УРОК 42

Підтема: Урок домашнього читання.

Мета: Ознайомити з новими ЛО.
Удосконалювати техніку читання.
Прищеплювати любов до читання.
Обладнання: Картки для роботи в парах (НО1), для самостійної роботи (НО2), (НО3).

$ ХІД УРОКУ

І. ПІДГОТОВКА ДО СПРИЙНЯТТЯ ІНШОМОВНОГО МОВЛЕННЯ

Greeting 1. Привітання.
T: Hello, children! I’m very glad to see you!
Ps: We are glad to see you too!

Aim 2. Повідомлення теми та мети уроку.

T: Today you’ll read a very optimistic, encouraging story with a funny title «Vusi
Makusi» by a modern English writer Ursula Wills-Jones.
Ursula Wills-Jones grew up in Gloucestershire and lives in Bristol. She writes short
stories, scripts and novels; she is also a contributor to the Guardian newspaper’s
Comment is Free. You can follow her on Twitter.
Check on 3. Перевірка домашнього завдання.
Homework
РЗ, Unit 5, впр. 9.
Учитель збирає робочі зошити учнів на перевірку.

Warming up 4. Уведення в іншомовну атмосферу.

Робота в парах.
Учні в парах обговорюють запитання, подані на картках (НО1), а потім по черзі на
них відповідають. Учитель стежить за правильністю граматичної будови речень.

HO1: Discuss the following questions in pairs.

— Define the term «optimist».
— Comment on the following quotation: «The optimist thinks this is the best of all
possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true».
— Do you think you are an optimist? Explain your answer.
— Do you think it’s wise or foolish to believe that everything is always fine?
Why?
— What are the effects of your pessimism/optimism?

ІІ. ОСНОВНА ЧАСТИНА УРОКУ

Reading Подання тексту для читання.

1) Pre-Reading Activity. Етап підготовки до читання.
Презентація ЛО тексту.

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 Учитель роздає картки (НО2). Учні самостійно поєднують подані слова з їх пере-

кладом. Учитель допомагає з’ясувати значення нових ЛО за потреби.

HO2:

Match the words with their translations.

cease брязкати
swampy болотяний; болотистий
downcast лощина
guinea fowl веселощі; радість
priest планшет із затискачем для паперу
callously коваль
mirth священик
track черство, нечуло
clank польова доріжка; стежка
hollow припинятися
clipboard кісточка (манго, сливи тощо);
blacksmith зернятко (плоду)
stone цесарка
пригнічений (про настрій)

2) Reading. Етап читання.

Учні самостійно читають текст на картках (НО3) та виконують завдання.

T: Read the text and do the tasks.

НО3:

1. Read the text.

VUSI MAKUSI
By Ursula Wills-Jones
Vusi Makusi was a terminal optimist. He was an optimist even though he lived in
one of the poorest places in the world, even though he only owned one suit, and
his trousers didn’t reach his ankles.
When he had finished his education, Vusi Makusi decided the civil service would
be a good career. The man in charge took one look at Vusi, and saw immediately
that he would never amount to anything.
«You know, I think I have just the post for an ambitious young man», he said.
Vusi spent a long time on a bus. The bus shuddered and shook and clanked,
passing deeper and deeper into the jungle. Eventually it came to a stop in
a swampy hollow, entirely surrounded by forest.
«But where is the village?» asked Vusi.
The bus driver pointed.
«What day does the bus return?»
«Saturday», said the bus driver, grumpily. Vusi had spent the last twenty hours
telling everyone on the bus about his new job, and the driver was sick of him.

