Топики по английскому языку. Топики Тексты для чтения Экзаменационные вопросы Цветкова И. В. Клепальченко И. А
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THE STATUE OF LIBERTY People who come to New York by sea are greeted by the Statue of Liberty. It has become a symbol of the city (if not of the whole country) and an expression of freedom to people all over the world. The statue shows liberty as a proud woman draped in the graceful folds of a loose robe. In her uplifted right hand, she holds a glowing torch. She wears a crown with seven spikes that stand for the light of liberty shining on the seven seas and seven continents. In her left arm, she holds a tablet with the date of the Declaration of Independence. A chain that represents tyranny lies broken at her feet. The Statue of Liberty was France's gift to America. It was designed by the French sculptor Bartholdi and presented to the USA in 1886. The Lady in the Harbour stands 151 feet tall, weighs nearly 225 tons and has a 35-foot waist. In 1986 she underwent a face-lift in honour of her 100th birthday. There is a museum in the base of the statue devoted to the history of immigration to the United States. 365 steps lead from the entrance to the observation area in the seven-pointed crown (visitors are not allowed to climb to the torch). The views are breathtaking. The Lady of the Harbour is tourists' favourite souvenir. It takes the form of salt shakers and pencil sharpeners, adorns plates and T-shirts. FROM THE HISTORY OF NEW YORK The first European explorer who saw Manhattan Island was Giovanni da Verrazano, an Italian merchant who was in the service of the French king, Francis I. The date was April, 1524. Today a bridge which carries his name, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, is one of the city's most impressive sights. It is the longest suspension bridge in the world. Other Europeans followed Verrazano, most notably Henry Hudson, an Englishman employed by the Dutch East India Company. The mighty Hudson River is named after the navigator who set foot on these shores in 1609. Even in the days when America was known as the New World, it was a country with a reputation for its spirit of enterprise and the ability of its people to make a good deal. In 1626 the Dutch Trade Company bought Manhattan Island from the local Indians for twenty four dollars. It was probably the most spectacular business deal of all times. (Today, $24 would not buy one square foot of office space in New York). Here the Dutch founded their colony and gave it the name New Amsterdam. Forty years later the English fleet under the Duke of York entered the harbour, captured the city without firing a shot and renamed it New York. During the War of Independence it was the scene of heavy fighting. The English held it until the end of the war in 1783 when it became the first capital of the new republic — the United States of America. On April 30, 1789 George Washington, the first President of the US, stood on a balcony there and swore a solemn oath to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." The city grew very quickly. Today's New York is the greatest contrast possible to the island settled by the Dutch in 1624. In 1811 a "city plan" was adopted under which straight lines cut through the woods and fields of Manhattan, flattening its hills, burying under the surface its countless little rivers. In a sense, New York is now one of the least historic cities of the world. Practically nothing has remained of Dutch New Amsterdam. AUSTRALIA If you go to Australia it will seem to you rather an upside-down world. The seasons are the other way round. Summer is from December to February, autumn from March to May, winter from June to August, and spring from September to November. New Year is at midsummer, midwinter is in June. Hot winds blow from the north; cold winds blow from the south. The farther north you go, the hotter it gets. You will be dazzled with magnificent landscapes and unusual plants. It will seem strange to you that trees lose their bark, not their leaves, and a lot of flowers have no smell. Even stranger than plants are the animals. Many of them are found nowhere else in the world. There live kangaroos, koalas, echidnas, platypi and a lot of rare birds. Australia is the world's largest island and its smallest continent. People often call Australia the "land down-under" because it lies entirely south of the equator. Australia is the oldest of all continents. Its mountains are the worn and ancient stumps that were once higher than the Himalayas; its desert sands rose from the waves of the sea millions of years ago and still contain fossils of the marine creatures that formerly swam over them, Its animals are ancient and unique. Its wandering aboriginal tribes still live like the men of the Stone Age. Australia is the driest continent on earth. The four great deserts of central Australia cover 2,000,000 square kilometres. There are few rivers there. Australian lakes which look impressive on the map, are usually little more than clay and salt pans. Australia is the flattest of all continents. Unlike any other continent, it lacks mountains of truly alpine structure and elevation. Its most significant mountain chain is the Great Dividing Range running down most of the east coast. Because of its overall flatness and regular coastline, Australia is often called a "sprawling pancake". An island continent, Australia was cut off from the rest of the world for millions of years. As a result, it was the last continent to be discovered and settled by Europeans. Australia is the only continent that is also a country. As a country, it has the sixth largest area in the world after Russia, Canada, China, the United States and Brazil. Australia is the least populated of the continents. Only 0,3% of the world's population live there. However, Australia is the most urbanized country in the world. Two out of three of its citizens live in the eight largest cities. The capital of Australia is Canberra. (from Speak