About a boy. Chapter 1.

№1. 1) расставаться- to split up

2) скандал- argument
3) Возражать- to mind
4) странный- weird
5) поддерживать отношения- to keep in touch with somebody
6) то да се- this and that
7) разобраться- to explain
8) парень (слэнг)- a guy
9) неряшливый, неопрятный, неаккуратный- mess
10) Отношения-relationship
11) быть за- to be for
12) Сырой- soggy
13) переключать каналы- to zap through the channels.

№2.
1) to miss the point – упустить главное
2) loads of blokes- куча парней
3) to have nice bits and ugly bits- есть хорошие и плохие места
4) to get used to smth- привыкнуть к чему-либо
5) to keep in touch- поддерживать отношения
6) a piece missing- не хватает

№3.

1) On whose part the story is told?- The narrator is a boy. His name is Marcus.
2) What can you make out about the boy?- The author didn’t describe the boy.
But we know that he’s Marcus. He’s about 10 years old. Marcus lives with
mum, he hasn’t got a father. I think Marcus and his mum are in a very warm
and close relationship.
3) What do you know about Marcus’s mother and her family status?- I suppose
she’s divorced and is actively looking.
4) How can you characterize the boy’s attitude and feelings to his mum? - He
loves her mother very much and takes care of her. He tries to distract her from
her bad thoughts and cheers her up.
5) What makes the humour of the situation if any? Is the situation funny or not? Is
the boy sentimental? - I think the situation is funny in some degree. The
humour of the situation is that the little boy tries to cheer up und distract his
mother from breakup with a man. The boy is a little sentimental because he
 tries to understand the situation, to understand feelings of her mum and helps
her.

№4. The pizzas arrived and they ate them straight out of the boxes.
‘They’re better than the ones we had in Cambridge, aren’t they?’ Marcus said cheerfully. It
wasn’t true: it was the same pizza company, but in Cambridge the pizzas hadn’t had to travel so
far, so they weren’t quite as soggy. It was just that he thought he ought to say something optimistic.
‘Shall we watch TV?’

‘If you want.’

He found the remote control down the back of the sofa and zapped through the channels. He
didn’t want to watch any of the soaps, because soaps were full of trouble, and he was worried that
the trouble in the soaps would remind his mum of the trouble she had in her own life. So they
watched a nature programme about this sort of fish thing that lived right down the bottom of caves
and couldn’t see anything, a fish that nobody could see the point of; he didn’t think that would
remind his mum of anything much.

Chapter 2.
№1.
1) Крутой- cool
2) козлиная бородка- a goatee
3) бесчувственный- dry ice
4) потворствовать, потакать- to indulge in
5) подглядывать- to peek over
6) крутой- sub-zero
7) чувствовать себя изможденным, утомленным- to be washed out
8) смотреть зло-
9) забвение- a oblivion

1) №2. to award oneself for smth- наградить кого-то за что-то

2) ethical belief – этнические убеждения
3) to be dry ice- быть бесчуственным
4) to afford to think about smth- собираться размышлять об этом
5) to indulge in smth- предаваться чему-либо; потакать
6) to go around the twist- свихнуться
7) clutter-суета
8) to be summoned to do smth- быть позванным, чтобы сделать что-то
9) for the life of him- ради него
10) to burn the candle at both ends- переутомляться или истощать себя,
делая слишком много вещей
11) to encourage smb to do smth-воодушевить кого-то делать что-то
 12) brain-washed state- зомбированном состоянии
13) to go clubbing- ходить в ночные клубы, развлекаться.
14) to exchange the froth and frivolity for smth- сменить легкость и
непринужденность на что-то другое
15) to bother with smb- тратить время на кого-то
16) hidden depths – скрытые таланты

№3.

1) What was Will Freeman like?- He was «cool», a single man. He’s 36. He
earned more than forty thousand pounds a year and lived for his own pleasure.
2) How was Will measuring his coolness and what did the score depend on?- Will
was measuring his coolness on a five-point scale. His points depended on how
cool he was in a particular situation, or whether he fulfilled his desire or not.
3) What was Will doing for living? - Will is a successful songwriter and
bachelor.
4) What in Will’s mind was the difference of himself at the age of 20 and 36?- The
twenty-year-old Will would have been surprised and perhaps disappointed to learn that he
would reach the age of thirty-six without finding a life for himself, but the thirty-six-year-old
Will wasn’t particularly unhappy about it; there was less clutter this way.
5) Whom did Will visit and why? - Will visited his old friends. Their names were
John and Christine. They were a couple and had 2 children.
6) What did Will feel during his visit to John and Christine? - He was confused
and it wasn’t his cup of tea.
7) What annoyed Will mostly? – Will annoyed the attitude of his friends who said
that something was wrong with him and it was high time for him to start a
family. But Will didn’t think so, he didn’t want to grow up the children and to
live in the hustle and bustle.
8) How did Will and John get to know each other?- Some years ago Will, his
girlfriend and John, Christine went clubbing and spent a lot of time together.
9) Why did Will split up with Jessica? What did he feel about it?- Jessica wanted
to exchange the froth and frivolity for something more solid. She married and
had children. She looked just like John and Christine.
10) What made Will refuse to be a godfather to Imogen?- It wasn’t his cup
of tea. He wasn't a family man and he didn't like all these things.

Chapter 3.

1) №1. подходить, годиться для чего-л.- to be right for smth

2) вот в чем дело- That was it.
3) мешковатые штаны- baggy trousers
 4) выглядеть несчастным- to look miserable
5) в постоянном поиске - on permanent lookout
6) чокнутый, сумасшедший- mad
7) странный- weird
8) пустые люди - shallow people
9) мусорное телевидение- rubbish television
10) дубасить, колошматить- to thump
11) иметь совесть – to have the decency
12) нормальный, разумный- sane

№2.

1) to be right for smth- не годиться для чего-либо, не быть созданным для

чего-то
2) a way round-окольный путь
3) to be crap at smth (drama)- быть плохим в чем-либо
4) permanent lookout for something- в постоянном поиске чего-то
5) to be weird-быть странным
6) shallow people- глупые люди
7) to pass smth on to smb-передать что-то кому-то
8) loads of kids and mums- множество детей и мам
9) to have the decency- иметь совесть
10) to have a force grin on- наигранно улыбаться
11) to be a little potty –быть немного не в себе

№3.

1) What was Marcus’s main problem?- He thinks that he isn’t right for school. He is
the weird boy in some degree like his mother. He differs from other kids and they
laugh at him because he has the wrong trousers, the wrong shoes and the wrong
haircut.

2) Why couldn’t Marcus sleep well at night?- Marcus couldn’t sleep at night because
he was worried about going to a school that didn't want to go to because kids thought
he was crazy and weird.

3)Why did Marcus think that he wasn’t right for school?- He thought so because he
was different from other children. They watched rubbish TV, played stupid computer
games and listened Snoop Doggy Dogg, but he didn't do it because his mother didn't
allow it.

4)How did Marcus live through his first days at school?- It was terrible. But the next
day was worse.

5)How is bullying at school described by the boy?- Lee Hartley can thump him, or
call him something that he didn’t want to be called. Girls patrolled up and down
school corridors, they were searching the wrong trousers, or the wrong haircut, or the
wrong shoes, any or all of which sent them wild with excitement. And then they burst
out laughing.

6)How do schools at Cambridge and London differ?- In London the kids were harder
and meaner and less understanding. In Cambridge there were loads of kids who
weren’t right for school, and loads of mums who had made them that way.

8)What was the problem with Marcus’s singing?- He didn't know when he was
humming a song in his head and when he was actually singing it.

9)What happened at the English lesson and why? – It was his problem with singing.
A song had slipped out yesterday during English, while the teacher was reading. All
of pupils turned to him and started laughing very loudly at him.

Chapter 4.

№1.

1) болтаться, слоняться- to trawl through

2) веселый- jolly
3) любопытный- nosy
4) полнота- obesity
5) симпатизировать- to sympathize
6) трезвый- sober, minded
7) ерунда-crap

№2.

1) affinity (with children)- отношение к детям

2) blemish- дефект, порок
3) cogitation- размышления
4) redeemer- освободитель
5) to strike a rapport with smb- наладить контакт с кем-либо
6) frivolous- легкомыслие
7) to take (grasp) the bull by the horns- хватать быка за рога
 8) to turn up- оказаться, появляться
9) to make it to the cinema- добраться до кинотеатра
10) to piss off- взбесить
11) crap- отстойный, отстой
12) to keep a clean sheet in the relationship- не запятнать себя в
отношениях
13) niceness- правильность
14) untrustworthiness- ненадежность
15) come to terms with smb- смириться с чем-либо
16) to launch into a relationship- начинать новые отношения

№3.

1) What was Will’s first acquaintance with Angie?- It was in a café on Upper
Street. He took Angie for a girl who was looking for a CD with songs from a
cartoon about piglets, Pinky and Perky. It was very awkward and ridiculous
from his side. But they sat there talking about cartoons and other things.
2) How do you understand the last sentence: “His career as a serial nice guy had
begun”? - I think it means that he found a new kind of relationships; they were
relationships with single mothers. This kind of relationship fit perfect to him
and he want to continue to be nice guy for single mothers for some time.
3) What did Will think of Maisy and Joe, why? – Will didn’t like to Maisy,
because it was difficult to deserve girl’s respect, she thought that he was
frivolous. They were problems for him; they ruined his plans, interfered with
being alone with Angie.
4) Who did Will maintain good relations with? - The other situation was with Joe.
Joe took to him almost at once, because during their first meeting Will held
him upside-down by his ankles.
5) What were Will’s ideas about fatherhood?- The fatherhood in Will’s opinion
looks so: he could walk hand-in-hand with a beautiful woman, children
gambolling happily in front of him, and everyone could see him doing it, and
when he had done it for an afternoon he could go home again if he wanted to.
For his it was like a some kinds of sentimental photo-opportunity or scenes
from a film and it suited him.
6) What satisfied Will most in his relations with Angie?- The most satisfied thing
was that Will was not Someone Else. He was the only one and he was loved
for being himself.
7) What did Will think about the relations with a single mother? What advantages
did he see in it? - Will thinks that there’s nothing like the relationship with a
single-mother. He looked like the happy father on a walk, after the walk he
 drove home and rested at home, he had great sex; he was loved for being
himself and everything seemed so easy and relaxing.
8) What were Will’s feelings about parting with Angie? Why did they split up? -
He was startled and disappointed because he hadn't expected Angie to split up
with him. Will was sure he was the one who always can dump girlfriends, but
Angie caught him off guard. It happened because for her it was a little romance
and she wasn’t ready for a serious relationship.

Chapter 5.

№1.

дурной знак – bad sign

2) испариться – to vanish
3) расстройство желудка – upset stomach
4) ссориться с кем-л., сердиться на кого-л. – get cross with
5) постоянно делать что-л.
6) разобраться с чем-л. - to work out
7) дети с отклонениями - handicapped children
8) жалкий – pitiful, pathetic
9) вшивый – lousy
10) инстинкт самосохранения - instinct for self-preservation
11) робко – timidly
12) чудоковатый, чокнутый - nerdy and geeky
13) засос - love bite
14) великолепный
15) одержимый сексом – sex – mad
16) заняться, увлечься чем-л. – take an interest in

№2.

mum-like – как свойственно маме

2) to be snuffled up – гнусавить, говорить в нос
3) soppy – мокрый, очень сентиментальный
4) to go blank – помутнеть

№3.

1) How did Marcus characterize his mother’s psychic state?- She said that his
mother was unhappy and had a terrible depression, but he didn’t understand
why, he supposed that everything is OK.
2) How did Marcus treat his mother? - He was worried about her, tried to
understand why she was crying. But didn’t know in what way he can be
helpful.
 3) How did Marcus try to understand what caused his mum’s tears? - She found
the most obvious reasons why women cry: money, death and boyfriends. But
she hadn’t problems of this kind.
4) Why did Marcus forget everything when he entered the school gates?- Marcus
had forgotten about other problems because at the school he was up against
difficulties with bulling. It was like an instinct for self-preservation.
5) Why did Nicky and Mark behave the way they did? Can you call them
Marcus’s real friends?- Of course, they aren’t good friends, they also didn’t
want to be friends with Marcus. They displayed their indifference and fake
passion for the game because they were afraid that Marcus would gain the
attention of the haters who bulling them.
6) How were the 8- formers bullying the boys and why?- They jeered and made
fun of their flaws. In this case, I always remember the phrase: The tongue ever
turns to the aching tooth. They jeered about their appearance, bad vision and
the lack of sexual experience.
7) How did Marcus react to bullying? Did he try to protect himself? - He came up
with a game. It was like his board game that he had played with the mother, but
only in his mind. It helped him not to pay the attention on words of the bulling
boys.

Chapter 6.

№1.

Добыча – prey
2) причуда - whim
3) беспокоиться о чем-л. - bother
4) угрызения совести – remorse
5) страшный – scary
6) обман - fraud
7) заостренные черты – pointy features
8) выдать себя – to pretend to be
9) развалина – wreck
10) жесткий, крутой – tough
11) предательство – treachery
12) обман – deceit

№2.
to indulge smth – потворствовать чему – то
2) buzz – гул,
3) slow start – малое (get off to a small start – начинаем с малого)
4) to get dumped – быть брошенным
5) to cope with – справляться с

№3.

1)What did Will make up to get closer to single mothers and why?- Will had a
pretty good idea of joining in the club of single parents because he didn’t know
another method to meet a single mother. He did it because he still believed that
after Angie “His career as a serial nice guy had begun”.

2) Why did Will bother to make up the whole story?- It was necessary to prove
that he had a child because only single parents could join this club.

3) Describe the single-parent group. Who could become its member?- Only single
parents could join this club. There is Frances(she was responsible for the
organization of the party), Sally and Moira, who looked tough, ignored him
completely, helped themselves to a paper cupful of white wine and disappeared
off to the further corner of the room, Lizzie, who was small, sweet and scatty;
Helen and Susannah, who obviously regarded SPAT as beneath their dignity, and
made rude comments about the wine and the location; Saskia, who was ten years
younger than anybody else in the room, and looked more like somebody’s
daughter than somebody’s mother; and Suzie, who was tall, blond, pale, nervy-
looking and beautiful.

4) Give the description of the place the SPAT was located? - It was some kind of
educational establishment. It smelt of disinfectant and was too clean, but
miserable. There was a piece of file paper pinned to a classroom door with the
word SPAT! That scrawled on it in felt-tip pen.

5) Why did all these single mothers come to these meetings?- They would come to
speak out their problems that were piled up for a month. It helped them to rest and
find people who would understand you; also it gave new forces to be strong.

6) What were Will’s feelings about men when he learnt the stories of the members
of the club? - And I would have thought he was touched to the core if it wasn't his
great acting.

Chapter 7.

№1.