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Vusi tramped through the hills to the village. He knocked on the door of the
chief’s hut, and sat down to wait. The whole village came to stare at him. When
at last the chief appeared, Vusi stood up.
«Good Sir», he said. «I am the new government officer for this area. I have come
to bring peace, prosperity, unity, development, and education to the people. I have
come to show the beneficence of our great and kind government. Whatever the
village needs, whether it be roads, schools, seeds, water, tractors, teachers or
doctors, the government is willing to provide. All I must do is make a list, and it
will certainly arrive».
The chief stared at Vusi, then began to laugh. He laughed ah-ha, ah-ha,
ahhhhhhhh-hahahahahah. The people rolled around, slapping each other in mirth.
«Young man», said the chief, at last. «It is some time since we have had a visiting
comedian».
«But Sir», said Vusi. «I am quite serious».
The chief laughed some more, ahahahahah!
«Good Sir, please desist! Cannot you see that my respected mother, 83 years old, is
in pain from your joshing? Do you want an old lady to break her ribs?» he cried.
That night there was a special dinner for Vusi. It was only the next day, when
Vusi began touring the village with a clipboard, that they became worried.
«He is a lunatic, and they have cast him out from the city», said the priest.
«He is a spy, and is making that list so they can steal everything», said the chief’s wife.
«I think he has hit his head, and that is why he is strange», said the blacksmith.
When twenty-eight days had passed, Vusi visited the chief. He explained that he
had worked four weeks in a row, was due eight days leave, and that he intended to
visit his elderly mother. He also asked to borrow the chief’s umbrella, and offered
to buy him a new one, just as soon as he got to the city, where he could draw his
shiny new government salary from his shiny new bank account.
The chief, shaking his head, agreed to lend him the umbrella. Vusi went to the
chief’s wife and asked to borrow a blanket. Then he went next to the village
blacksmith and asked for a knife, since it was a long walk to the bus stop, and the
path was overgrown. Then he walked off, carrying his battered suitcase.
«Surely somebody should tell him, there is no bus», said the chief.
They waited and waited. Eventually the blacksmith went down the valley and
found Vusi waiting by the dirt track.
«He says the bus will surely come soon», explained the blacksmith, «and he does
not want to miss it». When two days had passed, the chief himself descended and
tried to talk sense to Vusi. He returned, shaking his head. The priest tried, with
no more success.
«He is immune to reason», said the chief’s wife. «Therefore we must appeal to the
heart, or the eyes. Send the potter’s daughter, she is the prettiest girl in the
village».
The potter’s daughter returned, shrugging hopelessly.
«Send the priest’s niece», suggested the blacksmith. «She is not perhaps quite the
prettiest, but the smartest and sharpest of the women, and clever with words».
The villagers worked their way through all the young women, till there was only
one left.
«Well, she might as well try», said the chief, yawning. Then he went inside, for
a nap.

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 The girl stormed off down the path. She was so angry to be considered the plainest
and stupidest girl in the village that when she saw Vusi, she threw a mango stone
at him.
«Idiot! Lunatic!» she shouted. «Do what you want and see if I care! Do you think
anyone will even notice if you sit there till you turn to stone!» Then, because she
was so upset, she burst into tears.
Vusi stared at the girl. He fell to his knees.
«Dear lady», he said, «you must forgive me! This excess of emotion can only have
been brought on by the burden of concealing your true feelings. If I seemed
oblivious to your affections it is only that you had not declared them. Why, if
I had known that you loved me, I should never have behaved so callously. What
good news! When the bus arrives, and I go and see my mother, I shall tell her
I have met my future wife. Praise the lord! Until then, perhaps you will be so kind
as to pass a little while with me, waiting».
Since all this was a good deal more pleasant than being told she was plain and
stupid, the girl consented to wait. Vusi began to tell her about the future, and
how wonderful everything would be. He told her about the tractors and clinics and
schools and water pumps and fat cows and plump chickens and huge vegetables
and smiling people and tin roofs and television and clean toilets and post offices
and telephones and paved roads and airplanes and skyscrapers and regular, timely
buses to all rural destinations.
In the morning it began to rain. Vusi put up the chief’s umbrella. It rained and
rained. A small red monkey appeared and sat on the far side of the track. It looked
sad and bedraggled.
«Look, the monkey is waiting to get on the bus!» said Vusi.
«But Vusi, he does not have a bag, or a suitcase», said the girl.
«You are right», agreed Vusi, «therefore it is expecting relatives to arrive on the
bus, and is waiting to greet them».
After a while the monkey began to shiver.
«Vusi», said the girl, «either let the monkey come under the umbrella, or chase it
away. I cannot stand looking at its sad face any longer».
«Why, of course it must come under the umbrella», said Vusi. «After all the
monkey too is a citizen of our great and glorious nation».
The monkey, Vusi, and the girl sat under the umbrella. It went on raining.
A great pool built up in the hollow.
«Surely», said the girl, who was coming to understand how Vusi thought, «the
people of our great nation should not have to wait for buses in the rain. Since you
are the government officer, you could cut branches and make a shelter while we
are waiting. This would be a service for all the people».
«I see you are not just a pretty face», said Vusi, nodding. «Only, if the bus comes
while I am cutting branches, you must shout and call me, for I do not want to
disappoint my elderly mother».
So Vusi took the knife and cut branches, and made a shelter.
Vusi and the girl waited in the shelter. The monkey sat in the roof. Another day
passed, and another and another. The rain ceased, briefly. The chief of the village
came down the track. He shook his head, and went home. The pool in the river
continued to widen, and Vusi caught a fish for dinner. Nothing passed on the
road, nothing whatsoever.

