W. Somerset Maugham. Theatre. Home Reading Guide. Шишкина Н.М - 27 стр.

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  5. Points for discussion:
      1. Julia’s talk with Evie;
      2. Julia’s attempt to be picked up;
      3. Julia and rehearsals:
             a) Julia’s attitude to rehearsals;
             b) The impression the way Avice acted her part made on Michael;
             c) Julia’s reasons for wishing to keep Avice in the cast.
      4. Describe the events of “Nowadays” . What was it about?
      5. Discuss Roger’s arrival from Austria and the conversation between him and
his mother:
             a) the subject that Michael had invited Julia to discuss with Roger;
             b) Roger’s attitude to his mother and father;
             c) the state Roger was in when he, a fourteen-year-old boy was standing
one night in the wings watching Julia’s act. What happened after that?
             d) Roger said that acting was second nature to Julia. What did he mean
by that?
             e) the impression Roger’s words made on Julia;
             f) Roger and his parents belonged to different generations. Do you think
there was a generation gap between them? Is there a generation gap between you and
your parents?


                              Unit 10: Chapters 28-29
                                Vocabulary notes:

   1. knack – n a skill or an ability to do smth lazily or well
   2. breeze – n a light gentle wind
     breeze – vi infml to move or go quickly and in a carelessly confident way
   3. puberty – n the stage in a person’s life when they develop from a child into a
      adult because of changes in their body that make them able to have children
   4. nonchalant – adj behaving in a calm manner; nonchalance – n
   5. mew – vi, n (to make) the soft crying sound of a cat
     mews – a building which was used in the past for keeping horses and is now
   used as a house
   6. rattle – vt to worry or make nervous
   7. chaff [t∫a:f] – v old-fash infml to make fun of (someone) in a friendly way
   8. irrevocable [ı´revəkəbəl] – adj that cannot be changed once it has been started
      or made
   9. embrace – v to take and hold someone in the arms as a sign of love
   10. dote – v dote on/upon smb – to show great fondness for, esp. in a way that
      seems foolish
   11. stroke – vt to move a hand, another part of the body gently over smth
   12. hop – v to make small jumps on one or two feet
   13. denouement [deı´nu:ma:] – n the end of a story, or the end result of a situation