17. Famous People of Great Britain

The United Kingdom is a great country with a rich history, traditions and customs. It gave birth to many talented people in different fields and spheres: literature, art, science, music, sports.

Isaac Newton is a famous mathematician who worked out a basic formula. Being a student at Trinity College he heard lectures in Greek, Latin, mathematics, theology. He mastered many subjects independently because he was interested in them. By and by his interests began to center more and more on physics and mathematics. He still would have earned an honored name in scientific history. And at that time he was only twenty-two years old.

Charles Dickens is a well-known English writer. He was born in 1812 at Portsmouth where his father was a clerk at Navy Office. He was the oldest of a large family. His mother was a well-educated person. His family moved to London where he worked at a lawyer's office. He made some reports for newspapers. Soon he entered the "Morning Chronicle" and his work of writing really began. He went all over the country, got news, wrote stories, met people. In 1836 he became famous. He wrote novel after novel. At the same time he was working as a newspaperman, visited America, Italy, Switzerland, Paris. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Christopher Wren is a well-known English architect. He designed many palaces, fine houses, beautiful churches including St. Paul's Cathedral. It took him 35 years to build this cathedral and when it was finished he was an old man. After his death he was buried in it.

Robert Burns is a famous English poet. He was born in a farming family and received some elementary schooling. He studied world geography, English grammar, some physics, astronomy, botany and was fond of Shakespeare and Milton. He was a man of character, a man of principle and a brilliant talker. He died rather young at the age of 37.

18. My Native Town

I live in Smila. My town is not very big. It is in Cherkasy region. It stands on the Tyasmin River. Before the revolution Smila was a typical provincial town. Duke Bobrynsky was a master and organizer of industry and agriculture in this area. There were sugar refinery plants, railway station, 1 hospital for 10 beds with 1 doctor, some church schools and a private school. The modern town is very nice. There is a square with monument to Lenin, a fountain, a House of Culture, a Post office and the House of Soviets in the center of the town. There are many trees and flowers in the central square. Sverdlov Street is the central street of our town. The traffic is heavy. There are many buses and cars. There are monuments to Lenin, Chmelnytsky, Taras Shevchenko, monument of Glory in our town. Industry is developed in our town. There are such plants:

sugar-refinery plant,

electro-mechanical plant,

machine-building plant,

radio plant, sewing factory,

furniture factory and others.

The nature and history of our town is very nice and interesting. It is surrounded by forests and fields. There are some museums. There is a Yuri Hill. I like my town very much.