Lesson 5 (additional lesson)

1. Read and translate the text. Consult a dictionary if it is necessary.

The First Voyage (an extract)

It was January, and the weather was beautiful – the beautiful sunny weather that has more charm in it than summertime, because it is unexpected, and you know it can’t last long. It lasted while we were sailing down the North Sea, all down the English Channel, and it lasted till we were three hundred miles or so to the west of the nearest coast: then the wind went round to the south-west, and two days later it blew a gale. It blew day after day; it blew without interval, without mercy, without rest. Day after day and night after night there was heard nothing round the ship but the howl of the wind and the noise of water pouring over her deck.

There was no rest for the ship and no rest for us. The vessel rolled and pitched. Then our ship began to leak and she leaked badly – not enough to drown us at once, but enough to kill us with the work at the pumps. We pumped all night, all day, all the week. And while we pumped the ship was going from us by pieces: first the bulwarks went, then the ventilators were smashed, the cabin doors were broken. And we pumped. We forgot the day of the week, the name of the month, what year it was. There was for us no sky, there were for us no stars, no sun – nothing but angry clouds and an infuriated sea.

And in spite of all this there was somewhere in me the thought: this is an adventure – something you read about; and it is my first voyage – and I am only twenty – and here I am enduring it as well as any of these men.

(Joseph Conrad)

2. Fill in the blanks with a correct word from the list given below:

Gale, interval, is unexpected, till, last, nearest, mercy, noise, blew, rest, leaked, pouring, rest, pitched, was going, pumped, rolled, bulwark, pumped, ventilators, forgot, were broken, month, adventure, thought.

1. Beautiful sunny weather at sea in January .......

2. It has more charm because it can't ... long.

3. Sunny weather lasted... we were three hundred miles or so to the west of the... coast

4. The wind went round and two days later it... a....

5. It blew without... without … , without....

6. We heard nothing but the... of water... over the deck.

7. There was no … for the ship and no … for us.

8. The vessel ... and ....

9. Soon the ship began ... and she ... badly.

10. We ... all day, all night, all the week.

11. While we ... the ship … from us by pieces.

12. The ... went first, then ... were smashed and the cabin doors … .

13. We ... the day of the week, the name of the ....

14. There was somewhere in me the … this is an ....

3. Answer the questions on the text.

1. Who is the text about?

2. What do you know about him from this text?

3. Do you know anything about the ship's route?

4. What was the weather like while the ship was sailing on her route?

5. Did the weather keep fine during the whole voyage?

6. What was the ship's position when the weather began to change?

7. Why did it change?

8. What was the weather like during the storm?

9. What happened with the vessel during the storm?

10. How did the crew try to keep their ship afloat?

11. Was the vessel damaged? What parts of the ship were damaged? Why?

12. How did the crew feel?

13. Was the young seaman seasick?

14. What did he think about himself and about that terrible storm?