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Только когда Робин приблизилась к двери и в сумрачном свете увидела надпись на стекле, она изменила свое решение по поводу этой работы. Она поняла, что будет помогать в делах частному детективу и сердце ее подскочило от радости. Ни с одним человеком она не делилась своей заветной мечтой. Она давно хотела заняться расследованиями преступлений (to investigate). В глубине души Робин была искателем приключений (adventurous) и хотела добираться до сути загадок и тайн.
B. Она только протянула руку к дверной ручке, когда дверь внезапно распахнулась и какой-то крупный неопрятный мужчина сильно толкнул ее и сбил с ног. Пронзительный крик раздался эхом в каменном лестничном проеме. Не моргнув и глазом, Страйк инстинктивно вскинул руку, схватил Робин и спас девушку от смертельной опасности.
Робин скорчилась от боли и всхлипывала. Ее щеки пылали, голос дрожал, слезы катились из глаз. Ее сгорбленная фигура и несчастный вид тронули сердце детектива. И Страйк и Робин знали, что эта встреча является поворотным моментом в их жизни. Не должно было быть никакого временного секретаря. Страйк планировал разорвать контракт с агентством "Временные решения" после увольнения предшественника Робин. Дела шли плохо (things were slack), у него была гора долгов и не было сбережений. Он молниеносно подсчитал в уме, что он мог заплатить Робин лишь ничтожную сумму денег за неделю работы, но и это могло оказаться последней каплей. Робин смотрела насторожено. Без сомнения, ей оказали холодный прием. Страйк извинился и пригласил ее в офис. Девушка держалась с достоинством, она не хотела показаться напористой. В своей каморке Страйк смотрел на свой вещевой мешок, в котором были все его пожитки. Мысль о невозможности погасить долги пришла ему в голову. Он подумал о тех ужасных последствиях и тяготах жизни, с которыми ему придется столкнуться. Страйк не знал, как спасти положение и уже начал падать духом. За тонкой стеной новая секретарша нажимала кнопки компьютера, искала материалы, относящиеся к работе. Страйк обхватил голову руками. Он понимал, что незнакомка обнаружит его унижение.
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Read the text and retell it. Translate it into Russian (in writing).
Precisely at two-thirty someone knocked on the door. Lamar opened the door. “Mitchell McDeere?” he asked with a huge smile and a hand thrust forward. “Yes.” They shook hands violently. “Nice to meet you, Mitchell. I’m Lamar Quin.” “My pleasure. Please call me Mitch.” He stepped inside and quickly surveyed the spacious room. They were exceedingly warm and cordial.. With three job offers from three of the most prestigious firms in the country, he did not need this interview, this firm. He could afford to be a little overconfident now. He was there out of curiosity.. Oliver Lambert, the senior partner, leaned forward on his elbows and took control of the preliminary chitchat.. “Are you tired of interviewing?” asked Oliver Lambert. “Not really. It’s part of it.” They knew what he was going through, all right. “May I ask a question?” Mitch asked. “Certainly.” “Why are we interviewing in this hotel room? The other firms interview on campus through the placement office.”. “Perhaps I can answer that, Mitch,” said Royce McKnight, the managing partner. “You must understand our firm. We have forty-one lawyers, so we are small compared with other firms. We don’t hire too many people; about one every other year. We offer the highest salary and fringes in the country, and I’m not exaggerating. So we are very selective. The letter you received last month was sent after we screened over two thousand third-year law students at the best schools. Only one letter was sent. We don’t advertise openings and we don’t solicit applications. We keep a low profile, and we do things differently. “Fair enough. What kind of firm is it?” “Tax. Some securities, real estate and banking, but eighty percent is tax work. That’s why we wanted to meet you, Mitch. You have an incredibly strong tax background.” “Why’d you go to Western Kentucky?” asked Oliver Lambert. “Simple. They offered me a full scholarship to play football. Had it not been for that, college would’ve been impossible.” “Tell us about your family.” “Why is that important?” “It’s very important to us, Mitch,” Royce McKnight said warmly.. “Okay, my father was killed in the coal mines when I was seven years old. My mother remarried and lives in Florida. I had two brothers. Rusty was killed in Vietnam. I have a brother named Ray McDeere.” “Where is he?” “I’m afraid that’s none of your business.” He stared at Royce McKnight and exposed a mammoth chip on his shoulder. “I’m sorry,” the managing partner said softly. “Mitch, our firm is in Memphis,” Lamar said. “Does that bother you?” “Not at all. I’m not fond of cold weather.” “Have you ever been to Memphis?” “No.” “We’ll have you down soon. You’ll love it." Were these guys serious? How could he consider such a small firm in such a small town when Wall Street was waiting? “How are you ranked in your class?” Mr. Lambert asked. “Top five.” Not top five percent, but top five. That was enough of an answer for all of them. “Why did you select Harvard?” “Actually, Harvard selected me. I applied at several schools and was accepted everywhere. Harvard offered more financial assistance. I thought it was the best school. Still do.”
