP is a relic of barbarism. Most savage tribes carry their
wives to their tents. Bruce, the traveller, found the same custom in
Abyssinia as in Mexico: The bridegroom takes his lady on his
shoulders and carries her off to his house. The Canadian Indians
always carry their wives on their bent backs to the tent prepared for
their reception. In China the bride is carried into the house by a
matron, and lifted over a pan of charcoal at the door. Whenever a
bride is borne off by force, enveloped in a sheet, on horseback, in
accordance with the primitive custom of marriage by capture, she is
naturally carried into the house by the bridegroom.
60
The meaning of RICE THROWING AT WEDDINGS, as an

auspicious send-off to the happy couple, is not far to seek. Inasmuch
as rice is the most prolific of grains, it has always and everywhere
been regarded as emblematical of Gods command to Adam and Eve,
and after the Deluge to Noah, to increase and multiply, and replenish
the earth. Among the Brahmins of India this rice throwing forms part
of the marriage ceremony. Instead of rice, the Jews throw wheat, and
the Russians oats or barley, upon the heads of the bridal couple,
saying, Increase and multiply.
* text source: http://www.sacred-texts.com/etc/mco/index.htm
http://www.sacred-texts.com/etc/mco/ml07.htm

1. Which was the favourite mode of Plighting Troths in former times?
Which are the favourite modes of Plighting Troths nowadays?
2. What is the origin of wedding gifts?
What was the most usual wedding present during the reign of
Elizabeth?
What are the most usual wedding presents nowadays?
3. What origin has the custom of wearing the wedding ring? On what
finger is it usually worn?
What is the symbol of the bracelet with ancient Egyptians?
4. What does Confarreatio mean?
During whose reign the thin dry biscuits began to take the form of
small rectangular cakes or buns?
What transformations suffered the modern cake?
5. What origin has lifting the bride over the doorstep?
What is the significance of this ritual nowadays?
6. What is the significance of throwing rice at weddings?
What other grains can be thrown?
Is there any cultural variation? If so, how can you explain it?
61
III. Translation
Translate the final two paragraphs of the satellite text.
Focus: AFFECTIONS
Nouns
BEAUTY: attractiveness, charm, elegance, grace, loveliness
CHARM: attraction, fascination, glamour
CONSORT: companion, comrade, mate, partner, soul-mate, spouse
DELIGHT: enjoyment, gladness, happiness, joy, pleasure
DEVOTION: affection, attachment, fidelity, loyalty, dedication
HAPPINESS: bliss, cheerfulness, contentment, delight, joyfulness
JOY: bliss, delight, elation, gladness, happiness
LOYALTY: allegiance, constancy, devotion, faithfulness, fidelity
MARRIAGE: matrimony, nuptials, wedding, wedlock, bond, union
PROMISE: pledge, vow
RESPECT: admiration, appreciation, esteem, favor, honor, regard
SACRIFICE: dedication, devotion, offering
Verbs
CHERISH: esteem, prize, treasure, cultivate, foster, nurture
HOPE: anticipate, await, count on, expect, look forward to
LOVE: adore, cherish, treasure
MARRY: espouse, wed, combine, couple, hitch, mate, link, unite
PRIZE: appreciate, value, cherish
RESPECT: honor, regard, value, admire
UNITE: connect, converge, join, meet, merge, unify
62
Adjectives
AFFECTIONATE: adoring, caring, considerate, devoted, loving
FAITHFUL: constant, steady, steadfast, true
FOND: affectionate, dear, devoted, loving
HAPPY: cheerful, glad, joyful, joyous, merry, pleased
MARRIED: marital, matrimonial, nuptial, spousal, wedded, united
UNSELFISH: selfless, self-sacrificing
WARM: compassionate, sympathetic, tender, enthusiastic
Adverbs
AFFECTIONATELY: dearly, devotedly, dotingly, fondly, lovingly
FAITHFULLY: devotedly, loyally
HAPPILY: blissfully, joyfully, joyously, cheerfully
SINCERELY: genuinely, honestly, really
TOTALLY: absolutely, completely, entirely, fully, purely, wholly
Write three paragraphs of five lines each, using at least ten

of the above items.
V. Conversation
1. Marriage and divorce in European countries as against the
same social phenomena in Asian countries.
2. The relative importance of getting engaged. Arguments for
and against.
3. Growing up in the context of a family with divorced or
separated parents.
VI. Composition
1. The weekly programme of a newly wed couple versus the one
of an elderly couple.
2. Arguments for marrying after one is thirty.
63
REVISION TEST I
1. Choose the most appropriate answer for each sentence:
A. carve; B. trim; C. clip; D. hew
a. In spring we always our trees.
b. Lets .. this interesting article!
c. Her hair is .. .
d. An unknown artist has .. the statue of the Happy Prince.
e. She her initials on the wooden desk.
f. We had to through the thick jungle.
2. Choose the correct word for each sentence:
A. flora; B. watery; C. mint condition; D. complacency; E. florid;
a. The . of the Himalayas is her domain of research.
b. She has such a style of writing!
c. All his books are in . .
d. Theres an air of .. in his behaviour which I dislike.
e. Her eyes were red and .
3. Choose the correct answer as to show the most appropriate
synonym for the italicized words.
a. The skills which are now becoming obsolete are nevertheless
valuable.
A. current B. out-dated C. primitive D. fashionable
b. A coarse, red-faced man yelled something across the street.
A. vulgar B. inferior C. refined D. blasphemous
c. Im afraid we are in a bit of a predicament.
A. embarrassment B. emergency C. crisis D. danger
d. I am totally bewildered by these crossword clues.
A. captivated B. baffled C. distracted D. confused
4. Insert the suitable word:
A. embrace; B. clasp; C. hug; D nestle; E. nuzzle; F. cuddle.
a. The dog .. the sleeping child.
b. He the Muslim religion.
c. He had knelt with his hands ed in prayer.
d. The treatise .. several different subjects.
e. She . down among cushions.
64
f. She gave her mother a big . .

g. The children . up together under the blankets.
h. This bracelet wont .. .
5. Match the two columns:
1. glimpse
2. gaze
3. stare
4. glance
5. peep
6. peer
7. blink
8. make-out
9. weep
10. wink
a) close the eyelids rapidly

b) to have a quick look (through)
c) look closely at (as if trying to see more clearly)
d) see briefly
e) look at steadily in surprise or astonishment
f) look at intently
g) close one eyelids rapidly
h) see with difficulty/carefully
i) take a quick look when one shouldnt
(e.g. through a keyhole)
j) cry
6. Choose the correct answer:

a. A gaggle of geese is waking me up every morning!
A. a plague of, are waking; B. a gaggle of, wakes; C. a cluster
of, is waking; D. a gaggle of, is waking;
b. His chest of drawers is always open.
A. chest of, are; B. host of, is; C. chest of, is; D. party of, is;
c. A tuft of hay looms through the mist.
A. a stack of, looms; B. a blade of, loom; C. a cluster of, looms;
D. a clump of, looms;
d. A host of whales appear in the distance.
A. a bench of, appears; B. a school of, appears; C. a cluster of,
appears; D. a school of, appear;
7. In each of the following sentences, four words or phrases are
underlined. You should choose the word or phrase that would not
be appropriate in standard written English.
a. I asked him who was the car owner and he told to me it was possessed
A
B
C
D
by his brother-in-law.
b. Yesterday it took place at the Elisabeta Palace a panel on higher
A
B
C
D
education.
65
c. He suggested me that there was a thief in the back yard.

A
B C D
d. He never eats green peas, but he likes very much soya beans.
A
B
C
D
e. Michael sent Frankfurt a large box.
A
B
C
D
8. Fill in with the appropriate preposition: A. with; B. of; C. at;
D. for:
a. Mary was not at all pleased .. the invitation.
b. I have scarcely been satisfied . my performance lately.
c. Some people are afraid .. spiders.
d. My brother is eager success.
e. We are all surprised .. your reply.
f. Stunt mens life is fraught .. danger.
9. In the following sentences BE is:
A. copula; B. existential; C. auxiliary; D. modal
a. Theres the accident!
b. He is Secretary of State.
c. Its no use crying over spilt milk.
d. He is crying all the time!
e. The wedding is tomorrow.
f. Her gestures are wooden.
g. There are three cakes on the tray.
h. The books were left on the table.
i. She is deserving of a good mark.
j. All students are to assemble in the hall at 9 oclock.
10. Match the two columns:
a) leaden
A. exclusively modifying
b) ajar
B. exclusively predicative
c) fond of
C. both modifying and predicative
d) rural
D. none
e) old
f) utter
g) heavy
h) criminal
i) asleep
66
11. Complete the sentences using: A. themselves; B. each other

a. They always send .. a card at New Years Eve.
b. They really enjoyed .. on the cruise.
c. Frank and Bruce hadnt met .. before.
d. Joan and Angelina went shopping together and looked .. out
of the house.
e. Neither Patrick nor Robert would take responsibility for the
accident. They both blamed .
f. The twin brothers smiled happily at .
12. Which of the following sentences do not allow Dative Movement:
A. a; b; f; B. e; f; g; C. a; d; e; D. c; d; g
a. I asked my friend to call a taxi for me right away.
b. Those steps havent done much to our economy.
c. Susan has booked a single room for Max.
d. Have you paid any attention to those details.
e. Im going to explain my position to my parents.
f. She carried her brother to Rome.
g. She wrote letters for three hours.
13. Supply a synonymous structure, wherever possible.
Model: Bob handed the lily to Susan. Bob handed Susan the lily.
a. They cabled Bruce a tax notice.
b. He wrote me a letter.
c. Mary explained these facts to him.
d. A lot of letters have been delivered this morning.
e. More coffee than tea is being drunk these days.
f. They will grant me a leave in July.
g. I am offered several jobs and I cannot decide which to take.
14. In the following sentences the bold verb is:
A. active; B. passive; C. active with a passive meaning
a. Someone has stolen some money from my bag.
b. You are not permitted to smoke in the school.
c. Many goods are exported from England.
d. She hopes a visa will not be refused her.
e. Monday was agreed upon as the most suitable day for the
first rehearsal.
f. His friends never forgave him his disloyalty.
g. The new dictionary sold like hot cakes.
67
h. The commander charged him with a very responsible mission.

i. These figures add easily.
15. Consider the following sentence: Man and wife they were
pronounced. Choose the answer that corrects it from A to D below:
A. They were pronounced man and wife.
B. They pronounced them man and wife.
C. Man and wife they were pronounced.
D. They were pronounced wife and man.
16. Consider the following sentence: He was explained the
procedures. Choose the answer that corrects it from A to D below:
A. He was explained the procedures.
B. The procedures were explained to him.
C. Someone explained the procedures to him.
D. Someone explained him the procedures.
17. Consider the following sentence: Neither the council members
nor the mayor take responsibility for this issue. Choose the answer
that corrects it from A to D below:
A. Neither the council members nor the mayor dont take
responsibility for this issue.
B. Neither the council members nor the mayor take responsibility
for this issue.
C. Neither the council members nor the mayor takes responsibility
for this issue.
D. Neither the council members or the mayor takes responsibility
for this issue.
18. Consider the following sentence: Peter not only resists learning
to correlate new facts but also remembering old lessons. Choose the
answer that corrects it from A to D below:
A. Peter not only resists learning to correlate new facts but also
remembering old lessons.
B. Peter not only resists learning to correlate new facts but also
to remember old lessons.
C. Peter resists not only learning to correlate new facts but also
to remember old lessons.
D. Peter resists not only learning to correlate new facts but also
remembering old lessons.
68
PART II
(The Second Term)
69
70
INTRODUCTION
The major theme approached in the second semester is man in
the world context, an approach to the human being, in social, cultural,
and, more broadly, in existential terms. The sub-topics are Life and
Technology, Man as Artist and Man in the Midst of Nature.
Each unit is divided into two major parts: A and B, each consisting
of a set of sub-sections structured as follows:
PART A (FOCUSED ON THE PILOT TEXT):
The Text Section is based on a complex structure, starting

with a pilot text, which is thematically oriented and a post-text
vocabulary practice activities. The pilot texts for the second term are:
Computers Will Know Us Better than We Know Ourselves by Tom
Stein, The Listener by John Berry, Reflections on the Death of a
Porcupine by D.H. Lawrence. The wide variety of applications (activities
and exercises) helps the students increase their vocabulary, and improve
their reading and speaking skills.
The Grammar Section deals with applied Syntax topics. The
second semester focuses on: dative constructions; passive constructions;
negative polarity items, emphatic negation, the agreement rules with
negative constructions; relative clauses. Each issue is allocated a range
of activities meant to revise and assimilate thoroughly the main
grammar structures, be they regular or irregular.
The Translation Section is made up of a texts corpus reinforcing
the grammatical and lexical problems approached in the grammar
section. The texts are chosen from contemporary Romanian prose.
Syntactic and stylistic adequacy will be taken into account in the
teachers evaluation.
discussion thematically related to the pilot text.
71
The Composition Section consists of two essays per unit (one

of which is obligatory for the teachers evaluation) on topics related to
the pilot text.
Self-Evaluation by Revision tests
PART B (CONTAINING THE SATELLITE TEXT):
The Text Reading Section is meant to provide students with

further reading materials in the topic field announced in part A. The
satellite texts for the second term are: 10 Great Scientific Discoveries
by Tamim Ansary, A Pilgrimage to Beethoven by Richard Wagner,
The Binding of the Wolf by Hamilton Wright.
The Comprehension Check-up Section is designed to check
whether students can get the gist of the prose its underlying purpose
and main ideas quickly and accurately.
The Translation Section points to the entire satellite text,
practising the students ability to render the syntactic and semantic
structures of the respective text from the target language into the
native language.
The Building Vocabulary Section introduces the students to
various lists of words topic related, thus, increasing the students
knowledge of the respective domain.
discussion which are thematically related to the satellite text.
The Composition Section consists of two essays per unit (one
of which is obligatory for the teachers evaluation) on topics related to
the satellite text.
72
UNIT 4
LIFE AND TECHNOLOGY
A. PILOT TEXT: COMPUTERS WILL KNOW US BETTER

THAN WE KNOW OURSELVES
(by Tom Stein)

The day is not far off when your computer will be a better judge
of your mood and desires than your spouse, according to some of the
top minds in the computer industry. Computers will know us better
than we know ourselves and will make the best decisions for us, said
Ted Selker, an IBM Fellow. Its already starting to happen.
He envisions a personal computer that knows when youre
happy or sad. Or a clothing rack in a department store that understands
your tastes and preferences better than you do. Or a car phone that
knows not to distract you when youre weaving through traffic. Or
even a steak knife that sniffs out bad meat before you eat it.
Selker recently organized a gathering of the industrys elite at
IBMs Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California, for the
seventh annual New Paradigms for Using Computers Workshop. The
event attracted such visionaries as Gordon Bell of Microsoft and Will
Wright, creator of the popular SimCity software game.
Rosalind Picard, a presenter at the conference and a professor at
the Massachussets Institute of Technology Media Lab, said we are fast
approaching the age of affective computing. Essentially, this means
people will begin to interact with computers the same way they do
with other humans.
When someone gives you advice at a bad time or when youre
really busy, you may try to ignore them or glare at them to go away,
said Picard. Usually, theyll get the gist and back off. Computers do
not have the emotional intelligence to pick up on these signals.
These days computers that try to show signs of intelligence
often end up by being annoying. For example, a user of Microsoft
Word may occasionally be bombarded with random messages that pop
up on the screen with instructions on how to work with the software.
There is nothing to prevent the messages appearing at a time when the
user does not want to be disturbed.
73
Thats why a host of technologists, including Picard, are striving

to teach computers to recognize human feelings and react in the
appropriate manner.
So how should a computer act?
According to Picard, it should act like a dog.
When you come home from work, your dog is so happy to see
you, she said. But if youre in a bad mood, your dog will somehow
sense that and assume an empathetic position. Machines, too, must
give the illusion of empathy and sympathy.
At the workshop, IBM displayed for the first time its Emotion
Mouse, which can measure heart rate and body temperature and ultimately
sense whether the user is happy, sad, angry, fearful or perplexed.
Though still a prototype, the Emotion Mouse may be ready to hit
the market within two years, say the scientists of IBM. As for a
practical application, IBM believes the product could be ideal for
people who work in call centres. The goal of a call centre manager is
to take his people off the job before they go berserk, said Chris Dryer
of IBM. Emotion Mouse can sense when call centre reps are getting
frustrated and can let them know they should take a break.
IBM is also in the early stages of piloting another intelligent
system called Simple User Interest Tracker (Suitor) that pays attention
to a computer users behaviour and actions. Through a miniature
camera embedded in a monitor, Suitor carefully follows the users
gaze to determine his or her interests and information needs. The
tracking system is called Blue Eyes.
If you are reading an online magazine, for example, Suitor can
monitor your eye gaze to determine where on the screen you are
looking and then do an external web search on its own to find
additional information about that topic.
Though still in its infancy, computer intelligence is not science
fiction, Selker said. The price of sensors and cameras has gone way
down, he said. I can get these things for a couple bucks.
But do we really want our computers to think and feel and act
like us?
In the words of one conference participant: The world is
artificial enough. I fear well be drifting off even farther into a world
of fake emotions and feelings.
San Francisco Chronicle
National Post, July 31/1999
*
74
APPLICATIONS
What central message does the author want to convey?
Make up a list of for and against arguments as far as the
emotion mouse is concerned.
What is Blue Eyes? And how do you think this product will
change mans life?
Do you agree or disagree with the final statement? Argument
your answer.
II. Lexical Focus
Verbs
Nouns
Adjectives/ Adverbs
to envision
to weave
to sniff
to glare
to strive
rack
gist
empathy
infancy
spouse
berserk
artificial
fake
additional
ultimately
Use one item from each column in a context of your own.

