Номер 8, страница 48 - гдз по английскому языку 11 класс рабочая тетрадь Вербицкая, Фрикер

Track eleven.

Speaker 1: So, you've heard of the Industrial Revolution, right?

Speaker 2: Uh.

Speaker 1: You know, in the late eighteenth century, in Britain, lots of factories were built. People started inventing machines that could work more quickly. We studied it a few weeks ago. We've got an exam on it next week.

Speaker 2: Oh, yes, yes, I remember.

Speaker 1: Well, the Industrial Revolution made life pretty hard for a lot of people. And they had to give up their traditional way of life and work down mines or in factories. Suddenly, in eighteen eleven, an organization called Luddites started. They had some leader called Ned Ludd.

Speaker 2: Who?

Speaker 1: Ned Ludd. N E D, L U D D. But nobody knows if he really existed. So, anyway, all these wool and cotton mills were being smashed in Nottingham. And that's where it started.

Speaker 2: Oh, I get it. A new lot of Robin Hoods fighting against the evil Sheriff of Nottingham.

Speaker 1: Sort of. But it soon spread to Yorkshire and Lancashire, and the government got really worried. They introduced a new law. Wait for it. Saying that if you smashed up a factory or a machine, you could be executed. Nice, eh?

Speaker 2: Hmm. Very civilized.

Speaker 1: So, as you can imagine, with punishments like that, the Luddite movement didn't last long. In eighteen thirteen, seventeen of them were executed and the rest were sent off to Australia, which was used by the British as a giant prison in those days. And that was the end of them.

Speaker 2: Well, I guess it was a good thing, really. A load of hooligans smashing the country up and stopping us becoming rich and powerful.

Speaker 1: Yes, well, that's what they'd like you to think. That's why you use the word Luddite as a negative thing. But they weren't anti-progress at all. They were anti-free market.

Speaker 2: Um, you're reading your notes here. You sound as if you're giving a lecture.

Speaker 1: Well, I have got my book here. But I remember most of it because it was really interesting. So, really, they were being paid very little money, working under terrible conditions. And there was only one way they could protest. They were the good guys.

Speaker 2: Well, if that's true, I'd better apologize to my dad.

Speaker 1: Why?

Speaker 2: Because he's definitely not a Luddite. He loves the free market. He's a businessman. Now, enough history. What did you ring about? Was it that guy?