THE WILL
Mr. Conran was a very rich and mean man. When he died he had 20 million
pounds in the bank. He made all his money by selling very sticky sweets. His
nickname was «The Dentist's Friend».
Mrs. Conran died ten years
before. Mr. Conran had only two relatives, his sons Joseph and Oliver. They
were identical twins. They were so alike that nobody could tell them apart. Not
even their father.
Joseph and Oliver left home
when they were 20 years old, and they had never been back.
When the twin brothers heard about their father's death, they went to
his house right away. Their father's lawyer, Miss Madoc met them.
She
said, «Come into the library. I must read you your father's will». They all
went into the library and sat down. Miss Madoc took a piece of paper from the
desk.
She
said, «Your father made a very short will. It is in three parts. Part one says:
I leave all my money to my son Oliver”. The lawyer turned to the twin brothers
and asked, «So which one of you is Oliver? »
Both of the sons said, «I
am. I'm Oliver!”
Miss Madoc was very angry,
«One of you must be a liar».
The twins argued and argued. Each called the other a liar and a cheat.
Miss Madoc pulled them apart. She said, «1 think I'd better read you the second
part of your father's will. It says: If there is any argument about which son
is real Oliver, then I leave all my money to Joseph!» Once again the lawyer
turned to the twins and asked, «Which one of you is Joseph? » «I am!» cried the
two sons with one voice.
The lawyer was very angry. She cried, «But a minute ago you both were
Oliver!»
They
argued for about an hour. Miss Madoc called them liars. Then she said: «I am
going to read you the third part of this will. It says: If both my sons turn
out to be liars then I leave all my money to Miss Madoc, my faithful lawyer”.
So the twins left the house without money. The clever will had shown
them both to be liars. But it was Miss Madoc, who tricked them, because Mr.
Conran never made a will.
I.True or false
1. Mr. Conran was a poor man.
2. He made his money selling toys.
3. He had one son and one daughter.
4. The children hadn't
been at home for a long time.
5. The reason of their
coming back was the father's death.
6. Miss Madoc invited them to the
living-room.
7. Joseph and Oliver were very alike.
II.Make the sentences negative:
1.Mr.Conran was a kind
and generous person.
2.After his death he left
10 mln pounds in the bank.
3.Mrs.Conran had died
five years ago.
4.The twins left their
home when they were 18.
5.Miss Madoc, the
father’s lawyer, met them warmly.
6.Their father’s will was
very long.
7.Both the sons were very
honest.
III.Unscramble the sentences:
1) read/the library/Miss Madoc/in/will/the
father's.
2) person/and/Mr. Conran/greedy/a/was/rich.
3)
sweets/teeth/were/sticky/harmful/very/for.
4) not/a/woman/was/the lawyer/faithful.
5) were/sons/very/will/the/angry/the/with.
IV.Ask three questions to the sentence:
Miss Madoc invited them
to the living-room.
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American Superstitions
Superstitions are beliefs that
certain things or events will bring good or bad luck. Every culture has
superstitions and the Americans are no exception. There are many situations
when Americans wish someone luck, for example, before an exam or when they get
married. There are many well-know signs of bad luck. Americans believe that
you'll have bad luck if you walk under a ladder, spill salt, break a mirror, or
if a black cat crosses in front of you.
The number 13 is also thought
to be unlucky because there were 13 people at Christ's Last Supper. Some tall
buildings don't have the thirteenth floor. Instead the numbers jump from 12 to
14. Some people think that they will have a bad day when the 13th day of the
month is Friday. However, there's always a way to bring back your good luck,
for example, if you spill salt, you should throw a little over your left
shoulder, and if you break a mirror, you should wash the broken pieces.
There are
various ways in which people try to ensure good luck.
Objects which bring you luck include four-leaf
clovers (a clover with four leaves instead of the usual three) and rabbit's
feet. Some people carry a rabbit's foot on a keyring. The Americans think that
knocking on wood prevents good luck changing to bad, so they often use the
expression «knock on wood».
Most superstitions are
centuries old but superstitions change. Fifty years ago, nobody opened an
umbrella in the house because they thought this might cause a death in the
family. Today not so many people think about this superstition. In general,
Americans don't take very seriously all these superstitions.
I.True or False
1.Americans don’t have
superstitions.
2.There a lot of situations
when Americans wish someone luck.
3.Americans don’t believe
in bad luck.
4.They say that number 13
is lucky.
5.Today many people don’t
afraid to open an umbrella in the house.
6.Americans take the
superstitions very seriously.
II.Do the matching:
1.to bring a)a salt
2.to break b)broken pieces
3.to spill c)a mirror
4.to wash d)over the left
shoulder
5.to take e)bad luck
6.to throw f)seriously
III.Make up questions to the underlined
words.
1.A lot of people
believe in good luck.
2.Walking under the ladder
is not a superstition for Ukrainian people.
3.The number 13 is
unlucky for some people.
4.All high buildings in
our country have the thirteenth floor.
5.I am not afraid of Friday
the thirteenth day of the month.
6.Some people carry a
rabbit’s foot on a keyring.
IV.Make the sentences negative:
1.Every culture has
superstitions.
2.People try to ensure good
luck.
3.Nobody opened the
umbrella in the house.
4.She often uses the
expression “knock on wood”.
5.I often knock on wood.
6.Superstitions are
beliefs.
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