Разговорный английский

Войтенок Владимир Валерьевич

In discharging the arrow from the bow the string should be quickly loosed but without a jerk, the hand or elbow should not be either elevated or depressed.

The archer should study the wind so as to make allowances for the various currents of air. Scoring is a bit of a problem with blunt-tipped arrows, since they bound off the target. But you can get around by rubbing the tip with chalk. Use a different colour for each archer.

The usual mark is a target some four feet (1.2 m.) in diameter placed at distances varying from fifty to one hundred yards (45—91 m.). The target (for sharp-ended arrows) has a gold centre, surrounded by rings of red, blue, black, and white, with an outside border of green. The gold, when hit, scores nine, the red — seven, the blue — five, the black — three and the white — one. The player who scores the greatest value in hits wins the match.

Vocabulary Notes

¹ pull —

натяжение

² to call into play — приводить в действие

15. MOUNTAINEERING ( АЛЬПИНИЗМ )

Mountaineering is a very thrilling pastime and it is widely spread throughout the world. We, too, have many people in our country who enjoy this kind of sport and who have qualified for the mountaineering badge. Many of our mountaineers take part in the “Alpiniades” which are held here annually.

Mountaineering is a kind of sport, which requires not only strength and endurance, but daring as well. For the expert mountaineer the true goal of mountain climbing is to climb safely in dangerous places. He knows that his return may depend on a little thing. He checks clothing, footwear, food, flashlight, ice axe, ropes, pitons¹, carabiners^{1 2}, boots. He studies the route and works out a climbing plan. Even after starting, he turns back if conditions of rock, or snow, or weather become unexpectedly perilous, or if sections of the climb prove beyond the ability of anyone of his party. On the mountain, he follows the planned route. He is not enticed by the delusion of short cuts. He will not climb down by a route he has not previously climbed up. In the tough spots, he and his teammates use the rope.

The first step in rigging the rope is to hammer an eyed spike, called a piton, in a crack in the rock. Proof of tightness is a musical ring from the final hammer blows. If there is no music, better try another rock. After that a carabiner is snapped into the piton’s eye. It’s a metal snap link through which the safety rope is pulled by the leading man. When this is done, the leading man starts to climb higher, above the piton, searching for a new safety position to which he can belay³ the other climbers. Above the piton, the leader’s danger increases. If he slips the second man who pays (feeds) out the rope⁴ snubs⁵ him by increasing the drag on the rope quickly but gradually.

A mountaineer climbs the mountain not the rope. Any crack may be a hand hold or a step for his feet. The rope is strictly a safety line to be used in case someone falls or slips.

Great care has to be taken not to allow the rope to be damaged. An undiscovered cut might cost a man’s life.

Vocabulary Notes

266

¹ a piton — костыль с ушком

⁴ to pay (feed) out the rope —

² a carabiner — металлическое

травить канат

кольцо с заделкой

⁵ to snub — задержать спуск

³ to belay — закреплять

Supplementary List

16. CHESS (ШАХМАТЫ)

Chess is played on a chessboard with sixteen men on either side. Each player moves in turn. When one of the players cannot move his king any more, he is a “checkmate,” and that ends the game. He has lost.

The chessboard is divided into sixty-four squares, on which the different pieces: pawns, bishops, knights, castles, queens and kings are moved.

Laws of Chess (English Rules)

1. The board is placed so as to leave a white square at the right hand of the player.

2. Any mistake in placing the board or the men may be rectified before the fourth move is completed, but not after.

3. The players draw lots for the first move.

4. The piece touched must be moved.

5. When the fingers of the players have once left the piece, it cannot be again removed from the square it occupies.

6. In touching a piece to adjust it, the player must notify his adversary that such is his intention.

267

a mountaineering badge — значок

to scale — взбираться

альпинистов

to climb a slope — подняться no

a mountaineering camp — лагерь

склону

для альпинистов

to reach an altitude of 5000 metres —

tackle — снаряжение

достигнуть высоты в 5000 ме­

a sleeping-bag — спальный мешок

тров

an ice axe — ледоруб

to join an expedition — присоеди­

a hobnailed boot — ботинок на

ниться к экспедиции

шипах

to go on an expedition — отпра­

a training trip — тренировочная

вляться в экспедицию

вылазка

to lead an expedition — возглавлять экспедицию

lack of oxygen — недостаток ки­

слорода

to enjoy the panorama — любоваться

a precipice — обрыв, пропасть

an avalanch — обвал

панорамой

a daring ascent — смелое восхо­

to make the way back — идти

ждение

обратно

visibility — видимость

to take up a route to the summit