Знаменитые люди на уроках английского языка
Лукина Мария Владимировна
СократSOCRATES
1. Choose the correct answer.
Socrates was born in ………
- Rome
- Athens
- Babylon
- writer
- scientist
- philosopher
- kind
- clever
- selfish
2. Read the text and answer the questions.
impress производить впечатление
indifferent безразличный, равнодушный
amaze изумлять
achieve достигать
gather собирать
encourage вдохновлять
wise мудрый
refuse отказывать
accept принимать
power сила, мощь, власть
improvement улучшение
soul душа
remain оставаться
govern управлять
virtue добродетель
mankind человечество
evil зло
ignorance невежество
trial суд
accuse обвинять
corrupting порча
judge судья
fate судьба
conscience совесть
vote голосовать
His life
Socrates was born in 469 B.C. and died in 399 B.C. in Athens. When he was young he visited Delphi and saw a famous record “Know yourself”. He was impressed and never forgot it. Socrates left his family home to do his military service. He seemed indifferent to hunger and thirst, and to heat and cold. He amazed everybody. He achieved complete control of the soul over the body. When he left the army he became a teacher and a talker. He was always to be seen in the streets, in market-place, speaking with young and old. His pupils gathered about him and he led them in discussions.
Socrates encouraged people to question all things. He asked “What is Good?” and “What is Bad?” or “What makes man wise?” and “What is Knowledge?” and so on. Socrates taught people to see themselves.
He refused to accept money from his pupils and he was unpopular with other philosophers because they took money from their pupils. He criticized people if he thought they were wrong even if they were man of power in high places.
The Socratic Philosophy
The improvement of the soul is the highest good. This is why Socrates told old and young not to think a lot about their bodies or their money, but to care about the improvement of their souls. When the soul controls the body a human being remains moral, but if the body governs the soul, a man becomes a slave of the body.
Virtue does not come from money, but from virtue comes money and other good things for mankind. Virtue is knowledge. Evil is because of ignorance. By ignorance Socrates meant a lack of wisdom.
The trial
It was one of the most famous trials of history. Socrates was accused of corrupting the minds of the young. His accuser was a young man named Meletus. Socrates didn’t even know him. It seemed that his real accusers were powerful men.
Socrates was very calm before the trial. Five hundred judges decided his fate.” People must be given a chance to discuss all questions with complete freedom.” “As long as my conscience tells me to show the road to truth I shall continue as I have done.” “I shall always say what is on my mind.” 220 judges voted for Socrates and 280 voted against. Socrates said,” The hour of departure has arrived and we go our ways -I to die and you to live. Which is better -God only knows.” He knew no fear and taught that death cannot be avoided. His friend had arranged the escape but Socrates refused.
At last the day came when the great master must die. Socrates drank a cup of poison. The trial and death were recorded by his pupil Plato. Some of the works of Plato are known as the Dialogues. If you decide to read them for yourself, they may give you great pleasure.
1. How old was Socrates when he died?
2. What note impressed him a lot?
3. What did he achieve during his military service?
4. What questions did he ask?
5. Did he accept money from his pupils?
6. Who did he criticize?
7. What is the highest good?
8. What did he advise people?
9. Where does evil come from?
10. What were the last words of Socrates on the trial?
3. Read and translate quotations. What do you think?
1. All I know is that I know nothing.
2. There are a lot of things I don’t need.
3. Every man has the sun within him. Let it shine.
4. A wise man is a kind man.
5. I eat to live and other people live to eat.
4. Act out the dialogues.
1. Man: Socrates, why do you walk along the market and don’t buy anything?
Soc: I am only watching how many things I don’t need.
2. Man: If I offer your pupils money and pleasure they will leave you.
Soc: Yes, they will.
Man: Why aren’t you surprised?
Soc: Because I lead them up and you lead them down. It’s easier to go down.
3. Man: Should I marry or not?
Soc: Yes, you should. If your wife is good you will be happy. If not you’ll become a philosopher.
4. Man: I have lost my appetite. Give me a piece of advice, please.
Soc: Stop eating. Your life will be nicer, cheaper and healthier.