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Vusi and the girl waited in the shelter. They waited so long, the girl had a baby.
«How happy my mother will be when she sees the child!» cried Vusi.
«Surely, my husband», said the girl, «people will be waiting for buses here with
children. I think they must have a place to lie down, and sleep quietly».
Vusi took the knife and cut more branches, and made a second room. Outside the
door, the mango stone sprouted, and grew leaves. A second monkey moved in with
the first one. The monkeys too had a baby. It rained and it rained. The river rose
and fell.
«Vusi», said the girl. «One day this will be a busy bus terminal. There will be
many passengers, and whoever can provide food and drink will have a profitable
business. I think I had better prepare, and plant corn for porridge, and maize to
make beer. Then you will not only be government officer, but I will be
a businesswoman».
So she turned up the soil by the riverbank, and planted a garden. Then she went in
the hut, and had another baby.
«I do believe I must have misheard that gentleman», said Vusi, one day. «Surely it
cannot have been Saturday that the bus arrives, it must have been January. Only
there has been none for three years now. They will arrive all at once, three of
them. That is a famous habit of buses».
«Vusi», said the girl, «if there are three bus loads of people, I do not have enough
food. Besides, a good restaurant has a variety of dishes. Go into the jungle, and
catch a pair of those birds we have seen, and I can keep them. That way, we will
have enough for everyone».
«It is a good idea», said Vusi. «Only if the buses arrive and I am in the jungle,
you must ask them to wait».
The girl stayed by the roadside, waiting. Nothing passed. Not even the villagers
came any more. After five days Vusi returned, clutching two startled guinea fowl.
«I have not missed the bus?» he asked anxiously. His wife reassured him.
«It is the weather», said Vusi. «It has been very strange recently, and I think the
bus will not come this year. Nonetheless, since they are so unpredictable, it would
be a shame to leave this spot. Especially since we have made so many preparations,
with the hotel and the restaurant».
That year passed.
«Vusi», said the girl, «you must build a fence to keep the guinea fowl in. It will
not do if they are run over by the buses».
Another year passed.
«Vusi», said the girl, «the fish do not stay in the dry season. What if the bus
comes when there are no fish? How will I feed the passengers? You must build
a dam in the river».
Another year passed. The girl had another baby.
«Certainly this service is very unacceptable», said Vusi one day. «When the bus
does come to take us to the city, I will write a letter to the minister of transport.
The only good point, my wife, is that every week, my salary is building up in my
government-run bank account».
Another year passed. The bus did not come. The mango tree began producing very
good mangoes. They waited so long, Vusi began to worry about who his eldest son
would marry.

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 Then, one day a strange noise began in the jungle. It seemed to echo around.
«The bus! The bus!» cried Vusi’s children, for they had heard from their father of
this strange monster.
Over the edge of the hill came a white helicopter with the letters UN painted on
the side. It put down in the roadway, and four nervous-looking soldiers in blue
berets climbed out. Then a couple of scientists in white coats, clutching clipboards,
their faces covered with hygienic masks. Finally came a politician in a suit,
holding a handkerchief to his nose, and a general, clutching a tin hat. They stared
at Vusi. They stared at his wife, and at his seven children.
«I see», said Vusi. «They are upgrading the service, and now there are helicopters
instead. That is why we have been waiting so long!»
«What are you doing here?» said the politician.
«Why, we are waiting for the bus», said Vusi, quite calmly.
«But how did you survive the civil war?» asked the general.
«Civil war?» said Vusi, looking puzzled.
«Yes, the civil war that wiped out half the population», said the politician.
«Certainly we have not seen any soldiers», said Vusi, shaking his head.
«But even if you escaped the civil war, how did you survive the famine that killed
half the survivors?» asked the general.
«Famine?» said Vusi’s wife. She looked around at the mango trees, the millet
bushes, the coops with fat guinea fowl.
«Ok, even if you escaped the war and the famine, how did you survive the virus?»
asked one of the scientists.
«Virus?» said Vusi. «What virus?»
«The deadly virus which wiped out all the survivors of the war and the famine»,
said the second scientist. «You know, the incurably fatal one to which no human
or ape was immune, except for the extremely rare and almost extinct lesser red-
haired lemur?»
A small monkey climbed onto Vusi’s shoulder and began to nibble his ear in
a familiar manner. Vusi brushed it off, distractedly.
«It is strange you say this», he said, thoughtfully. «I cannot remember any of us
being sick».
«Vusi», said his wife, tugging at his elbow. «Invite them to dinner. They can be
our first customers!»
«Certainly», said Vusi, nodding. «Fish or guinea fowl?»
But the politicians and the scientists and the soldiers looked quite terrified, and
cringed back towards their helicopter.
«We have to go», said the General.
«Certainly we must get you out of here», said the politician, forcefully. «You will
get all kinds of things. Aid, assistance, help, clean clothes, a house, electricity,
a proper toilet, everything. You will be famous, and newspapers will interview you».
«Why, thank you», said Vusi, politely. «But we cannot leave, we are waiting for the
bus. However there is one favour you can do for me. Do you have paper and pen?»
Vusi sat down and penned a short note to the transport minister complaining
about the unreliability of rural buses. Then he put it in the politician’s hand.
After the helicopter had gone, Vusi seemed a little downcast.
«Famine, war, diseases, surely it cannot be true of our beautiful country?» he said.

