Monsters of the sea?

         People have always been afraid of sharks. Films like “ Jaws” have shown them as monsters. But now these animals are in danger, like many others.

In recent years, shark meat has become a popular food in America. Too much fishing has begun to reduce the numbers of some kinds of shark. Some people say this is a good thing. Sharks kill about twenty-five people a year near the world’s beaches. Are we going to help sharks, or are they going to become extinct?

      It’s hard to solve the sharks’ “ image” problem and change people’s minds about them. Sharks are hunters and so they naturally kill. But actually elephants kill more people than sharks every year – and every–one likes elephants.

       Sharks are very important for the world’s oceans. They eat unhealthy fish and keep the numbers of different kinds of sea animals in balance. Now scientists are trying to find way to protect these animals. They have been in the oceans for 350 million years. Perhaps they can survive a little longer.

      Выберите правильные утверждения

1. Films have shown sharks as monsters.
2. Shark meat has become a popular food only in Canada.
3.  Sharks kill about twenty-five people a year near the world’s beaches
4. Sharks are not monsters because they don’t kill anybody.
5. It’s not hard to solve sharks ‘image’ problem.
6. Sharks are hunters so they naturally kill.

  7.Sharks have been in the oceans for 200 years.

  The Great Romantic

Lord Byron (1788-1824) didn’t live a long life. He was an aristocrat and a fashionable man. But he loved freedom (свободу) and a simple country life. His personality attracted Britain and all Europe. He brought to his poetry romanticism of his times. He was talented and handsome, noble and brave. London admired him.

 George Gordon Byron was born on January 22nd, 1788. He was the son of John Byron and his wife, Catherine, whose ancestors (предки) were of the royal house of Stuart. He spent his early years outside the capital. He lived in the north. Later his mother took him to Aberdeen. There they lived for several years. George went to Aberdeen Grammar School and there is a monument to him outside the school. Now it is a museum and art gallery. Later he studied at   Harrow School and the University of Cambridge.

When Byron was 19, he came to London. One day the poet wrote, “I woke up (проснулся) and found myself (обнаружил, что я) famous.”  It happened after the publication of his autobiographic poem “Childe Harold” in 1812.

 The fact is that from 1809 to 1811 he had traveled in different parts of Europe and in the poem he described everything that had happened to him.

In the summer of 1816 Byron left Britain forever (навсегда). He traveled around Europe and soon he became a member of the Greek liberation movement (освободительное движение), for which he died. But he did not lead the Greeks in battle as he wished. He died of fever. 

           Ответьте на вопросы 

1) When and where was G. Byron born?

2) Where did he study?  

3) What did he describe in the poem?

4) When did he die?