Text 5. Diana (personal history)

Before reading the text, study the note:

Prepositions (предлоги)

in	on	at
year: in 1961	date: on July 29, 1981	time: at 9 o’clock
month: in April	day: on Monday	holiday: at Christmas, at the weekend
century: in the 17th century
season: in (the) summer

Listen, read and translate the text about Princess Diana.

Diana was born in 1961, into a very wealthy and aristocratic family. Her ancestors acquired the title of earl from King Charles I (= the first) in the 17^th century. For the next three centuries they felt comfortable at the royal court, holding various positions and bearing various titles.

In 1980 Diana appeared on the world stage as the future bride of Charles, the next king of England. They married on July 29, 1981 in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. Even though they had two children, William and Harry, Diana and Charles soon became unhappy together.

Diana was a very modern woman who enjoyed pop music, romantic novels and charity work. Charles enjoyed many different interests, but their age difference and mentalities clashed. After a very public separation in 1989, an equally public divorce followed in 1996.

As a single woman Diana put all of her energy into her two sons and her charity work.

In 1997 Diana started a romance with Dodi Fayed, son of the owner of Harrods. Soon after that the two were tragically killed in a car crash in Paris. She was a very English Rose, whose early death stunned a nation into silence.

Learn ten words and expressions from the wordlist by heart.

to be wealthy – быть богатым

an ancestor – предок

to acquire – получить

to hold a position – занимать пост

to bear various titles – носить различные титулы

a bride – невеста

to enjoy – наслаждаться

age difference – разница в возрасте

mentality – менталитет, процесс мышления

to start a romance with – начать встречаться с

an owner – владелец

to clash – сталкиваться

to stun – повергнуть

Answer the following questions:

1. When was Diana born?

2. When and where did she get married to Prince Charles?

3. How many children did they have? What are their names?

4. What was Diana like?

5. What happened in 1997?

Sum up what the text says about Diana.

Text 6. Julia roberts

Listen, read and translate the text about Julia Roberts.

Since her appearance in the modern version of Cinderella, ‘Pretty Woman’ («Красотка»), she has won the hearts of millions of people all over the world. Tall, slim, with beautiful hair, she is one of the prettiest actresses and brightest stars in Hollywood today. She works with the greatest artists and all her films do very well at the box office.

She was born on 28^th October 1967 in a little town called Smyrna, Georgia, the daughter of a vacuum cleaner salesman and a church secretary. Her parents divorced when she was 4. Five years later, when she was only 9, her father died of cancer. Julia was very close to her father so his death devastated her and altered her emotionally.

After high school graduation, Julia moved to New York to her sister’s and enrolled in some acting classes, none of which she ever completed. Her first important role was in 1988 in the film ‘Mystic Pizza’ («Мистическая пицца»), which brought her favourable reviews. Two years later she was nominated for an Oscar as the Best Actress for her role in ‘Pretty Woman’.

Learn ten new words and expressions from the wordlist by heart.

slim – стройная

to alter – менять

cancer – рак

Cinderella – золушка

to do well at the box office – быть популярным

emotionally – эмоционально

to devastate – потрясти кого-либо

to enroll in – записаться на

review – рецензия

salesman – продавец

vacuum cleaner – пылесос

Answer the following questions:

1. What do you know about Julia’s parents?

2. How old was Julia when her father died?

3. Did she complete any acting courses?

4. What was her first famous film?

Sum up what the text says about Julia Roberts.

TEXT 7. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Listen, read and translate the text about William Shakespeare.

William Shakespeare was the best and most famous playwright of all time. He was born on 23^rd April 1564 in the small town of Stratford. Little is known about his childhood, but there is some evidence to show that he got married when he was 18 and that he had three children. Unfortunately, this is all that history knows about his private life.

Around 1592, Shakespeare moved to London where he started writing. During these early years in London he wrote, among others, such plays as ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, one of the funniest comedies he ever wrote, and ‘Romeo and Juliet’ – a love story set in the beautiful Italian town of Verona. One thing is sure, with these and other plays, Shakespeare became England’s leading playwright.

Shakespeare was a very prolific playwright and full of ideas. Between 1604 – 1605 he wrote the tragedies ‘Macbeth’, ‘King Lear’ and ‘Othello’ which today are considered to be classics. After writing ‘The Tempest’ Shakespeare came back to Stratford where he died on 23^rd April 1616, at the age of 52. Although he died so long ago, his works are still read all over the world and are an endless source of inspiration for many contemporary film directors and writers.

Learn ten new words and expressions from the wordlist by heart.

classic – классика, классический

contemporary – современный

endless – бесконечный

evidence – основание, доказательство

inspiration – вдохновение

leading – ведущий, главный

playwright – драматург

private – личный, частный

prolific – плодовитый

source – источник

tragedy – трагедия

Answer the following questions:

1. When and where was William Shakespeare born?

2. Was he married? How many children did he have?

3. What plays did he write during his early years in London?

4. What were Shakespeare’s best tragedies?

5. When and where did William Shakespeare die?

Sum up what the text says about William Shakespeare.