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Adare Manor, Ireland
1. Reading comprehenson. Before answering the questions, read the text very carefully.
The hungry King of Munster - An Irish legend
Cathal, the king of the old Irish province of Munster, was lying in bed one
night when a strange wild animal came to his castle. When it found the
king sleeping with his mouth open, the animal decided to creep into the king's
body and to live there.
The next morning everybody realized that something terrible had happened to the
king: Cathal, who had always been a brave, generous and
friendly man, did not smile any more and started to be unfriendly towards his
people.
The worst thing, however, was that now he was always unbelievably hungry: for
breakfast he had at least one pig, a whole cow, lots of fish, and
36 cakes, but he still felt hungry afterwards. The people of Munster found it
almost impossible to feed such a hungry king, and after only nine
months there was hardly any food left in the whole province.
One day the king stopped at a farmer's house for a meal. When the farmer saw
that all the cakes he had and hundreds of apples were not
enough for the king, he seemed very worried. But Anier MacConglinney, a student
from Armagh, who was staying at the same farm, offered his
help. Before the king could defend himself Anier had tied him to a chair with a
strong rope. Anier then started to cook a large piece of meat over a
fire and at the same time he told the king a story about a country where
everything was made of food: the lakes were full of milk, the islands were
cheese, the houses were made of meat, sausages and sweets. When the wild animal
inside the king's body heard these stories and smelt the
meat, it put its head out of the king's mouth. But this was the moment Anier had
waited for: he pulled the animal out and threw it into the fire.
Without the animal in his body Cathal became the good king he had once been. And
Anier, the student from Armagh, became a rich man. As a
reward he was given a cow from every farm and a sheep from every house in
Munster.
(365 words)
(source unknown)
1.1. How does the text describe King Cathal? (40 words)
1.2. Describe the character of Anier MacConglinney.
1.3. Why are the farmers worried when their king eats so much?
1.4. Why do the farmers thank Anier after he has "saved" their king?
2. Emphasis. Emphasize parts of the following sentences.
2.1. I like my job. The work is so interesting.
2.2. We enjoyed the time we spent with you, Sara.
2.3. Let's celebrate Christmas together. It would be so nice to see you again.
3. Participle clauses. Complete or rewrite the following sentences.
3.1. The Quirks live in Southampton. They want to come to Germany.
3.2. Most foreigners cannot read place names in Wales. The Welsh write their
place names in their own language.
3.3. When the boys ran out of the classroom, they were shouting.
3.4. Something is burning. I can smell curry.
3.5. "If temperatures are below zero, water freezes."
- "No, not if you keep
.
4. Reported speech. Rewrite the sentences below in the indirect speech.
4.1. She replied: "I won't come before eight."
4.2. Dad asked him: "Can you help me with the washing-up, Sarah ?"
4.3. Agatha said: "We saw them at the zoo yesterday."