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Архитектура Аудит Военная наука Иностранные языки Медицина Металлургия Метрология Образование Политология Производство Психология Стандартизация Технологии |
George Washington Carver: The Plant DoctorСтр 1 из 8Следующая ⇒
Contents
Part 1 Effective Reading ‘Why am I reading? ’ is the first question an effective reader asks himself or herself, because how you read depends on your purpose. You may read to locate specific information, to understand reasons and facts and to learn, to enjoy words and descriptions, as in poetry and some prose, etc. As soon as the effective reader defines the purpose of his/her reading, s/he asks another question 'How should I read? ' In other words what reading technique or techniques should s/he choose? Effective and efficient readers learn to use many different styles of reading for different purposes. Skimming, scanning and critical reading are considered to be the most important ones. Among others are previewing and predicting, guessing word meaning, recognizing the main idea, making inferences, summarizing and annotating.
Skimming
Skimming is used to quickly identify the main ideas of a text. When you read a newspaper, you’re probably not reading it word-by-word, instead you’re skimming the text. Skimming is done at a speed three to four times faster than normal reading. People often skim when they have lots of material to read in a limited amount of time. There are many strategies that can be used when skimming. Some people read the first and last paragraphs using headings, summarizes and other organizers as they move down the page or screen. You might read the title, subtitles, subheading, and illustrations. This technique is useful when you're seeking information rather than reading for comprehension.
Scanning
Scanning is a technique you often use when looking up a word in the telephone book or dictionary. You search for key words or ideas. In most cases, you know what you’re looking for, so you’re concentrating on finding a particular answer. Scanning involves moving your eyes down the page seeking specific words and phrases. Once you've scanned the document, you might go back and skim it. When scanning, look for the author’s use of organizes such as numbers, letters, steps, or the words, first, second, or next. Look for words that are bold faced, italics, or in a different font size, style, or color.
Previewing Previewing a text means gathering as much information about the text as you can before you actually read it. You can ask yourself the following questions:
· What is my purpose for reading?
If you are being asked to summarize a particular piece of writing, you will want to look for the thesis and main points. Are you being asked to respond to a piece? If so, you may want to be conscious of what you already know about the topic and how you arrived at that opinion.
· What can the title tell me about the text?
Before you read, look at the title of the text. What clues does it give you about the piece of writing? It may reveal the author's stance, or make a claim the piece will try to support. Good writers usually try to make their titles do work to help readers make meaning of the text from the reader's first glance at it.
· Who is the author?
If you have heard the author's name before, what comes to your mind in terms of their reputation and/or stance on the issue you are reading about? Has the author written other things of which you are aware? How does the piece in front of you fit into to the author's body of work? What is the author's political position on the issue they are writing about? Are they liberal, conservative, or do you know anything about what prompted them to write in the first place?
· How is the text structured?
Sometimes the structure of a piece can give you important clues to its meaning. Be sure to read all section headings carefully. Also, reading the opening sentences of paragraphs should give you a good idea of the main ideas contained in the piece.
Critical Reading
The purpose of critical reading is to accept or reject a writer's opinion. It involves gaining a deeper understanding of the material. Successful critical readers read with a pencil in their hand, making notes in the text as they read. Instead of reading passively, they create an active relationship with what they are reading by " talking back" to the text in its margins. You may want to make the following annotations as you read:
· Mark the thesis and main points of the piece
The thesis is the main idea or claim of the text and relates to the author’s purpose for writing. Sometimes the thesis is not explicitly stated, but is implied in the text, but you should still be able to paraphrase an overall idea the author is interested in exploring in the text. The thesis can be thought of as a promise the writer makes to the reader that the rest of the essay attempts to fulfill. The main points are the major subtopics, or sub-ideas the author wants to explore. Main points make up the body of the text, and are often signaled by major divisions in the structure of the text. Marking the thesis and main points will help you understand the overall idea of the text, and the way the author has chosen to develop her or his thesis through the main points s/he has chosen.
· Mark key terms and unfamiliar words
While you are reading, be sure to circle unfamiliar words and take the time to look them up in the dictionary. Making meaning of some discussions in texts depends on your understanding of pivotal words. You should also annotate key terms that keep popping up in your reading. The fact that the author uses key terms to signal important and/or recurring ideas means that you should have a firm grasp of what they mean.
· Underline important ideas and memorable images
You will want to underline important ideas and memorable images so that you can go back to the piece and find them easily. Marking these things will also help you relate to the author's position in the piece more readily. Writers may try to signal important ideas with the use of descriptive language or images, and where you find these stylistic devices, there may be a key concept the writer is trying to convey.
· Write your questions and/or comments in the margins of the piece
" Talking back" to the text is an important meaning-making activity for critical readers. Think about what thoughts and feelings the text arouses in you. Do you agree or disagree with what the author is saying? Are you confused by a certain section of the text? Write your reactions to the reading in the margins of the text itself so you can refer to it again easily. This will not only make your reading more active and memorable, but it may be material you can use in your own writing later on.
