Assignment 2

Mr Know-All by W.S. Maugham

1. Read the story.
2. Study the vocabulary and define the contextual meaning of these lexical units.
Recount the episodes from the story in which the given vocabulary is employed.
ACTIVE VOCABULARY

 Dismay  jovial
 ebony  loquacious
 to the backbone  an affront to
 lustrous  overweening
 sleek  dogmatic
 exuberant  acrimonious
 to betray  voluble
 to put on airs  to thump
 to exasperate  interminable
 to snub  deprecating
Dismay /dɪsˈmeɪ/ the worry, disappointment, or unhappiness you feel when
something unpleasant happens
Ebony /ˈebəni/ a hard black wood
To the backbone - through and through; thoroughly; in every manner or respect.
Lustrous /ˈlʌstrəs/ shining in a soft gentle way
Sleek /sliːk/ sleek hair or fur is straight, shiny, and healthy-looking
Exuberant /ɪɡˈzjuːbərənt/ happy and full of energy and excitement
to betray /bɪˈtreɪ/ to be disloyal to someone who trusts you, so that they are
harmed or upset
to put on airs - to act in a way that shows one thinks one is better than other
people
to exasperate /ɪɡˈzɑːspəreɪt/ to make someone very annoyed by continuing to do
something that upsets them
to snub - to treat someone rudely, especially by ignoring them when you meet
jovial /ˈdʒəʊviəl/ friendly and happy
Loquacious /ləʊˈkweɪʃəs/ person who likes to talk a lot
an affront to /əˈfrʌnt/ to offend or insult someone, especially by not showing
respect
overweening /ˌəʊvəˈwiːnɪŋ/ too proud and confident – used to show disapproval
dogmatic - someone who is dogmatic is completely certain of their beliefs and
expects other people to accept them without arguing
acrimonious /ˌækrəˈməʊniəs/ meeting or discussion where people argue a lot and
get very angry
voluble /ˈvɒljəbəl/ talking a lot or talking quickly
to thump - to hit someone very hard with your hand closed
interminable /ɪnˈtɜːmənəbəl/ very long and boring
deprecating /ˈdeprəkeɪtɪŋ/ expressing criticism or disapproval
3. Transcribe and practice reading the following words.
Berth - |bɜːθ| спальне місце,
rigidly - |ˈrɪdʒɪdli| жорстко,
patron - |ˈpeɪtr(ə)n| покровитель,
brilliantine - |ˈbrɪlj(ə)ntiːn| блискучий,
scarcely - |ˈskeəsli| навряд чи,
exuberant - |ɪɡˈz(j)uːb(ə)r(ə)nt| буйний,
lemon-squash - |skwɒʃ| содовая вода с лимонным соком; лимонный сок с
содовой водой; лимонад,
prohibition - |ˌprəʊhɪˈbɪʃ(ə)n| the act of saying that something is illegal
liquor - |ˈlɪkə| лікер, a strong alcoholic drink
drapery - |ˈdreɪp(ə)ri| завіса,
flourish - |ˈflʌrɪʃ| процвітати,
exasperating - |ɪɡˈzɑːsp(ə)reɪtɪŋ| роздратований,
knave - |neɪv| халтура,
suspicion - |səˈspɪʃ(ə)n| підозрілість,
dawn - |dɔːn| світанок,
quoit - |kɔɪt| цитувати,
Loquacious - |ləˈkweɪʃəs| лагідний,
Frigidly |ˈfrɪdʒɪdli| холодно, бесстрастно,
Cocksureness - |kɒkˈʃɔːn ə s| самовпевненність
demeanour - |dɪˈmiːnə| поведінка,
vehement - |ˈviːɪm(ə)nt| різкий,
triumphantly - [traɪˈʌmfəntlɪ] урочисто
swarthy - |ˈswɔːði| смуглявий,
chaff - |tʃɑːf| дрібно порізана солома, січка.
4. Fill in the blanks with appropriate prepositions.
1. to lose somewhat in dignity
2. to set domebody at one’s ease
3. to dawn on somebody
4. to have somebody at his mercy
5. to have a fling at smth
6. a smile of triumph spread over his face
7. to make an effort over oneself
8. to bet on something
9. to wave under someone’s nose
10.to flash a smile at someone
11. to come up to someone
12. to put on airs
13. to go on something
14. to get one’s seat at the table
15. to slam the door in someone’s face
16. to occur to somebody
 17. to bulge out one’s clothes
18. one evening at dinner
19. to go somewhere on some errand
20. to take someone’s word for something.

