Áîðèñåíêî Âèêòîðèÿ Àëåêñàíäðîâíà, Ìêðò÷ÿí Òàìàðà Þðüåâíà, Ñàìîôàëîâà Ìàðèíà Âëàäèìèðîâíà Ý ë å ê ò ð î í í î å ó ÷ å á í î å ï î ñ î á è å | © ÞÔÓ 2015 ã. ã. Ðîñòîâ-íà-Äîíó

Ìîäóëè

Ìîäóëü 6. ARTS

Text 1. THE PORTPAIT (after A. Huxley)

Text 2. ART FOR HEART’S SAKE (after R. Goldberg)

Text 3. THE LAST LEAF (after O. Henry)

VOCABULARY

Look through the suggested phrases, word combinations and idioms and use them in the sentences of your own.

Can’t make head nor\or tail of smth – íè÷åãî íåëüçÿ ïîíÿòü

To draw from nature – ïèñàòü ñ íàòóðû

Water-colours – àêâàðåëü

Oil paints – ìàñëÿíûå êðàñêè

Mature artist – çðåëûé, ñîñòîÿâøèéñÿ õóäîæíèê

Sunday\ amateur painter\weekend artist – õóäîæíèê-ëþáèòåëü

To be exhibited in the gallery – âûñòàâëÿòüñÿ â ãàëåðåå

Life-time dream – ìå÷òà âñåé æèçíè

One-man show – ïðåäñòàâëåíèå ñ îäíèì äåéñòâóþùèì ëèöîì; òåàòð îäíîãî àêòåðà

To vote with feet – ïåðåñòàòü ïîñåùàòü

To be highbrow/lowbrow – áûòü ðàññ÷èòàííûì íà âûñîêî-îáðàçîâàííûõ è ìàëî-îáðàçîâàííûõ ëþäåé

To be impenetrable – áûòü ñëîæíûì äëÿ ïîíèìàíèÿ

To be sophisticated – áûòü èñêóøåííûì

To be challenging – áûòü çàñòàâëÿþùèì çàäóìàòüñÿ

To be dazzling – âûçûâàòü âîñõèùåíèå

To be evocative – ïðîáóæäàòü â ïàìÿòè îáðàçû

To be intriguing – áûòü èíòåðåñíûì è íåïîíÿòíûì

To be run-of-the-mill artist– áûòü ñàìûì õóäøèì\çàóðÿäíûì

In the foreground\background – íà ïåðåäíåì\çàäíåì ïëàíå

To draw /to get/to derive/ inspiration from smth. - ÷åðïàòü âäîõíîâåíèå â ÷¸ì-ë.

Not worth a cent – íå ñòîèòü íè ãðîøà

See smth. with a naked eye – âèäåòü íåâîîðóæ¸ííûì ãëàçîì

REMEMBER!

After reading the suggested texts, use some of the suggested vocabulary expressing the main idea and messages, describing the characters or retelling the story

Text 1

THE PORTPAIT

(after A. Huxley)

“I’ve just bought a Manor House,” said the customer to Mr. Bigger, an art dealer. “In a house of this style I must have pictures. Nothing modern of course. I want some Old Masters, you know, Rembrandts and What’s-his-names.”

“Right you are! An Old Master, is a symbol of social superiority. I think I’ve got exactly what you want. Here is a Venetian portrait of a young woman. Giangolini was the painter. He died young... It’s a fine bit of painting.”

“It is,” said the customer, “but I’d rather have a more historical piece, a portrait of somebody with a story — like Anne Boleyn, or Nell Gwynn, or some one like that.” “But, my dear sir, this picture has a story, a most remarkable story. Listen to it.”

“The lady you see here was the wife of the fourth Earl Hurtmore. Judging from his portraits the fourth Earl was a long-faced, gloomy fellow. His chief interest in life was music and Roman antiquities. He spent half his life travelling in Italy. When he was about fifty-five he suddenly decided it was about time he got married. His money and his title must have made up for many deficiencies. His wife didn’t care much for music or Roman antiquities. She liked clothes, she liked society, she liked gambling and flirting.

