Номер 1, страница 123, часть 2 - гдз по английскому языку 10 класс учебник Демченко, Юхнель

LESSON 12. Progress check

Communicative area: testing your reading, listening and speaking skills

I. READING

1. Read the article and say in 2–3 sentences what it is about.

Be as great as Aesop

No other ancient Greek author has been read, translated, adapted, printed or illustrated more than Aesop. Who was Aesop? Did he even exist?

Aesop is the name of an ancient fabulist. Legend has it that Aesop lived in the sixth century BC in Samos, a Greek island. Some researchers say that he was originally from Ethiopia. Biographers describe him as an ugly, deformed dwarf¹. Aesop was born a slave, and in his lifetime two different masters owned him before he became a free man. One of his masters gave him freedom as a reward for his wit and intelligence. As a free man, he travelled a lot telling his fables along the way.

The citizens of Delphi thought that Aesop had been giving them bad publicity, so they set a trap for him putting a golden bowl in his baggage. He was caught as a thief and condemned² to death by being pushed off a cliff. Nowadays, nobody knows the names of those who killed him, but the name of Aesop is familiar to millions.

Each of Aesop’s fables has a moral. Many of the morals, sayings and proverbs featured in Aesop’s fables are well-known today. Two prominent fabulists – Jean de La Fontaine from France and Ivan Krylov from Russia – both borrowed ideas from Aesop’s fables.

Aesopian language is a special type of allegorical writing used in literature, criticism, and journalism at times when literary activity is denied freedom of expression. The Russian press between the late 18^th and the early 20^th century used this technique as a reaction against oppression of freedom. Allegorical fairy-tale descriptions were typical of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin and were later used by M. A. Bulgakov, K. Čapek, and other renowned authors of various genres. Here is a fable by Aesop to illustrate the point.

The Lion and His three Councillors

The Lion called the Sheep to him to ask her if his breath smelled. She said yes, and he bit off her head for being a fool. He called the Wolf and asked him as well. The Wolf said no, and the Lion tore him to pieces for being a flatterer¹. Finally, he called the Fox and asked him the same question. However, the Fox apologised profusely² and told the Lion he had somehow caught a cold and could not smell.

Wise men say nothing in dangerous times.

1. Прочитайте статью и скажите в 2–3 предложениях, о чём она.

Ответ:

This article is about the life and legacy of the ancient Greek fabulist, Aesop. It details his biography, from being a slave to a free man, and explains the lasting impact of his fables and the concept of "Aesopian language".

Перевод:

Эта статья о жизни и наследии древнегреческого баснописца Эзопа. В ней подробно излагается его биография, от раба до свободного человека, и объясняется непреходящее влияние его басен и понятие "эзопов язык".