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Outstanding
People of the USA
The United States of America is a relatively young country, but
it has got a lot of outstanding people. Due to the world's
biggest cinema-production in Hollywood, there are a lot of
well-known American actors, actresses and film directors. The
USA is also famous for its writers, scientists, sportsmen, pop
stars and politicians.
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein is one of the most famous American scientists in
the world. He was born in a middle-class family in Germany. At
the age of 15, his family moved to Switzerland where Einstein
graduated from the Polytechnic Academy of Zurich. After that he
got a job at a patent agency and spent his free time studying
philosophy, mathematics and science. In 1905 he formulated the
Theory of Relativity which was published in 1915. Einstein also
proved that every planet has a gravitational field and this work
made him world-famous. Another work was called Photoelectric
Law.
In 1922 Einstein got the Nobel Prize for this discovery. In 1933
he moved to the United States as the protest against fascism and
died there in 1955. Einstein's discoveries were a great
contribution to science.
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway is considered one of the greatest American
writers. Hemingway was born in Illinois in 1899. He was a great
sportsman as he went in for sport in his childhood. He was also
one of the brightest students at school and wrote poetry and
prose for a school magazine.
When World War I began in 1917, Hemingway joined tjie Army and
was sent to Italy where he was badly wounded. After that he was
awarded a silver medal by the Italian government. The war
affected his future works greatly.
In 1920 Hemingway returned to the USA and found a job as a
foreign journalist in a newspaper. His dream though was to write
novels. He travelled a lot to collect material for his works. In
1929 A Farewell to Arms, his first novel, was published and it
made Hemingway famous. In this novel he protests against war. In
1936 Hemingway went to Spain and took part in the Civil War
there. After that he wrote another novel called For Whom the
Bell Tolls, devoted to American people who died in the war for
Spain.
In 1954 Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature for
his last novel The Old Man and the Sea which was called the best
of his works. Ernest Hemingway died in 1961 in Cuba where he
spent his last years.
Michael Phelps
Michael Phelps is an American swimmer who has, overall, won 16
Olympic medals, becoming the most successful Olympic athlete in
history. Phelps holds the record for the most gold medals won in
a single Olympics. Furthermore, he holds the all-time record for
most individual gold Olympic medals, at nine.
Phelps was born on June 30, 1985 in Towson, located just outside
of Baltimore, Maryland. Phelps' father used to be a football
player in high school; his mother is a school principal. Phelps
began swimming at the age of seven and by the age of 10, he held
a national record for his age group. At the age of 15 Phelps
qualified for the 2000 Summer Olympics and became the youngest
male to make a US Olympic swim team in 68 years.
Phelps's international titles and record breaking performances
have earned him the World Swimmer of the Year award six times
and American Swimmer of the Year award eight times. He has won a
total of sixty-six medals in major inter¬national competitions.
His unprecedented Olympic success in 2008 earned Phelps Sports
Illustrated magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" award.
After the 2008 Summer Olympics, Phelps started the Michael
Phelps Foundation, which focuses on swimming and promoting
healthier lifestyles.
Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga (Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta) is an extremely
popular pop singer. She was born in 1986. Gaga could play the
piano by ear from the age of four and later said her musical
inspiration was the classical composer Johann Sebastian Bach.
Gaga always loved performing and dreamt of fame from an early
age. At the age of 17, she became one of the youngest students
at the Tisch School of Performing Arts in New York. After that,
she followed her dream the hard way, moving out of her parents'
home to a cheap flat, while trying to earn a living as a
singer-songwriter. It wasn't easy. Gaga spent a few years
performing in clubs without success. Then, her luck started to
change.
She began writing songs for successful artists like Britney
Spears and The Pussycat Dolls and music executives quickly
spotted her talent for writing pop hits. Meanwhile, Gaga was
developing her own image and performance style, wearing
outrageous costumes, wigs and make-up.
Lady Gaga created her own website, as well as MySpace, Twitter,
YouTube and Facebook profiles to promote her music. This was the
turning point in her career. She grabbed the attention of the
world. She even made her songs available as free downloads. Lady
Gaga also used these social media sites to chat with fans about
various things such as her latest fashion statement or the
lyrics of a new song. Lady Gaga shows no sign of slowing down.
She writes songs, she sings and she dances, surprising audiences
with her unusual clothes. Her talent and hard work have made her
a reigning icon of today's pop culture.
ПЛАН-ОТВЕТ. OUTSTANDING PEOPLE OF THE USA
1. Вступление (The United States of America is a relatively
young country, but it has got a lot of outstanding people. Due
to the world's biggest cinema production in Hollywood, there are
a lot of well-known American actors, actresses and film
directors. The USA is also famous for its writers, scientists,
sportsmen, pop stars and politicians.).
2. Рассказать кратко об известных людях США по следующей схеме:
occupation (writer/scientist/sportsman, etc.), date of
birth/place of birth, childhood and family, achievements
(awards/famous books/roles, etc.), your personal opinion about
him/her.
QUESTIONS
1. Who is Albert Einstein and what is he famous for?
2. What can you tell about Einstein's life in brief?
3. What can you tell about Ernest Hemingway?
4. Have you ever read Hemingway's novels? What are your
impressions?
5. Who is Michael Phelps?
6. Have you ever watched Phelps' performance at the Olympic
Games?
7. Who is Lady Gaga?
8. How did Gaga's career start?
9. Do you listen to her songs? If you do, why do you like them?
10. What other famous Americans do you know?
11. What can you tell about them?
12. Who is your favourite American famous person? What is he/she
famous for?
13. Do you think that it's much easier to become popular in
America than in Russia? Why (not)?
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