Assignment 11 (chapters 46–49)

I. Pre-reading task – translate the words from the active vocabulary, write their transcription.

Active Vocabulary

p. 138

trifling

malice

p. 140

shorthanded

p. 141

tedious

to mortify

obstinacy

p. 143

adultery

p. 144

cash

p. 145

swollen

startled

to grieve

p. 146

distorted

p. 148

supervise

p. 150

sagacious

p. 151

entreaty

p. 152

loquacious

II. Exercises

1. Paraphrase the following sentences using the active vocabulary

1. lacking the usual or necessary number of assistants, workers, etc

2. characterized by or showing a tendency to talk a great deal

3. causing fatigue or tedium; monotonous

4. to direct or oversee the performance or operation of

5. voluntary sexual intercourse between a married man or woman and a partner other than the legal spouse

2. Fill in with suitable words from the active vocabulary.

1. They felt no ____ toward their former enemies.

2. Those who have ____, come here to spend.

3. I was ____ by the news.

4. The mother ____ for her dead son for many years.

5. An ____ may become the first step to a murder as committing the first you kill your own soul while committing the second you kill the other’s body which is easier.

3. Translate the following sentences into Russian.

1. The danger was comparatively trifling.

2. He was not in cash, and could not send the five pounds.

3. He was startled beyond speech.

4. It grieved me to learn that she had been severely injured.

5. I'm sure he was nowise loquacious.

III. Questions for discussion.

1. What is Kitty’s view on her love affair with Charlie? Had it changed during her living in Mei-tan-fu? How did her husband regard this adultery?

2. Describe Kitty’s work at the convent. How had it influenced her way of life? Had it changed her personality a bit?

3. Dwell upon the episodes with the beggar in the street and with the idiot girl at the convent. What is their role in the novel?

4. Comment the phrase: “One cannot find peace in work or in the world or in a convent, but only in one’s soul” (p. 150). Why did Kitty give a little start? What was significance of the sentence to her?

Assignment 12 (chapters 50–53)

I. Pre-reading task – translate the words from the active vocabulary, write their transcription.

Active Vocabulary

p. 153

to vow

p. 154

wicked

prank(s)

p. 156

reverence

ingenious

unwholesome

p. 157

bachelor

p. 158

to love to distraction

to massacre

p. 159

to regain one’s spirits

p. 160

thenceforward

p. 162

dejection

shoddy

II. Exercises

1. Find the words in the active vocabulary that match the following definitions.

1. a mischievous trick or joke, esp one in which something is done rather than said

2. a feeling or attitude of profound respect, usually reserved for the sacred or divine

3. an unmarried man

4. the savage killing of large numbers of people, as in battle

5. from that time or place on

2. Fill in with suitable words from the active vocabulary.

1. She made a solemn ____ not to smoke again.

2. It's ____ to lie.

3. It was ____ of her to solve the problem so quickly.

4. ‘Your ____! Only a minute, please!’ she cried to the Holy Father.

5. A deep ____ fell upon them after they had herd the sad news.

3. Translate the following sentences into Russian.

1. Some Greek named Hippolytus had vowed to live a virgin life for Diana.

2. However wicked a man may be, he is sure to find a wickeder.

3. And to attract his attention she had to prank herself out in her best attire.

4. He was driven to distraction by her antics.

5. Last Saturday they massacred us six to nil (about football).

III. Questions for discussion.

1. Describe Sister St Joseph. In what way is she different from the other nuns? How does the phrase “She was a farmer’s daughter and at heart she was still a peasant” (p. 154) characterises her?

2. Why did Kitty feel a wall between the nuns and herself? What was the reason that made the nuns exclaim “How lucky Kitty was to have a husband who was so good and so brave and so clever” (p. 155)? What different sides of Walter’s attitude to his job did the nuns and Waddington see?

3. What did Kitty know about Waddington’s life from the nuns?

4. Describe the Buddhist monastery and what did Kitty see there. What new experience of another world-view had Kitty got?

5. Translate the description of the monastery from “They came to the monastery…” till the end of the chapter (p. 162).