XIV. Прочтите и перескажите своим друзьям английские шутки:

Believe it or not, but…

… when a masked man tried to rob a post office at Darby Abbey, Derbyshire, an official just threw a cup of hot tea in his face and the bandit fled.

… When an Australian Bushman died, they lowered his body into a grave where a special gravedigger awaited it. This person’s job was to slice up the corpse and hand out bits of the flesh to the mourners. The order in which the relatives partook of the feast was strictly prescribed. A mother ate from her children, and children from their mother. A man could eat his sister’s husband and his brother’s wife. A father, however, could not eat his children, nor children their father.

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to rob - ограбить

to flee (fled) – сбежать, спасаться бегством

to low er a body into a grave – опустить тело в могилу

a gravedigger – могильщик

а corpse – труп

to hand out bits of the flesh – раздавать кусочки плоти

a mourner – присутствующий на похоронах, плакальщик

to partake (partook, partaken) of smth – принимать участие в чем-либо, отведать, съесть, выпить что-либо

to prescribe – предписывать

***

An American went to Florida on holiday. Suddenly he fell ill there and died. His body was sent to New York. At the funeral one of his friends said to the widow:

“He looks so nice!”

“Oh, yes! Two weeks in Florida did him much good!”

***

A dangerous criminal escaped. So the police issued the usual photographs: left profile, front view, and right profile. A few days later they received a telegram from an Irish detective reading as follows: “Captured the fellow on the left, and the fellow in the middle, and will soon get the fellow on the right as well”.

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to escape - сбежать

to capture – схватить

as well - тоже

XV. Прочтите и переведите текст:

THE ODD WORD

On an English 5 pound note there is a picture of the Duke of Wellington. He is the general who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. But what are “wellingtons”? Wellingtons are long rubber boots that the Duke of Wellington first started wearing. He certainly needed them on the muddy battle-field of Waterloo. They usually go right up to the knee.

Who, do you think was the first man to eat a sandwich?

Of course the Earl of Sandwich, the Lord Sandwich. He lived in the 18^th century and spent most of his time gambling. He simply couldn’t tear himself away from the game even for dinner, so he ordered his servant to put pieces of meat, fish, salad or vegetables between two slices of buttered bread.

Do you know what a cardigan is? It’s a knitted jacket that buttons down the front. The Earl of Cardigan was the first man who wore such thing.

odd – странный

rubber – резина

muddy – грязный

gambling – азартные игры

to tear away from the game – оторваться от игры

a knitted jacket – вязаный жакет

XVI. Ответьте на вопросы:

1. Whose picture is there on an English 5 pound note?

2. Who is Duke of Wellington?

3. Did Duke of Wellington first started wearing long rubber boots?

4. Where did Duke of Wellington need long rubber boots?

5. When did Lord Sandwich live?

6. Did he spend most of his time gambling?

7. What did he order his servant?

8. Who was the first man to wear a cardigan?