1) to be nuts – быть сумасшедшим, помешавшимся, чокнутым

2) out of the blue – внезапно, вдруг
Telly – телек
Duvet – одеяло
1) Was Marcus really OK with all his new relatives? Do you think the word
“normal” used by the boy means its opposite?- He wasn’t absolutely OK
because he had problems at the school and at home, he believed that his mother
should come to his aid if he had problems at school, but his mother was not
able to help even herself. These problems affect Marcus a lot and he doesn't
know how to deal with it.
2) Why didn’t Marcus like to enter some shops?- He liked to browse magazines
for 10 minutes, but the sellers of these stores considered him a thief because of
his age. Usually there was a sign ‘Only three children allowed in at the same
time.’ Marcus hated such kinds of the shops.
3) What did parents see when he returned home from school?- Nothing, because
the mother didn’t pay attention on him, she only cared about her condition. In
some way it was selfish because she should try to spend more time with her
son and think about his feelings too.
4) What made Marcus think that smth was out of the ordinary?- He noticed that
she didn't go to work and spent the whole day watching cartoons. Again and
again it was all interrupted by sobs.
5) Why was Marcus upset about his mother’s state? What did he feel?- I think it
was unusual depression because it went on longer than planned and the sobs
were only repeated more often. He was concerned about his mother's condition
and wanted to feel her support too as he needed it.
6) Where did Marcus’s mother send him on Saturday and with whom? How did
he take the news?- The mother sends Marcus to a party of the SPAT with her
best friend so that he and she can take a break from each other. Marcus was not
happy about this news, as he hates SPAT parties, because there were a lot of
small children there. He suggested that he could spend some time in his room,
but the mother was too insistent on this idea.
7) Why didn’t Marcus like SPAT mothers?- He didn’t like children at all. Once
when they all went to the zoo, he’d come home and told his mum he wanted a
vasectomy. He knew for a fact that he was never going to have children.
8) What made Marcus think about vasectomy?- Once when they all went to the
zoo, he’d come home and told his mum he wanted a vasectomy. He knew for a
fact that he was never going to have children.
9) What did Marcus realize when his mother said that they didn’t do each other
any good?- It made him sick to think that he wasn't the only one who wasn't
comfortable. The mother felt too this, he didn't know it was a mutual feeling.

Chapter 8.
№1. Отменить – to cancel
2) потерять лицо – to lose face
3) крах – disaster, failure
4) дивиденты – royalties
5) воскрешение - revival
6) разочарованный – dispirited
7) ранимый – vulnerable
8) безжалостный – merciless
9) валять дурака, ничего не делать – to mess around
10) принимать за чистую монету – at face value

№2. 1) to summon up – вызвать, призвать

2) to sort out – разбираться, перебирать
3) once and or all – раз и на всегда
4) to extinquish – гаснуть
5) under the weather – в затруднитеьном положении, в беде
6) off colour – иметь нездоровый, болезненный вид
7) belligerence – враждебность, воинственность
8) tetchy – раздражительный
9) to be out of touch – отстать от жизни
10) to feel cheap – чувствовать себя ничтожеством
11) churned up – внущабщий отвращение
12) I don’t count – я не в счет

№3. 1. What excuse did Will come up with? Why didn't Will take Ned with him?
2. What was Will's opinion about Marcus? What did he find strange about him?
3. What did Will work and how did he explain his attitude to work?
4. Why did the song of Will’s father irritate him?
5. Why was Will surprised that Marcus was listening to Joni Mitchell? And why was
he upset about it?
6. Describe how Will and Marcus looked on the walk. Don't you find that a little
strange?
7. How did Marcus describe Fiona's condition?
8. What happened at the picnic? Who did Will spend time with, children or adults?
9. What do think, did Will managed to attract Susie’s attention?
10. What happened at the end of the chapter?

Chapter 9.

№1. Счет – score

2) совпадение – coincidence
3) подавиться – choke
4) рвота – vomit
5) вонять – stank
№2. 1) to keel over – отключиться, опрокинуться
2) to put two and two together – сопоставить факты, прикинуть, что к чему
3) to be in the clear – быть вне подозрений

№3. 1. What was Marcus's opinion about Will? Why did his opinion changed?
2. Why would Will stand up for the boy if he didn't like children and teenagers?
3. How did Will settle the conflict?
4. What does Marcus's hallucination mean in the park? Did he have a bad feeling?
5. What did they see when they entered the house?
6. What happened to Will's mom? Was it illness or suicide?
7. How did Marcus react to this situation? What were his thoughts?
8. Why had Susie come into the house that day instead of just dropping Marcus off?
Did she feel guilty about Fiona?
9. Why did Marcus pay attention on every detail when he came home? What does
this effect show?
10. What was the relationship between Marcus and Susie?

Chapter 10.

№1. 1) Умный – bright

2) сам догадайся – you think of something
3) бродяга – vagrant
4) отделение несчастных случаев – hospital casualty department
5) кокон, пузырь – bubble

№2.

1) How did Will and Marcus get to the hospital?- They drove in Susie's car while
Susie rode in the ambulance with Fiona.
2) Why did Will think that Marcus was bright? - Because Marcus was enough
clever for his age. He didn’t start to ask inappropriate and stupid questions. He
understood everything himself and worried if he was the reason why she did it.
3) Why did Suzie want to convince Marcus that he was not the reason of his
mother’s attempt for suicide? - I think she said it so he wouldn't blame himself
for everything that had happened. She also understood that this situation can
traumatize the child's psyche.
4) Whom did Marcus see in the waiting room of the hospital? Was his mother like
them?- They were a vagrant, or a drunk, or a junkie, or just mad. The few
people who were there through sheer bad luck (there was a woman who had
been bitten by a dog and was waiting for a shot, and a mother with a little girl
 who looked as though she might have broken her ankle in a fall). Everybody
looked anxious, pale and drained. I think that his mother was the person who
had made a big mistake and probably would regret it later. These people had
hard lives.
5) What did Marcus worry about?- He worried about that his mom was like these
people in the waiting room because it was a suicide attempt.
6) How did Will treat the whole situation?- It was something new for him, exited and
miserably, but he thought that it was fault of Fiona and it was all her own fault
because hadn’t an equivalent bubble of her own that protecting her and her son.

Chapter 11.

№1. 1. to feel flat –чувствовать себя неважно

2. to call smth a day – завязывать, закругляться, заканчивать с чем – то
3. to watch out – приглядывать за (for)
4. to see straight away – сразу же увидеть
5. to look after smb – присматривать, заботиться о ком – то
6. to run out
7. to be keen on smth
8. to talk rot – нести чушь, говорить глупости
9. to drive smb mad
10. an articulate boy – умный мальчик
11. to be thick – глупый
12. to look track with smb – смотреть нахмурившись, сердито

№2.
1. What did Marcus find in the letter his Mum had left for him?- She had left the
suicide letter for him in which she wrote her explanation why she did it and
asked for forgiveness, although she herself understood that he would not
forgive her.
2. What were Marcus’s feelings after he had read the letter? What counted for
him?- He was angry with her for the letter and for her actions in general. After
the second reading of the letter he wasn’t interested in her words, at that
moment it was important what she did before and what she wanted to do.
3. What were Marcus’s thoughts about the family of two?- Before this situation
he was glad that they lived together, but now he understood that other family
members were also needed, so that if someone died, you would not be left
alone.
4. How do Marcus’s thoughts about the contents of the film describe his
character? Is it important for the story?- Of course, it’s important because it
shows us inner experiences of the boy. Marcus’s thoughts of the contests of the
 film displays that he is very affectionate, taking care of his mother. He is afraid
to break such a precarious position between calm and depression
5. What did Marcus realize after their conversation after watching the film? –
Marcus had mixed feelings and didn’t understand the mother at all, because it
seemed to him that after a suicide attempt, people hugged, cried and had long
conversations, but at this moment she pretended as it was evenings routine of
watching a movie.

Chapter 12.

№1. Ingenuity – изобретательность, находчивость

2. to cope with – справляться с
3. intimidating – устрашающий, пугающий
4. juggle life and job – совмещать быт (дом, жизнь) и работу
5. unsavoury – неприятный, отталкивающий, невкусный
6. mood – настроение
7. doggedly – упрямо, упорно
8. CV – Curriculum Vitae – резюме
9. Boredom – скука
10. Acute – острый, пронзительный
11. to be destracted- отвлечься
12. to encount smth – столкнуться с чем – то
13. avuncular interest – добродушный интерес
14. how things are up the road – как там дела продвигаются
15. batty (person) – спятявший, сумасшедший
16. malevolent – злой, обозленный
17. barmy- спятивший
18. brass-rubbing sort of a child – ребенок, которому нравится шлифовка латуни
19. to run wild – одичать, выходить из под контроля
20. slumber – спячка
21. belatedly - с опозданием

№2. 1. оставаться на плову – to afloat

2. отпуск по уходу за детьми – paternity leave
3. упрямо – doggedly
4. приукрашивание – embellishment
5. ходить вокруг да около – beat around the bush
6. быть разоренным – to be broke
7. простак – simpleton
8. безразличие – ignorance

№3.

1. What is Will’s attitude to time and life?- He liked the timing method because it
helped fill his day. His daily routine was reading the paper, having a bath, tidying
 the flat, watching Home and Away and Countdown, doing a quick crossword on
the toilet, eating breakfast and lunch. And he didn’t understand how people
managed to have time to go to work and take a shower in one day, because it was
unreal. He had a carefree life that suited him.
2. What did Will think of different jobs and his qualification in taking them up?-
Sometimes he had a desire to get a job, then he applied for jobs advertised in the
media pages of the Guardian. He felt he was qualified to fill most of the vacancies
on offer. He even enclosed a CV, although it only just ran on to a second page. He
was sure that everyone would be impressed by his brilliant career and charm; and
then would be hired. Actually, he had never heard from anybody, although
occasionally he received a standard rejection letter.
3. What trick did Will use in writing his CV?- Rather brilliantly, he thought, he had
numbered these two pages ‘one’ and ‘three’, thus implying that page two, the page
containing the details of his brilliant career, had got lost somewhere.
4. How did Will’s ides of himself coincided with the conclusions of employers? –
Will and employers understood that he didn’t need a job.
5. What kind of reality did Will exist in?- It was a mixture of fictional life with
reality. He came up with a story about a fictional son and began to live this story
so he bought a special child seat and so on.
6. What strange and unhealthy notion did Will started to wonder about after the
events of the weekend?- He thought that he could help Marcus and Fiona with
something. Maybe Fiona and Marcus needed him more than Suzie did. He could
take an avuncular interest in them, give their lives a bit of shape and gaiety.
7. What did Will decide to do for Markus and why?- He thought he would bond with
Marcus, take him somewhere every now and again—to Arsenal, possibly. He
thought that he could make their life happier.
8. What was Will thinking about childhood and its advantages (benefits)?- He had
everything that he wanted, any entertainment and games, and plenty of sleep.
Sleep was the most important thing for him.
9. How did Marcus convince Will to take his Mum with them?- Markus made it
clear to Will that he didn't want to leave her alone at home after what had
happened.
10. What did Will need the car seat for? How did he choose it? What is important for
parents when they choose car seats?- If he was going to start ferrying people
around at weekends, he felt he should at least make some concession to Ned’s
reality. At first, the main criterion for choosing a car chair was its price. The less,
the better. But the consultant told him that parents rely primarily on reliability and
safety.
 Chapter 13.

№1. Weird-странный
2. to reckon- считать, рассчитывать
3. to check smb out- проверять кого-то
4. to get changed- переодеваться
5. to look a wreck- выглядеть как развалюха
6. to look like an old bag- выглядеть как старая калоша
7. to be straight- быть откровенным
8. to show up- выдавать
9. self-conscious-застенчивый
10. to get cross- сердиться
11. security- безопасность

№2.
1. выглядеть как развалина- to look a wreck
2. выглядеть как старая кошелка- to look like an old bag
3. говорить прямо, честно- to be straight
4. стеснительный - self-conscious
5. ссориться – to get cross

№3.

1. What was the reason of taking Marcus’s mum to the meeting with Will?- In
fact, Marcus didn’t bother to leave his mother at home alone, because he knew
that she was in a strangely calm mood right now. He wanted to introduce his
mother to Will and make them close friends. He wanted Will to become part of
their family.

2. Why do you think Marcus’s ideas about the future family are childish? - His
ideas are childish, because the relationship of the adults is very complicated. It
don't appear by will, people should have something in common.

3. How did Marcus check Will out?- On his way back from school one afternoon
he had seen Will out shopping, and he had followed him home like a private
detective. He hadn’t really found out much about him, apart from where he lived
and what shops he went in. But he seemed to be on his own—no girlfriend, no
wife, no little boy, even.
 4. How did they choose the place to go for the date? - It was chosen by Marcus
was guided by the advice of his school friend. The main criterion of a good place
for Marcus was delicious French fries and attending celebrities.

5. What did Marcus think about replacing his father? - She thought it was a pretty
good idea because they would have 4 numbers of the family and it would be better
for everyone.

6. Was the date a success or not?- Not, of course. It was predictable because Will
and Fiona were absolutely different kinds of the person.

7. What did Marcus fantasize about when he watched his Mum and Will talking?-
He made plans for the future. Marcus wondered if they would buy a new
apartment or move into Will’s flat.

Chapter 14.

№1.

1. raw material-исходный материал (врожденные данные)

2. brainy- талантливый, мозговитый, умный
3. morbid-нездоровый, омерзительный
4. flaky- чудной
5. excruciating-мучительный
6. non-committal-уклончивый
7. hawker-рекламный агент, уличный торговец
8. to elude- ускользать, увиливать
9. to dissolve into tears- разрыдаться
10. to nose- сунуть нос
11. Seedy- убогий, нездоровый
12. to conceive-осмысливать, задумывать
13. to penetrate-проникнуть, входить

№2.

1) Why was Fiona not Will’s type? What did he think of her appearance?- The
appearance was of importance for Will; and Fiona, speaking out my mind,
didn’t take care of herself. Will believed that she didn't have a decent raw
material, but she could care of herself Also she was too hippy, but the thing he
found most attractive about her was that that she had tried to tried to kill
herself. It was sexy in some way.
 2) What was Will’s idea of helping people?- He believed that he could improve
people's lives by going out to dinner once a week and paying for a steak or
paying for a movie. Also he was sure that he had helped Angie by sleeping
with her. It was better than trying to feed the homeless violently.
3) How did Will’s intentions for Marcus and Fiona change within a few days?- At
first, Will was burning with the idea of helping Fiona and Marcus, making their
routine brighter and more fun, but after trying to have dinner together, he
completely abandoned this idea and wanted to forget about them as soon as
possible, and the reason was too much sincere singing.
4) What was strange in Fiona’s playing the piano? What struck him? - She closed
her eyes when she was singing. This oddity really annoyed Will as she didn't
even pretend that she was playing role of singer, she really got into the songs
and lived in them. It wasn’t the quality that embarrassed him, it was the
sincerity.
5) Why did Will long for coming home?- He did not like it when his friends sang
at home gatherings, and even more he hated it when he was forced to sing
along with everyone else. It was a torment for him and it seemed to last
forever. Because of this, he wanted to get back to his usual surroundings as
soon as possible.
6) Render over the thoughts Will lived through after the supper at Marcus’s.-
When he had arrived home he tried to create the most comfortable and familiar
environment for him because this dinner was extremely traumatic. He
understood he had made a big mistake thinking that good works were a way
forward for him. Will had a system going here that was going to whizz him
effortlessly to the grave and good deals drove he mad; so he decided to
immediately abandon the idea of volunteering.
7) How did Marcus find out that Will was a liar and never had a baby?- Marcus
came home to Will's house, and Will was completely surprised by this visit and
let him in. As a result Marcus understood everything himself and there was no
point in making excuses.
8) How did he get to learn Will’s address?- Marcus checked him out, one day he
saw him on the street and snooped him like a personal detective.
9) What deal did Marcus try to make with Will?- Marcus said he wouldn't tell the
mother and Susie anything about not having a kid and not having an ex, and for
that, Will would go on a date with his mom.

Chapter 15.

№1. 1. daft; stupid-daft; brush-daft- Marcus wasn’t daft. Well, OK, he was daft
sometimes, like with the singing, but he wasn’t stupid-daft, just brush-daft.
 2. to give up- He could see instantly that the things he knew about Will, the stuff
about him not having a kid and not having an ex, were too good to give up all at
once; they were worth something.
3. to be worth smth- They were both introverts, she said, which made a lot of
things—making new friends, starting at new schools and new places of work—more
difficult for them. She’d said it as if it would make him feel better, but of course it
hadn’t helped at all, and he couldn’t understand how on earth she thought it might:
as far as he could see, being an introvert just meant that it wasn’t even worth trying.

