Вы услышите интервью. В заданиях 3–9 запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2 или 3, соответствующую выбранному Вами варианту ответа. Прослушайте запись дважды. Пример ответа: 1 6. Leona characterizes Sylvia as … 1) a good student. 2) a middle-aged woman. 3) an inexperienced girl.

Presenter: Hello, everybody, and welcome to our weekly programme 'The Writer's Workshop'. Today in our studio, we have Leona Brown, a prize-winning short fiction writer. Hello, Leona. Leona: Good afternoon. Thank you for inviting me here today. Presenter: Will you please tell us a bit about your literary achievements? Leona: Of course. So far, I've written a novel and some collections of interlocking stories. My novel is basically a story about finding hope. I'm currently working on two other novels and a collection of essays. Presenter: Some literary critics think your novel 'A Good Person' is a love story. What would you say to that? Leona: Well, a lot of the action in the story happens off the page. The scenes seem to focus instead on the interactions and moments that happen in the wake of that off-page drama. I know some readers were particularly struck at how the story avoided certain storylines. For example, the drama that's built on the main hero's relationship is an important part of the story, but it remains secondary to what's going on with another main character, Sylvia. Another writer might have made it a much bigger part of the story. What will all of them do? This question is present, but it's kept to a lower register. So, there is a developing romance that gets folded into all the other stuff going on in the story. As a result, one could call this a love story, but that wouldn't feel quite right, I don't think. Presenter: When you were working on this story, what was your sense of what kind of story it was? Leona: I never did think of this as a love story. My process in developing a story or an essay is almost always exploratory for the first few drafts, and that was the case with this one even more than usual. It began with memories of a time and a place that I wanted to explore for meetings. I had quite a lot of it drafted before I figured out that its true subject was the drama going on inside Sylvia, a drama she's only partly aware of. Once I'd decided what the story was about, I rewrote it several, in fact, many times, hoping to make all the parts of it work together to make that drama felt. Presenter: So, Sylvia is your main character in this novel, isn't she? Leona: Yes. I'd say this is a story about Sylvia. The drama I was most interested in delving into was happening inside her. She's trying on different versions of herself and hasn't yet come to realize that life is serious business. She's reaching for some idea of cool and, naively, she half thinks she's already achieved it, but she's yet to take a deep look at anything in her life. I love her, and I forgive her faults, because she's young and a slow learner. Presenter: What can you tell us about your working process? Leona: In my opinion, stories are constructed through language, not memory. I write at the level of the sentence. I sit there, looking at the doors and windows a sentence has opened for the sentence that can follow, and so on. I do not write with a plan. I do not know where a story is going ahead of time. There is no pre-writing. It all happens in the moment of looking at the words. Presenter: How do you understand the plot is going to be interesting for readers? Leona: I do not believe circumstances are intrinsically interesting or uninteresting. Narrators create interest by their passionate investment in the story they are telling. The less the narrator asks for something from the reader, something like feel my feelings, share my understandings, and so on, the more room readers have to feel their own emotions. Presenter: Thank you, Leona. It has been very interesting talking to you. Leona: Thank you.

Вы услышите интервью. В заданиях 3–9 запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2 или 3, соответствующую выбранному Вами варианту ответа. Прослушайте запись дважды. Пример ответа: 1 7. Which of the following is TRUE about Leona’s normal working process? 1) She pays a lot of attention to drafts. 2) Word choice is not important for her. 3) Her writing is often spontaneous.

