1. Read the text and answer the questions.

Danina Petrovska was born in 1885 in Moscow. Her father was an officer in the Litovsky Regiment, and she had four brothers. They were tall and handsome and wore uniforms, and brought her sweets when they came home to visit. The youngest of them was twelve years older than she was. And when they were at home, they sang and played with her, and made lots of noise. She loved being with them when they ran with her, and let her pretend that they were horses. It was obvious to everyone, that her brothers adored her.

Danina remembered that her mother had a lovely face and gentle ways and she sang Danina to sleep at night, after telling her long, wonderful stories about when she was a little girl herself. She used to laugh a lot, and Danina loved her. She died when Danina was five, of typhoid. And after that, everything changed in Danina’s life.

Her father had absolutely no idea what to do about her. He and his sons were in the army, so he hired a woman to take care of her, a string of them, but after two years, he knew he simply couldn’t do it anymore. He had to find another solution for Danina. And he found a perfect one. He went to St.Petersburg to make the arrangements. He was vastly impressed when he spoke to Madame Markova. She was a remarkable woman, and the ballet school and company she ran would provide not only a home for Danina but a useful life, and a future she could rely on.

Questions:

1. What is this text about?

2. What did they do when the brothers were at home?

3. What did Danina remember of her mother?

4. Where did her father go to make the arrangements?

5. Do you like the story? Why?

2. Read the text and say if children started to read less and why. Are you keen on reading? Who are your favourite writers? Which of their books do you like best?

THE FASCINATION OF READING.

Crispin is 16. He likes sport and he’s good at school. He likes studying languages but… he’s never read a whole book.

Crispin is only one of the young people, who, according to surveys, have never managed to go through a book from beginning to end.

Crispin and his friends aren’t stupid or ignorant. They know how to read perfectly well and they’ve read a great number of short pieces: stories, fables, cartoons and teenage magazine articles… but the pleasure of reading has never motivated them to choose a book and to read the whole of it.

Crispin’s case worries a lot of adults: parents and teachers, children’s writers and editors. The number of young people who aren’t reading is increasing. Even though they’ve got interesting books at home suitable for their age group and school libraries full of possibilities.

Why do children today read so little? There are a lot of reasons. Some say television is to blame. For others it’s the fault of schools which don’t teach children to appreciate literature and its wonders. One children’s writer says:

“At the age of 7, I read a whole book alone for the first time. For me it was a great victory. I discovered that the words and signs on the pages became a real, exciting story in my head. For me it was as good as winning a hard basketball match.”

Perhaps Crispin and his friends read so little because they’ve never really tried hard to do it.

Билет № 11