UNIT III. ROUTINE ACTIVITIES

Grammar:Present Indefinite (Simple) of the verb "to have"

Reflexive pronouns:

3.1 Victor Orlov's Working Day

Victor is not an early riser. It's quite a problem for him to get up in the morning. But the alarm-clock rings at 7 o'clock and there is nothing to be done as to start a new working day. When he was a schoolboy his grandma often said him, "The early birds catches the worm, don't forget it, sleepy." To wake up finally he switches his tape-recorder on with his favourite music and does his physical jerks. Then he goes into the bathroom, which is always taken by his sister when he needs it. ("What do these girls do there for so long time! At last ... it's really better to get up a little bit earlier ...") He takes a shower, shaves himself, cleans his teeth and brushes him­self. It takes him about 10 minutes to do his bed and to dress him­self. After that Victor goes to the kitchen to have breakfast. It may be a cup of tea or coffee and some sandwiches.

After his morning meals Victor leaves his house and goes to the University. Usually he goes there by bus or trolleybus. As he lives not far from the University it takes him about 15-20 minutes. Classes begin at 8 in the morning. Victor usually comes to the Uni­versity a few minutes before the bell not to be late for the first les­son. Each lesson lasts an hour and a half. There are 10 minute breaks between classes. Usually the students have 3 or 4 lectures or seminars. About 3 o'clock in the afternoon Victor's classes are over. If the weather is fine he goes home on foot as it's very pleas­ant to take a walk in the open air. But sometimes Victor doesn't leave University right after classes because of some out - of - class activities.

So he has dinner either at home or at the student's canteen. When at home he usually has something substantial for dinner, for example, cabbage soup for the first course, hot meat or fish with some vegetables for the second one and a glass of juice for des­sert.

As a rule Victor has no spare time on his weekdays. He usually spends much time to do his homework. Sometimes he has to go to the library either to get ready for his practical classes and seminar­ies or to write a report. He often has to sit up to translate English articles from English into Russian scientific magazines to learn new information he needs on his subject.

Eight o'clock is supper time in the Orlov's family. They all get together in the kitchen to have their evening meal and to discuss different problems.

After that Victor prefers to do a little reading. If a book is very interesting he can read till late night. Sometimes he either watches TV or listens to the music. And every evening he does his best to find time for his computer. It is not untill midnight that he usually goes to bed. So by the end of the week Victor gets tired & needs a good rest.

Vocabulary:

quite a problem - настоящая проблема

an alarm-clock - будильник

spare time - свободное время

either ... or ... - или ... или ...