Loe raamatut: «1984. A2»

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© Темурян К. Т., адаптация, словарь, упражнения, 2024
© ООО «Издательство АСТ», 2024

Part one

Chapter 1

It was a cold, bright day in April. Winston Smith hurried through the glass doors of Victory Mansions to avoid the cold wind. The wind blew dust and small pieces of paper through the streets.

The corridors smelled of boiled cabbage and old carpets. There was a huge coloured poster on the wall. It showed a man's strong face with dark eyes and a thick black moustache. The face stared down at everyone, like it was watching them. Below the man's face, there was a phrase: BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU.

Winston took the stairs to get to his flat on the seventh floor. The lift, as usual, wasn't working because the Party often turned off the power during the day to save energy for Hate Week. When Winston finally reached his flat, he opened the door and entered. A loud voice came from a large screen on the wall. The telescreen showed programmes, but also controlled everything that happened in the room. The rule was to never turn it off.

Winston looked out of the window. Below him, the streets were empty, except for the posters of Big Brother that hung everywhere. Helicopters flew low over the rooftops, looking into people's windows to check what they were doing. In the distance, there were enormous buildings: the Ministry of Truth, responsible for news, education, and art; The Ministry of Peace, responsible for war; The Ministry of Love, responsible for law and order; and the Ministry of Plenty, responsible for economic affairs.

Winston wrote down the date in his diary. His handwriting was messy, and he made many mistakes. He wrote about his memories, and another one came to mind.

In the Records Department, where Winston worked, people were getting ready for Hate. He spotted two people. One of them was a girl with freckles on her face. Winston immediately disliked her: he believed she was more dangerous than others. The other person was a man named O'Brien. He worked for the Party, and the room got quiet when he walked in.

The face of Emmanuel Goldstein appeared on the screen. In the past, Goldstein was one of the Party leaders – along with Big Brother – but later betrayed him, escaped, and disappeared. The room got loud: everyone was angry. The whispers in the audience soon became shouts, and someone threw a Newspeak dictionary at the screen. For a moment, Winston's hatred towards Goldstein shifted into hatred towards Big Brother.

Winston looked at his writing again. The handwriting was no longer awkward, and he felt he was writing words down automatically: DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER. He felt fear: the Thought Police would start looking for him. They usually arrested people at night.

Suddenly, there was a knock on his door. Were they here? Already! The knocking continued. Winston's heart was beating loudly as he got up from his chair and moved towards the door.

Glossary

affair [ə'feə] – n дело

awkward ['ɔ:kwəd] – adj неуклюжий

betray [bɪ'treɪ] – v предавать

dust [dʌst] – n пыль

escape [ɪ'skeɪp] – v сбежать

freckle ['frekl] – n веснушка

handwriting ['hændˌraɪtɪŋ] – n почерк

hang (hung, hung) [hæŋ] – v вешать, висеть

hatred ['heɪtrɪd] – n ненависть

helicopter ['helɪkɒptə] – n вертолет

hurry ['hʌri] – v спешить

peace [pi:s] – n мир, покой

plenty ['plenti] – n изобилие

responsible [rɪ'spɒnsəbl] – adj ответственный

rooftop ['ru:ftɒp] – n крыша

shift [ʃɪft] – v изменяться

spot [spɒt] – v замечать

stare [steə] – v пристально смотреть

whisper ['wɪspə] – n, v шепот, шептать

Chapter 2

When Winston reached the door, he realised that the notebook was still on the table. He left it open, anyone could see “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER”. The letters were big enough to see it from here. He inhaled and opened the door. It was Mrs. Parsons, his neighbour.

“Can you please take a look at the kitchen sink? There's a problem with it, and my husband isn't home.”

Mr Parsons worked with Winston. He was overweight, energetic, and incredibly stupid, but Mrs. Parsons appreciated his skills.

Winston followed her into the old flat, which smelled of boiled cabbage and sweat. The place was messy, as if wild animals ran around the rooms all day. Winston started working in the sink.

“Hands up! You're a traitor! A thought-criminal! A spy! I'll shoot you!” someone shouted from behind.

Mrs. Parsons' children jumped around Winston with their toy guns, but for Winston, they felt real. Mrs. Parsons apologised for the noise nervously and thanked Winston. Her grey face looked helpless and frightened. As he was leaving, one of the boys threw a toy gun at him.

“Goldstein!” the boy screamed. Mrs. Parsons apologised again. She looked older than she was.

Back at his flat, the telescreen spoke loudly. “Attention! There's news from the war!”

The images on the screen showed soldiers, prisoners, and a lot of blood. The voice announced that the chocolate ration would be reduced. Bad news, Winston thought. He moved to the window and looked at the posters outside. He wondered who he was writing the diary for. The Thought Police would definitely destroy it after reading. He continued writing: From the age of Big Brother to the time when thought is free – greetings!

Winston noticed ink on his fingers. This detail could betray him, so he went to the bathroom and scrubbed his hands with soap. It was harsh and unpleasant, but he was happy with the result.

He thought about hiding the notebook, but knew this was useless: someone would definitely discover it. So he picked some dust from his room and put it on the notebook. If anyone opened it, the dust would leave a trace.

Glossary

apologise [ə'pɒlədʒaɪz] – v извиняться

appreciate [ə'pri:ʃieɪt] – v ценить

harsh [hɑ:ʃ] – adj суровый

helpless ['helpləs] – adj беспомощный

incredibly [ɪn'kredəbli] – adv невероятно

inhale [ɪn'heɪl] – v вдыхать

ink [ɪŋk] – n чернила

overweight [ˌəʊvə'weɪt] – adj грузный

ration ['ræʃən] – n паек

scream [skri:m] – v вопить

scrub [skrʌb] – v скрести

shoot [ʃu:t] – v застрелить

sink [sɪŋk] – n раковина

spy [spaɪ] – n шпион

sweat [swet] – n, v пот, потеть

trace [treɪs] – n след

traitor ['treɪtə] – n предатель

unpleasant [ʌn'plezənt] – adj неприятный

useless ['ju:sləs] – adj бесполезный

wonder ['wʌndə] – v желать знать

Chapter 3

At night, Winston saw strange dreams. He dreamt of his mother – a tall, silent woman with magnificent hair. He last saw his parents when he was about ten years old.

In his dream, his mother was in a boat, holding his younger sister in her arms. The boat was sinking, and they were both looking at him with sad eyes. Winston felt guilty, as if their lives were a sacrifice. When he woke up, he thought about the past. His mother's death was a tragedy that seemed impossible now: today, there were only fear, hatred, and pain.

A sudden noise from the telescreen reminded Wilson that it was time for exercise. His body ached, but he followed the instructions from the telescreen. His arms and legs moved automatically while he was thinking about the past. Was there a time when the country wasn't at war? There used to be peace, but a bomb followed. He remembered how his parents grabbed him by the hand and ran to hide.

He thought about the world history: now, in 1984 (if it really was 1984), Oceania was at war with Eurasia and in alliance with Eastasia. Before that, it was different, but the Party did not allow anyone to remember the past. The Party controlled the past and, this way, controlled the future too. This frightened Winston: could the Party make him believe in anything – or erase it from his memory?

Winston tried to remember when Big Brother first appeared – but he couldn't. According to the Party, Big Brother started his legendaryachievements many years ago. And when did the Party first appear? Winston knew that there was no Party when he was little. Yet, there was no way of proving it: whatever the Party said was the truth.

“Smith!” a loud voice screamed from the telescreen. “Work harder!”

Winston started sweating. He knew he couldn't show any shock or irritation, so he continued the exercise.