5. Complete the table of irregular verbs. Learn them. Make sentences with each verb.
sink sank sunk
sting strung strung
wear wore worn
tear tore torn
spread spread spread
stick stank stunk
strike struck stricken

6. Match the lexemes from Active Vocabulary with their definitions.

1. dismay O a. bright and shiny
2. ebony G b. to make someone feel annoyed and impatient because
things are not happening in the way they want
3. to the backbone c. to be false or disloyal to someone; to give aid or
S information to an enemy; to harm someone when they
have trusted you
4. lustrous A d. so sure that your beliefs and ideas are right that you
expect other people to accept them
5. sleek P e. cheerful and friendly
6. exuberant K f. used for describing someone who is too proud and
confident and ignores other people’s feelings
7. to betray C g. hard dark wood of the same name tree; a dark black
colour
8. to put on airs h. showing that you do not approve of something or
T someone; such words or actions show that you think
your own ideas and opinions are not important
9. to exasperate B i. tending to talk a lot and too much; talkative
10. to snub M j. someone who talks a lot
11. jovial E k. happy, excited, and full of energy
12. loquacious J l. continuing for a long time in a boring or annoying way
13. an affront to R m. to insult someone by ignoring them or being rude to
them
14. overweening F n. an unpleasant situation in which people feel angry
towards each other
15. dogmatic D o. the feeling of being very worried, disappointed, or sad
about something
16. acrimonious N p. smooth and shiny; fashionable and attractive in design
17. voluble I q. to hit someone or something with your fist; to put
something somewhere wityh force and with a loud
sound
18. to thump Q r. something insulting that makes you shocked and
angry
19. interminable L s. through and through; in every manner and respect
20. deprecating H t. to behave in a way you want to impress people and
seem important

7. Make these words negative by adding prefixes. Complete the sentences with
the words with negative prefixes.
1. to pack – __unpack________________
2. possible – _impossible_______________
3. tolerant – ____intolerant_______________
4. important – _____unimportant____________
5. to agree – ______disagree_____________
6. different – __indifferent_________________
7. terminable – ___interminable_______________

a. The spoke little even to one another, and when they did it was of very
_____________ matters.
b. The current investigation can be seen as an attempt to __________ the package.
c. I wonder if the days seem as ______________ to you as they do to me.
d. The results of their experiments embrace a multiplicity of details of which
it is ________________ to give an adequate summary.
e. The ________________ look on Matt’s face made it hard for me to
understand his mood.
f. The jury members continued to ________________and were not able to
come up with a decision tonight.
g. Matt is an _______________ person who hates listening to other people
talk when their opinions are contrary to his own. 

8. Fill in the gaps with words and expressions from Active Vocabulary. If
necessary change the form of the words.
1. The model brushed her lustrous hair, admiring each glossy strand in the mirror.
2. Even though Harry was a member of the royal family, he was not pompous and
never put on airs.
3. There is nothing worse than having a loquacious person sit next to you on an
airplane.
4. The monks considered the loud party next door to be in an affront to their
religious beliefs.
5. She said this with a timid and deprecating smile; again I did not understand and
interrupted.
6. Willie stared at her in dismay.
7. How dare you betray me! she shouted at her.
8. The voluble politician was never voluble.
9. Using local cabinetry made of ebony gave the Costa Rican house an authentic
charm for the tourists.
10. The sleek silk tie was loose, his collar unbuttoned.
11. He swore he was Italian to the backbone.
12. Maria thumped her bag down on the table.
13. We could avoid this acrimonious situation altogether by agreeing to disagree
on the issue.
14. Even though Mark was not a very good basketball player, he had such a
exuberant attitude that he came across as one of the stars of the team.
15. But you may have noticed that I didn’t snub you when I saw you again, and I
accepted your invitations.
16. An interminable silence followed as they stared at each other.
17. Since I am a hard worker, I get exasperated when I am placed on a team with
lazy people.
18. At first I thought he was just being unreasonable and dogmatic, but I realized it
was just about probabilities.
19. She has a very pleasant and jovial personality.
20. At base there is an enormous arrogance and an overweening ambition..