4. to go out with smb- He knew he couldn’t make Will go out with his mum if he
wasn’t bothered, but he could make him do something else, maybe, something he
hadn’t even thought of yet, so he started going round to Will’s house more or less
every day after school to get some ideas.

5. to tut- It was as useless as he remembered, Countdown, but he didn’t complain

or ask to watch another channel. (Will had cable, Marcus noted for future
reference.) He just sat there patiently. Will didn’t do anything while the
programme was on: he didn’t shout the answers at the screen, or tut when
somebody got something wrong. He just smoked.
6. cool- If Will earned what Marcus thought he earned, then he could afford
something a lot bigger than this. It was cool, though. If Marcus had a flat of his
own, he’d make it look just like this, although he’d probably choose different film
posters.
7. hassle- ‘I could do that years ago, and I’m still going to school. Because I’ve
got to get a job. You could have left school when you were about six or seven. Saved
yourself all the hassle. You don’t really need to do history to go shopping or read, do
you?’

8. to put up with smb- ‘You could do something about the hair.’

‘Like what?’
‘Get it cut.’
‘Like who?’
‘Like who! Like how you want it.’
‘This is how I want it.’
‘You’ll have to put up with the other kids, then. Why do you want your hair like
that?’

№2.
1. What did Marcus think about telling the truth to his Mum and Suzie? - If he’d
gone straight home after his first visit to Will’s flat and told his mum and Suzie
everything immediately, then that would have been the end of it. They would have
stopped him from talking to Will, and he didn’t want that. He didn’t want to spend
this information straight away, he wanted to use this information for a more
important case, but he hadn't figured out which one yet.

2. Why did Marcus begin to visit Will more often?- He started going round to
Will’s house more or less every day after school to get some ideas how he could
use the information about not having a kid and not having an ex. I think also he
felt comfortable himself in Will's company.

3. What did Marcus think of Will’s flat? Did he like it?- At first they watched the
quiz show “Countdown”, Marcus didn’t like it, but he didn't ask to change the
channel, they watched in silence. Then Markus's visits became routine and he
began to stay for another program, they got used to each other and began to talk
about different topics.

4. How did Marcus explain that he didn’t like about school?- Marcus said the
main reason he was going to school was because of his job. The school was
needed so that he could then got a job and if someone would not going to work,
then he could finish studying in 6-7 years, because it doesn't do any good.

5. What did Marcus make out of the conversation with Will about having a hard
time at school?- He told that the school didn’t suit him because he was not a
school sort of person and had the wrong personality type. It meant that making
new friends, starting at new schools and new places of work more difficult for him
than for other people.

6. What did Marcus make out of his Mum’s explanation of being an introvert?- As
far as he could understand, being an introvert in his mother's opinion meant that it
wasn't worth trying everything.

7. How did the relations between Marcus and Will develop?- At first, they didn't
enjoy it, Will knew that Marcus would always come and call him if he didn't let
him in. But then it became the routine and they were already talking while
watching the show or drinking tea together.

8. What did Marcus feel every day after his Mum’s attempt to commit suicide?-
He felt a horrible fear and the main reason he came round to Will’s after school
was that he was able to put off going back to the flat. Every time he was coming
home and going up the stairs, he was filled with a wild fear because he was afraid
to go in and see his mother unconscious.
9. Why do you think Marcus felt better after Will had sworn in front of him?- I
think that they were like friends; it made him feel better and it made him see that
he wasn’t being pathetic to get so scared.

10. Describe Marcus’s state of mind and fears he lived through every day.- In the
morning, when he went to school, he felt constant tension, because he knew that at
school he would have to endure bullying. After school, he didn't want to go home
because he was afraid to go home and see what happened on Dead Duck Day.

Chapter 16.

№1.

1. fabric of the day- расписание дня

2. tatty- невзрачный
3. to accommodate; accommodating holes- размещать, ставить окна
(проделывать дыры)
4. crap-отстойный
5. sackful- мешочек
6. to liquorice- лакрица
7. allsorts- ассорти
8. blankness-отрешенность
9. to face smth- выдержать что-то
10. to owe smth to smb-быть в долгу перед кем-то
11. Compassion- сопереживание
12. Fatigue-переутомление
13. to inflict oneself on smb-навязывать что-то кому-либо
14. Obscenity-ругательство
15. Disaster-кошмар, катастрофа
16. Hazard-риск
17. incongruous idea- неподходящие мысли
18. rancous celebration-бурное торжество
19. Record-достижение
20. Confectionary- карамель
21. rock-hard-твердый
22. mean-looking- по виду
23. french-cropped- подстриженный под горшок
24. to thump-ударить
25. Relief-облегчение
 26. literal-minded- воспрнимать буквально
27. to fancy- полагать
28. discernible purpose-явная цель,
29. Unshowy-неброские
30. Munificence-щедрость

№2.

1. What did Will feel towards Marcus?- He felt really sorry for him, but he also
considered him a drug in some way. He wasn't particularly happy that some kid
was spending every day watching TV with him.
2. Why didn’t Will stop Marcus’s visits to him? - I think deep down Will loved
that Marcus was coming, these changes brought the variety to Will's life.
3. Why did Will regret asking Marcus about his mum?- He knew that by touching
on this topic, Marcus was beginning to worry about his mother. At the
moment, he needed to find some comforting words and say that everything
would be fine, but he couldn't. He was not the kind of person who could help in
such a situation.
4. What did Will call “real stuff”?- He avoided problems and difficulties, he
made a comfortable life for himself. He didn’t have to think about problems
about work, the child or anything else. He lived in his cocoon, where there was
no real staff.
5. Why did Marcus introduce the subject of his father?- It was the only topic of
conversation that didn't depress him and it didn't bring up bad memories of the
terrible things that happen at school and at home.
6. How do you know that Will understood what Marcus was living through?- I
think that Will wasn’t really interested in anyone else's problems but his own.
But he didn't have any problems of his own, so he didn't even want to pry into
other people's affairs to acquire any problems.
7. How did Will characterize Marcus’s life for himself? - Will characterize
Marcus’s life for himself as the sorry dog’s dinner. He was proud that in his
entire life, he had managed to get rid of all kinds of difficulties that could only
meet him.
8. What caused Will to answer the urgent door-bell?- I think that Will
immediately realized that Marcus needed help; for that moment he had already
felt a little responsibility for Marcus.
9. How did Will describe his previous school? How was it different?- He said that
children were the same everywhere. Strange children were also everywhere,
only they changed their behavior and became invisible to avoid conflicts.
 10. What were Will’s recommendations to Marcus to adjust himself to a new
school?- Will advised Marcus to disguise himself as was too different from the
other children at the school.
11. How did Will decide to help Marcus look less weird?- He suggested to wear
the same clothes and haircut and glasses as everyone else so he could weird
only on the inside.
12. How do you understand the phrase “to learn to become a sheep”?- It means
“vanish in the crowd”. Will advises Marcus to learn to behave and dress like
everyone else.
13. How did Will feel after he had bought shoes to Marcus?- Will walked back
beaming at his own munificence. So this was what people meant by a natural
high! He couldn’t recall having felt like this before, so at peace with himself,
so convinced of his own self-worth.
14. Why did Marcus come up at Will’s door tearful?- Because his new unshowy
Addidas sneakers had been stolen and he'd come to Will's house in nothing but
wet socks.

№3. Уилл поймал себя на том, что, планируя свой день, уже выкраивает время
на визиты Маркуса. Труда это не представляло, потому что шаткая структура
его дня позволяла проделать любое количество просторных дыр, но что с того?
Ведь он мог бы заполнить их другими, более легкими делами, будь то хождение
по магазинам или дневной сеанс в кино; конечно, никто не станет утверждать,
что Маркуса можно поставить на одну чашу весов с глупой комедией или
пакетиком лакричного ассорти.

Chapter 17.

№1.

1. to be fiddling with smb- развлекаться с кем-либо

2. to settle down-привыкнуть, приспособиться
3. plain miserable- несчастный
4. to give smb a shit-наплевать
5. outburst-вспышка
6. to have a go at smb-наезжать на кого-либо(критиковать в грубой манере)

№2.

1. What was Fiona’s reaction to the information that Will had bought addidas
shoes to him?- She was shocked, she had loads more questions, except the way
 she asked them was a bit boring: she just repeated the last thing he said, stuck a
question mark on the end of it and shouted. Then he and his mother went
straight back to Will’s flat.
2. What Will’s shouting reveal to Marcus?- Will’s shouting opened his eyes to all
that was happening around him. Marcus didn't even know how serious it was.
He could not analyze everything and now he realized how terrible and
unbearable his life was.
3. What did Marcus realize about his mother?- Marcus understood that the
mother didn’t know him and everything that was happening in his life. His
mother didn't notice anything but herself.
4. Who was the one who understood what was going on with Marcus at school? –
The one who understood what was going on with Marcus at school was Will.
Marcus was startled by this fact because it Will (!) whom he’d known for two
minutes, and not his mum, whom he’d known for all his life.
5. Why did Marcus interrupt the row between his mother and Will?- He
understood that Will wanted to mention the hospital and the suicide attempt.
He didn't want to hear about it. Marcus's shout was the only thing he could do
to interrupt Will's speech.
6. What made Marcus angry about his mother’s manipulations?- The mother's
only excuse was that she wanted to teach Marcus to make up my own mind.
But the boy realized that this was manipulation in order not to think, but to do
as his mother wanted.
7. What is the idea of thinking for oneself in the mother-son relations? What is
right and wrong about it?- This is reminiscent of the fake system "think for
yourself" because it was essentially a method of manipulation. It would have
been right if Fiona had asked Marcus and given him the choice and not
influenced his decision by manipulation.
8. What was Marcus’s last argument that made Fiona cry?- Marcus’s last and the
strongest argument was “I need a father” and it did the job.

Chapter 18.

№1.

1. Rendition-исполнение
2. busker- уличный музыкант
3. to supplement scholarship- в дополнение к стипендии
4. to scowl- сердито посмотреть
5. to muster- собирать
6. reminder-напоминание
7. to fail in life- потерпеть неудачу в жизни
8. to have a cheek- иметь наглость
9. recrimination- взаимные упреки
10.soppy- сентиментальный
11. alienated-отчужденный
12. Lunacy-психоз
13. Dosh-деньги
14. to take smb under the wing-взять под опеку
15. to apply for custody-подать заявление на опеку
16. to ascertain-удостовериться, убедиться
17. extra-marital affair-внебрачная связь
18. to come out of the blue- как гром среди ясного неба
19. devious man- хитрец

№2.

1. What did Will want to do when he had heard the sounds of “Santa’s Super
Sleigh”?- If he heard this song from the buskers, he didn't give money and was
ready to break this musical instrument to never hear this song.
2. Why did Will hate Christmas?- Will hated Christmas, for the obvious reason:
people knocked on his door, singing the song he hated more than any song in
the world and expected him to give them money. I also think it was because
Christmas was linked to father and his death.
3. What were Will’s plans for Christmas?- He had no plans for this Christmas
whatsoever. There was no girlfriend, and so there were no girlfriend’s parents,
and though he had friends on whom he could inflict himself, he didn’t feel like
it. He would sit at home and watch millions of films and get drunk and stoned.
4. Why was Will thinking of Marcus and what were these thoughts?- The
explanation was that he had made some kind of link between Marcus’s
childhood and his own. Will was the antipode of Marcus. He had worn the
right shoes and the right socks and the right trousers and the right shirts, and he
had gone to the right hairdresser for the right haircut. He’d successfully
avoided being bullied by bullying furiously and enthusiastically.
5. What was in common between Will and Marcus?- The household in Fiona’s
flat reminded of his house. He got that same sense of hopelessness and defeat
and bewilderment and straightforward lunacy.
6. What did Fiona want of Will when she called?- Fiona wanted Marcus to spend
some time in an adult male company.
 7. Why couldn’t Will talk normally with Fiona and get angry at once?- Because
he was infuriated by the child's mother, who first breaks into his house and fell
out with him, and then she asked to pay attention to her son. She drove him
crazy.
8. What made Will involved in the conversation with Fiona?- Because he didn't
want to argue with her, and it was also useless to disagree, because she would
force him to talk to her.
9. What did Will understand from Fiona’s explanations?- He made sure he
understood Will better than his mother did it.
10. How did Marcus try to get his own way with his mum in Will’s opinion?-
Will’s opinion was that it was his nuclear option attacking Fiona in her most
vulnerable spot just so he could win an argument.

Chapter 19.

№1.

1. to make a complaint-жаловаться
2. sulky-угрюмый
3. scruffy girl-неопрятная девчонка
4. to hack off-кромсать
5. to be cheeky- дерзить
6. to be thick-быть непробиваемой (стоять на своем)
7. a truant-прогульщик
8. drug addict-наркоман

№2.

1. What thoughts bothered Marcus while he was waiting for his mum?-He
bothered because they knew too much and there were too many things that he
didn’t want the two of them to talk about without him. He didn’t want Will to
talk to his mum about the hospital, in case it made her go funny again; and he
didn’t want Will to tell her about how he’d tried to blackmail Will into going
out with her; and he didn’t want his mum to talk about how much telly he was
allowed to watch, in case Will started turning it off when he went round.
2. What was Macus’s reaction to his mum’s declaration that Will wouldn’t let
him in again?- He was calm because he already knew the solution to this
problem. He knew how loud the buzzer was inside the flat, and he had the time
to ring it until Will opened it.
3. Why didn’t Marcus want his mm to make a complaint to the school?- Marcus
didn’t want his mom to make a complaint to the school because he would have
to lie to the director and say that he did not know anything or forget not only
about the shoes, but also the jacket, shirt, trousers and so on because he would
not be left alone.
4. How did Marcus lik his intercourse with Ellie?- Their conversation was a little
tense for Marcus, because he was afraid to say the wrong thing. He hoped that
the headmaster would soon finish his duties and invite him into the office.
5. Why did Marcus get cross with the headmistress? - She was being so thick that
in the end he just had to shout. The headmistress didn't want to hear or
understand him, she didn't care about him, she was just doing her job.
6. Why did Marcus feel excited when he had left the headmistress’s office?- As
soon as he left Mrs Morrison’s office he felt different, better, as if he’d let go
and he was now falling through space. It was an exciting feeling, really, and it
was much better than the feeling of hanging on that he’d had before.
7. What was Marcus thinking about on his way from school?- He was walking
down Holloway Road while everyone at school was studying. He thought he
became a truant, remembered how six months ago he wouldn't have dared to
skip school. He was just someone who was fed up with Mrs Morrison.
8. Why did Marcus compared himself with tramps?- Marcus compared himself
with tramps because tramps walked out of their house one evening and thought
that this was the first and last time, but then it turned out that they slept on the
street every day.
9. What conclusions did Marcus come from after thinking about tramps, drug
addicts and so on?- He came to the conclusion that he wouldn’t become a
truant or a tramp or a murderer or a drug addict. He was just someone who was
fed up with Mrs Morrison. There had to be a difference.

Chapter 20.
№1.
1. to amble-гулять
2. surge of affection- всплеск нежности
3. oblivious- не обращая внимания
4. to wrestle- бороться
5. to skive- прогуливать
6. to nip out-выскочить
7. to bunk off- прогуливать

№2.
 1. What did Will like to do when frustrated?- When Will was frustrated, he loved
the traffic, which allowed him to believe he was a man in a hurry. He would
get in the car turn on the music and plunge into the city life.
2. What did Will feel when he spotted Marcus?- He saw Marcus ambling down
Upper Street. He hadn’t seen him since the day of the trainers, nor had he
wanted to see him particularly, but he suddenly felt a little surge of affection
for him, but the affection that Will felt was not acute enough to make him want
to stop the car, or even toot.
3. How did Marcus look? - Marcus was so locked into himself, so oblivious to
everyone and everything. It seemed that he was asking for help.
4. What solution was taken by Marcus’s conscience?- He decided that his
outburst of affection was not enough to make him stop, and one of the
arguments was that Will didn't really care if Marcus went to school or not.
5. For how long was Marcus buzzing at Will’s door?- It lasted about 30 minutes,
then Will gave up and opened the door.
6. How did Will realize what kind of help Marcus needed?- Marcus needed help
to be a kid, not an adult. And, unhappily for Will, that was exactly the kind of
assistance he was qualified to provide.
7. What help could Will provide for Marcus? - He wasn’t able to tell Marcus how
to grow up, or how to cope with a suicidal mother, or anything like that, but he
could certainly tell him that Kurt Cobain didn’t play for Manchester United.

