Английский язык. Стратегии понимания текста. В 2 ч. Ч. 1

УДК 811.111(075.8)
ББК 81.2Англ-923
 
А21

А в т о р ы: Е.Б. Карневская, А.В. Бенедиктович, Н.А. Павлович, Р.А. Стражева, 
В.М. Федосеева

Р е ц е н з е н т ы: кафедра иностранных языков Белорусского государственного педагогического университета им. Максима Танка; заведующий кафедрой английского языка 
Белорусского национального технического университета, кандидат филологических 
наук, доцент С.А. Хоменко

 
Английский язык. Стратегии понимания текста : учеб. пособие.
A21 В 2 ч. Ч. 1 / Е. Б. Карневская [и др.] ; под общ. ред. Е. Б. Карневской. –
4-е изд., перераб. – Минск : Вышэйшая школа, 2019. – 320 с.
ISBN 978-985-06-3138-1.

Является первой частью учебного пособия, предназначенного для развития 
навыков чтения и смыслового восприятия письменного текста различных стилистических и жанровых видов. Охватывает темы “Человек и семья”, “Место, где 
ты живешь”, “Питание и приготовление пищи”, “Магазины и покупки”, “Ты – 
студент”, “Погода и отдых”, “Культурное и этическое наследие Библии”. Каждая 
тема со держит 2–3 раздела, которые включают урок для аудиторных занятий и 
урок на основе внеаудиторной деятельности. Уроки содержат тексты, задания по 
чтению и восприятию, материал для анализа текста и послетекстовые упражнения.
Для студентов учреждений высшего образования.

УДК 811.111(075.8)
ББК 81.2Англ-923

Все права на данное издание защищены. Воспроизведение всей книги или любой ее 
части не может быть осуществлено без разрешения издательства

ISBN 978-985-06-3138-1 (ч. 1) 
© Оформление. УП «Издательство 
ISBN 978-985-06-3137-4 
“Вышэйшая школа”», 2019

CONTENTS

Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
8

SECTION I. PEOPLE AND FAMILIES  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
9

UNIT 1. Biographies and Autobiographies  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
9

P a r t  I  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
9

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Titles: My Life (10) My Great Aunt (15)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: A Woman’s Struggle to Believe in Herself (19)

P a r t  II  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
20

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: Mother (22) 
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning (28)

UNIT 2. A British Family  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
31

P a r t  I  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
31

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: A Life in the Day of Diana Harpwood (32)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: What Price More Time with the Children? (38)

P a r t  II  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
40

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: I Sat in My Kitchen (40)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: My Own Personal Space (43)

UNIT 3. Family Problems and Their Solution  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
45

P a r t  I  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
45

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: Dear Editors (46)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: Is Your Friend Hard Work? (51)

P a r t  I I  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
52

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: The Man Who Sold His Wife (53)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: It Was the Last Day of July (58)

UNIT 4. Lonely Hearts  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
60

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: Marriage Advertisements (61)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: Everybody My Age (63)
Reading for Fun  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
65
Optional Reading  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
66
The Mayor of Casterbridge  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
66
The Devoted Friend  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
67
Most Important Hour in a Family’s Day  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
75

SEСTION II. THE PLACE YOU LIVE IN  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
79

UNIT 1. Famous Houses and Buildings  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
79

P a r t  I   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
79
Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Titles: The White House. History (80) The White 
House: Some More Facts (83)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: Sissinghurst Castle (86)

P a r t  I I   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
89
Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: Grandma’s Cottage (90)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: Houses of Englishmen (93)

UNIT 2. A House Needs a Lot of Work  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
94

P a r t  I   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
94
Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: A Night in a Quiet Country Inn (95)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: Welcome to the Model Village (101)

P a r t  I I   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  103
Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Titles: Informal Note. Formal Letter (104)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Titles: Houses of the Twenty-First Century (106)

UNIT 3. Your Home Is Your Fortress  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  108

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Titles: Burgled Seven Times (109) Beat 
the Burglar (113) 
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: Crimes Against Property (117)

UNIT 4. A House to Let …  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  118

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: Advertisements for Flats (119)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Titles: What a Mess! (123) Home Environment (124)
Optional Reading  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  125
Barton Cottage  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  125
Buckingham Palace  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  126
Downing Street, 10  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  128
The Selfi sh Giant  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  130

SECTION III. EATING AND COOKING  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  134

UNIT 1. Foods and Drinks Known Worldwide  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  134

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: Eating Out (135) Fast Food (136)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Titles: The Hot Dog (140) Coca-Cola (141) Fast Work 
for Fast Food (142)