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«Perhaps they are lying», suggested his wife. «Let us walk to the top of the hill
and see what is really happening».
Vusi and his wife walked up the old road that no one had used for years. It was
covered in boulders, cracked and broken. Rivers had torn it apart. At last, they
came to the top of the hill. Vanishing into the distance was a wasteland of
flattened trees, burnt tanks, ruined villages and abandoned fields.
Vusi and his wife walked home, hand in hand. Vusi was rather quiet. His wife
went to get dinner. Vusi sat down, his wife and children around him. He looked
very thoughtful. At last he spoke.
«My wife», he said, «I know that sometimes there are those who have considered
me a fool. Yet I cannot but think, that as I said, everything I have done has
turned out for the best».
And then he applied himself, with some appetite, to a large plate of guinea
fowl.
2. Answer the following questions.
What did Vusi Makusi look like? What does the author say about his character?
What was his profession?
What was the place where Vusi Makusi was sent like?
What did Vusi Makusi do in the village?
Why did he decide to leave?
Why was Vusi Makusi sure that the bus would come soon?
How did it happen that Vusi Makusi got married?
Why did Vusi Makusi and his wife build a shelter/plant corn/plant a garden/start
keeping guinea fowls?
What means of transport arrive one day?
What did Vusi Makusi and his wife find out about what had happened in the
country?
What did they do?
3. Finish the sentences.
1) When he had finished his education,…
2) Whatever the village needs,…
3) He explained that he had worked four weeks in a row,…
4) The pool in the river continued to widen, and Vusi…
5) «When the bus does come to take us to the city, I…»
6) Then a couple of scientists in white coats,…
7) Vusi sat down and penned a short note to the transport minister…
8) And then he applied himself…
4. Who and when said the following?
1) «You know, I think I have just the post for an ambitious young man».
2) «I am the new government officer for this area. I have come to bring peace,
prosperity, unity, development, and education to the people».
3) «Good Sir, please desist! Cannot you see that my respected mother, 83 years
old, is in pain from your joshing?»
4) «Do you think anyone will even notice if you sit there till you turn to stone!»
5) «One day this will be a busy bus terminal».
6) «But how did you survive the civil war?»

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 7) «I cannot but think, that as I said, everything I have done has turned out for
the best».
5. Retell the story from the point of view of…
— Vusi Makusi;
— Vusi Makusi’s wife;
— the UN general.

3) Post-Reading Activity. Етап перевірки розуміння змісту тексту.

Учні ланцюжком відповідають на запитання карток (НО3) після тексту та перека-
зують оповідання від імені різних персонажів. Учитель стежить за правильністю
відповідей.

ІІІ. ЗАКЛЮЧНА ЧАСТИНА УРОКУ

Homework 1. Домашнє завдання.

1) Підготуватися до контрольної роботи: повторити лексико-граматичний матеріал
теми.
2) РЗ, Unit 5, впр. 13.

Summarizing 2. Підведення підсумків уроку.

Бесіда в режимі T→P1→P2→P3.
T: What story were we discussing today?
What moment in the story did you like most?

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