Chapter 21.

№1.

1. to bunk off-прогуливать
2. vending machine-торговый автомат
3. grunge-гранж
4. hilarious- веселый
5. take the piss out of smb- поднимать кого-то на смех
6. to brainwash- промывать мозги
7. in one piece- в целости и сохранности

№2.

1. How did Marcus make the first social intercourse at school?- He decided to
start a conversation with his friend, whom he met near the headmistress's
office. Ellie was standing and standing with a friend from her class. The girls
laughed at him after every sentence he said, but he thought that was a good
sign. It was the longest conversation he’d had with anyone at school for weeks.
 2. What did Marcus want to do?- He thought Ellie and her friend had said he was
funny, and if he could be funny once, he could be funny again. He wanted to
make friends with them and understood that this friendship could have many
advantages.
3. Why did every kid at lunchtime stopped what they were doing and turned
round?- They were surprised to see Ellie and Marcus together because if
anyone was hanging around with Ellie must have been kidnapped or
brainwashed.
4. What did Marcus feel at the attention he had gotten?- It was enough strange for
him that he was the center of attention, not because of the bullying, but because
he made everyone laugh. He felt that he’d been adopted.

Chapter 22.

№1.

1. Festive-праздничный
2. to entail- влечь за собой, сопровождать
3. message-послание
4. burrow-нора
5. sort of-вроде, как бы
6. skewed way- искаженная манера
7. lunatic-сумасшедший
8. oblivion-забвение
9. option-вфариант
10.misapprehension- заблуждении
11.sickening-отвратительный, тошнотворный
12.to loathe-ненавидеть
13.a strive for- стремление к
14. to start squabbling- начать ссориться
15.to elucidate- объяснять
16.to give smb credit-отдать должное
17.pillock-идиот
18.prat-урод, идиот

№2.

1. along the line- It didn’t seem very festive, somehow, and even though
festivities invariably entailed The Song somewhere along the line, he didn’t
want to ignore them completely. Все это почему-то казалось не очень
 праздничным, и хотя празднества неизменно сопровождались песней, он
не хотел полностью игнорировать их.
2. bosom of the family- So he would spend Christmas in the bosom of a family—
not his family, because he didn’t have one, but a family. Поэтому он решил
провести Рождество в лоне семьи - не своей, по причине отсутствия
таковой, а просто семьи.
3. at all costs- There was one family he wanted to avoid at all costs: Правда
была одна семья, общества которой он пытался избежать всеми силами:
4. no way- no way did he want to spend Christmas eating nut fucking roast, not
watching TV, and singing carols with his eyes closed. ни в коем случае он не
хотел проводить Рождество за поглощением вегетарианского жаркого,
без телевизора, распевая рождественские гимны с закрытыми глазами.
5. drift along- He had to be careful, though, because if he just let himself drift
along he’d be carried right over the weir; he had to start swimming in the
opposite direction fast. Но тут следовало проявить осмотрительность, ведь
стоит лишь поплыть по воле волн, как тебя тут же вынесет на мель,
поэтому Уилл должен был начать срочно выгребать против течения.
6. unshakeable firmness- Having decided with such unshakeable firmness that he
would absolutely definitely not be celebrating 25 December with Fiona and
Marcus,… Приняв твердое решение не праздновать Рождество в обществе
Фионы и Маркуса…
7. to come as a surprise - it came as something of a surprise to him to find
himself accepting an invitation from Marcus the following afternoon to do
exactly that. Он, к собственному удивлению, на следующий день принял
приглашение Маркуса.
8. to be forced to do smth- The conversation had already been extended way
beyond Will’s comfort point, and now he was beginning to worry that he
would eventually be forced to articulate the cruellest of truths: Разговор
тянулся так долго, что Уилл давно перестал чувствовать себя в своей
тарелке и уже начал переживать, что в конце концов ему придется все-
таки высказать жестокую правду.
9. estranged couples- This couldn’t happen all the time, Will thought, otherwise
SPAT would have been full of happy but estranged couples, all introducing
their exes and their nexts and their kids from here, there and everywhere;
Видимо, так было не у всех, решил Уилл, иначе бы ОРДА выглядело бы
как общество счастливых, хоть и раздельно живущих супругов, будущих
супругов и детей от одного и другоги брака между собой;
10.to do as Romans do- On New Year’s Eve he would make a resolution to
recover some of his previous scepticism, but until then he would do as the
 Romans do, and smile at people even if he disapproved of them. На Новый
год он даст зарок вернуть себе немного былого скептицизма, а до тех пор
будет следовать всеобщему настрою и улыбаться даже тем людям,
которые не нравятся ему.
11.to do smb favours at school- a jumper that wouldn’t do him any favours at
school (it was baggy and hairy and arty), a couple of books and some piano
music…джемпер, который не принес бы ему никакой пользы в школе (он
был мешковатым, волосатым и искусственным), пара книг и немного
фортепьянной музыки…
12.to give a go- And a really nice jumper, and these books look really interesting,
and this music because one day when I… when I get a bit more time I’m going
to really give it a go…И очень хороший джемпер, и эти книги выглядят
очень интересно, и эти ноты, потому что когда-нибудь, когда я... когда у
меня будет немного больше времени, я действительно попробую играть…
13.to give smb credit- Will had never properly given Marcus credit for being a
good kid—up until now he’d only noticed his eccentric, troublesome side,
probably because there hadn’t been much else to notice. Уилл никогда не
считал Маркуса хорошим ребенком -до сих пор он замечал только его
эксцентричную, назойливую сущность, вероятно, потому, что он не
слишком себя проявлял с других сторон.

№3. “It was true…” It was true, of course: Marcus was never deliberately
funny. One look at Marcus’s face was enough to convince Will that the boy was
merely curious, and that his curiosity showed no signs of abating. The conversation
had already been extended way beyond Will’s comfort point, and now he was
beginning to worry that he would eventually be forced to articulate the cruellest of
truths: that Marcus’s mother was, like her son, a lunatic; that even disregarding the
sanity aspect of things they were both a pair of losers anyway; that he couldn’t
imagine a gloomier Christmas; that he would much, much rather revert to his
original plan for oblivion and the entire output of the Marx Brothers than pull
wishbones with either of them; that any sane person would feel the same way. If the
kid couldn’t take a hint, what option did he have? Unless… И это было правдой:
Маркус никогда ни над кем намеренно не издевался. Одного взгляда было
достаточно, чтобы убедиться, что мальчику просто любопытно и что это
любопытство ни на миг не ослабевает. Разговор тянулся так долго, что Уилл
давно перестал чувствовать себя в своей тарелке и уже начал переживать, что в
конце концов ему придется-таки высказать жестокую правду. А заключалась
она в том, что мама Маркуса, как и он сам, ненормальная; что, даже если не
принимать во внимание их невменяемость, все равно оба они — неудачники;
что Уилл не может представить себе более мрачного Рождества; что он охотнее
вернется к своему изначальному плану обкуриться и всю ночь смотреть телик,
чем станет ломать с кем-нибудь из них на счастье куриную косточку, и что
любой нормальный человек согласился бы с ним. Если парень не понимает
намеков, то что ему еще остается? Разве только…

№4.

1. What did Will think about Christmas?- He didn't like Christmas because festivities
invariably entailed The Song somewhere along the line. In this year he decided that
he didn’t want to ignore them completely. He supposed that spending Christmas time
was some message to the world about where you were at in life, some indication of
how deep a hole you had managed to burrow for yourself.

2. What did Will react to Marcus’s invitation? - At first, he was sure that there was no
way he was going to spend Christmas with Fiona and Marcus. But something went
wrong and he had to do it. Marcus’s invitation was nice, he wanted to give a polite
refusal, but Marcus took it as a yes and Will couldn't resist.

3. What surprised Will at Marcus’s home when Will came for Christmas? - It turned
out that Will wasn't the only one invited to Christmas. Also they were Marcus’s dad
Clive, and his girlfriend Lindsey, and his girlfriend’s mum, six of them altogether, all
squashed round the fold-out dining table in the flat. It was strange company in his
opinion.

4. What did Will think about Christmas presents?- In Will’s opinion it was a pile of
crap presents and recognized that they were given with love and chosen with care.

5. What was special about Marcus’s reaction to his mother’s presents? What did it
reveal to Will about Marcus?- He showed that he was happy with these gifts, but in
fact, I think that he did not really like them and Fiona when choosing these gifts did
not think about what Marcus would like, and what she wants herself for him. And
Will revealed about Marcus that he is the good boy and good not because it is
obedient and uncomplaining. he would have been amazed and mystified such strange
gifts.

Chapter 23.

№1.

1. a row- скандал
2. to indulge- потакать
3. to get cross-злиться
 4. to snub- вести себя пренебрежительно
5. to make mischief-ерничать, ссорить
6. to be handy- пригодиться
7. to look appalled- выглядеть потрясенным

 №2. “It was good …” It was good having a mum and dad who didn’t decide things
together, Marcus thought; that way you got the best of both worlds at Christmas.
You got things like jumpers and sheet music, which you had to have, but then you got
things like computer games and fun stuff as well. And if his mum and dad had still
been together, what would Christmas have been like now, with just the three of
them? Pretty boring, probably. This way it was more like a party, what with Will and
Lindsey and, well, he wasn’t really bothered about Lindsey’s mum, if he were
honest, but she sort of helped to fill the room up. Хорошо иметь маму и папу,
которые не решают все сообща, думал Маркус; благодаря этому на Рождество
можно получить самое лучшее из того, что может предложить каждый из них.
Тебе, конечно, дарят свитера и ноты, которые положено получать в подарок,
но зато еще и всякую интересную всячину типа компьютерных игр и тому
подобного. А если бы его мама и папа по-прежнему были вместе, то на что
было бы похоже Рождество, проведенное только втроем? Наверно, было бы
довольно скучно. А так все происходящее больше походило на вечеринку — с
Уиллом, Линдси и… вообще-то, если честно, мама Линдси ему не мешала и,
кроме того, она помогала заполнять пространство.

№3.

1. What did Marcus think about the party with his split parents?- He thought that it
was good when the parents live separately from each other. They couldn’t make
decisions together and instead of one gift you get two. And if his mum and dad
had still been together with just the three of them. It would be too boring. This
Christmas was like a party and he liked it.
2. What caused the row between Fiona and Clive?- The scandal was caused by
Clive, who started smoking a joint. Fiona started get crossed with Clive because
he was smoking in front of Marcus, and Lindsay didn't want them quarrel in front
of her mom because she could hear that Clive was smoking a joint.
3. How did the quarrel change the atmosphere of the party?- After the scandal, the
atmosphere became more natural and relaxed. Fiona and Clive decided that they
needed to discuss some things, Fiona and Lindsay exchanged unpleasantries and
everything was fine.
4. What did Marcus feel about Suzie’s snubbing Will?- It was the most exciting
thing he had ever seen in his own living room. At first it was very exciting for
him like a performance. But then they started to cross the line and Marcus was
obliged to stand up for Will.
5. How did Marcus stand for his friend Will?- He said that Will was his friend and he
invited Will on the celebration; he never wanted Marcus round his flat every day.
And he bought m those shoes, and at least he listens when Marcus said that he was
having a hard time at school. He helped him so he wanted Will to stay.

Chapter 24.

№1.

1) to be thrilled-быть в восторге
2) a cipher- ноль
3) to dredge one’s memory- копаться в памяти
4) contemplation-созерцание
5) to be articulate- быть красновечивым
6) to be barred-преградить
7) a quirk- причуда
8) dope dealer- торговец наркотиками
9) to knock around-болтаться с кем-то (общаться)
10) to reel smb’s back with-увлечь
11) to butt in- вмешиваться
12) to annihilate- уничтожить
13) understatement- преуменьшение

№2.

1) unreciprocated experience When it had happened to friends it had always

struck him as a peculiarly unpleasant-seeming experience, what with all the
loss of sleep and weight, and the unhappiness when it was unreciprocated…
Когда такое случалось с друзьями, это всегда казалось ему особенно
неприятным переживанием, со всей этой потерей сна и веса, и
несчастьем, когда это было безответное чувство
2) dippy happiness-, and the suspect, dippy happiness when it was working out.,
и подозрительным счастьем, когда была взаимность.
3) a blank twit- when he met an intelligent, cultured, ambitious, beautiful, witty
and single woman at a New Year’s Eve party, he felt like a blank twit, a
cipher… Когда он встретил умную, культурную, амбициозную, красивую,
остроумную и одинокую женщину на новогодней вечеринке, он
почувствовал себя пустым болваном, полным ничтожеством…
4) to put smb at smth of a disadvantage- If you were falling in love with someone
beautiful and intelligent and all the rest of it, then feeling like a blank twit put
you at something of a disadvantage. Если вы влюбляетесь в кого-то
 красивого и умного и все такое прочее, ощущение того, что ты пустой
болван, ставит вас в невыгодное положение.
5) to work smb. out - Because the thing was that when this Rachel woman sat
down next to him at dinner she was interested, for the first five minutes, before
she’d worked him out, and in that five minutes he got a glimpse of what life
could be like if he were in any way interesting. Все дело в том, что, когда эта
Рейчел села рядом с ним за обедом, первые пять минут, пока она его не
раскусила, он был ей интересен, и в эти пять минут он понял, какой могла
бы стать его жизнь, будь он и вправду хоть чем-то интересен.
6) window of opportunity- He hated the five-minute window of opportunity. Он
ненавидел надежду, блеснувшую перед ним в эти пять минут.
7) to come in handy- He missed Ned. Ned had given him an extra something, a
little il ne sait quoi, that would have come in handy on an evening like this.
Ему не хватало Неда. Нед давал ему нечто такое, что оказалось бы очень
кстати в такой вечер.
8) to make up a story- Maybe he could make up some story about why he still
saw Robert, a story that might cast him in a more flattering light, make him
seem a little more complicated. Возможно, он мог бы наплести что-нибудь
о том, почему продолжал общаться с Робертом, сочинить историю,
которая показала бы его в более выгодном свете, придала образу
сложность.
9) to set smb apart- The most interesting thing about his life, he realized, was
Marcus. That was something which set him apart. Он понял, что самое
интересное в его жизни-это Маркус. Это было то, что выделяло его.
10) to be new under the sun- Rachel had noticed he wasn’t talking to
anyone, and wheeled round so that he could be included in a conversation
about whether there was anything new under the sun, with particular reference
to contemporary popular music. Рейчел заметила, что он ни с кем не
разговаривает, и повернулась, чтобы включить его в разговор о том, есть
ли что-нибудь новое под солнцем, особенно в отношении современной
популярной музыки.
11) parental indulgence- And OK, the rolling eyes and the fond chuckle did
suggest a certain amount of parental indulgence. И ладно, закатившиеся
глаза и ласковый смешок наводили на мысль о некоторой родительской
снисходительности.
12) to lie through one’s teeth- But it definitely wasn’t the SPAT thing, when
he’d lied through his teeth for the entire duration of the evening. Но это
определенно не было похоже на историю с ОРДА, когда он лгал сквозь
зубы весь вечер.
 13) to play the card- Until he’d played the Marcus card he’d kept slipping
off before he’d even started. До того как разыграть карту Маркуса, он
соскальзывал всякий раз, даже не начав
14) a cluck- He might not have done anything in the last decade and a half,
but he could cluck sympathetically when a woman told him how badly her ex-
husband had behaved. Может, он и не сделал ничего за последние полтора
десятка лет, но мог сочувственно хмыкать, когда женщина рассказывала
ему, как плохо вел себя ее бывший муж.
15) Woe- …no one, he decided, ever did themselves any harm by listening
attentively to other people’s woes. …никто, решил он, никогда не причинял
себе вреда, внимательно прислушиваясь к чужим горестям.
16) ambiguity- At midnight they sought each other out and kissed, a kiss that
was somewhere between cheek and lip, the embarrassed ambiguity hopefully
significant. В полночь они отыскали друг друга и поцеловались, поцелуй
был где-то между щекой и губой, смущенная двусмысленность, надеюсь,
значимая.