1. Paraphrase the following sentences, paying attention to the
underlined idioms:
a) My dressmaker made me an off the rack suit.
b) After the car accident she is on the rack.
c) I have been racking my brains trying to remember his name.
d) This country is going to rack and ruin. We need a change of
Government.
Give other collocations with rack.
75
2. Starting from the verb weave look for synonyms rendering

creation by manufacturing (prototype: to create).
3. Fill in the blanks with a suitable look verb from the box
below:
gaze
stare
glimpse
peer
glance
blink
weep
peep
wink
make-out
a) She .............. him between the curtains.

b) She ............. at me in disbelief when I told her the news.
c) She didnt like being ................. at.
d) She ............ shyly at him and then lowered her eyes.
e) The teacher .................... at the student over his glasses waiting
for the answer.
f) The moon ................ out.
g) He ................. in the bright sunlight.
h) I could just ................ a figure in the darkness.
i) He ............... at me to show that he was playing a joke on the
others.
j) The movie made me .................. .
4. Give synonyms of the italicised phrasal verb in the following
sentences:
a) I wouldnt sniff at a chance of a job.
b) He sniffed up the cocaine in no time.
c) The police sniffed out the kidnapper.
5. Make a list of all the phrasal verbs (with particle and/or
preposition) in the text and supply their contextual meanings.
1. Supply the negative counterpart of the sentences below:
a) Marian is pretty ingenious.
b) It will start snowing before tomorrow evening.
c) Max enjoys pop music and Adrian enjoys pop music too.
d) We can fix the device after a fashion/ somehow.
76
e) They are still in a tight corner.

f) They have already graduated from the institute.
g) Your boss has long since adopted a different policy.
2. Use the following phrases in the appropriate negative or positive
context:
may just as well; would rather; care to do smth; be damned if ;
bother doing smth; flinch from smth.; sleep a wink; touch a
drop; earn a nickel; wear a stitch; move a muscle; lift a finger;
ask/tell a soul; leave a stone unturned; hear a peep; have a red
cent; hurt a flea
3. Use unless instead of if...not in the clauses that requires it.
a) Hes made it clear that he will quit if the school rules arent
modified.
b) Shed be better company if she didnt complain so much.
c) Some companies wouldnt make so much profit if they
werent monopolies.
d) If she doesnt apply for a university place soon, shell be too late.
4. Insert the negative word or phrase so as to make it emphatic
and make the necessary changes of word order (if any):
a)You can transmit from your car fax while on the move (under
no circumstances).
b) Passengers realize how lucky they have been (little).
c) After the power cut was over we were able to watch TV again
(only).
d) When we have solid evidence we shall be able to report the
fraud (not until).
e) I have heard such rubbish (seldom).
5. Fill in with an appropriate predicate, paying attention to
agreement:
a) Neither party ... in the last few months.
b) Nobody in their house...lately.
77
c) Neither Margaret nor John.... this week.

d) In general, neither sex....
e) Neither of these opinions ...now.
f) This isnt a dazzling achievement, but neither ...
g) These people are not insane, nor...
h) None of this ... so far.
6. Insert some or any, making the appropriate compounds if
necessary.
a) Theres .. milk in that jug.
b) Is there .. one here who speaks Italian?
c) Theres . gin in the cupboard but there arent . glasses.
d) I saw hardly . one I knew at the party.
e) Are there . letters for me?
f) Havent you got .. friends in Rome? I feel sure you mentioned
them once.
7. Give examples of three adjective-forming negative prefixes, and
then put the adjectives thus found in contexts of your own.
8. Here is a list of negative prefixes: a-,anti-, counter-, de-, dis-, il-,
im-, in-, ir, mal-, mis-, non-, un-. Add the appropriate prefix to the
following nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs:
happiness, definitely, responsible, logical, to pack, truthfully,
agreeably, existent, efficiency, approval, to like, to agree, violent,
symmetric, intuitive, to compose, to attack, administration, adjusted,
content, cyclone, climax, typical, centralization, behave.
V. Translation
1. Ruptura mea cu Nineta a fost mai simpl, dar nu inexplicabil, fiindc fusesem avertizat.
S-a oprit ntr-o zi n dreptul unei strzi, s-a uitat de-a lungul ei
cu o expresie preocupat, impenetrabil i mi-a optit: O lum pe
aici! Era o strad lateral, ru pavat, fr trotuar i n-a neles de ce
78
trebuia s o lum pe acolo. Am rspuns: Nu! Dac nu vrei, am

auzit-o spunnd, atunci n-ai ce mai cuta pe la mine. Chiar aa? Ce
putea fi att de important? Nu! am repetat. Atunci ea s-a rsucit pe
clcie, s-a uitat n jos linitit, s-a uitat chiar la mine, dar fr s m
vad i mi-a spus: Singur i-ai dat foc la valiz! i s-a ndeprtat.
Dar nu s-a dus pe strada aceea. Am rmas pe loc clipe lungi
nedumerit: de ce nu vroisem s merg pe-acolo pe unde dorise ea? Numi era indiferent pe unde ne-am fi dus? Pe de alt parte, simeam n
mod obscur c dac ea, fr s-o spun, ar fi luat-o pur i simplu pe
strada aceea a fi urmat-o fr s observ ciudenia de a ne fi plimbat
pe o anumit strad. Dar chiar i aa ce mi psa mie c e anumit?
Eram totui senin. Cu aceast senintate am rmas apoi totdeauna n
faa rupturilor, dar numai atunci, n clipele cnd primeam lovitura,
dezastrul ncepea mult mai trziu.
2. ntr-o sear, de bine de ru, am scris o poezie i m-am dus la
ea s i-o citesc. A ascultat, dar pe urm a pufnit-o rsul. Rdea n
hohote fr nici o jen i nici o ruine. De acord, poezia era proast,
dar nu asta era important, ci faptul ca o scrisesem totui. Am aruncat-o
furios la co i am ieit de la ea njurnd. [...] Bunul sim ar trebui s-o
ndemne s spun c n-a neles sau nu e pe gustul ei. De ce trebuie s
treci la insulte?
Asta e, zise foarte linitit, nu corespund visului tu de fericire.
Ce s fac? S m prefac c n-am cinci ani mai mult dect tine? A fi
ridicol! Sunt btrn, drag, am trecut de treizeci de ani, i adio,
Matilda, cochetria cu un brbat mai tnr...
3. O companie american a lansat pe pia umbrela inteligent,

care nu doar i protejeaz pe posesorii ei de ploaie, ci i i informeaz
cnd i unde va ploua. Astfel, dac sunt anunate precipitaii pentru
urmtoarele 12 ore, mnerul umbrelei produse de Ambient Devices
transmite semnale luminoase, avertiznd c vremea se va nruti,
chiar dac n acel moment afar este cald i soare. Ineditul dispozitiv
poate oferi chiar o prognoz mai detaliat. n cazul n care respectivele
79
semnale sunt slabe i intermitente, utilizatorul trebuie s se atepte la o

ploaie uoar. Pe de alt parte, cnd semnalele transmise sunt rapide i
intense, avertismentul este clar: o posibil ploaie cu tunete, fulgere i
vnt puternic poate veni din senin. Totul este posibil graie unui
receptor radio implantat n mnerul umbrelei, care primete date
despre starea vremii de pe un site internet, prin intermediul unei reele
aparinnd Ambient Devices. Dispozitivul are meritul de a face
accesibil un anumit gen de informaie fr a apela, cum se procedeaz
de obicei, la dispozitive complicate ori la navigarea pe internet, susin
oficialii companiei americane. Din boardul directorilor acesteia face
parte i Nicholas Negroponte, iniiatorul programului Un laptop pentru
fiecare copil. Americanii care vor s tie cum va fi vremea au acum
dou variante: fie dau 125 de dolari pe o umbrel de la Ambient
Devices, fie se limiteaz la clasicul privit pe fereastr, care e gratuit.
(ScienceLine.ro august 2007)
http://tehnicasitehnologie.scienceline.ro/Tehnica_
si_tehnologie_545_1.html)
VI. Conversation
1. What do you use your computer for?
2. How do you keep in touch with your family and friends?
3. Time-management experts advise people who want to get
control of their time to keep a minute-by-minute log of how they
spend their time for a week. How helpful do you think this advice is?
4. Do you keep up with current scientific discoveries in your
country and not only? If so, describe the way to do it.
VII. Composition
1. Write an essay about a 20th century discovery that in your
view is going to change life in the next century.
2. All we know is still infinitely less than all that still remains
unknown. (William Harvey)
80
B. SATELLITE TEXT
I. Reading
10 Great Scientific Discoveries
by Tamim Ansary*
Technological breakthroughs get big press because they can give
us new tools and toys. We feel technologys impact directly: wheels
and gears, zippers and microchips the list is endless. But where
would technology be without scientific discovery?
Here is a list of some of the great scientific discoveries that have
been recorded ever since ancient times:
1. The Pythagorean Theorem. Its a staple of high school
geometry: in every right triangle, a2 + b2 = c2 , where a and b stand for
the two short sides and c for the long. The first to prove this was
(probably) the Greek philosopher Pythagoras in the 6th century BC.
But its not the theorem per se that matters; its the bigger idea it
reflected. Pythagoras taught that numbers were the real reality, that the
core of the physical world was mathematical. Thats why he went
around telling everyone, Heres a pure idea that is true of every actual
object of a certain shape. Coupling physics to mathematics proved to
be one of the most fruitful marriages of all time. Even now we regard
a scientific theory as really reliable if it can be proven mathematically.
2. The existence of microorganisms. In the late 1600s, when
microscopes were new, Dutch lens maker Antoni van Leeuwenhoek
scraped some plaque off his own teeth and looked at it through a
microscope. Gasp! It was crawling with animalcules. In fact, tiny
creatures invisible to the naked eye abounded everywhere, he found.
Less than two centuries later, knowledge of this invisible universe
enabled Louis Pasteur to construct his germ theory of disease, which
in turn enabled doctors to conquer a whole host of diseases: typhoid,
typhus, polio, diphtheria, tetanus, smallpox tuberculosis, anthrax the
list goes on. The leading cause of death changed after that from
infectious disease to heart disease, cancer, and old age.
81
3. The three laws of motion. Pythagoras would have been so

proud of Isaac Newton! More than any scientist in history, this 18thcentury Englishman succeeded in reducing physics to mathematics.
Newton came up with three laws to explain the motion of all objects in
the universe, from runaway trains to orbiting planets. He also invented
differential calculus, explained gravity, and discovered the spectrum.
4. The structure of matter. In 1789, five years before he was
beheaded by a guillotine, French chemist Antoine Lavoisier published
a list of elements substances that he said could not be broken
down further by any chemical process. His list was incomplete and
contained mistakes, but he was onto something. Building on his work,
chemists developed our modern view that all matter can be broken
down into just 109 elements, that all elements are made of atoms, and
that all atoms are made of just three types of particles protons,
neutrons, and electrons.
5. The circulation of blood. Each person has a fixed amount of
blood circulating throughout his or her system in one fixed direction.
This fact, first discovered in the 12th century by an Arab doctor
named Ibn al-Nafs, was rediscovered for good, this time by the
17th-century English doctor William Harvey. Harveys work opened
the floodgates to research a full understanding of the physiology of
living bodies, human and animal.
6. Electrical currents. Ancient people knew about static
electricity rub something and it gives off a spark. They knew about
lightning bolts get struck by one and youre dead meat. But not till
19th-century scientists (such as Alessandro Volta) got electricity to
flow did people become aware of this as a distinct force. Today,
electricity powers everything from light bulbs to computers, of course.
But the discovery of electricity is bigger than its practical applications.
Once scientists knew about this force, they couldnt stop wondering
what it was. Thats when they discovered that electricity, magnetism,
radio waves, and light are all different versions of one underlying
force, a glue that holds the universe together.
7. The Evolution of Species. People used to think that every life
form now on Earth was here from the start that no new species had
82
been born and none had ever changed. Charles Darwins theory of
evolution, developed in the 19th century, revealed the dynamic nature
of life on Earth. The word theory leads some to think that evolution
itself remains controversial among scientists, but actually, no
mainstream scientist doubts that old species die out and new ones
come into being. Its only the exact mechanism of evolution that
remains in play, and modified versions of Darwins idea of evolution
by random natural selection still dominate biological thought.
8. Genes. Gregor Mendel never described a gene, saw one, or
used the word, yet this shy Austrian monk uncovered the principles of
heredity simply by breeding snow peas, charting his results, and
drawing brilliant conclusions. Mendel found that parents pass distinct
traits to their offspring in combinations governed by predictable laws.
Scientists soon decided some actual thing must carry these traits and
coined the word gene. Only in 1953, did Francis Crick and James
Watson really figure out what genes are. That year, they discovered
the structure of DNA, a molecule shaped like a twisted ladder and
contained in every cell. Genes, it turns out, are the combinations of
chemicals that form the rungs of this ladder.
9. The four laws of thermodynamics. In the 18th century, a
series of scientists from Nicolas Carnot to Baron Kelvin, Rudolf
Clausius*, and others found four laws, just four, that governed the
transformation of energy into work in any system a locomotive, a
body, a bonfire, a solar system, the universe you name it.
Engineering and inventions, especially of heat-engines, could not have
moved forward without knowledge of these laws, for anything that
runs on fuel is bound by them. But the laws of thermodynamics have
vast implications for the universe has a whole, not the least of which is
this: The total amount of disorder is always increasing.
10. The dual nature of light. Newton learned that light behaves
like a wave. Later, other scientists learned that light behaves like a
stream of particles. So which is it wave or particle? It cant be both
or can it? Early in the 20th century, Niels Bohr, Max Planck, Albert
Einstein, and others discovered that yes, light is both wave and
particle. This paradox gave rise to quantum mechanics, the dominant
achievement of 20th century physics and our deepest current
83
description of what the universe is really made of. But the quantum
picture of reality cant be pictured. It goes against intuition and
laughs at all our senses. The only way to understand the subsubatomic world of quantum mechanics is mathematically which
brings us right back to Pythagoras.
*
http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/Columns/?Article=peace
makersmain

1. Who is the author of the germ theory of disease?
2. What is the origin of the author of the three laws of motion?
3. What are atoms made of?
4. Who is responsible for the principles of heredity?
5. What is the paradox of light?
III. Translation
Translate segments 2, 4, and 8 of the satellite text.
a. The solar system
Solar system
The sun
Mercury
Venus
Earth (with a moon)
Mars (with two moons)
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto (with the moon Charon)
84
Zodiacal signs
Aries (the Ram)
Taurus (the Bull)
Gemini (the Twins)
Cancer (the Crab)
Leo (the Lion)
Virgo (the Virgin)
Libra (the Scales)
Scorpio (the Scorpion)
Sagittarius (the Archer)
Capricorn (the Sea Goat)
Aquarius (the Water Carrier)
Pisces (the Fish)
b. Meaning definitions of some specialized terms belonging to the

vocabulary of science
Bernoullis
principle
biosphere
conservation of
energy
cumulonimbus
cloud
density
displacement
ecological niche
ecosystem
food chain
geothermal
energy
hydraulic power
insulation
osmosis
A law that states that, for a fluid that is flowing

steadily, its pressure is low when its velocity is
high and its pressure is high when its velocity is
low.
The portion of the planet that supports life and
the living organisms within it.
The principle that energy can neither be created
nor destroyed, but can only be changed from
one form into another.
A principal cloud type, exceptionally dense and
vertically developed, occurring either as isolated
clouds or as a line or wall of clouds with
separated upper portions.
The mass per unit volume of a substance
(density = mass volume).
The amount of fluid displaced by an object that
is put into the fluid.
The pattern of relationships between a species
and all the living and non-living things within its
habitat.
A group of living organisms that, along with
their abiotic environment, form a self-regulating
system through which energy and materials are
transferred.
A sequence of feeding relationships between
organisms in an ecosystem.
An energy source derived from the heat of the
earth.
Power that comes from the pressure of a liquid,
usually oil. The liquid is forced through hoses to
the area where the force is needed.
Material that does not conduct heat or electricity
very well.
Diffusion of a solvent, usually water, through a
selectively permeable membrane.
85
Pascals law or
principle
pitch
SI
torsion
truss
wavelength
weight
A law that states that pressure exerted on a

contained fluid is transmitted undiminished in
all directions throughout the fluid and
perpendicular to the walls of the container.
The quality of a sound that is determined by the
frequency of the wave. The term pitch is often
substituted for the term frequency of vibration in
reference to sound waves (e.g., in musical
instruments).
The international system of measurement units,
including such terms as centimetre and
kilogram. (From the French Systme
international dunits).
A force that causes an object to twist along its
axis.
A structural element made up of a series of
triangular frames.
The distance between the crests of a wave of
light as it travels through space.
The pull of gravity on an object. Unlike mass,
weight changes with location.
Use four words from the above list in contexts of your own.
V. Conversation
1. Some consequences of the future evolution of space discovery.
2. The planet I would like to fly to and why.
3. Can science co-exist with religion?
VI. Composition
1. It matters not how long we live, but how. (P.J. Bailey)
2. My last day on Earth a nightmare or a bliss.
86
UNIT 5
MAN AS ARTIST
John Edgar Berry (1915 -), contemporary American writer,

published his short stories in volumes like The Best American Short
Stories, Science Fiction Anthologies and Collection. He tackles
themes such as human nature, life and art among others.
A. PILOT TEXT: THE LISTENER
(a short story by John Berry)

Once there was a puny little Czech concert violinist named
Rudolf, who lived in Sweden. Some of his friends thought he was not
the best of musicians because he was restless; others thought he was
restless because he was not the best of musicians. At any rate, he hit
upon a way of making a living, with no competitors. Whether by
choice or necessity, he used to sail about Scandinavia in his small
boat, all alone, giving concerts in little seaport towns. If he found
accompanists, well and good; if not, he played works for unaccompanied
violin; and it happened once or twice that he wanted a piano so badly
that he imagined one, and then he played whole sonatas for violin and
piano, with no piano in sight.
One year Rudolf sailed all the way out to Iceland and began
working his way around that rocky coast from one town to another. It
was a hard, stubborn land; but people in those difficult places do not
forget the law of hospitality to the stranger for their God may decree
that they too shall become strangers on the face of the earth. The
audiences were small, and even if Rudolf had been really first-rate,
they would not have been very demonstrative. From ancient times
their energy had gone, first of all, into earnest toil. Sometimes they
were collected by the local schoolteacher, who reminded them of their
duty to the names of Beethoven and Bach and Mozart and one or two
others whose music perhaps was not much heard in those parts. Too
often people sat stolidly watching the noisy little fiddler, and went
home feeling gravely edified. But they paid.
87
As Rudolf was sailing from one town to the next along a

sparsely settled shore, the northeast turned black and menacing. A
storm was bearing down upon Iceland. Rudolf was rounding a bleak,
dangerous cape, and his map told him that the nearest harbour was
half a days journey away. He was starting to worry when he saw less
than a mile off shore, a lighthouse on a tiny rock island. At the base of
the lighthouse was a deep narrow cove, protected by cliffs. With some
difficulty, in the rising seas, he put in there and moored to an iron ring
that hung from the cliff. A flight of stairs, hewn out of the rock, led up
to the lighthouse. On top of the cliff, outlined against the scudding
clouds, stood a man.
You are welcome! the voice boomed over the sound of the
waves that were already beginning to break over the island.
Darkness fell quickly. The lighthouse keeper led his guest up the
spiral stairs to the living room on the third floor, then busied himself
in preparation for the storm. Above all, he had to attend to the great
lamp in the tower, that dominated the whole region. It was a
continuous light, intensified by reflectors, and eclipsed by shutters at
regular intervals. The duration of light was equal to that of darkness.
The lighthouse keeper was a huge old man with a grizzled beard
that came down over his chest. Slow, deliberate, bear like, he moved
without wasted motion about the limited world of which he was the
master. He spoke little, as if words had not much importance
compared to the other forces that comprised his life. Yet he was
equable, as those elements were not.
After the supper of black bread and boiled potatoes, herring,
cheese and hot tea, which they took in the kitchen above the living
room, the two men sat and contemplated each others presence. Above
them was the maintenance room, and above that the great lamp spoke
majestic, silent messages of light to the ships at sea. The storm
hammered like a battering ram on the walls of the lighthouse. Rudolf
offered tobacco, feeling suddenly immature as he did so. The old man
smiled a little as he declined it by a slight movement of the head; it
was as if he knew well the uses of tobacco and the need for offering it,
and affirmed it all, yet here he, too, was halfway apologetic was
self-contained and without need of anything that was not already
within his power or to which he did not relinquish his power. And he
sat there, gentle and reflective, his great workman hands resting on
outspread thighs.
88
It seemed to Rudolf that the lighthouse keeper was entirely

aware of all the sounds of the storm and of its violent impact upon the
lighthouse, but he knew them so well that he did not have to think
about them; they were like the involuntary movements of his own
heart and blood. In the same way, beneath the simple courtesy that
made him speak and listen to his guest in specific ways, he was
already calmly and mysteriously a part of him, as surely as the
mainland was connected with the little island, and all the islands with
one another, so commodiously, under the ocean.
Gradually Rudolf drew forth the sparse data of the old mans
life: He had been born in this very lighthouse eighty-three years
before, when his father was the lighthouse keeper. His mother the
only woman he had ever known had taught him to read the Bible,
and he read it daily. He had no other books.
As a musician, Rudolf had not had time to read much either
but then, he had lived in cities. He reached down and took his beloved
violin out of its case.
What do you make with that, sir? the old man asked.
For a second Rudolf thought his host might be joking; but the
serenity of the others expression reassured him. There was not even
curiosity about the instrument, but rather a whole interest in him, the
person that included his work. In most circumstances Rudolf would
have found it hard to believe that there could exist someone who did
not know what a violin was; yet now he had no inclination to laugh.
He felt small and inadequate. I make music with it, he stammered
in a low voice.
Music, the old man said ponderously. I have heard of it. But I
have never seen music.
One does not see music. One hears it.
Ah, yes, the lighthouse keeper consented, as it were with
humility. This too was in the nature of things wherein all works were
wonders, and all things were known eternally and were poignant in
their transiency. His wide grey eyes rested upon the little fiddler and
conferred upon him all the importance of which any individual is
capable.
Then something in the storm and the lighthouse and the old man
exalted Rudolf, filled him with compassion, and love and a spaciousness
infinitely beyond himself. He wanted to strike a work of fire and stars
into being for the old man. And, with the storm as his accompanist, he
stood and began to play the Kreutzer Sonata of Beethoven.
89
The moments passed, moments that were days in the creation of

that world of fire and stars; abysses and heights of passionate struggle,
the idea of order, and the resolution of these in the greatness of the
human spire. Never before had Rudolf played with such mastery or
with such an accompanist. Waves and wind beat the tower with giant
hands. Steadily above them the beacon blazed in its sure cycles of
darkness and light. The last note ceased and Rudolf dropped his head
on his chest, breathing hard. The ocean seethed over the island with a
roar as of many voices.
The old man had sat unmoving through the work, his broad
gnarled hands resting on his thighs, his head bowed, listening
massively. For some time he continued to sit in silence. Then he
looked up, lifted those hands calmly, judiciously, and nodded his head.
Yes, he said. That is true.
*
APPLICATIONS
Why did Rudolf sail about Scandinavia?
What does the violin mean for Rudolf?
Consider the following attributes of the listener: lighthouse
keeper, equable, a huge old man with a grizzled beard.
What can he be perceived as?
Comment on the significance of the world music as emerging
from the context.
II. Lexical Focus
Vs
to hit upon a way
to bear down
to moor
to hew
to scud
to relinquish
to stammer
90
Ns
fiddle
cape
shutter
battering ram
beacon
resolution
courtesy
As/Avs
stubborn(-ly)
sparse(-ly)
poignant(-ly)
gnarled
judicious(-ly)
massively
steadily
Use relinquish (V), battering ram (N) and sparse(-ly)

