teacher? How helpful is it for a young teacher to read specialist books? Give reasons for your answer. 6. Do you find the children's

unresponsiveness natural? How can you account for it? 7. What was the first phase in the narrator's relationship with his class? It was

rather a quiet stage, wasn't it? Why then was the teacher dissatisfied with it? 8. In what way did he try to interest his pupils in the

subject? Can you find any reasons to explain his failure? 9. Characterize the second phase of the pupils' campaign. Do you think the

teacher is to blame for it? Do you agree with the narrator that "there was nothing he could do about it"? Do you think a teacher's

aplomb can help under the circumstances? Do you find the second phase more unpleasant? Why? 10. Do you think the teacher's

feelings are understandable? Would you try to stop the campaign? How? 11. What do you think of the third phase of the pupils'

conduct? 12. The school described in the extract was situated in the East End of London. The pupils attending it had been poorly fed,

clothed and housed. Some were from homes where the so-called bread-winner was chronically unemployed. Do you think the

children's background can account for their bad language and misconduct? Can a teacher expect such a behaviour under other

circumstances? 13. Can the pupils' behaviour be explained by the fact that their teacher was a Black? 14. The extract above describes

the narrator's first weeks in school. Think of a possible development of his relations with the class. Do you think the teacher will

manage in the end to gain the children's confidence and respect? What methods and techniques would you advise him to use?

11. Retell Text Three a) close to the text; b) as if you were one of the pupils; c) as if you were one of the narrator's colleagues.

12. Write a summary of Text Three.

13. Make up and act out dialogues between:

1. The narrator and one of the pupils (discussing some possible ways of cooperation).

2. Two pupils of the class (discussing their new teacher and the atmosphere in class).

3. The narrator and his colleague (discussing the narrator's problems with his class).

14. Pick out from Text Three all words and phrases belonging to emotion (irritation and annoyance) and use them in a situation of your own (a

quarrel).

15. Use the following words and phrases to describe a mother's visit to the school:

to be free to comment (criticize); not to be sacred; from the Headmaster down; utter disrespect for smb.; to take pains to do

smth.; to improve written English in the terms of spelling, construction and style; to have a pretty good idea; reasonably fair;

comment on smb.; to be angry with smb.; a mixture of relief and disappointment; no point in wasting either time or effort; it is

up to smb. to do smth.; intellectual challenge; to encourage smb.; lid of the desk; loud bang; to look at smb. with wide innocent

eyes; to feel frustrated; to be rudely interrupted; to dare to open one's mouth; deliberate remarks; noisy interruption.