The master and margaret

It was my best visit to the theatre. The performance was staged at the Taganka Theatre. It was a drama with elements of tragicomedy. The director was Yuri Lyubimov, the script-writer was Vladimir Dyachin. I booked tickets in advance and took them in the box-offiice. My seat was in the tenth row of the stalls. The Master and Margaret is a play based on the novel by Mikhail Bulgakov. The scene is laid in Moscow under Stalin and in Jerusalem under Pilate, it has several story-lines (love, religion and culture). It is the story of Master, a talented author and Master's muse – Margarita. At the same time it is the story of Jesus and Pilate. Another main character is the Satan named Voland. The performance was a great success. The actors and actresses on the stage were excellent. After the curtain was down, the audience applauded for a long time.

Jerusalem – Иерусалим; story-line – сюжетная линия; muse - муза some like it hot

Yesterday I watched TV. I don’t like sitcoms but it was my favourite movie. The film was made in 1959. It was directed by Billy Wilder.

The movie was shot in black and white. The script is based on a French film but the scene is laid in Chicago of 1929 and the city of Miami. Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon play the main roles. The plot is like this. Two musicians witness a crime and gangsters try to kill them. The friends run away, dress like women to play in an all-girl band. One of them falls in love with another band member (the Marilyn Monroe stars as that girl) and many funny things happen. The film was a great a hit. It was awarded two Academy Awards (Oscars).

Many people think it to be the greatest American comedy of all time.

some like it hot – некоторые любят погорячее

(слова из детской песенки)

witness a crime - быть свидетелем преступления

all-girl band - женский оркестр

fall in love with – влюбиться в к-л

of all time - всех времён

many funny things happen - происходит много забавных вещей

My favourite english writer (dickens)

Charles Dickens is one of the greatest English writers.

He was born in Portsmouth on the 7th of February in 1812. Charles’s father was a clerk. The boy showed his talents from his early childhood. His parents loved to hear him recite poetry and act scenes from plays and novels.

When Dickens was ten, his family moved to London. Very soon Charles had to go to work as his father was put in prison for debt. Charles was paid very little money and for two years he never had enough to eat. The experience of his poverty was reflected in his novels when he became a writer. When Dickens’s father left prison he sent his son to a private school. After that Charles became a clerk in a lawyer’s office and in his spare time studied shorthand for journalism.

At the age of 19 Charles became a reporter for a newspaper. When Dickens turned 24 he wrote Sketches by Boz (1836) which was accepted by a magazine. Readers were charmed with his humour. In the same year he wrote his famous novel Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club with Mister Pickwick and Sam Weller as main characters.

Dickens devoted himself to literature and wrote many fine novels. His most famous books are Oliver Twist, David Copperfield and A Tale of Two Cities.

Despite his success in literature Dickens was not very happy. Family troubles and overwork exhausted the great writer and in 1870 Dickens died. He was only 58. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Notes

clerk	клерк	shorthand	стенография
recite poetry	читать стихи	charm	очаровать
move (to)	переехать	posthumous	посмертный
prison	тюрьма	character	персонаж
for debt	за долги	devoted himself	посвятил себя
experience	опыт	fine	прекрасный
poverty	нищета	success	успех
reflect	отражать	troubles	невзгоды
private	частный	overwork	перенапряжение
accept	принимать	exhaust	истощать
lawyer’s office	контора юриста	bury	хоронить

Answer the following questions

in writing and orally: