Базовый курс английского языка - Эккерсли К.Э.
ISBN 5-7871-0174-X
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1 Wilkie Collins (1824-1889). Wrote The Moonstone, The Woman in White, etc.
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Then one day, in a room upstairs, he found a pile of books, Robinson Crusoe,' Roderick Random,2 Tom Jones,3 The Vicar of Wakefield A-rather strong meat for a boy of nine, but Dickens was delighted; the key to the treasure-house of English literature had been put in his hand and his own imagination was wakened.
In 1821 the Dickens family moved to Camden Town, London, into "a mean, small house". Mr. Dickens was heavily in debt, and didn't know which way to turn for money. Finally Mr. Dickens was taken to the prison for debt. When all the goods had been sold, Mrs. Dickens and the younger children went to the prison, too, to join the father.
Meanwhile, Charles had got a job in an underground cellar at a blacking3 factory. This was the most unhappy time of all his life. He was lonely and hungry. He hated the coarse, rough boys with whom he had to work and who cared for none of the things that he loved. "No words," he wrote, "can express the secret agony of my soul as I sank into this companionship and compared these people with those of my happier childhood and felt my early hope of growing up to be a learned and famous man crushed in my heart."
But his fortunes took a turn for the better. He was able to leave the blacking factory and he entered a lawyer's office. He learned shorthand and was able to do some reporting in the House of Commons for newspapers. Finally, in 1834, he was taken on the staff of a newspaper, the Morning Chronicle, and his life-work of writing had really begun. He went all over the country getting news, writing up stories, meeting people and using his eyes.
I have said rather a lot about Dickens's early days but they are important, for they made a very deep impression on his mind, and all these stored-up impressions are poured out later in his books Little Dorrit, Nicholas Nickleby, Oliver Twist, and above all, David Copperfield.
(Continued on p. 545)
1 By Daniel Defoe (1661-1731).
2 By Henry Fielding (1707-54).
3 By Tobias Smollett (1721-71).
4 By Oliver Goldsmith (1728-74).
5 Blacking was stuff for giving a polish to black shoes. Now we use shoe-polish.
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Работа с глаголом (6): turn
Обратите внимание на три значения глагола turn в Уроке 8:
His father was always waiting for something to turn up (= some good fortune to come).
Mr. Dickens was heavily in debt and didn't know which way to turn for (= what to do to get) money.
His fortunes took a turn (= changed) for the better.
Вот несколько примеров употребления глагола turn:
The wheels of the cart turn round.
When he became rich he turned his back on (= refused to recognize) his old friends.
Thundery weather often turns milk (= makes it go) sour.
The pretty girl got so much flattery it quite turned her head (- made her foolishly conceited).
Even a worm will turn (= there is a point where even the most gentle and humble person will get angry).
The weather has suddenly turned (= become) colder.
I have been very lazy but I am going to turn oxer a new leaf (= make a new start, behave better) and work hard.
I will turn the matter over my mind (= consider it) and tell you tomorrow what I have decided.
When he is in trouble he always turns to (= applies to, trusts to) his mother for help.
Hob isn't here yet; he probably won't turn up (= come) at all.
Идиоматический английский (1): hand
В Уроке 8 вам встретилось выражение: I've been trying ту hand (= making an attempt) at making a play и в Уроке 2: Pedro must take your father in hand. Существует много идиоматических выражений со словом hand. Вот некоторые из них:
My house is close at hand (= near).
The poet was starving and lived from hand to mouth (= in great poverty, unable to save anything).
The two little children went to school hand-in-hand.
The thief pointed a gun at the man and said "Hands up!"
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I thought the book was on my shelves but I can't just lay hands on (= find) it.
A teacher who tries to teach a qlass of fifty children like Ted has her hands full (= is very fully occupied).
"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." (Proverb)
He gave me some real first-hand information.
I don't like wearing second-hand clothes.
"Many hands make light work." (Proverb)
Предлоги (3) Before
Before generally expresses:
(1) time (contrasted with after), e.g.
Come and see me tomorrow any time before five o'clock.
Before long you will find this work quite simple.
(2) position, order, e.g.
She sang before a large audience.
My appointment is not until 10:15; you go in before me.
j Behind
Behind expresses position:
(1) in space, e.g.
The garage is behind the house.
He stood just behind me.
(2) in time, e.g.
The train is behind time (= late).
He is behind the times (= old-fashioned).
А вот небольшая шутка, иллюстрирующая два разных значения behind и before в качестве послелога:
WIFE (to husband trying, clumsily, to fasten her dress): "Hurry up; have you never hooked up a dress behind before!"
