we got out

7/27/2019 We got out

1/23

We got out

at Sonning, and went for a walk round the village. Itsthe most fairy-

look on the whole river. Its more like a stage

village than one built of bricks and mortar. Every house issmothered,

in roses, and now, in early

June, thery were bursting forth

in clouds of dainty

splendour

,

. If you stop at

Sonning, put up

at the Bull, behind

the church. Its a

veritable picture of an old country inn

, with a green,

square courtyard

in front, where, on seats

beneath


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the trees, the old men group of an evening to drink

their ale

ande gossip

over village politics;

with low quaint rooms and latticed

windows and

awkward

stairs and winding

passages

.

We roamed

about sweet

Sonning for an hour or

so, and then, it being too late to push on

past

Reading, we decided to go back to one of the Shiplake islands, and put up

there for the night. It was still early when

we got settled

and George said that, as we had plenty of time, it would be

a splendid opportunity to try a good, slap-up

supper. He

said he would show us what could be done up


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the

river in the way of

cooking, and suggested

that, with

the vegetables and the remains

of the cold beef and general odds

and ends, we should make an Irish stew

.

It seemed a fascinating

idea. George gathered

wood and made a fire, and Harris and I started to peel

the

potatoes

.

I should never have thought that peeling potatoes was such an

undertaking

. The job turned out to be the biggest thing of

its kind that I had ever been in. We began cheerfully, one might almost say

skittishly

but our light-heartedness

was gone by the

time the first potato was finnished. The more we peeled, the more the peel

there seemed to be left on

; by the time we had got all the peel

off

and all the eyes out


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,

there was no potato left

at least

none worth

speaking of. George came and had a look at it

it was about the size of pea-nut

. He said:

Oh, that wont do! Youre wasting

them. You must scarpe

them.

So we scared them and that was harder work than peeling. They are such

an extraordinary shape, potatoes

all bumps

and

warts

and hollows

. We worked steadily for five-and-

twenty minutes, and did four potatoes. Then we struck

. We

said we should require the rest of the evening for scrapping ourselves.

I never saw such a thing as potato-scraping for making a fellow in a mess

.

It seemed difficult to believe that the potato-scrapings in

which Harris and I stood.half-smothered


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, could have come off

four potatoes. It shows you what can be done with economy

and care.

George said it was absurd to have only four potatoes in an Irish stew, so

we washed half a dozen or so more and put them in without peeling. Wealso put in a cabbage

and about half a peck of peas

-

. George stirred it all up, and then he said that there seemed to be

a lot of room

to spare

, so we overhauled

both the hampers

, and picked

out

all the odds and ends and the remnants

, and added

them to the stew. There were half a pork pie and a bit of cold boiled bacon

left, and we put them in. Then George found half a tin of potted

salmon

, and he emptied that into the pot

.

He said that was the advantage


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,

of Irish

stew: you got rid

of such a lot of things. I fished out

a couple of eggs that had got cracked, and we put those in.

George

said they would thicken the gravy

.

I forget the other ingridients, but I know nothing was wasted; and I

remember that towards the end, Montmorency, who had evinced

great interest in the proceedings throughout

, strolled

away with an earnest and thoughtful air

, reappearing, a few minutes afterwards

, with a dead water-rat

in his mouth, which he evidently wished to present us contribution

to

the dinner; whether in a sarcastic spirit, or with a general desire to assist,

I cannot say.

We had a discussion as to whether the rat should do in or not. Harris said

that he thought it would be all right, mixed up with the other things, and

that every little helped; but George stood up for precedent! He said he had

never heard of water-rats in Irish stew, and he would rather be on the

safe side


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, and not try experiments.

Harris said:

If you never try a new thing how can you tell what its like? Its men

such as you that hamper

the worlds progress. Think

of the man who first tried German sausage!

It was a great success, that Irish stew, I dont think I ever enjoyed a meal

more. There was something so fresh and piquant

about it. Ones

palate

gets so tired of the old hackneyed

,

things: here was a dish with a new flavour, with a

taste like nothing else on earth.

And it was nourishing

, too. As George said, there

was good stuff

in it. The peas and potatoes might have been a bit

softer, but we all had good teeth, so that did not matter much; and as for

the gravy, it was a poem

a little too rich, perhaps, for a weak stomach

but nutritious

.

Vocabulary notes.

gossip n 1.

,

(gossip column, a gossip writer) 2.

(town gossips)

gossip vi

wind (wound) 1.


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,

(to wind the handle) 2.

,

,

(to wind

wool) 3.

(The path wind through the wood) 4.

,

(to wind a clock)

5.

(to wind up a speech)

to wind someone round ones little finger 1.

,

2.

,

.

peel vt|i 1.

2.

(skin peels off),

(wall-paper peeling off)

peel n

candied peel

scrape vt|i 1.

,


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2.

,

.3.

,

. 4.

,

5. (scrape through examination)

-

to scrape a living

to scrape up (to scrape together)

(

,

)

steady adj. 1.

(to make a chair or table steady) 2. with a steady

hand

,

. 3.

4.

5.

6.

(steady person, steady rain, steady growth, steady progress)

steadily adv. 1.

,


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steady vt|i

,

,

mess n 1.

, 2.

to be in a mess 1.

to make a mess of smth.

-

,

to get into a mess

,

crack vt|i 1.

, 2.

,


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to crack a joke

,

crack n 1.

, 2.

contribute vt|i 1.

