Table Of ContentЕ. А. ГВОЗДЕВА
КОРОТКИЕ ИСТОРИИ ДЛЯ
ЧТЕНИЯ И ОБСУЖДЕНИЯ.
SHORT STORIES FOR
READING AND DISCUSSION
Учебное пособие
•САНКТ(cid:7)ПЕТЕРБУРГ•МОСКВА•КРАСНОДАР•
•2022•
УДК 811.111
ББК 81.2Англ я723
Г 25 Гвоздева Е. А. Короткие истории для чтения и обсуж(cid:7)
дения. Short Stories for Reading and Discussion : учебное
пособие для СПО / Е.А. Гвоздева.— Санкт(cid:7)Петербург :
Лань, 2022.— 144с. :ил.— Текст : непосредственный.
ISBN 978(cid:31)5(cid:31)507(cid:31)44052(cid:31)8
Учебное пособие состоит из 2(cid:7)х частей. Первая часть для тех, кто
знает английский на уровне Intermediate. Вторая часть выводит нас
на уровень Upper intermediate. Короткие рассказы, представленные
во второй части, взяты из книги “Shaggy Dog English” (a shaggy dog —
лохматая собака), которая была издана польским издательством в кон(cid:7)
це 1960(cid:7)х годов с пояснениями на польском языке и считалась одним
из наиболее эффективных учебных изданий по английскому языку.
Сейчас эта книга является раритетом, поэтому мы решили использо(cid:7)
вать часть рассказов из нее, чтобы предложить современным студен(cid:7)
там проверенный временем материал.
В методический аппарат книги входит подробно разработанная ба(cid:7)
зовая английская грамматика и правила ударения английских слов.
Для каждого рассказа даются грамматические пояснения, словарь и
разнообразные задания по развитию навыков устной речи. Предлага(cid:7)
ются ключи для заданий по переводу с русского языка и постановки
вопросов.
Соответствует современным требованиям Федерального государ(cid:7)
ственного образовательного стандарта среднего профессионального
образования и профессиональным квалификационным требованиям.
Учебное пособие рекомендуется студентам средних и старших
курсов колледжей, техникумов и других средних профессиональных
образовательных учреждений, желающим повысить уровень практи(cid:7)
ческого владения английским языком.
УДК 811.111
ББК 81.2Англ я723
Обложка
Ю. В. ГРИГОРЬЕВА
© Издательство «Лань», 2022
© Е.А.Гвоздева, 2022
© Издательство «Лань»,
художественное оформление, 2022
CONTENTS
The Basic English Grammar …………………………………………...…..4
Funny short stories. Laugh and learn english……………………………..19
Anecdotes ……………………………………………………………......20
Just So Stories ………………………………………………………….....28
Stories That Teach You Lessons ……………………………………….....47
Inspirational Stories for Work and Business ……………………………..60
Hallo, Billy here…………………….……………………………………..69
Guess the Ending …………………………………………………………72
American English Stories with an Audio Component ………………..…..77
Shaggy Dog Stories Section I …………………………………………….98
Shaggy Dog Stories Section II …………………………………………..107
Shaggy Dog Stories Section III ………………………………………....116
Shaggy Dog Stories Section IV ………………………………………....124
Keys ……………………………………………………………………..133
A list of literature………………………………………………………...142
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THE BASIC ENGLISH GRAMMAR
THE WORD ORDER IN THE ENGLISH SENTENCE:
S + V + WHAT + WHERE + WHEN
Examples.
1. Magic exists.
2. Tastes differ.
3. The dog barks but the caravan goes on.
4. The exception proves the rule.
5. Nothing comes out of nothing.
6. I want to walk along the beach at night and listen to the waves.
7. “The moon hid her face in a cloud”. (Oscar Wilde)
If ‘when’ is important we put it first.
Example. In September we are going to Paris.
In impersonal sentences ‘It’ acts as the subject.
1. It is dangerous to walk along the road when it’s dark and late.
2. It is spring. It’s time to plant flowers in my garden.
3. It was early morning.
4. It is raining outside.
5. It was a beautiful summer day.
6. If it is important for you, you will find a way. If it is not important,
you will find an excuse.
7. It’s winter. It's cold. It’s snowing. It’s beautiful.
TO BE (AM/IS/ARE/WAS/WERE)
‘To be’ expresses a state, not an action
TO BE OR NOT TO BE THAT’S THE QUESTION
‘Hamlet’ W. Shakespeare
Read together.
