Benjamin Franklin

1. Pre-reading task:

1. Answer the following questions:

1. What famous people from English-speaking countries do you know?

2. What are they famous for?

2. Read and translate the text.

Benjamin Franklin

Self-educated and self-made, Benjamin Franklin led a rich and active life. Universally recognized as a superb diplomat and celebrated wit, Franklin was also a scientist, a musician, a philosopher, and the inventor .

Born the son of a Boston tallow marker, Franklin became at the age of twelve a printer’s apprentice to his brother, who had just bought back a press from England. Under the pen name of Silence Dogood , Franklin wrote a number of satiric pieces for his brother’s newspaper. At the age of seventeen, he headed for Philadelphia, where he acquired his own printing shop. In 1730, he created a character who came to be known as Poor Richard, and Poor Richard’s Almanack continued for the next twenty-five years.

The growth of his printing company and some wise investments enabled Franklin to retire when he was forty-four and devote his time to inventions and scientific experiments. His findings established him as the leading scientist of the Western Hemisphere and caused his election to the exclusive Royal Society.

The Pennsylvania legislature sent him to London in 1757 to present Pennsylvania in its disputes with mother country. Between 1768 and 1770 three more of the colonies asked Franklin to represent them, and he quickly became the chief spokesman for the colonies as a whole. By 1775 he had given up his once strong hope for reconciliation with England and returned to America where he was elected to the Second Continental Congress. He was appointed to the committee to frame the Declaration of Independence.

His quick wit and worldly wisdom made him extremely popular there, he helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris (1783), by which England recognized American independence. While abroad, he wrote The Autobiography, which explains the regimen of self-education that he so rigorously pursued.

Although he was old and ill when he returned to America in 1785, he served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention (1787) and continued his work with many humanitarian and scientific societies.

3. Language work.

1. Give the Russian equivalents for the following words and word combinations:

Self-educated, self-made, a rich and active life, universally recognized, a superb diplomat, a scientist, an inventor, a pen name, to create a character, to come be known, an investment, to enable, to devote one’s time, scientific experiments, Western Hemisphere, Royal Society, to represent, reconciliation, to be elected, to be appointed, a committee, the Declaration of Independence, to be extremely popular, humanitarian and scientific societies, to give up one’s hope.

2. Give the English equivalents for the following words and word combinations:

Насыщенная и активная жизнь, превосходный дипломат, изобретатель, ученый, псевдоним, создать персонаж, посвящать свое время, научные эксперименты, быть избранным, Западное полушарие, быть назначенным, королевское общество, быть крайне популярным, гуманитарные и научные общества, отказаться от своей надежды, комитет, Декларация независимости, стать известным.