5. Socrates said “The improvement of the soul is the highest good.” What is your opinion about it?
Вильям Шекспир
William Shakespeare
1. Choose the correct answer.
Shakespeare was born in ………
- London
- York
- Stratford-upon-Avon
- 17
- 27
- 37
- question
- answer
- problem
2. Read the text and answer the questions.
attend посещать
demanding требовательный
dull скучный
devote посвящать
bury хоронить
quote цитировать
The great poet and dramatist William Shakespeare is often called “The Great Unknown”. The fact is that the man with the best- known name in the English language is someone we know very little about.
He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon on 23 April 1564 to middle-class parents. At free grammar school William learned to read and spell, and was taught English, Latin and Greek. Students spent about nine hours a day in school. They attended classes the year around, except for three brief holiday periods. By modern standards, the Stratford grammar school was demanding, dull and strict, but Shakespeare had quite a good education. In 1582 he married and had three children. He probably worked as a school teacher until he left his family to go to London. Very soon Shakespeare became an actor and famous playwright. He lived in London for 25 years. His best years were all devoted to the theatre. The last few years of his life Shakespeare spent in Stratford. He died on April 23 1616 and was buried in the church at Stratford.
Shakespeare wrote 4 long poems, 154 sonnets and 37 plays of all kinds – comedies, histories, tragedies, and farces. His language is exceptionally rich. The vocabulary equals 20 000 words. His plays are so much part of English now that people often quote them without even realizing it.
1. When and where was Shakespeare born?
2. What was his education?
3. How old was he when he married?
4. How many plays did Shakespeare write?
5.Can you remember some of his plays?
6. What is he famous for?
3. Read and translate quotations. What is your opinion?
1. All the world’s a stage,
And all men and women merely players.
2. To be, or not to be: that is the question.
3. Speak less than you know.
4. A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!
5. Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.
6. Neither a borrower, nor a lender be.
7. What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.
8. There is a history in all men’s lives.
4. Read the plot of Hamlet. What do you think about the story?
Hamlet was the prince of Denmark. His father, the king, died. The king’s brother, Claudius, became king and married Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude. The young prince hated his uncle for marrying his mother so quickly. Then the ghost of his father appeared to Hamlet. The ghost said, “Claudius killed me. You must take revenge on the king.” Accidentally Hamlet killed Polonius, his beloved’s father. Hamlet’s beloved, Ophelia, died because she was so sad about her father. Her brother, Laertes, wanted to kill his father’s murderer in sword fight. While watching the fight, Hamlet’s mother accidentally drank from a cup of poisoned wine Claudius had prepared for Hamlet and died. Hamlet killed Laertes and the king, but he was hurt in the fight, fell down and died too.
5. Read the plot of King Lear. What’s your opinion about the story?
What’s the difference in grammar between 5 and 6?
The main plot concerns Lear, an aged king of ancient Britain. He prepares to divide his kingdom among his three daughters -Regan, Goneril and Cordelia. Lear becomes angry with Cordelia, his youngest daughter, refuses to flatter him to get her portion of the kingdom and forces her to leave. Regan and Goneril are not grateful. They take away Lear’s servants and force him to spend a night outdoors during a storm. Lear finally sees his errors and selfishness. Cordelia, who had been living in France, returns to Britain and finds the king mad. Armies raised by wicked sisters capture Lear and Cordelia, who is put to death. Goneril poisons Regan and then kills herself. Order is finally restored in the kingdom. But Lear dies of a broken heart as he kneels over the body of Cordelia.
6. Act out the dialogues
lavish обильный
improve улучшить
spoil испортить
fortune состояние, богатство, судьба
bring up воспитывать
obey слушаться
dowry приданное
1. Lear: What can you say to draw a third more lavish share than your sisters? Speak.
Cordelia: Nothing, my lord.
Lear: Nothing can come of nothing. Speak again
Cordelia: Unhappy that I am, I cannot put my heart into my mouth. I love your Majesty according to my duty; no more nor less.
Lear: How, how Cordelia? Improve your speech a little, or you may spoil your fortune.
Cordelia: My lord, you gave me life, brought me up and loved me. I return those duties back and obey you, love you, and honour you as I should. I shall happily give half my love, half my care and duty to that lord who marries me.