UNIT 2. Eating Traditions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  143

P a r t  I   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  143
Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: English Food (144)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Titles: Food in Britain (149) Ice-Cream (151)

P a r t  I I   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  152
Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Titles: Food for Thought (153) The British Diet (156)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Titles: Food for All (159) Salt (161) Convenience
Food (163) Eating Stereotypes (164)
Reading for Fun  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  165
Optional Reading  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  165
The Luncheon  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  165
Goldilocks and the Three Bears  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  168

SECTION IV. SHOPPING  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  170

UNIT 1. Things We Buy  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  170

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: Shopping with Mom (171)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Titles: Blue Jeans (175) What Kind of Shopper Are 
You? (176)

UNIT 2. Places We Shop In  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  178

P a r t  I   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  178
Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: Big Business (179)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: Street Markets (185)

P a r t  I I   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  187
Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: Famous London Department Stores (187)
Lesson B. Practice Tests. Text Titles: The Birth of the Penny Bazaar (190) Shopping 
Malls (192)
Reading for Fun  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  194
Optional Reading  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  195
Business and Money  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  195
Consumer Resistance to Austere Life Style  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  196
Advertising Can Sell You Anything  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  197

SECTION V. YOU ARE A STUDENT NOW  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  199

UNIT 1. At the University  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  199

P a r t  I   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  199
Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: Roommates (200)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Titles: Organizing Yourself (205) Alcot University (207)

P a r t  I I   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  208
Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Titles: University of Oxford (208) University 
of Cambridge (211)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Titles: Home’s No Place to Study (214) Courses 
Abroad (215)

P a r t  I I I   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  217
Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: What Degree of Success Can You Expect 
from the Open University? (218) 
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: Adult Education Courses at Dale Community
Centre (223)

UNIT 2. From Junior School to University  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  225

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: How Ruth Made History at Oxford (226)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: Talent Knows no Boarders (230)

UNIT 3. Modern Technologies in Education  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  233

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: The Fun They Had (234)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: When a Computer Error is a Fatal Mistake (240)
Optional Reading  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  242
How Studying Works at the OU  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  242
History of the OU  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  243
Intelligence and IQ  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  244
The Nightingale and the Rose  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  246

SECTION VI. IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE WEATHER  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  251

UNIT 1. The World and Its Weather  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  251

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Titles: The World’s Climate in the Future (251)
Lightning (255)
Lesson B. Practice Tests. Text Titles: Weather Forcasting (257) What’s It Going to Be 
Like Tomorrow? (259) Thunderstorms (261)

UNIT 2. Holiday Making in All Types of Weather  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  262

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: Three Men In a Boat (263) 
Lesson B. Practice Tests. Text Titles: Lightning Strike (268) Getting Away from 
It All (269)

UNIT 3. Letters and Diaries  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  272

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: My Journey (273)
Lesson B. Practice Tests. Text Titles: Letters to the Times about Daffodils (278) Ice
Breaks (281)
Reading for Fun  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  282
Optional Reading  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  283
When Love Bloomed in Secret  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  283
I’m Glad It’s January  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  284

SECTION VII. THE CULTURAL AND ETHICAL HERITAGE 
OF THE BIBLE  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  286

UNIT 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  286

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: Christ’s Sermon on the Mountain (287)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: The Beginning of Knowledge (290)

UNIT 2  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  293

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: Parable of the Prodigal Son (294)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: The Excellence of Wisdom (298)

UNIT 3  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  301

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Title: Repentance and Confession (302)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: The Lord by Wisdom Founded the Earth (306)

UNIT 4  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  309

Lesson A. Intensive Reading. Text Titles: Lord’s Supper (310) Jesus Prays Alone (311)
Jesus Is Arrested (311)
Lesson B. Practice Test. Text Title: Better Is the Poor Who Walks in His Integrity (316)