Out, abridged) CANADA Canada is the second largest country in the world. It covers the northern part of North America and its total area is 9,975,000 square kilometres. Canada's only neighbour is the USA. The border between the two countries is the longest unguarded border in the world. Canada's motto, "From Sea to Sea," is particularly appropriate because the country is bounded by three oceans — the Pacific, the Arctic and the Atlantic. Its vast area includes some of the world's largest lakes and countless smaller ones. One-third of all fresh water on Earth is in Canada. Canada's name comes from an Indian word kanata, which means "village". The first French settlers used the Indian name for the colony, but the official name was "New France". When the area came under the British rule in 1897, the new country was called the Dominion of Canada, or simply Canada. Canada is a union of ten provinces and two territories. Compared with other large countries, Canada has a small population, only about 27,300,000. The country, however, is one of the world's most prosperous. Canadians developed its rich natural resources and, in the process, have achieved a high standard of living. Canada is a constitutional monarchy. It is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and Queen Elizabeth II is its official head of state. Although the Queen holds this high position, she doesn't rule. She serves as a symbol of British tradition. Her representative in Canada is the Governor General, whom she appoints on the advice of the Canadian Prime Minister. The Governor's duties are limited to symbolic, mostly ceremonial acts. The real power belongs to the Prime Minister and his Cabinet. The Canadian Parliament consists of two chambers: the House of Commons and the Senate. There are two official languages in the country: English and French. All Canadian children have to learn both French and English at school, but Francophones and Anglophones do not enjoy learning each other's language. "We have two races, two languages, two systems of religious belief, two sets of laws ... two systems of everything," said one Canadian journalist. There was a time when Quebec Province (its population is 90% French) decided to separate from Canada and form a new country. Fortunately, the movement has waned. The capital of Canada is Ottawa. SOME FACTS ABOUT MOSCOW The oldest church in Moscow is the Kremlin Uspensky Cathedral, built in 1475-1479. The highest monument is the 107-metre-tall obelisk called "To the Conquerors of Space" (1967) located in Prospect Mira. The first theatre open to the public was established in Red Square, near the Nikolaevskaya Tower of the Kremlin, in 1702-03, by order of Tsar Peter I. Today, there are about 200 theatres in Moscow, the oldest of which is the Moscow University Student Theatre. The first museum in Moscow was established in 1791. It was the Moscow University Exhibition of Natural History, later renamed as the Zoological Museum. The oldest parks in Moscow are Alexandrovsky Park, Neskutchny Park, and Hermitage Park, built in the 18m and 19Ш centuries. The largest of Moscow's 500 libraries is the Russian State Library (the former Lenin Library), with a depository of over 40 million pieces in 247 languages. The Moscow Zoo, founded in 1864, is the largest zoo in Russia. It contains more than 3,000 specimen of 550 species. The first sports stadium appeared in the vicinity of Petrovka Street in the second half of the 19tn century. Its playing surface has survived and exists today, but cannot be seen from the street because it is hidden from view by tall buildings. The oldest clock in Moscow is the Kremlin Chimes. The largest clock in all Russia is on the main building of Moscow University. The clock face has a diameter of 9 metres. The minute hand is 4.2 metres long and weighs 50 kilograms. The hour hand is 50 centimetres shorter and 11 kilograms lighter. The total length of Moscow streets is 4,350 kilometres. To cover that distance on foot at an average speed of 5 km per hour, a pedestrian would have to walk nonstop for 36 days. LITERATURE AND ARTS THE FUTURE OF THE BOOK — IF IT HAS A FUTURE The death of the book has been predicted for centuries. There were those who thought that the invention of printing heralded the end of civilisation. Cinema, radio and television have all been presented as the murderers of our most treasured cultural icon. The Internet is the latest suspect to hold the smoking gun. The problem is that this is a murder without a victim. More books are being published than ever before. The mass media of the twentieth century have generated print, not destroyed it. Books derived from movies and broadcasts groan on the shelves of bookshops throughout the world. Newspapers are filled with stories about media people, both in reality and in the soapy world, which they inhabit. Far from killing the book, the media have been one of its saviours. Computing, and the development of the Internet, may be different. Some books are indeed being replaced by electronic media. Who wants to use a twenty-volume encyclopaedia when information can be retrieved instantaneously from a CD-ROM? Why should a lawyer spend time (and a client's money) searching through massive tomes, when what is sought can be found in seconds from a database? But no one will lie in bed reading a novel from a CD-ROM. Even with laptops, electronic books are not easily transportable. This medium, so powerful and so pervasive, has its limits just like any other. It is, of course, the greatest revolution in communications since the invention of printing and arguably comparable in its impact with the invention of writing itself. The marriage of computing and telecommunications has finally broken the tyrannies of time and distance to which we have been subjected since the dawn of time. But reading — and the books, magazines and newspapers that we read — still have a part to play. They will continue to instruct, amuse, influence and infuriate for decades and centuries to come. (from Sure, abridged) ON