Variant 1.

… She gave him a piece of buttered bread, and he ran out of the kitchen and pushed open the front door. The street was still quiet. There was only one two-wheeled cart and donkey in the distance.

His house was like every other in Ordnance Terrace, square as a box, made of brick, chimneys with their chimney pots on its flat roof, a small square yard in front. He had lived in other houses before this one, but he did not remember them clearly.

Charles Dickens had been born on February 7, 1812, in Portsmouth, England. His father worked in the Navy Pay Office, so the Dickens family lived near some naval base, and expected to be transferred to another one every now and then…

Variant 2.

... A border treaty between Russia and former Soviet Estonia was once again halted even after ratification, over an unresolved dispute concerning the legacy of Soviet occupation in the Baltic state.

The Russian Foreign Ministry was furious after Estonia's parliament changed the preamble of the treaty to include an indirect reference to the Soviet occupation of the Baltic nation as it ratified the document on June 20…

Variant 3.

… When the third electrode, called the grid, is placed in the circuit between the cathode and the plate, the tube is known as a triode. *The purpose of the grid is to control the flow of plate current.

When the tube is used as an amplifier, a negative d-c voltage is usually applied to the grid. Under this condition the grid does not draw appreciable current. The number of electrons attracted to the plate depends on the combined effect of the grid and plate polarities. * Hence, when the voltage on the grid is varied in accordance with the signal, the plate current varies with the signal. *A small voltage applied to the grid can control a comparatively large amount of plate current and the signal is amplified by the tube. The grid, plate, and cathode of a triode form an electrostatic system, each electrode acting as one plate of a small condenser. *The capacitances are those existing between grid and plate, plate and cathode, and grid and cathode. These capacitances are known as interelectrode capacitances…

Variant 4.

• … Good evening. I'm so glad you were able to come .... Dinner's ready. Let's go into the dining-room. Mrs. Thomp­ son, will you sit here on my left, and you, Mr. Thompson, there.... How long have you been in London?

• Oh, only a few days, since last Monday, to be exact, and I'm sorry to say we have to return tomorrow week.

• Is this your first visit?

• It's my wife's first visit, but I've been here several times before. I have to come over at least once a year on business, and I feel quite at home in London.

• And what do you think of London, Mrs. Thompson?

• Er — I beg your pardon, I didn't quite catch what you said.

• I was asking what you thought of London.

Oh I think it's a wonderful place. There always seems to be something interesting to do.

And how do you like our weather?

Well, it's rather changeable, isn't it?

Yes, it is, but on the whole it's not so bad, once you get used to it. Will you have some more chicken?

No, thank you.

What about you, Mr. Thompson?

Yes, please, just a little. It's delicious.

I'm so glad you like it ... and now what sweet will you have, Mrs. Thompson? There's apple tart and cream, or choco­ late trifle.

Er — trifle for me, please.

And you, Mr. Thompson?

Trifle for me, too, please…

Task 4.

Find the graphical Stylistic devices and Expressive means in the following text.

Text 1.

Poverty is a relative concept, especially when it comes to statistics. According to the Statistics Committee of Russia (or Rosstat), 17.8% of this country's population, or 25.5 million inhabitants, live below the poverty line. However, according to opinion polls conducted jointly by Yury Levada's Analytical Center and the audit and consulting company FBK, about twice as many people consider themselves poor. This is a curious indicator, especially if one takes into account that the country's development trends depend largely on the social categories into which the citizens put themselves. There are different ways of measuring the poverty level. According to Russian official statistics, poor people are those whose incomes are below the subsistence wage. In European countries 'poor' are those whose incomes are less than 60% of the average income in the country. Thus, judging by the European yardstick, roughly 25% of Russians are poor.

Text 2.