Precis writing

Ex. 29. a) Read the passage; b) Write 3-5 questions covering the basic points of the passage; c) Give a title to the passage and write a precis.

I was shown into the waiting-room which, as I had expected was full. Any waiting-room—especially a dentist's, as this was—is not the best place in the world to spend an afternoon. No matter how hard a dentist tries to make his waiting-room look pleasant, it always has an atmosphere of its own. There is that smell that reminds you of a hos­pital. A small table in the centre is covered with very old and torn mag­azines; the curtains are faded and the armchairs have a sunken look about them.

This waiting-room was no exception. I took my seat and decided to pass the time watching the people around me.

A little man beside me was turning over the pages of a magazine quick­ly and nervously. It was hard to understand what he was looking at, for every three minutes or so he would throw the magazine on the table, seize another, and sink back into his chair. Opposite me there was a young mother who was trying to keep her son from making a noise. The boy had obviously grown tired of waiting. He had placed an ash-tray on the floor and was making aeroplane-noises. Near him, an old man was fast asleep, and the boy's mother was afraid that sooner or later the boy would wake the gentleman up. Meanwhile, the little man beside me kept sighing loudly. At last, he got up, walked towards the door and began impatiently to examine the pictures on the wall. Soon, growing tired of it, he took another magazine from the pile on the table and drop­ped into his chair again. Even the boy had become quiet and was now sleeping in his mother's arms. There was a deathly silence in the room as the door opened and a nurse entered. The people looked up expectant­ly, then settled down again as the next lucky patient was led out of the room.

Speech exercises

Ex. 30. Retell in narrative form.

"Excuse me, gentlemen," a voice said behind Dr. Ingram as he and Dr. Nicholas were leaving the lobby of the hotel. As they turned, a camera clicked. "That's good," he said. "Let's try it once more," and the camera clicked again.

The manager came hurrying up saying: "You are not allowed to take pictures..."

Dr. Ingram asked: "Are you a newspaper man?"

"Good question, doctor," the man with the camera said. "I wish my editor heard you, he's of a different opinion, but today he'll change his mind, when I send him these pictures."

"What paper?" asked the manager suspecting the worst, but hoping it wasn't anything important.

"New York Herald Tribune."

"Good." The dentists' president said. "They'll make the best of it. I hope you saw what happened."

"You might say I got the picture," the newspaper man said. "I'll need a few details from you, so I can spell the names right. First, though, I'd like another picture outside the hotel — you and the other doctor together."

Dr. Ingram seized Dr. Nicholas's arm. "It's the way to fight this thing, Jim. We'll drag the name of this hotel through every newspaper in the country."

Dr. Nicholas nodded slowly.

As they were moving away Dr. Ingram was saying, "I'd like to do this fairly quickly. As soon as we have your pictures I intend to start pulling our convention out of this hotel. The only way to hit these peo­ple is where they feel it most—financially."

(after "Hotel" by Arthur Hailey)

Ex. 31. Answer the following questions using the active vocabulary. Sum up your answers.