· Write any personal experience related to the piece
Identifying personally with the piece will enable you to get more out of your reading because it will become more relevant to your life, and you will be able to remember what you read more easily.
· Mark confusing parts of the piece, or sections that warrant a reread
It is important to go back to confusing sections to try to understand as much as you can about them. Annotating these sections may also remind you to bring up the confusing section in class or to your instructor.
· Underline the sources, if any, the author has used
Good critical readers are always aware of the sources an author uses in her or his text. You should mark sources in the text and ask yourself the following questions: - Is the source relevant? In other words, does the source work to support what the author is trying to say? - Is the source credible? What is his or her reputation? Is the source authoritative? What is the source's bias on the issue? What is the source's political and/or personal stance on the issue? - Is the source current? Is there new information that refutes what the source is asserting? Is the writer of the text using source material that is outdated? Summarizing Summarizing means providing a short account of the most important facts or features of a piece of writing.
Guessing word meaning
There are various strategies that you can learn which will help you to deduce what a word likely means. Yes, you could just look them up in a dictionary; but, studies show that you most likely won't remember the word after a while. However, by making your brain figure it out, a trail of understanding is left and you are more likely to remember it, thus improving your vocabulary! Perhaps you are taking a standardized test and are being asked about particular words. These strategies will help you immensely!
Step 1. Context - If the word is used in a sentence, look at the other words and see if they give you clues to the word's meaning. This may help to guess, at least, part of the word's meaning.
Step 2. STRUCTURE- Probably the most important skill when it comes to understanding words. The internal structure of words is called morphology. Morphology consists of morphemes--which are minimal units of meaning, rules for combining them into words, and rules for pronouncing the resulting words.
Step 3. Using your understanding of morphology helps you break down a word into smaller pieces so that you can guess what it means.
Step 4. MORPHEME- A morpheme may be a word or less than a word. Morphemes cannot be broken down into smaller units. TYPES OF MORPHEMES- Prefixes, Suffixes, Infixes, Plurals, Possessives, and base(root) words.
Step 5. Now that you understand what a morpheme is, the next step is to take your word and try to break it down into morphemes.
Step 6. KNOW YOUR ROOTS - Sometimes after you break down your word, you still may not know the meaning because you don't know what the base (root) word means. Think of other words you know that have the same base in them.
Step 7. With the strategies above you can usually guess what a word means. If you are taking a test, use what you've assumed about the word to help with the process of elimination.
Making Inferences
Inferences are evidence-based guesses. They are the conclusions a reader draws about the unsaid based on what is actually said. Inferences drawn while reading are much like inferences drawn in everyday life. If your best friend comes in from a blind date and looks utterly miserable, you would probably infer the date was not a success. Drawing inferences while you read requires exactly the same willingness to look at the evidence and come to a conclusion that has not been expressed in words. Only in reading, the evidence for your inference consists solely of words rather than actual events, expressions, or gestures. Reading Tips: 1. Make sure your inferences rely mainly on the author’s words rather than your own feelings or experience. Your goal is to read the author’s mind, not invent your own message. 2. Check to see if your inference is contradicted by any statements in the paragraph. If it is, it is not an appropriate or useful inference. 3. If the passage is a tough one, check to see if you can actually identify the statements that led you to your conclusion. This kind of close reading is a good comprehension check. It will also help you remember the material.
Part 2 Vocabulary Practice I. Explain the meaning of the following words and word combinations and translate them into Russian.
1) to snatch (up) 2) kidnap(p)er 3) to pursue the raiders 4) ransom 5) intermediary 6) burden 7) benefit 8) obvious 9) adept at smth. 10) corollary 11) arrogance 12) humility 13) to hinder 14) solitary 15) insatiable thirst for learning 16) brief hiatus 17) to acquire smth. 18) avid correspondent 19) to inquire 20) apparently 21) quite at random 22) quite by accident 23) socially timid 24) to buoy 25) assiduous study 26) dedicated student 27) to lack in fundamentals 28) to make up the deficiencies 29) to enroll in 30) prestigious and lucrative positions 31) dissemination 32) to draw out/ to bring out 33) out of place 34) hostile 35) to rise up against smth. 36) superiority 37) total apathy 38) to conspire 39) to tumble over each other 40) to boost (the discoverer) 41) to survive 42) specimen 43) to be possessed by smth. 44) eminence 45) artifact 46) sample 47) ample proof 48) obstacle II. Translate into English.
