Вопрос № 605255 - Английский язык

George Harrison was born in 1943 in Liverpool, England. When he was 12 years old, he met and became good friends with Paul McCartney who was a member of John Lennon’s band, The Quarrymen.

Three years later George, a gifted guitar player, joined the band too. In the early 1960’s the band changed its name to The Beatles. In 1970 The Beatles disbanded.

But Harrison’s solo career was just beginning. George went on to release many songs. He also started his own record and movie companies. He was deeply interested in charity work.

George Harrison died of cancer at the age of 58. He will always be remembered as a talented musician as well as a caring and generous man.

Once Mark Twain was invited to the opera. He accepted the invitation. The box where he had a set belonged to a very rich man. The rich man and his wife were very proud because all their friends saw the famous writer in their own box. During the performance the man and his wife were talking all the time. They talked loudly and so much that it was often impossible for Mark Twain to listen to the opera.

Mark Twain was annoyed very much. He liked music and always enjoyed listening to the opera. He was very sorry he had accepted the invitation. That was very foolish of him. Still there was no way out; he had to wait until the end.

Towards the end of the performance the rich lady was quite sure that the famous writer had enjoyed the opera. So she invited M. Twain to listen to another opera. She told him that she and her husband would be very happy to see him in their box the following Friday. She added that “Carmen” would be on.

The great writer expressed his gratitude for the invitation and said, “That’ll be fine. I have never heard you in “Carmen”.       

This happened in Australia, during a water-polo game. Suddenly one of the players jumped out of the water and ran to the referee. He said that one of the forwards of the other team had bitten him in the leg.

They began again, but a few minutes later, two players, one from each team, climbed out of the water, shouting that somebody had bitten them. There was blood on both players’ legs.

The game was stopped, and they began to let the water out of the pool. When almost all the water was let out, everybody saw a young crocodile at the bottom of the pool. Somebody had put the crocodile into the pool, but why?

After the game the players returned to their dressing-room and found a letter there. “I have been a water-polo fan for many years,” the author of the letter wrote, “and I am not satisfied with the way the players act. I have decided that I must do something. I think my crocodile will make them move faster.”

There is no doubt that speed and constant change have made hockey one of the most popular games in the world. The number of fans watching hockey games in stadiums or on TV is increasing from year to year.

Canada is the birthplace of ice-hockey, and for many years held first place in international competitions. But now Canada is not the only one on the top of the list of world champions.

Russian teams have won the first prize again and again in international competitions. Commentators and hockey experts speak of the speed and technical perfection of the Russian players.

But perhaps more important is the fact that Russian players act together as a team. This is usually more important than the talent of any one member of the team.

An old man had seven sons, who never agreed with each other. Each of them was always sure that he was right.

One day the old man called his sons to him. He took seven sticks tied together and gave the sticks to the boys. “Try to break them,” he said. The boys tried hard, but they couldn't break the sticks.

He took the sticks and untied them. Then he gave one stick to each boy and said, “Now, try to break the sticks!” This was not difficult, of course. Each boy immediately broke the stick that he held in his hands.

“That is what I wanted to show you,” their father said. “Like the seven sticks, you are strong when you are united. Let this serve as a lesson to you, to live in peace and friendship.

For over a hundred years, the people of London have gone to bed and got up in the morning to the deep sounds of the world famous bell called Big Ben.

It weighs 13.5 tons, and it is the largest bell in ail England. Each of the clock’s four faces is almost 6.5 metres in diameter.

Although the clock is so big, it is very exact; it is seldom more than one second wrong in 24 hours. English scientists use an original method to correct mistakes in the clock.

There is a small tray in the middle of the clock-work. If the clock is running slow, they put a penny coin in the tray, and the clock begins to run faster. If the clock begins to run fast, they take away the penny.