The Most Popular British Writers
William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens remain two of the most popular and widely known British writers all over the world. Dickens began his writing career as a journalist, and all his novels were first published serially in periodicals.
Many of his works highlight the injustice of 19th century social institutions and inequalities between the rich and the poor. His most famous works include "Oliver Twist" and "David Copperfield". As to Shakespeare in addition to writing 35 known plays, he wrote 154 sonnets and sometimes acted in small parts in his own plays- He is known to have played the Ghost in "Hamlet". His best known plays include "King Lear", "A Midsummer night's dream" and "Romeo and Juliet".
The Bronte sisters, Charlotte (1816—55), Emily (1818—48) and Anne (1820—49), were three talented 19th century women novelists whose works are regarded as classics today. Charlotte is best known for her novel "Jane Eyre".
The novels of Jane Austen are known for their subtlety of observation and irony, together with their insights into the provincial life of the middle-class in the early part of 19th century. Her works include "Emma", "Pride and Prejudice" and others.
One of the most widely known English poets is remarkable because his work has been transcribed, published, read and comment on since his death. He is Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1345— 1400). His best known work is "The Canterbury Tales", a collection of tales. Chaucer is buried in Westminster Abbey.
Vocabulary:
to remain — оставаться
to highlight — освещать
injustice — несправедливость
observation — наблюдение
Задание 1. Ответьте на вопросы:
1. Who is the most popular and widely known British writer?
2. When did Dickens begin his career?
3. What plays by Shakespeare do you know?
4. What are the Bronte sisters famous for?
5. What other popular British writers do you know?
Задание 2. Заполните таблицу.
| A writer | His/ Her works |
The British Painters
(Joseph Mallord William Turner)
William Turner, a great romantic English landscape painter, was born in Devonshire in 1775. He lived with his uncle in Middlesex, where he began to attend school. His first drawings are dated 1787, when he was only twelve years of age. His childish sketch-books, filled with drawings, are still preserved in the British Museum.
When he was 21, he began to exhibit oil paintings as well as water-colours at the Royal Academy. The first, "Fishermen at Sea" is now in the Gate Gallery.
He traveled much in France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy. But he never lost his interest in his own country.
As a landscape painter Turner was interested mainly in light and colour effects. One of his famous paintings is even called "Light and Colour". His work is high praised by great critics.
Turner died in London in 1851. His pictures and drawings became the property of the British nation. William Turner is considered to be one of the world greatest painters.
Vocabulary:
landscape — ландшафт
drawing(s) — рисунок
childish — детский
painting(s) — картина
famous — знаменитый
praised — восхваленный, оцененный
property — собственность
to be considered — считаться
Задание 3. Ответьте на вопросы:
1. Where and when was Joseph Turner born?
2. Where did he go to school?
3. At what age did he make his first drawings?
4. When did he begin to exhibit his paintings?
5. Did he stay in his country all his life?
6. What was he interested in as landscape painter?
7. When and where did he die?
8. Who is the owner of Turner's works?
Задание 4. Кратко перескажите текст.
Домашнее задание:Подготовить сообщение
Практическое занятие № 29
Тема: «Выдающиеся британские ученые».
Цель:Развитие навыков поиска необходимой информации в тексте и использования ее в речи.
Прочитайте текст и выполните задания, приведенные ниже:
Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday is one of the great scientists in the history of man's work in electricity. He was born in a small village near London on September 11, 1791, in a poor family. His family lived from hand to mouth. At the age of thirteen Michael went to work in a bookbinder's shop, because he didn't have much schooling. Some of the scientific works and articles which passed through his hands aroused his interest in science and he started to read.
Some time later Michael became a pupil of great scientist of that time, Sir Humphry Davy. The boy accompanied Davy in his trips to Europe. The educational value of such trips was great. Among great men of science Faraday met Ampere, who had already made a name for himself in the history of electricity.
Today almost all the electricity we use is generated by great machines with magnets in them, but in those days no one knew how to do it. That's why the English scientist danced with delight on his table when he got what he wanted by moving the magnet near wire. This was a great moment in the history of man's electrical experiments. But Faraday didn't stop at this.
Faraday's scientific interests were varied. He made new kind of glass and a new kind of steel. Faraday made about two thousand difficult experiments and made countless discoveries in chemistry and physics. He made a wonderful machine which was the father of all the great machines that make electricity today. They light and heat our houses and they make our radio-sets work. Michael Faraday was the creator of the electric motor, who ushered us in the electrical age which had changed the face of the earth.