,

,

2.

contributoin n

,

,

spirit n 1.

,


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,

2.

,

3.

,

high|low spirits

/

)

to raise smb.s spirits

out of spirits

,

taste n 1.

2.


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(to your taste) 3.

(

,

)

taste vt|i 1.

, 2.

,

(this orange tastes bitter) 3.

,

.

Theres no accounting for tastes.

Tastes differ.

tasteful adj.


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,

tasteless adj.

(

,

having no taste,

,

,

,

having or showing poor|bad taste)

Word combinations and Phrases

in early June

to put up at some place

,


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,

-

to roam the(through) woods(about a place)

to get settled

,

odds and ends

(

,

)

to the size of smth.

the rest of the evening


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,

half a dozen

half a peck of peas

-

half a pork pie

half a tin of salmon

to stir smth up

,

to add smth. to smth.

to empty smth. into a pot


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to thicken the gravy

with an earnest and thoughtful air

to be on the safe side

to leave smth. on the safe side

(

)

P.8 ex.5

A. In the spring on our way back to Moskow we were draving by a small

town by chance. It was more like a country than a town, all the houses

were buried in flowers and it seemed to us so beautiful that we could not

but stay there. I should never have thought that a walk around a small

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dog. 9. She took to gardening. It is her pastime now. 10. I took to him at first

sight. 11. Dont you try this game on me, you wont take me in. 12. The news

was so overwhelming, I couldnt take it at once. 13. The plane was taking off

when he got to the airport. 14. These small houses are to be taken away to make

room for a new big building. 15. He took to cycling the 15 miles to Wallington.16. She did not take to loving in the county as much as I had hoped she would.

17. I took off medicine and began to study physics.

B.

1. At last he began to speak, his voice level and cold. 2. The water rose until it

leveled the river bank. 3. His level common sense was always soothing. 4. She

went upstairs to take through her regular work. 5. Today, at the regular

meeting, the question of your future. 6. A moment later they heard two people

giving scream with pain downstairs. 7. The bird gave a perfect scream as if

wanted to warn its mate of danger. 8. The ring was fit for the third finger of

her right ha

nd. 9. Did the boat fit to put to sea? 10. He doesnt fit enough to

wipe the shoes of Moniques father. 11. The book is out of print and I cannot

take it.

P.122 ex.5

A.

1. Step aside a bit, please, you stand in my light. 2.

I wouldnt have ever

thought this shy in appearance man would stand up for his rights so firmly. 3.

It stands to reason

these changes are interim and well reseat when our chief get

well and resume the work. 4. Hes too ill to go somewhere, he wont stand the

trip. 5. I was sure I was right and I decided firmly to stand my ground. 6. I

cant understand what for stand these letters. 7. Such things should be said

right to his face and not be talked behind his back. 8. He cant stand fuss. 9. I

will hate Eddie to my last breath. 10. My indifference about her turned to

hatred. 11. She said him hi with a friendly smile. 12. The childs face was all

smiles when he had seen the Christmas tree. 13. Greg, you always bring me so

much relief! the sister

smiled through her tears. 14. I was annoyed by the sound

of the rain drumming upon the roof. 15. He went on to pat her tenderly on her

shoulder, waiting until she would be calm. 16. He leveled the books having them

piled carefully. 17. Missis Rollson said goodbye and went away to catch the train.

1

8. He was proud of his class progress in the study of English very much. 19.

The Friends made a push for cooking the Irish stew. 20. When the nanny saw

the boy had made himself dirty, she hopped him very angrily/ screamed at him in

anger. 21. The children took take its meaning that the father must to love and to

pamper them as it stands to reason. 22. I took you for your sister. You are as

like as twins. You take after her as a twin. 23. She decided to make a new life

for herself and set to painting. 24. Every day after he had talked to the

customers she took down a report.

B.

1. If we found the wounded in the house, I believe the old man is honest and

told on the level. 2. It was the only level place for many and many miles around.

3. When Ann began to talk, her voice was level and cool. 4. Tom snatched the


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pistol out of his hand and leveled it at Sanders. 5. The straight eyebrows of Jane

knitted/were level when she frowned. 6. He always lived the one-way life and

rarely go to town. 7. Why dont you found

a regular work? 8. The scream of an

owl reached an incredibly high note, sank and calmed down at night. 9. Ruff cut

a piece of the silver paper fitted for the book and begun to wrap it. 10. She

hadnt any dress fit to the occasion. 11. The weather is as bad as it doesnt fit towalks. 12. Tom is very sociable and able to fit in any company. 13. Her black

hairs fitted her round face and her slanting eyes. 14. She went to fit the new

dress on and wont come back soon. 15. Kat, wouldnt you join us?

Thanks, I

d

love to. 16. I was head over heels in love with him, as the saying goes.

P.122 ex.6

it stands to reason

to stand up for smb.(smth.)

(

,

)

to stand heat, pain

to stand treat

to stand for

I hate to bother you

a hateful look


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a hateful crime

( )

Fortune always smiles on

(upon) him

to be all smiles

to take a persons hand/

to take prisoner

to take a first prize

to take ones chance

-

.

to take a pride

to take pains

to take a nap


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to t

ake ones meaning

as it stands to

reason

to take it big

()

above/ below sea level

mean level

on a level with smth.

on the level

a level road


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a level voice

(

)

to have a level character

to level gun

regular features

regular work

to scream with laughter

scream

to fit smth. on

to fit a floor plank on


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to fit in



we got out

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