Presenter: Hello, everybody, and welcome to our weekly programme 'The Writer's Workshop'. Today in our studio, we have Leona Brown, a prize-winning short fiction writer. Hello, Leona. Leona: Good afternoon. Thank you for inviting me here today. Presenter: Will you please tell us a bit about your literary achievements? Leona: Of course. So far, I've written a novel and some collections of interlocking stories. My novel is basically a story about finding hope. I'm currently working on two other novels and a collection of essays. Presenter: Some literary critics think your novel 'A Good Person' is a love story. What would you say to that? Leona: Well, a lot of the action in the story happens off the page. The scenes seem to focus instead on the interactions and moments that happen in the wake of that off-page drama. I know some readers were particularly struck at how the story avoided certain storylines. For example, the drama that's built on the main hero's relationship is an important part of the story, but it remains secondary to what's going on with another main character, Sylvia. Another writer might have made it a much bigger part of the story. What will all of them do? This question is present, but it's kept to a lower register. So, there is a developing romance that gets folded into all the other stuff going on in the story. As a result, one could call this a love story, but that wouldn't feel quite right, I don't think. Presenter: When you were working on this story, what was your sense of what kind of story it was? Leona: I never did think of this as a love story. My process in developing a story or an essay is almost always exploratory for the first few drafts, and that was the case with this one even more than usual. It began with memories of a time and a place that I wanted to explore for meetings. I had quite a lot of it drafted before I figured out that its true subject was the drama going on inside Sylvia, a drama she's only partly aware of. Once I'd decided what the story was about, I rewrote it several, in fact, many times, hoping to make all the parts of it work together to make that drama felt. Presenter: So, Sylvia is your main character in this novel, isn't she? Leona: Yes. I'd say this is a story about Sylvia. The drama I was most interested in delving into was happening inside her. She's trying on different versions of herself and hasn't yet come to realize that life is serious business. She's reaching for some idea of cool and, naively, she half thinks she's already achieved it, but she's yet to take a deep look at anything in her life. I love her, and I forgive her faults, because she's young and a slow learner. Presenter: What can you tell us about your working process? Leona: In my opinion, stories are constructed through language, not memory. I write at the level of the sentence. I sit there, looking at the doors and windows a sentence has opened for the sentence that can follow, and so on. I do not write with a plan. I do not know where a story is going ahead of time. There is no pre-writing. It all happens in the moment of looking at the words. Presenter: How do you understand the plot is going to be interesting for readers? Leona: I do not believe circumstances are intrinsically interesting or uninteresting. Narrators create interest by their passionate investment in the story they are telling. The less the narrator asks for something from the reader, something like feel my feelings, share my understandings, and so on, the more room readers have to feel their own emotions. Presenter: Thank you, Leona. It has been very interesting talking to you. Leona: Thank you.

Вы услышите интервью. В заданиях 3–9 запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2 или 3, соответствующую выбранному Вами варианту ответа. Прослушайте запись дважды. Пример ответа: 1 8. According to Leona, … makes the story interesting. 1) the plot. 2) the storyteller. 3) the setting.

