The First Four Minutes

"Every time you meet someone in a social situation, give him your undivided attention for four minutes. A lot of people's whole lives would change if they did just that."

When we are introduced to new people, the author suggests, we should try to appear friendly and self-confident. In general, he says, "People like people who like themselves."

On the other hand, we should not make the other person think we are too sure of ourselves. It is important to appear interested and sympathetic, realizing that the other person has his own needs, fears and hopes.

But isn't it dishonest to give the appearance of friendly self-confidence when we don't actually feel that way? Perhaps, but according to Dr. Zunin, "total honesty" is not always good for social relationships, especially during the first few minutes of contact. There is a time for everything, a certain amount of playacting may be best for the first minutes of contact with a stranger. That is not the time to complain about one's health or to mention faults one finds in other people. It is not the time to tell the whole truth about one's opinion and impressions.

Much of what has been said about strangers, also applies to relationships with family members and friends. For a husband and wife or a parent and child, problems often arise during their first four minutes together after they have been apart. Dr. Zunin suggests that these first few minutes together be treated with care. If there are unpleasant matters to be discussed they should be dealt with later.

Answer thefollowing questions.

1.What do you think of the idea put forward by Dr. Zunin?

2.What things do we focus our attention on while meeting a person?

3.Is our first impression always correct?

4.Can we see through the person we meet for the first time?

Read the stories.

A Friend In Need

After W.S. Maugham

For thirty years now I have been studying people. I do not know very much about them. Some people say that their first impressions of a person are always right. For my part I find the longer I know people the more they puzzle me: my oldest friends are just those of whom I can say that I don't know the first thing about them.

That is what I was thinking when I read in the morning's paper that Edward Hyde Burton had died at Kobe. He was a merchant and he had been in business in Japan for many years. I knew him very little, but he interested me because once he gave me a great surprise.

He was a little fellow, not much more than five feet four in height, and very thin, with white hair and blue eyes. I suppose he was about sixty when I knew him.

Though his offices were in Kobe, Burton often came down to Yokohama. Once when I was waiting for a ship in Yokohama, I met him at the British club. We played bridge together. He did not talk very much, either then or later when we were having drinks, but what he said was sensible. He had a quiet, dry humour. He was very popular at the club and after he had gone, they described him as one of the best. It happened that we were both staying at the Grand Hotel and next day he asked me to dine with him. I met his wife, fat, elderly and smiling, and his two daughters. It was a united family. I think that the main thing that I liked about Burton was his kindliness. There was something very pleasing in his blue eyes. You felt in him a real love for people. He had charm. He was a rich man and he had made every penny himself. I suppose one thing that made you like him was that he was so small. You felt that he could not bear to hurt a fly.

One afternoon I was sitting in the lounge of the Grand Hotel. Burton саше in and saw me. He seated himself in the chair next to mine.

"What do you say to a little drink?"

While we were drinking Burton told me a story that had happened at that very place some time before.

Burton emptied his glass.

"It's rather a funny story," he said. "There was a man here. He had the same surname as me and that’s why this story is still in my mind. He wasn't a bad fellow, I liked him. He was handsome in a way, with curly hair and pink-and-white cheeks. Women thought a lot of him. But he drank too much. Those sort of men always do. A bit of money came in for him once a quarter and he made a bit more by card playing. He won a good deal of mine, I know that."

He stroked his chin with his thin hand.

"I suppose that is why he came to me when he went broke and because he was a namesake of mine. He came to see me in my office one day and asked me for a job. I was rather surprised. He told me that there was no money coming from home and he wanted to work. I asked him how old he was."

"Thirty-five," he said.

"And what have you been doing?" I asked him. "Well, nothing very much," he said.

I couldn't help laughing.

"I'm afraid I can't do anything for you just yet," I said. "Come back and see me in an­ other thirty-five years, and I'll see what I can do!"

He didn't move. He was pale. Then he told me that he had had bad luck at cards for some time. He hadn't a penny. He couldn't pay his hotel bill and they wouldn't give him any more credit. If he couldn't get something to do he'd have to commit suicide.