(A/Av) in contexts of your own.
Look for synonyms of the noun resolution and of the
adjective stubborn and supply the respective lists, specifying the
tinges of meanings (wherever possible).
1. Provide synonyms for the following words:
puny, restless, bleak, equable, gnarled
2. Give the three forms of the irregular verb strike; translate/
paraphrase the following sentences predicated by STRIKE:
a) She stopped for ten seconds to allow the full impact of what
she had said to strike home.
b) It struck him how foolish her behaviour was.
c) He struck a few notes on the piano.
d) It was obvious that his speech was striking a chord among
the group.
e) The city council hoped to strike a deal that would give the
council more power.
f) We were struck dumb with horror.
3. Make up Group Terms with the following nouns and quantifiers.
e.g.: a flight of stairs
Nouns: geese, hay, grass, whales, friends, insects, bishops,
furniture, drawers, diamonds, wool, angels.
Quantifiers: a tuft of, a stack of, a plague of, a gaggle of, a
cluster of, a bench of, a host of, a chest of, a bale of, a school of, a
party of, a suite of.
IV. Grammar practice
1. Transform into the passive counterpart:
a) A pleasant and appetizing smell was spreading all over the
place. Evidently somebody was roasting chicken.
91
b) Very soon on many railway lines Diesel and electronic

locomotives will replace steam engines.
c) The Russian troops under the command of Suvorov captured
Ismail; they partly annihilated, partly took prisoner the Turkish garrison.
2. Join the sentences by turning the second sentence of each pair
into a relative clause. Make all the necessary changes.
a) Is the offer still open? You made the offer last week.
b) The pipeline has been severed. It carries the towns water
supplies.
c) The headmaster spoke to the boys. Their work was below
standard.
d) We came within sight of Everest. Its summit has attracted so
many climbers.
e) Is this the book? You asked me for it.
f) I dont find the person a very good companion. Im sharing a
flat with him.
g) Heres the address. You should write to this address.
h) The minister formulated a basis. The talks could start on this
basis.
i) The eighty-nine passengers all escaped without serious injury.
Four of the passengers were British.
j) The speaker posed four highly important questions. The
answers to these questions proved very illuminating.
3. Give your own definitions of the following words, using the
same structure as in the example:
e.g. A liar is a person who habitually tells lies.
an atheist
an actor
a journalist
a barber
a newsagent
a MP
a spokesman
an eyewitness
a lawyer
a stockbroker
a greengrocer
a teetotaller
4. Add relative clauses defining the words in italics, using contact

clauses where appropriate:
a) Any man should be sent to prison.
b) Laws should be repealed.
c) The house has been demolished.
92
d) He will do anything.
e) Nothing is ever a success.
5. Join the sentences, using a relative pronoun. Use commas where
necessary:
a) Theres a woman living next door. She is a famous architect.
b) There was a strike at the car factory. It lasted five days.
c) Susan has three brothers. All of her brothers are married.
d) Mr. Smith is very interested in our project. I spoke to him on
the phone last week.
e) We climbed to the top of the mountain. We had a beautiful
view from there.
6. Complete the sentences, incorporating contact clauses with an
end-preposition. Some sentences require the completion of both
the main clause and the relative clause.
a) ....... the cupboard the wine glasses.....?
b) .......the material the curtains......... .
c) .......the book this quotation ........ ?
d) These arent the books I ....... .
e) The situation we ....... was very dangerous.
7. Insert relative pronouns or adverbs:
a) Do you remember the last time . we were together?
b) The room was perfect for anyone had an experiment to
perform.
c) He loves the sea, loves also the ships routine.
d) This is the picture I am so proud of.
e) The thought may have fallen ill worries me.
8. Omit the relative pronouns or adverbs where possible.
a) There is not a man alive who could do it half so well as you.
b) That is just the place where I am going to.
c) The paradox which made everybody laugh belongs to Oscar
Wilde.
93
d) The steamer on which we loaded the goods will leave the port
tomorrow.
e) I have led a retired life and have no friends whom I could
appeal to.
V. Translation
1. De-abia dup ce am ajuns acas mi-am dat seama c m
gndisem la toate, afar de lucrul cel mai important: locul unde se va
adposti prietenul meu. mi vorbise de o caban n muni, dar trebuia
gsit aceast caban i trebuia s ajungem la ea nainte de a se lumina
bine de ziu, ca s nu atragem atenia. Planul nostru prea copilresc:
[...] s ncepem a urca n munte cu o duzin de pturi n spinare, cu
merinde, fr s tim ncotro ne ndreptm, riscnd ca prietenul meu s
se opreasc dup cteva sute de metri, pentru c era nemncat de o
sptmn i, mai ales, pentru c va trebui s urce, aproape singur, n
ciorapi, netiind dac i voi putea gsi o pereche de ghete pe msura
lui n cele ase ore ct aveam s caut...
(fragment adaptat dup Mircea Eliade, n curte la Dionis)
2. [...] O luam atunci napoi spre cas i, ducnd n brae micua

povar, aveam sentimentul c n realitate sunt un om fericit i c
suferina mea e o iluzie, o himer pe care ar trebui s-o alung; puteam
tri astfel o mie de ani i muri linitit. Altceva, o bucurie mai mare nu
exist pe pmnt, restul e nerozie. Acas, ns, ne ntmpina mama ei,
care mi-o smulgea literamente din brae i punea stpnire pe ea: c
n-am vzut c fetia a obosit? Ce, am de gnd s-o omor, aa cum i-am
spus cnd am auzit c e nsrcinat cu ea?
VI. Conversation
1. Your favourite kind of music.
2. Would you go to a good concert irrespective of the ticket
price? If so, specify what pieces of symphonic or light music you
would spend your time and money for?
94
3. What foreign singer would you like to see live in Romania?

4. Are Romanian singers and bands well promoted? Comment
on the promotional deficiencies, if any.
VII. Composition
1. Expand the following saying: Music is love in search of a
word.
2. After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the
inexpressible is music. (Aldous Huxley)
B. SATELLITE TEXT
I. Reading
The following excerpt is taken from the autobiographic works of the
famous German composer.
A Pilgrimage to Beethoven
by Richard Wagner
A middle-sized town of middle Germany is my birthplace. Im
not quite certain what I really was intended for; I only remember that
one night I for the first time heard a symphony of Beethovens
performed, that it set me in a fever, I fell ill, and on my recovery had
become a musician. This circumstance may happily account for the
fact that, though in time I also made acquaintance with other beautiful
music, I yet have loved, have honoured, worshipped Beethoven before
all else. Henceforth I knew no other pleasure, than to plunge so deep
into his genius that at last I fancied myself become a portion thereof;
and as this tiniest portion, I began to respect myself, to come by higher
thoughts and views in brief, to develop into what sober people call
an idiot. My madness, however, was of very good-humoured sort, and
did no harm to any man.
Thus I lived for some time in my garret, till it occurred to me
one day that the man whose creations I reverenced above all else was
95
still alive. It passed my understanding, how I had never thought of that

before. It had never struck me that Beethoven could exist, could be
eating bread and breathing air, like one of us; but this Beethoven was
living in Vienna for all that, and he too was a poor German musician!
My peace of mind was gone. My every thought became one
wish: to see Beethoven! No Mussulman more devoutly longed to
journey to the grave of his Prophet, than I to the lodging where
Beethoven dwelt.
But how to set about the execution of my project? To Vienna
was a long, long journey, and needed money; whilst I, poor devil,
scarce earned enough to stave off hunger! So I must think of some
exceptional means of finding the needful travelling-money. A few
pianoforte-sonatas, which I had composed on the masters model, I
carried to the publisher; in a word or two the man made clear to me
that I was a fool with my sonatas. He gave me the advice, however,
that if I wanted to some day earn a dollar or so by my compositions, I
should begin by making myself a little renomme by galops and potpourris. I shuddered; but my yearning to see Beethoven gained the
victory; I composed galops and pot-pourris, but for very shame I could
never bring myself to cast one glance on Beethoven in all that time,
for fear it should defile him.
To my misfortune, however, these earliest sacrifices of my
innocence did not even bring me pay, for my publisher explained that
I first must earn myself a little name. I shuddered again, and fell into
despair. That despair brought forth some capital galops. I actually
touched money for them, and at last believed I had amassed enough to
be able to execute my plan. But two years had elapsed, and all the
time I feared that Beethoven might die before I had made my name by
galops and pot-pourris. Thank God! he had survived the glitter of my
name!
And so I came to fair Bohemia, the land of harpists and wayside
singers. In a little town I found a troop of strolling musicians; they
formed a tiny orchestra, composed of a cello, two violins, two horns,
a clarinet and a flute; moreover there was a woman who played the
harp, and two with lovely voices. They played dances and sang songs;
folk gave them money and they journeyed on. In a beautiful shady
place beside the highway I found them again; they had camped on the
grass, and were taking their meal. I introduced myself by saying that I
too was a travelling musician, and we soon became friends. As they
96
played dance-music, I bashfully asked if they knew my galops also?

God bless them! they had never heard of my galops. O what good
news for me!
I inquired whether they played any other music than dances.
To be sure, they answered, but only for ourselves; not for
gentlefolk.
They unpacked their sheets, and I caught sight of the grand
Septuor of Beethoven; astonished, I asked if they played that too?
Why not? replied the eldest, Joseph has hurt his hand, and
cant play the second violin to-day, or wed be delighted to give it at
once.
Beside myself, I snatched up Josephs violin, promised to do my
best to replace him, and we began the Septuor.
O rapture! Here on the slope of a Bohemian highway, in open
air, Beethovens Septuor played by dance-musicians with a purity, a
precision, and a depth of feeling too seldom found among the highest
virtuosi! Great Beethoven, we brought thee a worthy offering. []
At last I trod Viennas streets; the end of my pilgrimage was
reached. With what feelings I entered this Mecca of my faith! All the
toil and hardships of my weary journey were forgotten; I was at the
goal, within the walls that circled Beethoven.
I was too deeply moved, to be able to think of carrying out my
aim at once. True, the first thing I did was to inquire for Beethovens
dwelling, but merely in order to lodge myself close by. Almost
opposite the house in which the master lived there happened to be a
not too stylish hostelry; I engaged a little room on its fifth floor, and
there began preparing myself for the greatest event of my life, a visit
to Beethoven.
After having rested two days, fasting and praying, but never
casting another look on the city, I plucked up heart to leave my inn
and march straight across to the house of marvels. I was told Herr
Beethoven was not at home. That suited me quite well; for it gave me
time to collect myself afresh. But when four times more throughout
the day the same reply was given me, and with a certain increasing
emphasis, I held that day for an unlucky one, and abandoned my visit
in gloom.
So at last I decided to pour out my heart upon paper. And this I
did. I wrote; briefly narrating the history of my life, how I had become
a musician, how I worshipped him, how I once had come by the wish
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to know him in person, how I had spent two years in making a name
as galop-composer, how I had begun and ended my pilgrimage, [],
and what a terrible plight my present was. As my heart grew sensibly
lighter with this recital of my woes, the comfortable feeling led me to
a certain tone of familiarity; I wove into my letter quite frank and
fairly strong reproaches of the masters unjust treatment of my
wretched self. Finally I closed the letter in genuine inspiration; sparks
flew before my eyes when I wrote the address: An Herrn Ludwig van
Beethoven. I only stayed to breathe a silent prayer, and delivered the
letter with my own hand at Beethovens house.
How can I ever describe what took place inside, around me,
when the next hour actually brought me a scrap of music-paper, on
which stood hurriedly written: Excuse me, Herr R..., if I beg you not
to call on me until tomorrow morning, as I am busy preparing a packet
of music for the post today. Tomorrow I shall expect you.
Beethoven.
My first action was to fall on my knees and thank Heaven for
this exceptional mercy; my eyes grew dim with scalding tears. At last,
however, my feelings found vent in the wildest joy; I sprang up, and
round my tiny room I danced like a lunatic. Im not quite sure what it
was I danced; I only remember that to my utter shame I suddenly
became aware that I was whistling one of my galops to it. This
mortifying discovery restored me to my senses. I left my garret, the
inn, and, drunk with joy I rushed into the streets of Vienna.
I could not sleep that night. What I had just experienced, and
what was in store for me next day, were too great and overpowering
for me to calmly weave into a dream. I lay awake, building castles in
the air and preparing myself for Beethovens presence. At last the
new day dawned; impatiently I waited till the seemly hour for a
morning visit; it struck, and I set forth. The weightiest event of my
life stood before me: I trembled at the thought. []
Here was I in the sanctuary; He was clad in somewhat untidy
house-clothes, with a red woollen scarf wrapped round his waist; long,
bushy grey hair hung in disorder from his head, and his gloomy,
forbidding expression by no means tended to reassure me. We took
our seats at a table strewn with pens and paper.
An uncomfortable feeling held us tongue-tied. It was only too
evident that Beethoven was displeased at receiving two instead of one.
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At last he began, in grating tones: You come from L...? I was

about to reply, when he stopped me; passing me a sheet of paper and a
pencil, he added: Please write; I cannot hear.
I knew of Beethovens deafness, and had prepared myself for it.
Nevertheless it was like a stab through my heart when I heard his
hoarse and broken words, I cannot hear. To stand joyless and poor
in the world; to know no uplifting but in the might of Tone, and yet to
be forced to say, I cannot hear! That moment gave me the key to
Beethovens exterior, the deep furrows on his cheeks, the sombre
dejection of his look, the set defiance of his lips he heard not! []
1. What determined the author to become a musician?
2. What was the authors most ardent wish?
3. What sacrifices did the author endure in order to fulfil his dream?
4. What did the author do to make Beethoven receive him?
5. What is striking in the final sentence from a grammatical point
of view? Comment on the stylistic effect of this negative structure he
heard not.
III. Translation
Translate the last four paragraphs of the satellite text.
A. Musical instruments
stringed
instruments
violin
violoncello
contrabass
viola
orchestral instruments
woodwind
brass
instruments
instruments
tenor horn
bassoon
piccolo
French horn
flute
trumpet
clarinet
bass tuba
oboe
trombone
percussion
instruments
triangle
cymbals
side drum
bass drum
kettledrum
harp
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popular musical instruments

lute
guitar
mandolin
zither
balalaika
banjo
ocarina
accordion
tambourine
castanets
jazz band instruments

drum kit: bass drum, small tomtom, large tom-tom, high-hat
cymbals, cymbal;
conga drum
timbales
maracas/shakers
xylophone
jazz trumpet
saxophone
Describe the way a classical symphonic orchestra is

organized.
Which are the musical instruments commonly encountered
in Romanian folk bands? Use some of the terms in the list
above.
B. A short history of music
History of Music
Middle Ages (400-1400)
Classical (1750-1820)
During the Middle Ages, there were

three classes of people. The first class was
the nobility: kings, princes, and wealthy
landowners. They owned land and from
these people came our legends of knights in
shining armour. The second class consisted
of the clergy: priests who worked in the
church and monks who lived in monasteries.
The rest of the people, poor farmers and
peasants, made up the third class. The
average peasant lived to be 30 years of age
and ate little more than black bread and
turnips. The first great centres of music were
in the churches.
During the Middle Ages, until 1100, the vast
majority of music was monophonic, meaning
a single line without accompaniment. As
The years of the Classical Period

saw many changes in the world. The French
Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars
changed the face of Europe. During the
Classical period it became more and more
possible for the public to enjoy and
participate in leisure activities. Thus, in the
music world, the patronage system of the
Baroque began to die out and was replaced
by the first public concerts where people
paid to attend. Instead of the sudden changes
in style and trills of Baroque music, the
music of the Classical period tended to be
simple, balanced, and non-emotional. Music
had straightforward titles like Symphony
No. 1 instead of flowery descriptive titles.
Known as absolute music, classical works
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life became better and more civilized in the

Middle Ages people began to focus more on
themselves and less on God and religion.
Toward the end of the Middle Ages,
polyphony began to be used in music. This
was the use of more than one melodic line at
the same time. Two of the greatest composers
of the new polyphonic music were Leonin
and Perotin at the Notre-Dame in Paris.
Later important composers included Guillaume
de Machaut.
were written for their own sake, not for

dancing or any other special occasion. It was
performed in the recital or concert hall. The
most important classical composers were
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Joseph
Haydn, and Ludwig van Beethoven. Vienna
was the musical center of Europe, and most
serious composers spent part of their lives
there.
Renaissance (1400-1600)
Romantic (1820-1900)
The Renaissance was an exciting

time in the world history. World exploration
by Columbus and Sir Francis Drake, and
scientific advancement by Galileo and
Copernicus led the world in new directions.
Artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and
Michelangelo flourished while playwrights
like Shakespeare wrote plays and poetry.
The Renaissance saw the rise of the middle
class. No longer did all of the wealth belong
to the nobility. People moved to cities, and
spent more time seeing plays and concerts.
Music was now part of any good education.
With the invention of the printing press
around 1450, sheet music was printed and
made available to everyone. By 1600, popular
music of the day was available across
Europe, and the middle class learned to play
instruments using method books for recorder,
lute, and guitar.
Composers like Josquin des Prez and
Giovanni Palestrina led the way into a new
way of composing. Man, rather then God,
became the new focus in a great deal of
music. Composers now turned to another
dimension of music that had been neglected
up to then. The use of harmony changed
music for ever.
Music saw many changes during the

