Anne of Green Gables. Аня из Зелёных Крыш. Адаптированная книга на английском языке.

silent

look after

Exercise: Choose the right word.

1. Marilla’s friend Mrs. Rachel told her that adopting/imagining a child is a very foolish thing to do.

2. Marilla wanted to bring a strange child home not knowing his parents and not knowing the boy’s whistle/personality.

3. Her face was small and white, she also had candle/freckles.

Chapter 5

“Do you know,” said Anne, “I’ve decided to enjoy this ride. I’m not going to think about returning to the children’s home, I’ll just think about the road. Oh, look, there’s a wild rose. Don’t you think it’s nice to be a rose? Wouldn’t it be nice, if flowers talked? Do you know any girl whose hair was black and then turned another color when she grew up?”

“No, I don’t. And I think your hair won’t turn another color either,” said Marilla.

Anne sighed[39 - sigh – [sa?] – вздыхать].

“If you like talking so much, you can tell me what you know about yourself,” said Marilla.

“What I know is not interesting. Let me tell you what I imagine[40 - [??m?d??n] – воображать, представлять].”

“No, I don’t want to hear you imagination. Just tell me the facts.”

“I was eleven last March,” said Anne. “I was born in Bolingbroke. My father was a teacher in a high school. My mother was a teacher too. They were poor and lived in a tiny[41 - [tiny] – крошечный] house. My mother died of fever[42 - [?fi?v?] – лихорадка, жар] when I was three months old. And father died of fever too, four days after her.

Mrs. Thomas, the woman who came in to clean, took me and I lived with her and her children for eight years. I looked after [43 - присматривать]her children, there were four of them. But Mr. Thomas fell under the train and died. The mother of Mrs. Thomas took her and her children but she didn’t want me.

Then Mrs. Hammond saw that I could be handy[44 - [?h?ndi] – пригодиться] with children and took me. She had eight children. I lived with them over two years.

Then Mr. Hammond died, Mrs. Hammond became very poor, divided[45 - divide – [d??va?d] – разделить] her children among her relatives and went to the United States. I went to the children’s house because nobody wanted to take me. They didn’t want to take me either[46 - [?a???] – тоже], they said there were too many children in the children’s house. But they had to take me and I lived there four months before Mrs. Spencer came.”

Anne finished her story.

“Did you go to school?” asked Marilla.

“Not much. I went a little last year when I lived with Mrs. Thomas. But they lived so far away from school and I couldn’t go there in winter. But I can read pretty well and I know a lot of poems by heart.”

“Were those women, Mrs. Thomas and Mrs. Hammond good to you?” asked Marilla, looking at Anne out of the corner of her eye.

“O-o-h,” said Anne. “I’m sure they wanted to be, but it’s hard sometimes when you have to work so much and have so many children. But I’m sure they wanted to be good.”

Marilla didn’t ask questions anymore and they drove in silence. Suddenly, Marilla felt such a pity[47 - [?p?ti] – жалость] for the child. Poor unloved child, she thought. No wonder the girl wanted a real home. Maybe they could have her, thought the woman again.

She talked too much, thought Marilla. But we can train her out of that. She’s ladylike[48 - с манерами леди].

“What is that big house ahead of us?” asked the girl.

“Hotel. A lot of Americans come here. But the season hasn’t started yet,” said Marilla.

“I was afraid it might be Mrs. Spencer’s house,” said Anne sadly. “I don’t want to go there.”

Exercise: What are these words?

to sigh

might

to divide

to imagine

tiny

Chapter 6

Mrs. Spencer lived in a big yellow house, and she came to the door with surprise.

“Mrs. Spencer, there was a mistake somewhere and I’ve come to see where. We sent a word, Matthew and I, we told your brother to bring us a boy,” said Marilla.

“But my brother said you wanted a girl. It wasn’t my fault[49 - [f??lt] – вина], you see,” said Mrs. Spencer.

“Anyway, the mistake was made. Can we send the child back?” asked Marilla.

“I think so, but there’s no need sending her back as Mrs. Blewett was here yesterday and asked for a little girl from the children’s house.”

Marilla knew Mrs. Blewett only a little. A thin and very greedy[50 - [??ri?di] – жадная] woman with a bad temper[51 - [?temp?] – нрав, характер].

The doorbell rang and in came Mrs. Bewett. Mrs. Spencer was glad they could decide everything right there. Mrs. Spencer told her that if she still wanted a girl, she could take her.

Mrs. Blewett said that the girl had to earn[52 - [??n] – заработать, заслужить] her living, be smart and respect[53 - [r??spekt] – уважать] her. She was ready to take Anne.

Marilla looked at Anne’s face, so pale and sad. She understood that the girl would again go to the family where she wouldn’t be treated[54 - [tri:t] – обращаться с] right. She also thought that if she left the child right there, she would never forgive[55 - [f????v] – прощать] herself.

“You know, I didn’t come here to send the child back, I just wanted to know how the mistake was made. Anyway, I need to talk with Matthew, I can’t do things without talking to him. I’ll take the child home and if Matthew says he doesn’t want to take the girl, I will send you a note and you can take her,” said Marilla.

Anne smiled when she heard this.

They came back home and Marilla told Matthew that she decided to let the girl stay. “I wouldn’t give a dog to that Blewett woman,” Matthew said.

Exercise: What are these words?

fault

greedy

to decide