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• Helena Bob

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Figaro here; Figaro, there, I tell you! Figaro upstairs, Figaro downstairs and--oh, my goodness me, this little Figaro can slip into my lady's chamber smart as you like at any time whatsoever that he takes the fancy for, don't you know, he's a cat of the world,cosmopolitan, sophisticated; he can tell when a furry friend is the Missus' best company. For what lady in all the world could say 'no' to the passionate yet toujours discret advances of a fine marmalade cat? (Unless it be her eyes incontinently overflow at the slightest whiff of fur, which happened once, as you shall hear.) A tom, sirs, a ginger tom and proud of it. Proud of his fine, white shirtfront that dazzles harmoniously against his orange and tangerine tessellations (oh!what a fiery suit of lights have I); proud of his bird-entrancing eye and more than military whiskers; proud, to a fault, some say, of his fine, musical voice. All the windows in the square fly open when I break into impromptu song at the spectacle of the moon above Bergamo. If the poor players in the square, the sullen rout of ragged trash that haunts the provinces, are rewarded with a hail of pennies when they set up their makeshift stage and start their raucous choruses, then how much more liberally do the citizens deluge me with pails of the freshest water, vegetables hardly spoiled and, occasionally,slippers, shoes and boots. Do you see these fine, high, shining leather boots of mine? A young cavalry officer made me the tribute of, first, one; then, after I celebrate his generosity with a fresh obbligato, the moon no fuller than my heart--whoops! I nimbly spring aside--down comes the other. Their high heels will click like castanets when Puss takes his promenade upon the tiles, for my song recalls flamenco, all cats have a Spanish tinge although Puss himself elegantly lubricates his virile, muscular, native Bergamasque with French, since that is the only language in which you can purr. 'Merrrrrrrrrrrci!' Instanter I draw my new boots on over the natty white stockings that terminate my hinder legs. That young man, observing with curiosity by moonlight the use to which I put his footwear, calls out: 'Hey,Puss! Puss, there!' 'At your service, sir!' 'Up to my balcony, young Puss!' He leans out, in his nightshirt, offering encouragement as I swing succinctly up the façade, forepaws on a curly cherub's pate, hindpaws on a stucco wreath, bring them up to meet your forepaws while, first paw forward, hup! on to the stone nymph's tit; left paws down a bit, the satyr's bum should do the trick. Nothing to it, once you know how, rococo's no problem. Acrobatics? Born to them; Puss can perform a back somersault whilst holding aloft a glass of vino in his right paw and never spill a drop.

But, to my shame, the famous death-defying triple somersault en plein air, that is, in middle air, that is, unsupported and without a safety net, I, Puss, have never yet attempted though often I have dashingly brought off the double tour, to the applause of all. A. READING COMPREHENSION 1. What does the beginning line of this text remind you of? 2. The excerpt above is taken from an adaptation of a well-known European literary fairy tale: Puss-in-Boots. There are however other literary and cultural references in this story. Can you identify them? 3. Comment upon the style of the text. What sort of narrative is it? What is the value of the present tense simple forms appearing in the text? 4. What does the word tom in the first line of the second paragraph stand for? 5. How did the cat get his “fine, high, shining leather boots”? 6. Comment on the notion of “adaptation”. How faithful should an “adaptation “ be to the text is based on? 7. Can you think of other fairy tales that have been reworked into literary or cinematic adaptations? B.VOCABULARY I.

Fill in the blanks with words/phrases from the text.

1.The tabby cat can easily… into her mistress’ chamber. 2. Her eyes incontinently ….at the slightest whiff of fur. 3. He is proud … of his fine, musical voice. 4. Puss despises the sullen … of ragged trash that haunts the provinces. 5. A young cavalry officer made him … of the first boot. 6. Their high heels will… like castanets when Puss prances upon the tiles. 7. He drew his new boots over the … white stockings. 8. He can perform amazing acrobatics without a … net. 9. Puss can do a back….. whilst holding aloft a glass of vino in his right paw and never spill a drop. 10. He has dashingly …. the double tour. II. POLYSEMY: SLIP

Translate the following sentences into English.