Literature  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  319

INTRODUCTION

This book is intended for Upper-Intermediate University and College students majoring in English. It is aimed at developing the students’ reading 
skills and improving their ability to understand written English texts of different stylistic varieties and genres.
Reading in this book is viewed as a self-contained course and as such has a 
logic of its own both in the overall structure and composition of each individual unit. At the same time Reading Comprehension is an integral component of 
the general course of Speech Practice, and this factor predetermines the lexicalsemantical contents of the book and the choice of reading materials. These 
particularly relate to the following broad domains, or topics: People and Families; Houses and Flats; Eating and Cooking; Shops and Shopping; College 
Life; Weather and Holidaymaking; Ethical Teaching of Christianity.
According to the number of topics covered, the book contains 7 sections 
consisting of 2–4 units each. The units are further subdivided into 2 kinds of 
lessons: A and B. Lesson A is aimed at developing skills of text analysis covering both the form and the contents of the text. Special emphasis is laid on 
specifi c text features such as the structure and composition of the text, its 
cohesion, expressiveness and modal-stylistic features. In the focus of attention are comprehension skills such as synthesizing, summing up and comparing information, extracting main ideas, identifying topic (key) sentences, etc.
Lesson A as an in-class activity is clearly based on an out-of-class preparation stage and is in this sense prepared reading. Lesson B, on the other 
hand, does not assume out-of-class preparation. It is intended for in-class 
teacher-guided work and is focused primarily on testing the skills of ‘quick’ 
reading, skimming for the gist and scanning for specifi c details. 
Each lesson within type A has an identical structure and includes three 
main stages: Reading and Comprehension Tasks, Text Features and Language Focus and Follow-Up Activities. Each stage provides a variety of 
different exercises and activities which will, hopefully, be interesting and 
stimulating for students. 
Special attention in this book is paid to vocabulary development and reinforcement. Apart from pre-reading vocabulary lists intended as an aid for 
comprehension, there are vocabulary tasks in Language Focus too. These 
include multiple choice and matching exercises, word-meaning defi nitions 
and word-building practice, as well as Russian-English translation exercises, 
aimed at implementing new vocabulary in speech. 
The purpose of the Follow-Up stage is to encourage students to use the 
acquired linguistic skills and knowledge of the subject in communicative 
activities.

SECTION I
PEOPLE AND FAMILIES

A well-written life is almost as rare as a wellspent one.

Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881)

UNIT 1.
UNIT 1. Biographies and Autobiographies

PART I

LESSON A. INTENSIVE READING

Text 1

I. Pre-reading, Reading and Comprehension Tasks 

1. The following words are essential for understanding the text and discussing its 
contents. Learn their meaning and pronunciation.

accept   (v)  принимать
afford   (v)  позволять себе
bother   (n)  хлопоты, заботы
care (for)  (v)  заботиться
charity   (n)  благотворительность
council   (n)  совет
distasteful  (a)  неприятный
notice   (n)  объявление
particular  (a)  особенный, исключительный
plain   (a)  черно-белый
recollection   (n)  воспоминание
treasure   (n)  сокровище
odd-job    man разнорабочий

2. The vocabulary notes below will help you understand some details of the text.

basin [] a bowl for liquids or food
char  to work as a cleaner in a house, offi ce
comic  a magazine for children containing comic strips

dripping  the fat that has come from meat during cooking
plaster [] to put a substance on a wall or ceiling and give it 
a smooth surface

3. Read the text carefully and do the tasks that follow.

My Life
My Life

by Margaret Powell

Margaret Powell (1907–1984) – the author of such books as Below Stairs, Climbing the 
Stairs, The Treasure Upstairs, Servant’s Hall, The Butler’s Revenge, My Mother and U, 
The Housekeeper and others.
I 
was born fi fty-eight years ago in Hove, the second child of a family of 
seven. My earliest recollection is that other children seemed to be better 
off than we were. But our parents cared so much for us. One particular thing 
that I always remember was that every Sunday morning my father used to 
bring us a comic for a half-penny plain and a penny coloured. Sometimes 
now when I look back at it, I wonder how he managed to do it when he was 
out of work and there was no money at all coming in.
My father was a painter and decorator. Sort of general odd-job man. He 
could do almost anything: repair roofs, or do a bit of plastering; but painting 
and paper-hanging were his main work. Yet in the neighbourhood where we 
lived, there was hardly any work in the winter. People didn’t want their houses done up then; they couldn’t be painted outside and they didn’t want the 
bother of having it done up inside. So winters were the hardest times.
My mother used to go out charring from about eight in the morning to six 
in the evening for two shillings a day. Sometimes she used to bring home little treasures: a basin of dripping, half a loaf of bread, a little bit of butter or a 
bowl of soup. She used to hate accepting anything. She hated charity. But we 
were so glad of them that, when she came home 
and we saw that she was carrying something, 
we used to make a dive to see what she’d got.
It seems funny today, I suppose, that there 
was this hatred of charity, but when my parents 
brought us up there was no unemployment 
money. Anything you got was charity.
I remember my mother, when we only had 
one pair of shoes and they all needed mending, 
she went down to the council to try and get 
more for us. She had to answer every question