Vocabulary:
to arouse — возбуждать, пробуждать
bookbinder — переплетчик
value — ценность
creator -— создатель
to usher — вводить
Задание 1. Найдите в тексте английские эквиваленты следующих слов и выражений:
великий ученый
родился
жить впроголодь
сделал себе имя
с радостью
Задание 2. Ответьте на вопросы:
1. Who is the creator of the electric motor?
2. Why did Michael have to work in a bookbinder's shop?
3. Was he a pupil of Humphry Davy or Ampere?
4. What was the greatest discovery of Faraday?
5. Faraday made about two thousand difficult experiments, didn't he?
Alexander Graham Bell
Although Alexander Graham Bell is accredited with inventing the telephone the honour in fact goes to an Italian inventor Antonio Meucci who actually invented it in 1849. Unfortunately he didn't get the glory. The problem was he couldn't afford the cost of the patent. Bell at one time even shared a laboratory with Meucci. If Bell had been an honourable man he wouldn't have taken the credit and reaped the rewards. Meucci received nothing for all his work, which was wrong. He may have been a talented man but in this case he seems to have behaved shamefully. Although Meucci did get the recognition it came over hundred years too late for him to benefit.
Alexander Graham Bell originally came from Scotland having been born in Edinburgh in March 1847. His family taught elocution, his mother was deaf and after his education in Scotland he began to study acoustics. In 1870 the family went to live in Canada by then he had already begun to become interested in telephony. In 1873 he found a job in Montreal where he taught the method visible speech which was based on the phonetic alphabet and helped the deaf to speak. From there he became a professor at Boston University. But he carried on with his desire to invent a telephone. In 1876 he got a patent for his invention and the Bell telephone company was established in 1877. He went on to receive numerous awards.
But although he is associated very much with the telephone, his interest didn't stop there. In 1877 he married Mabel Hubbard, who coincidentally was deaf like his mother and together they had four children. Their son died when he was still a baby having suffered breathing difficulties. The loss made him want to help this type of condition so he invented a jacket made of metal that could assist breathing.
He also went on to invent the metal detector in 1881. And with the next big thing flight he helped to develop a plane called Silver Dart. In the 1900's he created a boat that held the world speed record for a good few years.
Vocabulary:
honour - честь
to reap the rewards – получать награды
recognition – признание
benefit – выгода, польза
elocution - ораторское искусство, дикция
to invent – изобретать
to establish – создавать
coincidentally – по случайному стечению обстоятельств
Задание 3. Подберите к предложениям подходящие по смыслу окончания.
| 1. The problem was 2. Alexander Graham Bell originally came from Scotland 3. Meucci received nothing for all his work, 4. He also went on to 5. In 1876 he got a patent for his invention 6. But although he is associated very much with the telephone, | a)which was wrong. b) invent the metal detector in 1881. c) he couldn't afford the cost of the patent. d) and the Bell telephone company was established in 1877. e) his interest didn't stop there. f) having been born in Edinburgh in March 1847. |
Домашнее задание: Подготовить сообщение, выучить ЛЕ
Практическое занятие № 30
Тема: «Жизнь и деятельность известных ученых».
Цель: Тренировка навыков чтения с применением различных стратегий .
Прочитайте текст и выполните задания, приведенные ниже:
С F. Powell
Powell was a prominent English scientist noted for his techniques and discoveries in particle physics. He was also deeply concerned with problems relating to the responsibility of scientists. Powell was a leader in the World Federation of Scientific Workers in the mid-1950s. Powell was born in December 1903 in England. His parents were poor but still they wanted to give good education to their children. In 1921 Powell won a scholarship of one of the colleges at Cambridge. He graduated from it in 1925 with first-class honors in science. He started his scientific career at the Cavendish laboratory headed by Ernest Rutherford. After gaining his scientific degree at Cambridge in 1928 Powell accepted a position at the new Physics laboratory in the University of Bristol. Powell spent the rest of his career there advancing to professor in 1948 and director of the laboratory in 1964. In 1947 Powell’s Bristol group identified a new particle in the cosmic radiation. Powell and other two scientists discovered sub-nuclear particle, which was produced directly in nuclear reactions. The discovery solved a complicated scientific problem and helped open a new era of particle physics. Powell continued to develop and apply the photographic method of Bristol. His laboratory became the source of new experimental discoveries. It was also an international training centre for physicists of many countries. In 1950 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for his development of the photographic method and his meson discoveries.
James Clerk Maxwell
Maxwell, born of a well-known Scottish family, early showed signs of mathematical talent. At the age of 15 he contributed a piece of original work on the drawing of oval curves to the royal society of Edinburgh. The work was so well done that many refused to believe that such a young boy could be the author. At Cambridge, which he entered in 1856, he graduated the second in his class in mathematics. Maxwell was appointed to his first professorship at Aberdeen in 1859. In 1871 Maxwell was appointed professor of experimental physics at Cambridge. While at Cambridge he organized the Cavendish Laboratory, named in honour of the eccentric English scientist of the previous century Henry Cavendish. Several decades later the Cavendish Laboratory was to do great work, which was connected with radioactivity. The most important work of Maxwell’s life was carried on between 1864 and 1873. He placed into mathematical form the speculations of Faraday concerning magnetic lines of force. Maxwell’s theory showed that electricity and magnetism could not exist in isolation. Where there was one, there was the other, so that his work is usually referred to as the electromagnetic theory. Maxwell died before the age of fifty in 1879. When Einstein’s theories upset almost all of «classical physics», Maxwell’s equations remained untouched as valid as ever.