Presenter: Hello, everybody, and welcome to our weekly programme 'The Writer's Workshop'. Today in our studio, we have Leona Brown, a prize-winning short fiction writer. Hello, Leona. Leona: Good afternoon. Thank you for inviting me here today. Presenter: Will you please tell us a bit about your literary achievements? Leona: Of course. So far, I've written a novel and some collections of interlocking stories. My novel is basically a story about finding hope. I'm currently working on two other novels and a collection of essays. Presenter: Some literary critics think your novel 'A Good Person' is a love story. What would you say to that? Leona: Well, a lot of the action in the story happens off the page. The scenes seem to focus instead on the interactions and moments that happen in the wake of that off-page drama. I know some readers were particularly struck at how the story avoided certain storylines. For example, the drama that's built on the main hero's relationship is an important part of the story, but it remains secondary to what's going on with another main character, Sylvia. Another writer might have made it a much bigger part of the story. What will all of them do? This question is present, but it's kept to a lower register. So, there is a developing romance that gets folded into all the other stuff going on in the story. As a result, one could call this a love story, but that wouldn't feel quite right, I don't think. Presenter: When you were working on this story, what was your sense of what kind of story it was? Leona: I never did think of this as a love story. My process in developing a story or an essay is almost always exploratory for the first few drafts, and that was the case with this one even more than usual. It began with memories of a time and a place that I wanted to explore for meetings. I had quite a lot of it drafted before I figured out that its true subject was the drama going on inside Sylvia, a drama she's only partly aware of. Once I'd decided what the story was about, I rewrote it several, in fact, many times, hoping to make all the parts of it work together to make that drama felt. Presenter: So, Sylvia is your main character in this novel, isn't she? Leona: Yes. I'd say this is a story about Sylvia. The drama I was most interested in delving into was happening inside her. She's trying on different versions of herself and hasn't yet come to realize that life is serious business. She's reaching for some idea of cool and, naively, she half thinks she's already achieved it, but she's yet to take a deep look at anything in her life. I love her, and I forgive her faults, because she's young and a slow learner. Presenter: What can you tell us about your working process? Leona: In my opinion, stories are constructed through language, not memory. I write at the level of the sentence. I sit there, looking at the doors and windows a sentence has opened for the sentence that can follow, and so on. I do not write with a plan. I do not know where a story is going ahead of time. There is no pre-writing. It all happens in the moment of looking at the words. Presenter: How do you understand the plot is going to be interesting for readers? Leona: I do not believe circumstances are intrinsically interesting or uninteresting. Narrators create interest by their passionate investment in the story they are telling. The less the narrator asks for something from the reader, something like feel my feelings, share my understandings, and so on, the more room readers have to feel their own emotions. Presenter: Thank you, Leona. It has been very interesting talking to you. Leona: Thank you.

Вы услышите интервью. В заданиях 3–9 запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2 или 3, соответствующую выбранному Вами варианту ответа. Прослушайте запись дважды. Пример ответа: 1 9. Leona thinks while reading people should feel … 1) their own emotions. 2) the author’s emotions. 3) the characters’ emotions.

Presenter: Hello, everybody, and welcome to our weekly programme 'The Writer's Workshop'. Today in our studio, we have Leona Brown, a prize-winning short fiction writer. Hello, Leona. Leona: Good afternoon. Thank you for inviting me here today. Presenter: Will you please tell us a bit about your literary achievements? Leona: Of course. So far, I've written a novel and some collections of interlocking stories. My novel is basically a story about finding hope. I'm currently working on two other novels and a collection of essays. Presenter: Some literary critics think your novel 'A Good Person' is a love story. What would you say to that? Leona: Well, a lot of the action in the story happens off the page. The scenes seem to focus instead on the interactions and moments that happen in the wake of that off-page drama. I know some readers were particularly struck at how the story avoided certain storylines. For example, the drama that's built on the main hero's relationship is an important part of the story, but it remains secondary to what's going on with another main character, Sylvia. Another writer might have made it a much bigger part of the story. What will all of them do? This question is present, but it's kept to a lower register. So, there is a developing romance that gets folded into all the other stuff going on in the story. As a result, one could call this a love story, but that wouldn't feel quite right, I don't think. Presenter: When you were working on this story, what was your sense of what kind of story it was? Leona: I never did think of this as a love story. My process in developing a story or an essay is almost always exploratory for the first few drafts, and that was the case with this one even more than usual. It began with memories of a time and a place that I wanted to explore for meetings. I had quite a lot of it drafted before I figured out that its true subject was the drama going on inside Sylvia, a drama she's only partly aware of. Once I'd decided what the story was about, I rewrote it several, in fact, many times, hoping to make all the parts of it work together to make that drama felt. Presenter: So, Sylvia is your main character in this novel, isn't she? Leona: Yes. I'd say this is a story about Sylvia. The drama I was most interested in delving into was happening inside her. She's trying on different versions of herself and hasn't yet come to realize that life is serious business. She's reaching for some idea of cool and, naively, she half thinks she's already achieved it, but she's yet to take a deep look at anything in her life. I love her, and I forgive her faults, because she's young and a slow learner. Presenter: What can you tell us about your working process? Leona: In my opinion, stories are constructed through language, not memory. I write at the level of the sentence. I sit there, looking at the doors and windows a sentence has opened for the sentence that can follow, and so on. I do not write with a plan. I do not know where a story is going ahead of time. There is no pre-writing. It all happens in the moment of looking at the words. Presenter: How do you understand the plot is going to be interesting for readers? Leona: I do not believe circumstances are intrinsically interesting or uninteresting. Narrators create interest by their passionate investment in the story they are telling. The less the narrator asks for something from the reader, something like feel my feelings, share my understandings, and so on, the more room readers have to feel their own emotions. Presenter: Thank you, Leona. It has been very interesting talking to you. Leona: Thank you.

