Билет 15. Eleanor Roosevelt: the wakening (Archibald McLeish) - Essay

1) how does the author build up the image of the sleeping beauty> Discuss the effect achieved.

2) The text mentions that Eleanor’s father was a horseman and a hunter. Do these pastimes suggest the social standing? And generally: can sports and games be status symbols?

Many of the world's famous sports began in Britain, including cricket, football, lawn tennis, golf and rugby.

Sports for the rich.

Golf is considered a hobby for rich people because when it first started only country clubs were able to afford to keep up with the grass, the golf carts, equipment. A wide range of equipment exists for playing golf, ranging from golf clubs, balls, tees, gloves, and shoes. Scotland is traditionally regarded as the home of golf. There are over 400 golf courses in Scotland alone. The most important golf club in Scotland.

Horseracing, the sport of Kings is a very popular sport with meetings being held every day throughout the year. The Derby originated here, as did The Grand National which is the hardest horse race in the world.

Horse racing and greyhound racing are popular spectator sports. People can place bets on the races at legal off-track betting shops. Some of the best-known horse races are held at Ascot, Newmarket, Goodwood and Epsom.

Ascot, a small town in the south of England, becomes the centre of horse-racing world for one week in June. It's called Royal Ascot because the Queen always goes to Ascot. She has a lot of racehorses and likes to watch racing.

Another equestrian sport is polo, brought to Britain from India in the 19th Century by army officers. It is the fastest ball sport in the world.Polo is played with four men on horses to a team. A ball is hit with a stick towards the goal. Polo clubs can be found throughout the Country. Ascot Park Polo club is the largest polo training centre in the world and arguably has the best international reputation. The club welcomes over 2500 people a year through the gates to come and pick up a polo stick for the first time.

Hunting is also popular with the elite. Traditionally Boxing Day is a day for fox hunting. The huntsmen and huntswomen ride horses. They use dogs too. The dogs (fox hounds) follow the smell of the fox. Then the huntsmen and huntswomen follow the hounds.

Before a Boxing Day hunt, the huntsmen and huntswomen drink hot wine. But the tradition of the December 26th is changing. Now, some people want to stop Boxing Day hunts (and other hunts too) They don't like fox hunting. For them it is not a sport - it is cruel.

Билет 16. The monster (Deems Tailor) – essay

1) words that indicate the subjectivity of the text

2) the name of Shakespeare is one of the biggest names in English literature. Can you remember some other great Britons and Americans who distinguished themselves in different spheres of life and have become household names?

Famous Britons

In 2002 the BBC carried out an opinion poll trying to find out whom people considered the greatest Britons of all times. Finally a top 100 was made up.

The first place was occupied by Sir Winston Churchill, (1874–1965), who served as Prime Minister during the WW II (credited as the man who ensured Britain's survival in the conflict). His speeches were a great inspiration to the embattled Allied forces. Upon his death the Queen granted him the honour of a state funeral, which saw one of the largest assemblies of statesmen in the world. Aside from his work as a politician, Churchill was a prolific writer, writing over 25 stories, biographies and histories. Two of his largest undertakings included his Nobel prize winning six-volume history on The Second World War and A History of the English-Speaking Peoples.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel, (1806–1859), engineer, creator of Great Western Railway, came second. He also built numerous important bridges and tunnels, hence revolutionising public transport and modern day engineering. During his short career, Brunel achieved many engineering " firsts", including assisting in the building of the first tunnel under a navigable river.

The third place had the first of the 12 women on the list, Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997), first wife of HRH Charles, Prince of Wales (1981–1996) and mother of Princes William and Harry of Wales. Diana remained the focus of near-constant media scrutiny in the United Kingdom and around the world up to and during her marriage, and after her subsequent divorce. Her sudden death in a car accident was followed by a spontaneous and prolonged show of public mourning. Contemporary responses to Diana's life and legacy have been mixed but a popular fascination with the Princess endures.

Four was the famous biologist Charles Robert Darwin (1809 –1882), the English naturalist, who proposed and provided scientific evidence that all species of life have evolved over time from common ancestors through the process he called natural selection. Author of On the Origin of Species. In modified form, Darwin’s scientific discovery remains the foundation of biology, as it provides a unifying logical explanation for the diversity of life.

William Shakespeare (1564–1616), English poet and playwright, thought of by many as the greatest of all writers in the English language, was number five. Shakespeare was listed higher than Ch. Dickens (41-st) or Chaucer (81-st). His surviving works consist of 38 plays, [b] which are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

Place six was given to Sir Isaac Newton (1643–1727), physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, and alchemist, regarded by many as the greatest figure in the history of science. His treatise Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica published in 1687, and said to be the greatest single work in the history of science, described universal gravitation and the three laws of motion, laying the groundwork for classical mechanics, which dominated the scientific view of the physical universe for the next three centuries and is the basis for modern engineering. In a 2005 poll of the Royal Society of who had the greatest effect on the history of science, Newton was deemed much more influential than Albert Einstein.

