Топик: Тексты для экзамена 11 класса

Our mother worked from early morning till late night, cooking , buying, washing and looking after us in illness.

“What are you going to give her”, asked Father.

“We’re going to give separate presents”, I announced importantly.

Nick and I discussed what to buy. We became involved in a competition of taste.

“Let’s not tell each other what we’re getting “, said Nick.

After careful deliberation I bought for my mother a comb decorated with little shiny stones that could even be mistaken for diamonds. Nick came back from the store with a pleased look. He liked my gift very much and wouldn’t tell me about his. He only said :” I’ve picked a certain moment when I’ll give my gift.”

The next morning Nick kept me close and when my mother got ready to wash the floor he nodded to me and we ran get our gifts.

When I came back , Mother was , us usual , on her knees, wearily scrubbing the floor. It was the job she hated most in the world.

Then Nick returned with his present, and Mother sat back on her heels, staring unbelievingly at the gift. Her face went pale with disappointment as she looked at the new scrubbing pail with the fresh mop in it.

“ A Mother’s Day gift of a scrubbing pail” , her voice almost broke.

Tears sprang to Nick’s eyes. Without a word he picked up the scrubbing pail and mob and blindly trudged down the stairs. I put the comb in my pocket and ran after him .He was crying and I felt so bad I began to cry , too.

On the way down we met Father . Nick could not talk , so I explained.

“It’s a fine gift. A wonderful gift.”

We all went upstairs where Mother was still scrubbing the floor. Without a word Father soaked the puddle of dirty water up with the mob and showed us how to use it.

“ You didn’t let Nick finish”, he said to Mother. “ Part of his gift was that he was going to wash the floor from now on.” He looked at Nick .” Isn’t that so Nick?”

With a flush of shame Nick understood the lesson. “ Yes, yes”, he said in a low eager tone.

“ Ah , a woman can become so stupid”. She kissed Nick and he felt better. Then she turned to me: “ What is your gift?” asked Father. Nick looked at me and paled. I felt the comb in my pocket. The comb with shining stones would make the scrubbing pail , again , just a scrubbing pail. “ Half the scrubbing pail”, I said and Nick looked at me with love in his eyes.

(After Robert Zaks)

His Rich Aunt.

Hilary Smith belong to a good family. His father never failed to mention the fact. Unfortunately he had some troubles with the bank and was sent off to Australia. He did not like Australia and Australia did not like him.

Therefore he was eager to return to England. He could not warn enough money to book his passage. So he had to wait until his father and his brother died. They fortunately did it at the same time.

He received all the money that belong to a good family and soon spent of two things. He could die or work. Neither of these gave him any pleasure. Then he remembered that he had a rich aunt.

She was his father’s only sister. Hilary found out her address . The old lady was glad to see her only nephew. Unfortunately she was seriously ill. The doctor told Hilary that nothing could cure the old lady. Hilary was afraid to remain in the hard world alone. So he chose a moment when his aunt was filing much better than usual and asked her for details of her will.

The old woman told her nephew that she had made a will when she was a young girl. She was very religious and left all her money to some religious people in China. She didn’t make any other will.

The next day Hilary found out that when a woman married an earlier will lost its value . A new will must be made , the money goes to the relation. His future was safe.

Hilary badly needed money , he owed a lot of shopkeepers, who trusted him because his aunt was rich. It was impossible for Hilary to speak with his aunt about money. She got very bad and got angry when money was mentioned. One morning she told Hilary that she was going to send for her lawyer to make a new will. Hilary was afraid that she wanted to leave all her money to some medicine t o make her sleep. Hilary decided to double the portion. He could put her to sleep forever.

He put some more medicine into the glass. His took the glass and looked at Hilary. She thanked her nephew and said:
“ If I am alive tomorrow , I shall change the will in your favour . If I die tonight , you will get nothing.”

She explained to her nephew that she had never been married , so her first will did not lose its value. Hilary tried to take the glass away but the old lady raised it and drank.

(After Cyril Hare)