Month: Հոկտեմբերի 2019

I have just moved to a house in Bridge Street. Yesterday a beggar knocked at my door. He asked me for a meal and a glass of beer. In return for this, the beggar stood on his head and sang songs. I gave him a meal. He ate the food and drank the beer. Then he put a piece of cheese in his pocket and went away. Later a neighbour told me about him. Everybody knows him. His name is Percy Buttons. He calls at every house in the street once a month and always asks for a meal and a glass of beer.

Comprehension Precis and Composition

1.Has the writer just moved to a house in Bridge Street or not? 2.Who knocked at her door yesterday? 3.Did he sing songs, or did he ask for money? 4.What did the writer give him in return for this? 5.What is the beggar’s name? 6.Does he call at every house once a week or once a month?

An old saying says, « Laughter is the best medicine. » One person who certainly would have agreed with this is Norman Cousins.

Norman Cousins was the editor of magazine called Saturday Review for almost forty years. He also wrote and spoke about world peace and anti-nuclear and anti-war issues, travelling to many different countries to share his ideas.

In 1960s, after returning to the USA from a busy and tiring trip to Europe, He discovered he had a rare disease, known as ankylosing spondylitis, that caused the joins between his bones to become stiff.

In less than a week after he got back, he could not stand. Every move that he made was painful. He was not able to sleep at night. The doctors told Mr. Cousins that they did not know how to cure his problem and he might never get over the illnes. Mr. Cousins, however, refused to give up hope. Mr. Cousins thought that the illness could be caused by unhappy thoughts. He did not want to take medicine to cure himself. Instead, he felt that happy thoughts or laughter might cure his illness.

He began to experiment on himself while still in the hospital by watching Comedy shows on TV. Mr. Cousins quickly found that 10 minutes of real laughter during the day give him 2 hours of pain-free slip at night.

Deciding that the doctors could not help him, Mr. Cousins left the hospital and checked into a hotel room where he could continue his experiments with laughter. For 8 weeks , Mr.Cousins rested in the hotel room watchingcomedy shows on TV, reading amusing books, and sleeping whenever he felt tired. Within 3 weeks he felt enought to take vacation to Puerto Rico where he began running on the beach for exercise.

After a few months, Mr. Cousins was able to carry on his work. He had laughed himself back to healt.

History of Norman Cousins

Questions

1. Who agreed with an old saying « Laughter is the best medicine» ?
2. What was the name of his magazine?
3. Who was Norman Cousins?
4. Which disease it was?
5. When did he get sick?
6. What did he watch in the hospital?
7. What did The doctors tell him?
8. When did he return to the United States?
9. What did he decide to do?
10. What is the main idea of the text?

Mr James Scott has a garage in Silbury and now he has just bought another garage in Pinhurst. Pinhurst is only five miles from Silbury, but Mr Scott cannot get a telephone for his new garage, so he has just bought twelve pigeons.Yesterday, a pigeon carried the first message from Pinhurst to Silbury. The bird covered the distance in three minutes. Up to now,Mr Scott has sent a great many requests from one garage to the other. In this way, he has begun his own private “telephone” service.

Comprehension Precis and Composition

1.Where has Mr Scott opened his second garage? 2.Where is his first garage? 3.How far away is Silbury? 4.Can Mr Scott get a telephone for his new garage or not? 5.What has he bought? 6.In how many minutes do they carry messages from one garage to the other?

I have just received a letter from my brother, Tim.He is in Australia.He has been there for six months. Tim is an engineer. He is working for a big firm and he has already visited a great number of different places in Australia. He has just bought an Australian car and has gone to Alice Springs, a small town in the centre of Australia. He will soon visit Darwin. From there , he will fly to Perth. My brother has never been abroad before, so he is finding this trip very exciting.

Comprehension Precis and Composition

1.What has the writer just received from his brother, Tim? 2.Is Tim an engineer, or is he a doctor? 3.How long has he been in Australia? 4.Has he already visited many places or not? 5.Where is he now? 6.Has Tim ever been abroad before or not? 7.Is he enjoying his trip very much or not?

Postcards always spoil my holidays. Last summer, I went to Italy. I visited museums and sat in public gardens. A friendly waiter taught me a few words of Italian.Then he lent me a book. I read a few lines, but I did not understand a word. Every day I thought about postcards. My holidays passed quickly, but I did not send any cards to my friends. On the last day I made a big decision. I got up early and bought thirty-seven cards. I spent the whole day in my room, but I did not write a single card!

Comprehension Precis and Composition

1.Do postcards always spoil the writer’s holidays or not? 2.Where did he spend his holidays last summer? 3.What did he think about every day? 4.Did he send any cards to his friends or not? 5.How many cards did he buy on the last day? 6.Where did he stay all day? 7.Did he write any cards or not?

It was Sunday. I never get up early on Sundays.I sometimes stay in bed until lunch time.Last Sunday I got up very late. I looked out of the window. It was dark outside. “What a day!” I thought. “It’s raining again.” Just then, the telephone rang. It was my aunt Lucy. “I’ve just arrived by train,” she said. “I’m coming to see you.” “But I’m still having breakfast,” I said. “What are you doing?” she asked. “I’m having breakfast,” I repeated. “Dear me,” she said. ” Do you always get up so late? It’s one o’clock!”

Comprehension Precis and Composition

1.Does the writer always get up early on Sundays, or does he always get up late? 2.Did he get up early last Sunday, or did he get up late? 3.Who telephoned them? 4.Had she arrived by train, or had she come on foot? 5.Was she coming to see him or not? 6.Did he say, “I’m still having breakfast”, or did he say, ” I’m still in bed”? 7.Was his aunt very surprised or not? 8.What was the time?