MY FRIEND

         I have a lot of friends. Most of them are my former schoolmates.  But my bosom friend is Lena. She is 16. Lena isn’t very tall, but she is pretty in her own way. She has red curly hair and a turned-up nose. Lena wears spectacles and when spring comes there are plenty of frecles on her cheeks, forehead and nose. But all that doesn’t make her plain or ugly. I like Lena because she is well-bred, jolly and kind. She does well at school though she has an unbreakable rule: never to study at night no matter how many written reviews are coming in the mor­ning.

        She is also fond of reading plain books, and Lena sometimes thinks that one book isn’t enough to read, she has two or three books going at once. My friend has a lot of books at home, and she buys them wherever she goes. She says that the books are of great help any time and they always must be at her hand. Her idea is that it’s much easier to have a library of her own comprising lots of books than to try keeping everything in her head.          

        Lena goes in for sports and she is a member of our school basket-ball team. She is terribly quick and strong. It’s a plea­sure to watch her playing basket-ball: while others are hop­ping about in the air she always gets under their feet and grabs the ball.

        I don’t like people who are bored at everything and who never make the slightest effort to be pleasant. That’s why my friend is Lena, the most amusing person in the world. She thinks everything is funny — even flunking an exam. Lena is a sunny soul by nature and always takes the slightest excuse to be amused. My friend has an imagination and her own style. Usually she writes nice compositions and once even won short- story contest that our school wallpaper holds every year.

        Lena and me are good friends. We help each other a lot and try not to quarrel. But when sometimes it comes to quarreling wetry to make it up at once.

QUESTIONS:

1.    How old is Lena?

2.    Does she wear spectacles? Describe her appearance.

3.    Does she do well at school?

4.    What unbreakable rule has she?

5.    What books is she fond of reading?

6.    Does Lena go in for sports?

7.    Is she a member of the school basket-ball team?

8.    Why is it a pleasure to watch her playing basket-ball?

9.    Is Lena a sunny soul by nature? What makes you think so?

10.  Has she an imagination? Prove it.

VOCABULARY:

former school-mates — бывшие школьные друзья

bosom friend — закадычный друг

to be pretty in one’s own way — быть по-своему красивым

turned-up — курносый

freckles — веснушки

forehead — лоб

ugly — некрасивый

to do well at school — хорошо учиться в школе

to be fond of — любить, нравится

plain books — художественные книги

to be of great help — быть очень полезным, нужным

to be at hand — быть под рукой

to go in for sports — увлекаться, заниматься спортом

terribly — ужасно

to grab — хватать

to be bored at everything — ничего не нравится

amusing — забавный, занимательный, смешной

to flunk an exam — провалиться на экзамене

a sunny soul by nature - быть веселым по натуре

a short-story contest - конкурс на написание рассказа

to hold - проводить, держать(ся)

to quarrel — ругаться

to make up with smb. — мириться с кем-либо