Romantic period. Composers expanded
existing musical forms and developed new
forms as a way of expressing themselves.
Thus, a huge variety of instrumental and
vocal music appeared on the scene. There
were no restrictions on the length of a piece,
the number of movements, or the number of
instruments or voices used. The operas of
Richard Wagner sometimes last 6 hours.
Ludwig van Beethovens Ninth Symphony
requires an oversize orchestra, a full choir,
and vocal soloists.
It was during the Romantic period that most
of the band instruments came into being as
they are today. The invention and widespread
use of valves on brass instruments and new
key systems on woodwind instruments made
them much easier to play, encouraging
composers to write more music for them.
There were many influential composers
during the Romantic period. They included
Hector Berlioz, Johannes Brahms, Richard
Wagner, and Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
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Baroque (1600-1750)
The Baroque period was an important
time in the history of the world. Galileo,
Kepler and Newton were discovering new
ways to explain the universe. In music, art,
architecture, and fashion, fancy decoration and
ornamentation became the rule. Both men
and women wore wigs and coats with lace.
Throughout the Baroque period, composers
continued to be employed by the church and
wealthy ruling class. This system of
employment was called the patronage system.
As the patron paid the composer for each
work and usually decided what kind of piece
the composer should write, this limited their
creative freedom.
Important Baroque composers include
Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frederic
Handel, Johann Pachelbel, Georg Phillip
Telemann, Henry Purcell and Antonio
Vivaldi.
20th Century
Music written since 1900 is called
20th century music. There have been more
types and styles of music written in the 20th
century then ever before. In the 20th
century, the only limit is the composers
imagination. Peter Schikele has fun with his
pieces by having players play on mouthpieces,
or by gargling with water during the piece.
The melodies are also very different from
those of past periods. Anton Weberns
melodies have leaps, and are often made up
of only two or three notes. Other melodies,
like those written by Bela Bartok and Alan
Hovhaness, are based on scales taken from
the Middle Ages.
Technological developments have also had
an influence on the 20th Century music,
especially electronic music. Composers like
Philip Glass use electronics to create totally
new sounds, styles, and effects.
V. Conversation
1. Most people go to concerts not because they really like
classical music, but because they think they ought to like it.
2. The importance of music in your life.
3. The pilgrimage I would undertake. Give reasons.
4. Your favourite concerto composed by Beethoven with arguments
for your choice.
5. Is Beethoven superior to Mozart or vice versa? Supply arguments
in favour of your choice.
VI. Composition
1. Music has charms to soothe a savage breast. (W. Congreve)
2. Music, the greatest good that mortals know, / and all of
heaven we have below. (J. Addison)
3. My visual script and / or my stream of thoughts while
listening to the Four Seasons by Vivaldi.
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UNIT 6
MAN IN THE MIDST OF NATURE
David Herbert Richards Lawrence is one of the greatest

representatives of 20th century literature. He wrote novels, short
stories, poems, plays, essays, travel books and literary criticism. His
works reflect his critical attitude as to the dehumanizing effects of
modernity and industrialisation. Most of them debate controversial
issues relating to emotional health and vitality, spontaneity, sexuality
and instinctive behaviour. These themes are best illustrated by novels
such as: Sons and Lovers, Lady Chatterleys Lover, The Rainbow,
Women in Love, The Lost Girl, The Plumed Serpent, as well as short
story collections, among which England, My England or The Woman
Who Rode Away. Lawrences travel books, an original blend of
narrative episodes and essays on various topics, include Sea and
Sardinia, Mornings in Mexico and Etruscan Places.
We provide below one of his most brilliant short prose pieces.
A. PILOT TEXT: REFLECTIONS ON THE DEATH OF A PORCUPINE
(a short story by D.H. Lawrence)

There are many bare places on the little pine trees, towards the
top, where the porcupines have gnawed the bark away and left the
white flesh showing. And some trees are dying from the top.
Everyone says porcupines should be killed; the Indians, Mexicans,
Americans, all say the same.
At full moon a month ago, when I went down the long clearing,
in the brilliant moonlight, through the poor dry herbage a big porcupine
began to waddle away from me, towards the trees and the darkness.
It had a lumbering, beetles, squalid motion, unpleasant. I
followed it into the darkness of the timber, and there, squat like a great
aureoled tick, or a bug, it was struggling up.
I stood near and watched, disliking the presence of the creature.
It is a duty to kill the things. But the dislike of killing him was greater
than the dislike of him.
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So I watched him climb.

And he watched me. When he got nearly the height of a man, he
hesitated and slithered down. Evidently, he had decided either that I
was harmless or else that it was risky to go up any further, when I
could knock him off so easily with a pole. So he slithered podgily
down again, and waddled away with the same bestial motion of that
white-spiky spoon tail. He was as big as a middle-sized pig; or more
like a bear.
I let him go. He was repugnant. He made a certain squalor in the
moonlight of the Rocky Mountains. As all savagery has a touch of
squalor that makes one a little sick at the stomach. And anyhow, it
seemed almost more squalid to pick up a pine bough and push him
over and hit him and kill him.
A few days later Madame came in suddenly...
Come, said she excitedly. There is a big porcupine drinking
at the ditch. I thought at first it was a bear!
When I got out he had gone... We got through the fence and
soon caught him up. Then he lumbered, with his white spoon-tail
spiked with bristles, steering behind almost as if he were moving
backwards, and this was his head. His long hairs above the quills were
quivering with a dim grey gleam like a bush.
And again I disliked him.
Should one kill him?
She hesitated, then with a sort of disgust:
Yes.
I went back to the house and got the little twenty-two rifle. Now
never in my life had I shot at any live thing I never wanted to.
Myself, individually, it was repugnant to me even to try.
But something slowly hardens in a mans soul. And I knew now
it had hardened in mine. I found the gun and, with rather trembling
hands, got it loaded. Then I put back the trigger and followed the
porcupine. It was still lumbering through the grass. Coming near, I aimed.
The trigger stuck. I pressed the little catch with a safety pin I
found in my pocket, and released the trigger. Then we followed the
porcupine. He was still lumbering through the trees. I went sideways
on, stood quite near to him, and fired, in the clear-dark of the
moonlight.
And as usual, I aimed too high. He turned, went scuttling back
whence he had come.
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I got another shell in place and followed. That time I fired full
into the mound of his back, below the glistening halo. He seemed to
stumble on his hidden nose, and struggled a few strides, ducking his
head under like a hedgehog.
Hes not dead yet! Oh, fire again! cried Madame. I fired, but
the gun was empty.
So I ran quickly for a cedar pole. The porcupine was lying still,
with a subsiding halo. He stirred faintly. So I turned him and I hit him
hard over the nose; or where, in the dark, the nose should have been.
And it was done. He was dead.
And, in the moonlight, I looked down on the first creature I had
ever shot.
Does it seem mean? I asked aloud, doubtful.
Again Madame hesitated. Then: No! she said resentfully.
And I felt she was right. Things like the porcupine, one must be
able to shoot them if they get in ones way.
One must be able to shoot. I, myself, must be able to shoot and
to kill. For me, this was a volte-face. I have always preferred to walk
around my porcupine rather than kill it.
Now I know its no good walking around. One must kill...
The only nice thing about him was the feet. They were like
longish, alert, black hands, paw-hands. That is why a porcupines
tracks in the snow look almost as if a child has gone by, leaving naked
little footprints, like a little boy.
So, he is gone; or she is gone. But there is another one, bigger
and blacker looking, among the vast timber. That too is to be shot. It is
part of the business of ranching, even if its only a half-abandoned
ranch like this one.
Wherever man establishes himself upon earth, he has to fight
for his place, against the lower orders of life. Food, the basis of
existence, has to be fought for even by the most idyllic of farmers.
You plant and you protect your growing crop with a gun. Food, food,
how strangely it relates man with the animal and vegetal world. How
important it is! And how fierce is the fight that goes on around it!
The same as when one skins a rabbit, and takes out the inside;
and one realizes what an enormous part of him is just for foodapparatus; for living on other organisms.
And when one watches the horses in the big field, their noses to
the ground, bite-bite-biting without lifting their noses, cropping off the
105
grass, the young dandelions, with a blind relentless unwearied

persistence, ones whole life pauses. One suddenly realizes again how
creatures devour, and must devour, the lower forms of life.
*
APPLICATIONS
I.1. Reading Comprehension

What is the author-heros motivation for killing the porcupine?
How is the porcupine image gradually drawn?
How does the authors hesitations and decisions relate to
common opinion?
Do you consider that the narrative episode is central? Why or
why not? Is it based on a story or on a plot? What is its functionality
in the frame of the essay?
I.2. Further text discussion
Concentrate on the major topic(s) of the text. Consider the
following issues as possible hints:
mans need to assert his identity and status in the universe
(versus other living creatures)
the self-defence instinct and the impulse to kill whatever
endangers man
the desire to do away with ugly, repugnant things
mans feeling of empathy with all other live creatures
the dependence of all human, animal and vegetal specimens on
food for survival
Subdivide the text into thematic sections and state their
functionality in the global text.
Characterize the participants in the story, comment on the role
played by the male author-hero, as well as by the female character.
Analyse the author-heros attitude to the porcupine, as
reflected in the linguistic expressions used (epithets, pronominal
substitutes).
106
II. Lexical Focus

Vs
Ns
As
to reflect
porcupine
bare
to gnaw
bark
squalid
to waddle
flesh
squat
to lumber
clearing
podgy
to slither
herbage
repugnant
to pick-up
beetle
relentless
Group the motion verbs from the first column and
complete the series by at least fifteen other items.
1. Comment on the value of the word timber(s) and lumber in the
following:
a) We all admired the standing timber and felt sorry for the
rolled one.
b) His timbers embarrassed him a lot.
c) He was a real managerial timber.
d) He was a man of the right sort of timber.
e) There was a great amount of lumber in their attic.
f) The workers were ready to unload the lumber.
g) The horses advanced slowly because of the lumber.
h) They lumbered all the old books on the balcony.
i) The old wagon was lumbering along the bumpy road.
j) The podgy man was lumbering on his way home.
2. Fill in the blanks with the word missing from the fixed
phrases/idioms containing the items flesh, top, touch and spoon:
a) Even the slightest ... will break a soap bubble.
b) The car was driving at the ... of its speed.
c) He boasted of having come out at the ... of the school.
d) The engine of my car starts at the first ... of the switch.
e) She seems to have lost ... of late.
107
f) Hes feeling at the ... of his form.

g) He was a sculptor with a fine...
3. Use each in the series of synonyms to illustrate its tinge of
meaning:
skid, slip, slide, glide, slither, miss ones footing
1. It or There as grammatical (formal) Subjects:
a) .....seems to be little evidence to suggest that the recent wage
rises have pushed up the rate of inflation.
b) He said that ..... was his intention to open a second shop as
soon as he has the money.
c) We re completely lost! .....s only one thing to do now, and
thats to go back and start again!
d) .....is hard to believe that Peter is already three years old.
e) Although ...s a cold wind blowing, ......may be that the snow
wont come until the morning.
2. Complete the following complex sentences with a THAT clause:
a) I think it very important
b) We would like it to be understood
c) They made it clear
d) We think it worthwhile
e) The guidebook made it easier
f) They considered absolutely necessary
g) I dont want it mentioned
h) He felt his duty
i) I call it fortunate
j) We think it better
k) Students find it very useful
l) I made it a rule
m) We have it in our power
108
3. Use for-phrases instead of the subordinate clauses:

a) It is quite natural that he should act like that.
b) Its impossible that he should have so let us down.
c) Let us wait till a definite answer arrives.
d) He closed the windows lest the papers should be scattered by
the wind.
e) That a man of his age should be so active and full of vitality is
something extraordinary.
4. Complete the following with the help of for-phrases using
different forms of the infinitive:
a) It is advisable for (everyone)
b) The order was for (the message)
c) My father is anxious for (I)
d) It would be wrong for (they)
e) It is high time for (all of us)
5. Replace the gerund by a complex with a full gerund or half
gerund:
Example: You are responsible for doing this work in time.
You are responsible for this work being done in time.
a) They objected to applying this method into practice.
b) We dont mind mentioning the fact.
c) She was quite unaware of being watched by the people.
d) He never confessed to having sent the letter.
e) Father hated being contradicted by any of us.
6. Make up sentences using the following phrases as nominative
and participle constructions:
there being no time to lose; the concert over; it being late; hands
in pockets; with his eyes wide open; banners flying.
7. Give examples of your own of three sentences containing
Accusative with infinitive constructions and then passivize them.
What construction is thus obtained?
109
8. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate finite or non-finite form

of the bracketed verb:
1. (stumble) over a stone is not the pleasantest of things, but
(stumble) she had and nearly (slide off), she had discovered a heap of
(sweep street) (lie) by the dust-bin.
2. This (split) headache is past (bear). I (take) pain-killers, and
(give) myself long rests, and (try) (make) as little effort as possible,
and it (not be) of much use so far.
V. Translation
1. Se zice c a luat-o la goan cnd a auzit ursul apropiindu-se
de liziera pdurii lng care i ridicase cortul.
2. A fost vzut cum fur geanta unei btrne.
3. Se tie c a mblnzit o cprioar.
4. Se zicea c un fugar a dat foc hambarului.
5. Se pare c i s-a terminat benzina.
6. tim cu toii c a fost campion mondial.
7. mi nchipuiam c ai cumprat de mult casa aceea.
8. N-am s permit nimnui s m bat.
9. mi nchipuiam c tii englezete mai bine.
10. Nu-l lsa s te fac s acionezi ca i cum i-ai fi pierdut
cumptul.
11. Credeam c citete de mult, dar abia ncepuse.
12. A fost vzut cum culege ghiocei.
13. E puin probabil ca el s fi citit ziarul n timp ce i vorbeai.
14. Cu cine se zice c seamn?
15. Cui i-ai ordonat s-i cumpere frigiderul?
16. Clipe de fericire! i simi o sfiere la gndul c s-ar fi putut
ca aceste clipe s se repete pentru mine zilnic, dac am fi rmas toi
trei mpreun... Desigur, Matilda era astfel fericit, fiindc un copil,
pn la o anumit vrst, e o venic surpriz. Iar soarta fcea ca
surprizele Silviei s fie aproape toate miraculoase, i doar puine rele.
Matilda intui starea mea de spirit. Dac te-ai hotrt, mi spuse n
franuzete, ai fi la Bucureti i n-ar fi o problem s-o iei pe Silvia
oricnd ai vrea. Dac n-a fi avut-o, i spun sincer, c m sinucideam.
Eu m plng de ea, [...] dar e un copil extraordinar de bun, o minune.
Numai la asta m gndesc cnd ai zis s accepi numirea, s fii
110
aproape de ea, i, de ce s nu-i mrturisesc i ea de tine! Mai

vedem! Spusei, nu pentru c aveam vreo ndoial, ci ca s n-o
contrazic, s se poat repeta venirea Silviei la mine, aceste trei zile...
VI. Conversation
1. Imagine you having taken part in a hunting session.
2. What animal do you like most? What animal do you dislike
most?
3. Have you ever felt hunted?
4. What is the significance of the grass image in the last paragraph?
5. Does the author refer to the biological scale? Comment on
this topic.
VII. Composition
1. Argue for and against Lawrences final reflections.
2. Those things are better which are perfected by nature than
those, which are finished by art. (Marcus Cicero)
B. SATELLITE TEXT 1
I. Reading
We supply below one of Lawrences poems selected from his volume
Birds, Beasts and Flowers.
Snake
by D.H. Lawrence
A snake came to my water-trough
On a hot, hot day, and I in pyjamas for the heat,
To drink there.
111
In the deep, strange-scented shade of the great dark carob-tree

I came down the steps with my pitcher
And must wait, must stand and wait, for there he was at the trough
before
me.
He reached down from a fissure in the earth-wall in the gloom
And trailed his yellow-brown slackness soft-bellied down, over the
edge of
the stone trough
And rested his throat upon the stone bottom,
And where the water had dripped from the tap, in a small clearness,
He sipped with his straight mouth,
Softly drank through his straight gums, into his slack long body,
Silently.
Someone was before me at my water-trough,
And I, like a second comer, waiting.
He lifted his head from his drinking, as cattle do,
And looked at me vaguely, as drinking cattle do,
And flickered his two-forked tongue from his lips, and mused a
moment,
And stooped and drank a little more,
Being earth-brown, earth-golden from the burning bowels of the earth
On the day of Sicilian July, with Etna smoking.
The voice of my education said to me
He must be killed,
For in Sicily the black, black snakes are innocent, the gold are
venomous.
And voices in me said, If you were a man
You would take a stick and break him now, and finish him off.
But must I confess how I liked him,
How glad I was he had come like a guest in quiet, to drink at my
water-trough
And depart peaceful, pacified, and thankless,
Into the burning bowels of this earth?
112
Was it cowardice, that I dared not kill him?

Was it perversity, that I longed to talk to him?
Was it humility, to feel so honoured?
I felt so honoured.
And yet those voices:
If you were not afraid, you would kill him!
And truly I was afraid, I was most afraid,
But even so, honoured still more
That he should seek my hospitality
From out the dark door of the secret earth.
He drank enough
And lifted his head, dreamily, as one who has drunken,
And flickered his tongue like a forked night on the air, so black,
Seeming to lick his lips,
And looked around like a god, unseeing, into the air,
And slowly turned his head,
And slowly, very slowly, as if thrice a dream,
Proceeded to draw his slow length curving round
And climb again the broken bank of my wall-face.
And as he put his head into that dreadful hole,
And as he slowly drew up, snake-easing his shoulders, and entered
farther,
A sort of horror, a sort of protest against his withdrawing into that
horrid black hole,
Deliberately going into the blackness, and slowly drawing himself
after,
Overcame me now his back was turned.
I looked round, I put down my pitcher,
I picked up a clumsy log
And threw it at the water-trough with a clatter.
I think it did not hit him,
But suddenly that part of him that was left behind convulsed in
113
undignified haste.
Writhed like lightning, and was gone
Into the black hole, the earth-lipped fissure in the wall-front,
At which, in the intense still noon, I stared with fascination.
And immediately I regretted it.
I thought how paltry, how vulgar, what a mean act!
I despised myself and the voices of my accursed human education.
And I thought of the albatross
And I wished he would come back, my snake.
For he seemed to me again like a king,
Like a king in exile, uncrowned in the underworld,
Now due to be crowned again.
And so, I missed my chance with one of the lords
Of life.
And I have something to expiate:
A pettiness.
II. Comprehension Check-up and Text Discussion
1. Formulate the major topic of the poem.
2. How does the protagonist appear in the first four stanzas?
Explain the significance of: my water-trough, my pitcher, must wait,
must stand and wait, before me, a second comer. How does he appear
in the last stanza?
3. In what terms does Lawrence describe the universe the snake
comes from?
4. How does the snake image change in the course of the poem?
5. Why do you think Lawrence decided on the title SNAKE
rather than A Snake?
6. Comment upon the use of parallelism in the poem.
III. Translation
Translate the last four stanzas of the satellite text 1.
114