Lear: So young, and so hard-hearted?
Cordelia: So young, my lord, and honest.
Lear: Let it be so! Then let your honesty be your dowry!
2. Lear: I think this lady is my daughter Cordelia.
Cordelia: And so I am! I am!
Lear: Are your tears wet? Yes. Please don’t cry. If you have poison for me, I will drink it. I know you do not love me. You have a reason.
Cordelia: No reason, no reason.
Lear: You must be patient with me. Forget and forgive.
7. What can you tell us about William Shakespeare and his ideas?
Вильям Блейк
William Blake
1. Choose the correct answer.
Blake was born in ………
- London
- York
- Stratford-upon-Avon
- king
- scientist
- poet
- spiritual
- physical
- intellectual
2.Read the text and answer the questions
declare объявлять, заявлять, провозглашать
ability способность, умение
engraver гравер
sensitive чувствительный, восприимчивый, чуткий
schooling обучение, подготовка
clergyman духовное лицо, пастырь
provide обеспечивать, снабжать
innocence невинность, целомудрие
despite несмотря на
recognize узнавать, признавать
humanity человечество, человечность
brotherhood братство, содружество
William Blake was born in London on November 28, 1757. Blake was taught to read and write at home. As a small child, he showed some ability with his pencil, so his father sent him, at the age of ten, to a drawing school, and later to a well-known engraver. His work as an engraver brought him friends among the designers and artists of the time. In 1782 Blake married Catherine Boucher. This beautiful and sensitive woman had had little schooling, but her husband taught her to write and draw and colour. It was in many ways a happy marriage. Catherine believed in her husband’s vision, helped him in printing and colouring the engravings.
At first the young couple made a quite good living. One clergyman became interested in Blake’s work, provided capital to set him up in a print shop. At the clergyman’s house Blake read aloud the poems he had been writing since he was a boy. He didn’t print his poems in the usual way. The text and picture were printed together. He made each page of the book as a complete design. It was in this form that Blake’s best-known poems were printed, Songs of Innocence in 1789 and Songs of Experience in 1794.
In 1795 Blake and his wife moved to Lambeth on the south side of the Thames. Despite his money difficulties, Blake’s years at Lambeth were a period of enormous creativity. More and more of his working time was given to long poems. In his later years, Blake’s genius was recognized by a small band of young artists. His book Jerusalem was written when Blake and his wife were living in great poverty in London at the end of his life. He died on August 12, 1827, aged seventy.
William Blake is a modern man. He has a vision of the world uniting the whole of humanity in universal brotherhood, the opening of the Spiritual View of every man and woman.
1. When and where was Blake born?
2. How old was he when he married?
3. How did he print his poems?
4. Where did he move in 1795?
5. What were his main ideas?
3. Read and translate the quotations. What do you think?
1. Good is Heaven. Evil is hell.
2. Where Mercy, Love and Pity dwell There God is dwelling too.
3. All Religions are one.
4. All Religions, as all similars, have one source.
5. Everyone knows we are One Family.
6. He whose face gives no light, shall never become a star.
7. Now we know that life Eternal Depends alone upon the Universal hand.
8. Real existence is spiritual, not physical.
9. What is now proved was once only imagined.
10. In the universe, there are things that are known, and things that are unknown, and in between, there doors.
4. Choose the verse, translate it and learn it by heart.
To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an Hour.
ETERNITY
He who bends to himself a joy
Does the winged life destroy;
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity’s sunrise.
HEAVEN’S GATE
I give you the end of a golden string,
Only wind it into a ball,
It will lead you in at Heaven’s gate
Built in Jerusalem’s wall.
5. What can you tell us about William Blake and his ideas?
Конфуций
CONFUCIUS
1. Choose the correct answer.
Confucius was born in ………
- India
- Japan
- China
- prime minister
- warrior
- master
- bad
- good
- selfish
2. Read the text and answer the questions.
follower последователь
warrior воин
struggle бороться, биться
survival выживание
tutor преподаватель, учитель
archery стрельба из лука
minor небольшой, малозначительный
establish утверждать, устанавливать
spread распространять
government правление, правительство
observe наблюдать, следить
jealous завистливый
achieve достигать
The man whom the West knows as Confucius was really named Kung. When he became a famous teacher his followers named him as Kung, the master (Kung Fu-tse). As his teaching became known to the West, the name was Latinized to Confucius.