1) не предвещать ничего хорошего, служить дурным предзнаменованием 2) не говоря уже о 3) не иметь пристрастия 4) не иметь другого выхода, кроме 5) крыша над головой, кров 6) безопасность 7) быть искусным, знатоком в чем-либо 8) домашние ремесла 9) человек, легко находящий практическое решение проблемы 10) испытывать недостаток базовых знаний 11) наверстать, восполнить нехватку 12) поворотный момент 13) занимать пост 14) получить степень магистра в 15) никогда не терять из виду цель 16) специально оборудованный 17) воплотить в жизнь 18) стадия критики 19) новомодный 20) представление о 21) сомневаться в научной состоятельности подхода 22) последнее обвинение 23) необоснованный 24) ввиду чего-либо 25) обширные знания 26) бросить привычку 27) ни в какое другое время 28) остро чувствовать, понимать 29) не проходит ни дня 30) признание 31) подытожить 32) пренебрегать 33) быть очарованным 34) человеческие способности 35) цвет кожи 36) присуждать степень 37) почетная степень 38) свидетельствовать в пользу 39) преодолеть
III. Fill in the blanks with prepositions or adverbs where necessary.
1. The poor child was snatched up … a group of criminals in order to get a large ransom for him. 2. He was valued by the slaves because he had no relish … cruelty. 3. Especially adept … science, he later excelled … botany. 4. After he finished a secondary school, he set … from his home town … the distant country he knew nothing of. 5. He chose number 13 quite … random (quite … accident) and won the first prize. 6. Rather an ugly boy in his childhood, at the age of 17 he turned … a handsome young man. 7. Nobody doubted … the honesty of the elderly woman. 8. A lot of people tried to oppose … his monstrous plans, but in vain. 9. The word ‘independent’ is derived … the word ‘dependent’. 10. George Washington Carver was a figure widely recognized for his art of painting, let … for his achievements in botany and education. 11. This school is famous for its classrooms specially equipped … the brand-new computers. 12. All his life he was possessed … the idea of turning ‘ugly’ into ‘beautiful’. 13. To understand how precious life is, one needs to pass … all the difficulties and mishaps. 14. The University was named … a world-famous writer who had graduated from it. 15. He tried to quit … smoking several times, but he couldn’t.
The article that you are going to read now comes from the Internet site of Tuskegee University where George Washington Carver worked for more than forty years. Read the text and translate it into Russian.
Part 3 Vocabulary Practice I. Find synonyms to the following words and word combinations:
− to outvie − to abandon − to be content − (to write) continually − to cease to do smth. − to surmise − infirm (delight) − civility − mutual love − to the point (about poetry) − progenitor − to uplift
II. Translate the following words and word combinations into English:
− веселая и остроумная − явления природы − самоотречение − сохранить поэтические инновации − чувствовать огромную потерю − найти утешение в поэзии − отступление от норм в языке, синтаксисе и рифме − отвергнуть предложение − Преподобный (о священнике) − вечность − бессмертие
III. Translate the following word combinations and sentences into Russian:
− inland soul − to seek to do smth. − to withdraw from general contact with society − to neglect the rules of grammar − to let imagination play upon smth. − badly modified version − to conform to the rules − poetic conventions − stanza
The first book of Emily Dickinson’s poems was published in the Soviet Union in 1981 by an outstanding Russian poet, orientalist and translator Vera Nikolaevna Markova. Below you can see some of Dickinson’s poems and their translations done by V.N. Markova. Read them carefully and say how close the translation is to the original.
“Tell all the Truth but tell it slant...” Tell all the Truth but tell it slant—
«ВСЮ ПРАВДУ СКАЖИ - НО СКАЖИ ЕЕ ВКОСЬ...» Всю правду скажи – но скажи ее вкось. На подступах сделай круг. Слишком жгуч внезапной Истины луч. Восход в ней слишком крут.
Как детей примиряет с молнией Объяснений долгая цепь – Так Правда должна поражать не вдруг – Или каждый – будет слеп!
“The Soul selects her own Society...” The Soul selects her own Society— Unmoved—she notes the Chariots—pausing— I've known her—from an ample nation— «Душа изберет сама свое общество...» Душа изберет сама свое Общество— Напрасно—будут ждать колесницы— Порою она всей пространной нации—
“I'm Nobody? Who are you?..” I'm Nobody! Who are you? How dreary—to be—Somebody!
«Я - никто. А ты - кто?...» Я - Никто. А ты — ты кто? Как уныло—быть кем-нибудь—
“I died for Beauty - but was scarce...” I died for Beauty—but was scarce He questioned softly " Why I failed"? And so, as Kinsmen, met a Night—
«Я принял смерть - чтоб жила Красота...» Я принял смерть — чтоб жила Красота — " За что, — спросил он, — ты отдал жизнь? " И мы — как родные — встретили ночь—
You can find more of Dickinson’s poems translated by V. Markova at http: //www.uspoetry.ru/poem
An American Renaissance. I. Read the text and answer the questions: 1. What ideological border existed between the western and eastern parts of the country? 2. What were some young people disappointed by? 3. Where did they look for new ideas? 4. What philosophies did the Transcendentalists reject? Why? 5. What was the main idea of the Transcendentalists?
