 |
Black. Yellow. Just For Fun..
|
|
|
|
Black
Black is associated with death and is worn at funerals. Invitations to formal events often say black tie, which means that men should wear a dinner jacket and black bow tie. For women, wearing a black dress or (AmE) wearing basic black for evening social occasions is thought to be smart. Black is often associated with bad things. A black day is a day on which a disaster takes place. A black look shows anger or hatred. But seeing a black cat is said to bring luck. Black refers to people whose ancestors came from Africa.
White
White is the colour of innocence and is usually worn by a bride at her wedding. Somebody who sees things in black and white thinks everything is either bad or good. People tell white lies, which are harmless, or try to hide a mistake with whitewash. Pale-skinned people are described as white, though their colouring varies greatly.
Blue
Blue suggests unhappiness, and somebody who is sad may be feeling blue" or have the blues. But if they are in a blue funk they are in a state of terror or panic. Blue also suggests anger, and a person may argue till they are blue in face. Blue also represents loyalty, and people who are described as true blue are faithful and reliable. Blue is associated with value, a blue chip (=counter) has a high value in poker, and blue-chip stocks are a good place to invest money. A blue ribbon is given for first prize in a show. Something that happens once in a blue moon is very rare. A blue-blooded person, or a blue blood, belongs to the upper class. This is because veins appear blue through the pale skin of people who do not spend much time in the open air. Boys are dressed in baby blue. Blue is the colour of the virgin Mary and it was once thought that dressing a boy in blue gave him the protection of heaven.
Yellow
Yellow is associated with fear. Cowards have yellow streaks and may be called yellow-bellies. Yellow is a warning colour. In the US school buses are also yellow. Americans tie a yellow ribbon round a tree in their garden to remember somebody who has gone to fight in a war.
Brown
Brown represents thoughtfulness when a person falls into a brown study (= a thoughtful silence). But if somebody is browned off they're bored. A white person with a suntan is said to be bronzed or brown (both complimentary words).
Colours are associated with particular festivals: Christmas colours are red and green, but a White Christmas is a Christmas with snow. Halloween is celebrated with black and orange, and pink and red are associated with St. Valentine's Day. On Independence Day everything is red, white and blue.
4 Translate the passage using the glossary of the unit given on p. 101-104:
Just For Fun...
If you find that you have some difficulty understanding the next paragraph, don't be blue.
" At first, I was yellow and probably looked green around the gillswhen I had to tell the boss that the company was in the red, which made him purple with rageand start swearing up ablue streak. But then I realized that I'd made a mistake and that we were actually in the black. He was tickled pinkand decided to celebrate by painting the town red. I was green with envyand sort of feeling blue since I was dying to go although I didn't have a redcent. Then suddenly he invited me right out of the blue! "
|
|
|
5 Complete the idioms below with a suitable colour: black, green, red, blue, grey, white, brown, pink, yellow (You will need to use some words more than once).
1) You can argue with her until you're... in the face, but once she's made up her mind she won't listen to you, no matter what you say.
2) After several weeks of discussion, the group was given the …light, and could finally go ahead with the new project.
3) There's no point in asking my boss for a day off next week. I'm in her … books at the moment so she's bound to say no.
4) She had only recently had lunch with her cousin, so the news of his death came as a bolt from the ….
5) Although we got a lot of nice wedding presents, we also got one or two …elephants.
6) There is a common prejudice that girls who are very beautiful must automatically be lacking in …matter – they are so-called " dumb blondes".
7) Next Friday is a …-letter day for my sister and her husband; it's their 25th wedding anniversary.
8) After sunbathing for two hours everyday, Joanna was as … as a berry.
9) The managing director's reference to the forthcoming sales conference was a … herring. He just wanted to get off the subject of this month's poor sales figures.
10) She went as …as a sheet when she heard about the accident.
11) If there was a war, I don't think I'd fight. I've got too much of a … streak. I'd be terrified of getting killed.
12) I'm sorry, James, I refuse to believe it unless you can show it to me in …and…!
13) Ever since Tom got that huge order from Saudi Arabia: he's been the boss's …-eyed boy.
14) Don't mention the present government in front of my father; it's like a …rag to a bull.
15) I was …with envy when my neighbour drove up in a brand-new Jaguar.
16) By the way, Joyce, my husband was tickled … at your asking him to judge the flower show.
17) Sometimes it is better to tell a …lie than to hurt someone's feelings.
18) My wife always goes bright…whenever she gets embarrassed.
