Вопрос № 348540 - 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”.       

Joseph Turner, a famous English painter, lived in the 19-th century. His paintings were a great success. One day his favorite dog broke a leg. The artist was very sorry for the dog and wanted it to be well again. He was rich enough to send for the best surgeon in London instead of taking a veterinary.

When the surgeon arrived the artist begged him to help his dog because it was very important for him. Having got to know what the matter was the surgeon felt annoyed, but he treated the dog carefully and soon it was quite well.

The next week the surgeon asked Turner to come to his place. The artist believed that the surgeon wanted to see him in connection with his dog.

Joseph Turner arrived at the appointed time and was shown into the sitting-room. The surgeon met him very warmly and said: “Mr. Turner, I am so glad you’ve come. My door needs painting. I know you are too great a painter for this work, but I beg you to do it. It is so important for me.

Erich Segal is an American author, screenwriter and educator, whose books have popularity with the reading public. Erich Wolf Segal was born in 1937 in Brook Lyn, New York. He attended Harvard University. After graduating from it in 1958 he obtained his master’s degree and a doctorate.

He was a professor of Greek and Latin literature at Harvard University. Now he is teaching at Wolfson College, Oxford. In 1967, from the story by Lee Minoff, he wrote the screenplay for The Beatles 1968 motion picture, Yellow Submarine.

His book “Love Story” became the top selling work of fiction for all of 1970 in the United States. His novels “The Class” (1985), “Doctors” were also bestsellers.

What constitutes the main value of Erich Segal’s books in that the writer helps people become sensitive to everyday problems. He brings up a lot of questions for discussion.

The name of Balzac, the famous French writer, was well known all over the world.

There are many stories about Balzac, his life and his adventures. But very few people know that Balzac was fond of telling a person’s character by his or her handwriting. He often boasted of this his ability.

Among his friends there was a lady who wanted to play a joke on the famous-writer. One day she brought him an exercise-book of a boy. She asked him to tell her what he thought of the boy’s character.

Balzac was glad to show his ability again and began to study the handwriting. He worked very hard before he came to the conclusion that the boy was bad and lazy. He told that the lady. The lady smiled and said: “My dear friend, this is a page from your own exercise-book which you used when you were a boy.”

Mark Twain was very fond of travelling. Once he was travelling in France by train. He was going to visit a small town near Paris.

The previous day was very hard, and Mark Twain felt tired and sleepy. He was afraid he would miss that town and asked the guard to wake him up before they got to the town. Soon he fell asleep.

When he woke up, the train was in Paris. He got very angry. He could not understand why the guard had not woken him up in time. He went out of the compartment, came up to the guard and asked him why he had not woken him up. The guard looked at Mark Twain for a moment and then told him that he had done his best to keep his promise.

When the train was approaching the town, the guard woke up an American who did not want to get off the train in that small town. The guard was sure that the American was the very passenger who had asked to wake him up. So he put him off the train instead of Mark Twain. “You may be very angry with me,” said the guard, “but not so angry as the American whom I put off the train instead of you”.