Джон Гришэм «Рождество с неудачниками» John Grisham “Skipping Christmas” Пособие представляет собой адаптированный вариант книги Джона Гришэма го «Рождество с неудачниками». Джон Гришэм – король судебных триллеров, автор многихо бестселлеров, изданных почти во всех странах мира, выступает на этот раз в совершенноск в ином жанре. Он автор ироничной, доброй и увлекательной новогодней сказки для е взрослых. ш Текст пособия адаптирован в соответствиии c уровнем владения языкомы н «Advanced», при этом структура глав и авторский стиль максимально сохранены.р В конце каждой главы предлагается обширный аппарат упражнений, направленныхе на проверку Ч понимания, отработку лексики и грамматических структур, развитие .навыков общения. Пособие снабжено постраничным комментарием и расчитаноГ на студентов гуманитарных вузов, а также на широкий круг лиц, изучающих английский. язык. Н и н е м Рождество с неудачниками (Skipping Christmasи ) / сост., адаптация текста, т коммент., упражнения И. В. Макеенко е т си р е в и н у й ы н н е тв с р а уд с о г й и ск в то а р а С 1 го о ск в е ш ы н р е Ч . Г . Н и н е м и т те и с р е в и fruitcakes, no unwanted presents. That‟s just whatLuther and Nora Krank have in mind when н у they decide that, just this once, they‟ll skip the holiday altogether. Theirs will be the only ho Imagine a year without Christmas. No й on Hemlock Street without a rooftop Frosty; they won‟t be hosting their annual Christmas Eve ы bash; they aren‟t even going to have a tree. They won‟t need one, because come Decmber 25 н they‟re setting sail н Christmas brings enormous consequences е в and frenzy that have become part of our holiday tradition. ст р A classic tale for modern times, а д on a Caribbean cruise. But, as this weary couple is about to discover, skipping су о г й crowded malls, no corny office parties, no и ск в то Skipping– and Christmas isn‟t half as easy as they‟d imagined. а р а С offers a hilarious look at the chaos use 2 SKIPPING CHRISTMAS CHAPTER 1 The gate was packed with weary travelers. There seemed to be a thousand waiting for 7 p.m. flight to Miami. They were bundled up and heavily laden, and after fighting the traffic and the check-in and the mobs they were subdued, as a whole. It was the Sunday after Thanksgiving, one of the busiest days of the year for air travel, and as they jostled and got pushed farther into го the gate many asked themselves, not for the first time, why, exactly, they had chosen this day toо fly. ск A small family approached, and when they saw the gate number and the mob they в stopped along the edge of the concourse and began their wait. The daughter was young andе ш pretty. Her name was Blair, and she was obviously leaving. Her parents were not. Theы three gazed at the crowd, and they, too, at that moment, silently asked themselves why нthey had picked р this day to travel. е The tears were over, at least most of them. Blair was twenty-three, freshЧ from graduate 1 . school with a handsome résumé but not ready for a career. A friend fromГ college was in Africa with the Peace Corps, and this had inspired Blair to dedicate the next two. years to helping others. Her assignment was eastern Peru, where she would teach primitive littleН children how to read. 2 и She would live in a lean-to with no plumbing, no electricity, noн phone, and she was anxious to begin her journey. е м The flight would take her to Miami, then to Lima, иthen by bus into the mountains, into another century. For the first time in her young and shelteredт life, Blair would spend Christmas away from home. Her mother clutched her hand andт triedе to be strong. Luther, her father, was sad that Blair was сleaving,и and he studied the mob with a scowl on his face. He detested the swarming horde of people.р He was in a foul mood. е “I guess we‟d better go,” Luther saidв to his daughter, his only child. They hugged again and fought backи the tears. Blair smiled and said, “The year will fly н by. I‟ll be home next Christmas.” у Nora, her mother, bit her lipй and nodded and kissed her once more. “Please be careful,” ы she said because she couldn‟t stopн saying it. “Oh well,” Luther said.