The newly wedded couple didn’t seem to get on very well. A year after the marriage Lord Hurtmore decided to pay another visit to Italy. They reached Venice in early autumn. For Lord Hurtmore Venice meant music, it meant private concerts of amateurs, it meant Tartini and the greatest violinists. For Lady Hurtmore it meant something rather different. It meant gambling, masked balls, gay supper parties. Living their separate lives they might have been happy.

But one day Lord Hurtmore had the disastrous idea of having his wife’s portrait painted. Young Giangolini was recommended to him as a promising painter. Lady Hurtmore began her sittings. Giangolini was handsome and dashing, Giangolini was young. He had an amorous technique as perfect as his artistic technique. Lady Hurtmore would have been more than human if she had been able to resist him. She was not more than human.

In the end they decided to run away together across the border. They would live in Vienna - live on the Hurtmore family jewels, which the lady would be careful to pack in her suitcase. They were worth more than twenty thousand pounds; and in Vienna, one could live handsomely on the interest of twenty thousand. Giangolini had a friend who made all the arrangements, got them passports under assumed names, hired horses, placed his gondola at their disposal. They decided to flee on the day of the last sitting.

It was the time of full carnival. Even in broad daylight people went about in masks. Lady Hurtmore wore one of black silk - you see her holding it, there in the portrait. Her husband wore a long black cloak, a huge three-cornered black hat and a long-nosed mask of white paper. This was the ordinary attire of every Venetian gentleman in these carnival weeks and Lord Hurtmore wore the same. He didn’t like to be conspicuous.

On the appointed day, as was his custom, Lord Hurtmore brought his lady in a hired gondola to the painter’s studio. And she, in her turn, was bringing under the folds of her cloak a little leather box with the Hurtmore jewels. The gondola drew up at Giangolini’s door. Lord Hurtmore helped his wife out and went off to a morning concert. The lovers had two hours at their disposal to make their final preparations.

When the old husband was safely out of sight in came the painter’s useful friend, cloaked and masked like everybody else in Venice. From under Lady Hurtmore’s cloak out came the jewel-case. She opened it and there were loud exclamations of astonishment and admiration. Then the lovers had to go and sign for their passports at the Ministry of Police while the friend was to go in another direction to sell one of the lady’s diamonds to provide the necessary funds for the journey.

Half an hour later a gondola drew up at Giangolini’s door. A man in a white mask and a black cloak got out and went upstairs to the painter’s room. It was empty. The long-nosed mask looked about the room and caught sight of the case containing the jewels which had been carelessly left open on the table. The dark eyes behind the mask looked long and fixedly at this object.

A few moments later the lovers returned. “Aha, caro amico! Back already! What luck with the diamond?” The cloaked figure turned away to look out of the window. Suddenly Lady Hurtmore began to laugh uncontrollably. She couldn’t stop.

“What’s the matter?” asked Giangolini. “I was thinking of my old husband, solemn as an owl, listening to those boring cantatas.” The man at the window turned round. “Unfortunately, madam, the maestro was ill; this morning there was no concert.” He took off the mask. “And so I took the liberty of returning earlier than usual.” The long, grey, unsmiling face of Lord Hurtmore confronted them.

The lovers stared at him for a moment speechlessly. Lady Hurtmore put her hand to her heart. It had given a fearful jump. Giangolini was as white as his paper mask. He was unarmed, but goodness only knew what weapons of destruction were concealed under that enigmatic black cloak. Yet Lord Hurtmore did nothing brutal. Calmly he walked over to the table, picked up the jewel-case and saying “My box, I think,” he took it and walked out of the room.