Confucius was born in 551 B.C. in the state of Lu (now in modern Shantung). He was the child of an aristocratic family that had lost its wealth and position. His father was said to have been a famous warrior. The father died shortly before Confucius was three. Although his mother had to struggle for survival, she decided to provide her son with an education. Confucius was allowed to study with the village tutor. He studied traditional subjects of Chinese students of his time: poetry, the history of China, music, hunting, fishing, and archery. In his late teens he accepted a minor position in government, where he could closely observe the ruling process. He married and fathered a son and a daughter.
Sometime during his twenties Confucius began his true career, that of a teacher. His reputation as a man of learning allowed him to establish himself as a teacher of young people. In the following years his reputation spread widely and he attracted many students. They lived in his home and followed him in his journeys. He taught them history, and the principles of good government.
Legend has it that at the age of fifty Confucius was finally able to put some of his principles of good government into practice when he was asked to join the government of a Duke of Lu, as its prime minister. According to this legend, Confucius’s government was ideal. During the period of his leadership the state was so well governed that the crime rate dropped to almost nothing. People stopped locking their doors and a wallet dropped on the street was left untouched for days. However, the enemies of Confucius became jealous of his success and he was forced to retire from government at the age of fifty-five. During the next twelve years of his life Confucius was a man without a position. He moved from place to place with a few of his followers. Finally, when he was sixty-seven years of age, a position was found for him. It gave Confucius a home for himself and his followers. The master died in the year 479 B.C.
Confucius taught that people should love one other and practice respect towards each other in their daily lives. He believed that it was possible for individuals to achieve goodness and the status of the superior human beings.
1. When and where was Confucius born?
2. What was his education?
3. What did he do?
4. How many children did he have?
5. What were his main ideas?
3. Read and translate the quotations. What do you think?
1. What you do not wish done to yourself, do not do to others.
2. I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand.
3. Careful people seldom make mistakes.
4. To go too far is as bad as to fall short.
5. I will not grieve that others do not know me. I will grieve that I do not know others.
6. If, when you look into your own heart, you find nothing wrong there, what is there to worry about? What is there to fear?
7. A gentleman takes as much trouble to discover what is right as lesser men take to discover what will pay.
8. He whose heart is in the smallest degree set upon Goodness will dislike no one.
9. Human beings are by nature good.
10. If there is righteousness in the heart, there will be beauty in the character.If there is a beauty in the character, there will be harmony at home.
If there is harmony at home, there will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world.
4. Act out the dialogues.
1. Man: Is there one word that could guide a person throughout life?
Con: Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself.
2. Man: What is humaneness?
Con: It is to love others.
3. Man: Think three times before you take action.
Con: Twice is enough.
5. What can you tell us about Confucius and his ideas?
Лев Толстой
Lev Tolstoy
- Choose the correct answer.
- St.-Petersburg
- Moscow
- Yasnaya Polyana
- Bronze Horseman
- War and Peace
- Crime and punishment
- 5
- 8
- 13
1. Read the text and answer the questions.
independently независимо
oriental восточный
outstanding выдающийся
inheritance наследство
landowner землевладелец, помещик
boredom скука
society общество
remarkable удивительный, замечательный
admirer поклонник
release освободиться
involve вовлекать
Lev Tolstoy was born in Yasnaya Polyana, Tula region, 28 August 1828. His mother died when he was only two years old. In 1837 Tolstoy moved to Moscow with his widowed father, sister, and three brothers. The death of both his father and grandmother soon afterwards, however resulted in the children moving in 1841 to Kazan, to live there with their aunt.
When Tolstoy and his three brothers became students at Kazan University in 1840s, they began to live independently for the first time. Tolstoy joined the university in 1844, first as a student in oriental languages, and then in law. He was not an outstanding student and never actually graduated. He began to write his famous diary, which he would keep on and off until his death which would become an important laboratory for his writing. Tolstoy probably dropped out of university because in April 1847 he came into his inheritance. At this time Tolstoy regularly changed his mind about what he wanted to do with his life.
