Топик: Тексты для экзамена 11 класса

he clapped his hands for a boy and ordered two gin fizzes. As the boy brought them a man passed along the street outside and seeing me waved his hand.

“ Do you know Turner?” said Burton as I nodded a greeting.

“I’ve met him at the club , I’m told he’s a remittance man.”

“Yes , I believe he is . we have a good many here.”

“He plays bridge well.”

“ They generally do. There was a fellow here last year , who was the best bridge player I ever met. I suppose you never came across him in London. Lenny Burton he called himself. I believe he’d belonged to the name.”

“ No, I don’t believe I remember the mane.”

“ he was quite a remarkable player . He seemed to have an instinct about the cards. It was uncanny. I used to play with him a lot. He was in Kobe for some time.”

Burton sipped his din fizz.

(After S. Maugham)

Adam Trenton , an executive of the Detroit Auto Plant , was hurrying to his office. Although it was only 7.30 a.m. .Adam noticed a few cars parked near the executive elevator. Where a man parked was a significant prestige factor in the auto industry. The higher the rank, the less distance he was expected to walk from his car to his desk.

As Adam entered his office he saw a pile of newly delivered mail on his secretary’s desk . he never read the whole of it; that was one of the functions of his secretary – to “ filter out the most important things.”

He had hardly been in the room one minute when he heard the voice of the Product Development Vice-president , Elroy Braithwaite , from the intercom box behind his desk.

“ Good morning, Adam . I’d like you here for a while. There’ll be an informal meeting today with press. They want to know our plans for new models. Before the press conference I think we should have briefing.

Later in the day when the newspaperman arrived . Voice president Public Relations, Jake Earlham, was performing introductions. There were representatives of A.P., the Wall Street Journal and Detroit News. The man from Detroit New was bob Irvin whom Adam knew best; he wrote a daily column about automotive affairs. He was well-informed in the industry and was the first to speak.

“What has been done at your plant to introduce new non-pollution electric and steam engines?”

“Both of them are available at our test center, “ said Braithawaite “ but there is no hope to use them in cars at low cost , low weight and good convenience in the near future.”

“ But there are some people who still believe in steam power. Some plants in California are planning to get a fleet of steam cars on the road soon,” the A.P. man put in , “ and there are legislative proposals out there to ban internal combustion engines in five years from now.”

“You fail to mention that steam engines will be extremely bulky and most expensive , with low efficiency. Even if we try to produce such cars with all the problems and disadvantages., we must think of our customers and competitors,” Adam replied.

“then why do you reject electric cars?” the Wall Street Journal pointed out.

“Unfortunately, there’s little more than talk so far. We do have some experimental electric cars. At the moment , though, it would be expensive and not much more than a curiosity,” responded Elroy Braithawaite.

“ and if you’re thinking about air pollution in connection with electric cars,” Adam added, “ there’s one factor which a lot of people overlook. Whatever kind of batteries you had they’d need be a requirement for many more power stations, each polluting the air to a great extent. Since electric power plants are usually built in the suburbs , what could happen is transferring it out there.”

Adam continued, “ what we believe is that clean air , at least air not polluted by cars be achieved best and mist cheaply through refinement of the present gasoline. Maybe that is not so spectacular as the idea of steam and electric power but there is a lot of sound science behind it. Other new developments can also help to solve problem. New metals for engines would allow very high temperatures in seconds. Using that we could completely burn the fuel and avoid air pollution/”

Adam was glad that the press conference was coming to the end at last. He was eager to get back to the “ORION”- the new model which completely absorbed him at the time.

(After Wheels by A. Hailey)

An Actor

Of all the farmers of our district William Twelvetree was the poorest and most unlucky. He was a good fellow , but he worked without method, and the strangest thing about him that puzzled his fellow men was that he lived in dreams. His life was not easy as he had to keep a wife and four daughters who were still young and could not help him.

William and his family were good ordinary people, but William had a dream to play in a performance. Only his four children and his wife along knew of that dream. Then, one autumn they came across an announcement printed in the local journal that all those interested in drama were asked to attend a meeting of a new dramatic society. All the members of William’s family were anxious to see his act in a real performance and they made him attend the meeting. William didn’t contradict. When William entered the hall where the meeting was held he was surprised to see so many people. At the same time he felt happy as he was really devoted to art. The people who wished to take part in the performance were given a play to read and choose a part. William read the play and decided that he should play the part of the Duke. In a week it was announced to William’s great regret that he would have the part of the monk. The information struck William as very unpleasant ; he even hesitated whether to take the part or give it all up, but when he told his wife and daughters that he would play the part of a monk they thought that it was wonderful. So, he got down to learning his role and very soon he knew it by heart. He was sure that audience would appreciate his performance and would praise his talent.

At last the day of the first performance came. William asked his wife not to come to the theatre, saying that he would be very nervous and that might spoil everything. He arrived early at the theatre and when he was dressed and made up , he looked like a real monk. In the first scene he was to be on the stage along. Although he had been preparing for it for a long time he got terribly frightened. He forgot his lines completely , his manners were very funny. In fact he looked more like a clown than a monk and was greeted with laughter. Whatever he said made no sense. The situation was awful . Now he wished to get out of it , so he rushed from the stage and hid himself in the dressing-room. There he changed his clothes and went home . he was very much upset and didn’t know how to break the news to his wife. There were lights on the farm . His wife was waiting for him.

“ William ,” she cried , and embraced him joyfully.

Suddenly the four girls came downstairs and embraced him too. William looked at than sorrowfully, without a world. Thinking that he was still acting , they all cried out: “ Oh, you look like a monk. Oh , just like a real monk!”

The four girls took hands with their mother and began to dance about him. “ Good , old Daddy . Brave.” They shouted. Then they stopped dance and began to applaud him. William was puzzled. He didn’t know what to do. He felt tears on his face and he could not look at the children. Then, suddenly, not knowing how else to cover his confusion , he began to bow, smiling , as if he were a real actor.