Lesson 2

1. Reading drills

Exercise 1. Practice reading:

1. The Riddling Knight

O, what is louder than a horn?

And what is sharper than a thorn?

What is heavier than the lead?

And what is better than the bread?

O, what is higher than the tree?

And what is deeper than the sea?

O, shame is louder than a horn,

And hunger is sharper than a thorn.

And sin is heavier than a lead,

And the blessing’s better than the bread.

O, heaven is higher than the tree,

And love is deeper than the sea.

2. The duty of the strong

You who are the oldest

You who are the tallest

Don’t you think you ought to help

The youngest and the smallest?

You who are the strongest,

You who are the quickest,

Don’t you think you ought to help

The weakest and the sickest?

Never mind the trouble,

Help them all you can;

Be a little woman!

Be a little man!

3. There was an old owl lived in an oak,

The more he heard, the less he spoke,

The less he spoke, the more he heard –

Oh, if men were all like that wise bird!

Observe and Remember

Degrees of Comparison (the adjective and the adverb)

The positive degree	The comparative degree	The superlative degree
cold – холодний big – великий heavy – важкий simple – простий late - пізно	colder – холодніший bigger – більший heavier – важчий simpler – простіший later - пізніше	(the) coldest - найхолодніший (the) biggest - найбільший (the) heaviest - найважчий (the) simplest - найпростіший latest - найпізніше
famous – відомий important – важливий quietly - тихо	more famous – більш відомий more important – важливіший more quietly - тихіше	(the) most famous – найбільш відомий (the) most important – найважливіший most quietly - найтихіше
good/well bad/badly little much	better worse less more	best worst least most
old far	older elder farther further	(the) oldest (the) eldest (the) farthest (the) furthest

Exercise 2. Form degrees of comparison:

Long, large, thick, comfortable, interesting, good, bad, much, little, few, necessary, possible, expressive.

Exercise 3. Translate into English:

1. найкраща кімната, найбільша картина, ліпший ніж, гірше ніж, наймолодший, вище чим, найчистіший, найцікавіша книга, найкоротший місяць, старше мене, молодший за нього.

2. much better - значно ліпший

much more interesting – набагато цікавіший

значно менше, набагато більше, набагато важливіше, значно важче, набагато зручніше, набагато молодша, набагато красивіша, значно дешевше, набагато дорожче.

Exercise 4. Read and translate the joke:

the more … the more - чим більше … тим більше

the more … the less - чим більше… тим менше

The more we study, the more we know.

The more we know, the more we forget.

The more we forget, the less we know.

The less we know, the less we forget.

The less we forget, the more we know.

So why study?

Exercise 5. Read and translate:

as…as – такий же як, так же …як

not so … as – не так як, не такий …як

1. The days in winter are not so long as in summer. 2. This girl is as beautiful as her mother. 3. The English language is not so difficult as the German language. 4. England is not so big as the USA. 5. Summer in England is not so hot as it is on the continent.

Exercise 6. Read new words and try to memorize them:

in the open air – на відкритому повітрі

to appear – з’являтися

to bathe – купатися

bright – яскравий

to change for the better – мінятися на краще

to enjoy – насолоджуватися, отримувати задоволення

to freeze – морозити

little by little – поступово

to look (to be) like – бути схожим

outside – зовні (на вулиці)

inside – всередині

to shine – світити

to spend – проводити

Exercise 7. Read and translate the text