Практический курс английского языка 3 курс - страница 14

longer a walking tour in anything but name; it is something else and more in the nature of a picnic. A walking tour

should be gone upon alone because you should be able to stop and go on, and follow this way and that, as the

whim takes you; and because you must have your own pace, and neither trot alongside a champion walker, nor

mince in time with a girl. And you must be open to all impressions and let your thoughts take colour from what

you see. You should be as a pipe for any wind to play upon. There should be no cackle of voices at your elbow, to

jar on the meditative silence of the morning. And so long as a man is reasoning he cannot surrender himself to that

fine intoxication that comes of much motion in the open air, that begins in a sort of dazzle and sluggishness of the

brain, and ends in a peace that passes comprehension.

During the first day or so of any tour there are moments of bitterness, when the traveller feels more than coldly

towards his knapsack, when he is half in a mind to throw it bodily over the hedge. Yet it soon acquires a property

of easiness. It becomes magnetic; the spirit of the journey enters into it again. And no sooner have you passed the

straps over your shoulder again than the less of sleep are cleared from you, you pull yourself together with a shake

and fall at once into your stride. And surely, of all possible moods, this, in which a man takes the road, is the best.

1.Comment on the writer's use of the expression "in anything but name". 2. What in the opinion of the writer

are the main disadvantages of having company on a walking tour? 3. "You should be as a pipe for any wind to play

on." What is the significance of this statement? 4. How, according to the writer, is man affected by prolonged

walking in the open air? 5. What impression do we receive from the use of the word "bodily"? 6. The writer

describes the knapsack as becoming magnetic. In what way is this an accurate description? 7. Taking the theme as

a whole, what do you think is "the spirit of the journey" referred to?

2. Give a summary of the text.

3. Use the Topical Vocabulary in answering the questions:

1. What are the advantages and the disadvantages of a hiking tour? 2. What must you take with you if you are

going on a week's walking tour? 3. What's your daily routine when on a hike? 4. How would you plan your day in

hot stuffy weather? 5. What would you do in cold and rainy weather? 6. Do you take the weather forecast into

account when going hiking? 7. What do you like for breakfast, dinner and supper when on a hike? 8. What must

you do to make a fire, to cook scrambled eggs,' to cook fish soup, to cook porridge? 9. Do you like sleeping out?

10. Which would you prefer: sleeping out or being put up at the village? Give reasons for your choice. 11. Do you make a

point of having a swim every day no matter what the weather is? 12. Which would you rather choose: a hiking trip or a river

trip? Why? 13. Have you or your friends ever gone fishing? What is characteristic of an experienced angler? 14. What do you

do of an evening during a hiking tour?

4. Read the poem, comment on it and answer the questions.

Leisure

What is this life if, full of care.

We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see when woods we pass,

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,

Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,

And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can

Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this is if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

W.H.Davis (1871—1940)

What do you consider to be the author's message of the poem? 2. What is the author's attitude towards the life

full of care? 3. Show how the reader is constantly reminded of the poor life he lives. 4. In view of the contents of the

poem, what is hinted at in the title "Leisure"? 5. Observe whether irony enters into the author's treatment of the