№3. “One of his problems …” One of his problems, he reflected as he was trying to
dredge his memory for a single tiny scrap of experience that this woman might
regard as worth her momentary contemplation, was that he was reasonably good-
looking and reasonably articulate. It gave people the wrong impression. It gave him
admission to a party from which he should be barred by ferocious bouncers with
thick necks and tattoos. He may have been good-looking and articulate, but that was
just a quirk of genetics, environment and education; at his core he was ugly and
monosyllabic. Напряженно копаясь в памяти в поисках тех крупиц, которые могли
бы показаться стоящими минуты ее благосклонного внимания, он понял, что его
проблема состоит в том, что он довольно симпатичен и неплохо говорит. У людей
складывалось ложное впечатление. Его пускали на вечеринки, куда путь ему
должны были бы преградить свирепые вышибалы в татуировках и с толстыми
шеями. Может, он, конечно, симпатичный и неплохо говорит, но это лишь злая
шутка природы, обстоятельств и образования; по своей сути он был косноязычным
уродом.

№4.

1) What did Rachel look like? –Rachel illustrated children’s books, and she
looked a little bit like Laura Nyro on the cover of Gonna Take A Miracle—
nervy, glamorous, Bohemian, clever, lots of long, unruly dark hair.
2) Why hasn’t Will ever wanted to fall in love?- Will had never wanted to fall in
love because when it had happened to friends it had always struck him as a
 peculiarly unpleasant-seeming experience. This was accompanied by weight
loss, lack of sleep and unhappiness when it was unreciprocated.
3) What difficulty did Will see in attracting Rachel’s attention?- He understood
that it would be unrequited affection because he couldn’t see anything he might
have which could possibly interest her.
4) What gave people the wrong impression about Will as he contemplated over
his own lifestyle? Was he too hard on himself?- The wrong impression was
that people only found him interesting for the first five minutes. There was a
disadvantage to the life he had chosen for himself, a life without work and care
and difficulty and detail, a life without context and texture. And when he had
found someone. He felt like a a blank twit, someone who had done nothing
with his whole life apart from watch Countdown and drive around listening to
Nirvana records.
5) Why did Will want to bring Ned back to life and why did he restrain from it?-
Ned was the one who brought some special to his life, all of Will's flaws were
forgotten when Ned was there. But Will restrained from this idea because he
knew if he lied, nothing good would come of it.
6) How did Will come to know Robert? Was he honest with Rachel about their
connections?- Robert was one of his ex-girlfriend's friends. Now Will was
using a different tactic, he’d moved right away from lying and towards
understatement.
7) What was the most interesting thing in Will’s life?- Will was surprised but he
learnt that Marcus was the most interesting thing in Will’s life.
8) How did Will manage to bring up Marcus in the conversation with Rachel?-
Speaking of to music, Will said that he knew one music lover, Kurt Cobain,
and it worked, because as it turned out, Rachel also had a son. And they
continued their conversation about it.
9) What did Will learn about Rachel’s husband?- Rachel didn’t love him and they
got a divorce. Then he moved to another country.
10) In what way was Will cunning speaking about Marcus and Fiona?- He
talked about Fiona and Marcus as if they were his family, but that didn't
convince as a lie because he didn't say that she was his wife and Marcus was
their son.
11) What did Will and Rachel agree to do after their first meeting?- they
arranged to get their lads together to compare skateboards and baseball caps
and the Christmas edition of The Simpsons.

Chapter 25.

№1.
 1) Гримасничать- to make a face
2) уйти, покинуть- to disappear
3) следить, присматривать за кем-л.- to watch out for smb
4) рискнуть- to take the risk
5) жалкий, несчастный- miserable
6) умный, толковый- clever, smart
7) отвратительный- horrible, disgusting
8) трогательный, проникновенный- Pathetic

№2. “Even though… somewhere” Even though what they were talking about was
miserable, Marcus was enjoying the conversation. It seemed big, as though you could walk round it
and see different things, and that never happened when you talked to kids normally. ‘Did you see
Top of the Pops last night?’ There wasn’t much to think about in that, was there? You said yes or
no and it was over. He could see now why his mum chose friends, instead of just putting up with
anyone she happened to bump into, or sticking with people who supported the same football team,
or wore the same clothes, which was pretty much what happened at school; his mum must have
conversations like this with Suzie, conversations which moved, conversations where each thing the
other person said seemed to lead you on somewhere. Хоть они и говорили на грустную
тему, все равно Маркусу разговор нравился. Он представлялся ему значительным,
монументальным, как будто его можно было обойти вокруг и рассмотреть с
разных сторон, а когда разговариваешь с детьми, такого обычно не бывает. "Ты
вчера смотрел вечером хит-парад лучших клипов?" Немного пищи для
размышлений, правда? Отвечаешь "да" или "нет", и все дела. Теперь было ясно,
почему его мама выбирает друзей, а не просто мирится с компанией первого
встречного, или тусуется с фанатами какой-нибудь футбольной команды, или
общается с теми, кто одевается так же, как она, — как это обычно и происходит в
школе. Должно быть, его мама ведет такие же разговоры со Сьюзи, разговоры,
которые не оставляют равнодушным, где все, сказанное собеседником,
подталкивает к размышлениям.

№3.

1) Where did Marcus spend his New Year’s Eve? –He was at Suzie’s New Year’s
Eve party.
2) Whom did Marcus meet at the party? - Marcus thought it was just someone
who looked like Ellie, but then it turned out it was really Ellie.
3) What was Ellie’s attitude to her mother?- Ellie said that she loved her mom,
but she was clearly embarrassed about her mom's behavior.
4) How did Marcus estimate the year 1993 and why?- For Marcus 1993 hadn’t
been a very good year at all. There was Moving schools, the hospital and
mother’s suicide attempt, bulling at school… It had been totally useless.
5) Why did Will tell Marcus to watch out for his mother?- Because Will had told
him to watch out for his mum on New Year’s Eve, but honestly he didn’t
understand for what. Marcus could guess: a lot of people who weren’t happy
killed themselves then.
6) What did Marcus think watching his mother at the party? How does the
metaphor of ‘the edge of the cliff” help to understand the seriousness of
Fiona’s psychological state?- He thought about the fact that his mother's
condition was of two kinds: 1) when she looked sad and distant; 2) and like
today, when she laughed and joked. Marcus was worried about the first version
of her mood, he compared it to approaching ‘the edge of the cliff”. It means
that On the Dead Duck Day it had been way too close to the edge (too close to
the death).
7) Why didn’t Marcus want to discuss his mum’s attempt to commit suicide with
Ellie? Were his reasons childish?- He didn’t really want to tell Ellie what they
were, because he didn’t know whether they were friends or not. It wasn’t worth
taking the risk. I think that his reasons weren’t childish, it was right because
she could have dealt with him in a lot of ways.
8) What does Marcus understand at proper talk with someone of his own age?- It
was different from conversations with the mom or Will and much easier. It
liked him, but he understood that in this way he had to be careful and watch
what said.
9) There are many metaphors and comparisons in Marcus’s inner speech. Why do
you think the author uses these stylistic means?- I think the author uses them to
convey the feelings and the conditions of Marcus as much as possible.
10) What really disgusting did Ellie show to Marcus? Why do you think the
girl behaved like that?- He displayed her mother and other man were kissing at
the garden. Ellie’s mother behavior was horrible and the girl thus showed
Marcus that she, too, was not all going well. In a way, it was a response to
Marcus's revelation.
11) Why does Marcus compare Cambridge and London? Where according to
Marcus the life was simpler and why?- It wouldn’t have happened in
Cambridge. Cambridge was differ from London because there were no rules
here; with no rules then things were bound to be more complicated. In
Cambridge life was simpler—no snogging with strange people in front of your
kid, and no yelling rude words at your mum.
12) How did Marcus and Ellie discuss suicide of one of the parents and the
responsibility one puts upon himself when he/she gives birth to a child?- Marcus
supposed after the birth of a child the parent couldn’t dispose of his life because he
would be responsible for the child. But Ellie didn’t agree with this and argued that in
any case, it was the life of the parent and the child didn’t have the right to be the only
reason to live.

Chapter 26.

№1.

1. Blithely-беспечно
2. to get the wrong end of the stick- понять что-либо неправильно
3. to take a wrong turn- неправильно трактовать
4. efficacy- эффективность
5. to lie through one’s teeth-бесстыдно врать
6. to do justice- вершить правосудие
7. reciprocation-взаимность
8. maturity-зрелость
9. oblivious- не обращая внимания
10.profundity- глубокомыслие
11. mutuality- взаимопонимание

№2.

1. Why did Will choose the setting of Augl Funhouse?- It was the great place for
entertainment of teenagers. Will had chosen this place because it could help to
relieve the reaction of Marcus. They were going to have a serious conversation,
so Will at some point wanted to appease Marcus, so he would agree to his
adventure.
2. What in Will’s opinion makes a good liar? Was he a good liar himself?- In Will’s
opinion a good liar knows a thousand arguments to prove the truth and convince a
person to do what he wants. He didn’t reckon himself the good liar because after
every attempt at lying through his teeth for some minutes, Will had to tell the
humiliating truth.
3. How did Will manage to convince Marcus in pretending to ne his son?- Will
found a benefit for both of them. Marcus would pretend to be his son, and Will
would help Marcus win Ellie's interest.
4. What did Will feel towards Rachel?- He was in love with Rachel. He'd
understood from talking to Marcus that she wasn't just another girlfriend, he
wanted to spend all his time with her and he wanted Rachel to be his wife.
 5. What were Marcus’s ideas of having a girlfriend?- Having a girlfriend meant that
he would see her from time to time, that she would have some kind of
independent existence away from him.
6. How is the feeling of love perceived by Will?- Will was afraid of this feeling. For
him it was something new and confusing. Now he understood that love was not
only about wanting to touch a person, it's also about being with a person always
close, before Will had no such desire and relief from these thoughts.

№3.

1. Give the description of the 12-year old boy’s room.

Ali’s bedroom door was indistinguishable from all the other bedroom doors. There
was the Ryan Giggs poster and the Michael Jordan poster and the Pamela Anderson
poster and the Super Mario stickers. Of course, there was computer and all date
devices. This room belongs to a boy who is fond of sports, likes to play computer
games. In general, it was the room of the average teenager.

2. Mark the differences in the appearances of Ali and Marcus.

Marcus and Ali were complete opposites. Ali was cool. He wore basketball boots,
baggy skatepunk trousers, shaggy grunge hair, even an earring. In front of Ali,
Marcus looked awkward and refreshingly rebellious in the hairy jumper that Fiona
had given him for Christmas and a disastrous pair of canary-yellow cords that might
have looked cute on a four-year-old. He was like a teenage who went on a revolt
against everything fashionable, thereby standing out among others.

Chapter 27.

№1.

1. Tough- жесткий
2. to snivel-хныкать
3. red herring- отвлекающий маневр
4. to make a face- гримасничать
5. to browse over-просматривать
6. sweet display- витрина со сладостями
7. breach of human rights- нарушение прав человека
8. mentally deficient –умственно-неполноценный
9. to get cross- злиться

№2.
1. What was Ali’s reaction to Will?- Will and Rachel went downstairs, Ali stared at
him for a few seconds and then started on Marcus. He was shocked by Ali's reaction.
Ali said that if will continued to communicate with his mother, Marcus would be
dead.

2. What were Marcus’s options and which one he preferred?- Marcus had the option
of staying in the room and spending the whole day with Ali, but he immediately gave
up on that idea. Then he thought about going downstairs to Will and Rachel, but
remembered that Will had told him to stay upstairs all evening. And then Marcus
decided to go home, because he had no other option.

3. Where did Will find Marcus and where did they head for?- Marcus was standing
at a bus stop near the Lock when Will found him. His sense of direction wasn’t
brilliant and he was actually standing on the wrong side of the road, waiting for a bus
that would have taken him to the West End, Will drew up alongside him and told
him to get into the car. They had a little conversation and came back to Rachel’s
house.

4. How did Marcus explain to Will his escape from Rachel’s house?- Marcus
explained that Ali was crazy. He said he'd kill him if Will went out with Rachel.
Marcus believed Ali, so he left on his own.

5. How did Marcus and Ali make up?- When Marcus returned with Will, they found
Ali was sniveling. Ali apologized and they shook hands.

6. What caused uncontrollable passion for Ellie in Marcus? - This happened because
she protected him from the abusers who took his glasses. He was too overcome by
Ellie—by her style, and her beauty, and her ability to beat people up—to pay any
attention to what she was saying.

Chapter 28.

№1.

1. Assault- нападение
2. to be smitten- быть сраженным
1. to be thick- быть промежуточным (?)
2. to be appalled-быть потрясенным
3. to run riot- буйствовать
4. to slip through one’s fingers- уплывать из рук; утекать, как песок сквозь пальцы
5. vulnerable-уязвимый

№2. “Will knew …” Will knew this was supposed to make him feel better about
everything, but it didn’t. For a start, he’d only known Marcus for a few months, so
Rachel had raised some interesting questions about the thirty-six years he had let slip
through his fingers. And he didn’t want to be defined by Marcus. He wanted his own life,
and his own identity; he wanted to be interesting in his own right. Where had he heard
that complaint before? At SPAT, that’s where. He had somehow managed to turn himself
into a single parent without even going to the trouble of fathering a child. Уилл
понимал, что, услышав это, должен был бы почувствовать себя лучше, но лучше
ему не стало. Для начала он был знаком с Маркусом всего несколько месяцев, так
что Рейчел заставила его задуматься о тридцати шести годах жизни, которые
утекли сквозь пальцы. Ему не хотелось, чтобы его запомнили только из-за
Маркуса. Он хотел иметь свою собственную жизнь, собственную личность; ему
хотелось быть интересным самому по себе. Где-то он уже слышал подобные
жалобы. Ах, да, "ОРДА'. Каким-то образом он смог превратиться в родителя-
одиночку, даже не утруждая себя рождением ребенка.

№3.

1. What did Will try to explain to Marcus about the relations between a boy and a girl?-
Will tried to explain to Marcus that love develops in other way. This looked more
like pet and owner rather than boyfriend and girlfriend. Marcus’s current status as
victim did nothing for him sexually or romantically, even though it would be a rocky
conversational road.
2. What did Will think about lying in long-term relations?- Will knew that if he wanted
to build a long-term relationship, the truth would come out sooner or later, so he felt
it necessary to tell Rachel the whole truth right now.
3. Why did Rachel think that Will was interesting? What attracted her in him?- Rachel
thought Will was a sort of blank, he didn’t do anything, he wasn’t passionate about
anything. They couldn't even find a common topic of conversation, but when it
turned out that Will had a son, the attitude towards him changed. Because it was
obvious that he was not indifferent to Marcus and he was worried about him. For
Rachel it was catchy in some way.
4. What did Will find in common between himself and those SPAT mothers?- He
compared himself to those SPAT mothers because after the birth of a child, they
devote their entire lives to it, but Will wanted to have his own life. He didn’t want to
be defined by Marcus. He didn't want to miss those years of his life.