Lady Hurtmore didn’t much relish the idea of love in a cottage. The woman’s place, she decided, was at home with the family jewels. But would Lord Hurtmore see the matter in the same light? She decided to find out. She got back just in time for dinner. Her husband was standing by the fireplace. He advanced to meet her. “I was expecting you, madam,” he said, and led her to her place. In the afternoon he sent a servant to fetch the portrait from the painter’s studio.

The portrait formed part of their luggage when a month later they set out for England. The story had been passed down with the picture from one generation to the next. I had it from an old friend of the family when I bought the portrait last year.”

Exercises

1. Give the English equivalents for the following Russian phrases and use them in the sentences:

Êîìïåíñèðîâàòü, ìîëîäîæåíû, ëàäèòü, êðàñèâî æèòü íà ïðîöåíòû, â ÷üåì-ëèáî ðàñïîðÿæåíèè, òðåóãîëêà, ñêðûòüñÿ èç âèäó, îáåñïå÷èòü íåîáõîäèìûå ñðåäñòâà äëÿ ïóòåøåñòâèÿ, îðóæèå óíè÷òîæåíèÿ, ïîäïðûãíóòü îò ñòðàõà.

2. Find in the text words for the following definitions:

- the quality of being better than other things or people (para. 2);

- very unusual or noticeable in a way that deserves attention or praise (para. 3);

- a lack of smth. that is needed, a condition of not being good enough (para. 4);

- very easy to notice because of being different (para. 8);

- strange, mysterious and difficult to understand ( para. 14).

3. Translate the following sentences into Russian. Comment on the meaning of Modal verbs.

1. His money and his title must have made up for many deficiencies.

2. In Vienna, one could live handsomely on the interest of twenty thousand.

3. Then the lovers had to go and sign for their passports at the Ministry of Police while the friend was to go in another direction to sell one of the lady’s diamonds.

4. Suddenly Lady Hurtmore began to laugh uncontrollably. She couldn’t stop.

5. Living their separate lives they might have been happy.

4. Discuss the story

1) What kind of picture did the customer want to buy?

2) What picture did the dealer offer to him?

3) What did you learn about Lord Hurtmore?

4) Whom did the Lord marry and why?

5) What did Venice mean for the married couple?

6) What idea did Lord Hurtmore have? Why was it disastrous for him?

7) What did Giangolini look like? Did Lady Hurtmore resist his charm?

8) What plan did the painter and the lady have?

9) How was everybody dressed on the day of elopement? Why?

10) What happened when the husband had brought his wife into the painter’s studio on the day of the last sitting?

11) When did he return to the studio? Why? What did he see there?

12) What mood were the lovers in when they returned? Did the mood change?

13) Did Lady Hurtmore stay with the painter? Why?

14) With which words and phrases does the author create their misfortune? What makes the lady betray her husband?

15) What is the theme and main idea of the story? What messages can you distinguish?

16) What is the prevailing mood of the story? What minor moods can you name?

17) Who does the author sympathize with? What is his attitude to this story? How do you know? What about you?

5. Give a character sketch of

a) Lady Hurtmore;

b) Lord Hurtmore;

c) Mr. Bigger.

6. Make the plan of the story and retell it according to it.

Text 2

ART FOR HEART’S SAKE

(after R. Goldberg)

“Here, take your juice,” said Koppel, Mr. Ellsworth’s servant and nurse.

“No,” said Collis P. Ellsworth.

“But it’s good for you, sir!”

“No!”

“The doctor insists on it.”

“No!”

Koppel heard the front door bell and was glad to leave the room. He found Doctor Caswell in the hall downstairs.

“I can’t do a thing with him,” he told the doctor. “He doesn’t want to take his juice. I can’t persuade him to take his medicine. He doesn’t want me to read to him. He hates TV. He doesn’t like anything!”

Doctor Caswell took the information with his usual professional calm. This was not an ordinary case. The old gentleman was in pretty good health for a man of seventy. But it was necessary to keep him from buying things. His financial transactions always ended in failure, which was bad for his health.

“How are you this morning? Feeling better?” asked the doctor. “I hear you haven’t been obeying my orders.”

