43540 (Сanada and Australia in Focus), страница 3

Pre-reading task

How do you think? What is the meaning of this sentence? «Spider is still carefully carrying Moon's message and spinning the web in the corner of our rooms - but how many of us listen?». Try to explain.

Reading

Moon was sad. She had spent many years looking at the people on Earth and she saw that they were afraid. They were afraid of dying. To make them feel better she decided to call on her friend Spider to take a message to them.

"Spider", She said, "The people of Earth are afraid of dying and that makes me very sad. Please tell them that they will all die sooner or later but it is nothing to be scared of."

So Spider slowly made his way back to Earth, carefully picking his way down on moonbeams and sunbeams. On his way he met Hare.

"Where are you going Spider?", said Hare.

"I am going to give the people of Earth a message from Moon.", he said.

"Oh, you'll be far too long. Tell me the message and I'll take it there for you", replied Hare.

"OK! Moon wants the people of Earth to know that they will all die......", Spider started.

"Right! Tell the people of Earth that they will all die", said Hare. And with that, Hare disappeared off to Earth.

Spider gloomily made his way back to Moon and told Her what had happened. Moon was very cross with Hare and when he came back to tell them that he had given them the message, she hit him on the nose! And that is why to this day, the Hare has a split lip.

"You had better take the message yourself", said Moon to Spider.

And to this day, Spider is still carefully carrying Moon's message and spinning the web in the corner of our rooms - but how many of us listen?

Comprehension check

1. Put the following events (A-D) in the right order/ Number them (1-4).

A. "Where are you going Spider?", said Hare.

B. Moon was sad.

C. And with that, Hare disappeared off to Earth.

D. She said, "The people of Earth are afraid of dying and that makes me very sad.

WRITIHG

Think a little and write your attitude to this myth.

The Crow and Its Ugly Fledglings

Key words and expressions:

a fledgling

a gift

one by one

a brood

Make up sentences with new words

Pre-reading task

How do you think what does it mean?

«Just so are all mothers. No other child is so beautiful in their eyes as their own».

Reading

Of all the birds the crow is considered the ugliest, especially its young fledglings. The legend tells that sometime after God had created all the living beings, he called everyone to see them and their offspring. He wanted to see how the young birds and animals looked, and then to give them suitable gifts, and food for their little ones.

They came one by one, and God looked at them, patted some and stroked others, and was very pleased with every one of them, for each one had something of beauty in it. And so he blessed them and gave them food by which to live. The last to come was the crow, bringing her little brood with her, very proud of them.

When God cast his eyes upon the young crows, he spat in astonishment, and said, "Surely these are not my creatures. I could not have made such ugly things. Every one of my creatures has such beautiful young ones that they are a pleasure to look at, but yours are so ugly that it makes one sick to look at them. Where did you get this one?"

"Where should I get them from?" replied the crow. "It is my very own young child," she added with pride.

"You had better go back and bring me another one. This is much too ugly. I cannot look at it."

Annoyed at the words of God, the crow went away and flew all over the earth to search for another young one that would be more beautiful than the one she had brought to God. But no other young bird appeared so beautiful in her eyes as her own. So she returned back to God and said, "I have been all over the world, and I have searched high and low, but young birds more beautiful and more dainty than mine I have not been able to find."

Then God smilingly replied, "Quite right. Just so are all mothers. No other child is so beautiful in their eyes as their own."

Then he blessed the little crows and sent them away into the world with his gifts.

Comprehension check AND WRITIHG

Making a spider. Find out as many words as you can to describe a crow and make the spider bigger.

Why Is there Enmity Between the Crow and the Hawk?

Key words and expressions:

to rear

a nest

to beg

woe

Make up sentences with new words

Pre-reading task

Find out the differences between two words FRIENDSHIP and FELLOWSHIP. Try to explain them.

Reading

The crow was in very great distress, for however she tried and whatever she did, she could not rear a family. No sooner were the young hatched, than the hawk would come and pick them up. In vain did she try to hide her nest in the hollows of a tree or in the thickets of a bush. As sure as death would the hawk find them and eat them.

Not knowing what to do, she bethought herself and said, "How would it do if I try and get the hawk to be godmother? For then, being a near relation, she is sure to spare my little ones."

Said and done. She went out of her place to search for the hawk, and finding her, she said, "Good morning, sister."

"Good morning," replied the hawk.

"How pleased I should feel," said the crow, "if you would become godmother to my children."

"With pleasure," replied the hawk. "Why not?" And so they made up a covenant of friendship and of good fellowship between them.

Before leaving the hawk, the crow said to her, "Now, sister, I have one request to make."

"Granted," replied the hawk. "What is it?"

"I only beg of you to spare my children. Do not eat them when you have found them."

"All right," replied the hawk. "I shall certainly not touch them. But tell me how they look, so that in case I meet them, I may spare them."

"Oh," replied the crow, "mine are the most beautiful creatures in the world. They are more lovely than any other bird can boast of."

"Very well. Rest assured. Go in peace." And they parted.

