The Beginning of Mass Communication

In Western culture, mass communication began in the 15^th century when the German printer Johannes Gutenberg (1398-1468) invented the process of movable type. Movable type allowed molds of alphabet characters to be rearranged to form any message desired. After enough of a particular page was printed, the letter molds could be reused to form new words and pages.

Prior to that time, most books were handwritten and very time-consuming to produce. Because of this, reading material was limited to those in the elite culture – the clergy and nobility. Gutenberg’s invention increased the number of books and made them available for a new emerging middle class.

Life in medieval society was very stable. People were born into a social class and remained there throughout their life. However, by the 14^th century, Europeans had started to travel and explore the world beyond them. They began to discover different cultures ant different types of consumer goods, and these discoveries led to the development of long-distance trade.

Printing became the first mass-produced and mass-distributed commodity in this new Western culture. And pictorial prints were the first form of mass-produced images for popular markets.

In addition to books and pictorial prints, maps were also widely published and circulated. They not only facilitated trade and travel, but were used like pictorial prints as decorative wall hangings.

Most books published during the first century of printing were reproductions of traditional religious works, such as the Bible, the Book of Hours (which contains the prescribed order of prayers, readings from the Scriptures, etc.) and the like. Woodcut illustrations were used in this books not so much to illustrate a scene but rather to decorate the pages.

IV ВАРІАНТ

1. Transform the direct speech into reported one according to the model. Pay attention to the rules of the sequence of tenses. Translate the sentences.

1. “I will ring when I want you,” she said to the maid.

2. “Both of you come with me,” Conder said, “and have a drink at the Fitzroy”.

3. “Now, Miss Dunbar,” said Holmes, “I beg you to tell us exactly what occurred that evening”.

4. Arthur said, “The lake is lovely”.

5. He said to Monty softly, “Play one of your brother’s songs”.

2. Make the following sentences passive. Translate the sentences.

1. She announced to the workers that the experiment was dangerous.

2. Have you sent for the morning papers?

3. You are always finding fault with me!

4. Where will they build the new theatre?

5. Two young but experienced nurses assisted the doctor during the operation.

3. Translate the following sentences into Russian. Pay attention to the function of the Infinitive constructions in the sentence.

1. I want you both to be happy very much.

2. He wanted her to deal with it herself.

3. Yesterday Jane saw Her Majesty speak in front of the Houses of Parliament.

4. You are certain to like him.

5. The bridge was too narrow for the track to cross.

4. Choose the necessary modal verb among those in brackets. Translate the sentences.

1. You (can, ought to) know the subject better if you want to pass the exam well.

2. (Could, might) I smoke in here?

3. If we (need, be to) win this match, we all must do our very best.

4. He (may, need) not have recovered yet.

5. You (must, can) smoke in here. The window is open.

5. Translate the sentences into Russian. Pay attention to the translation of the Gerund.

1. This illness will mean going to hospital. It’ll require that treatment.

2. She can’t stand being kept waiting.

3. She is afraid of waking her husband. He is ill.

4. Try knocking at the back door if nobody hears you at the front door.

5. Do you remember closing the window before leaving?

6. Прочитайте та перекладіть текст: