Too Many Cooks

Интерактивное упражнение доступно по этой ссылке: Too Many Cooks (ответы в нем проверяются автоматически).  

Содержание упражнения:

  • чтение с таймером;
  • синонимы wipe, erase, remove, sponge;
  • идиомы со словом bare.

Если вам по каким-либо причинам не хочется использовать удобное и приятное интерактивное упражнение, то ниже находится простая текстовая версия. 

Rex Todhunter Stout (December 1, 1886 – October 27, 1975) was an American writer noted for his detective fiction. His best-known characters are the detective Nero Wolfe and his assistant Archie Goodwin, who were featured in 33 novels and 39 novellas between 1934 and 1975. "Too Many Cooks" is one of those novels.

Task 1. Read an extract from "Too Many Cooks" by Rex Stout and answer the question that follows. Try to complete the task within 2 minutes.

Walking up and down the platform alongside the train in the Pennsylvania Station, having wiped the sweat from my brow, I lit a cigarette with the feeling that after it had calmed my nerves a little I would be prepared to submit bids for a contract to move the Pyramid of Cheops from Egypt to the top of the Empire State Building with my bare hands, in a swimming-suit; after what I had just gone through. But as I was drawing in the third puff I was stopped by a tapping on a window I was passing, and, leaning to peer through the glass, I was confronted by a desperate glare from Nero Wolfe, from his seat in the bedroom which we had engaged in one of the new-style pullmans, where I had at last got him deposited intact. He shouted at me through the closed window:

"Archie! Confound you! Get in here! They're going to start the train! You have the tickets!" I yelled back at him, "You said it was too close to smoke in there! It's only 9:32! I've decided not to go! Pleasant dreams!"

I sauntered on. Tickets my eye. It wasn't tickets that bothered him; he was frantic with fear because he was alone on the train and it might begin to move. He hated things that moved, and was fond of arguing that nine times out of ten the places that people were on their way to were no improvement whatever on those they were coming from.

Where are Nero Wolfe and Archie?

  1. They are both on the train.
  2. Nero Wolfe is on the train and Archie is on the platform. 
  3. Archie is on the train and Nero Wolfe is on the platform.
  4. They are both on the platform.

Task 2. Which word fits best?

Walking up and down the platform alongside the train in the Pennsylvania Station, having ___________________ the sweat from my brow, I lit a cigarette with the feeling that after it had calmed my nerves a little I would be prepared to submit bids for a contract to move the Pyramid of Cheops from Egypt to the top of the Empire State Building...

  1. wiped
  2. rubbed
  3. sponged
  4. removed

What's the difference?

wipe: to remove dirt, liquid from something by using a cloth, your hand, etc. 

Please wipe your feet on the mat. 

erase: to take away a piece of information, especially written information

Parts of the recording have been erased. 

sponge: to wash with a wet cloth or sponge

We tried to sponge the blood off my shirt.

remove: to get rid of something unpleasant, dirty

She has had the tumour removed. 

Task 3. Match the words with their definitions:

  1. wipe
  2. erase
  3. sponge
  4. remove
  1. to take away a piece of information, especially written information
  2. to wash with a wet cloth
  3. to remove dirt, liquid from something by using a cloth, your hand, etc.
  4. to get rid of something unpleasant, dirty

Task 4. Please ____________ your feet on the mat.

  1. wipe
  2. erase
  3. sponge
  4. remove

Task 5. He ____________ his hands on a clean towel.

  1. wiped
  2. erased
  3. sponged
  4. removed

Task 6. She was sniffing and ____________ her eyes with a tissue.

  1. wiping
  2. erasing
  3. sponging
  4. removing

Task 7. Parts of the recording have been ____________.

  1. wiped
  2. erased
  3. sponged

Task 8. He had ____________ the wrong word.

  1. wiped
  2. erased
  3. sponged

Task 9. The tide had ____________ the footprints.

  1. wiped
  2. sponged
  3. erased

Task 10. She ____________ his hot face.

  1. erased
  2. sponged
  3. removed

Task 11. We tried to ____________ the blood off my shirt.

  1. erase
  2. sponge
  3. remove

Task 12. She has had the tumour ____________.

  1. wiped
  2. erased
  3. sponged
  4. removed

Task 13. It was impossible to ____________ the stain from the tablecloth.

  1. erase
  2. wipe
  3. remove

Task 14. Write your own phrases using 'wipe', 'erase', 'remove' and 'sponge'.

Task 15. What is the missing part of the idiom?

I lit a cigarette with the feeling that after it had calmed my nerves a little I would be prepared to submit bids for a contract to move the Pyramid of Cheops from Egypt to the top of the Empire State Building with my ________ hands, in a swimming-suit; after what I had just gone through.

  1. bare
  2. naked
  3. free
  4. plain

There is an idiom "with your bare hands" which means "without weapons or tools". You can't change words in idioms, even if they are good synonyms. That is why "naked", "plain" and "free" are wrong answers.   

Some more about "bare":

  • bare — голый, неприкрытый, оголенный;
  • bare necessities — самое необходимое;
  • bare minimum — совсем мало, абсолютный минимум;
  • bare facts — голые факты;
  • the cupboard is bare — денег нет (this expression refers to a children's nursery rhyme about Old Mother Hubbard, who had nothing in her cupboard to feed her dog).

Task 16. Choose the right word from the list:

  1. They wore shabby clothes and their (hands/hair/feet) were bare. 
  2. The family was short of even the bare (facts/necessities/minimum) of life. 
  3. He did the bare (minimum/necessities/hands) of work but still passed the exam.
  4. She gave me only the bare (necessities/feet/facts) of the case.
  5. They are seeking more funds but the (shelf/cupboard/fridge) is bare.
  6. He was capable of killing a man with his bare (arms/feet/hands).

 Task 17. Translate the sentences into Russian:

  1. At many stores bare shelves greeted shoppers.
  2. The room was bare of furniture.
  3. The windows looked out onto a bare field.
  4. She likes to walk around in bare feet.
  5. The walls were bare except for a small mirror.
  6. Bare wires were sticking out of the cable.
Answers:

Task 1: 2

Task 2: 1

Task 3: 1–c, 2–a, 3–b, 4–d

Task 4: 1

Task 5: 1

Task 6: 1

Task 7: 2

Task 8: 2

Task 9: 3

Task 10: 2

Task 11: 2

Task 12: 4

Task 13: 3

Task 14: your own answers

Task 15: 1

Task 16: 1: feet; 2: necessities; 3: minimum; 4: facts; 5: cupboard; 6: hands.

Task 17: your own answers

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