19) It takes a long time to get a passport because of all the …tape.
20) The airplane trip was terrible. It was a real …-knuckle ride.
21) He's really stupid. I don't think he has much …matter.
22) You should have heard how he swore up a …streak!
23) Your plants are beautiful! You must really have a …thumb.
24) I've never seen you so healthy. You're really in the …today.
25) I was tickled …to find out about your new job.
26) Our business is going very well. We're still in the….
27) What’s the matter? You look sort of …today.
28) Can you lend me some money? I haven't got a…cent.
6 Match phrases in column A with their meanings in column B.
1) paint the town red; a) happy, memorable;
2) browned-off; b) smth used to confuse or divert;
3) till one’s blue in the face; c) forever attention from smth else;
|
|
|
4) green fingers; d) a mood of deep thought or melancholy;
5) red letter; e) a piece of bad luck that has to be accepted;
6) bluejacket; f) a skill in gardening;
7) show the white feather; g) very rarely, seldom;
8) bleed smb white; h) to have a noisy good time;
9) white elephant; i) a seaman in the navy;
10) red herring; j) annoyed and discouraged, bored, fed up;
11) brownie; k) a friendly little fairy;
12) blackguard; l) take away all smb’s money;
13) in the black; m) public or common land;
14) blue-grass; n) a type of jazz-like lively folk music from
the southern US;
15) white horse; o) act in a cowardly way; show fear;
16) Brown Betty; p) a wave at sea with a white top;
17) village green; q) having money in a bank account;
18) once in a blue moon; r) smth that is useless and unwanted, especially
smth that is big and costs a lot of money;
19) the rub of the green; s) a very poisonous type of American spider;
20) brown study; t) a baked pudding of apples, bread crumbs,
brown sugar, butter and spices;
21) black widow; u) a drink made by mixing stout and Champagne;
22) black velvet; v) dishonest or immoral.
7 Insert suitable " colour" phrases. The meaning of each expression is shown in brackets.
1) I've overspent this month and I'm... (owing money) in the bank.
2) The manager said he would consider my complaint if I put it down … (in writing).
3) She used to visit me every week, but now I only see her... (very occasionally).
4) I hadn't heard from my brother for years and last week I got a letter from him... (very unexpectedly).
5) He says that he's very... (depressed) because he doesn't enjoy his job.
6) She's an ardent feminist, sojokes about women are... (likely to cause uncontrollable anger).
7) The fall from her horse left her... (covered with bruises) all over.
8) The public scandal left... (a mark of discredit) on his career.
9) She had... (a temporary loss of memory) and couldn't remember anything about the accident.
8 Complete the sentences.
1) A North American Indian is called....
2) If a person has skin tanned brown by the sun we say that he is...
3) A cut in power to some but not all electrical lights in an area is called...
4) Cowardice in smb's character iscalled...
5) Newspapers that deliberately include sensational news items, esp. in order to attract readers, are called...
6) The quality of being a noble man ornoble woman bybirth iscalled...
7) An identity card given to non-Americans who have been given permission to live and work in the USA is called....
8) A piece of bad luck that has to beaccepted iscalled...
9) A room behind the stage in a theatre or television studio where performers may relax iscalled...
10) The person who is expected to bring great success is called...
|
|
|
11) A white liquid used to paint out mistakes in writing, typing, etc, is called …
12) Someone who is thought by other members of their group to be a failure or to have brought shame on the group is called...
9 " Colour" phrases quiz. Choose the correct variant.
1 Yesterday John painted the town red:
a) Yesterday John painted all walls of buildings in red colour.
b) Yesterday John accidentally killed a man and there was much blood.
c) Yesterday John had a noisy good time as he visited some bars at night.
2 Carl has really been bitten by the green-eyed monster:
a) The green-eyed beast has bitten Carl.
b) Carl gets jealous of his wife.
c) Carl usually wears green clothes.
3 Yesterday my mother visited white elephant sale:
a) They sold albino elephants there.
b) They sold different articles there to collect money for a school.
c) They sold big articles, such as sofas, wardrobes of white colour.
4 Nick ordered two black cows:
a) Nick decided to buy black cows for his farm.
b) Nick decided to drink a sweet gassy non-alcoholic drink.
c) Nick wanted to drink milk.
5 My cousins like to eat black pudding:
a) They like chocolate pudding.
b) They like sausage.
c) They like cakes covered with chocolate cream.
