OUTSTANDING PEOPLE
ALFRED NOBEL – MAN OF CONTRASTS
Alfred Nobel, the great Swedish inventor and industrialist, was a man of many contrasts. He was the son of a bankrupt, but became a millionaire, a scientist with a love of literature, an industrialist who managed to remain an idealist. He made a fortune but lived a simple life, and although cheerful in company he was often sad in private. A lover of mankind, he had a wife or family to love him; a patriotic son of his native land, he died alone on foreign soil. He invented a new explosive, dynamite, to improve the peaceful industries of mining and road building, but saw it used as a weapon of war to kill and injure his fellow men. World-famous for his works he was never personally well-known for throughout his life he avoided publicity.
Alfred Nobel was born in Stockholm on October 21, 1833 but moved to Russia with his parents in 1842, where his father, Inmanuel, made a strong position for himself in the engineering industry. But soon he went bankrupt and returned to Sweden where Alfred began his study of explosives in his father’s laboratory. He had never been to school or University but had studied privately and by the time he was twenty was a skilful chemist and excellent linguist, speaking Swedish, Russian, German, French and English. Like his father, Alfred was imaginative and inventive, but he had better luck in business and showed more financial sense. He was quick to see industrial openings for his scientific inventors and built up over 80 companies in 20 different countries. Indeed his greatness lay in his outstanding ability to combine the qualities of an original scientist with those of a forward-looking industrialist.
His greatest wish was to see an end of wars, and thus peace between nations, and he spent much time and money working for this cause until his death in Italy in 1896. His famous will, in which he left money to provide prizes for outstanding works in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology, Medicine, Literature and Peace is the memorial to his interests and ideas.
Dialogue №1
Librarian: Good morning. Can I help you find something?
Sasha: Yes. I’m interested in reading about famous Americans.
L: Is there anyone in particular you are interested in reading about?
S: Well, I’d like to know more about the outstanding people who have played a role in shaping American life and culture.
L: There are many people that have influenced life in America.
S: I wish I could read about all of these people. But I have only a few hours.
L: If I were you I would read about some of our writers and artists, such as Mark
Twain, Ernst Hemingway and Worman Rockwell, because they portray life in
America through their work. I also suggest that you read about some of the American inventors, because their inventions, such as the car, airplane, the
telephone, have changed our lives significantly.
S: That sounds like a great place to start.
Dialogue №2
Sasha: Where are the famous people from in America?
Librarian: They are from all over America. Some of them weren’t even born in
America, but became U.S. citizens.
S: Do you happen to know where Benjamin Franklin was from?
L: Boston, Massachusetts. Benjamin Franklin was a printer, writer, philosopher,
scientist and diplomat!
S: I’ve never been to Boston.
L: I think you should also read about Boston while you are in the library, because it is one of our most historical cities.
VOCABULARY NOTES ON THE TEXT
1. an industrialist – промышленник
2. to make a fortune – разбогатеть
3. cheerful – жизнерадостный
4. to be personally well known – быть лично известным
5. throughout his life – в течении всей его жизни
6. to make a strong position for oneself in…- обрести устойчивое положение в…
7. to go bankrupt – обанкротиться
8. to have better luck – быть более удачливым
9. to show more financial sense – проявлять больше интереса к финансовым делам
10. main concern – главная забота
11. will – завещание
12. to provide prizes – для выплаты премий
GRAMMAR EXERСISES
Ex.1. Write the three forms of the verbs given below:
Have, pay, send, ride, drive, play, send, work, decide, cry, forgive, become, be, throw, teach, go, grow, think, choose, make, do, buy, sell, tell, decide, try, let, mean, stop, enter, visit, order.
Ex.2. Turn the following from affirmative to negative and from negative to affirmative:
1. We had a nice walk two days ago.
2. I did not join the library yesterday.
3. He arrived home late last night.
4. We did not see him last Friday.
5. They were at the seaside last summer.
6. Robert did not receive an invitation.
Ex.3. Add question-tags to the following sentences:
1. William Shakespeare was one of the greatest and famous writers.
2. On April 12, 1961 Yuri Gagarin flew into space.
3. He spent 108 minutes there.
4. After the flight he visited many countries.
5. He did not go to the reference library yesterday.
6. She did not like to lend the books.
7. He had to work hard to earn his living.
Ex.4. Translate into English:
1. Вчера я ходил в библиотеку.
2. Вы когда-нибудь были в Лондоне?
3. Я только что посмотрел очень интересный фильм.
4. Это самый интересный фильм, который я когда-либо видел.
5.
– Вы уже прочитали эту книгу?
– Да.
– Когда вы ее прочитали?
– На прошлой неделе.
6. Когда вы записались в библиотеку?
7. Они только что получили новую квартиру.
VOCABULARY AND SPEECH EXERCISES
Ex.1. Read and translate the text and the dialogue.