The doctor drew up a chair and sat down close to the old man. He had to do his duty. “I’d like to make a suggestion,” he said quietly. He didn’t want to argue with the old man.

Old Ellsworth looked at him over his glasses. The way Doctor Caswell said it made him suspicions. “What is it, more medicine, more automobile rides to keep me away from the office?” the old man asked with suspicion. “Not at all,” said the doctor. “I’ve been thinking of something different. As a matter of fact I’d like to suggest that you should take up art. I don’t mean seriously of course,” said the doctor, “just try. You’ll like it.”

Much to his surprise the old man agreed. He only asked who was going to teach him drawing. “I’ve thought of that too,” said the doctor. “I know a student from an art school who can come round once a week. If you don’t like it, after a little while you can throw him out.” The person he had in mind and promised to bring over was a certain Frank Swain, eighteen years old and a capable student. Like most students he needed money. Doctor Caswell kept his promise.

He got in touch with Frank Swain and the lessons began. The old man liked it so much that when at the end of the first lesson Koppel came in and apologised to him for interrupting the lesson, as the old man needed a rest, Ellsworth looked disappointed.

When the art student came the following week, he saw a drawing on the table. It was a vase. But something was definitely wrong with it.

“Well, what do you think of it?” asked the old man stepping aside.

“I don’t mean to hurt you, sir...”, began Swain.

“I see,” the old man interrupted, “the halves don’t match. I can’t say I am good at drawing. Listen, young man,” he whispered. “I want to ask you something before Old Juice comes again. I don’t want to speak in his presence.”

“Yes, sir,” said Swain with respect.

“I’ve been thinking... Could you come twice a week or perhaps three times?”

“Sure, Mr. Ellsworth,” the student said respectfully.

“When shall I come?”

They arranged to meet on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

As the weeks went by, Swain’s visits grew more frequent. The old man drank his juice obediently. Doctor Caswell hoped that business had been forgotten forever.

When spring came, Ellsworth painted a picture which he called “Trees Dressed in White.” The picture was awful. The trees in it looked like salad thrown up against the wall. Then he announced that he was going to display it at the Summer Show at the Lathrop Gallery. Doctor Caswell and Swain didn’t believe it. They thought the old man was joking.

The summer show at the Lathrop Gallery was the biggest exhibition of the year. All outstanding artists in the United States dreamt of winning a Lathrop prize.

To the astonishment of all “Trees Dressed in White” was accepted for the Show.

Young Swain went to the exhibition one afternoon and blushed when he saw “Trees Dressed in White” hanging on the wall. As two visitors stopped in front of the strange picture, Swain rushed, out. He was ashamed that a picture like that had been accepted for the show.

However Swain did not give up teaching the old man. Every time Koppel entered the room he found the old man painting something. Koppel even thought of hiding the brush from him. The old man seldom mentioned his picture and was usually cheerful.

Two days before the close of the exhibition Ellsworth received a letter. Koppel brought it when Swain and the doctor were in the room. “Read it to me,” asked the old man putting aside the brush he was holding in his hand. “My eyes are tired from painting.”

The letter said: “It gives the Lathrop Gallery pleasure to announce that Collis P. Ellsworth has been awarded the First Landscape Prize of ten thousand dollars for his painting “Trees Dressed in White”.

Swain became dumb with astonishment. Koppel dropped the glass with juice he was about to give Ellsworth. Doctor Caswell managed to keep calm. “Congratulations, Mr. Ellsworth,” said the doctor. “Fine, fine... Frankly, I didn’t expect that your picture would win the prize. Anyway I’ve proved to you that art is more satisfying than business.”

“Art is nothing. I bought the Lathrop Gallery,” said the old man highly pleased with the effect of his deception.

