Lesson 2 Theme: Working over a scientific paper. Summarizing and Paraphrasing

Activity 4. Reading and speaking activities Leonardo da Vinci. Mona Lisa (Gioconda)
She is represented sitting in front of a marble balcony. The left arm rests on the arm of the seat, and the fingers fold over the end of it. The right hand, perhaps the most perfect hand ever painted, lies lightly over the left hand and wrist. On the sleeves and bodice the pleat sofa satin dress take the light, and worked along the braid, as if it were the signature of the artist, is one of the interlacing terms. The curling auburn hair escaping at either side from the veil, and just brushing the bosom as it falls, has perhaps the most resemblance to earlier works. The eyes look out at you, gray, devoid alike of eyelash or eyebrow, heavy-lidded, languorous yet strangely intent. The face is M and of a southern type, and the lips are smiling. She was listening to music while he painted, so Vasari tells us. Beyond the balcony a strip of herbage has a warm russet glow, and road and river wind away on either side in labyrinthine coils amidst the fretted rocks to where, in the far distance, shadows are deep and still water lies among the hills.
Check Comprehension

1. 
   We don't know who the sitter is, but we know the name of someone who did. Who is it?
   
2. 
   What is striking about the portrait?
   
3. 
   What is in the background of the portrait, beyond the balcony?
   
4. 
   How did the painter harmonize the nature with the portrait?
   
5. 
   Is there anything in Ihe painting that is similar to da Vinci's earlier works? Activity 5.Grammar Practice
   

Insert the following prepositions/prepositional phrases to make logical sentences. Some sentences have more than one possible answer.

on top of; in front of; over; next to; behind 1.She laid the clothes on the chair

2.He stood the portrait admiring its beautiful detail,

3 the house you could see the distant mountain range.
4.He laid his hand the letter and remembered her kind words.
5.She held the teapot_ his cup and asked if he wanted more.
6.Mr. Мог paused _______________ the door, deciding whether or not to tell his wife about their outing.
7.He went upstairs to his bedroom, collected plenty of papers and put them himself to draft the epistle.
8. They stood each other in front of the mantelpiece
9. Demoyte left the room again, closing the door Himself with a bang.
10. Mr. Мог looked________ Miss Carter's head to see that Demoyte was standing at the open door and had witnessed the scene.

Activity6.Vocabulary Practice

Exercise: Rewrite the following sentences using the active words from the text.
1. There were flattened folds in her dress and on the sleeves.
2. Though her eyes lack eyelashes and eyebrows, they impress the viewers by their tender and strangely intent state.
3. A warm reddish-brown glow of a strip of herbage was seen beyond the balcony.
4. In the background of the picture we can see a road and a river wind away on either side in complicated, irregular turns and curves.

Activity 7. Home task. Write an essay

1. Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is the greatest masterpiece in the world.
2. Mona Lisa's smiling lips are striking to everyone who views the painting.
3. Mona Lisa's eyes don't impress any viewers since there are no long black eyelashes or eyebrows.

Questions

1. We don't know who the sitter is, but we know the name of someone who did. Who is it?

2. What is striking about the portrait?
3. What is in the background of the portrait, beyond the balcony?
4. How did the painter harmonize the nature with the portrait?
5. Is there anything in Ihe painting that is similar to da Vinci's earlier works?