II. Make inferences about: 1. What ideas were writers trying to find in the west? 2. Why did the author call this time “An American Renaissance”?
In the 1830s and 1840s, the frontier of American society was quickly moving toward the west. Following in the path of Brackenridge and Cooper, writers were beginning to look at the western frontier for ideas for a literature about American life. But in the cities along the east coast, the older ideal of the nation as an Atlantic community was still very much alive. The feeling there was that the cultures of Massachusetts and Virginia ought to be the models of national culture. At this time, Boston and its neighboring towns and villages were filled with intellectual excitement and activity. Harvard, in nearby Cambridge, was no longer the only place deeply interested in education. The powerful (and now rather conservative) North American Review, founded by Harvard professor Edward Channing in 1818, was also busily spreading ideas. And since 1826, traveling lecturers had been bringing knowledge about culture and science to both the city and the New England countryside… Among the younger people, there was much talk about the “new spiritual era”. The young intellectuals of Boston were dissatisfied with the old patriotism. America’s power and wealth did not interest them. They wanted to explore the inner life. They studied the Greek, German and Indian philosophers. Many kept diaries about their lives and feelings. Others became vegetarians or nudists. In the center of this activity were the Transcendentalists. They formed a movement of feelings and beliefs rather than a system of philosophy. They rejected both the conservative Puritanism of their ancestors and the newer, liberal faith of Unitarianism. They saw both religions as “negative, cold, lifeless”. Although they respected Christ for the wisdom of his teachings, they thought of the works of Shakespeare and the great philosophers as equally important. The Transcendentalists tried to find the truth through feelings and intuition rather than through logic. Orestes Brownson, and early Transcendentalists, defined the movement as “the recognition in man of the capacity of knowing truth intuitively … an order of knowledge transcending the senses". Henry David Thoreau put it more simply: ‘Wisdom does not inspect, it beholds.” The Transcendentalists found God everywhere, in man and in nature:
Sea, earth, air, sound, silence, Plant, quadruped, bird, By one music enchanted, One deity stirred.
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)
In many ways, nature itself was their " Bible". Birds, clouds, trees and snow had a special meaning for them. Natural images like these created a kind of language. Through this language they discovered ideas already planted in the human soul:
All things in nature are beautiful types to the soul that will read them. … Every object that speaks to the senses was meant for the soul. (Christopher Cranch)
In 1836, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) published Nature, the clearest statement of Transcendentalist ideas. In it he stated that man should not see nature merely as something to be used; that man’s relationship with nature transcends the idea of usefulness. He saw an important difference between understanding (judging things only according to the senses) and “Reason”:
When the eye of Reason opens … outlines and surfaces become transparent and are no longer seen; causes and spirits are seen through them. The best moments of life are these delicious awakenings.
Part 4 To the Common Man. Quiz for Automobile Experts 1. When was the first automobile with internal combustion engine made?
a) in 1862 b) in 1872 c) in 1882
2. What was its engine powered by?
a) oil b) kerosene c) gas
3. What is ‘ignition'?
a) a cover for the hub of a vehicle’s wheel b) a mechanism for starting the combustion of mixture in the cylinder c) a wheel by which a vehicle is steered
4. What is the luggage compartment of a car called?
a) windshield b) cap c) boot
5. What is ‘hatchback’?
a) a sports car b) a small three door car c) a car with a sloping back hinged at the top to form a door
6. The car tyres are called pneumatic because they:
a) are made of rubber b) contain air inside c) can be replaced
7. What is ‘Indy”?
a) a chiefly US motor racing competition b) the first car made in India c) a type of five door estate cars
8. When was the first car racing competition held?
a) in 1903 b) in 1894 c) in 1862
9. What was the maximum speed that the motor vehicles did in that competition?
a) 15 km/h b) 24 km/h c) 70 km/h
10. How is a car with a folding or detachable roof called?
a) removable b) packable c) convertible
Vocabulary Practice.
I. Choose a synonym from the text to the underlined words and word combinations.
1. The only further step required is to get rid of the idea of producing on what the traffic will bear. 2. In the early years of the company’s existence, Ford took part in legal battles challenging patents which limited his opportunities to alter the internal combustion engine… 3. Alongside of the political reforms of the Progressive Era, Ford’s dedication to the free market, to making a socially useful products …, suggested that a new and better way of life was coming. 4. Ford was a real hero for the common Americans. 5. Though he closed his factories for 18 months in 1927-1928 to prepare for a new Ford car, the Model A, he never achieved his position of leadership in the car industry again. 6. Yet Ford himself was frequently criticized. 7. Ford continued to manufacture the Model T until General Motors left it behind in sales with its more stylish-looking Chevrolet. 8. Ford was fond of all vegetables, but he adored the soybean with a feeling close to admiration. 9. To him it was the medicine for every decease. 10. Ford’s peace campaign was the momentary caprice of an inventor and manufacturer who got involved into a too difficult task when entering the sphere of politics.