9. Find English equivalents to the given Ukrainian phrases in the text.

1. Моє серце завмерло, опустилося
2. Зозкладати пасьянс
3. Ви англієць? – Звісно! Британець
до мозку кісток.
4. Я дуже зрадів
5. Його обличчя освітилося
східною посмішкою
6. У одного вашого приятеля
спиртного хоч відбавляй
7. Я не хочу здаватись зарозумілим
8. Ймовірно, щоб я відчував себе
простіше
9. Звільнитися від нього було
неможливо
10. Він був всюдисущий
11. Він жартував, сміявся,
ораторствував і сперечався
12. Скромність прикрашала її, як
квітка прикрашає сукню
13. Ось це перли, що треба
14. Дурниця! Ідете на парі?
15. Не можна закладатися, коли
знаєш напевно
16. Її очі молили про порятунок
17. Було очевидно, що він робить
над собою зусилля
18. Нікому не хочеться виглядати
цілковитим дурнем
19. В цю хвилину він мені майже
подобався

10. Translate the following passage into Ukrainian.

We called him Mr Know–All, even to his face. He took it as a compliment.
But it was at meal times that he was most intolerable. For the better part of an hour
then he had us at his mercy. He was hearty, jovial, loquacious and argumentative.
He knew everything better than anybody else, and it was an affront to his
overweening vanity that you should disagree with him. He would not drop a
subject, however
unimportant, till he had brought you round to his way of thinking. The possibility
that he could be mistaken never occurred to him. He was the chap who knew. We
sat at the doctor’s table. Mr Kelada would certainly have had it all his own way,
for the doctor was lazy and I was frigidly indifferent, except for a man called
Ramsay who sat there also. He was as dogmatic as Mr Kelada and resented bitterly
the Levantine’s cocksureness. The discussions they had were acrimonious and
interminable.

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION

1. How do you understand the title of the story? Comment on it.
2. Name the main characters and describe them.
3. What was the character’s first opinion about Mr Kelada? Use the text to
support your ideas.
4. Why is Mr Kelada ‘Mr Know-All’? Use the text to describe him.
5. What is your attitude to him? Explain your opinion.
6. “Mrs Ramsay. A pretty little thing”. What is her role in the story? Describe
her. Use the text to support your ideas.
7. Does the author’s attitude towards Mr Kelada change? Why?
8. Role-play:
a. Possible conversation between Mr Kelada and Mrs Ramsay
b. Possible conversation between the author and Mr Know-All
9. ‘No one likes being made to look a perfect damned fool’. Continue Mr
Kelada’s speech (try to explain why he acted this way).
10. What is the main idea of the story? Hy do you think this way? Explan.

