Long, long ago there was a lake of cold water in Kenya. Many animals came at night to the lake to drink some water. But people never came to the lake at night: the animals could kill and eat them.

Now, a rich man who had a beautiful daughter once said: „The young man, who will go to the lake in the evening and stay in the cold water till morning, will have my daughter for his wife."

There lived a poor young man who loved the rich man's daughter very much. He said to his mother, „I shall try to stay all night in the lake and then marry my dear girl".

„No, no", the mother said, „you are my only son!". The water in the lake is very cold, and the animals will eat you up. Don't go there!" She cried and cried, but her son said: „Mother, don't cry, I must try. I love her so much!"

So the young man went to the girl's father. He told him that he wanted to go to the lake and stay in the cold water all night. The rich man sent his servants to the place where they could watch the young man.

When night carne, the young man went to the lake and his mother followed him, but he didn't see her. There was a hill forty paces away from the place where the young man went into the water. The woman climbed up the hill and made up a fire there. The wild animals saw the fire and were afraid to go near that place.

The young man saw the fire too. He understood that his mother was there. He thought of his mother's love, and it was easier for him to stay all night in the very cold water.

Morning came. The young man went to the rich man's house. The rich man saw him and said, „My servants say that there was a fire on the hill forty paces from the lake. It warmed you and that is why you could stay all night in the water. So you can't marry my daughter. Good-bye".

The young man was very angry. He went to the judge. “Well”,

the judge said, „this is a very simple case".

The next morning the young man with his mother and the rich man with his servants came before the judge. There were many people there who wanted to hear the case.

The judge asked for a pot of cold water. Then he walked forty paces from the pot and made a fire. „Now", he said, „we shall wait a little until the water is warm". The people cried: „But the fire isso far away, it can't warm the water in the pot". Then the judge said: „How could that young man warm himself at a fire forty paces away?"

So the case was over, and the young man married the rich man's daughter. They lived happily for many years.

Text №17.

Read the text and do the tasks after the text.

HOW THE PAINTER REMBRANDT WAS DISCOVERED

In a museum in Holland one can see a pair of wooden shoes with funny little figures of animals drawn on them. Those drawings helped to discover the great painter Rembrandt.

When he was still aboy, Rembrandt worked to become a painter and travel in foreign countries.

One day at school, instead of listening to the teacher, he was drawing pigs and chickens on the wooden shoes of the pupil sitting next to him. Seeing this, the teacher got angry with him and said he would tell his mother.

In the afternoon Rembrandt was sitting on the top of a hill quite near his house, watching the traffic in the streets.

When he saw his teacher coming towards his father’s house, he was sure that his teacher had come to speak to his parents. His father called him and the young Rembrandt saw his teacher with one of the wooden shoes in his hand. All eyes were turned on him as he came near. To his great surprise, his mother spoke to him kindly, saying, "Do you really want to be a painter, my child?" The boy could not believe his ears, hisheart was full of happiness.

His teacher told him that he liked his excellent drawings and wanted him to study painting with a famous artist in the town.

Later Rembrandt painted wonderful pictures, but he died a poor man.

Text №18. Read the text and do the tasks after the text.

BOOKS AND TV

Some people think that as more and more people have televisions in their homes; fewer and fewer people will buy books and newspapers. Why read an article in the newspaper, when the TV news can bring you the information in a few minutes and with pictures? Why read a novel, when a play on television can tell you same story with colour, picture and action?

Why read the biographies of famous men and women, when an hour-long television programs can tell you all that you want to know?

Television has not killed reading, however. Today, newspapers and magazines are sold in very large numbers. And books of every kind are sold more than ever before. Books are still a cheap way to get information and entertainment. Although some books with hard covers are expensive, many books are published today as paperback books, which are reasonably cheap. A paperback novel, for example, is almost always cheaper than an evening at the cinema or theatre, and you can keep a book forever and read it many times.

Books at home are a wonderful source of knowledge and pleasure and some types of books should be in every home. Every home should have a good dictionary. Every home should have an atlas of the world, with large clear maps. It might be expensive, but a good encyclopedia is useful, too, because you can find information on any subject. In addition, it is useful to have on your bookshelves other non-fiction books such as history books, science textbooks, cookery books, books about medicine and health, etc. It is equally important to have some fiction on your shelves, too. Then you can relax with a good story, or from time to time you can take a book of poems off your shelves and read the thoughts and feelings of your favourite poets.

 

 

Text №19.

Read the text and do the tasks after the text.

THE THREE WISHES (AN OLD ENGLISH FAIRY TALE)

One winter evening a poor peasant sat near the fire talking with his wife about one of their neighbours who was a rich man.

"If only I had a little money myself", he said, "I should open my own shop".

"I", answered his wife, "should not be satisfied with that, I should be happy if I lived in a big house, and then, if I saw people like ourselves, I should help them and try to make everybody happy. But we are no longer in the time of fairies. If only I could meet one of them, it would not take me long to decide what to ask of her".

Hardly had she said these words when a beautiful young lady appeared in their room and told them she was a fairy willing to grant their first three wishes. But she said they should choose carefully as she could allow them no more than three wishes. Then the beautiful lady disappeared.

At first the husband and wife were astonished. Then they began discussing the first wish that it would be best to have. They quarreled for a long time and finally decided to wish for nothing for a while and put it off till the next day.

The woman looked at the bright fire and said without thinking: "Oh, it would be a good thing to have a good sausage for our supper". And a long thick sausage fell on their table. The husband got very angry and began scolding his wife. "Isn't that a fine wish? You're such a stupid woman! I wish this sausage would stick to your nose!" This was hardly said when the sausage jumped up and stuck to the poor woman's face.

The husband understood that he himself had been even more foolish than his wife, but no matter how he tried he could not tear the sausage off his wife's nose. "If you had not wished to have this beauty sausage, I should not have wished it to stick to your nose", said the husband.

Finally they realized that they had only one wish left. They thought for a long time and agreed to have their last wish. They wished the sausage to fall on the table, which it did.

Text №20.Read the text and do the tasks after the text

The Lady or the Tiger?

In the very old times there lived a king, and he was a man of great fancy.

One day an idea came to his mind, and the king decided to modernize the system of court trial in his kingdom.

For this purpose there was built a big arena with galleries around it. In that arena the most important criminals were to be put on trial in public. But neither the king nor anybody of his court was to decide the fate of the accused person. It was the criminal himself who did it. On an appointed day when all the people had gathered at the galleries, and the king and his court had taken their places, the accused person stepped into the arena. On the other side of the arena there were two doors. The doors were side by side and identical. The accused person was to walk to those doors and open one of them. If he opened the one, there came out of it a hungry tiger and tore him to pieces, as a punishment for his crime. At the same time the sad bells began to clang, and the people with heavy hearts went to their homes. But if the accused opened the other door, there came out of it a beautiful lady. And to that lady he was immediately married, as a reward for his innocence. It did not matter that the accused might already have a wife and children, or a bride; the king took no notice of such trifles.

Such was the king's method of showing justice.

The king had a daughter whom he loved greatly. She was very beautiful and, at the same time, she was very conceited. It happened so that she fell in love with a young man whose social position was not as high as hers. But they were happy.

One day the king learned about their love. The young man was immediately put into prison, and a day was appointed for his trial in the king's arena.

On this occasion the most savage tiger was caught and caged behind one of the doors, and a very beautiful girl was found to stand behind the other door.

The appointed day came. A lot of people gathered at the galleries. The king and his court were in their places. Then the signal was given, and the lover of the princess walked into the arena. He bowed to the king and looked at the princess who was sitting to the right of her father. The princess had learned the secret of the doors. She knew not only in which room there was the lady, but also who that lady was. It was one of the most beautiful girls of the court, and the princess hated her. The princess was very jealous.

When the lover looked at her, he understood that she knew behind which door was the tiger, and behind which stood the lady. His eyes asked: "Which?"

The question was clear to her, and she had to answer. She raised her hand and made a slight movement towards the right door. Her lover turned and, without the slightest hesitation, went to the door on the right.

And now it is for you, dear reader, to decide: did the princess lie or didn't?

Make your decision. But remember, that, on the one hand the princess loved the young man greatly; but on the other hand she was hot-tempered and jealous.

Text № 21.