номер 1, страница 140 - гдз по английскому языку 7 класс учебник Эванс, Дули

Reading

1 Read the author's biography. What was Charles Dickens' life like?

What is the connection between Dickens' life and David Copperfield?

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) is one of England's greatest writers. At a young age, Dickens was forced to work in a factory under terrible conditions. This difficult time shaped his life and writings. Dickens worked as a reporter in law courts and later for London newspapers. In 1837, he published his comic novel, The Pickwick Papers, which made him popular. A long line of successful novels followed: Oliver Twist (1837), A Christmas Carol (1843), A Tale of Two Cities (1859) and Great Expectations (1861). Dickens was concerned about the social problems of English society. His books are also full of lively characters.

The novel David Copperfield (1849-50) is partly based on Dickens' early life. At this point in the novel, David is sent away to boarding school early. This is his punishment for biting his stepfather, Mr Murdstone, who had hit him for not knowing his lesson.

DAVID COPPERFIELD

by Charles Dickens

We had started from Yarmouth at three o'clock in the afternoon, and were due in London about eight the next morning. It was summery weather, and the evening was very pleasant. When we passed through a village, I tried to imagine what the insides of the houses were like. Then boys came running after us, jumped onto the back of the coach and swung there for a while. I wondered if their fathers were alive, and if they were happy at home. So I had plenty to think about, since I was also continually thinking about the kind of place I was going to. Sometimes, I remember, I thought of home and what sort of boy I used to be before I bit Mr Murdstone. The night was not as pleasant as the evening. It got chilly. I was sitting between two gentlemen who squeezed me so hard sometimes, that I could not help crying out. They didn't like that at all because it woke them. Opposite me was an elderly woman in a great fur coat. This lady had a basket with her and she was trying to find a place to put it. Finally she found that, because my legs were so short, it could go underneath me. It cramped my legs so much it made me perfectly miserable. But when I moved a little bit, she gave me a nasty poke with her foot and said, 'Come, don't you fidget. Your bones are young enough, I'm sure!'

At last the sun rose, and then my companions seemed to sleep easier. As the sun got higher, their sleep became lighter and so slowly they awoke one by one.

What an amazing place London was to me when I saw it in the distance. I believed that it would be a city full of heroes and amazing adventures. After a long time, we arrived at a hotel in the Whitechapel district. A ladder was brought, and I got down after the lady I hadn't dared to move until her basket was removed. The coach was empty of passengers by then. The luggage was soon removed. The horses had been removed before that, and now the coach was pushed out of the way. Still, nobody appeared to collect the dusty boy from Blunderstone, Suffolk.

I felt more solitary than Robinson Crusoe. I went to the booking office and the clerk on duty invited me behind the counter. He let me sit on the scales where they weigh the luggage. Here, as I sat looking at the parcels, packages and books, and inhaling the smell of stables (which have reminded me of that morning ever since), I wondered how long they would let me stay if nobody came to pick me up.

Прочитайте биографию автора. Какой была жизнь Чарльза Диккенса? Какая связь между жизнью Диккенса и «Дэвидом Копперфилдом»?

Ответ:

1. As a young boy, Charles Dickens was forced to work in a factory under terrible conditions. This difficult time shaped his life. Later, he worked as a reporter and then became one of England's greatest and most popular writers, who was concerned about the social problems of English society. (В юном возрасте Чарльз Диккенс был вынужден работать на фабрике в ужасных условиях. Этот трудный период сформировал его жизнь. Позже он работал репортером, а затем стал одним из величайших и самых популярных писателей Англии, которого волновали социальные проблемы английского общества.)

2. The novel David Copperfield is partly based on Dickens' early life. (Роман «Дэвид Копперфилд» частично основан на ранних годах жизни Диккенса.)