Chapter 29/30

№1.

1. obtuse – тупой, недалекий

2. vertigo – головокружение
3. bollocks – чушь, чепуха
4. buoyant – активный, жизнерадостный
5. quirky intelligence – необычный, чудаковатый интеллект
6. reverie – мечтательность
7. pupils – ученики
8. to feel low – чувствовать себя подавленно

№2. 1. How was Marcus’s life changing in the passing weeks?-Back in the first morning
when his mother was crying he was on his own; now, there were loads of people, he
could talk to. In fact, there were only two of them but they were those people whom he
could say ‘My mum’s at it again,’ and they’d know what he meant, and they’d be able to
say something that might make some kind of sense.

2. What made Marcus think that they were in trouble?-His mum started the crying thing
again. Just like before, there didn’t seem to be any reason for it, it began slowly, and
Marcus could do nothing about, no matter how many questions he asked or hugs he gave
her; and then, finally, there was the breakfast crying again, and he knew that things were
serious and they were in trouble.

3. How was this time of Fiona’s crying different from the previous one?- It wasn’t worse
than before, like it was on the Dead Duck Day, it was still serious and still bothered him,
but it wasn’t serious as the previous crying.

4. What does the conversation between Marcus and Ellie reveal? In what way was Ellie
compassionate with Marcus?- Ellie raised the topic Marcus didn’t want to raise and that
conversation offended him. But she was sorry for sayong what she said and she knew it
hurt his feelings.

5. What did Will think about people like Fiona? Why was he pissed off by them?- He
thought that people of that kind pissed him off, because they ruined everyone’s life. He
thought it wasn’t easy, floating on the surface of everything and trying to be on top of
everything when there are people around you trying to kill themselves and saying how
bad everything is.

6. Why the relationship with Rachel was weird?- The weird thing was that they still
hadn’t had sex, even though they’d been seeing each other for a few weeks. The subject
just never came up. He also wanted to kiss her simply because she was stimulating and
spoke smth interesting. And he had never had such feelings before he met Rachel.

7. What caused the realization to Will that Marcus loved him?- His conversation with
Rachel ‘He’s just a bit messed up. But he adores you.’
8. What offer did Rachel make about Fiona?- She told him that once she also had hard
times and she was thinking about topping herself but always delayed that decision
because everything was incomplete in her mind and life and she wanted to do some time
later, but the time passed and once she realized she didn’t want to do it. And she said to
Will that probably Felt the same way as Rachel and and it’d be great if Will talked to
her. She offered Marcus to talk about things which were important in Fiona’s life, about
smth that would’t make her thing about topping herself

She offered Marcus to talk about things which were important in Fiona’s life, about smth
that would’t make her thing about topping herself.

№3. 1. Describe Will’s thoughts about depression, suicide.- Will actually wanted to help
Macrus with all that stuff related to his suicidal mother but he couldn’t to get involved in
that, he didn’t want to. He didn’t want to talk about depression things and suicide things.
He tried to make conversations in his head. And everything he thought about – he didn’t
like the way it sounded. There were two words in particular that made him want to cover
his ears with his hands. Those two words were ‘the point’. And he knew that one cannot
talk about all suicidal staff without mentioning the word “point”, and that was the
problem for Will because he couldn’t make the point himself.

2. Dwell on the metaphor of death used by Will?- Will claimed that those who had
reasons for living, jobs and relationships and pets, their heads were a long way from the
surface anyway. Those people could manage to float on the surface of everything. But
Will was struggling. It was that hard to Will to float on the surface of everything.

“He was way out of his depth, and he had cramp, probably because he’d gone in too
soon after his lunch, and there were all sorts of ways he could see himself being dragged
up to the surface by some smoothy life-guard with blond hair and a washboard stomach,
long after his lungs had filled with chlorinated water”. He was talking there about
Rachel. Rachel is smoothy life-guard with blond hair and a washboard stomach.

3. Describe the feelings Will had for Rachel. What is humorous in the description of
these feelings.- Will considered his relationship with Rachel weird, because they still
hadn’t had sex, even though they’d been seeing each other for a few weeks. He was
almost sure that she liked him, they always had something to talk about; he was more
than sure that he liked her, they both enjoyed seeing each other, he wanted to be with her
all the time for the rest of his life. They liked each other in different ways.

4. Describe the idea of love of life as Rachel got it.- «There were always one or two
things that seemed unfinished, things I wanted to follow through. Like you want to see
the next episode of NYPD Blue. If I’d just finished stuff for a book, I wanted to see it
come out. If I was seeing a guy, I wanted one more date. If Ali had a parents’ evening
coming up, I wanted to talk to his form teacher. Little things like that, but there was
always something».

Chapter 31.

№1.

1. странный, неадекватный – doolally

2. отвалить - piss off
3. ругаться - to swear
4. дуться, кукситься – sulk
5. отключиться - drift off
6. управляемый снаряд - guided missile
7. целиться в кого-л. - point at (target), loose on
8. подталкивать, подпихивать – to push smbd
9. искусный, изобретательный – ingenious
10. подглядывать – peek
11. Оступаться – sidestep
12. быть испуганным – be scared

№2.

to get cool – стать крутым;

It was hard not to feel that everything was OK the first week after the clocks had gone
forward; it was ridiculously easy to believe that his mum would get better, that he’d
suddenly age three years and suddenly get cool so that Ellie would like him, that he’d
score the winning goal for the school football team and become the most popular person
in school.

Было трудно не чувствовать, что все было в порядке в первую неделю после того,
как часы пошли вперед; Было до смешного легко поверить, что его мама
поправится, что он внезапно постареет на три года и внезапно станет крутым, так
что он понравится

Элли, что он забьет победный гол за школьную футбольную команду и станет

самым популярным человек в школе.

to cheer up – взбодриться, развеселиться

The clocks had gone forward for everybody, not just him, and there was no way that
every depressed mother was going to cheer up, there was no way that every kid in
Britain was going to score the winning goal for the school football team—especially
every kid in Britain who hated football and didn’t know which end of a ball to kick—
and there was certainly no way that every single twelve-year-old was going to become
fifteen overnight.

Часы шли вперед для всех, не только для него, и было невозможно, чтобы каждая
подавленная мать вдруг внезапно взбодрилась, или чтобы каждый ребенок в
Великобритании забил победный гол за школьную футбольную команду, особенно
из тех детей, которые ненавидят футбол и не зналют, по какому концу мяча
ударить - и, конечно, юыло совершенно невозможно, чтобы каждый
двенадцатилетний мальчик мог стать пятнадцатилетним в одночасье.

slim chance – малая вероятность

The chances of it happening to even one of them were pretty slim, and even if it did, it
wouldn’t be Marcus, knowing his luck.

Шансы, что это случится хотя бы с одним из них, были довольно малы, и даже
если бы это произошло, это был бы не Маркус, зная, как ему обычно везет.

clocks-forward wishes – загаданные наперед желания

Maybe one of the clocks-forward wishes had come true.

Может быть, сбылось одно из загаданных желаний.

let smb loose on someone – нацелить на кого – то

He was thinking about how nice it would be to have a whole hour on a train with Ellie,
just the two of them; and then he was thinking how great it would be if he let Ellie loose
on his dad.

Он думал о том, как хорошо было бы провести целый час в поезде с Элли, только
вдвоем; а потом он подумал, как было бы здорово, если бы нацелил Элли на своего
отца.

to feel hot all over – чувствовать жар по всему телу

He felt hot all over; he didn’t even need to read the old guy’s paper, but he did anyway.

Его бросило в жар; он мог даже не читать то, что было написано в газете у
старика, но все равно прочел.

to stop dead – замереть, внезапно остановиться

They were going through a narrow passageway, and you had to concentrate, because you
couldn’t just stop dead or sidestep, and you had to remember that you’d sort of doubled
in size, so you had to think about what sort of spaces you could fit into.

Они шли по узкому коридору, так что приходилось быть внимательным: нельзя
просто остановиться или сделать шаг в сторону — нужно помнить, что размером
ты в два раза больше обычного, так что надо было все время прикидывать,
пройдешь ты где-то или нет.

to feel vulnerable – чувствовать себя уязвимым

If someone could guide you around safely when you were feeling vulnerable, then you
learnt to trust them, and that was important.

Если кто-то может безопасно вести вас, когда вы чувствуете себя уязвимым,
значит, вы научились доверять ему, и это было важно.

№3. “Suddenly Marcus …”

Suddenly Marcus could see a problem with his guided missile plan: the problem was that
Ellie wasn’t actually a guided missile. You couldn’t guide her. That didn’t matter so
much in school, because school was full of walls and rules and she could just bounce off
them; but out in the world, where there were no walls and rules, she was scary. She
could just blow up in his face any time.

Внезапно Маркус осознал, что в его плане с управляемой ракетой могут

возникнуть трудности: дело было в том, что Элли — это вовсе не управляемая
ракета. Ею нельзя управлять. В школе это не имело значения, потому что там
полно правил, которые могли встать у нее на пути; но вне школы, в мире без
барьеров и правил, она была опасна. Она могла взорваться рядом с ним в любую
минуту.

№4.1. What made Marcus think that the clocks don’t go forward for him?- Marcus
wanted his mum would get better, he wanted to become older and suddenly get cool so
that Ellie would like him, to become the most popular person in school. But none of this
things happened and that fact made him think so.

2. Why didn’t Marcus want to go to his dad’s?- He thought that his dad was pretending
to be a proper dad after the accident that happened to him, and Marcus was also
wondering why did his dad only want to see his son when he’d broken his collar bone.
3. Why was Marcus irritated by his father’s “big think”?- His father hadn’t thought about
his life before the accident, and he hadn’t thought about Marcus’s role in his life. And it
was irritating.

4. What made Marcus change his opinion about going to Cambridge?- He began to
change his mind about going to see his dad when he was talking to Ellie about the
window-ledge. Ellie suggested him to go and see his dad and tell him everything he
thought of him.

5. Why did Marcus want to go there with Ellie?- He wanted to spend time with her, He
was thinking about how nice it would be to have a whole hour on a train with Ellie, just
the two of them; and then he was thinking how great it would be if he let Ellie loose on
his dad.

6. Why did Marcus think about Ellie as a guided missile and where did he want to point
it at? - Whenever he was with her he could point her at targets and she destroyed them,
and he loved her for it. She had beaten up his mates, and she stopped people laughing at
him quite so much. It worked well in school, so he thought it would work with his dad.
He wanted to point Ellie at his dad.

7. Why did Marcus talk his mother out of seeing him off at King’s Cross? - He said I’d
be too frustrating if they said goodbye at the underground station.

8. What did Marcus find out about Kurt Cobain and why did he feel hot all over?- He
felt hot all over because he read the headline in the newspaper which sounded like this:
“ROCK STAR COBAIN DEAD” and underneath, in smaller writing ‘Nirvana singer,
27, shoots himself’.

9. What did Marcus attempt to do to spare her feelings and was he masterful at that?- He
didn’t want her to know about Kurt Cobain’s death so he wanted to distract her and not
to let her know about it. He remembered something that he’d seen in one of the Open
University programmes: there were all these people in a room, and half of them were
wearing blindfolds, and the other half had to lead the blindfolded half around and not let
them bump into each other. It was something to do with trust, his mum had said. If
someone could guide you around safely when you were feeling vulnerable, then you
learnt to trust them, and that was important. So Will decided to do such thing with Ellie.

10. What was the problem with Marcus’s guided missile plan?- Ellie wasn’t actually a
guided missile, because no one could guide her. In school there were rules and and she
could just bounce off them, but out in the world, where there were no rules, she was
scary. She could just blow up in his face any time. She was unguided.
11. What did Ellie take out of her bag and why did she want to get drunk?- She took
Vodka out of her bag and started to drink it because of the Curt Cobain’s death.

№5.

1. Speak about Marcus’s feelings towards his mother.- He was going to miss his mom
when he left her.

2. Speak about the attitude of Marcus towards his father.- Marcus abhorred his father
because he didn’t care about Marcus before the accident that happened to him and he
probably just felt sorry for himself and that’s why he wanted Marcus to visit him.
Marcus wondered whether such accident is the only reason for parents to start thinking
about their kids.

3. Speak about Marcus’s relations with Ellie- He liked Ellie. She was protecting him
from troubles and bulling at school, whenever he was with her he could point her at
targets and she destroyed them, and he loved her for it. But he realized that she was
unguided, rebellious and it was hard to cope with her actually.

Chapter 32.

№1. 1. происходить, проистекать – ensue

2. безумный, маниакальный – manic
3. серьезность – gravity
4. раздражительность, обидчивость – tetchiness
5. туманный – dim
6. вызывать, побуждать – urge
7. быть уместным, иметь отношение к делу – appropriate
8. чепуха, выдумка – bollocks
9. сочувствие, сопереживание – empathy
10. земной, светский, мирской – mundane

№2.

1. To top oneself – покончить с собой

They would have a drink and a chat, then Will would absent himself and Rachel and
Fiona would have a drink and a chat, as a result of which Fiona would cheer up, feel
better about things and lose the urge to top herself.
Они бы выпили и поболтали втроем, затем Уилл бы внезапно испарился, а Рэйчел
и Фиона снова бы выпили и поболтали, в результате чего Фиона бы взбодрилась,
повеселела и потеряла всякое стремление/ желание покончить с собой.

2. To be set up – быть подставленным

He suddenly realized with terrible clarity that he’d been set up, that when Rachel had
said that he would get the hang of it if she showed him how, this is what she had meant.

Внезапно он с пугающей ясностью осознал, что его подставили: когда Рейчел

сказала, что у него и у самого все получится, если ему показать, как это делается,
именно это она и имела в виду.

3. To be cut out for chats – быть созданным для болтовни

He wasn’t cut out for chats about existential despair. Он не создан для разговоров об
экзистенциальном страхе.

4. To feel seek of oneself – тошнить от самого себя

Fiona smiled politely, but suddenly Will felt sick of himself. Фиона вежливо
улыбнулась, но Уиллу внезапно стало тошно.

5. Grist to the mill – обычное дело

Now he knew that pop stars committing suicide were all grist to the mill, and the only
consequence of Kurt Cobain’s death as far as he was concerned was that Nevermind
would sound a lot cooler.

Теперь он знал, что самоубийства поп-звезд — обычное дело, а единственным

последствием гибели Курта Кобэйна лично для него станет то, что альбом
"Nevermind" будет звучать гораздо круче.

№3. “I’m used to women …” ‘I’m used to women being like this with me. This is how I
spend most evenings.’ Fiona smiled politely, but suddenly Will felt sick of himself. He
wanted to find a way in to the conversation that they had to have, but there didn’t seem
to be one, and there never would be while he was stuck with his brain and his vocabulary
and his personality. He kept feeling as though he were on the verge of saying something
proper and serious and useful; but then he ended up thinking, Oh, fuck it, say something
stupid instead.

«Я привык к тому, что женщины ведут себя со мной подобным образом. Так я
провожу большинство вечеров ''. Фиона вежливо улыбнулась, но Уиллу внезапно
стало тошно от самого себя. Он хотел найти способ завязать разговор, который
должен был состояться между ними, но, похоже, этого диалога не было и никогда

не будет, пока он застрял со своим мозгом, своим словарным запасом и своей

личностью. Ему все казалось, что он вот-вот скажет что-то правильное, серьезное
и полезное; но потом он в конце концов подумал: «Черт возьми, скажи вместо
этого что-нибудь глупое».

№4. 1. Why did Will invite Fiona to a pub?- He wanted Fiona would cheer up, feel
better and lose the urge to top herself.

