Twenty Foreign Visitors

W i 1 m a: What are you giving your foreign visitors on Wednesday evening, Winnie? How many — twelve, is it?

Winnie: Twenty. Twelve of William's Swedish representatives, eight of them with wives.

W i 1 m a: And what will you feed them on?

Winnie: Well, we'll start with watercress soup, then fish in a white wine souce flavoured with fennel and chives, followed by stuffed veal served with cauliflower and... oh, a very wide variety of vegetables.

W i 1 m a: Mmm... My mouth's watering!

Winnie: For sweet we'll have fresh fruit souffle covered with walnuts. And lots of whipped cream, of course, and vanilla wafers. And we'll finish with devilled soft roes.

W i 1 m a: And finally coffee? What a feast! I wish I was going to be with you!

Exercise VI.Read the rhymes and learn them.

1. The south wind brings wet weather,

The north wind wet and cold together,

The west wind always brings us rain,

The east wind blows it back again.

2. If all the world were water,

And all the sea were drink,

What should we do for bread and jam?

What should we do for drink?

3. The Vine

V was once a little vine

Viny,

Winy,

Twiny,

Viny,

Twisty-twiny

Little vine.

4. Oh, wind, why do you never rest?

Wandering, whistling to and fro?

Bringing rain out of the west

From the dim north bringing snow?

5. Whether the weather be fine,

Whether the weather be not,

Whether the weather be cold,

Whether the weather be hot,

We'll weather the weather

Whatever the weather

Whether we like it or not.

6. When the weather is wet,

We must not fret,

When the weather is cold,

We must not scold.

When the weather is warm,

We must not storm,

But be joyful together,

Whatever the weather.

Exercise VII.Transcribe the proverbs and learn them.

1. Virtue is its own reward.

2. All is fair in love and war.

3. When the wind is in the west, the weather's always best.

4. One word to the wise.

5. Time works wonders.

6. Wilful waste makes woeful want.

7. One never knows with the weather.

8. Wealth is nothing without health.

9. No sweet without some sweat.

UNIT 19. [s] – [z]

Exercise I.Read the following words paying special attention to correct pronunciation.

4. Silent s:

aisle; island; Grosvenor, Carlisle; chassis

Exercise II.Read the following sense-groups, mind the rhythm and intonation.

(a) smile; an irresistible smile; has an irresistible smile; Sally has an irresistible smile; Sam thinks Sally has an irresistible smile.

(b) roses; over the roses; flying over the roses; bees are flying over the roses; the busy bees are flying over the roses.

Exercise III.Transcribe and intone the following sentences. Practise reading them in pairs.

[s] (a) 1. Better safe than sorry.

2. A lisping lass is good to kiss.

3. Last but not least.

4 Sue will certainly see the sights of Sydney.

5. Sing a song of seasons.

[z] (b) 1. As soon as he can.

2. A lazy zebra called Desmond is dozing at the zoo.

3. He feels flies buzzing round his eyes, ears and nose.

4. He rouses, opens his eyes, rises and goes to Zoe.

5. Zoe is wearing a rose on her blouse.

6. Zoe gives Desmond the buns, but he prefers the rose on her blouse.

[s] — [z] (c) 1. Last summer I saw Susan and Bessy in Cyprus.

2. I'm sorry Miss Bessy Castle is busy.

3. Susan and Cecily seem to be fond of ice-cream.

4. Susie is a secretary in a famous agency.

5. She is responsible for ads.

6. Her boss Sam Smith thinks she is lazy.

Exercise IV.Read,the tongue-twisters and learn them.

1. Swan swam over the sea,

Swim, swan, swim.

Swan swam back again,

Well swum, swan!

2. Moses supposes his toeses are roses,

But Moses supposes erroneously.

Exercise V. Read the dialogues, mark the stresses and tunes. Learn them. Act out the dialogues.

1. It's Expensive

Sam: Let's go to the seaside on Sunday.

Alice: Yes! Let's go sailing and water-skiing. That's exciting.

Sam: It's expensive too. Let's just sit in the sun and go swimming instead.

Alice: Let's stay in the Six Star Hotel and spend Sunday there too.

Sam: Be sensible, Alice. It's too expensive. Let's sleep outside instead.

Alice: Yes. Let's sleep on the sand. That's more exciting.