II. Translate the following words and word combinations into English:
− служить подмастерьем − лошадиная сила − предпринять шаги, начать − излагать − составлять реальный рынок для какого-либо продукта − всестороннее обслуживание − враг монополий − шасси − сходить с конвейера − утроить − достижения − с помощью нейтрального посредничества − делать вклад в уничтожение аграрного общества − шикарный − в огромной степени − противоречивая фигура − быть побежденным − высмеивать − навязчивая идея − оценочный − производный продукт − прославлять кровопролитие − в полном смысле слова, без преувеличения − потерпеть крах − скопить − что касается продукта
III. Translate into Russian:
− to revolutionize − humble farming background − internal combustion engine − to become completely knowledgeable − to buy the biggest dollar’s worth of quality − to meet a demand − pricing on what the traffic will bear − pricing on what it costs to manufacture − the champion of the common man − boxy − tinny-looking − mass production assembly line − to conduct a test − to fit in well with smth. − to discourage war − self-reliance − to muss up smb.’s mind − to unionize − a curse − to dramatize the value of human incentives − to lose the common touch − to dehumanize − parched guests − to feature − to fiddle with smth. − a colorful figure − within the purchasing power − at hand − charitable causes − collective bargaining
You have read the text about Henry Ford and his contributions to the US car industry. Now read another text about the development of automobile industry in Britain. Find the reasons for the decline in the UK car manufacturing. Then do the tasks below. Mass Production For all that, Britain emerged from the Second World War as the second biggest car producer and the biggest exporter in the world. Let’s see how management squandered that position. What were the scale economies embraced by the US mass producers and balked at by the smaller UK companies? By the 1970s it is reckoned that engine blocks could be produced efficiently only at levels of a million a year. The pressing out of body panels required huge capital investment and two million a year needed to be made to be producing at least cost. By 1970 the minimum efficient size of a car plant was reckoned to be two million vehicles. The combined UK producers, by now called British Leyland, were producing 200, 000 – 250, 000 cars a year. The economics of mass production meant that producing below capacity produced massive cost penalties in terms of expensive plant lying around unused. By 1969 Ford had invested three times as much fixed capital behind the elbow of each of their car workers as British Leyland. Not surprisingly productivity in Ford was three times the BL level. It wasn’t just the Americans. In 1965 the ‘average’ German car worker made 6.4 cars a year compared with 5.8 in Britain. In 1970 he made 7.5 and in 1976 he made 7.9. British car-making productivity actually fell over that period. Sup-optimal levels of production increased costs – which hurt sales – which produced below capacity output in the factory – which hurt sales some more. And all the while the boss class made merry. British Leyland (now MG Rover) made £ 75 million between 1968 and 1975. £ 70 million was syphoned straight out by the shareholders. The bosses’ hands in the till is as British as roast beef and Yorkshire pudding The decline of UK car manufacturing became evident after 1960. Critics blame the panic amalgamations in the 1960s for the decline. Actually they were a response to a rot that had already set in. Austin, Morris and all the UK producers collapsed together into a heap called, for a time, the British Motor Corporation. The 1964-70 Labour government encouraged amalgamation to produce a ‘national champion’ big enough to take on the global competition. It was already too late. The 1968 merger left 48 factories scattered over the country. No real move to mass production was initiated. Rationalisation only reduced the number of engines from nine to three. Even marketing remained divided with separate ‘Austin’ and ‘Morris’ dealers selling an identical Mini, apart from the badge. In 1975 British Leyland collapsed and was promptly bailed out by the Labour government. So what’s Blair’s problem? Leyland was privatised by Thatcher in 1988. They managed to get rid of it to British Aerospace by writing off £ 150 million. In the 1980s BL, now called MG Rover, began to build links with Honda. It is a measure of decline that the British motor industry was now dependent for new models and cutting edge technology on Japanese industry, which had been a smoking ruin in 1945. In the 1960s Lord Stokes of British Leyland, stated, ‘We don’t make motor cars, we make money.’ The firm he headed now makes neither. I. Find in the text the English equivalents to the following Russian word combinations: − контракты на вооружение − вытеснять инновации − сделать свои автомобили доступными (по средствам) населению − производить собственными силами − требовать больших капиталовложений − несмотря на все это − отказываться от чего-либо − недостаточный уровень производительности − тратить на другие нужды − фабрики, разбросанные по всей стране − поспешное слияние − кроме самой марки − спасать, выручать из беды II. Translate the sentences into Russian: 1. In any case they lacked the vision of the likes of Henry Ford (a thoroughly nasty piece of work) who foresaw homes with a car on every drive, and laid plans for mass production accordingly. 2. Their preference for dividends over investment promoted a short term outlook within the firm. 3. The economics of mass production meant that producing below capacity produced massive cost penalties in terms of expensive plant lying around unused. 4. By 1969 Ford had invested three times as much fixed capital behind the elbow of each of their car workers as British Leyland. 5. The bosses’ hands in the till is as British as roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. 6. It is a measure of decline that the British motor industry was now dependent for new models and cutting edge technology on Japanese industry, which had been a smoking ruin in 1945. III. Can you say that this text presents a particular viewpoint on the development of car industry in Britain? Or is it simply an objective statement of fact? Make conclusions about the country the author of the article belongs to. Find sentences in the text to support your opinion.
