Читать книгу Английский разговорный шутя. 100 анекдотов на все случаи жизни - Группа авторов - Страница 11

A small tourist hotel was all abuzz about an afternoon wedding where the groom was 95 and the bride was 23. The groom looked pretty feeble and the feeling was that the wedding night might kill him, because his bride was a healthy, vivacious young woman. But lo and behold, the next morning, the bride came down the main staircase slowly, step by step, hanging onto the bannister for dear life.

She finally managed to get to the counter of the little shop in the hotel. The clerk looked really concerned, «Whatever happened to you, honey? You look like you've been wrestling an alligator!»

The bride groaned, hung on to the counter and managed to speak, «Ohhh God! He told me he'd been saving up for 75 years and I thought he meant his money!!»

Study the words and expressions given below:

bride невеста

feeble слабый, хилый

healthy здоровый

vivacious живой, веселый

bannister перила

concern озабоченность, беспокойство

whatever что бы то ни было, что же

to wrestle бороться, заниматься борьбой

alligator аллигатор

to groan стонать

save up копить

to mean иметь в виду

to be all abuzz разг.to buzz жужжать, волноваться

lo and behold уст. и вот! о чудо!

step by step шаг за шагом, ступенька за ступенькой

to hang onto (on to) sth висеть, виснуть на чем-л.

for dear life (борясь) за жизнь из последних сил

Exercises to the text

1. Answer the questions to the text:

1. Why was the hotel all abuzz?

2. How old were the groom and the bride?

3. What did the groom look like?

4. In what manner did the bride come down the next morning?

5. What did the clerk at the counter ask the bride?

6. How long had the groom been saving up?

7. What had he been saving up?

2. Fill in the blanks with the words from the text:

1. The hotel was all abuzz _______ the wedding.

2. The groom looked _______ feeble.

3. The _______ was that the wedding night might kill him.

4. _______ next morning, the bride came down the main staircase.

5. She _______ managed to get to the counter.

6. The clerk looked _______ concerned.

7. You _______ like you've been wrestling an alligator.

3. Match the two parts of the sentences:

4. Match the words and expressions in the left column to those in the right one:

5. Translate from Russian into English:

1. Жених выглядел весьма хилым.

2. Брачная ночь могла убить его.

3. Но, о чудо! на следующее утро невеста медленно спустилась вниз, держась за перила.

4. Клерк выглядел действительно озабоченным.

5. Вы выглядите так, словно боролись с аллигатором.

Revise English Grammar

В предложениях You look like you've been wrestling an alligator и He told me he'd been saving up for 75 years… используется форма совершенного длительного времени, имеющая весьма своеобразную сферу применения и отличающаяся от форм совершенного времени.

Проверьте, насколько хорошо вы владеете этой формой, при необходимости обратившись к грамматическому комментарию (раздел 12).

6. Fill in the blanks with appropriate forms of the verbs:

1. A small tourist hotel (to wait) _______ for the newly married since early in the morning.

2. They (to come) _______ to the conclusion about their age only after a long discussion.

3. The bride (to prepare) _______ for the wedding night for about two hours, and when she was ready, the groom (already to fall) _______ asleep.

4. She (to wrestle) _______ with this alligator since midnight.

5. I've (to save up) _______ money in the bank for twenty five years, and I (already to save up) _______ about ten bucks.

7. Render the joke.