(from The Firm by John Grisham)
Discussion
1. Where is the scene set?
2. What features of a big city are shown in the text?
3. Where was Robin going? What thoughts occupied her mind?
4. Was she new in the city? How did she feel about London?
5. What was her attitude to her temping? What is meant by "proper" interviews?
6. Describe the building Strike's office was situated in?
7. What emotions did Robin experience when she realized that she would assist a private investigator?
8. What happened when Robin reached the door of the office?
9. Comment on the man's quick reaction. What does it reveal?
10. Was Robin's arrival expected? What thoughts came into his mind when he learned about the girl's assignment?
11. What problems was Strike facing?
12. What made Strike feel embarrassed and humiliated when Robin started her work?
13. Speak about Robin: her appearance, life experience, ambitions.
14. Cormoran is a giant in the folk tales of Cornwall. Comment on Strike's built, voice, physical strength.
15. Pick out the words and phrases which suggest his military service in the past.
16. Pick out the words and phrases which show Strike's state of mind.
17. Pick out the words and phrases which show Robin's excitement, suffering, wariness?
18. What is meant by "epoch-changing night"? In what way did that day change their lives? Was it a temporary solution for both of them?
19. Give a character sketch of Robin, Cormoran.
20. Retell the text in detail in the person of Robin, Strike.
21. Speak about the role of engagement, dreams, job satisfaction, accidental meeting in our life.
Unit IV
“She is Part of Me Now”
From “The Shell Seekers”
by Rosamunde Pilcher (1924-2019)
(abridged)
Penelope, an elderly lady who lives in the country, has hired a gardener, Danus. The daughter of her acquaintance, Antonia, is currently staying with her helping around the house and the garden.
The footsteps approached. Danus was there awaiting her attention. His eyes, watching her, seemed strangely brilliant, intensely blue, unblinking.
“I have to leave today,” said Danus. “This is what I’ve come to tell you.”
“I’m to blame,” Penelope said. “It’s all my fault,” she reproached herself. “It was I who told Antonia…”She felt herself near tears.
“There is no blame. What has happened has nothing to do with you. If she had said nothing, then I would have spoken. Yesterday we spent together, that day was a sort of catalyst. Everything changed. It was like crossing a watershed. Everything became very simple and very clear.”
“Does she mean so little to you?”
“No. The very opposite. More than love. She has become part of me. Saying goodbye will be like tearing up my roots. But I have to.”
“What happened yesterday?”
“I think we both suddenly grew up. Up to yesterday, everything we’d done together had been unimportant, quite trivial, harmless. Messing about in the garden, swimming off the rocks. I think this was probably my fault. I wasn’t looking for a significant relationship. It was the last thing I wanted. And then yesterday we went to Monacan. I’d talked before to Antonia about my dreams of one day having a place of my own, and she’d discussed it all with me, but in the most casual and light-hearted of ways, and I’d never realized how deeply she’d taken those discussions to heart. Then Edward Ashley began to show us around, and as we went, an extraordinary thing happened. We became a couple. And Antonia was as enthusiastic and interested as I was, bubbling over with questions and ideas and plans, and all at once I knew that she was part of my future. Part of me now. I can’t imagine life without her. Whatever I do I want to do with her, and whatever happens to me, I want it to happen to both of us.
“And why shouldn’t that be allowed to happen?”
“There are two reasons. The first is strictly practical. I have nothing to offer Antonia. I am twenty-four and I have no money, no house, no private means, and my weekly wage is that of a laboring gardener. A market garden, a place of my own, is simply a pipe-dream. That I should have to buy and I have no capital.”
“There are banks who lend money. Or perhaps a government grant? Couldn’t your parents possibly help you? Have you discussed your plans with them?”
“Not yet.”
Such defeatism was unexpected and so irritating. Disappointed in him, she found herself losing patience. “I’m sorry, but I cannot see what all the fuss is about. You and Antonia have found each other, you love each other, and you want to spend the rest of your lives together. You must snatch at happiness, hold it tight and never let it go. To do anything else is morally wrong. Such chances never come again. What does it matter if you have to manage on a shoe-string? Antonia can get a job, most young wives do. Other young couples keep their heads above water, simply because they’ve got their priorities right.”
He said nothing to this, and she frowned. “I suppose it’s your pride. Stupid, stubborn Scottish pride. And if so, you’re being extremely selfish. How can you go away and leave her, and make her so unhappy? What’s wrong with you, Danus, that you can turn your back on love?”
“I said there were two reasons. And I’ve told you one of them.”
“And what is the other?”