Вы услышите интервью. В заданиях 3–9 запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2 или 3, соответствующую выбранному Вами варианту ответа. Прослушайте запись дважды. Пример ответа: 1 3. What do we learn about Mandy Forest at the beginning of the interview? 1) She’s written many novels. 2) She’s a famous writer. 3) She’s written a picture book.

Presenter: Hello everybody, and welcome to our weekly programme 'the Writer's Workshop'. Today in our studio, we are lucky to have Mandy Forrest, a renowned illustrator and a beginner writer. Mandy has recently published her second picture book, Farm Tales, as an author. Hello Mandy. Mandy: Good afternoon. Thank you for inviting me here today. Presenter: Tell us how the story of Farm Tales came to you. Mandy: My editor and I wanted to create a companion story for Little Farm, another farm story, but with different characters. We decided upon a girl and a horse because of my experience with, and long-time love of, horses. At that stage, I was trying to move forward from losing my own beloved horse, but I couldn't make that the focus of the story. It was just too hard. While thinking about what angle I was going to tackle it from, I was talking to a good friend of mine, and she was telling me how her daughter was struggling with the reality of not being able to ride her Shetland pony anymore, because she had outgrown it. That pony was named Smudge, and the idea was born. Presenter: You spent a year with the Shetland pony Smudge and his owner to observe their relationship and take reference photos for this book. Is that how you usually develop a picture book? Mandy: I always try to put a lot of time into the research of my stories. It allows me to form a connection with the characters and to consider things from every angle. From observing how Smudge and her owner interacted, I picked up on little things that were unique and special in their relationship, like hiding the carrot in one hand and presenting both for the pony to choose. That's a real thing. These moments can only be captured through observation. It allows me to present a vulnerability that I hope the reader will feel privileged to be a part of. Presenter: Most of your picture books feature animals. What is it that you love about drawing animals? Mandy: I've always had a connection with animals and been a big animal lover. To be honest, most of the time I prefer their company. They're honest, and what you give to them, they give back tenfold. I remember back in high school, in English class, whenever we had creative writing or free writing time, I would research and draw different animals from all over the world. I think this frustrated my English teacher a bit, as she wanted me to write more fiction, but I was always intrigued by different animals and so wrote more non-fiction, kind of my encyclopedia. Presenter: How does the process differ between being an illustrator and an author illustrator, and which do you prefer? Mandy: I really enjoy both, honestly. I love illustrating books written by other authors because I learn so much from their writing and what they leave out. When I'm presented with a text, I feel like I'm entering a world which I haven't created. But through my images, I can bring it to life, expand upon it, and bring part of me to it and make it mine. And that's really exciting. When I write my own stories, I will tend to see them in pictures first. So most often, it will start from a sketch or a storyboard concept. I then try to find the words to support it, and it is a real process of switching hats between author and illustrator to find the balance. It's frustrating at times because I have no boundaries at that stage and that makes for quite a lengthy process for me. Still, it's a fabulous feeling though when the visual literacy evolves from my own words and that magic starts to come together. Presenter: Thank you very much, Mandy. It has been very interesting talking to you. Mandy: Thank you.