style="font-size:15px;"> – dexterity
– a kind of contorted smile
– the script
– a propman
– a couch
– a wormwhole
– a tamer
III. Find adverbs in the text. Make up your own sentences with them.
IV. Unscramble the words in bold.
1. A travelling circus was giving the first mcnproearfe of the season in a small
country town.
2. The town residents were not spoiled by qtrfnuee visits from performing
guests.
3. The jrocounr had a few minutes before his appearance on the stage.
4. Do you remember the srtcpi
5. The white-haired npramop showed his head from behind the door.
6. He stared at the btarib and could not believe what had happened.
7. But he works only with prderstao, so he can’t be responsible.
8. His gaset name was Faust.
9. A cokkn at the door brought him back to reality.
10. A mwloheor is a hypothetical topological feature of space time.
V. Give definitions of the following verbs.
– to erect
– to spoil
– to demand
– to examine
– to reveal
– to grip
– to stroke
– to craft
– to vanish
– to swear off
– to vow
VI. Grammar.
1. Find and translate sentences in the Past Simple Tense.
2. Find and translate a sentence with homogeneous parts.
3. Find and translate one sentence in the Present Perfect Tense.
4. Find and translate one sentence in the Present Perfect Continuous Tense.
5. Find sentences with the direct speech. Change them into the indirect
speech.
VII. Answer the following questions.
1. What kind of person was the magician?
2. Where did he work?
3. Where was a travelling circus giving the first performance?
4. What did the magician ask the propman for?
5. How did the black box look like?
6. What happened in the arena?
7. What story did the propman tell the conjuror?
8. What is the wormhole?
9. Do you believe in the human ability to travel through time in the future?
10. What is the main message of the story?
11. Which of the tricks do you think would be the most impressive to watch?
12. Have you had any experience of mind-reading or illusions? Give details.
13. If the magician asked a member of the audience to participate on stage,
would you do it?
VIII. Say whether the following sentences are true, false or not given in the text.
Say what is wrong with the false ones.
1. A travelling circus was giving the second performance.
2. The town residents hated frequent visits of performing guests.
3. A novice magician demanded to be given a box for a hare to fit in.
4. The public was marveled by the performance.
5. The conjuror demonstrated stunts and tight rope walk.
6. The black box vanished with the rabbit inside.
7. The illusionist Faust appeared on the stage with the rabbit.
8. The propman told the story about wormholes.
9. According to the text rabbits live forty years.
10. The animal ceased to nibble on its carrot.
IX. Speaking.
1. Describe the magician.
2. Speak about the atmosphere in the town before the show.
3. Describe the performance of the conjuror.
4. Act out the dialogue between the propman and the magician.
5. Give the summary of the story.
X. Which of the sayings best summarises the main idea of the story?
1. The fated thing will happen.
2. There is a time and place for everything.
3. The world is a mere illusion.
XI. Solve a crossword puzzle.
Across:
2/ A person who performs tricks that seem strange or impossible to believe.
6/ A long pointed orange root vegetable.
8/ A group of people, sometimes with trained animals, who perform acts with
skill in a show that travels around to different places.
10/ An individual responsible for objects used by actors during the performance
of a play.
11/ The act of performing a play, concert or some other form of entertainment.
14/ A small animal with soft fur, long ears and a short tail.