1. Mom, can you help me with mathematics? — Sorry, darling. Not
now, I’m tired.
2. Dad, I have something to tell you. — Sorry, not now. I’m in a hur-
ry to pick up Mrs. Adams from Heathrow.
3. I’m busy. — You are always busy.
4. How are you? — Thank you, I’m fine. And how are you? — I’m
fine too, thanks. What about your dog? Is she any better?
5. How are things with her? — She is in love and she is happy. —
I’m glad to hear that.
4
6. Mr. Bell is back from his business trip. — Oh, is he? — Mrs. Bell
is away to Bristol for three days. — Oh, is she? You are a mine of useful
information.
7. I’m sure it is a coincidence. — I’m not so sure.
8. Where is the hotel? Check a map. — Oh, it’s within a walking dis-
tance from the British Museum.
9. Are you hungry? — A coffee would be great. Thank you very
much.
10. How much is a ticket to Cambridge? — A pound.
11. Are you at home or at work now? — I’m on my way to the of-
fice.
12. I’m in conflict with the chief. — Oh, are you? I am surprised to
hear that. And what is the conflict about?
13. You are out of time. Is the work over? — I’m sorry. The work is
not over yet. There were some problems. — Oh, it’s like you. Great talkers
are poor doers.
14. There is a proverb: The apples on the other side of the wall are
the sweetest. — There is another one: The grass is always greener on the
other side. The meaning is the same.
15. Summer is the most beautiful just before autumn. — Americans
call it Indian summer.
16. Are you in Paris for fun or for business? — Both.
17. Mr. Thorne isn’t in yet. — Isn’t he? What’s the time? — It’s a
quarter to nine. — Oh, is it? My watch is a quarter of an hour fast.
18. Is the girl any good? — Yes, she is reasonably intelligent and
gifted with her hands.
19. “The report of my death was an exaggeration”. — Mark Twain
had a keen sense of humor.
20. “My goal is simple. It is complete understanding of the Universe,
why it is as it is and why it exists at all”. (Stephen Hawking, English theo-
retical physicist)
21. Sam, where are you? — I’m on my way back home.
22. Are you fond of the sea travel? — Not particularly. I’m seasick,
you know.
23. Sorry, can you help me? — Sure. Just a moment.
24. “Of all the things in this world I’m fond of books most”, Tesla
said. What about you?
5
QUESTIIONS
YES/NO QUESTIONS
Asking a Yes/No question you expect a Yes/No answer. We make
questions by changing the word order: We put am/is/are/was/were be-
fore the subject.
Ask and answer Yes/No questions together.
1. I’m tired.
2. I’m in a hurry.
3. I’m well.
4. He is ill.
5. She is better.
6. I’m comfortable, thank you.
7. Mr. Bell is busy.
8. Mrs. Green is not in.
9. Mr. Brown is away from London.
10. Mr. Black is not back from his business trip yet.
11. Mr. White is away from Moscow.
12. He is on business trip.
13. I’m sure.
14. I’m not hungry.
15. I’m thirsty.
16. I’m cold.
17. I’m afraid.
18. I’m seasick.
19. I’m at home at seven.
20. I’m glad to hear that.
21. He was surprised to hear that.
22. The excursion was interesting.
23. She was happy to get a present.
QUESTION-WORD QUESTIONS
Asking a Question-word question you want to get some infor-
mation and use a question word.
“I keep six honest serving-men (they taught me all I knew); their
names are: What? Why? When? How? Where? Who?” (R. Kipling)
Ask and answer question-word questions together.
1. A ticket to Cambridge is a pound. (How much?)
6
2. Mr. Brown is away from London. (When ... back?)
3. The hotel ‘Paraize’ is within a walking distance from the British
Museum. (Where?)
4. I’m in conflict with the chief. (Why?)
5. Summer is the most beautiful just before autumn. (When?)
6. My goal is simple It is a complete understanding of the Universe.
(What?)
7. I was at my mother’s. (Where?)
8. London is most lovable at 8 p. m. when the working day is over
and people are on their way back home from offices. (When?)
9. I’m not fond of the sea travel. (Why?)
10. The performance is over at 10.30.
I HAVE
HE/SHE/IT HAS
I have. = I have got. = (Russian) У меня есть.
He/she/it has. = (Russian) У него есть.
Do you have? Have you got?
To Have or Not to Have.
Ernst Hemingway
I’m not afraid of death, but I’m not in a hurry to die. I have got a lot
of things to do on the earth.
