Famous people

Each country is proud of its famous people, and Russia is among them. There are a lot of Russian famous writers, poets and musicians. A. Pushkin is the most important Russian writer and poet of all the time. He is like Shakespeare in England. He provided the standards for Russian arts and literature in the 19th century. In 1823 Pushkin began writing his masterpiece Eugene Onegin. It became his linguistic and literar standard. It is a commentary on the life of the early 19th-century Russia. Pushkin also wrote a lot of other poems and created masterpieces in drama and prose. All Russian people know Pushkin. Galleries and museums were named after him. In the centre of Moscow there is a monument to Pushkin built by famous Russia-architect Opekunshin in 1880. Pushkin's memorial museums in different cities attract many visitors.

One of the other famous poets and writers in Russia was M. Lermontov. He won fame as a poet after his poem on Pushkin`s death had been published. Lermontov's poems Demon, Mtsyri, his great novel A Hero of Our Time and his play Masquerade are masterpieces of Russian literature.

Russian famous musicians and composers such as Serge Rachmaninov and Peter Tchaikovsky are recognized all over the world. Tchaikovsky composed a lot of symphonies and created beautiful music for operas and ballets. His famous operas Eugene Onegin, Ioianta and his famous ballets The Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty are masterpieces. His memorial museum was opened in 1894 in Klin not far from Moscow. And the International Tchaikovsky Music Competition started in 1958 in Moscow.

S. Rachmaninov was an outstanding Russian composer and pianist. He became famous with audience around the world for his piano performances.

Great Britain is also proud of its famous people. One of its famous writers A. Conan Doyle invented Sherlock Holmes, one of the famous characters and detectives. Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Scotland. He was a doctor. In 1882 he moved to England to set up a practice. One of the doctors he worked for was the model for Dr. Watson. Conan Doyle's medical knowledge was a great help in his detective stories. He started the fashion of the detective stories. And nowadays there are few people who don't like detective stories. We know a lot about Sherlock Holmes. We even know his address — 221 " B" Baker Street in London. When Conan Doyle began to get tired of writing detective stories, he "killed" Holmes in one of his stories. But the public didn't like it. Conan Doyle had to write another story in which Holmes came back.

In the history of the United States there are a lot of famous names. There are many people that have influenced life in America, and each of them is well-known in a certain field of activity.

To many people the name of Walt Disney means the world of funny cartoons. He developed the family-entertainment park Disney­land in California, the place to return to the world of childhood.

Many outstanding writers lived and worked in America. For example, Jack London who went to Alaska to find gold. Instead, he found ideas for his stories there. He is best-known for his books The Call of the Wild and Martin Eden.

Mark Twain (the real name is Samuel Clemens) wrote his masterpiece The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Because of his sense of humour and the style with which he wrote, his books are considered to mark the beginning of modern American literature. O'Henry is a well known American short-story writer. Ernest Hemingway was one of the Hollywood's favourite authors. The Old Man and the Sea, A Farewell to Arms made him famous. Another famous novelist is Theodore Driser. He wrote such novels as Sister Carrie, Financier, Titanic. Ray Bradbury is the author of many imaginative science-fiction stories and novels.

Many talented people played their role in shaping America-life and culture. The whole world knows the names of great inventors, because their inventions, such as a car, aeroplane, electric lamp and telephone, have changed our life significantly: Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Alexander Bell and many others.

Edison believed that only work could bring success. So did the greatest American architect Frank Lloyd Write. He made an important contribution to the modern movement in architecture. He designed homes which were less crowded and had more space.

We can't imagine America without the name of M. Jackson. Elvis Presley is known as a king of rock-and-roll. He brought together the musical sounds of the blacks in America and of country people.

Louis Armstrong was the first jazz soloist who received world-wide recognition. He was a singer and a wonderful trumpet player.

American centre of movie industry — Hollywood has produced a galaxy of brilliant actors and actresses: M. Monro, E. Tailor. M. Duglas, B. Streisand, S. Stallone, L. DiCaprio, J. Roberts and others.

Everybody knows the name of Neil Armstrong — the first man on the Moon.

Among the most famous people, that are greatly honoured by their compatriots, are well-known statesmen G. Washington. A. Lincoln and B. Franklin.

Notes

1. are considered - считается

2. imaginative - художественный

3. science-fiction – научная фантастика

4. compatriot - соотечественник

Вариант 11

FEAR

"Are you a man or a mouse?" When people ask this question they want to know if you think you are a brave person or a coward. But you will never really know the answer to that question until you are tested in real life. Some people think they are brave, but when they come face to face with real dan­ger, they act like cowards. Other people think of themselves as cowardly, but when they meet danger, act like heroes.

Lenny Skutnik had always thought of himself as a nervous person. He got worried before examinations. He worried about his job and his health. All he wanted in life was to be safe and healthy. Then, on 5th January, 1982, a plane crashed into the Potomac River in Washington. Lenny went to the river to see what was happening. Then he saw a woman in the ice-cold water. Suddenly Lenny did not feel afraid. He kept very calm and did a very cou­rageous thing. He jumped into the river, swam to the woman and kept her head above the water. Seventy-eight people died that day. Thanks to Lenny Skutnik, it was not seventy-nine.

When you are in a very dangerous situation and feel afraid, the body au­tomatically produces a chemical in the blood. This chemical is called adrena­lin. With adrenalin in the blood system, you actually feel stronger and are ready to fight or run away. However, when you are absolutely terrified, the body can produce too much adrenalin. When this happens, the muscles be­come very hard and you find that you cannot move at all. You are then para­lysed with fear. That is why, when we are very frightened, we sometimes say that we are 'petrified'. This word comes from the Greek word 'petros' which means 'stone'. We are so frightened we have become like stone.

Notes

be petrified — оцепенеть