BOOKS AND READING Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested. Francis Bacon A good book is the best of friend , the same today and forever. Martin Tupper All books are divisible into two classes, the books of the hour and the books of all time. John Ruskin There are books to read, books to reread, and books not to read at all. Oscar Wilde I would sooner read a time-table or a catalogue than nothing at all. W. Somerset Maugham Choose an author as you choose a friend. Wentworth Dillon A man ought to readjust as inclination leads him; for what he reads as a task will do him little good. Samuel Johnson In science, read the newest works, in literature, the oldest. Edward Bulwer-Lytton THE GLOBE THEATRE In 1949, an American actor Sam Wanamaker came to London and decided to visit the site of the famous Globe Theatre where Shakespeare had staged his plays. All he found, however, was a plaque on the wall of a brewery: "Here stood the Globe Playhouse of Shakespeare". Wanamaker was so shocked that he decided to rebuild the Globe. It took many years to raise the money, get permission and find out exactly what the place looked like in the old days. On June 12 1997, Her Majesty the Queen opened the International Shakespeare Globe Centre, the re-creation of Shakespeare's theatre. Unfortunately, Sam Wanamaker died in 1993 and wasn't in the audience to see his dream finally come true. Today, you can visit the beautiful new Globe, and in summer you can even see a play performed as it would have been in Shakespeare's day. The architects who have worked on the building believe the new theatre is as close to the original as it is possible to be. Shows at the new Globe are staged in much the same way as they were then — with no scenery, spotlights or microphones. And, as in Shakespeare's time, the crowd is free to join in, calling out to the actors and getting involved in the story. Women now play on the stage of the Globe, but on special occasions you can experience Shakespeare's plays the way his audience would have: an all-male performance in original clothing and without interval. If it rains, however, you'll be given a rain hat so that you wouldn't get wet to the skin. The theatre's artistic director, Mark Rylance, says that his dream is "to reawaken a love of words — a theatre for the heart, not just the intellect". He expects the audiences to move around, talk, drink beer and throw fruit at the actors as they did in Shakespeare's time. (from Speak Out, abridged) ROBERT BURNS Robert Burns was born in 1759 and was the eldest of 7 children, growing up in a life of poverty and hard farm work. His father made sure that his sons were well educated and employed a private tutor to teach them English, French, Latin, and even Philosophy. It was the kind of education that rich children of the day might have had, certainly not the son of a poor farmer. When Robert wasn't having lessons he would help his father on the farm. In his spare time he started to write poetry. In 1784 Robert's father died leaving Robert with his mother, and the rest of the family, to support. The farm was a failure, the crops wouldn't grow and to make matters worse, Robert had fallen in love with Jean Anna. They wanted to marry but Jean's father disapproved. Burns was a poor farmer with little money and not good enough for his daughter. Burns was fed up and planned to emigrate from Scotland to Jamaica and in order to make some money for the voyage he decided to print some of his poems. When Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect was published, Burns became famous overnight and editions appeared all over the world. Burns didn't just write poems, he was Scotland's first collector of folk songs. In 1787 he set off on a journey around Scotland, jotting down fragments of old songs like Auld Lang Syne, often rewriting them into the versions we know today. In 1788 Burns and Jean Arma married and went to live at Ellisland Farm. There he wrote his famous Тат О 'Shanter — a tale of a farmer who, after a night of drinking, stumbles across some dancing witches on his way home. Burns and his family left Ellisland and moved to Dumfreys in 1793. My love is Like a Red Red Rose was written soon after. By 1796 Bums had become dangerously ill and on the 21st of July he died, aged just 37 years old. Scotland had lost one of its best loved poets and a national hero. Bums dreamt of immortality and wanted to be the poet of Scotland. His dream came true and today his work is loved by millions all over the world. (from BBC English, abridged) MARK TWAIN Mark Twain is one of America's most famous authors. He wrote many books, IV'I including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain's own life was interesting enough to be a book. Twain was bom in 1835 in the state of Missouri, near the Mississippi River. He came from a poor family. His father died when he was twelve, so he had to leave school. While he was still a boy, he worked as a riverboat pilot. He steered boats up and down the long Mississippi River. The Civil War, which started in 1861, made travelling on the Mississippi impossible. Twain then went west to Nevada. There he worked on a newspaper. In 1864 he went to California to find gold. Twain did not have much luck as a gold miner. He left California to travel in Europe. Twain wrote a book about his trips around Europe. But the most important influence on Twain and his books was the Mississippi River. When Twain finally settled down, he lived in a house with a porch that looked like the deck of a riverboat. Huckleberry Finn, Twain's greatest book, is about the adventures of a boy on the Mississippi River. Another of Twain's books is called Life on the Mississippi. In fact, even the name Mark Twain comes from the Mississippi. Mark Twain's real name was Samuel Langhome Clemens. On the river Samuel Clemens often heard the boatmen shout "Mark twain!" This meant the water was twelve feet deep. When Samuel Clemens began to write he chose for himself the name Mark Twain. (from All about the USA) |