Инструкция по выполнению работы

А. The novel covers an eventful period in American history and many of the characters are touched by national and international events. The issue of slavery split the country, and between 1861 and 1865 the northern and southern states were engaged in a bloody civil war. After the war ended, the country recovered and there was a period of rapid economic growth. Settlers moved west to build new farms and adopted new mechanical methods of farming. The railroads expanded and opened up new production areas and markets. The United States soon became the world’s leading agricultural producer.

B. From the landing at Plymouth Rock to today, educators and community members have debated over the best way that government should fulfill its responsibility to educate citizens. Underlying these debates are three central questions: What is the purpose of a public education? Who is to receive the educational services provided by the public? And, how does government ensure the quality of these educational services? In various forms, these questions lay beneath all educational changes and reform measures in American history.

C. In Europe during the Middle Ages and much of the Early Modern period, the main purpose of schools (as opposed to universities) was to teach the Latin language. This led to the term grammar school, which in the United States informally refers to a primary school, but in the United Kingdom means a school that selects entrants based on ability or aptitude. Following this, the school curriculum has gradually broadened to include literacy in the vernacular language as well as technical, artistic, scientific and practical subjects.

D. A large number of people depend directly or indirectly on the tobacco business. Small shops receive a large part of their income from the sale of cigarettes, and may be forced to close if cigarettes are made illegal. There are also many others who depend on this market. Tobacco is largely grown in warm countries, with undeveloped economies. A complete ban on cigarettes would force farmers to change the crops that they grow, and this is not something that can be carried out quickly. Poor farmers may not be able to feed their families without the income from tobacco.

E. The number of people suffering from respiratory illness in the countryside was significantly lower in the past than it is today. This supported by Michael J. Brown’s empirical research and by the statistics collected by the Bureau of Information over a 50-year period. It is, however, impossible to identify a direct relation of cause and effect between the increased use of pesticides and the rise in the number of breathing problems, as so many other factors in people’s lifestyle have also changed.

F. The coffee served in the coffee houses wasn’t necessarily very good coffee. Because of the way coffee was taxed in Britain, the practice was to brew it in large batches, store it cold in barrels and reheat it a little at a time for serving. So coffee’s appeal in Britain was less to do with its being a quality beverage than a social lubricant. People went to coffee houses to meet people of shared interests, to gossip, read the latest journals and newspapers — a brand-new word and concept in the 1660s — and exchange information of value to their lives and business.

G. Christianity was always curiously ill at ease with cleanliness, and early on developed an odd tradition of equating holiness with dirtiness. When St. Thomas a Becket died in 1170, those who laid him out noted approvingly that his undergarments were ‘seething with lice’. Throughout the medieval period, an almost sure-fire way to earn lasting honour was to take a vow not to wash. Many people walked from England to the Holy Land, but when a monk named Godric did it without getting wet even once he became, all but inevitably, St. Godric.

Men are Chatterboxes too!

Who speaks more, men or women? Most wouldn't hesitate to answer that women have a greater gift of gab. Jokes abound, and comedians have made careers out of A _______________________. But research some may find surprising indicates B _______________________ speak more or less equally.

Researchers recorded the daily conversations of 400 university students in the United States and Mexico over a period of several days. After analyzing the data, they discovered that women used a tad more than 16,000 words each day. Men, however, used C _______________________ than 16,000 words. With almost no difference in the numbers, D _______________________, it's safe to consider men and women in a statistical dead heat. The report does admit that, E _______________________, the numbers could change.

The study does offer a few comments on what the genders talk about. For example, men gossip just as much as women. Another stereotyped smashed in the study is that women mostly talk about trivial matters. They don't, or F _______________________than men do. But women actually talk more about relationships.

1. that both men and women

2. as men and women age

3. and well within any margin or error

4. just how much women talk

5. when men and women argue

6. at least no less

7. just a bit less

The Courtship of Susan Bell

Mrs. Bell invited Aaron Houston, a famous British artist, to paint her younger daughter’s portrait. Aaron wanted to make a few drawings before he started a portrait. On the Thursday evening the drawing was finished. Not a word had been said because the girls were shy to speak in Aaron’s presence and he had gone on working in silence. “There,” said he, “I don’t think that it will be any better if I go on for another hour. I hope you will like it. There, Miss Susan”, and he sent it across the table with his fingers.

Susan’s face got red, she was embarrassed. She took the drawing and said, “Oh, it’s beautiful”. The superb originality of the drawing captivated her. A young girl was represented sitting at a table in a room filled with fresh air and the soft light of a summer day. The greenery of an old overgrown garden could be seen through the window. In front of her on the white tablecloth there was her book.

The eyes of the girl looked out at you, dark grey, mysterious, sad, languorous, yet strangely intent. What was the girl thinking about? Who was the girl thinking about? The drawing was more than a portrait. It fact, the artist tackled a far bigger job than that of reproducing a definite person in portraiture and in performing which he imparted another and bigger content. Susan’s face revealed her feelings. She turned to her mother and said, “Isn’t it beautifully done, mother?” and then her elder sister and her mother got up to look at it, and both admitted that it was beautifully done but Susan felt there was doubt in her mother’s voice.

“We thank you very much,” said Susan after a long pause.

“Oh, it’s nothing”, said he, not quite liking the word “we”.

On the following day he returned from his work to Saratoga about noon. He had never done this before, and therefore no one expected that he would be seen in the house before the evening. On this occasion, however, he went straight there, and by chance both the widow and her elder daughter were out. Susan was there alone in charge of the house. He walked in and opened the sitting-room door. There she sat, with her knitting and a book forgotten on the table behind her, and Aaron’s drawing, on her lap. She was looking at it closely as he entered.

“Oh, Mr. Dunn,” she said, getting up and holding the picture behind her dress. “Miss Susan, I have come here to tell your mother that I must start for New York this afternoon and be there for six weeks, or perhaps, longer.”

“Mother is out,” she said. “I am sorry.”

“Is she?” said Aaron. “And Hetta too. Dear me! And you will want dinner. I’ll go and see about it.” Aaron began to swear that he could not possibly eat any dinner.

“But you must have something, Mr. Dunn“ she said.

“Miss Susan,” said he, “I’ve been here nearly two months.”

“Yes, sir,” Susan said, hardly knowing what she was saying. “I’m going away now, and it seems to be such a long time before I’ll come back.” And then he paused, looking into her eyes, to see what he could read there. She leant against the table; but her eyes were turned to the ground, and he could hardly see them.

“Will you help me?” he said. She was keeping silent. “Miss Susan,” he continued, “I am not very good at saying things like this, but will you marry me? I love you dearly with all my heart. I never saw anyone so beautiful, so nice, so good.” And then he stopped. He didn’t ask for any love in return. He simply declared his feelings, leaning against the door. Susan remained silent. Aaron ran out of the room.