2. Whom was Will waiting for in the pub?- He was waiting for Rachel to come.

3. How did Fiona behave herself in the pub?- She was distracted and slightly manic. She
ordered a large gin and ice and sipped at it nervously and quickly, which made Will feel
a little uncomfortable.

4. What were Will and Fiona talking about in Pizza Express?- At first, they apologized
to each other for the way they behaved in relation to each other. They also talked about
Fiona’s depression which was the beginning of the conversation.

5. What did Will learn about Fiona?- He learnt that she hadn’t really wanted to be a
mother, that sometimes she hated Marcus; he learnt that she worried about her inability
to hold down a long – term stable relationship (удерживать длительные стабильные
отношения); he learnt that her last birthday had scared her to bits, because she hadn’t
been anywhere, done anything, all the usual malarkey. Will realized that depression
wasn’t caused by all these things, even if they happened at once. The thing was that
Fiona had to live with something that tired her and made her see everything in grey
colors. And that was the real trouble.

6. What was Will frightened of?- He was frightened that once he’d turn out to be the
only person, who can help Fiona cope with all stuff in her life, he didn’t want it to
happen.

7. What worried Will in connection with Kurt Cobain death? - Will was worried about
how Marcus reacted to what happened with Curt Cobain, because this accident related to
things, which Marcus was worried about.

№5. 1. Speak about Will’s empathy.- Will seemed to be selfish and crude guy, who
didn’t worry about people and their feeling and troubles at all. But in fact he had an urge
to help Fiona and he cared about Marcus. And he worried whether his was able to help
them two or not, because he was in trouble himself. Will was sure he had to help Fiona
and do something with her willingness to top herself.

2. Speak on Fiona’s depression.- Through the conversation between Will and Fiona it’s
not that hard to work out the reasons of why Fiona lived like this and what she felt that
time. Sum of those things like hatred to Marcus and unwillingness to be a mother at all,
inability to hold down a long – term stable relationship and others to my mind weren’t
enough to make her feel that way, but they definitely played role in her life and her
vision.

Chapter 33.

№1. Ругаться – swear

Противоположности – opposites
затруднительный, стеснительный – embarrassing
заразный, заразительный – contagious
спасать – rescue
обвинять - blame me for
наркоман - drug addict
бродяга – tramp

№2.

to be alert – быть настороженным

He hardly noticed when the train pulled in at Royston station, and he wasn’t even
completely alert when Ellie suddenly stood up and jumped off the train. Он не заметил,
как поезд остановился на станции Ройстон, и не сразу сообразил, что происходит,
когда Элли внезапно вскочила и выбежала из поезда.

to become a truant – стать прогульщиком

The point was that once you had become a truant, you started hanging out with people
like Ellie, and getting into trouble, and being arrested and taken to Royston police
station.

Дело все в том, что, став прогульщиком, начинаешь общаться с такими людьми,
как Элли, попадаешь в истории, тебя арестовывают и везут в полицейский участок
Ройстона.

to be patronizing – быть высокомерным

The policemen thought this was funny, which Marcus took as a good sign, although it
made Ellie very angry indeed: she told them they were patronizing, and they looked at
each other and laughed a bit more.

Полицейских это рассмешило — Маркус счел это хорошим знаком, даже несмотря
на то, что Элли очень разозлилась: она заявила полицейским, что те ведут себя
высокомерно; они переглянулись между собой и снова засмеялись.

a bit of a muddle – немного запутанный, неразбериха

«but he could see that it was all a bit of a muddle, and that the policewoman couldn’t
understand what his dad’s accident had to do with Ellie and the shop window, so he gave
up».

но понял, что все это звучит слишком запутанно и что она не улавливает связи
между папиным несчастным случаем и Элли с ее разбитой витриной, поэтому
решил прекратить попытки.

to be in a bit of a state – быть в н самом хорошем настроении, состоянии

«and she hated driving, so they were both in a bit of a state: Lindsey was tired and
nervy, and his dad was grumpy and in pain». а она этого терпеть не могла, так что оба
они были в неважном настроении: Линдси выглядела усталой и издерганной, а
папа мучился от боли и ворчал.

to be desperate to do smth – сделать что-то будучи в полном отчаянии

to take a piss out of smb – потешаться над кем – то ‘Who exactly?’ Ellie was
taking the piss out of his dad. — Кто я такая? — Элли явно потешалась над его
отцом.

to go off the rails – сойти с рельс, потерять контроль

to be nuts – сумасшедший Ellie’s off the rails. She’s nuts. Элли сошла с рельсов. Это
она рехнулась.

№2. “Marcus thought about hat…” Marcus thought about that. He thought about
whether life was shit, and whether Ellie’s life in particular was shit, and then he realized
that Ellie spent her whole time wanting life to be shit, and then making life shit by
making things difficult for herself. School was shit because she wore her sweatshirt
every day, which she wasn’t allowed to do, and because she shouted at teachers and got
into fights, which upset people. But what if she didn’t wear her sweatshirt and stopped
shouting at people? How shit would life be then? Not very, he thought. Life was really
shit for him, what with his mum and the other kids at school and all that, and he’d give
anything to be Ellie; but Ellie seemed determined to turn herself into him, and why
would anyone want to do that?

Маркус задумался над этим. Он задумался, можно ли сказать, что у него дерьмовая
жизнь, и можно ли назвать особенно дерьмовой жизнь Элли, и понял, что она
просто так сильно хочет, чтобы ее жизнь была дерьмовой, что сама делает ее
такой, все себе усложняя. В школе у нее все дерьмово, потому что она каждый
день носит свитер, который носить нельзя, орет на учителей и затевает драки, а
людям это не нравится. А если бы она не носила этот свитер и прекратила на всех
орать? Насколько дерьмовой была бы ее жизнь тогда? Не такой уж и дерьмовой,
решил он. Вот у него жизнь действительно дерьмовая, с его мамой, всеми этими
парнями из школы и так далее, и он отдал бы все за то, чтобы быть Элли; а Элли
определенно пыталась превратиться в него — как нормальный человек может
этого хотеть?

№3.1. How did Ellie behave on the train?- They didn’t talk on the train with each other;
Ellie would give a small sob, threaten to press the emergency stop button, or threaten to
do things to the people who looked at her, she was swearing and drinking vodka right
out of the bottle.

2. Why didn’t Marcus want to see Ellie as his girlfriend?- Because she was rebellious,
she wasn’t that kind of girl he wanted to date with, he wanted someone modest, someone
who played computer games and read books. But Elliie was completely the opposite of
Marcus.

3. What did Marcus understand about opposites?- His mum had explained to him once
that sometimes people needed opposites, and Marcus realized how that might worked
being with Ellie: Ellie needed someone who was going to stop her from all the things she
did because otherwise they’d be on their way to prison. And funny for him to be
opposite of Ellie at school, but in the whole world, it seemed frightening and
embarrassing, and Marcus didn’t want to be Ellie’s opposite.

4. How did Marcus estimate Elliness at school and “out in the world”?- He claims that
being Ellie’s opposite in school is not that dangerous, because there are rules in school
and Ellie like to break them, but it doesn’t seem so serious like if she is out in the world
and she can do actually anything and that’s the straight way to prison for both of them.
He didn’t want to be responsible for Ellie and everything she did.

5. What conclusion did Marcus make comparing his life and Ellie’s life? Whose life was
real shit and why?- Marcus realized that Ellie spent her whole time wanting life to be
shit, and then making life shit by making things difficult herself. And if she stopped
behaving like that her life would definitely changed for the better. But his life was really
shit for him because things that happened in his life wasn’t his, things just happened to
him and he had to deal everything that happened to him somehow. He didn’t have a
choice, but Ellie had that choice but she didn’t do anything to stop ruining her life.

6. What did Ellie do at Royston and why?- Ellie suddenly stood up and jumped off the
train. They walked past and came to a record shop which had a big cardboard cut-out of
Kurt Cobain in the window. She took off one of her boots, and threw it at the glass as
hard as she could.

7. How did she explain her outrage to Marcus?- She said «It just didn’t seem right, him
being in there on his own».

8. Why did Marcus have a sick feeling about Ellie’s behavior? What did he think about
real trouble and inventing things?- He had a sick feeling about Ellie’s behavior because
she was making her life difficult, but she had a choice not to do it , Marcus didn’t have
that choice. He knew Ellie didn’t want to die, because he knew how suicidal people
behave because his mother wanted to top herself, but Ellie didn’t behave like Marcus’s
mother

9. How did Marcus and Ellie get to police station?- The noise of breaking glass had
woken citizens of Royston up, and a couple of people closing up their shops had run
down to see what was going on. Those people called the police.

10. What was Marcus imagining about his future life and whom did he accuse of it?

11. How did children explain their crime to the policemen?- Ellie had explained to them
that she wasn’t a hooligan or on drugs; she was simply making a protest, which was her
right as a citizen, about the commercial exploitation of Kurt Cobain’s death.

12. Why did Marcus feel very tired and didn’t want to be with Ellie, his father and
Lindsey?- Marcus’s life was difficult without Ellie and she was his new problem. He
didn’t want to see and be with any of those people.

13. How did Marcus answer to his father’s remark?- ‘I suppose you are a useless father,
and that doesn’t help a kid very much, but you’d have been a useless father wherever
you were living, so I don’t see what difference it makes.’

1. Marcus and Ellie as opposites.- Marcus and Ellie were completely different Marcus
was just a modest kid who liked reading and computer games. He lived with his suicidal
mother who had depression and wanted to top herself, he was bullied at school, , but
Ellie was unguided girl who made her life difficult herself. Ellie pretended to have
problems because, but in fact she didn’t have problems. She could avoid problems by
stopping behaving like that. And Marcus had real problems, and he couldn’t do anything
to them, he couldn’t change things for the better because things didn’t depend on him.

2. Marcus and his father. Uselessness of a father for a boy.- His father had never been
useful for Marcus because he hadn’t been there for Marcus. Marcus had to deal with his
mother’s depression and suicidal attempts on his own, and father never was there at
those times.

Chapter 34.

№1. задыхаться, давиться- - choke

своенравный, упрямый – willful
ненормальный, сумсшедший – deranged
соучастник, сообщник – accomplice
связаться с кем-л.- get in touch
довести до чего-л. - convey to
зевающий, глазеющий – glaring
нелепый, глупый – barmy
свидетельствовать против - to incriminate
язвить, иронизировать - be sarcastic
размышлять – contemplate
изъян, слабое место – flaw

№2.

1. the last straw – последняя капля

‘This is the last straw, though,’ Katrina said. ‘Ditto,’ said Fiona. — Но теперь все, это
последняя капля, — сказала Катрина. — Ну-ну, посмотрим, — утешила Фиона.

kindred spirits – родственные души

«And yet here he was, banged up in jail—well, sitting in a police station waiting room—
because he had been accomplice to a crime that was somehow meant to avenge Kurt
Cobain’s death. It was hard to imagine two less kindred spirits than Marcus and Kurt
Cobain, and yet they had both managed to pull off the same trick: Marcus forced
unlikely connections in cars and police stations and Kurt Cobain did the same thing on
international television».

И вот: он сидит в тюрьме — ну, точнее, в комнате ожидания в полицейском

участке — за то, что стал соучастником преступления, которое имело своей целью
отомстить за смерть Курта Кобэйна. Было трудно представить двух людей, менее
близких по духу, чем Маркус и Курт Кобэйн, но тем не менее им обоим удалось
прокрутить один и тот же фокус: Маркус провоцировал людей на необычные
знакомства в машинах и полицейских участках, а Курт Кобэйн — на объятия и
слезы, транслируемые по всему миру. И это лишнее доказательство того, что все в
жизни не так плохо, как кажется. Жаль, что Уилл не мог продемонстрировать это
Маркусу и всем тем, кто, может, в этом так нуждается.

to give smb a piece of one’s mind – высказать что-либо

«‘Good,’ said Ellie. ‘I want to give him a piece of my mind.’» — Хорошо, — сказала
Элли, — я скажу ему все, что о нем думаю.

to be lost for words – терять дар речи, не знать, что сказать

«Ellie was lost for words too often, but it was clear that if you wished to reduce her to a
gaping, red-faced mess, all you had to do was find a twenty-something doppelgänger
whose commitment to Kurt Cobain was even more devout than her own.»

Уилл подозревал, что Элли редко попадает в ситуации, когда не находится, что
возразить, но теперь было ясно: чтобы довести ее до состояния полной
растерянности, когда, покраснев, она будет хватать ртом воздух, нужно всего
лишь найти ее двойника старше двадцати, чья преданность Курту Кобэйну
окажется еще большей, чем ее собственная.

wrong-headed decision – ошибочное решение

Will had to hand it to her: once she had decided to fight for her child she was
unstoppable, however wrong-headed the decision, and however inappropriate the
weapons. Уилл вынужден был отдать ей должное: решив бороться за ребенка, она
не остановится ни перед чем, как бы ни было ошибочно это решение и неуместны
средства.

to cut a deal – заключить сделку

«We’re willing to cut a deal,’ said Fiona». - Мы готовы заключить сделку, — сказала
Фиона.

to start with a clean sheet – начать с чистого листа

«Let Marcus start again with a clean sheet». Позволь Маркусу начать все сначала.

to make sense of smth – все взвесить, обдумать, осмыслить

«Will looked at this strange little group, his gang for the day, and tried to make some
sense of it». Уилл взглянул на ту странную маленькую группу, с которыми ему
пришлось провести этот день, и попытался все осмыслить.

№3. “ Will looked at…” to “ a full time basis” Уилл посмотрел на странную группку
людей, с которыми ему пришлось провести этот день, и попытался все осмыслить.
Все эти пересечения и связи! Он не мог не думать об этом. По натуре, даже под
воздействием наркотиков, он не был склонен к мистическим переживаниям, но
почему-то в данный момент он с ужасом понял, что испытывает нечто подобное:
может быть, потому, что Маркус отошел от своей матери и направился к нему?
Как бы то ни было, но его одолевали чувства весьма своеобразные. Кого-то из
этих людей он не знал до сего дня, с кем-то был знаком уже некоторое время, но
все равно не мог сказать, что знает их хорошо. Но вот они оказались здесь: одна
сжимает в руках картонную фигуру Курта Кобэйна, другой сидит в гипсе, третья
плачет — и все они связаны друг с другом так причудливо, что, войди сейчас кто-
нибудь посторонний, так ему сразу и не объяснишь. Уиллу еще не доводилось
попадать в такую запутанную, беспорядочно растущую и хаотичную паутину;
казалось даже, будто на мгновенье ему приоткрылось, каково это — быть
человеком. Не так уж и плохо: пожалуй, он не отказался бы даже посвятить свою
жизнь тому, чтоб быть человеком.

№4. 1. What reminded Will of the Dead Duck Day?- In that day there was that same
sense of unpredictability and absorption and chaos.

2. What was the difference between these days?- The main difference was that that day
wasn’t as enjoyable. He he neither knew nor cared about any of them that day, and it he
could observe the kind of mess that people can make without being involved. But that
day he was involved. And then he cared about both Fiona and Marcus.

3. What was Katrina’s opinion of her daughter and why?- Katrina considered Ellie mad
and out of control.

4. What made Fiona and Katrina laugh?- ‘This is the last straw, though,’ Katrina said.
‘Ditto,’ said Fiona. ‘Until the next last straw, anyway.’ They laughed because they knew
it wasn’t the last time, their kids got in such situations.

5. Why did Will think that Fiona and Katrina were the Undead?- They couldn’t live
properly, and they couldn’t die; all they could do was sit in a stranger’s car and laugh
about it.

6. What ability had Marcus as Will saw it?- The boy was awkward and weird and the
rest of it, but he had this knack of creating bridges wherever he went, and very few
adults could do that. Will would never have imagined that he would have been able to
walk across to Fiona, but he could now; his relationship with Rachel had been entirely
underpinned by Marcus.