"Well, isn't there anything you can do except play cards?" I asked him. "I can swim," he said.

"Swim?"

"I swam for my university."

"I was a pretty good swimmer myself when I was a young man," I said. Suddenly I had an idea.

Pausing in his story, Burton turned to me. "Do you know Kobe?" he asked.

"No," I said, "I passed through it once, but only spent a night there."

"Then you don't know the Shioya Club. When I was a young man I swam from there round the beacon and back. It's over three miles and it's rather difficult because of currents round the beacon. Well, I told my young namesake about it and I said to him that if he'd do it I'd give him a job. I could see he was afraid."

"You say you're a good swimmer," I said. "I'm not in very good condition," he answered.

I didn't say anything. He looked at me for a moment and then he nodded. "All right," he said. "When do you want me to do it?"

I looked at my watch. It was just after ten.

"The swim shouldn't take you much over an hour and a quarter. I'll drive there at half past twelve and meet you. I'll take you back to the club to dress and then we'll have lunch together."

"All right," he said.

We shook hands. I wished him good luck and he left me. I had a lot of work to do that morning and I only just managed to get to the creek at half past twelve.

But he never turned up.

"Didn't he swim?" I asked.

"Yes, he did. He started all right. But of course he ruined his health by drink. The currents round the beacon were more than he could manage. They didn't get the body for about three days."

Answer thefollowing questions.

1.What was Edward Burton?

2.What can you say about his young namesake Lenny Burton?

3.Whom do we call a namesake?

4.Why did Lenny Burton come to old Burton when he went broke?

5.What did he ask him for?

6.What did old Burton offer Lenny?

7.Could young Burton swim at that time? Why?

8.What did Edward Burton look like?

9.What did Lenny Burton look like?

10.What is the meaning of the title of the story? How do you understand the proverb "A friend in need is a friend indeed"?

11.What is the importance of the last sentence of the story?

12.What do you think of old Burton?

13.Is it really a funny story?

14.Do you agree with those who say that the first impression of a person is always correct? Can you prove it?

15.Do you agree with the author who says: "The longer I know people, the more they puzzle me"?

16.What do you think of the proverb: "Appearances are deceitful"?

17.How do you understand the proverbs: "A good face is a letter of recommendation" and "A fair face may hide a foul heart"?

Under The Deck Awnings

After Jack London

"Can a man - 1 mean, a gentleman - call a woman a pig?" The little man spoke to the whole group. Nobody answered.

The little man looked at each of the men in turn and spoke to one of them. "I ask you, Mr Treloar, can any man call any woman a pig?"

Treloar, who was sitting next to him, did not answer at once. "I think," he began slowly, "that it - it depends on the lady." The little man looked angrily at him: "You mean..."

"Yes, I mean that I have met a woman who was worse than a pig. If you wish, I shall tell you the story and then ask you what you think of her."

"Miss Caruthers I shall call her (though that is not her real name). It was on a boat sailing the Southern seas and it happened a few years ago. Her father was a high official whose name you all know very well, and that is the reason why I don't mention it."

"Miss Caruthers was charming. No, that is not the word. She was wonderful. She was a beautiful young woman, and a lady. She was with her mother and two maids at that time. They were going East to join her father there."

"She —excuse me for repeating it —was wonderful. There was nothing she could not do better than any woman and —most of the men. She could sing, play, dance, swim! Nobody could compete with her."

"But her swimming! She was very beautiful, as I have told you, small and thin. But she also had strength. She could stay under water for two minutes. No man on board, except Dennitson, could get as many coins with one dive. On the deck there was a big tank filled with six-feet sea water. We used to throw small coins into it. She would dive from the bridge —this was not an easy thing to do —and fetch up not less than forty-seven coins from the bottom of the tank."

"She was a sea-woman, really. But she was a land-woman too. She could ride, she could play tennis, she could do anything. She was a wonder. And she was clever, witty, charming. All the men were in love with her. I myself was in love with her. She was always surrounded by men, young and old, who were ready to do everything she wished."

"She ran the ship, she ran the voyage, she ran everything, and she ran Dennitson. He was in love with her like all of us. But she liked him better than the others, and that feeling was growing. What would have happened we shall never know, because we came to Colombo and something else happened."