Exercises

1. Find in the text English equivalents for the following words and expressions.

Íè÷åãî íå ìîãó ñ íèì ïîäåëàòü, ñ ïðèâû÷íûì ïðîôåññèîíàëüíûì ñïîêîéñòâèåì, íåîáû÷íûé ñëó÷àé, ñåë ðÿäîì, âûçâàëî ïîäîçðåíèå; äåëî â òîì, ÷òî; çàíÿòüñÿ æèâîïèñüþ, ê áîëüøîìó óäèâëåíèþ, ÷åðåç íåêîòîðîå âðåìÿ, ñïîñîáíûé ñòóäåíò, îäíà ïîëîâèíà íå ñîîòâåòñòâóåò äðóãîé, ãîâîðèòü â åãî ïðèñóòñòâèè, äâà ðàçà â íåäåëþ, ñòàëè ÷àùå, ïîñëóøíî, çàáûò íàâñåãäà, âûñòàâèòü, êàðòèíó, áûëà ïðèíÿòà, ïîêðàñíåë, óáåæàë, åìó áûëî còûäío, ðåäêî ãîâîðèë î êàðòèíå, îòêëàäûâàÿ â ñòîðîíó êèñòü, îíåìåë îò èçóìëåíèÿ, ñîõðàíèòü ñïîêîéñòâèå, äîâîëüíûé ðåçóëüòàòàìè ñâîåãî îáìàíà.

2. Give Russian equivalents for the following words and expressions from the text and use them in the sentences of your own:

insist on smth., persuade smb. to do smth., keep smb. from doing smth., end in failure, obey smb.’s orders, make a suggestion, argue with smb,, ask with suspicion, keep one’s promise, get in touch with smb,, apologise to smb. for (doing) smth., look disappointed, be good at smth,, whisper smth,, arrange to do smth,, an awful picture, an outstanding artist, dream of (doing) smth,, give up doing smth,, be awarded smth,, prove to smb.

3. Transcribe these words:

Juice, servant, nurse, persuade, ordinary case, financial, health, suspicious, argue, suggest, capable, treatment, halves, whisper, drawing, exhibition, deception, accepted, blushed, landscape.

4. Answer the following questions on the text:

l) Who was Koppel and why wasn’t he satisfied with the behaviour of his patient? 2) Was Mr. Ellsworth really ill? Why was his case not an ordinary one?

3) What suggestion did Dr. Caswell make to Ellsworth?

4) Who was Frank Swain?

5) Prove that Ellsworth enjoyed painting.

6) Why did Ellsworth ask Swain to come three times a week?

7) Was Dr. Caswell pleased with the results of his ”treatment”?

8) What picture did Ellsworth paint?

9) What did he want to do with the picture?

10) Why did everybody think at first that Ellsworth was joking?

11) What was Swain’s reaction when he saw Ellsworth’s picture at the show?

12) Why didn’t Swain give up teaching Ellsworth?

13) What happened two days before the close of the exhibition?

14) What did the letter say?

15) What was the reaction of all present?

16) What did Ellsworth tell them about?

17) Ellsworth tried to prove to everybody that business is more important than art. Did he succeed? What do you consider more important?

18) Why do you think Ellsworth didn’t give up taking lessons after he had sent the picture to the show? Was it a part of his plan of deception? Comment on his plan. Find in the text other details of his clever scheme.

19) Why didn’t Ellsworth read the letter himself? Were his eyes really tired?

20) All Ellsworth’s financial transactions ended in failure. Do you think the purchase of the Gallery was also a transaction of this kind? What do you think he will do with the Gallery later?

21) “Life is short, art is long.” Do you agree with it? Why do people need art? What is more satisfying art or business?

5. Translate in writing the episode beginning with “He got in touch with Frank Swain…” and ending “Doctor Caswell hoped that business had been forgotten forever.”

6. Retell the text on the part of

1) Ellsworth, 2) Koppel, 3) Dr. Caswell, and 4) Frank Swain.

Text 3

THE LAST LEAF

(after O. Henry)

Two young painters, Sue and, Johnsy, had their studio at the top of a three-story brick house in New York. The young artists paved their way to Art by drawing pictures for magazine stories. They earned their living in this way and could hardly make both ends meet.