Ex.2. Ask questions about the text and the dialogue.
Ex.3. Retell the text.
Ex.4. Translate into English:
Михаил Васильевич Ломоносов, величайший русский ученый и поэт, родился в 1711 году. С раннего возраста он страстно желал учиться и прочитывал каждую книгу, которую мог найти.
В возрасте 19 лет юноша покинул свой дом и пошел пешком в Москву, где ему удалось поступить в Славяно-греко-латинскую академию. Первые годы его учебы были трудными, но Михаил много трудился и достиг больших успехов.
В 1745 году Ломоносов был избран в Академию и назначен профессором химии.
В 1748 году М. Ломоносов основал первую химическую лабораторию.
По инициативе Ломоносова в 1755 году был основан Московский университет.
М. В. Ломоносов был признан одним из самых выдающихся людей
XVIII столетия.
Ex.5. Answer the questions:
1. Do you know any outstanding scientist of the world?
2. Who discovered the Periodic Law of elements?
3. Who is the first Russian cosmonaut?
4. What famous writers lived in the 20th century?
5. Do you know any world famous composers?
6. Are there any outstanding politicians and public figures in our country?
7. What people are considered to be outstanding?
8. What qualities must they possess?
9. Is it enough to be talented to be called outstanding?
ADDITIONAL TEXTS FOR READING AND DISCUSSION
ERNEST HEMINGWAY
When the sad news of Hemingway’s death was announced in July, 1961 many people left that the world last one of the most outstanding writers of the 20th century.
Hemingway was born in Oak Park near Chicago, USA in 1899. He began to write fiction in 1923, his first books were the reflection of his war experience. The novels “The Sun Also Rises”(1926) and “Farewell to Arms”(1929) in which the anti-war protest is a particularly powerful belong to this period.
As a boy, Hemingway spent much time hunting, finishing and exploring in the mild country of northern Michigan.
In later years, he was attracted to bullfighting in Spain, and big game-hunting in Africa.
Hemingway was a brave soldier. He fought in Italy during World War I. In 1936 – 1938 he took part in the Spanish Civil War as a war correspondent. More then anything else he hated war and fascism. His impressions and his sympathies which were on the side of the Republicans – found reflection in the famous play “The First Column” and in a number of short stories.
For many years Hemingway lived in Cuba and was a friend of the people of this beautiful island. His last works are “Across the River and Into the Trees” and
“The Old Man and the Sea” which was awarded the Nobel Prize.
Once he said: “The main critics of one’s work are the mind and the heart. Perhaps the heart even more than the mind … because the mind can sometimes agree to a compromise, but the heart – never! The truth – only the truth – that is what one must write ”.
Hemingway’s work have great truth in them; truth about people and the world.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
William Shakespeare is the greatest of all playwright and poets of all times. Not much is known of his life. He was probably the son of a businessman and was born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. He probably attended the local grammar school and got a classical education. In 1582 he married Anne Hathaway and had three children. Little is known of his life before 1592, when he appeared as a playwright in London. Soon he became an actor playing supporting roles like the ghost in “Hamlet”. In 1599 Shakespeare became a part owner of the Globe Theatre in London.
Shakespeare’s work as a playwright is subdivided into three periods. Written in the first periods, Shakespeare’s plays are mostly history plays like “Henry VI”, and comedies with strong elements of farce (“The Comedy of Errors”). His masterpiece of this period is “Romeo and Juliet”. In the second period Shakespeare wrote a number of comedies where he moved away from farce towards romance.(“As You Like It”). In the third period, after 1600, appeared his major tragedies – “Hamlet”, “Othello”.
Shakespeare was a great poet and would be well known for his poetry alone. His major achievements as a poet in his sonnets, first published in 1609. A sonnet is a poem consisting of 14 lines, with a moral at the end. The sonnets are addressed to some “W. H.” And to the mysterious “Dark Lady of Sonnets”. The sonnets deal with the great themes of love, friendship, death, change and immorality. Shakespeare’s sonnets are excellent. They are full of harmony and music; they praise love, friendship and beauty.
Many centuries have passed since his death in 1616, but Shakespeare is still considered to be the greatest of all playwrights and poets.
Ex.1. Answer the questions:
1. What is Shakespeare famous for?
2. What is known of Shakespeare’s early years?
3. What kind of plays did he write during the first period of his work?
4. What kind of comedies did he create in the second period?
5. What kind of plays did he write during the third period?
6. What is Shakespeare’s major achievements as a poet?
7. How can you define a sonnet?
8. What themes do Shakespeare’s sonnets deal with?
9. Why is Shakespeare still considered the greatest of all poets?
OUTSTANDING PEOPLE ALFRED
L: I think you should also read about
VOCABULARY AND SPEECH EXERCISES
The Old Man and the Sea” which was awarded the
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