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Reading comprehension exercises
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1. Consult a dictionary and practise the pronunciation of the following words:
dewy, meadow, cartoon, Captain Kangaroo, episode, mass media, influential, environment, catalogue, brochure, credulous, sophisticated, deliberate, addictive, subtle, vicious, altruistic, stimulate, control, advertise, permissible, digest, identify, abbreviate, programme, persuasively, agency, intellect, design, available, intricate, isolate, giant, conglomerate, audio, contribute, charitable.
2. Practise the pronunciation of the following polysyllabic words paying attention to the principal and secondary stresses:
magazine, influential, psychologically, altruistic, motivation, consideration, entertainment, regularity, information, sophistication, appreciation, disapproval, individually, intertwining, governmental, philosophical, educational, intellectually.
3. a) Read out the following observing all the phonetic phenomena of connected speech (assimilation, lateral and nasal plosions, the loss of plosion, the linking”r”).
you accept the media; at the same time; with all this; the permissible and the forbidden; look back at the first two paragraphs; words introduced in the media; even that part of media output; commercial messages inserted throughout; or a newspaper or magazine article; around the advertisements; in either print or electronic media; what the boss's policies are.
b) Practise the pronunciation of the following word combinations containing the nasal sonant [ŋ] in the intervocalic position:
sitting in the kitchen; involving subtle conditioning and brain-washing; all these negative aspects of growing up with the media; what's going on in the world; the fun of trying out a new product; but there is always that string of jokes; just standing or wandering about a stage; when you were young and absorbing uncritically; accepting a job.
c) Read the following passages: 1) from "the major media can be divided..." up to "... or pictures demanding attention?" and 2) from "whole new vocabularies come into existence...'' up to "... at an advertising agency." Observe the intonation group division, stress, rhythm and tempo.
4. Change the sentences below according to the models:
Model 1: The lady lacked tact and manners.
What the lady lacked was tact and manners.
1. He longed for the title of a champion. 2. The man didn't care to go back to his wife. He was afraid she'd talk him to death. 3. The doctor should have tested him for suicidal tendencies.
Model 2: We had no idea where he had come from.
Little did we know where he had come from.
1. We had no suspicion what he was involved in. 2. She had no idea what made him lose his temper. 3. We did not understand why she was so annoyed. 4. We could not see the point of his coming here.
5. Translate the following sentences into English:
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1. Чего ему действительно не хватало, так это чувства меры. 2. Что меня больше всего удивило в Джейн, так это ее самообладание. 3. Ему просто не хватало знаний по истории этой страны. 4. Надо отдать ей должное, она была на редкость трудолюбива. 5. Надо отдать ему должное, он сделал все, чтобы овладеть испанским языком. 6. Надо отдать ей должное, она очень интересуется благополучием своих родных. 7. Надо отдать ему должное, он с любым европейцем может говорить на его родном языке. 8. Я и понятия не имел, куда он метит. 9. Он и не подозревал, что ей нужно. 10. Она и не догадывалась, чем все это кончится.
Make up two sentences of your own on each pattern (p. 169).
Make up a short situation using the speech patterns.
Note down from the text (p. 165) the sentences containing the phrases and word combinations (p. 169) and translate them into Russian.
9. Paraphrase the following sentences using the phrases and word combinations:
1. Who won the race? 2. This is the latest information on the situation. 3. His illness started after that awful accident he was
involved in. 4. Teachers are always complaining that many of their pupils have no manners. 5. Once she'd started eating junk food she couldn't stop. 6. The new one-pound coin was first used in 1984.
10. Consult a dictionary and make up a list of adjectives beginning with "ill-", e. g. "ill-bred". Give the Russian equivalents.
11. Make up two sentences of your own on each phrase and word combination.
12. Translate the following sentences into English using the phrases and word combinations:
1. Когда мне нужно принять какое-либо решение, я всегда сначала думаю о семье, а потом уже о карьере. 2. Они используют самое современное оборудование и вычислительные машины. 3. Эта рукопись восходит к ХШ веку. 4. Учителя в Англии жалуются на то, что им мало платят и к ним плохо относятся. 5. К сожалению, вас неверно информировали. 6. Сначала он был уверен, что сможет бросить курить, как только захочет, но потом понял, что он уже очень сильно пристрастился к сигаретам. 7. Закон вступил в действие в 1976 году. 8. Я не умею шить, да и к тому же я не вяжу.
Pair work. Make up and practise a dialogue using the phrases and word combinations.
14. Explain what is meant by:
watching television is psychologically addictive; questions involving subtle conditioning and brainwashing; friendly or vicious, altruistic or self-serving; increasing sophistication of taste and appreciation of technical skills; they (ideas) are digested emotionally at psychological depths; behaviour patterns; words introduced in the media frequently enlarge their meanings far beyond the scope originally intended for them; a predetermined response.
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