н “Enough of this. She‟s going to be fine.” е Nora could think ofв nothing to say as she watched her daughter disappear. They turned and fell in with the footс traffic,т past the Santa Claus with the irksome bell, past the tiny shops packed with people. р а It was rainingд when they left the terminal, and it was pouring when the shuttle sloshed its way through theсу lot and dropped them off, two hundreds yards from their car. Whenо they were moving toward the city, Nora finally spoke. “Will she be okay?” she г asked. Heй had heard that question so often that his response was an automatic grunt. ки“Sure.” с “Do you really think so?” в “Sure.” то а He gripped the wheel with both hands and silently cursed the traffic slowing in front of р them. He couldn‟t tell if his wife was crying or not. Luther wanted only to get home and dry off, а sit by fire, and read a magazine. С He was within two miles of home when she announced, “I need a few things from the grocery.” “It‟s raining,” he said. “I still need them.” 1 Graduate school - аспирантура 2 A lean-to - пристройка 3 “Can‟t it wait?” “You can stay in the car. Just take a minute. Go to Chip‟s.3 It‟s open today.” So he headed for Chip‟s, a place he despised not only for its outrageous prices and snooty staff but also for its impossible location. It was still raining and the lot was full. He searched in vain for ten minutes before Nora said, “Just drop me at the curb.” She was frustrated at his inability to find a suitable spot. Finally he wheeled into a vacant space and demanded “Give me a list.” “I‟ll go,” she said, but only in feigned protest. Luther would hike through the rain and they both knew it. го “Gimme a list.” о ск “Just white chocolate and a pound of pistachios,” she said, relieved. в “That‟s all?” е “Yes, and make sure it‟s Logan‟s chocolate, one pound bar, and Lance Brothersш 4 ы pistachios.” н “And this couldn‟t wait?” р е “No, Luther, it couldn‟t wait. I‟m doing dessert for lunch tomorrow. ЧIf you don‟t want to go, then hush up and I‟ll go.” . Г He slammed the door. His third step was into a shallow pothole.. Cold water soaked his right ankle and oozed down into his shoe. He froze for a second and Н caught his breath, then stepped away on his toes, trying desperately to spot other puddlesи while dodging traffic5. н There was a chance of real snow later in the night. Theе shoppers wasted no time as they hustled in and out of the stores. The sock on Luther‟s right footм was now frozen to his ankle. There were no shopping baskets near the checkout и at Chip‟s, and of course this was a bad sign. Luther didn‟t need one, but it meant the place wasт packed. The aisles were narrow and the те inventory was laid out in such a way that nothing madeи sense. Regardless of what was on your с 6 list, you had to crisscross the place half a dozenр times to finish up. A stock boy was working hard on a display of Christmas chocolates. A еsign by the butcher demanded that all good в customers order their Christmas turkeys immediately.и New Christmas wines were in! And Christmas hams! н у What a waste, Luther thoughtй to himself. Why do we eat so much and drink so much in the celebration of the birth of Christ?ы He found the pistachios near the bread. Odd how that made н sense at Chip‟s. Two aisles over,н next to a selection of rice from around the world, there was a shelf of baking chocolates. Asе he stepped closer, he recognized a one-pound bar of Logan‟s. Another step closer and it вsuddenly disappeared, snatched by a harsh-looking woman. The little ст space reserved for Logan‟sр was empty, and in the next desperate moment Luther saw not another speck of white chocolate.а 7 Lots of dark, but nothing white. The expressд line was of course slower than the other two. Chip‟s outrageous prices forced су its customersо to buy in small quantities, but this had no effect on the speed with which they came and went. Each г item was lifted, inspected, and manually entered into the register by an й unpleasantи cashier. Six bucks and change for a pound of pistachios. He stuffed them into the pocketск of his overcoat and quickly left the store. в A crowd had stopped to watch the old Mexican decorate his cigar store window. Luther тwasо forced to move off the curb, and in doing so he stepped just left instead of just right.