Question

Вставьте в пропуски слова: narrator, strengths, comic novel, worth reading, humour,
published, moral, re-issued, offer, features, hero, weakness

Answer 1

Краткие ответы:

• 1) comic novel (комический роман)
• 2) features (изображает, инфинитив — to feature)
• 3) published (опубликованный)
• 4) re-issued (переиздан)
• 5) offer (предложить)
• 6) hero (герой, персонаж)
• 7) narrator (рассказчик)
• 8) strengths (сильные стороны)
• 9) moral (моральный)
• 10) weakness (слабая сторона)
• 11) worth reading (стоит прочтения)
• 12) humour (юмор)

Текст:

A) Within the genre of 1) comic novel, the storylife often 2) features a young person in search of his or her identity and place in the adult world. One of the best examples of this is the novel Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse. Having been first 3) published in 1959, the book has been recently 4) re-issued. This raises the question if a text written almost half a century ago still has something to 5) offer today's reader.

B) The 6) hero of the book, Billy Fisher, is also the 7) narrator of the story. He's a rebellious youth who lives with his parents in Stradhoughton, a small town in Yorkshire, and works in a funeral parlour. However, Billy lives much of his life through his imagination: he invents identities and experiences for himdself in orser to make up for the monotony of his real life. Billy is engaged to two girls at the same time and wants to escape. After meeting another girl, called Liz, he decides to go to London with her and become a scriptwriter. However, having got on the London train, he changes his mind and gets off again. He slowly walks back home — he is happier in his dreams.

C) The book's greatest 8) strenghts are its humour and the personality of its narrator. Billy's adventures and mishaps are hilarious. And although he rebels against the England of the late 1950s, the reasons for his rebellion are relevant today. The book has a strong 9) moral message: Billy lies and misleads people but his lies are exposed and in the end, he learns to respect the values of his community. To a contemporary reader, this might be the book's 10) weakness, as nowadays many readers don't enjoy novels with such strong moral 'lessons'.

D) All in all, Billy Liar is certainly still 11) worth reading. I believe Billy Fisher gains today's readers' sympathy and understanding, and the book's 12) humour makes it one of my favourite comic novels.