"You know Colombo, and how the native boys dive for coins in the bay flxll of sharks. Of course they risk to do it only with the smaller and less dangerous sharks. It is really surprising how they know sharks and can feel the presence of a real killer - a tiger shark, for instance. Whenever such a shark appears, all the boys get hurriedly out of the water."

"It was after lunch, and Miss Caruthers was as usual surrounded by her admirers. Old Captain Bentley had just been whistled up and had given her permission (he had never allowed this before nor since) for the boys to come up on deck. You see, Miss Caruthers was a swimmer, and she was interested. She took all our small coins and herself threw them into the water. She gave extra rewards to the best swimmers, in short, she ran the whole show."

"It was a pretty sight. Among the boys there was a little fellow who could dive wonderfully, much better than the other boys. He could make the swallow-dive more beauti­ fully than I had ever seen it. He dived again and again. We all watched him with delight, especially Miss Caruthers. He was not older than twelve or thirteen, but he was certainly the cleverest among the boys. He was their favourite and leader, though some of them were older than he. He was a beautiful boy, active and brave. He was so healthy, fresh and young, so full of life, that it was a pleasure to look at him."

"This was the boy. And it was he who gave alarm in the middle of the sport. All the boys hurried to get out of the water. They were all frightened and swam towards the ship as quickly as they could. They hurriedly climbed onto the deck. Now all of them were standing near the rail and looking down into the water."

"What's the matter?" asked Miss Caruthers. "A shark, I think," Captain Bentley answered. "Are they afraid of sharks?" she asked.

"Aren't you?" he asked back. "She shuddered, looked down into the water."

"Not for the world would I risk to dive if there was a shark nearby," she said and shuddered again. "They are terrible! Terrible!"

Captain Bentley made a sign to the boys to go away. But Miss Caruthers stopped him. "One moment, please, Captain."

"And then she turned to us and asked: "Who will lend me a half-crown and a sovereign?"

RENDERING

Render thefollowing texts into English.

PSYCHOLOGISTS SAY...

Четыре правила, чтобы произвести хорошее первое впечатление

1. Ваши первые десять слов должны быть очень важными. Выразите свою ра­ дость от встречи с человеком такими фразами, как «Рад познакомиться», «Рад Вас ви­ деть», или свою благодарность фразами «Спасибо, что пришли», «Спасибо, что на­ шли время для встречи».

2.Обратите внимание на других. Смотрите в глаза. Улыбайтесь. Будьте под­ вижны, энергичны, уверены в себе. И людям это понравится.

3.Обратите внимание на походку. Ходите энергично, живо. Большинству из нас

нравится общество энергичных людей.

4. Обратите внимание на свой внешний вид. Вы должны быть аккуратно приче­ саны, опрятно одеты, Ваша обувь должна быть чистой. Украшения, макияж и стиль Вашей одежды должны соответствовать событию и ситуации.

Девять правил для установления

иподдержания отношений с людьми

1.Умейте установить контакт с помощью взгляда.

Уверенно и прямо смотрите в глаза собеседнику, это поможет создать обстанов­ ку доверия. Смотреть друг другу в глаза - один из самых важных моментов общения между людьми. Поразительно, как много можно узнать о другом человеке, просто глядя ему в глаза. Симпатия, энтузиазм, страх, ожидание, осуждение могут прояв­ ляться, когда мы встречаемся взглядом. Мы все обладаем в той или иной степени ин­ туицией, позволяющей оценить человека, и именно глаза говорят нам больше всего.

2. Будьте хорошим слушателем.

Активное слушание - это самый глубокий знак одобрения. В тот момент, когда вы слушаете другого человека, вы должны дать понять, что он или она являются са­ мыми важными для вас в мире. Но быть хорошим слушателем не так легко. Умение слушать требует много времени, сосредоточенности и заинтересованности. Когда мы используем нашу способность слушать, мы улучшаем взаимопонимание с другими.

3.Задавайте вопросы, которые помогают собеседнику раскрыться.