Part 5 James Smithson’s Gift Read the text and answer the questions:
1 Do you think Mr. Smithson found a good way to dispose of his money? 2 What do you call people who donate money for institutions promoting arts and scholarships? Name several more.
In 1826, James Smithson, a British scientist, drew up his last will and testament, naming his nephew as beneficiary. Smithson stipulated that, should the nephew die without heirs (as he would in 1835), the estate should go “to the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.” The motives behind Smithson’s bequest remain mysterious. He never traveled to the United States and seems to have had no correspondence with anyone there. Some have suggested that his bequest was motivated in part by revenge against the rigidities of British society, which had denied Smithson, who was illegitimate, the right to use his father’s name. Others have suggested it reflected his interest in the Enlightenment ideals of democracy and universal education. Smithson died in 1829, and six years later, President Andrew Jackson announced the bequest to Congress. On July 1, 1836, Congress accepted the legacy bequeathed to the nation and pledges the faith of the United States to the charitable trust. In September 1838, Smithson’s legacy, which amounted to more than 100, 000 gold sovereigns, was delivered to the mint at Philadelphia. Recoined in U.S. currency, the gift amounted to more than $500, 000. After eight years of sometimes heated debate, an Act of Congress signed by President James K. Polk on Aug.10, 1846, established the Smithsonian Institution as a trust to be administered by a Board of Regents and a Society of the Smithsonian. The Smithsonian Institution is now the world’s largest museum complex, composed of a group of national museums and research centers housing the United States’ national collections in natural history, American history, air and space, the fine arts and the decorative arts, and several other fields ranging from postal history to cultural history. The Institution includes 17 museums, four research centers, the National Zoo, the Smithsonian Institution Libraries (a research library system), the Smithsonian magazine, the Smithsonian Institution Press, a Travelling Exhibition Service, an Office of Education, and a number of other offices and activities.
Some Facts about the Smithsonian Institution:
− 17 museums − 140 affiliate museums − 9 research centers − 24 mln visitors (2004) − 143.5 mln objects, artworks and specimen − 2.1 mln members
Find in the text the English equivalents to the following Russian words:
− составлять завещание − бенефициарий − умереть, не оставив наследников − завещание, дарование − частично вызванное местью − строгость, непреклонность Британского общества − лишать права на что-либо − внебрачный ребенок − наследство, завещанное нации − составлять, равняться − естествознание Part 6 Vocabulary Practice I. Find a synonym from the text to the underlined words and word combinations: 1) from time to time 2) to stress, to underline 3) freedom 4) sympathy 5) the highest point 6) dramatist 7) device and assistance 8) to enroll in the army 9) to provide smb. with smth. 10) American literature 11) to have to face 12) to bear bravely 13) to support the traditional reputation 14) to be appointed
II. Translate into English:
1) прорваться сквозь границы языка 2) сохраняться 3) быть тяжело раненым 4) реализовать свое стремление 5) эмигрант 6) извлечь выгоду 7) наделять кого-либо чем-либо, приписывать кому-либо что-либо 8) трогательный очерк 9) передать (опыт) 10) улов 11) оставить один скелет 12) совершить самоубийство 13) тяжелая жизнь 14) вымучивать 15) следовательно 16) ученый 17) расколоться от напряжения 18) ясновидение 19) вследствие чего-либо 20) отчужденный 21) самоуверенный, нахальный 22) ослаблять 23) расстаться 24) не доверять 25) набросать 26) осмысленное изложение 27) главный герой 28) пойти незамеченным 29) сложные обстоятельства 30) воплощение III. Fill in the blanks with prepositions where necessary:
The Roaring Twenties.
The following are paragraphs of one text. Read them carefully and place them in the correct order. Explain your choice.
A In 1928 the American people elected a new President, Herbert Hoover. Hoover was sure that American prosperity would go on growing and that the poverty in which some Americans still lived would be remembered as something in the past. He said that there would soon be “a chicken in every pot and two cars in every garage.”
B Girls dancing the Charleston. Gangsters carrying machine guns. Charlie Chaplin playing comical tricks. These are some of the pictures that come into people’s minds when they think of the United States in the 1920s. The “roaring twenties.” Good times. Wild times.