Mr Know-All
I was prepared to dislike Max Kelada even before I knew him. The war had just finished
and the passenger traffic in the ocean – going liners was heavy. Accommodation was very hard
to get and you had to put up with whatever the agents chose to offer you. You could not hope for
a cabin to yourself and I was thankful to be given one in which there were only two berths. But
when I was told the name of my companion my heart sank. It suggested closed port – holes and
the night air rigidly excluded. It was bad enough to share a cabin for fourteen days with anyone
(I was going from San Francisco to Yokohama), but I should have looked upon it with less
dismay if my fellow–passenger’s name had been Smith or Brown.
When I went on board I found Mr Kelada’s luggage already below. I did not
like the look of it; there were too many labels on the suitcases, and the wardrobe trunk was too
big. He had unpacked his toilet things, and I observed that he was a patron of the excellent
Monsieur Coty; for I saw on the washing–stand his scent, his hair–wash, and his brilliantine. Mr
Kelada’s brushes, ebony with his monogram in gold, would have been all the better for a scrub. I
did not at all like Mr Kelada. I made my way into the smoking–room. I called for a pack of cards
and began to play patience. I had scarcely started before a man came up to me and asked me if he
was right in thinking my name was so–and–so.
‘I am Mr Kelada,’ he added, with a smile that showed a row of flashing teeth,
and sat down.
‘Oh, yes, we’re sharing a cabin, I think.’
‘Bit of luck, I call it. You never know who you’re going to be put in with. I was jolly glad
when I heard you were English. I’m all for us English sticking together when we’re abroad, if
you understand what I mean.’
I blinked.
‘Are you English?’ I asked, perhaps tactlessly.
‘Rather. You don’t think I look an American, do you? British to the backbone,
that’s what I am.’
To prove it, Mr Kelada took out of his pocket a passport and airily waved it
under my nose.
King George has many strange subjects. Mr Kelada was short and of a sturdy
build, clean–shaven and dark–skinned, with a fleshy, hooked nose and very large, lustrous and
liquid eyes. His long black hair was sleek and curly. He spoke with a fluency in which there was
nothing English and his gestures were exuberant. I felt pretty sure that a closer inspection of that
British passport would have betrayed the fact that Mr Kelada was born under a bluer sky than is
generally seen in England.
‘What will you have?’ he asked me.
I looked at him doubtfully. Prohibition was in force and to all appearances the
ship was bone–dry. When I am not thirsty I do not know which I dislike more, ginger–ale or
lemon–squash. But Mr Kelada flashed an oriental smile at me.
‘Whisky and soda or a dry Martini, you have only to say the word.’
From each of his hip–pockets he fished a flask and laid them on the table before me. I
chose the Martini, and calling the steward he ordered a tumbler of ice and a couple of glasses.
‘A very good cocktail,’ I said.
‘Well, there are plenty more where that came from, and if you’ve got any friends on
board, you tell them you’ve got a pal who’s got all the liquor in the world.’
Mr Kelada was chatty. He talked of New York and of San Francisco. He discussed plays,
pictures, and politics. He was patriotic. The Union Jack is an impressive piece of drapery, but
when it is flourished by a gentleman from Alexandria or Beirut, I cannot but feel that it loses
somewhat in dignity. Mr Kelada was familiar. I do not wish to put on airs, but I cannot help
feeling that it is seemly in a total stranger to put mister before my name when he addresses me.
Mr Kelada, doubtless to set me at my ease, used no such formality. I did not like Mr Kelada. I
had put aside the cards when he sat down, but now, thinking that for this first occasion our
conversation had lasted long enough, I went on with my game.
‘The three on the four,’ said Mr Kelada.
There is nothing more exasperating when you are playing patience than to be
told where to put the card you have turned up before you have had a chance to look for yourself.
‘It’s coming out, it’s coming out,’ he cried. ‘The ten on the knave.’
With rage and hatred in my heart I finished. Then he seized the pack.
 ‘Do you like card tricks?’
‘No, I hate card tricks,’ I answered.
‘Well, I’ll just show you this one.’
He showed me three. Then I said I would go down to the dining–room and
get my seat at table.
‘Oh, that’s all right,’ he said. ‘I’ve already taken a seat for you. I thought that as we were
in the same state–room we might just as well sit at the same table.’
I did not like Mr Kelada.
I not only shared a cabin with him and ate three meals a day at the same table, but I could
not walk round the deck without his joining me. It was impossible to snub him. It never occurred
to him that he was not wanted. He was certain that you were as glad to see him as he was to see
you. In your own house you might have kicked him downstairs and slammed the door in his face
without the suspicion dawning on him that he was not a welcome visitor. He was a good mixer,
and in three days knew everyone on board. He ran everything. He managed the sweeps,
conducted the auctions, collected money for prizes at the sports, got up quoit and golf matches,
organized the concert, and arranged the fancy–dress ball. He was everywhere and always. He
was certainly the best–hated man in the ship. We called him Mr Know–All, even to his face. He
took it as a compliment. But it was at meal times that he was most intolerable. For the better part
of an hour then he had us at his mercy. He was hearty, jovial, loquacious and argumentative. He
knew everything better than anybody else, and it was an affront to his overweening vanity that
you should disagree with him. He would not drop a subject, however unimportant, till he had
brought you round to his way of thinking. The possibility that he could be mistaken never
occurred to him. He was the chap who knew. We sat at the doctor’s table. Mr Kelada would
certainly have had it all his own way, for the doctor was lazy and I was frigidly indifferent,
except for a man called Ramsay who sat there also. He was as dogmatic as Mr Kelada and
resented bitterly the Levantine’s cocksureness. The discussions they had were acrimonious and
interminable.
Ramsay was in the American Consular Service, and was stationed at Kobe. He
