CHARLES DICKENS (1)

         Charles Dickens was born in 1812. He lived in the south of England when he was a little boy. His father worked in an of­fice. He was a very clever man, but he was very poor. Charles had many brothers and sisters, but he did not often play with them. His father had many books and Charles liked to read them. He learned to read very early.

         When Charles was 10 years old, his family went to London.

         There his father got into debt (as he had little money) and then into debtor’s prison. So little Charles began to work when he was ten. That was the beginning of Charles’ hard life.

          Не worked at a small factory in London pasting labels on blacking bottles. He had to work in a dirty room with no win­dows. He did not like his work, but he had to work at the facto­ry for two years. Then he went to school for three years, but he did not learn much at school. He learned much at home, from his father and from other clever people.

          Later he worked as a reporter to the Parliament and be­came a writer of short stories.

         In 1837 he published his first novel «The Posthumous Pa­pers of the Pickwick Club». And the young reporter became a famous writer. Then he published novel after novel — «Oliver Twist», «Dombey and Son», «David Copperfield» and many other good books.

         His books are very interesting, they tell us about the hard life of the poor people in England of that time. When we read his books, we sometimes laugh, but we often want to cry.

        Charles Dickens died in 1870.

        He is one of the greatest novelists in the English litera­ture. Dickens lived more than a hundred years ago, but people in the whole world like to read his books today, because in his books he showed a real world and people of Victorian England.

QUESTIONS:

1. Where did Charles Dickens live?

2. Where did his father work?

3. When did his family go to London?

4. Why did Charles have to work?

5. What novel did Charles Dickens publish in 1837?

6. What do his books tell us about?

7. What did Charles Dickens show in his books?

VOCABULARY:

to get into debt — залезть в долги

to cry — плакать

poor — бедный

prison — тюрьма