Use the following words in contexts of your own.
Utilizing Rogets thesaurus
(http://thesaurus.reference.com/Roget-Alpha-Index.html)
come up with at least 4 synonyms for each item (wherever possible).
trough
pitcher
scent
shade / shadow
carob
fissure
gum
to reach
to trail
to slacken
to drip
to flicker
slack
venomous
drunken
unseeing
V. Conversation
1. Comment on the human protagonists dilemma and its
corresponding poetic expression in Lawrences Snake. Could we say
that the incident represents an epiphany?
2. Comment on the phrase my snake occurring in the final part of
the poem.
VI. Composition
1. The man-animal relation in Reflections of the Death of a
Porcupine and Snake (point out similarities and dissimilarities).
2. The functionality of the stylistic devices used by Lawrence in
the poem Snake.
C. SATELLITE TEXT 2
I. Reading
The Binding of the Wolf
(a short story by Hamilton Wright)
Loke looked like a god and had many of the wonderful gifts
which the gods possessed, but at heart he was one of those giants who
115
were always trying to cross Bifrost, the shining rainbow-bridge, at the

heavenly end of which Heimdal kept guard day and night, with eyes
so keen that in the darkness as easily as in the light he could see a
hundred miles distant, and with ears so sharp that he could hear the
noiseless blossoming of the grass in the deepest valley, and the
growing of the wool upon the backs of sheep browsing along the hilltops. Loke had the mind of the gods, who were always working to
bring order and beauty into the world, but he had the heart of the
giants, who were striving to undo the good and cover the earth with
howling storms and icy desolation.
After he had been in Asgard for a time he wanted to get back to
Jotunheim, where his true home was. There he married a terrible
giantess, and three children were born to him, more repulsive than
their mother, Hel, the Midgard-serpent, and the Fenris-wolf. These
monsters grew to be very strong and horrible to look upon before the
gods thought of destroying them; but one day, as Odin looked over the
worlds from his throne, a shadow fell upon his face, for he saw how
powerful the children of Loke were becoming, and he knew they
would work endless mischief and misery for gods and men; so he sent
some of the gods to bring the monsters to Asgard. It was a strange
sight when Lokes children were brought into heaven, Hels terrible
face turning into stone every one who looked, unless he were a god;
the Midgard-serpent coiling its immense length into great circles over
which the glittering eyes wandered restlessly; and the Fenris-wolf
growling with a deep, cruel voice. Odin looked sternly at Loke, the
evil god who had brought such savage beings among men, and then
with a dark brow he cast Hel down into the dusky kingdoms of the
dead, and hurled the snake into the deep sea, where he grew until he
coiled around the whole earth; but Fenrer, the wolf, was permitted to
grow up in Asgard. He was so fierce that only Tyr, the sword-god,
could feed him. He roamed about Asgard, his huge body daily growing
stronger, and his hungry eyes flashing more and more fiercely.
After a time another shadow fell upon Odins face, for Fenrer
was fast becoming the most terrible enemy of the gods, and the oracles
who could look into the future, said that at the last great battle he
would destroy Odin himself. So Odin called all the gods together, and
as they came into the great hall the wolf crouched at the door, with a
look that made even their strong hearts shudder.
116
Our most dangerous enemy is growing stronger every day

under our roof and by our hands, said Odin, and we shall cease to be
gods if we are so blind as to nourish our own destroyer.
Kill him! muttered some one.
No, said Odin; although he is to devour me, no blood shall
stain the sacred seats of the gods.
Chain him! said Thor.
That was a good plan, they all agreed, but how was it to be done?
Leave that to me, answered Thor, full of courage, for he had
done many wonderful things, and there was nothing of which he was
afraid.
That night the fires in the great smithy blazed and roared so
fiercely that the heavens far around were lighted with the glow, and in
the dusky light the strong forms of the gods moved to and fro as they
worked on the chain with which they meant to bind the Fenris-wolf.
All night Thors mighty strokes rang [161] on the hard iron, and when
the morning came the chain was done, and they called it Leding. Then
the gods called Fenrer, spread out the chain, and asked him to show
his wonderful strength by breaking it.
The wolf knew better than the gods how strong he had grown,
and that the breaking of Leding would be a very small matter for him;
so he permitted them to bind the great links around his shaggy body
and about his feet, and to rivet the ends so fast that it seemed as if
nothing on earth could ever break them apart again. When it was all
done, and Thors eyes were beginning to smile at his success, the wolf
got quietly upon his feet, stretched himself as easily as if a web of silk
were cast over him, snapped the massive chain in a dozen places, and
walked off, leaving the gods to gather up the broken links.
He has grown terribly strong, said Odin, looking at the great
pieces of iron.
Yes, answered sturdy Thor, stronger than I thought; but I will
forge another chain, which even he cannot break.
Again the red glow shone in the sky over Asgard, the fires
flashed and blazed, and the great hammers rang far into the night, and
the next day the mighty chain Drome, twice as strong as Leding, was
finished.
Come, Fenrer, said Thor, you already famous for your
strength; if you can break this chain no will ever be able to deny your
strength, and you will win great honour among gods and men.
117
The wolf growled as he looked at the great chain, for he knew

that the gods feared him and wanted to make him harmless. He knew
also that he could break the chain which they had forged with so much
toil to bind him with, and so he let them fasten him as before. When
all was done, the gods began to smile again, for they had made the
strongest chain that ever was or could be made, and now surely the
wolf was forever harmless.
But Fenrer knew better than they. He rose slowly, with the
massive links bound closely about him, shook himself fiercely,
stretched himself, and then with a mighty effort dashed himself on the
ground; the earth shook, the chain burst, and its links flew through the
air and buried themselves in the ground, so tremendous was the effort
with which the wolf freed himself. A fierce joy gleamed in his eyes as
he walked away with deep growls, leaving the gods to console themselves
as best they might, for there were no more chains to be made.
Long and anxiously they talked together, but no one could think
of anything which could hold Fenrer until Odin called to Skirner,
Freys swiftest messenger: Go to Svartalfheim as fast as the flash of
Thors hammer, and the dwarfs shall make us an enchanted chain
which even he cannot break.
Skirner was off almost before Odin had done speaking.
Travelling over land and sea he soon came to the dark entrance of the
under-world where the dwarfs lived, and in a very short time he was in
the dusky home of the wonderful little workers in iron. They were
rushing about with black faces and dirty hair when Skirner called them
together and said, You must make for the gods an enchanted chain so
slight that Fenrer will be willing to be bound by it, and so strong that
when he has allowed himself to be tied he cannot break loose again.
The dwarfs whispered together for a few moments, and then
scattered in every direction; for they were going to make the most
wonderful chain that was ever put together, and there were many
things to be looked after before it could be done. Skirner sat in the
darkness until the busy little workers had finished the band, and then
he carried it quickly to Asgard, where all the gods were waiting
anxiously for his coming and Fenrer was stealthily stealing from place
to place through the city. Skirner spread the string out for the gods to
look at, and they could hardly believe it was strong enough. It was
very long, but so small and soft that it seemed no more than silken
twine; it was made out of such things as the sound of a cats footsteps,
118
the roots of the mountains, the breath of a fish, and the sinews of a
bear, and nothing could break it.
The gods were so happy in the hope of being relieved of their
enemy that they could not thank Skirner enough. They all went to a
rocky island in a lake called Amsvartner, taking the wolf with them.
Thor showed the silken twine to Fenrer. You have broken Leding and
Drome, he said, and now you will break this also, although it is
somewhat stronger than one would think, to look at it.
Then he handed the magic cord from one god to another and
each tried to break it, but no one succeeded.
We cannot do it, they all said after it had been handed around
the circle, but Fenrer can.
The wolf looked at it suspiciously.
It is such a slender thread, he answered, that I shall get no
credit if I break it, and if it is made with magic, slight as it looks I
shall never get loose from it again.
The gods looked at one another and smiled.
Oh, you will easily break so slim a band as that, they replied,
since you have already broken the heaviest chains in the world; and if
you cannot break it we will loosen you again.
If you bind me so fast that I am not able to get myself free, I
shall get little help from you, said the wolf truthfully enough. I am
very unwilling to have this twine bound about me; but that you may
not be able to call me cowardly, I will do it if some one of you will lay
his hand in my mouth as a pledge that there is no deceit about this thing.
The gods looked at each other when they heard these words.
Fenrer had spoken the truth, there was no denying that. He must be
chained now, however, or they would all be destroyed; but who would
lose a hand to save the rest? Thors hands were needed to swing the
hammer against the giants, and everybody could think of some very
good reason why his hand should not be lost. There was an awful
pause, and then Tyr, the god of honour and courage, who had never
stood still when he ought to go forward, stretched out his right hand
and laid it in the wolfs hungry mouth.
Then the gods bound the slender cord tightly around Fenrer, fold
on fold, winding its whole length about him and tying the ends tightly
together. It was so slight that it seemed as if it must break in fifty
places as soon as the wolf began to stretch himself. So perhaps
thought Fenrer himself; but the harder he strove to break loose, the
closer the cord drew about him. He sprang from side to side, he threw
119
himself on the ground, he stretched his mighty limbs with all his
strength, but the twine only cut the deeper. Then a mighty rage filled
the wolf because he had suffered himself to be deceived, his eyes
flamed with fury, and the foam ran out of his mouth. The gods were so
delighted when they found the wolf really fast at last that they began
to laugh, all except brave Tyr, who lost his right hand.
They took the wonderful silken chain and drew it through the
middle of a rock and sunk the rock so deep in the earth that nothing
but an earthquake could stir it. Fenrer, wild with pain and rage, rushed
from side to side so violently that the earth rocked beneath him, and
opening his tremendous jaws sprang upon the gods; whereupon they
thrust a sword into his cruel jaws so that the hilt stood on his lower
jaw and the point pierced the roof of the mouth.
So the Fenris-wolf was bound and made fast to the rocky island,
his jaws spread far apart, foaming and growling until the last great day.
1. In what way is Loke different to the gods?
2. Who are Lokes children?
3. What is particular about Lokes children?
4. Why does Odin want to destroy Lokes children?
5. Who does finally succeed in chaining Fenrer?
III. Translation
Translate the second paragraph of the satellite text.
Fabulous creatures
dragon (serpents body, claws, bats wings, fork-tongue mouth,
forked-tongue)
unicorn (spirally twisted horn)
Phoenix (flames or ashes of resurrection)
griffin (eagles head, claws, lions body, wings)
chimera (lions head, goats head, dragons body)
sphinx (humans head, lions body)
mermaid (womans trunk, fishs tail)
120
Pegasus (horses body, wings)

Cerberus (three-headed dogs body, serpents tail)
giant
triton (horses hoof, fishs tail)
centaur (mans body, horses body)
Mammals
marsupial: opossum, kangaroo
insectivores: mole, hedgehog, spine, long-eared-bat
rodents: guinea pig, porcupine, beaver, hamster, marmot, squirrel
ruminants: llama, two-humped camel, guanaco, hippopotamus, elk,
giraffe, black buck, mouflon, bison
carnivores: jackal, red fox, wolf, hyena,
seals: fur seal, walrus, whiskers, tusk
felines: lion, mane, tiger, leopard, cheetah, lynx
bears: raccoon, brown bear, polar bear
primates: macaque, baboon
anthropoids: chimpanzee, orang-utan, gorilla
Farmyard animals
mare stallion
buck doe
hen cock
duck drake
dog bitch
cat tom(cat)
goose gander
cow bull
turkey hen turkey
Describe the yard of a Romanian farmer by using some
animal names from the list above.
V. Conversation
1. Man in relation with gods, fabulous and earthly creatures.
2. The topicality of Darwins theory. Arguments for and against.
3. Man Nature relationship.
4. What fabulous creature I am. Explain why.
VI. Composition
1. Had I been present at the Creation, I would have given some
useful hints for the better ordering of the Universe. (Alfonso the Wise)
2. Man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to. (Mark Twain)
121
REVISION TEST II
1. Guesthouse rooms must be .......... by noon.
a. vacated
b. abandoned
c. left
d. evacuated
2. At the end of the course special prizes were ......... to the winning
participants.
a. won
b. awarded
c. earned
d. deserved
3. If the bomb had exploded it could ......... have killed hundreds
of people.
a. might
b. well
c. equally
d. yet
4. After many years of research, they found the solution
a. by the end
b. at the end
c. at last
d. on the end
5. I know its late, so I shall not .......... you any longer said the
sales manager to his sales team participants.
a. detain
b. hold up
c. withhold
d. retard
122
6. You can go to the party .......... you are back home by midnight.
a. as well as
b. as time as
c. as long as
d. as far as
7. How many sheets of paper do you think this file will ..........
a. occupy
b. suit
c. fit
d. hold
8. Choose the appropriate missing word: The dog ........... the
sleeping child.
a. embraced
b. clasped
c. nestled
d. nuzzled
e. cuddled
9. Choose the appropriate missing word: She ................... the
Muslim religion
a. embraced
b. clasped
c. nestled
d. nuzzled
e. cuddled
10. Choose the appropriate missing word: This bracelet wont
.........................
a. embraced
b. clasped
c. nestled
d. nuzzled
e. cuddled
123
11. Choose the appropriate missing word: The children ...............up

together under the blankets.
a. embraced
b. clasped
c. nestled
d. nuzzled
e. cuddled
12. Choose the appropriate missing word: She .............down among
cushions.
a. embraced
b. clasped
c. nestled
d. nuzzled
e. cuddled
13. It or There as formal Subjects:
a) .....seems to be little evidence to suggest that the recent wage
rises have pushed up the rate of inflation;
b) He said that ..... was his intention to open a second shop as
soon as he has the money;
c) We re completely lost! .....s only one thing to do now, and
thats to go back and start again!;
d) .....is hard to believe that Peter is already three years old;
e) Although ...s a cold wind blowing, ......may be that the snow
wont come until the morning.
14. Which sentences are correct:
A. Tim and his wife were the expected guests.
B. A crate of apples and oranges has been delivered to our
doorstep.
C. Every one of the employees are angry about the new contract.
D. The man, as well as his wife and children, was injured in the
accident.
124
15. Which sentences are correct:

A. His dog, along with his cat and goldfish, prevents him from
taking long trips.
B. Thirty dollars is too much to pay for that purse.
C. Ten miles is not far to go for a delicious meal.
D. Either the students or the teacher have made a mistake.
125
INSTEAD OF A KEY
Compare the source (Romanian) literary text to its English

equivalent.
List ten grammatical structures distinct in the two languages.
List ten apparently untranslatable words or phrases in
Romanian and supply one more possible solution in English.
Comment on the way the translator tried to solve five lexical
problems in the text.
1. Recollections from childhood / Amintiri din copilrie by Ion
Creang
Recollections from childhood
(fragments)
Amintiri din copilrie

(fragmente)
I dont know how others may

feel, but when I think of the
place of my birth, of our home
in Humuleti, of the fireplace
pot to which mother used to tie a
piece of string with balls of
wool at the end of it so that cats
played with them to distraction,
of the whitewashed mantel of
the fireplace, to which I used to
cling when I first began to totter,
of the stove on which I hid when
the boys played hide-and-seek,
and of other games and pastimes
full of childish fun and charm,
my heart even now seems to
leap with joy. And Lord! How
delightful it was then, for my
Nu tiu alii cum sunt, dar eu,

cnd m gndesc la locul
naterii mele, la casa printeasc
din Humuleti, la stlpul hornului
unde lega mama o far cu
motocei la capt, de crpau
mele jucndu-se cu ei, la
prichiciul vetrei cel humuit, de
care m ineam cnd ncepusem
a merge copcel, la cuptorul pe
care m ascundeam, cnd ne
jucam noi, bieii, de-a mijoarca,
i la alte jocuri i jucrii pline de
hazul i farmecul copilresc,
parc-mi salt i acum inima de
bucurie! i, Doamne, frumos era
pe atunci, cci i prinii, i fraii
i surorile mi erau sntoi, i
126
parents as well as my brothers

were all in good health and in
the house there was plenty, and
the boys and girls of the
neighbors were always playing
with us, and everything went as
I wished, without a bit of
unpleasantness, as if all the
world were mine.
And I was as blithe as fine
weather, and as carefree and
wilful as the wind in the storm.
And sometimes when the sun
was beginning to show itself
from behind a cloud after a spell
of rain, Mother, renowned for
the wonders she could work,
would say to me, smiling: Go
outside, fair-haired child, and
smile at the sun; perhaps the
weather will be fine again. And
when I smiled the weather did
change.
You see, the sun knew full
when whom he had to deal with,
because I was my mothers son,
and could indeed perform many
great wonders: she could turn
the black clouds away from our
village and could send the hail
elsewhere, by sticking a hatchet
into the ground in front of our
door; she could make the meat
jelly with only two cows feet,
so that people crossed themselves
in surprise; she would beat the
ground, or the wall, or a piece of
casa ne era ndestulat, i copiii

i copilele megieilor erau de-a
pururea n petrecere cu noi, i
toate mi mergeau dup plac,
fr leac de suprare, de parc
era toat lumea a mea!
i eu eram vesel ca vremea cea

bun i turlubatic i copilros
ca vntul n tulburarea sa.
i mama, care era vestit
pentru nzdrvniile sale, mi
zicea cu zmbet uneori, cnd
ncepea a se ivi soarele dintre
nori dup o ploaie ndelungat:
Iei, copile cu prul blan,
afar i rde la soare, doar s-a
ndrepta vremea i vremea se
ndrepta dup rsul meu...
tia, vezi bine, soarele cu cine
are de-a face, cci eram feciorul
mamei, care i ea cu adevrat c
tia a face multe i mari minunii: alunga nourii cei negri de
pe deasupra satului nostru i
abtea grindina n alte pri,
nfignd toporul n pmnt,
afar, dinaintea uii; nchega apa
numai cu dou picioare de vac,
de se ncrucea lumea de mirare;
btea pmntul, sau peretele, sau
vrun lemn, de care m pleam la
cap, la mn sau la picior,
127
wood against which I had hurt

my head, saying: There! there!
and the pain would leave me at
once.When the burning embers
spit in the stove (which, it was
said, brings wind and nasty
weather) or when the embers
hissed (which means that
someone is speaking ill of you)
Mother used to scold them, there
on the hearth, and beat them
with the tongs so that the enemy
might be defeated. And even
more than this: whenever it
seemed to her that I looked
queer, she would at once prepare
a remedy for me and, after
spitting on her finger, scrape a
bit of earth off the dusty sole of
my boots, or, better, she would
take some soot from the mouth
of the stove, saying: As the
stoves mouth cannot be hurt by
the evil eye so shall my child not
be hurt by the evil eye! and she
would smear a speck of soot on
my forehead so that nothing
might injure her pet.And she
could do many other things too.
But come, lets rather talk
about childhood, which alone is
gay and innocent.
What does a child care, when
his father and mother are
thinking about lifes worries, or
are harassed by other anxious
thoughts or what tomorrow may
128
zicnd: Na, na!, i ndat-mi

trecea durerea... cnd vuia n
sob tciunele aprins, care se
zice c fce a vnt i vreme rea,
sau cnd iuia tciunele, despre
care se zice c te vorbete
cineva de ru, mama l mustra
acolo, n vatra focului, i-l
buchisa cu cletele, s se mai
potoleasc dumanul; i mai
mult dect atta: oleac ce nu-i
venea mamei la socoteal
cuttura mea, ndat pregtea,
cu degetul mblat, puin tin
din colbul adunat pe opsasul
nclrii ori, mai n grab, lua
funingine de la gura sobei,
zicnd: Cum nu se deoache
clciul sau gura sobei, aa s nu
mi se deoache copilaul i-mi
fcea apoi cte-un benchi boghet
n frunte, ca s nu-i prpdeasc odorul!... i altele multe
nc fcea...
Hai mai bine despre copilrie

s povestim, cci ea singur este
vesel i nevinovat.
Ce-i pas copilului cnd mama
i tata se gndesc la neajunsurile
vieii, la ce poate s le aduc
ziua de mine, sau c-i frmnt
alte gnduri pline de ngrijire.
bring? The child, astride his

stick, thinks he is riding the
smartest of steeds, and races
gladly along on it, beats it with
his whip and reins it as if it were
a real horse, and shouts at it with
all his might, deafening you; and
he falls down he believes the
horse has thrown him, and he
vents his rage upon the stick
with all the words he can find
That is how I was at the happy
age, and I believe all children
have been so, ever since this
world and earth were made,
whatever anyone may say.
To make a long story short,
where there were three I was the
fourth. But every time I heard
Id have to rock the baby, I
dont know what came over me!
I had the misfortune of being the
eldest of my brothers. But what
could I do when Mother begged
me? On that particular day
though, when she asked me, the
sky was so clear, and it was so
lovely and hot out of doors that
one would like to bask in the sun
like the hens. Seeing such
weather, I dashed to the water,
thinking nasty thoughts of
Mother, no matter how dear she
was to me and how overwhelmed
by her duties. God knows it is
the truth! For after a while,
Mother, believing me to be in
the orchard, came out and
Copilul, nclecat pe bul su,

gndete c se afl clare pe un
cal de cei mai stranici, pe care
alearg, cu voie bun, i-l bate
cu biciul i-l strunete cu tot
dinadinsul, i rcnete la el din
toat inima, de-i ia auzul; i de
cade jos, crede c l-a trntit
calul, i pe b i descarc mnia
n toat puterea cuvntului...
Aa eram eu la vrsta cea
fericit, i aa cred c au fost toi
copiii, de cnd i lumea asta i
pmntul, mcar s zic cine ce-a
zice
i, scurt vorb, unde erau
trei, eu eram al patrulea. Dar
cnd auzeam de legnat copilul,
nu tiu cum mi venea; cci
tocmai pe mine czuse pcatul
s fiu mai mare ntre frai. ns
ce era s faci cnd te roag
mama? Dar n ziua aceea, n
care m rugase ea, era un senin
pe cer i aa de frumos i de cald
afar, c-i venea s te scalzi pe
uscat, ca ginile. Vznd eu o
vreme ca asta, am parlit-o la
balt, cu gnd ru asupra mamei,
ct mi era de mam i de
necjit. Adevr spun, cci
Dumnezeu e deasupra! De la o
vreme, mama, creznd c-s prin
livad undeva, iese afar i
ncepe a striga, de da duhul
dintr-nsa: Ioane! Ioane! Ioane!
Ioane! i Ion, pace! Vznd ea
129
started shouting with all her

might: Ion, Ion, Ion! But there
was no Ion. Then, hearing no
answer from anywhere, she left
everything and came running
after me to the pool, where she
knew I was in the habit of going,
and there she discovered me
lying down full length, stark
naked in the sand.
I remember the ritual very
well. I would get to my feet,
holding to my ears a pebble
burning form the heat of the sun,
with the grains of silver on it,
and I would begin to jump, first
on one leg, then on the other,
would bend my head to the
right, then to the left, reciting
the words:
c nu dau rspuns de nicieri,

las toate n pmnt i se ia dup
mine la balt, unde tia c m
duc; i, cnd colo, m vede
tologit, cu pielea goal pe nisip,
ct mi i-i gliganul; apoi, n
picioare, iind la urechi cte-o
lespejoar fierbinte de la soare,
cu argint printr-nsele, i aci
sream ntr-un picior, aci n
cellalt, aci plecam capul n
dreapta i n stnga, spunnd
cuvintele:
Golden fairy in the meadows,