Number seven was another woman on the list, Queen Elizabeth I of England (1533–1603), monarch, (reigned 1558–1603). Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, The Faerie Queen or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. One of her first moves was to support the establishment of an English Protestant church, of which she became the Supreme Governor. This Elizabethan Religious Settlement held firm throughout her reign and later evolved into today's Church of England. The defeat of the Spanish armada in 1588 associated her name forever with what is popularly viewed as one of the greatest victories in British history. Within twenty years of her death, she was being celebrated as the ruler of a golden age, an image that retains its hold on the English people. Elizabeth's reign is known as the Elizabethan era, famous above all for the flourishing of English drama, led by playwrights such as William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, and for the seafaring prowess of English adventurers such as Francis Drake.

The only musician to make the top 10 was John Lennon (1940–1980), and he found himself on the eighth place, listed as a musician with The Beatles, philanthropist, peace activist, artist, MBE (Member of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire). Although Lennon learned to play the guitar and started his first group at school, at first he pictured himself as a painter. However, while a student of Liverpool College of Art, he formed what was to become the greatest pop-rock group of all times, The Beatles. The success prevented him from devoting himself fully to painting. Nevertheless, despite the pressure and the crammed schedule of The Beatles’ existence, Lennon found time to publish two books of drawings, poems and short stories. After The Beatles broke up Lennon became a peace activist speaking against the Vietnam War and returning his MBE in protest against war conflicts Britain was engaged in at the time. He is the author of " Imagine", the official anthem of the human rights organization Amnesty International. Lennon was shot dead in New York in 1980. The official version has it that the murderer was a deranged fan, but it is widely believed the assassination was sanctioned by the FBI as Lennon was so outspoken on political and anti-governmental issues.

Other Beatles in the list were Sir Paul McCartney (placed 19th) and George Harrison, who came 62nd (the fourth Beatle, Ringo Starr, didn’t make it to the list at all). Other musicians include David Bowie (29th), Boy George (46th), and Freddie Mercury (58th).

Ninth place was occupied by Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson, (1758–1805), naval commander. a British admiral famous for his participation in the Napoleonic Wars, most notably in the Battle of Trafalgar, a decisive British victory in the war, during which he lost his life.

The top 10 is closed by one of the most controversial figures in British history, Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658), Lord Protector. He was an English military and political leader best known for his involvement in making England into a republican Commonwealth. He was one of the commanders of the New Model Army, which defeated the royalists in the English Civil War. After the execution of King Charles I in 1649, Cromwell dominated the short-lived Commonwealth of England, conquered Ireland and Scotland, and ruled as Lord Protector from 1653 until his death in 1658.

The highest Scottish entry was 20, with Alexander Fleming, the noted scientist who invented penicillin.

Owain Glyndŵ r (c. 1359 – c. 1416), the last Prince of Wales of actually Welsh origin, came 23rd. He instigated an ultimately unsuccessful but long running revolt against English rule of Wales. Glyndŵ r has remained a notable figure in the popular culture of both Wales and England, portrayed in Shakespeare's play Henry IV (as Owen Glendower) as a wild and exotic man ruled by magic and emotion. In the late 19th century the " Young Wales" movement recreated him as the father of Welsh nationalism, revising the historical image of him as a purely local leader and joining him in popular memory as a national hero on a par with King Arthur.

There were no representatives of Northern Ireland on the list, but, curiously, people of non-British origin were voted into the list. Namely, Bono (Irish by birth and nationality), Freddie Mercury (a Parsi). Also legendary and mythical characters, like King Arthur, appeared on the list.

Famous Americans

George Washington was the first president of the United States. He was born in 1732. As a young man he had a surveying business, then in 1752 he inherited land from his brother. George Washington was in the British Army and fought against the French in the French and Indian War. He got a reputation for being a good soldier.

In 1775, George Washington was made commander-in-chief of the Continental Army as the colonists took up arms against the British. He successfully led his troops against the British, helping to win America's independence. In 1789 he was elected the first president of the now United States of America.

Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth president of the United States. He was born in 1809. He became a lawyer and a politician. He was elected president on a campaign to end slavery. After the Civil War began in 1861, Lincoln introduced the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 freeing all slaves in the United States.

He is remembered for his famous speech after the battle of Gettysburg(4) where he said, " Government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the Earth." Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865.

Martin Luther King Jr. was an American civil rights leader. He was born in 1929. In 1948 he received a degree in divinity, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather who were Baptist(3) ministers.

Martin Luther King Jr. became a pastor at a church in Montgomery, Alabama in 1950. There he joined in the struggle for African American rights. He led a boycott against segregated seating on buses and forced the bus company to allow African Americans to sit wherever they chose. He believed that the best way to win black rights was to protest in non-violent ways. He led many protests and was arrested for his acts, but he didn't give up.

In August 1963 he led over 250, 000 people in a march on Washington. There he gave his famous speech,

" I have a dream that one day the nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal.' I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together in brotherhood. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

In 1964 the Civil Rights Bill was passed and Martin Luther King Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1968 he was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.

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