Muhammad ali

You must have heard about Muhammad Ali — probably the most famous athlete and one of the best-known people in the world. But what do you actually know about his life?

He was the first three-time heavyweight boxing champion of the world. He was known for his powerful hands as well as for his poetry. His ability to compose rhymes while boxing impressed many people. He could be called the first rapper. He won an Olympic gold medal and later threw it into a river in protest against racism in America.

Ali's interest in boxing began when he was 12. He was living in a poor black neighbourhood in Louisville, together with his parents and brother Rudy. One day, when his new bicycle got stolen, Ali reported the fact to a local policeman, Joe Martin. He was furious and said that he was going to beat up the thief*. Martin was the boxing coach at the Louisville's Club and he also had a TV show called 'Tomorrow's Champions'. Seeing fire in Ali's eyes, he suggested that the boy learned to fight.

Ali passionately devoted himself to amateur boxing. He trained hard and soon became famous in his hometown. Within the next few years, he won 100 of his 108 matches. At 18, he became Olympic gold medalist and very soon he signed a good professional contract.

In the 1960s, Ali became one of the most disputable figures in his country. He refused to serve in the American army in Vietnam for religious reasons and, as a result, he lost his championship belt. He was also sentenced* to five years in prison, but later the sentence was cancelled* by the Supreme Court.

Muhammad Ali retired from boxing in 1981 and soon afterwards he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. However, he remained active in various fields and he has not been forgotten. In 1999, he was named Sportsman of the Century by one of the biggest sports magazines. In the same year, Ali's daughter Laila made her debut as a boxer despite her father's earlier comments against female boxing.

2. Muhammad Ali is a world-famous boxer. Read aloud the extract which says about it.

3.What encouraged Ali to take up boxing? 4.How did his sporting career develop?

№38

1. Read the article and say in 2—3 sentences what it is about.

a grave

могила

toes

пальцы ног

a heel

пятка, каблук

a victim

жертва

Fairy tales teach us a lot

For hundreds of years, and perhaps even thousands of years, adults have traditional fairy tales to their children. The stories have been handed down one generation to another. They have become a fundamental part of our culti In early versions of fairy tales there is much more cruelty and violence tl in the stories published for children today. The case of 'Cinderella' is a gc example.

In this variant, Cinderella's step-sisters are very pretty (rather than ugly, as tl are in the modern version). But they are much more cruel. Cinderella works a slave and has no bed to sleep in. Her step-sisters throw her food into the f Cinderella has to pick it out of the fire-place so that she can eat.

When news comes that there is going to be a big party so that the prince choose a future wife, naturally Cinderella is told that she can't go. Cindere visits her real mother's grave* and cries. Her tears fall on the ground tree grows. From the branches of the tree, beautiful clothes fall down. So wl Cinderella finally goes to the party, she looks beautiful and the prince falls: love with her.

The prince comes looking for Cinderella bringing with him the golden shoe tl Cinderella was wearing. Cinderella's sisters try on the shoe but it doesn't To make it fit, one sister cuts off her toes*; the other cuts off her heel*. The mother says: "You won't need to walk when you become queen!"

Eventually, the prince finds Cinderella and the story ends happily.

Even if there is violence and cruelty in fairy stories, they all have elemei that make them forever popular. They are simple stories which usually invot some form of cruelty or injustice. Good people become victims* and must wc impossibly hard to try to solve their problems and find happiness. Children identify with the hero or heroine may sometimes be encouraged to try to fi solutions to their own problems. In any case, the stories have a happy endi and give children great pleasure.

2. Are fairy tales part of our culture? Read aloud the extract which says about it.

3. What happens in the old version of "Cinderella"?

4. Why do people like fairy tales?

№39

1.Read the review and say in 2—3 sentences what it is about.

а laureate

лауреат