Draw the water from my ear,
Ancient coins Ill have for thee,
Buckets I shall wash for thee!
And tambours shall I beat for
thee!.
Aura, pcura,
Scoate apa din urechi,
C i-oi da parale vechi;
i i-oi spla cofele
i i-o bate dobele!.
After all, why so much ado

about nothing? Well, in this
world, I have been only a lump
of earth with eyes, a piece of
animated clay from Humuleti,
and I didnt manage to become
good looking by the time I was
twenty, or sensible by the time I
was thirty, or rich by the time I
was forty.
n sfrit, ce mai atta vorb

pentru nimica toat? Ia, am fost
i eu, n lumea asta, un bo cu
ochi, o bucat de hum nsufleit din Humuleti, care nici
frumos pn la douzeci de ani,
nici cu minte pn la treizeci i
nici bogat pn la patruzeci nu
m-am fcut.
130
2. Remember by Mateiu Caragiale

Remember
(fragments)
There are dreams that we seem
to have lived some day
somewhere, very much as there
are events we have lived through
yet we wonder whether they
were not dreams. That is precisely
what I was thinking the other
night, when, rummaging through
my papers in order to see what
could be burned papers may
also be cumbersome I found a
letter which revived my memory
of a queer occurrence, so queer
that, had it taken place more
than seven years ago, I should
have been a prey to doubt, I
should have felt inclined to think
I only dreamt of it, or read about
it, or simply heard the story in
days of old.
It was in 1907. I had been very
ill in Bucharest and had
afterwards returned to my home
in Berlin. My recovery was
rather slow and difficult,
requiring very great care. Upon
my departure, my physician
advised me to avoid even the
slightest agitation or distress.
Poor doctor! I shrugged my
shoulders with a smile and told
him to set his mind at rest.
I saw Berlin again after two
years of exile. I am extremely
fond of Berlin; not even the
Remember
(fragmente)
Sunt vise ce parc le-am trit
cndva i undeva, precum sunt
lucruri vieuite despre care ne
ntrebm dac n-au fost vis. La
asta m gndeam deunzi seara
cnd rvind printre hrtiile
mele ca s vd ce se mai poate
gsi de ars hrtiile ncurc
am dat peste o scrisoare care mi-a
deteptat amintirea unei ntmplri
ciudate, aa de ciudat c, de nar fi dect apte ani de cnd s-a
petrecut, m-a simi cuprins de
ndoial, a crede c ntr-adevr
am visat numai, sau c am citit-o
ori auzit-o demult.
Era n 1907. Fusesem greu

bolnav n Bucureti i m
ntorceam la Berlin acas.
nsntoirea mea se fcea cu
anevoin, cernd ngrijiri mari.
La plecare, doctorul m-a sftuit
s m feresc pn i de cele mai
uoare zguduiri sufleteti. Bietul
doctor! Am dat din umeri,
zmbind i i-am spus s fie pe
pace.
Dup un surghiun de doi ani
revedeam Berlinul. Am de Berlin
mare slbiciune; nici mprejurri
131
saddest circumstances have ever

spoilt my pleasure in seeing it
again. I found it as I had left it:
it was all in bloom. Yet never
had it seemed to me so beautiful
as in that year, at the beginning
of June.
Unfortunately I was no longer
able to explore and wander
about as in bygone days. I found
myself tiring too soon and
fatigue could facilitate a relapse.
Therefore, I resigned myself to
staying indoors for some time.
This was a sacrifice for which I
was partly compensated by the
beauty of the old music which I
could hear being played in the
house from morn till night.
Pervaded by a sweet drowsiness
I allowed my daydreams to
emerge and to melt at will into
the flood of sublime harmonies,
while I stared out of the
windows, with half-closed eyes,
at the rainbows shimmering in
the fluid spray of the fountain in
the midst of the vast gardensquare. The gentle breeze of
twilight caused a trembling
among the roses climbing all
over the balcony of the house
opposite, wafting their fragrance
up to me. The evening was
instilling animation into the
shadows and the mirrors were
thrilled by mysterious tremors.
That was the hour to which I
always looked forward in order
to admire the most beautiful
132
foarte triste nu m-au mpiedicat

s-l revd cu plcere. L-am
regsit cum l lsasem: tot numai
flori. Aa frumos chiar ca n acel
nceput de iunie nu-mi pruse
totui niciodat.
Ca s-l vntur ns i s-l
colind ca odinioar, nu mai
mergea. Oboseam repede i
oboseala putea nlesni reivirea
boalei. M-am resemnat dar ctva
vreme a sta pe acas, jertf de
care m despgubea, n parte,
frumuseea muzicei vechi ce se
fcea la noi de dimineaa pn
seara. Npdit de o dulce
aromeal, mi lsam visrile s
nasc i s se topeasc n voie n
noianul de armonii sublime,
uitndu-m pe fereastr, cu ochii
pe jumtate nchii, cum
unduiau curcubeuri n pulberea
fluid a fntnii din larga piagrdin. Lina boare a asfinitului
legna ciucurii purpurii ai
trandafirilor agai pe terasa
casei din fa, purtndu-le
mireasma pn la mine. Seara da
nsufleire umbrelor, n oglinzi,
tainic, treceau fiori. Acesta era
ceasul pe care-l ateptam ca s
admir colul cel mai frumos al
pieei un petec de pdure
rmas neatins n plin ora
civa btrni copaci frunzoi i
sumbri, vrednici s slujeasc de
izvod celor mai cu faim meteri
ai zugrvelii.
corner of the square a patch of

a grove left untouched in the
midst of the town a few old
bushy and gloomy trees, worthy
of begetting the masterpieces of
the most famous artists.
I could even say that I used to
meet the same bushy trees in a
painting by Ruysdael to be found
at Frederics Museum, their
shadow floating over a ruined
castle by a waterfall. Never
could I pass by that painting
without dwelling upon it for
quite a long time. While I was
watching it, my thoughts would
lose themselves endlessly in the
small patch of purple sky whose
horizon seemed infinite in depth.
A heathen though devout love
for old trees is an inborn thing
with me, the less of an age-old
superstition. It is to those trees
that I am indebted for noble
thoughts and great inspiration,
for I do not think there is any
human verse or masterly song in
the world which could move me
even more than the real ones, for
that small melancholy landscape
showed me a reflection of my
own soul.
I was frequently at the museum.
However deeply I was immersed
in the contemplation of the
pictures, I never overlooked the
other visitors, who were sometimes
rather interesting too. That is
how I happened to notice the
constant presence of a young
i regseam chiar, la Muzeul

Frederic, ntr-o cadr de Ruysdal,
aceiai copaci stufoi, adumbrind
lng o cdere de ap un castel
n ruin. Odat nu puteam trece
pe dinaintea ei fr a m opri
ndelung. Privind-o, gndul mi
se pierdea fr sfrit n frma-i
de cer vnt cu zare adnc. E
nnscut n mine, drojdie de
strvechi eres, o iubire pgn i
cucernic pentru copacii btrni.
Lor le datoresc inspiraii mult
nobile i grave, fiindc nu cred
s se afle pe lume viers omenesc
sau cntare meteugit care s
m mite mai viu ca tainicul
freamt ce-l deteapt n frunziul lor vntul serii. Arborii
aceia zugrvii m ncntau
totui mai mult chiar dect cei
adevrai, acel mic peisaj melancolic nfindu-mi o oglindire
a sufletului meu.
Mergeam la muzeu foarte des.
Ct de cufundat eram n contemplarea cadrelor nu treceam
cu vederea nici pe oaspei,
interesani uneori, aa c printre
ei bgasem de seam c se afl
nelipsit un tnr, care, acolo mai
ales, ar fi atras privirile oricui,
133
man who was apt to attract

anybodys eyes, particularly in
that place. For one could say
about him with full justification,
that he seemed to have been
wrested by some spell out of an
old canvas. Can there be any
rarer pleasure for those who
have piously sipped at the
mystery of the past than to meet
an icon of forgotten centuries, in
the flesh?
There was the same resemblance
between the young man and one
of those lords whose looks,
hands, and smiles were granted
immortality by Van Dyke and,
after him, by Van-der-Faes. I
said one of those lords, for
they are mostly alike. In the
past, within confined castes,
every epoch imprinted the same
mien, if not the same countenance
too, upon the people closely and
repeatedly related, who lived
together and shared the same
costumes and customs. On the
other hand, it happens, in the
most unexpected places and
moments, that some beings arise
whose true resemblance must be
sought somewhere else, in other
countries, in other nations, in
other centuries. And yet one can
hardly imagine that they could
have the remotest kinship with
those from whom they are
separated by chasms of time and
blood.
134
cci despre el s-ar fi putut cu

drept zice c-l desprinsese de pe
o pnz veche o vraj. Poate fi
plcere mai rar pentru cei ce
s-au mprtit cu evlavie ntru
taina trecutului dect s ntlneasc n carne i oase o icoan
din veacuri apuse?
Tot astfel semna tnrul cu unii

din acei lorzi, ale cror priviri,
mini i sursuri Van Dyck i,
dup el, Van-der-Fas le-au
hrzit nemuririi. Zic unii din
acei lorzi, fiindc mai toi sunt la
fel. n trecut, n castelele
restrnse, celor de aproape i
nmulit nrudii, trind mpreun,
cu acelai port i obiceiuri,
fiecare epoc le ntiprete
acelai aer dac nu chiar aceeai
nfiare. Se ntmpl iari ca,
acolo unde cu gndul nu
gndeti, s rsar fiine crora
le trebuie cutat aiurea, n alte
ri, la alte neamuri, n alte
veacuri, adevrata asemnare,
fr a li se putea bnui mcar, n
vreun fel, cu aceia de cari i
despart prpstii de timp i de
stirpe, vreo ct de ndeprtat
nrudire.
APPENDIX
135
136
GRAMMAR SYNOPSES
THE ARTICLE
CLASSIFICATION
Definite Article
the
the sea
the air
/ si:/
/i: e/
Indefinite Article
a, an
a cat
an elephant
/ kt/ /n elfnt/
Zero Article
Peter, England
FUNCTIONS
The Article
Uses
The Definite
Article
1. in the pattern:
preposition + article +
noun
2. anaphoric (referring
backwards)
3. cataphoric (referring
forward)
4. generic
5. with certain proper

names (plural names of
states, mountains,
oceans and seas, names
of institutions etc.)
Example
Turn on the radio.
Walk past the hospital
and youll get to the bus
stop.
I saw a movie last night.
The movie was very
interesting.
I have managed to find
the book I wanted to
read.
The family plays an
important role.
The United Nations, the
Parkers, the Rocky
Mountains, the
Mississippi, the North
Sea, the English
Channel, the
Intercontinental Hotel,
the National Theatre, the
Academy Library, the
Times
137
6. in set phrases
The
Indefinite
Article
1. epiphoric
(introducing new
information)
2. numeric
3. generic
4. before a predicative
a) with uncountable
nouns (generic)
b) with plural
countable nouns
(generic)
c) with proper names
The Zero
Article
d) in set phrases
e) with predicative
adjuncts (for unique
jobs/positions
138
by the way, on the one

hand, to tell the truth, in
the country, in the
mountains, at the
seaside, for the time
being, on the whole, in
the morning
I saw a chimney sweep
on my way home.
I took a pen, a notebook,
and a rubber.
A dog is a useful animal.
She is an architect.
a) He likes wine/skating.
b) Clothes do not make
the man.
c) Peter Strauss,
President Bush, on
Tuesday, in France,
Oxford Street
d) It often rains in
winter./Go to bed./I go
to school by car./See
you at noon.
e) They appointed him
director.
THE NOUN (1)

The Plural of Countable Nouns
Simple Nouns
The ending
of nouns in
the singular

The ending
of nouns in
the plural
-s
-s, -ss, -x, - -es

ch, -sh, -zz
-y preceded
by a
consonant
-f, -fe
-ies
-o
-es
-(e)s
Examples
Exceptions
lamp-lamps
book-books
windowwindows
bar-bars
idea-ideas
toy-toys
bus-buses
dress-dresses
box-boxes
church-churches
dash-dashes
buzz-buzzes
countrycountries
factory-factories
leaf-leaves
life-lives
half-halves
wife-wives
knife-knives
potato-potatoes
echo-echoes
hero-heroes
mosquitomosquitoes
roof-roofs
handkerchiefhandkerchiefs
dwarf-dwarfs/
dwarves
piano-pianos
photo-photos
soprano-sopranos
139
Irregular
Plural
forms
man-men
womanwomen
childchildren
goose-geese
tooth-teeth
foot-feet
mousemice
ox-oxen
die-dice
louse-lice
Plural forms
identical with
singular forms
series-series
species-species
headquartersheadquarters
deer-deer
sheep-sheep
reindeer-reindeer
Foreign plural forms

basis-bases
crisis-crises
thesis-theses
phenomenon-phenomena
erratum-errata
bureau-bureaux/bureaus
sanatorium-sanatoria/sanatoriums
hippopotamushippopotami/hippopotamuses
datum-data
analysis-analyses
formula-formulae/formulas
syllabus-syllabi/syllabuses
appendix-appendices/appendixes
Compound Nouns
Compact
compound
nouns
classroomclassrooms
blackboardblackboards
butterflybutterflies
140
Hyphenated Compound Nouns

Noun-noun/
Man/womanOther parts of
noun-other part noun (both
speech (the
of speech (the
nouns take the
plural goes to
plural goes to
plural)
the
the noun/head
compounds
noun)
final word)
school-mate
man-servant
forget-me-not
school-mates
men-servants
forget-me-nots
passer-by
woman-servant merry-gopassers-by
womenround merryman-of-war
servants
go-rounds
men-of-war
THE NOUN (2)

Singulars without plural forms (Uncountable Nouns)
advice
business
furniture
income
knowledge
luggage
information
merchandise
nonsense
progress
remorse
strength
money
hail
lightning
sleet
thunder
intelligence
(info)
! they cannot take the indefinite article a/an

! they can be individualized by: a piece of/an item of
Plurals without singular forms
Parts of human body
Illness
Clothing
Instruments
Games
Sciences
Geographic names
entrails
vitals
measles
mumps
rickets
braces
breeches
jeans
bellows
scissors
shears
compasses
binoculars
billiards
cards
chequers
darts
dominoes
acoustics
civics
ethics
the Alps
the Indies
the Highlands
brains
blues
shivers
knickers
pants
pliers
pincers
tweezers
eye-glasses
draughts
marbles
forfeits
skittles
economics
physics
poetics
politics
the Netherlands
the United States
of America
141
Verbal nouns (-ing)

Nouns derived from
adjective + -s
doings
earnings
goings-on
antics
betters
commons
savings
takings
news
odds
riches
! the above mentioned nouns take plural agreement with the verb.
! Exceptions: games: Draughts is very interesting.
diseases measles and mumps: Mumps is infectious.
sciences when designating the science as such:
Acoustics studies sounds. But: The acoustics of this room are good.
news is used with singular verb form: No news is
good news.
Two plural forms two different
meanings
brother brothers = frai
brethren = confrai
die
dies = matrie
dice = zaruri
genius geniuses = oameni de
geniu
genii = duhuri, spirite
iris
irises = irii (botanic)
irides = irisuri
(anatomie)
penny
pennies = monede de
cte un penny
pence = valoarea n
penny
staff
staffs = state majore,
personaluri, toiege
(lit.)
staves = portative
(muz.)
142
One plural form two different

meanings
colour-colours
culori
drapel
compassbusole
compasses
compas
customobiceiuri
customs
damagedamages
vam
avarii
despgubiri
draughtdraughts
cureni de aer
jocul de dame
minute-minutes
minute
proces-verbal
premisepremises
premise
local, imobil
THE PRONOUN
Type of
Examples
Pronoun
singular
plural
Personal
Case
you
he
she
it
we
they
Pronoun
N.
you
he
she
it
we
they
D.
(to)
Ac.
me
(to) you
me
you
(to)
(to) her
him
him
(to) it (to) us
her
it
singular
Reflexive
myself
Pronoun
I cook myself a
himself
herself
them
plural
ourselves
pizza.
yourself
us
(to) them
We consider ourselves
happy.
Give yourself some yourselves
You can think for
credit.
yourselves.
He wrote himself a themselves
They laugh themselves to
note.
death.
She behaved
herself.
itself
The battery
recharges itself.
Emphatic
myself
Pronoun
I myself dont like
ourselves
it.
yourself
You yourself said
We ourselves would never

do that.
yourselves
You yourselves voted for
that.
him.
himself
John did it himself. themselves
The authors themselves left
herself
Jane herself did it.
the theatre.
(more emphatic)
itself
The land itself was

not for sale.
Demonstrative this these
This is my book. / These are my books.
Pronoun
that -those
That is my daughter. / Those are my daughters.
such
Such is the case that we have to leave.
the former
Tom and Peter are brothers. The former is hard-working,
the latter
the latter is imaginative.
143
Interrogative
who
what
which
Pronoun
N. who? Who is there?
N. what? What
N. which? Which is
G. whose? Whose are those happened?
smarter?
books?
Ac. what? What are you
G. of which?
D.(to)whom To whom did
reading?
D. to which?
you speak?
Ac. which?
Ac. whom/who Whom did

they invite?
Possessive
mine
Pronoun
This is mine.
yours
his
hers ours
yours
theirs
Relative
who
which
that
Pronoun
Tom, who is my friend, is
He sold the radio which
Ask the first passer-by
the best doctor.
we saw in the shop-
that you meet.
This house is ours.
window.
Reciprocal
each other
one another
Pronoun
They seem to be made for each other.
We help one another when we
Indefinite
somebody/-one/-thing
anybody/-one/-thing
Pronoun
He thinks he is really
Anybody can see that its She ignored everyone
somebody.
wrong.
can.
everybody/-one/-thing
else.
Did anybody see you?