Stephan Hawking, English theoretical physicist
Read together.
1. Where is he? — I have no idea.
2. He has a dog. — What dog does he have?
3. She has children. — How many children does she have?
4. I know that every man has his faults. — What faults do I have?
5. Could I have a word with you? — Sure. Come to my place any
time you like. I’m usually at home at 7 p. m.
6. Who else has got a key to your mother’s flat? — Nobody else has
got a key but me.
7. I have something urgent to tell you. — What is it? Come on!
8. Why couldn’t you take a picture of his face? — He had his back to
me.
9. You haven’t got any taste. — Tastes differ.
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10. Why don’t you want to talk about it? — I have more interesting
things to talk about.
THE VERB (V)
The Verb expresses an action. It has a category of tense. As in any
other language there are 3 tenses in English: the present, the past, and
the future.
Each English tense has 4 aspects: simple, continuous, perfect and
perfect continuous.
The English tenses are based on the infinitive forms. There are
four infinitives:
1) to develop — the simple infinitive;
2) to be developing — the continuous infinitive;
3) to have developed — the perfect infinitive;
4) to have been developing — the perfect continuous infinitive.
THE TABLE OF TENSES
ASPECTS PRESENT Vо (s) PAST V2 FUTURE
SIMPLE V (he, she, it + V2 will + Vo
Vs) do/does? Did + S + Vo?
do/does not S + didn’t + Vo
CONTINUOUS am, is, are + V4 was/were + V4 will + be V4
PERFECT have/has + V3 had + V3 will + have V3
PERFECT have been V4 had been + V4 will have
CONTINUOUS been + V4
Continuous Aspect = (Russian) несовершенный вид глагола.
Perfect Aspect = (Russian) совершенный вид глагола.
THE VERB CHANGES IN FOUR FORMS:
1 2 3 4
to test — tested — tested — testing
1 — the infinitive;
2 — the past simple;
3 — the passive participle = (Russian) испытанный;
4 — the active participle = (Russian) испытывающий.
There are regular and irregular verbs.
Regular verbs are formed like that:
1) to develop — developed — developed — developing;
8
2) to rain — rained — rained — raining;
3) to exist — existed — existed — existing.
A LIST OF IRREGULAR VERBS TO BE REMEMBED
PAST
INFINITIVE PAST SIMPLE RUSSIAN
PARTICIPLE
to arise arose arisen возникать
to be was\were been быть
to build built built строить
to break broke broken ломать
to begin began begun начинать
to become became become становиться
to bring brought brought покупать
to buy bought bought приносить
to catch caught caught ловить, поймать
to choose chose chosen выбирать
to come came come приходить
to cut cut cut резать
to do did done делать
to eat ate eaten есть
to fall fell fallen падать
to feel felt felt чувствовать
to find found found находить
to forget forgot forgotten забывать
to get got got получать
to give gave given давать
to go went gone ходить
to have had had иметь
to hear heard heard слышать
to hold held held держать
to hurt hurt hurt причинять вред
to know knew known знать
to leave left left уезжать,
уходить,
оставлять
to lose lost lost терять
to make made made делать
to mean meant meant означать
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Продолжение табл.
PAST
INFINITIVE PAST SIMPLE RUSSIAN
PARTICIPLE
to meet met met встречать
to ring rang rung звонить
to run ran run бежать
to sit sat sat сидеть
to sell sold sold продавать
to send sent sent посылать
to sleep slept slept спать
to spend spent spent проводить время
to take took taken брать
to teach taught taught учить
to tell told told сказать кому-то
to think thought thought думать
to throw threw thrown бросать
to win won won побеждать
to write wrote written писать
Analyze the verb. What tense is it? What aspect is it?
1. The performance is over. The people are leaving the theatre.
2. I have been watching your dog for some time. It is almost hu-
man.
3. We saw Mrs. Brown’s grandfather in the park, but he didn’t see us.
4. Today a good doctor has operated on his eyes.
5. I’ve had a busy day today.
6. I’ll make an exception for you. We’ll give you an allowance
(скидка).
7. We are meeting at 6 p. m. outside the metro.
8. He left Kentucky and traveled to different states.
9. I’ve been studying your case for a month now.
10. I’ve done a lot of research on this problem.
11. I’m Black, the doctor. You are looking for Black, the spy. He is
at home now.
12. We have been friends since our first meeting.
13. After the inspector had had a chat with the headmaster he went to
watch a history lesson.
14. I’ve never liked Mr. Jones.
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