was a great heavy fellow from the Middle West, with loose fat under a tight skin, and he bulged
out of his ready–made clothes. He was on his way back to resume his post, having been on a
flying visit to New York to fetch his wife, who had been spending a year at home. Mrs Ramsay
was a very pretty little thing, with pleasant manners and a sense of humour. The Consular
Service is ill paid, and she was dressed always very simply; but she knew how to wear her
clothes. She achieved an effect of quiet distinction. I should not have paid any particular
attention to her but that she possessed a quality that may be common enough in women, but
nowadays is not obvious in their demeanour. You could not look at her without being struck by
her modesty. It shone in her like a flower on a coat.
One evening at dinner the conversation by chance drifted to the subject of pearls. There
had been in the papers a good deal of talk about the culture pearls which the cunning Japanese
were making, and the doctor remarked that they must inevitably diminish the value of real ones.
They were very good already; they would soon be perfect. Mr Kelada, as was his habit, rushed
the new topic. He told us all that was to be known about pearls. I do not believe Ramsay knew
anything about them at all, but he could not resist the opportunity to have a fling at the
Levantine, and in five minutes we were in the middle of a heated argument. I had seen Mr
Kelada vehement and voluble before, but never so voluble and vehement as now. At last
something that Ramsay said stung him, for he thumped the table and shouted:
‘Well, I ought to know what I am talking about. I’m going to Japan just to look into this
Japanese pearl business. I’m in the trade and there’s not a man in it who won’t tell you that what
I say about pearls goes. I know all the best pearls in the world, and what I don’t know about
pearls isn’t worth knowing.’
Here was news for us, for Mr Kelada, with all his loquacity, had never told anyone what
his business was. We only knew vaguely that he was going to Japan on some commercial errand.
He looked round the table triumphantly.
‘They’ll never be able to get a culture pearl that an expert like me can’t tell with half an
eye.’ He pointed to a chain that Mrs Ramsay wore. ‘You take my word for it, Mrs Ramsay, that
chain you’re wearing will never be worth a cent less than it is now.’
Mrs Ramsay in her modest way flushed a little and slipped the chain inside her dress.
Ramsay leaned forward. He gave us all a look and a smile flickered in his eyes.
‘That’s a pretty chain of Mrs Ramsay’s, isn’t it?’
‘I noticed it at once,’ answered Mr Kelada. ‘Gee, I said to myself, those are pearls all
right.’
‘I didn’t buy it myself, of course. I’d be interested to know how much you think it cost.’
‘Oh, in the trade somewhere round fifteen thousand dollars. But if it was bought on Fifth
Avenue I shouldn’t be surprised to hear that anything up to thirty thousand was paid for it.’
Ramsay smiled grimly.
‘You’ll be surprised to hear that Mrs Ramsay bought that string at a department store the
day before we left New York, for eighteen dollars.’ Mr Kelada flushed.
‘Rot. It’s not only real, but it’s as fine a string for its size as I’ve ever seen.’
‘Will you bet on it? I’ll bet you a hundred dollars it’s imitation.’
‘Done.’
‘Oh, Elmer, you can’t bet on a certainty,’ said Mrs Ramsay.
She had a little smile on her lips and her tone was gently deprecating.
‘Can’t I? If I get a chance of easy money like that I should be all sorts of a fool
not to take it.’
‘But how can it be proved?’ she continued. ‘It’s only my word against Mr Kelada’s.’
‘Let me look at the chain, and if it’s imitation I’ll tell you quickly enough. I can afford to
lose a hundred dollars,’ said Mr Kelada.
‘Take it off, dear. Let the gentleman look at it as much as he wants.’
Mrs Ramsay hesitated a moment. She put her hands to the clasp.
‘I can’t undo it,’ she said. ‘Mr Kelada will just have to take my word for it.’
I had a sudden suspicion that something unfortunate was about to occur, but I could think
of nothing to say.
Ramsay jumped up.
‘I’ll undo it.’
He handed the chain to Mr Kelada. The Levantine took a magnifying glass from his
pocket and closely examined it. A smile of triumph spread over his smooth and swarthy face. He
handed back the chain. He was about to speak. Suddenly he caught sight of Mrs Ramsay’s face.
It was so white that she looked as though she were about to faint. She was staring at him with
wide and terrified eyes. They held a desperate appeal; it was so clear that I wondered why her
husband did not see it.
Mr Kelada stopped with his mouth open. He flushed deeply. You could almost see the
effort he was making over himself.
‘I was mistaken,’ he said.’ It’s a very good imitation, but of course as soon as I
looked through my glass I saw that it wasn’t real. I think eighteen dollars is just about as much as
the damned thing’s worth.’
He took out his pocket–book and from it a hundred–dollar note. He handed it to Ramsay
without a word.
‘Perhaps that’ll teach you not to be so cocksure another time, my young
friend,’ said Ramsay as he took the note.
I noticed that Mr Kelada’s hands were trembling.
The story spread over the ship as stories do, and he had to put up with a good deal of
chaff that evening. It was a fine joke that Mr Know–All had been caught out. But Mrs Ramsay
retired to her state–room with a headache.
Next morning I got up and began to shave. Mr Kelada lay on his bed smoking
a cigarette. Suddenly there was a small scraping sound and I saw a letter pushed under the door. I
opened the door and looked out. There was nobody there. I picked up the letter and saw that it
was addressed to Max Kelada. The name was written in block letters. I handed it to him.
‘Who’s this from?’ He opened it. ‘Oh!’
He took out of the envelope, not a letter, but a hundred–dollar note. He looked at me and
again he reddened. He tore the envelope into little bits and gave them to me.
‘Do you mind just throwing them out of the port–hole?’
I did as he asked, and then I looked at him with a smile.
‘No one likes being made to look a perfect damned fool,’ he said.
‘Were the pearls real?’
‘If I had a pretty little wife I shouldn’t let her spend a year in New York while
I stayed at Kobe,’ said he.
At that moment I did not entirely dislike Mr Kelada. He reached out for his pocket–book
and carefully put in it the hundred–dollar note.