In November Johnsy caught a severe cold. She lay scarcely moving on her painted iron bed looking through the small window at the blank side of the next brick house.

One morning the busy doctor invited Sue into the hallway.

“She has one chance in — let us say, ten,” he said, as he shook down the thermometer. “And that chance is for her to want to live. Your little lady has made up her mind that she’s not going to get well. Has she anything on her mind?”

“She — she wanted to paint the Bay of Naples some day,” said Sue.

“Paint? — Bosh! Has she anything on her mind worth thinking about twice — a man, for instance? “

“A man? “ said Sue. “Is a man worth — but, no, doctor; there is nothing of the kind.”

After the doctor had gone, Sue went into the workroom and cried bitterly. Then she stopped crying there and with her drawing board she entered Johnsy’s room whistling ragtime.

Johnsy lay with her face toward the window. Sue stopped whistling, thinking she was asleep.

She arranged her board and began a pen-and-ink drawing to illustrate a magazine story.

As Sue was sketching a cowboy, she heard a low sound, several times repeated. She went quickly to the bedside.

Johnsy’s eyes were open wide. She was looking out the window and counting-counting backward.

“Twelve,” she said, and a little later “eleven”; and then “ten”, and “nine”; and then “eight” and “seven”, almost together.

“What is it, dear?” asked Sue.

“Six,” said Johnsy, in almost a whisper. “They’re falling faster now. Three days ago there were almost too many to count them. But now it’s easy. There goes another one. There are only five left now.”

“Five what, dear?”

“Leaves. On the ivy vine. When the last one falls I must go, too. I’ve known that for three days. Didn’t the doctor tell you?”

“Oh, I never heard of such nonsense. What have old ivy leaves to do with your getting well? Try to sleep and let me go back to my drawing, so that I can sell it to the editor man, and buy a chicken to make some broth for you,” said Sue.

“No, I don’t want any broth,” said Johnsy, keeping her eyes fixed out the window.

“I want to see the last leaf fall before it gets dark. Then I’ll go, too.”

“Johnsy, dear,” said Sue, bending over her, “will you promise to keep your eyes closed, and not look out the window? I must call Behrman up to be gone a minute. Don’t try to move till I come back.”

Old Behrman was a painter who lived on the ground floor beneath them. He was over sixty and a failure in art. He had been always about to paint a masterpiece, but he had never yet begun it. For several years he had painted nothing except now and then a daub in the line of commerce or advertising. He earned a little by serving as a model to those young artists who could not pay the price of a professional.

Sue told old Behrman of Johnsy’s fancy and how she feared she would, indeed, light and fragile as a leaf herself, float away.

Johnsy was sleeping when they went upstairs. Sue pulled the shade down to the windowsill and motioned Behrman into the other room. In there they peered out the window fearfully at the ivy vine. Then they looked at each other for a moment without speaking. A cold rain was falling, mixed with snow.

When Sue awoke from an hour’s sleep the next morning she found Johnsy with wide-open eyes staring at the drawn green shade.

“Pull it up; I want to see,” she ordered, in a whisper.

Wearily Sue obeyed.

But, oh! After the beating rain and fierce gusts of wind, there yet stood out against the brick wall one ivy leaf. It was the last on the vine.

Johnsy lay for a long time looking at it. And then she called to Sue, who was stirring her chicken broth over the gas stove.

“I’ve been a bad girl, Sudie,” said Johnsy. “Something has made that last leaf stay there to show me how wicked I was. It is a sin to want to die. You may bring me a little broth now, and some milk, and — no; bring me a hand-mirror first, and then pack some pillows about me, and I will sit up and watch you cook.”

An hour later she said:

“Sudie, some day I hope to paint the Bay of Naples.”

