Task 2. Read the text and do the tasks below.

After О. Henry

Miss Carington was born in Cranberry, a small beau­tiful village. When she was 17 she left for New York. She started working in a drama theatre. She was very talented and some years later she became a famous actress.

Once the director of the theatre at which she was performing decided to put on a modern play about coun­try life. Miss Carington was going to play the leading part, but they couldn't find an actor for the male part.

One day a young man asked the director to give him the part. But it was only Miss Carington who could make a choice. The young actor knew that it was the part of a young farmer. He thought of a plan. He asked many people about Miss Carington and found out everything about her. Two days later he left for Cranberry. Не stayed there for а few days and then came back to New York.

Оnсе when Miss Carington was having lunch with her friends in а small restaurant, the young man came up to their table, greeted the famous actress, and told her the news about her relatives and old friends from Cranberry. She was extremely interested. The way he spoke made her believe every word he said. She was sure he was а farmer.

Не told the famous actress that her mother wanted to see her before her death. Then he gave her а rose he picked from а bush in front of her house in Cranberry. Miss Carington was so touched that she couldn't help crying. She thanked the young man and invited him to see her again at the hotel before he left the city.

The next morning the young actor went to the hotel.

Не was sure Miss Carington would agree to take him as her partner in the play if he told her everything.

То his surprise he was told that Miss Carington had left N. Y. forever for her native village. The young actor realised that he had acted too well.

 

8.  Choose the best title for the text.

     А. А Famous Actress;                    В. А Young Man and а Famous Actress;     

    C.  Too Well;                                  D. The Part in the Play.

 

9.  Choose the best variant to continue the sentence.

The story describes ...

А. the life of Miss Carington.

В. the trip of the young actor to Cranberry.

С. the news about Miss Carington's friends and relatives.

D. how the famous actress believed the young actor. 

10. Find the information that was not mentioned in the text.

А. The young man was а famous actor.

В. The young man told her the news about her old friends.

С. The young man found out everything about Miss Carington.

  D.  She became а famous actress in New York.

 

11. Choose the best answer to the question.

Why was Miss Carington going to play the lead­ing part in а new play?

 

А. There was only оnе actress at the theatre.

В. The director decided to put оn а new play.

С. She was а famous actress.

D.  She knew country life very well.

 

12. Choose the best answer to the question.

Why did Miss Carington leave for Cranberry after her talk with the young man?

 

А. She wanted to have а rest.

В. She wanted to find out if the young actor had told her the truth.

С. She still loved country life very much.

D.  She wanted to know some more news about Cranberry.

 

13. Put the sentences in the correct order according to the text. 

1.    The actress was sure that he was а farmer.

2.    The famous actress was very interested.

3.    The young man's performance was very convinc­ing.

4.    The young man left for Cranberry.

 Task 3.  Read the questions (14 – 23) and texts (A – G). Match the questions with the texts where you can find answers. There are extra questions that don’t have answers.

 

Who / Whose

14. visited her husband in hospital?

15. had one of the most difficult jobs?

  16.  grandmother said that there were people who helped prison­ers?

17. remembers very well how people celebrated Victory Day in 1945?

18. thought of escaping from a German camp?

19. mother made good friends in the evacuation?

20. feels thankfulness to those people who looked after the children during the evacuation?

21. grandmother went to Germany to look for her husband?

22. grandmother and grandfather were in German camps?

23. saw how people of different nationalities cel­ebrated Victory Day in Scotland?

 

A Dobbie Dobson. "We were evacuated later on and were billeted with a wonderful family in Lanca­shire. When my mother eventually found my little brother, she arranged for him to join us, but as we were already overcrowded, he went to stay with a family in the next street. One day my mother and the lady who we were billeted with, went around to see him and found him on his hands and knees scrubbing floors. They were very upset and al­though there were ten children in our family, the ­lady insisted he come back with us. The lady and her husband had a heart of gold and she and mum remained friends long after the war until mum died."

 

B. Tommy Mac. "Like every other city in Britain, Glasgow was bursting with excitement. The entire city was a little mad. Schools were closed for the day. At the bottom of the street the dance was the 'eightsome reel' - this was Scotland's national dance, and everyone could join in. Music and lights were everywhere!  To see the lights go on again was a miracle in itself'.

 

C. Svetlana Pankratova. "My grandma and her two little sons were captured in Russia during the war. They were sent to a labour camp in Germany. Grandmother told us that many people pitied the Russians and shared some of their food with, them, but that food was almost nothing, and she had to go begging with other captives to local people to feed her two children. Some of the locals were friendly and gave something, but others were stony faced and she knew in advance that they would give nothing. When the war was over my grandmother learnt that her husband, my grandfather, had also been captured, and had been working in a camp nearby."

 

 

2010/2011    Round 2    Form 8-9     Page 6

 

D. Walter Morison. " ... the Germans treated us well and observed the Geneva Conventions, an international treaty on the treatment of POWs (военнопленных). But of course we wanted to go home. And we often spoke about it. It was technically demanding, exciting, dangerous; a sport really. However, we learned with horror that 50 RAF officers who had escaped from Stalag Luft III had been shot. This was no longer "cricket". There was also the worry that we might be caught in a chaotic no-man's land between the Russians in the East and the Anglo-Americans to the West."

 

E. Mary MacGween. " ... At that time I was visiting my husband, who had been injured when the lorry he was travelling in overturned, crushing his leg beneath the huge searchlight. He was in Surrey and it was there I saw the plight of his fellow patients. I saw young men with vacant stares, shell-shocked and suffering from the loss of memory."

 

F. Joan Vass. "Having passed as a qualified balloon operator, I was sent to help defend the City of Steel, Sheffield. There was a crew of 12 women including a sergeant and a corporal. Part of our duties was guard duty several times a week. But our job took priority. More often than not we would be hauled out of our warm beds to either fly the balloon or pull her into the wind because of a wind change. I think I was privileged to work as a Balloon Operator, one of the toughest jobs in the Royal Air Force."

 

G. Eric Brown. "I don't know the details of the meth­ods used to place children for evacuation, but I do recall my parents, who had a car, driving my sister and me to a humble cottage on the outskirts of Edinburgh. Our "adopting" family had children of their own, and my recollection was that they were not well off. Then my parents returned to collect us and we were taken to another location. That place was called Craigs, and thus began a few years of the most memorable times for young children. I am grateful to the owners of the house for making it available to us children during those harrowing times."