1. Așteaptă un moment să mă schimb în ceva mai comfortabil. 2. Țara intră in recesiune 3; Am alunecat pe gheață si mi-am rupt brațul. 4. I-a scapat paharul din mână. 5) Pasul greșit al dansatorului a compromis întregul spectacol. 6. Nam vrut să zic asta, a fost o scăpare. 7. Neatenția la volan poate avea consecințe

tragice. 8. Avem nevoie de fețe de pernă noi, acestea s-au deșirat. 9. Marta poartă furou pe sub rochie. 10. Marinarul a desfăcut nodul frânghiei. 11. A adus vorba despre căsătorie. 12. Sa nu lasi să-ți scape printre degete o asemenea ocazie. III. SYNONYMY: SPRING. Fill in the blanks using the appropriate verbs from the list below: jump, leap, bound, bounce, vault, hop dash, dart, prance, pronk. Make the necessary changes. 1.William … down the stairs grinning. 2. I … out into the street, still in my pyjamas. 3. Once unleashed, the dog … toward the backyard fence. 4. The pony …. around the paddock. 5. She… for the door, but he snatched her arm. 6. Herds of antelope … across the open savannah. 7. The little girl… over the puddle. 8. She… to her feet as the teacher walked into the room. 9. He… over the fence and continued running. 10. People were forced to … to safety from the burning building. IV. PHRASAL VERB: BRING Fill in the blanks with the suitable preposition/particle: about, back, down, forward, forth, in, on, off, out, round, up. 1.A good omelette is very hard to bring…. 2. Fortunately I brought… the poison. 3. The vote will not bring … the government. 4. After approximately half an hour, each group was asked to bring their ideas.... 5.Why does Kate not bring… a child? 6. She’s not keen about it, but I can bring her …. 7. I hate to bring this … but you still owe me £50. 8. Congress brought… reforms to prevent abuse of presidential power. 9. She brought… a revolution in psychoanalysis. 10. Warm weather has brought…a lot of home-grown crops. 11. The smell of the tiny church brought… every memory of my childhood. 12. The shawl brings… the colour of your eyes. C. GRAMMAR I.NOUN: GENDER – a natural, not a grammatical category in English. Give the feminine counterpart for the following set of nouns: Deer; fox ; pig; horse; ass ; goat ; tiger; lion; peacock, wolf. Policeman, widower, master, duke, count, lord, king, chairman, abbot, nephew.

II.

The Order of adjectives

Consider the following examples from the text: Fine, white shirtfront/ Fine, musical voice/ Fine, high, shining leather boots There are rules constraining the order in which adjectives can be placed in front of a nominal. 1. Subjective opinions are farthest from the noun. 2. General description comes next (size, shape, age, colour), followed by origin, material and purpose (made of/used for). For long strings of adjectives we can use the mnemonic below: VERY SOON A TRAIN SHOULD COME VALUE SIZE AGE TEMPERATURE SHAPE COLOUR MATERIAL NOUN LOVELY BIG OLD WARM ROUND RED COTTON CUSHION

ORIGIN INDIAN

Some of the adjectives in the following letter are in the wrong order; make the necessary corrections. Dear Suzie, It’s a shame you couldn’t make it to the wedding, but thank you for the lovely dessert crystal bowls which you sent to us. The wedding was unforgettable and everyone looked beautiful, especially the bridesmaids in their silk long cream dresses. At the reception we had a three-course home-made delicious meal and the best man gave an amusing nice short speech. A talented jazz black musician played the piano in the hall, next to an old-fashioned lovely marble French mantel. In the evening most guests arrived and the hotel provided Irish live excellent music. Before we left, we cut the wedding white iced cake. Hope to see you soon. Love, Amanda & Tim