Looking in the Mirror

He got up and tried to see himself in the dirty looking glass over the wash-stand. He saw the head and face of a young fellow of twenty. Above asquare-domed forehead he saw a mop of brown hair, nut-brown, with a wave to it and hints of curls, making hands tingle to stroke it. But he passed it by, and dwelt long and thoughtfully on the high square forehead. What kind of brain lay behind it?

He wondered if there was soul in those steel-gray eyes that were often quite blue of colour and that were strong with the salty air of the sea. Well, they were honest eyes, he concluded. The brown sunburn of his face surprised him.

His mouth might have been an angel's mouth, had not the full, sensuous lips a habit of drawing firmly across the teeth. At times so tightly did they draw, the mouth became stern and harsh. The chin and jaw were strong and just hinting of square aggressiveness. And between the lips were teeth that were white and strong and regular.

Topical vocabulary.

1.to see oneself увидеть себя

2.dirty грязный

3.looking-glass зеркало

4.wash-stand умывальник

5.head голова

6.fellow парень

7.square-domed квадратный

8.forehead лоб

9.mop of hear шапка, копна волос

10.nut-brown каштановый

11.curls кудряшки

12.to dwell размышлять

13.thoughtfully задумчиво

14.honest честный

15.to conclude прийти к заключению

16.sunburn загар

17.sensuous lips чувственные губы

18.chin подбородок

19.jaw челюсть

20.aggresivness агрессивность

Ex. 1. Answer the questions.

How does Jack London describe:

a) Martin's hair?

b) Martin's eyes?

c) Martin s mouth?

d) Do yon think the author likes his hero or doesn’t like him^? Prove your point.

Ex. 2. Find the Russian equivalents to the following:

Square-domed; a mop; nut-brown; a high forehead; sunburn;

a mouth; full lips; a strong chin; regular teeth.

Ex. 3. Reproduce the description of the young man as close to the text, as you can.

Ex. 4. There was a bank robbery in Western London. Suppose you are a witness to this crime and help the Police to identify the robber. Use the following key words and phrases to describe him.

1. Age: elderly, middle –aged, young, under 30, past 40 …

2. Height: tall, short, thick neck, broad – shouldered …

3. Build: slim, stout, thick neck, broad – shouldered …

4. Face: long, round, thin, wrinkled, oval …

5. Hair: long, straight, curly, blond, bald – headed, bobbed …

6. Eyes: close – set, dark – eyed, bulging, small …

7. Nose: straight, hooked, blunt …

8. Ears: stick out …

9. Distinctive marks: freckles, hunchback, a mole on his right cheek, beard, moustache …

Grammar: The Comparison of Adjectives.

Common comparative and superlative forms:

· We use the comparative when comparing one person or thing with another.

· We use the superlative when comparing one person or thing with more than one.

NOTE:

· Some two syllable adjectives like happy (clever, common, narrow, pleasant, quiet, simple, stupid) have two comparative or superlative forms:

-either with – er / est:

She is cleverer than you. She is the cleverest person I know.

- or with more / the most

She is more clever than you. She is the most clever person I know

Comparative and superlative forms often confused:

• Further and farther refer to distance:

London is five miles further/farther.

• Further (not farther) can mean “in addition”:

There is no further information.

• We use elder/eldest before a noun only with reference to people in a family:

my elder brother/son, the eldest child, he is the eldest

(but not: He is elder than me)

We use older/oldest for people and things:

He is older than I am. This book is older.

• Lesser is formed from less but it is a true comparative. We can not use than after it. Lesser

means not so great and we use it in fixed phrases like: the lesser of two evils.

• Latest/last:

I bought the latest (i.e. most recent) edition of today’s paper.

I bought the last (i.e. final) edition of today’s paper.

• The comparative and superlative of little is smaller/smallest:

a small/little boy, a smaller/the smallest boy.

Ex. 5. Give the comparative and superlative of the following adjectives:

Polite, happy, glad, complete, honorable, shy, dry, just, free, recent, merry, uncomfortable, hot, accurate, narrow, real, sweet, right, wicked, yellow, cozy, merciful, bad, fat, cheap, stupid, miserable, simple, lazy, old, serious, tiny, beautiful, interesting, considerate, intimate, good, much, dark, expensive, clumsy, significant, sad, bitter, clever, little, dear, far.