In 1850 Tolstoy gave up trying to lead the life of a landowner and out of boredom moved to Moscow, to go into society. Of this, too, he soon tired, and headed off to Caucasus with his brother. For the next few years, he fought in the Crimean War and began his literary career.
At the end of the Crimean war, which the young court Tolstoy knew at first hand as an artillery officer, he went to St.-Petersburg. His brilliant Childhood (Detstvo, 1852) had already earned him popularity and his remarkable first-hand reportage from Sevastopol, the Sevastopol Stories, was winning him new admirers.
Finally released from army service, he went abroad for the first time in 1857. The European tour involved much sightseeing in France, Switzerland and Italy, but he was shaken by a public guillotining in Paris.
In 1862 he settled in Yasnaya Polyana with his young wife Sofya Behrs. It was their main residence for the next fifty years. The Tolstoys had thirteen children (three of whom did not live to adulthood). It was here that he wrote his two great novels, War and Peace and Anna Karenina. He died in 1910 and was buried in Yasnaya Polyana.
1. When and where was Tolstoy born?
2. What was his education?
3. How old was he when he married?
4. How many children did he have?
5. Can you remember some of his novels?
3. Read and translate the quotations. What do you think?
1. Common sense is the lantern which man carries before himself. Common sense helps man walk the right path. The lantern lights the path, and man knows where to place his feet.
2. God is here and everywhere.
3. Examine your life. How have you spent it?
4. We must live, we must love, we must believe that we have life not only today on this piece of earth, but that we have lived and shall live forever.
5. If I see, see clearly the ladder rising from plants to man, why should I suppose that this ladder breaks off with me and does not lead further and further, up to superior beings?
6. If goodness has a cause, it is no longer goodness; if it has a result-a reward, it is also not goodness. Goodness is beyond the chain of cause and result.
4. Act out the dialogue.
Pierre: Do you believe in a future life?
Prince Andrey: A future life?
Pierre: You say you can’t see any kingdom of goodness and truth on earth. Nor could I, and it’s impossible to, if we accept our life here as the end of all things. On earth-here on this earth there is no truth: it is all lies and wickedness. But in the universe, in the whole universe, there is a kingdom of truth, and we who are now the children of earth are-in the eternal sense-children of the whole universe. Don’t I feel in my soul that I am a part of that vast, harmonious whole? If I see, see clearly the ladder, the foot of which I can’t see, it is hidden in the plant world-why should I suppose that it breaks off with me and does not lead further and further, up to superior beings? I feel not only that I cannot vanish, since nothing in this world vanishes, but that I always shall exist and always have existed.
5. What can you tell us about Lev Tolstoy and his ideas?
Литература
1. Конфуций. Афоризмы и притчи. Москва. ЭКСМО. 2009.
2. Блейк У. Песни невинности и опыта. Санкт- Петербург. Северо-Запад. 1993.
3. Пагис Н.А. Чудесный мир английской литературы. Москва. Флинта. 2003.
4. Платон. Диалоги.
5. Позднякова Л.Р. История английской и американской литературы. Ростов-на-Дону. Феникс. 2002.
6. Принцип учителя.
7. Хрестоматия по английской и американской литературе. Санкт- Петербург. Корона принт. 2003.
8. 100 человек, которые изменили ход истории. Сократ. Конфуций. Лев Толстой. Москва. Deagostini. 2008. 2009. 2010.
1. A. Benn. R. Bartlett. Literary Russia. London. Pa Permac. 1997.
2. W. Blake. A grain of sand. London. The Bodley Head. 1967.
3. Confucianism in China. National Geographic. London. Heinle. 2009.
4. R. Dawson. Confucius. Oxford. Oxford University Press. 1982.
5. G. Konyn. The story of philosophy. London. Frederic Muller. 1967.
6. C. Moser. The Cambridge history of Russian Literature. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1992.
7. W. Shakespeare. Hamlet. Москва. Айрис Пресс. 2008.
8. W. Shakespeare. King Lear. Москва. Айрис Пресс. 2008.
9. L. Tolstoy. War and Peace. London. Penguin Books. 1978.
