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Прочтите шутки и скажите, какую функцию выполняет в первом предложении.

Once a man was having breakfast at a small restaurant. The waiter served him a cup of coffee without a spoon.

“This coffee is rather hot, I cannot stir (мешать, помешивать) it with a finger,” said the customer.

The waiter left the room, and in a few minutes came back with another cup of coffee. “Maybe this coffee is not so hot, Sir,” he said.

***

An important businessman was stopping at a small country hotel. As he entered the dining room in the morning, the only other visitor stood up.

“Sit down, sit down,” said the great man condescendingly (снисходительно).

“Why?” asked the other surprised. “Can I get the pepper (перец) from the next table?”

***

A busload of politicians was driving down a country road one afternoon, when all of a sudden, the bus ran off the road and crashed into a tree in an old farmer’s field.

Seeing what happened, the old farmer went over to investigate. He then started to dig a hole and bury the politicians.

A few days later, the local sheriff showed up, saw the crashed bus, and asked the old farmer, “Were they all dead?”

The old farmer replied, “Well, some of them said they weren’t, but you know how these politicians lie.”

a busload of politicians автобус, полный политиков; country road проселочная дорога; all of a sudden внезапно; crash врезаться; investigate расследовать; здесь: выяснить, что случилось

Ключ. Короткие рассказы часто начинаются с предложения, описывающего фон, на котором развивались последующие действия. Такие предложения обычно имеют в своем составе глагол в форме Past Continuous – или Present Continuous, если последующие события описываются в простом настоящем времени.