6 My father once saw white horse:
a) My father once drank too much.
b) My father likes races and once there was a beautiful white horse who won the races.
c) My father saw a wave at sea with a white top.
7 He has never been in a brown study:
a) He has never been in a room with brown walls.
b) He has never visited the house made of wood.
c) He is always in a good mood, and never in deep thought.
8 They concluded yellow-dog contract:
a) One man bought a spaniel and the owner of the dog gave him the pedigree.
b) An employer and an employee concluded contract by which an applicant for a job agrees not to be a labour-union member while employed.
c) They signed contract by which the employee would work in kennels where they look after spaniels only.
9 A green thumb is:
a) a first time hitch-hiker;
b) someone who is clumsy with his or her hands;
c) someone who is good at gardening.
10 A green horn is:
a) someone with little or no experience;
b) an ecologically safe musical instrument;
c) a deer with green horns.
11 The euphemism " greenbacks" refers to:
a) ecological refugees;
b) U. S. dollars;
c) freshman football players.
10 Paraphrase using “colour” words and phrases.
a) It was a very memorable and happy day for us when Paul came from the war.
b) Do you have enough money to buy this mansion?
c) She became very pale when she heard the news.
d) My younger sister is addicted to coffee with milk.
e) He expected him to bring success to our team.
f) The government gave permissionto start this project.
g) It takes weeks to go through all these complicated but unnecessary official rules to get permission to build the restaurant.
h) Her remarks really made me became very angry suddenly.
i) He didn't help us in that situation, he just ran away. He's a contemptible coward.
11 Translate into Russian.
1) The growing black economy is beginning to worry the government. 2) His outrageous behaviour earned him a black mark with his hostess. 3) My brother is the black sheep of the family. 4) The government imposed a news blackout during the crisis. 5) I didn't get a red cent for it. 6) Miss Trout was very good at red herring till she met her match in me. 7) He's the manager's blue-eyed boy. 8) The union yelled blue murder when one of its members was sacked. 9) He can write me letters till he's blue in the face, I'm not going to reply. 10) His resignation came right out of the blue. 11) New roads are cutting into the green belt. 12) The new office block has become an expensive white elephant. 13) He was once the great white hope of the Party. 14) Is it a white-tie affair? 15) Opposition dismissed the report as whitewash. 16) They completed the whitewash with a 9: 0 win in the last game. 17) But I was not to be finished off so soon, though my hands were black and blue. 18) So I went there and worked in the beauty parlour. There was one lady called Mrs. Komstock She came every Saturday morning for a blue rinse and set and I seemed to take her fancy: she always asked for me, no one else would do; but she never tipped me more than a quarter. 19) There they collected subscriptions for the Red Cross and talked at their ease, maliciously, out of the hearing of their alien employers and protectors. 20) I lied, it was a white lie, I said he'd be here soon. 21) I was red as a beet-root by then. 22) Sometimes she'd come out of the blue with funny questions. 23) The Whites did not promise the peasants any rights or land (in fact many Whites wanted to take away the rights, like the vote that peasants had only just won) and they treated the peasants just as cruelly as the Reds. 24) Following this came a red anger – like a worried animal, a well-meaning cow troubled by dogs. 25) The clouds were coloured an earthlike yellow in the sunlight, and in the shadows were a sorry blue. 26) As the youth looked at them, the black weight of his worry returned to him. 27) After that he had gone to a cafe called Peaches where he drank water and watched cartoons on a 12 -inch black-and-white with vertical problem. 28) They were girls who made brownies in home ec (electric cooker), who cut hearts out of red paper for Valentine's dances. 29) You're nothing but white trash and so is your baby and that's all it will ever be. 30) She stopped outside a red-brick building and dug in her purse for the brochure the college had sent her a few days earlier.
|
|
|
12 a) Give the Russian equivalents of the following sayings and proverbs.
b) Explain in English the meaning of each proverb and saying.
c) Make up and practice a short situation to illustrate one of the proverbs or sayings:
1) A black hen lays white eggs. 2) A black plum is as sweet as white. 3) Black will take no other hew. 4) Every white has its black. 6) A green wound is soon healed. 7) A hedge between keeps friendship green. 8) You cannot wash a charcoal white. 9) The devil is not so black as he is painted. 10) True blue will never stain. 11) The black crow thinks her own buds white. 12) Every family has a black sheep.
13 Make up: a) a story with " colour" words and word combinations (use as many as possible in one story); b) a dialogue with " colour" words and word combinations (use as many as possible) and practice it.
|
|
|