Alexander Fleming
Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of penicillin, was born in Scotland in 1881 at a farm. He began to go to school when he was five. In 1895 he went to London and decided to dedicate his life to medicine. At first Fleming wanted to become a surgeon but soon he got interested in bacteriology and decided that he was to find his future in research. Sir Alexander Fleming did not have such life which was outwardly very exciting. He spent his working hours in hospitals and laboratories. He went from his home to his laboratory every morning and went from his laboratory to his home every night. He sat in front of his fire and talked to his wife. He taught his son to swim and to fish. It was life that seemed not to differ from the life of the bank manager or the office worker. But it was not so. The great work that he did was done for the benefit of sick men and women. His discovery of penicillin did more to help suffering mankind than anything else for centuries. When he died in 1955 his old friend said: «. . . by his work he relieved more suffering than any other living man».
Ernest Rutherford
Ernest Rutherford is called the Newton of atomic physics. He was recognized by his fellow scientists as a man of colossal energy and tireless enthusiasm. As he himself remarked he lived in the «heroic age of physics». Ernest Rutherford was born in New Zealand. He graduated from New Zealand University and entered Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1919 he was appointed Professor of experimental physics in the University of Cambridge. E. Rutherford’s early researches concerned electromagnetic waves. His experiments led him to develop a magnetic detector, which at that time was the best detector of electromagnetic waves. His detector was later used by Marconi, one of the inventors of the radio in his well-known investigations. E. Rutherford’s big triumph began when he turned his attention to radioactivity. His brilliant researches established the existence and nature of radioactive transformations. He also investigated the electrical structure of matter and the nuclear nature of atom. He was one of the founders of the atomic theory of physics and creators of the first atomic model. He stated that the atom consisted of a nucleus around which electrons revolved in orbits. His works didn’t lose their importance till nowadays.
Vocabulary:
prominent – выдающийся
particle – частица
gain – получить
equation – высказывание
a surgeon - хирург
matter – материя
creator - создатель
attention - внимание
Задание 1. Найдите в тексте английские эквиваленты следующих слов и выражений:
быть озадаченным проблемой
научная карьера
под руководством
стать источником чего-либо
получить место
отказываться верить
связанный с
относиться к
облегчить страдания
обращать внимание
один из родоначальников
Задание 2. Ответьте на вопросы:
1. Where did Powell get his education?
2. What were his scientific interests?
3. Can electricity and magnetism exist in isolation?
4. Did Flemming have an exciting life?
5. How was Rutherford recognized by his fellow scientists?
Задание 3. Заполните таблицу.
| А scientist | Discoveries |
Домашнее задание:повторить ЛЕ
Практическое занятие № 31
Тема: «Научно- технический прогресс и его последствия»
Цель: Развитие навыков устной речи.
Задание 1. Прочитайте текст и обсудите следующие вопросы:
1) Do you imagine your life without gadgets?
2) What are good and bad sides of using gadgets in our everyday life?
People in contemporary world can hardly imagine their lives without machines. Every day either a new gadget is invented or an old one is improved. Different people appreciate new inventions differently. Some suppose that sophisticated gadgets are really useful and necessary, while others find them absolutely awful as they influence people badly. As for me, I am pretty sure that gadgets make people`s lives easier.
Firstly, they do all kinds of dirty and hard work, as cleaning. Secondly, devices can save a lot of time as well as storage space. For instance, a computer disk can contain the same amount of information as several thick books. So, machines help people in different spheres.
However, opponents of this point of view are definitely sure that gadgets affect people negatively. People are reluctant to work due to the influence of machines. People become lazy and disorganized. They just expect their latest gadgets to do everything instead of them. Moreover, according to scientists, a great number of widespread devices produce radiation that can cause serious health problems. Furthermore, more and more people are becoming addicted to their modern gadgets, for instance computers, TVs or mobile phones. So, they neglect their home obligations, work or school and spend all their spare time in front of a laptop screen or a TV-set.
In conclusion, I firmly believe that in spite of all drawbacks, gadgets have, their benefits are much more considerable, as they save people`s time and let them enjoy life.
Задание 2. Ответьте на вопросы:
1. Are you a PC user?
2. Was it easy or difficult for you to learn how to use it ?
3.What for do you use your computer ?
4. Who taught you to use the computer?
5. How much time a day do you spend in front of the computer ?
Задание 2. Прочитайте текст и найдите в нем необходимую информацию.
As you know Bill Gates created the first software – the programs that help personal computers process different information. As founder of Microsoft Inc., he is now one of the richest men in America. Read the text and find the information about:
- Bill Gates was active in his teenage years.
- He and his friend developed disk operating system.
- Bill Gates foresaw the significance of computers in the future.
- Binary number system has only two digits.
- Bill Gates’ predictions came true.