Никоненко Тамара Петрівна

   This happened many years ago when I lived in Paris and was very poor. A lady had read a book of mine and wanted to have a talk with me. She asked me to give her a small luncheon at a restaurant, which she named. I was very young and I couldn’t say “no” to a lady. I had only eighteen francs, all the money till the end of the month. “A small luncheon will not cost more than fifteen francs”, I thought.
   So we met at the restaurant, which she had chosen. She was a woman of forty, and she talked a lot. When the waiter brought the menu, I saw that the prices were very high, but she said, “I never eat much for luncheon”. And she ordered a piece of salmon. “Will you have anything while we are preparing it?” asked the waiter. “No”, she answered, “I never eat more than one thing. I want caviar”. I knew that I had not enough money to pay for caviar, but I couldn’t tell her that. For myself I ordered the cheapest thing on menu, a beefsteak. “What will you drink?” I asked her. “My doctor lets me drink only champagne!” It seemed to me that my face became white…
   She ate the caviar, and ate the salmon, she drank champagne and took a peach, which was not in season. She talked of art, literature and music… But all I wanted to know was what the “small” luncheon would cost me.
   “You know”, she said as she was eating the ice-cream, “I usually don’t eat luncheon. I have a cup of coffee in the morning and then dinner. But if I must eat luncheon, then I never eat more than one thing”.
   The bill came, and when I had paid it, I had the whole month before me and not a penny in my pocket. I am not a bad man. But I’m glad that today she weighs more than three hundred pounds (about 130 kilogrammes). So I had my revenge at last.
Vocabulary
a luncheon – пізній сніданок
salmon – лосось
champagne – шампанське
caviar – ікра
I had my revenge – Я був відомщений.

Put “+”if you agree and “-” if you disagree. I Variant

1. A poor young man lived in Paris.
2. He was a painter.
3. The young man invited a lady for dinner.
4. The lady was in love with the young man.
5. The prices at the restaurant were very high.
6. The young man ordered some salmon for himself.
7. The lady didn’t want to eat anything except beefsteak.
8. The waiter brought some champagne for the lady.
9. The lady refused to eat ice-cream, because she was on a diet.
10. The young man and the lady talked about books and arts.
11. The bill for the luncheon was very large.
12. The young man didn’t have enough money to pay the bill.

Put “+”if you agree and “-” if you disagree. II Variant

1. A poor young man lived in America.
2. A young lady had read a book of his and would like to have a chat with the young man.
3. Foyot’s was one of the cheapest restaurants in Paris.
4. She was a lady of thirty.
5. The woman used to repeat that she never ate more than one thing for luncheon.
6. She ordered only one thing.
7. The young man had enough money to pay the bill.
8. She talked gaily of art and literature and music.
9. Madame ordered only mutton chop for herself.
10. The bill for the luncheon was very little.
11. The young man enjoyed the luncheon very much.
12. The young man left three francs for the waiter.

English texts for listening and reproduction (Photocopiable) = Збірник текстів для аудіювання в 5-11 класах загальноосвітніх шкіл зі сторінками для копіювання/ Упоряд. Л.Б. Крамаренко. – Х.:Веста: Видавництво “Ранок”, 2003. – С.71-72