3. “I’m not happy about the guards,” Pyle said. “They are all right so long as the viets don’t turn up.” (Gr. Greene)

to have or put one’s finger (hand) in the pie – to be concerned in the matter

1. That lady had a hand in most pies, I fancy. I bet she speeded when she could. (J. Galsworthy)

2. Clayton, who now owned the works, a busy go-ahead chap with his fingers already in several pies. (J. Lindsay)

3. The people – Britain’s most implacable enemies – have now been given a finger in the Scottish nuclear pie by the Minichite Lord Home. (Daily Worker)

on the spur of the moment – without previous intention or preparation; at the moment

1. In America, women don’t generally decide on the spur of the moment to do a little shooting. (S. Heym)

2. Victoria thought with pride that it explained it very well for a spur of the moment plunge.

3. Benham felt it was very kind of him to take so intimate an interest in these matters, but on the spur of the moment he could find no better expression for this than a grant

Dialogue

A: Hi, Andrew! What’s up? Why do you have such a gloomy face? It seems you’ve got in a mess.

B: Quite so, Nick. I’ve been invited to a birthday party. Mary is celebrating her 25^th anniversary. At heart I just long to go there. And, unfortunately, at the moment I just can’t make both ends meet. And to go to the party without a present is out of the question, of course.

A: Andrew, don’t make a mountain out of a mole-hill. A present mustn’t be expensive. It mustn’t cost a pretty penny to you. It can be just a knick-knack but so nice that Mary’ll take to it at first sight.

B: I don’t know really. I’m sure you’re on friendly terms with John. And he’s never pressed for money as he has his finger in a lot of pies. Sometimes I envy the people who can make hay while the sun shines. I wish I weren’t so slow in the uptake.

A: Oh, stop it! I understand what you are driving at. You want to ask me to put in a word for you, as you want to borrow some money from John. Am I right?

B: Yes, you are right. I know the quotation “neither a borrower nor a lender be”, but I’m at my wit’s end.

A: OK. We’d better not let the grass grow under our feet. I’ll call John right now and fix everything up. You know we are not on friendly terms with him any more, as we had a quarrel last month. But it seems to me he’ll prefer to let sleeping dogs lie.

B: Oh, if the relations are so tense it’s not very reasonable to act on the spur of the moment. We may think it over and find another way out.

A: Andrew, I’m fed up with your timidity. I’ve never let you down. So this time I’ll try to make the best of it. And now let’s stop talking about it. Mary has just turned up.

I. Translate into Russian

1. Mrs.Scarfedale had set to working at the tobacco factory, and she had a struggle to make ends meet through the dole days. (A. Sillitoe)

2. Sidney was judged to be sufficiently strong to go to school. But Sidney came home for dinner weeping… School was out of the question. (A. Bennett)