Тексты для чтения на начальном этапе обучения английскому языку

Big ben The big clock on the tower of the Palace of Westminster in London is often called Big Ben. But Big Ben is really the bell of the clock. It is the biggest clock bell in Britain. It weighs 13.5 tons.The clock tower is 318 feet high. You have to go up 374 steps to reach the top. So the clock looks small from the pavement below the tower.But its face is 23 feet wide. It would only just fit into some classrooms.

The minute-hand is 14 feet long. Its weight is equal to that of two bags of coal. The hour-hand is 9 feet long.The clock bell is called Big Ben after Sir Benjamin Hall. He had the job to see that the bell was put up.Sir Benjamin was a big man. One day he said in Parliament, "Shall we call the bell St. Stephen's?" St. Stephen's is the name of the tower.But someone said for a joke, "Why not call it Big Ben?" Now the bell is known all over the world by that name.

1. The big clock on the tower of the Palace of Westminster in London is often called Big Jack.

2. Big Ben is the biggest clock bell in Britain.

3. Sir Benjamin was a little man.

4. You have to go up 528 steps to reach the top.

5. The clock tower is 318 feet high.

6. The hour-hand is 9 feet long.

7. Big Ben is the tower of the Buckingham Palace in London.

Bob and Rose Bob and Rose are English children. Bob is fifteen. Rose is fourteen. They are brother and sister. They go to school. Bob goes to a boys' school and Rose goes to a girls' school. The children's schools are not far from home. At school Bob learns English and German. Rose learns English and French. Bob and Rose have a lot of books at home. They have English, German and French books.

Rose is a very good pupil. She always works hard. She reads a lot of books. She always does all her exercises. She always helps her mother at home.

Bob does not work hard. He does not work at all. He does not like books and he does not like school. He does not like to help his mother at home. He is a lazy boy. He only likes to sing and dance. He knows some English songs, and he likes to sing them.

1. Bob and Rose are from Russia.

2. Bob is fifteen.

3. Rose is three.

4. The children's schools are far from home.

5. Rose always helps her mother at home.

6. Bob is a lazy boy.

7. He only likes to play football.

The British Museum The British Museum has one of the largest libraries in the world. It has a copy of every book that is printed in the English language, so that there are more than six million books there. They receive nearly two thousand books and papers daily.

The British Museum Library has a very big collection of printed books and manuscripts, both old and new. You can see beautifully illustrated old manuscripts which they keep in glass cases.You can also find there some of the first English books printed by Caxton. Caxton was a printer who lived in the fifteenth century. He made the first printing-press in England. In the reading-room of the British Museum many famous men have read and studied.Charles Dickens, a very popular English writer and the author of 'David Copperfield', 'Oliver Twist', 'Dombey and Son' and other books, spent a lot of time in the British Museum Library.

1. The British Museum has more than six million books.

2. They receive nearly two thousand books and papers weekly.

3. The British Museum Library has a very big collection of magasines.

4. Caxton was a printer who lived in the fifteenth century.

5. In the reading-room of the British Museum many famous men and women have read and studied.

6. Charles Dickens spent a lot of time in the British Museum Library.

7. You can see beautifully illustrated old manuscripts there.

</ Great Britain Great Britain, the largest island in Europe, includes England, Scotland, and Wales. It is separated from Ireland by the Irish Sea, and from the Continent by the English Channel and the Straits of Dover. Great Britain and Northern Ireland form the United Kingdom (UK). The mountains are almost all in the western part. The highest mountain in the United Kingdom is Ben Nevis in Scotland (1343 m). It is in the south-west of England. The Thames is not so long as the Severn, it is shorter. The sea enters deeply into the land and has a great influence on the climate, which is damp but rather mild: the winter is not very cold and the summer is not very hot. Over 57 million people live in the United Kingdom. Most of the people of Great Britain live in big towns and cities.

The capital of the country is London. The important ports of the country are London, Liverpool, Glasgow and others.

1. Great Britain, the largest island in Europe.

2. It is separated from the Continent by the English Channel.

3. The highest mountain is Ben Nevis .

4. Over 75 million people live in the United Kingdom.

5. Some of the people of Great Britain live in big towns and cities.

6. The capital of the country is Bristol.

7. There are not any ports in the country.