Table of contents Предисловие Tasks for seminars Sentences and extracts for analysis

Reynard the Fox
The fox was strong, he was full of running,
He could run for an hour and then be cunning,
But the cry behind him made him chill,
They were nearer now and they meant to kill.
They meant to run him until his blood
Clogged on his heart as his brush with mud,
Till he crouched stone-still, dead-beat and dirty,
With nothing but teeth against the thirty.
And all the way to that blinding end
He would meet with men and have none his friend:
Men to holloa and men to run him,
With stones to stagger and yells to stun him;
Men to head him, with whips to beat him.
And all the way, that wild high crying.
To cold his blood with the thought of dying,
The horn and the cheer, and the drum-like thunder
Of the horsehooves stamping the meadows under.
He upped his brush and went with a will
For the Sarsen Stones on Van Dyke Hill.

Functional styles

1. 
   I … take thee … to my wedded wife / husband/ to have and to hold from this day and forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish and to obey, till death us do depart, according to God’s holy ordinance; and thereto I plight thee my troth.
   

2. 
   Mr. M.J. Fothergill-Smythe and Miss P.L. Howard-Thomson.
   

The engagement is announced between Malcolm James, youngest son of Captain C.G.E. Fothergill-Smythe and the late Mrs. Laura Fothergill-Smythe, of Fothergill Hall, Buntingford, Hertfordshire, and Penelope Lesley, younger daughter of Major H.C. Howard-Thomson and the late Mrs. Rosemary Howard-Thomson, of Dunromin, the Water Mill, Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire.

3. If the first homo sapiens was very remote in time, the process by which DNA suffers random mutation would have left the men with distinct differences. Previous studies of DNA, which passes down the material line, suggest that this ancestor was alive somewhere about 100, 000 years ago. Now the male data points to the same conclusion. The DNA on the Y-chromosome shows no variation on and puts a limit of 270, 000 years on the African Adam.

4. I opened the packet and extracted the cards. They were on the order of tarots, with their wands, pentacles, cups, and swords, but the Greater Trumps were quite different. I replaced both drawers, being careful not to lock the smaller one, before I continued my inspection. They were almost lifelike in appearance, the Greater Trumps ready to step right out through those glistening surfaces. The cards seemed quite cold to my touch, and it gave me a distinct pleasure to handle them. I had once had a packet like this myself, I suddenly knew. I began spreading them on the blotter before me. The one bore a wily-looking little man, with a sharp nose and a laughing mouth and a shock of straw-colored hair. He was dressed in something like a Renaissance costume of orange, red and brown. He wore long hose and a tight-fitting embroidered doublet. And I knew him. His name was Random.

Next, there was the passive countenance of Julian, dark hair hanging long, blue eyes containing neither passion nor compassion. He was dressed completely in scaled white armor, not silver or metallic-colored, but looking as if it had been enameled. I knew, though, that it was terribly tough and shock-resistant, despite its decorative and festive appearance. He was the man I had beaten at his favorite game, for which he had thrown a glass of wine at me. I knew him and I hated him.

5. AU REVOIR STELLA?

By EVELYN NUSSENBAUM
Paris is buzzing with rumors that designer Stella McCartney is unhappy at Chloe and may go to a competitor, according to a published report. The 28-year-old daughter of ex-Beatle Paul McCartney has injected new life into the aging French couture house with her sexy, feminine designs. Her silk-screened animal T-shirts and signature sunglasses are a favorite of fashion magazines editors. Her easy manner has also made her popular with the fashion press. And she has brought in all-important celebrity clientele, including Madonna, Kate Moss and Cameron Diaz. Earlier this year Chloe said it had increased new accounts by 32 percent since McCartney came aboard in 1997, and that old accounts were buying more merchandise, resulting in double-digit sales growth. It did not give specific figures. McCartney was on vacation and could not be reached for comment. But Chloe Chairman and CEO Ralph Toledano told Women’s Wear Daily that “I do not believe for a moment that Stella McCartney will leave the house of Chloe.” Toledano was named the head of Chloe in May. At that time he praised McCartney’s collections, and said he planned to develop “many other products around her style and who she is.” Her contract is reportedly up next March; but she must inform management at Chloe and parent company Vendome by next month whether or not she will renew it. Several fashion houses, eyeing the rapid sales growth at Chloe, are supposedly looking to lure her away. At least one, said the report, is looking to copy the house of Yves St. Laurent – hiring an older designer for couture and a young, hip one for ready to wear. Private backers have reportedly contacted her about setting up her own label as well. McCartney produced two collections under her own name before coming to Chloe.

6. Sri Lanka – Parliament is likely to hold a session in Colombo to vote on a draft constitution that aims to end the country’s separatist war by giving autonomy – but not independence to the minority Tamils.

7. We, the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.