e-angielski

PART I

Romeo Brown is a boy of 17. His father, Donald Brown, is a writer. He writes novels whose literary value is controversial. Some critics like them while others say they are trash.

Donald Brown is extremely sensitive about the opinions of various critics. He likes those who praise his books and hates those who criticize them. There is one critic whom Mr Donald Brown simply cannot stand. His name is Ronald Gray and he is famous for his sharp tongue and vitriolic humour. It was Ronald Gray who called Donald Brown’s books the most ludicrous stuff ever printed in British history. No wonder that Donald Brown gets an allergic rash all over his body when he hears the name of Ronald Grey mentioned.
Ronald Grey reciprocates Donald Brown’s feelings because Donald Brown once called him a hopeless mediocrity. When he hears the writer’s name mentioned, he gets into a fit if neurotic coughing and cannot utter a word for ten minutes.
Ronald Gray has a very pretty daughter called Juliet. She is 16 and loves poetry. She knows half of William Shakespeare’s sonnets by heart.

Explanations
novels whose value – powieści, których wartość
sharp tongue - ostry język
vitriolic – zjadliwy
reciprocate – odwzajemniać
hopeless mediocrity - beznadziejna miernota
get into a fit of – dostawać ataku
by heart – na pamięć

Exercises
1. Describe Mr Donald Brown.
2. Describe Mr Ronald Gray.
3. Describe Romeo Brown and Julia Gray.

PART II

Romeo Brown and Juliet Gray met at a party given by a friend of Juliet’s who lives in North London. It was a warm afternoon in May. Romeo came first. Then he saw Juliet come in. They looked at each other and they knew at once: it was love at first sight.
They didn’t talk much on that day. They didn’t realize that their surnames (Brown and Gray) signified a danger to their new born love. They never thought of their fathers – after all, Brown and Gray are very common English names. There are thousands of people in London whose names are Brown and Gray. They met on the following day and went for a walk in Hyde Park. It was then that they discovered that their fathers were bitter enemies. At first it seemed funny to them. What did it matter? Romeo’s father wrote novels which Juliet’s father criticized. That surely wasn’t serious. That main thing was they were in love, and they decided to get married at once. Being so young and without any money of their own, they needed their parents’ consent. And they were sure that they would get it.

Explanations
a friend of Juliet’s = one of Juliet’s friends
he saw Juliet come in – zobaczył, jak Juliet weszła
it was then that they discovered – to wtedy odkryli
without any money of their own – bez własnych pieniędzy
consent – zgoda

Exercises
1. Describe how Romeo and Juliet first met.
2. Explain why Romeo and Juliet did not at first realize the significance of their surnames.
3. Explain why Romeo needed their parents' consent before getting married.

PART III

Romeo told his parents he wanted to marry Juliet and Juliet told her parents she wanted to marry Romeo. For once Mr Donald Brown and Mr Ronald Gray were in full agreement – they said: “No!”
Mr Donald Brown said he would never grant his consent and he gave two reasons for this: Romeo was too young to get married and he, Donald Brown, was not going to have anything to do with Ronald Gray or anybody in any way related to him. Ronald Gray’s reaction to what Juliet said to him was very similar.
The two mothers fully shared the views of their husbands – the marriage was out of the question.
This was a blow to Rome and Juliet, for they simply couldn’t imagine life without each other. But they knew it was useless even to try to persuade their parents to change their minds.

Explanations
for once – jeden raz
anybody in any way related to – ktokolwiek w jakikolwiek sposób spokrewniony z
blow – cios
persuade – przekonać

Exercises
1. Describe the reactions of Mr Brown and Mr Gray to what they heard from Romeo and Juliet.
2. Describe the reactions of the mothers.
3. Describe the situation in which Romeo and Juliet found themselves.

PART IV

Romeo and Juliet failed to obtain their parents’ permission to get married. They had nobody to turn to – no one took them seriously. Eventually they decided to join an oriental sect whose members begged in the streets of London. They left their homes without telling anybody about their plans.
Rome and Juliet did not realize what they were doing when they joined the sect. They put themselves into the worst of all possible prisons – they lost the ability to make their own decisions and became slaves of the sect leader.
Both families – the Browns and the Grays got together in an attempt to find out what happened to the children, to bring them back home. They forgot their animosity and discovered that they actually liked each other. They understood how wrong that had been to hate each other for such trivial reasons as different literary tastes. And they did everything they could to put their mistake right: they informed the police, they engaged a private detective, they offered a large award to anyone who could tell them where Romeo and Juliet were. All in vain. The two young people simply disappeared – as if they had died.

Explanations
they failed to obtain – nie udało im się uzyskać
beg – żebrać
they had nobody to turn to – nie mieli do kogo się zwrócić
a sect whose members – sekta, której członkowie
put a mistake right – naprawić błąd
as if they had died – jakby umarli

Exercises
1. Explain why Romeo and Juliet joined the sect.
2. Explain why Romeo and Juliet made a terrible mistake in joining the sect.
3. Describe what positive results their action had.

Ćwiczenie

Słownictwo z artykułu - quiz i fiszki

Słownictwo z artykułu - quiz i fiszki - część 2