My Blue-Eyed Boy
(after Alexandra Mandis)
I think we are drawn to dogs because they are the uninhibited creatures we might be if we weren't certain we knew better.
Before reading the story be sure you know how to pronounce these proper names:
Harry
Dalmatian
Central Park
Dog Hill
Alexandra
Valerie
Now you’re welcome to read the story “My blue-eyed boy”. Enjoy reading, please.
My dog, Harry, and I are very close. Harry, an eighty-pound Dalmatian, listens to me when I am upset, comforts me when I am blue and goes everywhere with me. He cares for no other person like he does for me, his beloved mama. Having raised him since he was an eight-week-old pup, I feel the same way about him -he is my blue-eyed boy.
One beautiful Sunday morning, Harry and I went to Central Park. Harry was running off leash on Dog Hill, along with all the other city dogs, while their owners enjoyed a spring day in the park.
I was feeling down because I had been recently laid off from the job I'd held for ten years. Being in the park with Harry was one of the ways I forgot for a while that I was out of work - and that my prospects were not looking good in a tough economy.
I was standing at the bottom of Dog Hill talking to another dog owner, when all of a sudden we heard some-one shout, "He peed on my leg!" I turned to look, and, behold, at the top of the hill I saw a lady gesticulating at my beloved boy, who apparently was the culprit. Horrified, I rushed up the hill. Harry had never done anything remotely like this before.
When I got to where the woman was standing, I reached down quickly and grabbed hold of Harry's collar in case he decided to do anything else untoward. The woman was bent over, trying to clean up her leg. She was pulling off her shoe because the pee had dribbled down her leg all the way into her shoe.
We straightened up at the same moment, and for a shocked instant, we looked at each other. "Alexandra! ' she said.
"Valerie! "It was my former boss - the one who laid me off three months before.
I apologized to Valerie for Harry's behavior, but all the way home, I laughed and laughed, and gave Harry lots of kisses and hugs. Harry, of course, was thrilled that he clearly had pulled off a winning stunt - though, fortunately, he has never repeated his performance. To this day, when I think about all of Harry's wonderful qualities, his "revenge for mama "still makes me laugh the hardest.
Well, you’ve just read the story “My blue-eyed boy”. We hope that you’ve enjoyed the reading. Now let’s see how well you know it. Do the following tasks, please.
Speech practice and translation tasks
Task 1. Translate these words or parts of the sentences into Russian. Good luck!
грустить/ быть в печали; растить/ воспитывать, быть без работы, извиняться перед кем-либо, чувствовать тоже самое, нерадужные перспективы, вдруг, отдалённо напоминающий, снимать/ сбрасывать, до сегодняшнего дня, к счастью, заставлять кого-либо делать что-либо.
Task 2. Now try to give English equivalents to the Russian ones.
to be very close, when I am blue, I was feeling down, had been recently laid off from the job, a lady gesticulating at my beloved boy, I rushed up the hill, "He peed on my leg!", the woman was bent over, untoward, for a shocked instant, culprit, tough economy, to be laid off from the job, to run off leash, in case, for a while, to this day, to pull off a stunt, kisses and hugs, his "revenge for mama "still makes me laugh the hardest.
Task 3. Translate the following sentences into English using the indicated words and word combinations:
| to apologize to smb for smth to rush | Увидев её, он резко подбежал и начал извиняться за всё, что натворил. |
| to make smb do smth Fortunately to give in | К счастью, на следующий день полиция заставила преступника сдаться. |
| to be raised prospects | Мы выросли вместе, но он всегда был её любимчиком, а мои перспективы были не очень радужными. |
| to care for to feel the same way about to make smb do smth | Он её всегда любил и заботился о ней, не заставлял её ждать даже минуты, и она относилась к нему также. |
| All of a sudden | Мы наслаждались прекрасным солнечным днём, как вдруг пошёл проливной дождь. |
| In case For a while | Я отпустила ненадолго поводок, чтобы щенок смог побегать. |
| to raise qualities | Никто другой не смог бы вырастить такого человека с прекрасными качествами. |
| to this day to be close | Мы до сих пор очень близки и при каждой встрече обнимаемся и целуемся. |
| to be blue | Когда мне грустно, я включаю Шопена и погружаюсь в красоту грусти |
Task 4. Translate the passage from “One beautiful Sunday morning” up to “anything remotely like this before”.
Grammar tasks
We believe that your grammar is as good as your speech practice skills and you can do the following grammar tasks, can’t you?
Task 1. Give comparative, superlative and much-form to these adjectives from the text:
Close, blue, upset, beautiful, good, tough, wonderful, hard, beloved, spring, gesticulating
Task 2. Find synonyms from the text to the following words and word combinations:
To bring up, for a moment, unexpectedly, to be sad, to ask for excuse, to pay back, to stand with one’s back flat, to fire, to please smb, to run very quickly.