C Yet there were lots of poor Americans. A survey in 1929 showed that half the American people had hardly enough money to buy sufficient food and clothing. In the industrial cities of the North, such as Chicago and Pittsburgh, immigrant workers still labored long hours for low wages in steel mines, factories and slaughter houses. In the South thousands of poor farmers, both black and white, worked from sunrise to sunset to earn barely enough to live on. The wealth that Republicans said would benefit everyone never reached people like this…
D Coolidge’s words help to explain the policies of American governments in the 1920s. These governments were controlled by the Republican Party. Republicans believed that if the government looked after the interests of the businessman, everybody would become richer. Businessmen whose firms were doing well, they claimed, would take on more workers and pay more wages. In this way their growing would benefit everybody…
E Looking at the way their standard of living had risen during the 1920s, many other Americans thought the same.
F The United States was very rich in these years. Because of the First World War, other countries owed it a lot of money. It had plenty of raw materials and plenty of factories. Its national income – the total earnings of all its citizens – was much higher, than that of Britain, France, Germany and Japan put together…
G Businessmen became popular heroes in the 1920s. Men like Henry Ford were widely admired as the creators of the nation’s prosperity. “The man who builds a factory builds a temple, ” said Calvin Coolidge, the President from 1923 to 1929. “The man who works there, worships there.”
H The growth of industry made many Americans well-off. Millions earned good wages. Thousands invested money in successful firms so that they could share in their profits. Many bought cars, radios and other new products with the money. Often they obtained these goods by paying a small deposit and agreeing to pay the rest of the cost through an “installment plan.” Their motto was “Live now, pay tomorrow” – a tomorrow which most were convinced would be like today only better, with even more money swelling their wallets.
HEMINGWAY'S PARIS ~ Part 2 I. Read the passage and find the following information in it: a) the name that the Latin Quarter got in the 17th century; b) one of the possible reasons why the term ‘Lost Generation’ appeared; c) the reasons why Paris was attractive for writers; d) the place where Hemingway preferred to write; e) Common problems of many writers of this period which in some cases had a tragic outcome The Lost Generation The Left Bank References to the Left Bank have never lost their power to evoke the most piquant images of Paris. The Left Bank's geographic and cerebral hub is the Latin Quarter, which takes its name from the university tradition of studying and speaking in Latin, a practice that disappeared at the time of the French Revolution. The area is populated mainly by students and academics from the Sorbonne, the headquarters of the University of Paris. Most of the St-Germain café s, where the likes of Sartre, Picasso and Hemingway spent their days and nights, are patronized largely by tourists now. Yet the Left Bank is far from dead. It is a lively and colorful district, rich in history and character. To the south, dwarfed beneath its 59-story Tower, lies Montparnasse, the bohemian center of interwar Paris. During the 17th century, students from the Latin Quarter had jokingly given this area the pompous name of Mont Parnasse (Mount Parnassus). It developed during the 18th century into a center for popular entertainment, as bars, restaurants and cabarets -- which were at that time just outside the city boundaries -- could serve tax-free wine. That tradition survived even after the district became part of Paris during the latter half of the 19th century. While the area of Montmartre had been popular in bohemian circles through the 1890s, during the period immediately prior to World War I, artists and poets suddenly moved to Montparnasse on the Left Bank, thereby bringing it into the limelight and attracting painters and composers as well. Even Russian political refugees such as Lenin and Trotsky became a part of the intellectual community whose social life centered around four café s on the boulevard Montparnasse -- la Coupole, le Select, la Rotonde, and le Dô me. The Lost Generation Though several stories conjecture on how the Lost Generation came to be called thus, the most plausible seems to be this: One summer in Belley, while Gertrude Stein's Ford auto was in need of some repair, it was serviced quickly by a young garage mechanic at the hotel where she was staying. When she mentioned the young man's efficiency to the proprietor, her friend M. Pernollet, he replied that boys of his age made good workers, though it was different with the ones who had gone to war. Young men became civilized between the ages of 18 and 25, while the soldiers had missed that civilizing experience. They were, he said, une gé né ration perdue. When Hemingway heard the story at the rue de Fleurus, he decided to use the sentence " You are all a lost generation" (attributing it to Gertrude Stein) as an epigraph for his first novel, The Sun Also Rises, a story about the 'uncivilized', aimless lives of the very people M. Pernollet had in mind. Due to the book's tremendous success, the phrase was guaranteed enduring fame. Although the description -- in its original sense -- only applied to survivors of the war who had been unable or unwilling to settle back into the routines of peacetime life, other writers eagerly adopted the catch phrase, using it more and more loosely until 'The Lost Generation' came to signify the whole anonymous horde of young Americans abroad, particularly those with literary or artistic inclinations. Paris was indisputably the capital city of the Lost Generation. It passed, of course, through other towns en route, from Munich to Madrid, Pamplona to Rapallo. Humphrey Bogart's Casablanca can even be counted as a border outpost. But the greatest concentration of expatriates was always to be found in Paris, and