“I am an epileptic.”
She took a deep breath. She said, “Have you told Antonia?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want to tell me?”
“That’s why I’m here. Antonia sent me. She said you, of all people, had to know. Before I go and leave you, I have to give my reasons.”
She laid a hand on his knee. “I am listening.”
“I suppose it all starts with my mother and father. And with Ian. I told you, I think, that my father’s a lawyer. His family have been lawyers for three generations. Ian was destined to follow in my father’s footsteps, join the family firm, and generally conform to the tradition. But at fourteen Ian died. And inevitably, it fell to me to take his place. Well, I got through school and managed to pass the necessary exams and won a place at Edinburgh University. But I was still very young, so I took a couple of years off to travel and see a bit of the world. I went to America, I bummed from coast to coast and ended up working on a cattle ranch.
And then, with no warning I felt appallingly ill. The doctor asked me a few questions, and we finally ran it down to a kick I’d got on the head. I’d suffered concussion, but nothing worse. Until now. I was nearly twenty-one, and I was an epileptic. I made the doctor promise that he would honor his medical confidence. I didn’t want anybody to know. If I couldn’t deal with it on my own, then I wasn’t going to be able to deal with it at all. I came back to this country, and there was something else I’d found out during these last three months. That I needed to be out of doors. I needed to work with my hands. I wanted no one standing at my shoulder, with expectations of me that I could never fulfill. So I enrolled for three years at a Horticultural College. I was just another ordinary guy, but if I stopped taking the drugs, it should all start happening again. Then again I was sitting in an eminent neurosurgeon’s consulting-room, there were more tests and a brain-scan. And I was told that no accurate diagnosis could be made while I was taking drugs. So I was to go off them for three months and then go back for a second consultation.
“And when are the three months up?”
“It’s two weeks overdue now. We met with Antonia in the bar, and I just told her what was in my heart. And as I spoke, she started speaking too, and then we began to laugh, because we both realized that we were saying the same thing. I’d been afraid of hurting or distressing her. She’d always seemed to me very young and so very vulnerable. But she was amazing. Immensely practical. But I can’t allow her to commit herself to me until I can see some sort of future for the both of us. There really is no alternative.”
Penelope sighed. Against her better judgment, she respected his reasoning.
Explanatory Notes
That day was a sort of catalyst - Этот день был чем-то вроде катализатора/этот день ускорил события.
a market garden – небольшое плодоовощное хозяйство
, где выращиваются овощи и фрукты на продажу.
Such defeatism was unexpected … Такие пораженческие настроения удивляли
… he would honor his medical confidence … он будет хранить медицинскую тайну
Vocabulary notes
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accurate – точный, правильный
accurate account of the meeting. accurate clock
Language note: аккуратноодетый –neatly dressed
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commit
to commit a crime, foolish act - совершать преступление, сделать глупость
to commit a person to prison – заключать в тюрьму
to commit suicide – покончить жизнь самоубийством
to commit an error – совершить ошибку.
to commit to memory – запоминать
to commit oneself to/be committed – принимать на себя ответственность; полностью посвятить себя.
commitment – обязательство; заключение под стражу; совершение преступления;
to make a commitment – взять на себя обязательство
3 fuss, n – суета; to fuss, v – суетиться.
to make a fuss – волноваться из-за пустяков.
tobe fussy about something – быть привередливым
fusspot n – суетливый человек.
4 manage – управлять, руководить, заведовать, стоять во главе.
to manage to do something – справляться.
manage with/without – справляться/обходиться без чего-либо.
to manage another slice of cake – быть в состоянии съесть еще.
management – управление, заведование, руководство, дирекция, администрация
mismanagement – бесхозяйственность, неправильное управление
5. own – собственный
to be on one’s own – один, самостоятельно
to be one’s own man – быть хозяином самому себе
to hold one’s own – стоять на своем
to come into one’s own – получить независимость, получить должное
to own (v) – владеть, обладать
to own up to the fact – откровенно признать
owner – владелец, собственник, хозяин
Vocabulary exercises
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Transcribe and read:
Intensely; tear up; extraordinary; enthusiastic; catalyst; defeatism; priority; epileptic; inevitably; appallingly; to enroll; lawyer; Edinburgh; horticultural; neurosurgeon; consultation; diagnosis.
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Give the three forms of the verbs:
Await; leave; tear; swim; lend; find; lay; feel; deal.
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Give the negative forms of these words using prefixes or suffixes:
Changed; blinking; important; harmful; significant; interested; practical; possible; patience; happy; moral; manage; selfish; honor; respect.
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A. Learn these phrases with prepositions and adverbs:
show somebody around
conform to
be disappointed in/with
snatch at something
turn one’s back on something
get through school
take a (day, month, year) off
work on a ranch (farm)
enroll at