Negative
nobody/no one
Pronoun
Nobody was at home. Ive had nothing to
nothing
eat since morning.
144
neither
none
I chose neither.
I chose none.
(of the two
(of several
solutions)
solutions)
THE INDICATIVE (1)

The Simple Present Tense
form: V1 (present infinitive of
the verb)
V1 + -(e)s (IIIrd person
singular)
values:
with performative verbs like:

to name, to baptize, to
pronounce, etc.
I now pronounce them
husband and wife.
1. Generic sentences:
general truths, permanent
states, scientific statements,
proverbs and sayings
Water freezes at O C.
Birds fly.
Dont put all your eggs in one
basket.
4. With temporal value:

Future value
in controlled events (normally
with adverbs):
Exams begin on Monday.
The plane takes off at 5
oclock tomorrow.
in subordinate sentences
expressing time:
2. Habitual sentences:
I will call you as soon as you
used with adverbs such as:
get home.
always, every day (Tuesday),
in conditional clauses:
usually, often, ever, never, etc.
I will call you if I have time.
I always take sugar with tea.
Past value
The milkman calls on
dramatic present (used in
Mondays.
colloquial story-telling):
He writes novels.
Yesterday, I run into George
at the mall.
3. Instantaneous present:
historic present
sports commentaries:
At that moment in comes a
N passes the ball to J, who
messenger from the Queen.
heads it straight into the goal.
in the correspondence column:
cookery demonstrations:
He writes in the issue of June
We take 3 eggs and beat the
that....
white stiff; add the yolk and
headlines
3 spoons of sugar.
Prime Minister Resigns (he
stage directions, titles:
did so yesterday).
As the curtain rises, the man
bows deeply to the lady.
145
The Present Continuous Tense

form: auxiliary BE + present
participle (V-ing)
values:
1. Action/event in progress at
the present moment (i.e. the
moment of speaking)
I am reading the newspaper
(now).
5. Emotional/attitudinal
habitual present (expressing
the speakers irritation) +
always/for ever
She is always coming late.
He is always getting into
trouble.
He is for ever answering
back.
2. A frame for a time-point
6. Temporal value:
action:
Future value (intended/planned
event)
Whenever I see him, he is
I am reading a paper at the
running away./ Often, when
conference tomorrow.
I pass, she is sitting on the
He is coming to see me soon.
doorstep.
Past value (narrative use)
Yesterday, I am sitting home
3. An action extending over a
and in comes Jane.
longer period of time (definite,
limited duration)
I am taking dancing lessons
this winter.
4. Temporary activity/
temporary behavior
Usually I go to work by bus,
but this week I am going by
car.
He is being rude. (usually he
is not)
146
THE INDICATIVE (2)

The Present Perfect Simple
The Present Perfect Continuous
form: auxiliary HAVE +

past participle of the verb
values:
form: auxiliary HAVE + BEEN

+ present participle of the verb
(V-ing)
values:
1. Resultative value
(expressing the present effects
or results of a past event;
there should be no indication
of definite past time)
I have read this book.
2. Continuative value
(expressing a situation which
begins in the past and is still
going on at the moment of
speaking)
He has been here since
Sunday./for two weeks.
1. Continuative value (expressing a

continuous activity over a period
of time extending to the present.)
I have been watching an old
movie on TV since 9
oclock./for half an hour.
2. Emotional value (expressing
irritation/annoyance on behalf of
the speaker.)
Youve been eating my cake!
Adverbs used with the Present

3. Experience value (expressing Perfect:
repetitive actions/single past
never, before, just, lately, yet,
events that have occurred in a
recently, for years, for ages, for
persons life experience)
a long time, already, since, so
I have read The Prince
far etc.
five times.
adverbs of still unfinished time:
He has been to the States.
today, this week/month/year/etc.
4. Anterior future value in
Clauses of Time
Ill sign the contract after I
have finished reading it.
147
The Past Tense Simple
The Past Tense Continuous
form: V-ed (regular verbs)/V2

(irregular verbs)
values:
form: auxiliary BE + present

participle of the verb (V-ing)
values:
1. Single accomplished actions

She came yesterday afternoon.
1. Events in progress at a given

moment in the past.
He was playing tennis at
5 oclock (yesterday).
2. A succession of actions
(usually in narration)
He entered, took off his coat,
put on his slippers and went
upstairs.
2. A frame for a time-point

action
When he entered she was
making coffee.
3. Recurrent actions in the past

We spent many of our mornings 3. Intentional future actions
walking on the beach.
in the past
He was living the next day.
NOTE: Recurrent actions in the
past may also be rendered by
4. Emotional situations
using USED TO + INFINITIVE
expressing irritation/annoyance
or WOULD + INFINITIVE
on behalf of the speaker.
Grandmother used to read
He was always making bad
stories to us.
jokes.
Sheila used to be very fat
when she was young.
5. Attitudinal use politeness
She would often come and
device (more polite than the
spend the evening with me.
Simple form)
I was wondering whether
4. Attitudinal use politeness
you could help me?
device
Did you want me to come
now?
148
THE INDICATIVE (3)

The Past Perfect Simple
The Past Perfect Continuous
form: auxiliary HAVE (HAD)

+ BEEN + present participle
of the verb (V-ing)
values:
a continuative past event
which happened before another
past event
NOTE: When the sequence of
They had been playing the
events is made clear by a time
piano for two hours when she
expression, the past tense may
finally arrived.
be used instead of past perfect.
in indirect speech to transfer a
present perfect value
The train left five minutes
Ive been reading for three
before I got to the station.
hours She said she had
been reading for three hours.
form: auxiliary HAVE (HAD)
+ past participle of the verb
values:
anterior event in the past
By the time I got to the
station the train had left.
MEANS OF EXPRESSING FUTURITY

Future Simple shall (1st
person sg. and pl.)/will (for 2nd
and 3rd pers. sg. and pl.) +
present infinitive
I shall/will be late home this
evening.
(predictive future-denoting
projected events)
That will be Jim on the door.
(a conjecture)
Future Continuous -shall/will
+ progressive infinitive (be +
V-ing)
Ill be painting the kitchen at
this time tomorrow.
(an event which will be happening
at a certain future point)
Future Perfect shall/will

+ perfect infinitive (have +
past participle) +
progressive perfect
infinitive (have been +V-ing)
In two years time I will
have finished this book.
By the end of the month, I
will have been working for
this firm for a year.
(both simple and continuous
forms refer to time which we
look back at from a future
point.)
You wont have heard the
news, of course.
(probability assumed by the
speaker)
149
I wont bother to fix a time to

Be going to
see you, because I will be
Im going to wait here.
calling into the office anyway
(an intention/a plan)
several times next week.
(an event which is going to
He is going to buy a new
car.
happen anyway, rather than an
event which we choose to make (decision referring to a more
distant point in the future)
happen.)
Look at that tree! It s going
Will you be going to the shops
to fall.
later? If you go, could you get
(an event whose cause is
me some potatoes?
(future continuous sounds more present or evident)
polite than future simple)
To be to
All students are to assemble
The band will be performing
live in Paris this summer.
in the hall at 9.00.
(fixed arrangements/plans)
(formal arrangement)
Present Simple
The exhibition opens on the 1st
of May.
(officially planned future event)
Present Progressive
I am visiting my friends on
Sunday.
(personally planned future event)
150
Be about to/be on the point

of/be due to
I think the play is about to
start.
Mary is on the point of
resigning.
(referring to the next moment)
The play is due to start in
five minutes.
(referring to scheduled times)
SEQUENCE OF TENSES
MAIN CLAUSE
PRESENT/PRESENT
PERFECT TENSE
She knows
PAST TENSE
SUBORDINATE
ANY TENSE (logically required)
that he will leave town.

that he has left town.
that he left town on Wednesday.
that he had left town before he
paid the rent.
PAST TENSES
a) PAST TENSE simultaneity

that he was at home at that
moment.
She knew
b) PAST PERFECT anteriority

that he had been at home the day
before.
c) FUTURE IN THE PAST
posteriority
that he would be at home at 5 p.m.
EXCEPTIONS
She didnt know

She spoke English better last
year
She met the man
She didnt call him
a) PRESENT TENSE general

truth
that water freezes at 0 C.
b) ANY TENSE comparative
than she does now.
c) ANY TENSE attributive
who will lead the searching party.
d) ANY TENSE causative
because she will meet him
tonight.
FUTURE TENSE
She will call you
a) PRESENT TENSE
simultaneity
when she has time.
b) PRESENT PERFECT
anteriority
after she has finished her work.
151
PRESENT CONDITIONAL
PAST TENSE (SUBJUNCTIVE)
I would go to the opera
if you joined me.

if omission + Auxiliary
^Subject Inversion:
Should/Would you join me I
would go to the opera.
Were you to join me Id go to the
opera.
PAST CONDITIONAL
PAST PERFECT (SHIFTED

SUBJUNCTIVE)
We would have come earlier
if it had not rained.

if omission + Auxiliary
Subject Inversion:
Had it not rained we would have
come earlier.
Had it not been for the rain we
would have come earlier.
But for the rain we would have
come earlier.
152
TYPES OF CONDITIONAL CLAUSES

A. INDICATIVE
Type of
Conditional
clause
Type 1
future/general
real condition
The Tense in Main

Clause
The Tense in
Conditional Clause
Future/Present/Imperative
Present
Ill go skiing
if it snows.
A teacher is pleased
if his students work

hard.
if you want to see
the movie.
Go and buy tickets

B. SUBJUNCTIVE
Type of
Conditional
clause
Type 2
present/future
unreal
condition
Type 3 unreal
past condition
The Tense in Main

Clause
The Tense in
Conditional Clause
Present conditional
Past tense
She would go to the

seaside
if she were on
holiday.
Perfect conditional
Past perfect
I would have written my if I had been

essay
inspired.
C. MIXED CONDITIONAL
Type of
Conditional
clause
type 2 + type 1
type 3 + type 2
type 2 + type 3
The Tense in Main

Clause
The Tense in
Conditional Clause
I would invite you to the

opera
She would have been cast
in the film
He wouldnt be in
hospital now
if you have a few

hours to spare
if she were a better
actress.
if he had driven
more carefully.
153
THE PASSIVE VOICE

Formation: auxiliary BE (or GET rarer) + past participle of the
verb
the Subject becomes a Prepositional Object (marked
by the preposition by), which can be omitted, and the Object of the
verb becomes Subject.
e.g. The police kept the man in custody The man was kept in
custody (by the police).
He gave a bunch of roses to the lady A bunch of roses was
given to the lady (by him).
He gave the lady a bunch of roses The lady was given a bunch
of roses (by him).
He insists on punctuality in his office. Punctuality is insisted
on in his office (by him).
We have slept in this bed. This bed has been slept in (by us).
Active
Passive
Present tense
simple
She writes letters every

day.
Letters are written

every day (by her).
Present tense
continuous
She is writing a letter.
A letter is being
written (by her).
Present perfect
simple
She has just written a

letter.
A letter has just

been written.
Present perfect
continuous
She has been writing a

letter for two minutes.
A letter has been

being written for two
minutes. (rare !)
Past tense simple
She wrote a letter.
A letter was written.
Past tense
continuous
She was writing a letter

when I phoned her.
A letter was being

written when I
phoned her.
Past perfect
simple
She had written the letter

before I got home.
The letter had been

written before I got
home.
FINITE FORMS
154
Past perfect
continuous
She had been writing a

letter for two minutes.
A letter had been

being written. (rare !)
Future simple
She will write the letter

tomorrow.
The letter will be

written tomorrow.
Future
continuous
She will be writing a

letter tomorrow morning.
A letter will be being

written tomorrow
morning. (rare !)
Future perfect
simple
She will have written

the letter by 7.
The letter will have

been written by 7.
Future perfect
continuous
She will have been

writing a letter for two
minutes by the time I
get there.
A letter will have

been being written
for two minutes by
the time I get there.
(rare !)
Infinitive
She wants to write him

a letter.
He wants to be
written a letter.
Perfect infinitive
She wanted to have

written him a letter.
He wanted to have
been written a letter.
Participle or
Gerund
Choosing the topic he

starts writing the essay.
The topic being

chosen he starts
writing the essay.
Perfect Participle
or Gerund
Having chosen the

topic he starts writing
the essay.
The topic having

been chosen he
started writing the
essay.
NON-FINITE
FORMS
155
MODAL VERBS (1)

Formal features
they are defective (they lack certain forms of the verbal
paradigm; most of them have a present and a past form)
there is no -s ending in the third person singular, present tense
(as there is with regular verbs).
negative sentences are formed by adding not after the modal
verb (there is no do insertion)
interrogative sentences are formed by inverting the subject
and the modal verb. (there is no do insertion)
they are followed by the infinitive of a verb without to (short
infinitive), except the modal ought to.
cancould
maymight
shallshould
willwould
must have to ought to
dare
need
CAN COULD
form:
can = present (all persons)
could = past & conditionalsubjunctive (all persons)
primary values:
a) physical, mental, moral
ability
b) possibility
c) impossibility
d) permission (as an informal
alternative of may)
other values
e) mild command
f) request
156
substitute:
to be able to,
to be possible/ impossible,
to be allowed/permitted
He can speak five foreign
languages.
She can walk five miles by foot.
Your cheerfulness can only cause
envy.
He could be one of them.
I cant make up my mind.
She cannot reconcile herself.
You can go now!
Could I come in?
You can turn the TV off now,
Danny!
Can you step off my toes?
g) invitation
h) offer
i) suggestion, advice
j) a desire, an impulse
k) doubt, uncertainty,
bewilderment
Could you have dinner with us on

Sunday?
I can/could baby-sit for you.
Cant you talk with your wife first?
I could cry for joy!
Good Lord all Mighty, how could
you have done such a thing?
MAY-MIGHT
form:
may = present (all the
persons)
might = conditionalsubjunctive (all persons)
= past in indirect speech
primary values:
a) permission (interrogative:
asking for permission;
negative: interdiction)
b) possibility, supposition
c) external ability
other values:
d) mild command
e) persuasive, irritated
request
f) reproach
g) offer
substitute: to be allowed to
to be possible
May I smoke? Yes, you

may/No, you may not.
No one may sit here.
He may still come.
It might have been anybody.
A fuller description may be found
in chapter six.
You might post these letters for me.
You might tell me what she said.
You might have sent me a get-well
postcard.
May I offer you some cake?
157
MODAL VERBS (2)

MUST
form:
present (all the persons)
past value in subordinate
clauses to a main clause:
Tom said he must go.
primary values:
a) necessity, absolute
obligation
b) probability, supposition,
logical conclusion
c) prohibition, strong
interdiction
other values:
d) reproach for doing
something
e) casual invitation
f) emphatic advice
158
substitute:
to have to (to be obliged to)
to be likely/unlikely
to be forbidden
to have to
must
external
internal
obligation
obligation
I have to go (the I must go (my
shop is closing)
decision)
habitual
urgent
obligation
obligation
I have to be at
I must be at the
the office at
office at seven.
seven (work
(its important
begins at seven)
for me)
We must all be equal.
Law must be obeyed.
She is not in she must be at the
office.
It must have been Sunday night
when I last saw you.
You must not hunt in this area.
Visitors must not feed the animals.
Must you talk so loudly?
You must come and see me some
time.
You must read that book, its
excellent!
OUGHT TO
form: present (to render past

reference it is preceded by a
verb in past tense.)
primary values:
a) moral obligation
b) probability
other values:
c) advice, recommendation
d) disapproval, reproach
Ought to + perfect infinitive =

unaccomplished action/event
The police ought to have
questioned him long ago.
You ought to visit your parents
more often.
She ought not to be here.
He ought to have been here by
now.
That ought to be enough.
You ought to stop smoking.
You ought not to use such dirty
language.
SHALL-SHOULD
form:
shall = present/auxiliary for
the future (1st person singular
and plural)
should = present
reference/conditionalsubjunctive
values:
A. SHALL
a) obligation (legal English)

with the second and the third
person
b) asking for advice,
suggestion, order, offer (in
interrogative sentences)
The seller shall supply the goods

in due time.
He, who steals, shall be punished.
Where shall I put the coats?
Shall I help you with your
luggage?
159
B. SHOULD
a) advice, recommendation
(rather than obligation)
b) supposition, probability
should + perfect infinitive =

unaccomplished
recommendation/obligation
She should have told him the
truth.
should + not + perfect infinitive =
disapproval for an action
performed in the past
He shouldnt have behaved so
rudely.
I think you should protest.
She should do her duty
They should be in by now.
MODAL VERBS (3)

WILL-WOULD
form:
will = present (all
persons)/auxiliary for future
would = past/conditionalsubjunctive (all persons)
primary values:
a) predictability concerning a
future state of affairs/a present
state of affairs/a habitual state
of affairs (in the past)
b) probability
c) volition, reluctance
160
All the children would want that.

Boys will be boys.
Quality will tell in the end.
He would visit me all the time
when still a bachelor.
The traffic warden will know
where the hotel is.
No one would go at the risk of
life.
If you will wait the doctor will
see you in a minute.
If you would coach me for my
exam I might take it.
other values
d) offer, invitation
Will/Would (politer) you come to

dinner tomorrow?
I would like to have a glass of
water, please.
You will/would (softer) stay here
until I come back!
Would you mind if I left early
today?
I would like to see this film.
e) request
f) order, command
g) request for permission
h) a modest wish
DARE
notional
affirmative
He dares to
go there
sentences
alone.
interrogative Does he
dare go
sentences
there alone?
negative
sentences
He does not
dare to go
there alone
NEED
modal
Dare he
go there
alone?
He dare
not go
there
alone.
notional
He needs to
study
English.
Does he
need to
study
English?
He does not
need to
study
English.
modal
Need he
study
English?
He
neednt
study
English.
did + not + need to do something = not necessary action and

accordingly not done
e.g. I didnt need to buy that book because I already have it.
(I didnt buy the book)
need + not + have done something = not necessary action, but
done
e.g. I neednt have bought that book because I already have it.
(I bought the book)
161
THE SUBJUNCTIVE (1)

The Indicative
real events, states
factual value
fact-mood
The Subjunctive
unreal events, states
counterfactual, hypothetical
events, states
thought-mood
THE SYNTHETIC SUBJUNCTIVE

Present reference
Past reference
short infinitive: I insist that past perfect: I wished he had
you be quiet.
been younger.
past: I wish that you were
younger.
USAGE
Examples
1) in set phrases and clichs Long live the Queen!
Come what may!
So be it!
God bless you!
Damn you!
Come summer and we shall go
swimming!
Suffice it to say that he is young
and inexperienced.
Be hanged! etc.
Heaven forbid!
O, had I wings!
Lord have mercy on us!
O, were he only here!
Perish the colonies rather than the
principle!
Laugh those that can, weep those
that may!
2) in conditional clauses
Suppose he turned up too late,
(introduced by if, unless, in
what would you do?
case, provided, on condition
Suppose he had turned up too late,
(that), suppose)
what would you have done?
162
3) in adverbial clauses of
concession (introduced by
even if, even though)
Even if he tried to persuade me I

wouldnt do it.
Even if he had tried to persuade
me I wouldnt have done it.
4) in adverbial clauses of
She is talking as if she met me for
comparison (introduced by
the first time.
as if, as though)
She acted as if she had lived there
for ever.
5) exclamatory sentences (if If only the rain stopped.
only expressing a regret)
If only the rain had stopped.
6) patterns with wish
I wish you were in my position.
I wish he hadnt said that.
7) in sentences with the initial Its time you took the cake out of
phrases: Its time; Its high the oven.
time; Its about time
8) after the set phrase would I would rather Bob mailed the
rather (+ a logical subject letters for me.
distinct from the one in the I would rather Bob had mailed the
main clause)
letters for me.
synonymous constructions:
But:
I would rather stay/have stayed at
had better (+ short infinitive home.
present/perfect)
You had better leave./have left.
would prefer (+ (Accusative) I would prefer you to leave./ Id
+ infinitive)
prefer to leave.
THE ANALYTIC SUBJUNCTIVE
modal auxiliary verbs
examples
SHALL
in interrogative sentences
Shall we have a glass of
expressing a request for advice, an wine?
offer, an invitation, a suggestion.
Shall I reply to this letter?
Shall I help you?
SHOULD
a) in subject clauses taken by main

clauses introduced by anticipatory it
and predicated by:
163
1. copulative structure:
be + adjective/noun
2. passive sentences predicated by

one of the verbs expressing: order,
command, request, insistence,
recommendation, suggestion,
advice etc.
b) in object clauses taken by
copulative predicates or full verbs
expressing: order, command,
advice, request, insistence,
recommendation, suggestion, etc.
c) in conditional clauses
expressing chance, hazard.
164
It is important that we should

obey the rules.
It is necessary that you
should do that.
It is advisable that she should
see a doctor.
It is recommendable that
they should revise the
subject matter.
Its a pity that we should go
there again.
Synonymous construction:
for + Acc. + infinitive
It is important for us to obey
the rules.
It was suggested that the
customers should pay at the
first office.
It was recommended that
they should follow the Party
line.
Im sorry that he should
behave like that.
He insisted that we should
join the group.
I suggest that you should
follow the instructions.
If he should call tell him that
the meeting is off.
Synonymous constructions:
Should he call, tell him the
meeting is off.
If he happens to call, tell him
the meeting is off.
If by any chance he calls, tell
him the meeting is off.
d) in adverbial clauses of negative

purpose introduced by lest and for
fear.
! lest/for fear + affirmative verb
We were afraid lest he

should fail.
The policeman stopped the
traffic for fear the bus should
hit the children.
MAY-MIGHT
a) in exclamatory sentences
expressing a wish.
b) in subject clauses anticipated by
it and predicated by copulative
structure: be + adjective
c) in object clauses taken by
copulative predicates or full verbs
expressing fear, hope, doubt.
d) in adverbial clauses of positive

purpose introduced by so that, in
order that
e) in adverbial clauses of
concession introduced by
whatever, however, no matter
what, (as) + adjective + as
May you live long!

