11th grade, homework for Wednesday

№ 16

  I.  1. Read the extract and say in 2—3 sentences what it is about.

MR WEMMICK’S “CASTLE”

Wemmick’s house was a little wooden cottage in the middle of a large garden. The top of the house had been built and painted like a battery loaded with guns. I said I really liked it. I think Wemmick’s house was the tiniest I had ever seen. It had very few windows and the door was almost too small to get in.

‘Look,’ said Wemmick, ‘after I have crossed this bridge, I raise it so that nobody can enter the Castle.’

The ‘bridge’ was a plank¹ and it crossed a gap about four feet² wide and two feet deep. But I enjoyed seeing the smile on Wemmick’s face and the pride with which he raised his bridge. The gun on the roof of the house, he told me, was fired every night at nine o’clock. I later heard it. Immediately, it made an impressive sound.

‘At the back,’ he said, ‘there are chickens, ducks, geese, and rabbits. I’ve also got my own little vegetable garden and I grow cucumbers. Wait until supper and you’ll see for yourself what kind of salad I can make. If the Castle is ever attacked, I will be able to survive for quite a while,’ he said with a smile, but at the same time seriously.

Then Wemmick showed me his collection of curiosities. They were mostly to do with being on the wrong side of the law: a pen with which a famous forgery³ had been committed, some locks of hair, several manuscript confessions written from prison.

‘I am my own engineer, my own carpenter, my own plumber and my own gardener. I am my own Jack of all Trades⁴,’ said Wemmick, receiving my compliments. Wemmick told me that it had taken many years to bring his property to this state of perfection.

 ‘Is it your own, Mr. Wemmick?’

‘Oh yes, I have got a hold of it a bit at a time. I have absolute ownership now. You know, the office is one thing, and private life is another. When I go to the office, I leave the Castle behind me, and when I come to the Castle, I leave the office behind me. If you don’t mind, I’d like you to do the same. I don’t want to talk about my home in a professional manner’.

¹ plank [plæŋk] брус, доска

² feet [fiːt] — мн. ч. от foot — мера длины, равная 30,48 см

³ а forgery [ˈfɒdʒərɪ] подделка документа

⁴ Jack of all Trades мастер на все руки

2.  ‘An Englishman’s home is his castle’. Read aloud the extract which proves this idea.

3.  What do we understand about Wemmick’s home life?

4.  Why does Wemmick call himself Jack of all Trades?

II. Listen to a part of the interview with a thirteen-year old writer, Sally Myers, and answer the questions below.

1. What made Sally write the book?

2. What did Sally’s Dad think about the book?

3. How did Sally’s life change after publishing the book?

          III.     Let’s talk about tourism.