6 Семестр

MARK TWAIN

Mark Twain is one of America's most famous authors. He wrote many books, 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 born in 1835 in the state of Missouri, near 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 traveling 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 had 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 book is called «Life on the Mississippi».

In fact, even the name Mark Twain comes from the Mississippi. Mark Twain's real name was Samuel Langhorne 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.

7 Семестр

THE STATUE OF LIBERTY

People who come to New York by sea are greeted by the Statue of Liberty. It is a symbol of the city if not of the whole country. First of all it is an expression of freedom for people all over the world. This is the colossal figure of a woman striding with uplifted flame across the entrance to the New World. It is a symbol of America to most people, but she was conceived as an expression of French republican ideas. The idea of such a monument was first discussed in 1865 at Paris. Republicans at that time lived under the repressive regime of Napoleon III and looked with admiration to America, a thriving republic, which had just survived a civil war and was becoming a prosperous industrial nation. America had achieved a delicate balance between liberty and stability that for so long had eluded France.

The Statue of Liberty was France's gift to America. It was designed by the French sculptor Bartholdi and presented to the USA in 1876. The Lady in the Harbour stands 151 feet tall, weighs nearly 225 tons and has a 35-foot waist. 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 broken at her feet represents the tyranny.

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. The views are breathtaking.

The Lady in the Harbour is tourists' favourite souvenir. It takes the form of salt shakers, pencil sharpeners and T-shirts.