more specifically in the streets around the boulevard Montparnasse on the Left Bank that provided the scene for the first part of Hemingway's novel. It was there that the wanderers came closest to finding a home. The city had a double attraction for writers. Its artistic reputation had never been higher. It was the home of all that was most daringly modern. As Gertrude Stein used to say, Paris was where the twentieth century was. Secondly, it was also a city where Americans could live on very little money. Even young writers with nothing to show for their ambitions but bundles of rejection slips could live like boulevardiers on small allowances from back home. In the exchange bonanza of the 1920s it took real dedication to starve. Writers who had always wanted to live in Paris suddenly made the discovery that it was a practical economic proposition. Ezra Pound was one of the first to arrive, coming from England where he had lived throughout the war. He had come to the conclusion that postwar London was dead. " There is no longer any intellectual life in England, " he wrote to William Carlos Williams in 1920, " save what centers in this eight by ten pentagonal room." He and his wife Dorothy moved to what he called " the Island of Paris", convinced that it was the one live spot in Europe and hoping to find there " a poetic serum to save English letters from postmature and American letters from premature suicide and decomposition." He soon made his presence felt on the Paris literary scene, at the salons in the rue Jacob and the rue de Fleurus and in the little magazines. He was living in a ground floor flat on the rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs, where he set about making the furniture he needed from packing cases, canvas and wooden boards. Though reticent about his writing, he was boastful on the subject of his carpentry. He used to point out the fine points of the workmanship to guests who came to perch uncomfortably on the hard wooden chairs. Soon writers were arriving thick and fast. Sherwood Anderson paid his first brief visit in 1921. Later that year the 22-year-old Ernest Hemingway arrived in town with his bride, Hadley. He was a shy, good looking young man, who tended to listen more than talk. He was living off his wife's allowance and the income from occasional pieces written for a Canadian newspaper. Another significant visitor in the summer of 1921 was Scott Fitzgerald. Unlike Hemingway, Fitzgerald had already made a name for himself with his first novel. His wife Zelda and he spent only a few days in Paris at this time. Three disillusioning years were to pass before the two of them, worn out with parties, were to return to the city where Scott had decided that they could work, live cheaply and escape from the burden of their friends. Throughout the twenties, when money was plentiful and exchange rates favorable, other writers drifted in and out of town. Not the least of Paris' attractions for writers was that it was a good place to get published. It was the home of a succession of expatriate literary reviews. The first of these was Ford Madox Ford's transatlantic review, edited from a loft on the Ile St. Louis, which featured the works of Pound, Hemingway and Stein, among others. The literary colony was based in Montparnasse, known familiarly as the Quarter. In the center of Montparnasse, then as now, lay the four large café s that dominate the crossroads where the boulevard Montparnasse meets the boulevard Raspail. The Coupole and the Rotonde, the Dô me and the Sé lect soon had international reputations. The twenties' expatriates were as closely identified with these café s as Sartre and the Existentialists were with the Flore and the Deux Magots on the boulevard St. Germain in their day. Hemingway preferred La Closerie des Lilas, tending to shun much of the Montparnasse crowd in favor of his work. In fact, while many of the American expatriates' literary careers and lives -- perhaps most notably that of Scott Fitzgerald -- succumbed to alcohol and patronage of the cabarets, Hemingway was quite dedicated, arranging his schedule and surroundings to provide the least distraction to his writing. At first, he had rented a garret room in a hotel on the rue du Cardinal Lemoine to work, but later took to writing in café s in the daytime when there were few people to disturb him. His customary arsenal on the Closerie's marble-topped tables included his blue-backed notebooks, two pencils and a pencil sharpener. Sadly, many other talents in the Quarter did not posess the same dedication. Poet and author Robert McAlmon was to be the prime literary casualty of Paris in the twenties. Although he was a generous patron of other people's talents, publishing works by Hemingway, Stein, Ford and William Carlos Williams, his own writing languished as he buried himself in drink. Perhaps it was a reaction to Prohibition back home or a natural side effect of café life, but the writers took to alcohol with gusto. The poet Hart Crane managed to flatten four waiters and knock out a gendarme in a drunken display at the Sé lect. Perhaps most tragic was the fate of Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald: because of their incessant partying, Scott was frequently carried home, too drunk to stand up, and Zelda was soon institutionalized. Ezra Pound disapproved of his peers' mounting excesses, which is one of the reasons why he eventually moved to Italy. In many ways, living in the fast lane as they were, this 'Lost Generation' was hell-bent on self-destruction, more than amply living up to its adopted name. By the end of the decade, many of the expatriate community had either returned to the States or moved on to other locales. II. Translate the words and word combinations into English:
− интеллектуальный центр − сделать центром внимания − наиболее правдоподобная история − крылатая фраза − практичное экономическое предложение − годы рахочарований − литературное обозрение − пасть жертвой алкоголя − приспособиться к чему-либо − щедрый покровитель − жить на полную катушку
III. Translate the following into Russian:
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