The crow, being quite satisfied with the hawk's promise, began flying about the next day trying to find something with which to feed her children. The hawk the next morning went about her own business and tried to find some nice little young ones to eat. Flying about, she saw the young ones of the thrush, the blackbird, and of other beautiful birds, and she said to herself, "Surely these are the children of the crow. Look how lovely and beautiful they are. I am not going to touch them."

She went all day without finding any little birds but these. And she said to herself, "I must keep my word to my sister. I am not going to touch them." And she went to bed hungry. The next day the same thing happened, and still the hawk kept her word and would not touch them.

On the third day she was so hungry that she could scarcely see out of her eyes. Roaming about, the hawk suddenly lighted upon the nest of the crow. Seeing the little, miserable, ugly things in the nest, the hawk at first would not touch them, although she never dreamt that these ugly things were the children of the crow, so much praised by her for their beauty, and thought they must belong to some hideous bird. But what is one to do when one is hungry? One eats what one gets, and not finding anything better, she sat down and gobbled them up one by one, and then flew away.

Not long after the hawk had left, the crow came in, feeling sure this time to find her little ones unhurt. But how great was her dismay when she found the nest empty! First she thought the little birds had tried their wings and were flying about in the neighbourhood, and she went in search of them. Not finding them, she began to be a little more anxious, and hunting a little more closely, found on the ground near some rushes some tufts of feathers with little bones and blood. She knew at once that the hawk had again been there, feeding on her children.

Full of wrath and fury, she went to find the hawk. Meeting her, she said, "A nice sister and godmother you are! After you had promised most faithfully not to touch my children, no sooner had I turned my back on them, then you come again and eat them."

"I do not understand what you are saying," replied the hawk. "It is your own fault. You told me your children were the most beautiful in the world, and those which I have eaten were monsters of hideousness. If I had not felt the pinch of hunger so strong, I would not have touched them, not for anything, such ugly things they were! They nearly made me sick."

"Is that the way you keep your promise?" replied the angry crow. "After having eaten them, you even have the impudence to tell lies and insult me. Off with you! And woe betide you if I ever catch you, I will teach you to behave properly."

From that day on, the hawk, if it gets near the crows, attacks them. And from that day on there is implacable hatred between the crows and the hawks.

Comprehension check

Work in pairs. Retell the legend as if you were the crow and your partner as a hawk.

WRITIHG

Put 10 different questions on the text.

The Coffee Mill which Grinds Salt

Key words and expressions:

to be about to die

to grind a wish

Make up sentences with new words

Pre-reading task

How do you think? Why does the water in seas and in oceans have a salt taste? Try to explain.

Reading

There was once a little boy by the name of Dan. As his parents died while he was very young, his grandmother took care of him and taught him reading and writing, and to be a good boy.

When she became very old, and thought she was about to die, she called the little boy to her and said, "I am old, Dan, and may not live long. You were always a good boy, and therefore you shall have my only treasure, a coffee mill which I have always kept at the bottom of my old chest. This coffee mill will grind all that you wish. If you say to it, 'Grind a house, little mill,' it will work away, and there the house will stand. When you say, 'Stop, little mill,' it will cease to grind."

Dan thanked his grandmother kindly, and when she died, and he was alone in the world, he opened the chest, took the coffee mill, and went out into the world.

When he had walked a long distance, and needed something to eat, he placed the mill on the grass and said, "Grind some bread and butter, little mill." Very soon Dan had all that he needed, and then he bid the mill to stop.

The next day he came to a large seaport, and when he saw the many vessels, he thought it would be pleasant to see more of the great world. He therefore boarded one of the ships and offered his service to the sailors. As it just happened that the captain needed a boy of Dan's age, he told him to stay.

As soon as the ship was out of port, the sailors commenced abusing Dan. He bore the harsh treatment as well as he could, and when he had nothing to eat the mill ground all that he wished. The bad men wondered how he could always be contented, although they gave him but little to eat. One day one of them peeped through a hole in the cabin door and discovered how the coffee mill served him.

Now the sailors offered a large sum of money to Dan if he would sell his treasure. He refused, however, saying that it was all that his good old grandmother had left him. So one day these wicked men threw Dan overboard and seized the mill. As they were in need of some salt, they bid it grind for them. The mill immediately began its work, and soon they had enough. Now they asked it to stop, but as the one who had peeped through the hole into the boy's cabin had not learned the exact command, the mill refused to obey, and before long the ship was filled with salt.

The men grew desperate, but none of them was able to find a way out of the difficulty. So at length the ship sank down with the mill, the salt, and all the wicked men. The men were drowned, but the mill is yet standing at the bottom of the sea, grinding away, and for this reason the water in the ocean has and always will have a salt taste.

Comprehension check

Read the statements (1-5) that follow the text and decide if they are TRUE or FALSE according to what the text says. Mark your answers (x) in the table after the statements.

WRITIHG

Write an article of about 80-100 words to express your point of view on the legend.

Why Sea Water Is Salty

Key words and expressions:

to limp

misfortune