May this spring bring you
only happiness!
It is possible that he might
succeed.
It is probable that it might snow.
It is likely that she may come
too.
Im afraid he might fail in his
exam.
I doubted they might reach the
peak in two hours time.
He hoped he might become a
famous engineer.
I opened the window so that
the fresh air might get in.
Whatever he might say, I
wouldnt believe him.
As interesting as the book
might be, I will not buy it.
Try as he may, he wont
undo the bottle.
WOULD
a) after wish and if only in order to

express a desire, request (future
reference)
b) in adverbial clauses of negative
purpose introduced by so that, in
order that.
I wish you would stop smoking.

If only he would drive more
carefully.
She locked the door so that
thieves wouldnt break in.
165
SUBJECTVERB AGREEMENT
RULE
EXAMPLE
1. Two or more subjects joined by Tim and his wife were the
and usually require a plural verb.
expected guests.
A crate of apples and oranges
has been delivered to our
doorstep
2. Some indefinite pronouns are One of the students in the
always singular and therefore class today was absent.
require singular verbs (one, each, Every one of the employees is
everyone, either, neither)
angry about the new contract.
3. The verb in clauses that begin One of the men who are being
one of..(who, which, or considered for the job is from
that) is plural
this university.
4. When the conjunctions or and Either the students or the
nor and the pairs of conjunctions teacher has made a mistake.
eitheror, neithernor, and The parent or the children
not onlybut also are used to inherit the estate.
join subjects, the verb agrees in
number with the part of the subject
nearest the verb.
5. When normal word order Buried under the floorboards
(subject verb) is inverted (verb is the murdered man.
subject) by placing the subject There are at least fifteen
after the verb, the verb agrees in angry demonstrators outside.
number with the logical subject
following the verb.
6. Collective nouns (army, audience, The jury agrees on the verdict.
committee, etc.) usually take The jury disagree on the
singular verbs, but require a plural verdict.
verb when the collective noun
refers to the members of the group
and not to the group as a unit.
166
7. Expressions referring to quantity

or extent (miles, liters, pounds,
etc.) take singular verbs when the
amount is considered as a unit and
plural verbs when the amount is
considered as a number of individual units
8. Number may be singular or
plural. The number refers to the
total sum and takes a singular
verb; a number refers to the
individual units and takes a plural
verb.
9. Words ending in -ics (mathematics, acoustics, athletics, etc.)
take a singular verb when they
refer to a science, art, or body of
knowledge; they take a plural verb
when they refer to physical
activities or qualities.
10. A prepositional phrase that
comes between a subject and a
verb does not affect the verb form.
Ten miles is not far to go for a

delicious meal.
Thirty dollars is too much to
pay for that purse.
A number of students fail

every test.
The number of students who
pass is increasing.
Economics, my major, is
difficult.
The acoustics of the building
are good.
The man, as well as his wife

and children, was injured in
the accident.
His dog, along with his cat
and goldfish, prevents him
from taking long trips.
167
REPORTED SPEECH
There are two ways of reporting someones words:
using a quote structure (ones actual words): The little boy
said: My mother always fulfills my wishes.
using a report structure with a verb like: to say, to tell, to
speak, to observe, to remark, to assert, to declare, to argue, to
maintain, to state, to announce, to inform, to acknowledge, to
admit, to command, to instruct, to ask, to demand, to inquire, to
question, to answer, to think etc.: The little boy said that his mother
always fulfilled his wishes.
Changes
personal/reflexive/
possessive
pronouns
demonstrative
pronouns/
adjectives
time and place

adverbs
Direct speech
I/we
myself/ourselves
mine/ours
you
yourselves
yours
You should have
called me.
this
these
Ill buy this one.
today
yesterday
the day before
yesterday
tomorrow
the day after tomorrow
next week
last week
(a year) ago
now
here
Peter is coming now.
168
Indirect speech
he/she/they
himself/herself/themselves
his/hers/theirs
He said to her that she
should have called him.
that
those
She said shed buy that one.
that day
the day before/the
previous day
two days before
the next day/the following
day
in two days time
the next week/the
following week
the previous week/the
week before
(a year) before/the
previous year
then
there
She said that Peter was
coming then.
present reporting verb
tenses
She says to my brother:

I want to talk to you
now.
past reporting verb
thus:
call
called
am/is/are calling
have/has called
have/has been calling
had called
shall
will
can
may
must
ought to
He said: I have been
busy today.
future reporting verb
He will say: I can do
that.
unchanged tense of the

verb in the reported clause
(demonstrative adjectives/
adverbs also remain
unchanged)
She tells my brother that
she wants to talk to him
now.
past tenses of the verb in
the reported clause
called
had called/called
was/were calling
had called
had been calling
had called
should
would
could
might
had to/must
ought to
He said he had been busy
that day.
unchanged tense of the
verb in the reported clause
He will say that he can do
that.
169
CORRECT USE OF SOME MISLEADING WORDS

item
use
I. DUMMY ITEMS
(Subjects)
There & It
170
There
for expressing
existence in space
together with
existential BE:
There is a phone box
over there.
There are some books
on the table.
Were there any
bargains in the sale?
with quantified
subjects:
There is too much
noise in here.
Will there be enough
food?
with verbs like: to
begin, to come, to
fall, to happen, to lie,
to live, to occur, to
remain, to sit, to stand
etc:
There comes a time
when age tells.
There lived an old
man there.
There remains
nothing else to say.
It
with physical
objects, abstractions,
kids, animals (as a
neuter pronoun)
It is a big friendly dog.
in statements about
time, weather,
distance:
Its Monday.
It was colder
yesterday.
Its over a hundred
miles from London to
Birmingham.
Its ten days since I
last met her.
with a to-infinitive
Subject:
It was nice to talk to
you.
It would be a good
idea to take a taxi.
Its important for you
to take that exam.
with a gerund
Subject:
Its no use crying.
with a that-clause:
Its a pity that she
cant join us.
It was recommended
that we should study
harder.
II. VERBS
Do & Make
Lay & Lie
Lend & Borrow
Raise & Rise
Do
research
ones homework
a favour
business
a bunk
good
the honours
wonders/miracles
Make
an agreement
a mistake
fun
arrangements
ones bed
a speech
progress
an attempt
a change
Lay (laid laid
Lie (lay lain
laying)
lying)
+ object
object
She laid her books on She lay down because
the desk.
she was sick.
Lend
Borrow
sth to sb
sth from sb
I lent that video to She borrowed
John.
money from me.
Raise (raised
Rise (rose risen
raised raising)
rising)
+ object
object
He raised his hands The sun is rising
in prayer.
high in the sky.
III. PREPOSITIONS
& CONJUNCTIONS
Beside & Besides
Beside (preposition)
Besides
= next to
(preposition)
She was sitting beside = in addition to
the handsome boy.
Besides Tim, Helen
and I attended the
lecture
171
Like
= preposition
You write like me.
Like & As
172
As
= conjunction
She doesnt study as
she should.
= preposition (in
the capacity of)
As a full-time student,
you must attend al
courses.
COMPOSITION WRITING SYNOPSES

COMPOSITION WRITING
1. Describing People
a. introduction: giving brief information about who the person is,
where/how you met him/her.
b. main body: including description of such things as physical
appearance, personality/behaviour, manner/mannerism, and/or
details of the persons life and lifestyle (hobbies, interests,
everyday activities, etc.)
c. conclusion: commenting on why the person is of interest,
expressing your feelings/opinion concerning the person.
2. Describing Places/Buildings
a. introduction: giving brief information about the name and
location of the place/building and stating the reason for choosing
to write about it.
b. main body: giving both general and specific details about the
place/building usually moving from the general features to
specific ones.
i. when you describe a place you should give the
overall impression by referring to landscape,
buildings, landmarks, etc, and particular details
(sights to see, places to go, things to do);
ii. when you describe a building you should write
about its surroundings then give a detailed
description of its exterior and interior;
c. conclusion: expressing your feelings or opinion concerning the
subject or give a recommendation.
173
3. Narrative
a. introduction: which sets the scene (place, time, character(s), etc.)
creates an interesting mood/atmosphere to make the reader want to
continue reading, and/or begins dramatically to capture the readers
attention;
b. main body: which develops the series of events clearly, gives vivid
description of the people/places involved, etc;
c. conclusion: which completes the story, perhaps in an unexpected
way, and may describe peoples feelings and reactions, the
consequences of what happened.
4. Discursive Essays
For and Against
Essay
Introduction
Paragraph 1
state topic (without
stating your opinion)
Main Body
Paragraphs 2-3
arguments for and
justifications,
examples or reasons
Paragraphs 4-5
arguments against
and justifications,
examples or reasons
Conclusion
Final Paragraph
balanced consideration or opinion
174
Opinion Essay
Introduction
Paragraph 1
state the topic and
your opinion
Main Body
Paragraphs 2-4
-viewpoints and
reasons /examples
Paragraph 5
opposing
viewpoints and
reason/example
Conclusion
Final Paragraph
summarise/restate
your opinion
Solutions to
Problems Essay
Introduction
Paragraph 1
state the problem
and its cause(s)/
effect(s)
Main Body
Paragraphs 2-5
suggestions and
results
Conclusion
summarise your
opinion
5. Letters
Letter of
Request
Giving
Information
Giving an
Opinion
Introduction
Paragraph 1
state reason(s)
for writing
Paragraph 1
state reason(s)
for writing
Main Body
Paragraphs 2-3
explain reasons
for making the
request
Paragraphs 4-5
state expected
results/
consequences
Paragraphs 2-3
give
information
required
Paragraphs 4-5
provide further
explanations/
suggestions/
opinion as stated
in the task
instruction
Conclusion
Final Paragraph
closing
remarks
Full Name
Final Paragraph
closing
remarks
Full name
ADVICE
Paragraph 1
state reason(s)
for writing /
express
understanding of
problem
Paragraphs 2-3
offer advice /
suggestions
Final Paragraph
closing
remarks
Full name
MAKING SUGGESTIONS/ RECOMMENDATIONS

Paragraph 1
state reason(s)
for writing
Paragraphs 2-3
give opinion
Paragraphs 4-5
make
suggestions and
comment on the
expected results
Final Paragraph
closing
remarks
Full name
175
TO AUTHORITIES / EDITOR
Paragraph 1
state reason(s)
for writing and
opinion
Complaint
Apology
Application
Paragraph 1
state reason(s)
for writing and
opinion
Paragraph 1
state reason(s)
for writing and
opinion
Paragraph 1
state reason(s)
for writing and
opinion
Paragraphs 2-3
describe the
problems and
consequences
Paragraphs 4-5
suggest
solutions / measures to be taken
Paragraphs 2-3
state complaint
(s) with
justification
Paragraphs 4-5
suggest what
should be done
Paragraphs 2-3
give
explanations
Paragraphs 4-5
-suggest
compensation
Final Paragraph
closing
remarks
Paragraphs 2-34-5
education and
qualifications,
previous
experience,
personal
qualities,
suitability
Final Paragraph
closing
remarks
Full name
Final Paragraph
closing
remarks
Full name
Final Paragraph
closing
remarks
Full name
Full name
6. Reports
There are various types of reports:
assessment reports (which present and evaluate the positive/
negative features of a person, plan, place; they also include
your opinion and/or recommendation)
176
informative reports (which present information concerning a

meeting that has taken place, progress made on a project)
survey reports (which present and analyse information
gathered from door-to-door surveys/questionnaires, including
conclusions drawn from this information and suggestions or
recommendations)
proposal reports (which present plans, decisions or suggestions
concerning possible future courses of action for approval by
ones superior at work, a bank manager, members of committee, etc.)
Structure:
Introduction
Paragraph 1
state the person
and content of your
report
Main Body
Paragraphs 2-3-4-5
present each
aspect of the subject
and separate
subheadings
(positive / negative
points of each aspect
are presented in
same paragraph)
Conclusion
Final Paragraph
general
assessment, opinion
and / or suggestion,
recommendation
7. Articles
it should have an interesting title (suggesting the topic)
Introduction
Paragraph 1
state topic of
article
Main Body
Paragraphs 2-3-4-5
the topic is
developed in detail
Conclusion
Final Paragraph
summary of the topic,
opinions, comments,
recommendations;
8. News Reports
it should have a headline (short and eye-catching, giving
the reader an idea of the subject of the report)
177
Introduction
Paragraph 1
summary of event
(what / where / who /
when / how / why)
Main Body
Paragraphs 2-3-4-5
description / details
of event; causes and /
or results
Conclusion
Final Paragraph
reference to future
developments /
comments / reactions
9. Reviews
Introduction
Paragraph 1
background
type of story,
setting, theme,
main characters
178
Main Body
Paragraphs 2
main points of the plot
Paragraphs 3
comments on various
features (acting, plot,
characters)
Paragraphs 4-5
explanation, reason /
example
Conclusion
Final Paragraph
overall
assessment of
work/ recommendation
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Main Sources
Banta, A., Limba Englez n liste i tabele, Editura Teora, Bucureti, 2003.
Bdescu, A., Gramatica Limbii Engleze, Editura tiinific, Bucureti, 1963.
Collins Cobuild, English Grammar, Harper Collins Publishers, London, 1990.
Gleanu-Frnoag, G., Comiel, E., Gramatica Limbii Engleze, Editura
Omegapress, Bucureti, 1995.
Graver, G.B., Advanced English Practice, Oxford University Press, 1994.
Kennedy, X. J. & D. Kennedy, The Bedford Reader, 2nd edition, St. Martins
Press, New York, 1985.
Levichi, L., Gramatica Limbii Engleze, Editura Teora, Bucureti, 1994.
Murphy, R., English Grammar in Use, Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Steinberg, J., Introduction to Romanian Literature, Twayne Publishers, New
York, 1966.
erban, D., Drguin, D., English Syntax Workbook, Editura Fundaiei
Romnia de Mine, 2004.
Vianu, L., English With a Key, Editura Teora, Bucureti, 2003.
Wellman, Guy, Wordbuilder, Heineman, 1998.
Dictionaries
Dictionary of Quotations, Geddes &Grosset Ltd., 1997.
Levichi, L., Dicionar Romn-Englez, ediia a VII-a, Gramar, Bucureti, 2000.
Longman Activator, Cambridge, 1995.
Oxford Duden English Dictionary, OUP, 1996.
Oxford Advanced Learner, OUP, 1995.
179
Oxford Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs, OUP, 1993.

The Penguin English Dictionary (Dicionar explicativ al limbii engleze),
Litera Internaional, 2005.
Websters Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary, Gramercy Books, 1994.
Websters Synonyms, Antonyms and Homonyms, Crescent Books, 1994.
Internet sources
onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/
http,//www.sacred-texts.com/etc/mco/index.htm
http,//www.sacred-texts.com/etc/mco/ml07.htm
http,//encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/Columns/?Article=peacemakersmain
http,//tehnicasitehnologie.scienceline.ro/Tehnica_si_tehnologie_545_1.html)
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DOMNICA ERBAN

ENGLISH PRACTICAL COURSE

Coperta: Gustav Klimt Lebensbaum (1909)

Descrierea CIP a Bibliotecii Naionale a Romniei

Reproducerea integral sau fragmentar, prin orice form

Redactor: Andreea DINU

UNIVERSITATEA SPIRU HARET

ENGLISH PRACTICAL COURSE

EDITURA FUNDAIEI ROMNIA DE MINE

Part I (The First Term)

UNIT 1: EDUCATING MAN: GOING TO SCHOOL;

UNIT 2: PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL LIFE (1): LIFE

III. Vocabulary Practice

UNIT 3: PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL LIFE (2): INTER-HUMAN

Part II (The Second Term)

UNIT 4: LIFE AND TECHNOLOGY

II. Lexical Focus ..

UNIT 5: MAN AS ARTIST

Revision Test II .. 122

The English Practical Course is designed to help the second year

Technology, Man as Artist, Man in the Midst of Nature) developed in

The Text Section has a complex structure containing a pilot

The Composition Section consists of two essays per unit

The Reading Section is meant to provide students with

Dame Jean Iris Murdoch (July 15, 1919 February 8, 1999),

A. PILOT TEXT: THE FLIGHT FROM THE ENCHANTER

(by Iris Murdoch a fragment)

Use the items from the prepositional phrases column in

III. Vocabulary Practice

IV. Grammar Practice

2. Give examples of:

3. Give the correct ordering of the adjectives in the following noun

big round old

i) Im angry ..... myself for having failed the exam.

a) The prospect of a strike ..... large in everyones mind.

8. Identify the copular verb in the following quotations:

4. Eti fantastic! exclam, Agripina. [] Credeam c singura ta

(Mircea Eliade, adaptare

teachers knowledge, ability and taste, variable factors at best. More

American novel is quite different as to its literary characteristics, and

II. Comprehension Check-up

Write an essay on your own personality (self-portrait with

Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood was an AngloAmerican novelist.

(by Cristopher Isherwood a fragment)

obsolete, until later or sooner, perhaps no, not perhaps quite

It knows its name. It is called George.

Memorize the items used to describe the human face.

III. Vocabulary Practice

4. Complete the sentences beginning as shown so that the meaning

histamine with a hypodermic needle, even though the needle so

IV. Building Vocabulary

not normal for the human body

pain that wont go away

quick to become severe/bad

a bodys abnormal reaction to certain foods or

a condition that causes people to lose their memory

permanent removal of a limb

occurs when the body doesnt have enough red blood

medication that helps relieve anxiety and sadness

a disease that causes the joints to become swollen and

a condition that causes a blockage of the airway and

wounds that develop on a patients body from lying in

the rate at which blood flows through the body