Восновном, людей не интересует, как много вы знаете. Им важнее то, насколь­ ко они сами интересны вам. Задавая вопросы, мы должны показать людям, что они нам небезразличны и что мы достаточно уважаем их, чтобы выслушать их мнение.

4.Будьте уверены в себе.

Обычно люди хотят общаться и работать с теми, кто уверен в себе. Чем больше вы верите в себя, тем больше другие верят в вас. Уверенность привлекает, воодушев­ ляет и стимулирует окружающих.

5. Проявляйте чувство юмора.

Мы предпочитаем общаться с людьми, обладающими чувством юмора, а не с теми, кто воспринимает все только всерьёз. Юмор помогает создать атмосферу непринужденности, которая так необходима для общения. Когда мы смеёмся вместе

скем-то, мы чувствуем себя свободнее и ближе к ним.

6.Будьте честными и искренними.

Держите слово, приходите вовремя, признавайте свои ошибки. Надо не притво­ ряться, а просто быть самим собой. Для установления доверительных отношений очень важно не скрывать свои слабые стороны или своё «настоящее я».

7. Любите и уважайте людей. Будьте доброжелательны.

Среди всех человеческих достоинств симпатия и уважение к другим людям за­ нимают особое место. Тот, кто живет лишь осуждая других, имеет слабые шансы для установления добрых отношений с людьми.

8. Сохраняйте позитивный настрой.

Не поддавайтесь плохому настроению. Всегда старайтесь думать о чём-то хо­ рошем.

9. Постарайтесь быть привлекательным. Быть привлекательным во всём: внеш­ ности, одежде, причёске, манерах, поведении. Это не значит соответствовать какомулибо стереотипу, эго значит ценить себя по достоинству.

tiny - крошечный

a midget - карлик, лилипут

knee-high to a grasshopper - крошечный (по колено кузнечику)

a pocket-size girl (woman) - очень маленькая девушка (женщина)

III. Built - сложение portly - дородный corpulent - тучный

overweight - с избыточным весом as round as tall —как шарик pot-bellied - пузатый, с брюшком stocky - коренастый

medium-built - среднего сложения well-built - хорошего сложения muscular

narrow-waisted - с тонкой талией skinny - костлявый

all skin and bones - кожа да кости a puny person - пигалица

IV. Bearing, posture - осанка, манера держаться upright - прямой

stooped (with a stoop) - сутулый, согнутый hunch-backed - горбатый

V. F ace -лицо round - круглое oval - овальное square - квадратное long - длинное thin - худое

fleshy - мясистое

1.Forehead ['forid] - лоб high - высокий low - низкий

broad - широкий narrow - узкий domed - выпуклый lined - морщинистый

2.Cheeks - щёки

hollow - впалые plump - пухлые

3.Chin - подбородок double - двойной pointed - острый

4.Nose - нос

straight - прямой tumed-up - вздёрнутый hook(ed) - крючковатый

5. Eyelashes - ресницы long - длинные false

6. Eyebrows - брови

bushy - густые, кустистые pencil-thin - тонкие

7. Eyes - глаза hazel - карие

close-set —близко поставленные wide-set —широко поставленные deep-set - глубоко сидящие bulging —на выкате

warm - тёплые

bloodshot - налитые кровью

discerning - проницательные, понимающие piercing - пронзительные

8. Jaw - челюсть square - квадратная

9. Mouth - рот

large - большой, крупный wide - широкий

thin - тонкий

sensual - чувственный 10. Smile - улыбка

bright —весёлая, сияющая happy - счастливая

sad - печальная ironical

wry - кривая

VI. Hair and Hairstyles - волосы и причёски thick - густые

thin - редкие straight - прямые wavy - волнистые curly - кудрявые curled - завитые

chestnut - каштановые grey - седые

golden - золотистые a hairdo - причёска

a haircutting - стрижка a bun - узел (волос)

a pony-tail - "конский хвост" a fringe - челка

a plait - коса

loose hair - распущенные волосы a wig - парик

VII. Peculiarities, distinctive features - отличительные особенности big-headed - большеголовый

red-faced - краснолицый clean-shaven - гладко выбритый a moustache - усы