7. What was Will thinking about the connection between Marcus and Kurt Cobain?-
They had both managed to pull off the same trick: Marcus forced unlikely connections in
cars and police stations and Kurt Cobain did the same thing on international television.

8. What were the vibes in the police station?- They were bad, and those vibes were
coming not from the front desk, where they encountered only a slightly strained civility,
but from the interview room, where there was a frosty silence and a lot of angry glares.

9. What happened when the shop owner came to the police station?- The shop owner
came, A nervous-looking young woman in her late twenties, She was wearing a Kurt
Cobain sweatshirt and lots of black eye make-up, she looked like Ellie. Ellie realized
that the shop owner was the fan of Curt Cobain and that she wasn’t exploiting peoples’
feelings and make money off it. Ellie and Ruth were hugging each other.

10. How did Fiona behave herself in the police station and why?- She was grim and
silent at first. She was trying to justify her son before the police – officer, Marcus denied
his guilt because he indeed hadn’t done anything, it wasn’t his fault, and he tried to say it
in front of police – officer, but Fiona didn’t listen.

11.How did Marcus react to his mother’s performance?- He shouted: ‘Shut up, Mum.
You’re mad. Bloody hell, I can’t believe how crap my parents are,’ and pushed her away
and came up to Will.

12. What did Marcus work out of the situation and why?- He worked out the he doesn’t
need Ellie, he needed someone who looked like him, less different.

Chapter 35

№1. 2. справляться , преодолевать - to cope

3. ныть
4. связаться с кем-либо – reach
5. в конечном счете, наконец – eventually
6. закончиться, испариться
7. наркоман – drug – addict
8. ерунда, чепуха – bollocks

№2. to have smth both ways – совместить несовместимое

It wasn’t as though he thought his dad should have been around, but he couldn’t have it
both ways. Не то чтобы он считал, что его отец все время должен быть с ним, но
Клайв должен был сделать выбор.

to play truant – прогуливать

He’d already stopped thinking of the broken window as something that had come out of
playing truant, and that would lead on to being a tramp and a drug addict. Он уже
перестал думать о разбитом окне как о чем-то, что произошло из-за прогулок, и
это привело бы к тому, что он стал бродягой и наркоманом.

to wander off – уходить, покидать

Because you can’t stand on top of your mum and dad if they’re going to mess around
and wander off and get depressed.’ Потому что нельзя опираться на папу с мамой,
которые могут все испортить, уйти или впасть в депрессию.

to create patterns of people – распределять людей по группам, по типам

You could create little patterns of people that wouldn’t have been possible if his mum
and dad hadn’t split up and the three of them had stayed in Cambridge. Он научился
распределять людей по типам, чему бы он никогда не смог научиться, если бы
мама и папа не разошлись и они втроем продолжали бы себе жить в Кембридже.

№3. “And he would be…”And he would be, he knew it. He didn’t know whether Ellie
would be, because she didn’t think about things that hard, even though she was clever
and knew about politics and so on; and he didn’t know whether his mum would be,
because she wasn’t very strong a lot of the time. But he was sure that he would be able
to cope in ways that they couldn’t. He could cope at school, because he knew what to do,
and he had worked out who you could trust and who you couldn’t, and he had worked
that out down there, in London, where people came at each other from all sorts of odd
angles. You could create little patterns of people that wouldn’t have been possible if his
mum and dad hadn’t split up and the three of them had stayed in Cambridge. It didn’t
work for everyone. It didn’t work for mad people and people who didn’t know anybody,
or for people who were sick, or who drank too much. But it was going to work for him,
he’d make sure of that, and because it was going to work for him he had decided that
this was a much better way of doing things than the way that his dad wanted him to try.

И он был уверен, что так и будет. Он не мог ручаться, что с Элли все будет
хорошо, потому что она не слишком-то задумывается над всем так серьезно, хоть
она и умная, и разбирается в политике и так далее; и не был уверен, будет ли у
мамы все хорошо, потому что она часто падает духом. Но он был уверен, что у
него хватит сил справиться с тем, с чем раньше он не могу справиться. Он сможет
разобраться со школой, потому что знает, что делать, он понимает, кому можно
доверять, а кому — нет, и понял он это в Лондоне, где люди сталкиваются друг с
другом во всевозможных обстоятельствах. Он научился распределять людей по
типам, чему бы он никогда не смог научиться, если бы мама и папа ней способен
учиться так, как учился Маркус. На это не способны ненормальные, или те, у кого
мало знакомых, больные люди или те, кто много пьет. Но у него обязательно
получится, он приложил для этого все усилия, а поскольку он не сомневался, что
все теперь получится, то решил, что лучше ему продолжать жить, как сейчас, а не
так, как представляет себе это его отец.

№4. 1. Why did Marcus agree to go with his father to Cambridge?- He couldn’t really
see what his dad could offer him any more, which was why Marcus felt sorry for him,
and that’s why he agreed to go back to Cambridge with him.

2. What did Marcus make out of living in London?- People who didn’t live in London
didn’t seemed more scared of everything. Like when Clive and Lindsey had been scared
of Ellie.

3. In what way did Marcus compare the situation with his father and God?- He gave an
example where both God and his father disappeared for quite a long time and then
appeared again. They weren’t there when it was necessary and that’s why there was need
in them anymore.

4. Why had Ellie become a little thing for Marcus?- Because she wasn’t important to
him anymore.

5. What did Marcus think about having a father?- He thought there is no need in having
a father.

6. Why had Marcus been better in London and wasn’t scared anymore?- He wasn’t
scared anymore because there were loads of people in his life then. And then he wasn’t
alone anymore.

7. What does Marcus mean by “finding people”?- It’s like those acrobatic displays.
Those ones when you stand on top of loads of people in a pyramid. It doesn’t really
matter who they are, does it, as long as they’re there and you don’t let them go away
without finding someone else.’

8. Why didn’t Marcus know whether Ellie would be all right?- Ellie didn’t think about
things that hard, even though she was clever and knew about politics and so on.
9. Why did Marcus say that he wouldn’t mind his father and Lindsey having a baby?-
Marcus liked kids.

Chapter 36.

№1. втираться, примазываться - wriggle one’s way into smth

сущность, суть – substance
прогулка – outing
язвить – snip
переходный, промежуточный – intervening
осмотрительный, осторожный – circumspect
иметь право на – to be entitled to
мудро, дальновидно – sagely
возражение – comeback
обращаться снисходительно – to patronize
струп, корка – scab
горестно, печально – plaintively
Ненавидеть - abhor
крепкий, здоровый – robust

№2. verge of abandoning the idea – на грани желания сдаться, все бросить

But right when he was on the verge of abandoning the whole idea he had taken them to
the cinema, to one of those dumb summer movies that were pitched at kids, and all three
of them had had a great time. Но как раз когда ему уже хотелось все бросить, он
решил повести своих подопечных в кино на один из тех дурацких фильмов, что
показывают летом для детей, и все они замечательно провели время.

to give half a chance – находить любой незначительный, малейший повод

He’d taken them to Arsenal a couple of times, too, and that was OK, but Ali would still
snipe at Marcus, given half a chance, and there was more than half a chance in a long
afternoon in the family enclosure at Highbury, so football was kept for those rare times
when they had run out of films that would not only insult their intelligence but the rest of
them as well.

Пару раз он сводил их на игру "Арсенала" — и все было нормально, но Али по-
прежнему пользовался малейшим поводом, чтобы поязвить в сторону Маркуса, а
за долгий день в семейном кругу на стадионе "Хайбери" поводов находилось
более, чем достаточно, так что на футбол они ходили редко, в основном, когда у
них в запасе кончались фильмы, примитивные не только в интеллектуальном, но и
во всех прочих отношениях.

to be smb’s senior by many years

The first time they had met, when Marcus had been Will’s son for the afternoon, Ali had
appeared to be Marcus’s senior by many years, but his explosion that day had blown his
cover a little bit, and in any case Marcus had moved on in the intervening months.

В первую встречу, когда на один вечер Маркус стал сыном Уилла, Али казался
старше Маркуса на много лет, но тогдашняя вспышка гнева нанесла некоторый
урон этой видимости, да и Маркус за последние месяцы заметно повзрослел.

to blow smb’s cover

The first time they had met, when Marcus had been Will’s son for the afternoon, Ali had
appeared to be Marcus’s senior by many years, but his explosion that day had blown his
cover a little bit, and in any case Marcus had moved on in the intervening months.

В первую встречу, когда на один вечер Маркус стал сыном Уилла, Али казался
старше Маркуса на много лет, но тогдашняя вспышка гнева нанесла некоторый
урон этой видимости, да и Маркус за последние месяцы заметно повзрослел.

to win the argument over smth

He dressed better—he had won the argument with his mother over whether he should be
allowed to go shopping with Will—and he had his hair cut regularly, and he tried very
hard not to sing out loud, and his friendship with Ellie and Zoe (which, much to
everyone’s surprise, had endured and deepened) meant that he was more teenage in his
attitude: even though the girls prized and cherished his occasional eccentricities, Marcus
was beginning to tire of their whoops of delight every time he said something daft, and
he had—sadly, in a way, but inevitably and healthily—become more circumspect when
he spoke.

Он стал лучше одеваться — одержал верх над мамой в споре о том, можно ли ему
ходить с Уиллом по магазинам, — регулярно стригся и изо всех сил пытался не
петь вслух, а его дружба с Элли и Зои (которая, ко всеобщему изумлению, устояла
и стала еще крепче) означала, что он начал в большей степени походить на
тинейджера: хоть девчонки и восхищались по-прежнему его редкими
проявлениями эксцентричности и поощряли их, Маркуса начали утомлять
восторженные крики, сопровождавшие каждую сказанную им глупость, и он стал
— как это, с одной стороны, ни печально, но естественно и неизбежно — следить
за тем, что говорит.

out of the blue – внезапно, неожиданно, ни с того ни с сего

‘Are you going to marry my mum?’ Ali asked out of the blue, during one of their pre-
cinema fast-food meals. — Ты женишься на моей маме? — как-то раз ни с того ни с
сего спросил Али, когда они где-то обедали перед походом в кино.

to be pushing smth – настаивать на чем – то

Sometimes he hardly even dared ask her when he could see her again; asking her
whether she was willing to spend the rest of her life with him seemed to be pushing it.

Порой он едва мог решиться спросить, когда увидит ее снова, спросить же,
согласна ли она провести с ним остаток дней, казалось ему слишком настойчивым,
подталкивающим.

to be more together – быть более адекватной, уравновешенной

She’s more together than mine.’ Твоя мама более уравновешенный человек.

to pair off – разделяться на парочки, пары

When people pair off… I don’t know. Когда люди начинают разделяться на пары, …
не знаю.

to feel worn down – чувствовать себя плохо, вымотанно

‘I think I am. I don’t know what it is, but I just feel less worn down by everything.’ Я
думаю, так и есть. Не знаю, в чем дело, но мне показалось, что последнее время я
чувствую себя гораздо лучше.

to be on top of things – чувствовать контроль над всем, быть на вершине,

справляться со всем

‘I think I’m just on top of things more. I don’t know why.’ Не знаю, в чем дело, но
сейчас я чувствую себя гораздо лучше.

№3. “Marcus was older than Ali now” Marcus was older than Ali now. The first time
they had met, when Marcus had been Will’s son for the afternoon, Ali had appeared to
be Marcus’s senior by many years, but his explosion that day had blown his cover a little
bit, and in any case Marcus had moved on in the intervening months. He dressed better
—he had won the argument with his mother over whether he should be allowed to go
shopping with Will—and he had his hair cut regularly, and he tried very hard not to sing
out loud, and his friendship with Ellie and Zoe (which, much to everyone’s surprise, had
endured and deepened) meant that he was more teenage in his attitude: even though the
girls prized and cherished his occasional eccentricities, Marcus was beginning to tire of
their whoops of delight every time he said something daft, and he had—sadly, in a way,
but inevitably and healthily—become more circumspect when he spoke.

Теперь Маркус был взрослее Али. В первую встречу, когда на один вечер Маркус
стал сыном Уилла, Али казался старше Маркуса на много лет, но тогдашняя
вспышка гнева нанесла некоторый урон этой видимости, да и Маркус за последние
месяцы заметно повзрослел. Он стал лучше одеваться — одержал верх над мамой
в споре о том, можно ли ему ходить с Уиллом по магазинам, — регулярно стригся
и изо всех сил пытался не петь вслух, а его дружба с Элли и Зои (которая, ко
всеобщему изумлению, устояла и стала еще крепче) означала, что он начал в
большей степени походить на тинейджера: хоть девчонки и восхищались по-
прежнему его редкими проявлениями эксцентричности и поощряли их, Маркуса
начали утомлять восторженные крики, сопровождавшие каждую сказанную им
глупость, и он стал — как это, с одной стороны, ни печально, но естественно и
неизбежно — следить за тем, что говорит.

№4. 1. What frightened Will in his feelings towards Rachel?- At any time, it seemed to
him, she might decide that he was too much trouble, or worthless, or no good in bed. She
might meet someone else; she might come to the conclusion that she didn’t want a
relationship with anybody at all. She might die, suddenly, without warning, in a car
crash on the way back from dropping Ali off at school.

2. How did Will estimate his life in a shell?- He felt as if he were a chick whose egg had
been cracked open, and he was outside in the world shivering and unsteady on his feet

3. Why did Will take Ali and Marcus out somewhere?- He wanted to wriggle his way
into Rachel’s life, and he wanted to make her believe that there was some kind of
substance to him.

4. Why the first outings with the children were difficult for Will?- He’d taken them to
the British Museum and the National Gallery, and all three of them had been bored and
tetchy , but that was mostly because Will hated doing those things himself.

5. How did the boys go on together?- Ali would still snipe at Marcus, however all three
of them had had a great time.

6. How did Marcus change in the intervening months?- Marcus became older. He
dressed better—he had won the argument with his mother over whether he should be
allowed to go shopping with Will, he had his hair cut regularly, and he tried very hard
not to sing out loud, and his friendship with Ellie and Zoe meant that he was more
teenage in his attitude, the girls prized and cherished his occasional eccentricities,
Marcus become more circumspect when he spoke.
7. What indicated that Marcus became more teenage?- The girls in school prized and
cherished his occasional eccentricities, Marcus was beginning to tire of their whoops of
delight every time he said something daft, and he had—sadly, in a way, but inevitably
and healthily—become more circumspect when he spoke. Девчонки и восхищались по-
прежнему его редкими проявлениями эксцентричности и поощряли их, Маркуса
начали утомлять восторженные крики, сопровождавшие каждую сказанную им
глупость, и он стал — как это, с одной стороны, ни печально, но естес

8. Why did Will miss Marcus?- Will had found himself wanting to talk to Marcus about
what it was like to wander about with nothing on, feeling scared of everything and
everybody, because Marcus was the only person in the world who might be able to offer
him advice; but he old Marcus was disappearing.

9. How did Marcus explain the model for living he was looking at?- He said it was much
safer to be a kid if everyone’s friends. «When people pair off more insecure».

10. Why did Will call Marcus “Einstein”?- Will had wanted his comeback to be sharp,
he wanted to snip at Marcus.

11. Why didn’t Will know how to argue with a new Marcus?- Marcus was much older
and different, he had that kind of authority then, and Wull didn’t even wanted to argue
with Marcus.

12. Why was the new version of Marcus easier to cope with?- The new version of
Marcus really wasn’t so hard to cope with. He had friends, he could look after himself,
he had developed a skin. He had flattened out, and become as robust and as
unremarkable as every other twelve-year-old kid.

13. What did Will lose and Marcus obtain?- Will had lost his shell and his cool and his
distance, and he felt scared and vulnerable, but Marcus got to walk home from school
with his shoes on.

14. What convinced Will that Marcus would be OK?- He didn’t to what his mom told
him to anymore. And he didn’t like things his mom liked anymore.