ГДЗ Английский язык за 8 класс Афанасьева, Михеева, Баранова - Rainbow English - Рабочая тетрадьUnit 4 – 3

🔊 Julia: Mum, I have just read "The Ugly Duckling" to Ann. She liked it very much but it turned out that I know very little about the famous Danish writer and couldn’t answer Ann’s questions about him. I have certainly read a lot of his stories: "The Mermaid", "The Emperor’s New Clothes", "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" and many more but I don’t think I know anything about his life, his childhood, for example. 🔊 Mother: Well, he was bom in Denmark. His parents were rather poor but the boy was happy. His mother and father loved him and did everything they could for their son. Hans Christian’s grandmother was an excellent storyteller and often told her little grandson wonderful tales of magic and adventure. 🔊 Julia: So, he had quite a happy childhood, didn’t he? 🔊 Mother: I wouldn’t say that. On the one hand, his family loved him very much. His father once made him a toy theatre and his mother, Anne-Marie, taught the boy to make clothes for his cardboard actors and actresses. Hans Christian made plays with his toy actors and one day he understood he would like to be an actor. He dreamed of going to the city of Copenhagen to win riches and fame. 🔊 Julia: It’s very natural, Mum. 1 think all boys and girls think of becoming actors in their childhood. I wanted that myself when I was younger. But you said he was happy on the one hand, what about the other? 🔊 Mother: On the other hand, he was very unhappy for many years because as it turned out he was not talented. And he was not good-looking either. He was very tall for his age and clumsy. His legs seemed too long for his body. His feet were very large and so was his nose. When he danced, people usually laughed. There was no grace in his clumsy body and no delight in his long, sad face and he wasn’t a healthy boy so he couldn’t work and earn money. 🔊 Julia: How did he manage then? 🔊 Mother: He suffered a lot when he understood he couldn’t be an actor, a singer or a dancer. And he didn’t have money. He went to Copenhagen when he was 14 and there some kind people helped him to go to school. The friendship with Jonas Collin and his family helped Anderson to finish school. He began writing poems. They were no success. But then at the age of 30 he began writing fairy tales. He wrote them with such charm that book publishers took all his stories and published them. 🔊 Julia: Did he make up all the stories himself? 🔊 Mother: I think he did, though who knows, he could remember his granny’s stories and borrow the plots, too. But is it really important? You and your sister are fond of his fairy tales. And so are millions of children and grown-ups.