The next morning the doctor said to Sue:

“She’s out of danger. You’ve won. Nutrition and care now – that’s all. And now I must see another case I have downstairs. Behrman, his name is — some kind of artist, I believe. Pneumonia, too. He is an old, weak man, there is no hope for him; but he goes to the hospital today to be made more comfortable.”

And that afternoon Sue came to the bed where Johnsy lay.

“I have something to tell you, white mouse,” she said. “Mr. Behrman died of pneumonia today in the hospital. He was ill only for two days. The janitor found him on the morning of the first day in his room downstairs helpless with pain. His shoes and clothing were wet through and icy cold. They couldn’t imagine where he had been on such a dreadful night. And then they found a lantern, still lighted, and the ladder that had been dragged from its place, and some brushes, and the palette with green and yellow colors mixed on it, and — look out the window, dear, at the last ivy leaf on the wall. Didn’t you wonder why it never moved when the wind blew? Ah, darling, it’s Behrman’s masterpiece — he painted it there the night that the last leaf fell.”

Exercises

1. Find in the text English equivalents for the following words and expressions and use them in the sentences of your own.

Ïðîêëàäûâàòü ïóòü ê èñêóññòâó, åäâà ñâîäèòü êîíöû ñ êîíöàìè, ãëóõàÿ ñòåíà äîìà, ó íåå îäèí øàíñ, ñêàæåì èç äåñÿòè, âáèëà ñåáå â ãîëîâó, ëåæàëà óñòàâèâøèñü â îêíî, îòñ÷èòûâàòü â îáðàòíîì ïîðÿäêå, âèíîãðàäíàÿ ëîçà, æèë íà ïåðâîì ýòàæå ïîä íèìè, åìó áûëî çà øåñòüäåñÿò, îíà çàøòîðèëà îêíî, ñíåã ñ äîæäåì, ñèëüíûå ïîðûâû âåòðà, ïîìåøèâàòü áóëüîí íà ïëèòå, îíà âíå îïàñíîñòè, îí áåçíàäåæåí, áûëè ìîêðûå íàñêâîçü, â òàêóþ óæàñíóþ íî÷ü.

2. Find in the text sentences with the infinitive, the participle, the gerund, modal verbs and comment on them.

3. Answer the following questions:

1) What were Johnsy and Sue?

2) Where did they have their studio?

3) How did they earn their living?

4) Were they poor or well-off? How do you know?

5) What happened to Johnsy in November?

6) What did the doctor tell Sue about Johnsy’s state of health?

7) What could save Johnsy according to the doctor?

8) What fixed idea did Johnsy have about her fate?

9) What was Behrman?

10) Where did he live?

11) How did he earn his living?

12) Why did Sue tell old Behrman about her fear for Johnsy’s life?

13) What did Jonsy see the next morning when Sue pulled up the shade?

14) She was astonished to see the only leaf on the ivy vine, wasn’t she? Why?

15) What effect did it produce on her?

16) Why was the doctor who came the next morning sure that Johnsy was out of danger?

17) What did the young painters learn about Behrman in the afternoon?

18) What did the janitor find in the yard?

19) Why did Behrman need all those things?

20) Why do you think Behrman fell ill with pneumonia?

21) Why did Sue call the last leaf painted by Behrman his masterpiece?

4. Discussion.

1) Can any person become a painter? Why?

2) How does a real painting differ from a daub?

3) What role do you think art played in the life of the two young artists?

4) Which of the three painters do you like most? Why?

5) What do you think of Behrman?

6) What features of his character appeal to you most?

7) Characterize the two young painters.

8) Can we apply the proverb: “Art is long, life is short” to the story “The Last Leaf”? Comment on the proverb.

9) Discuss how important art is in man’s life, what it teaches him and how it can change him.

10) Speak about the role of art in your development. Say what works of art have impressed you greatly.

5. Translate into Russian the extract beginning with “ Old Behrman was a painter…” and ending with “ It was the last on the vine”.

6. Retell the story:

a) from the point of view of Sue;

b) from the point of view of Jonsy;

c) from the point of view of Berman.