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Bernard Shaw: Biography
Биография Бернарда Шоу, знаменитого ирландского и британского писателя, драматурга, критика, политического и общественного деятеля, лауреата Нобелевской премии по литературе (полученной за пьесу "Пигмалион" в 1925 году) на английском языке c некоторыми историко-лингвистическими пояснениями и словариком к тексту.
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw, an outstanding British playwright, was born in Dublin, Ireland, on 26 July, 1856. His family was poor. Shaw’s mother, a gifted musician went to London where she started to work as music teacher. As the family was very poor Shaw realized that he had to leave school at the age of fifteen and start working. He became a cashier in a Dublin land agency (1) He hated his job and after he had worked for five years he gave it up and left for London. There he joined his mother whom he had not seen for a long time.
Shaw tried to make his living by writing. He wrote four novels which were published in magazines but they were not a success. In 1885 Shaw became a music critic. He wrote a lot of articles on art, music, literature and drama and was very popular with his readers.
In the nineties (2) Shaw began to write to the theatre. He was the creator of a new publicist drama. During the period of 1892 – 93 Shaw published three plays grouped under the title “Plays Unpleasant” (3). In these plays Shaw criticized British society. Then Shaw published three plays grouped under the title “Plays Pleasant”.
When World War I started Shaw published “Commonsense about the War”, (4) a drastic criticism of the British government’s policy.
In 1928 Shaw visited the Soviet Union. After he had returned to England he published several articles in which he described the achievements of the USSR.
Shaw wrote over twenty plays. One of the most popular plays is “Saint Joan” (5) (1923). The play is devoted to Joan of Arc (the Maid of Orleans). As soon as the play was out some theatres staged it. Since its first performance the play has always been a great success with the public everywhere. Shaw himself liked this play very much.
In 1931 he made a world tour visiting India, China, Africa and America.
In 1925 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature (6).
Shaw died at the age of 94 in 1950.
Из учебника "Английский для вас. Новый курс XXI века" - Валентина Шах-Назарова, Кира Журавченко, 2008 г., Изд-во "Вече"
Notes
1. Dublin land agency ['dʌblɪn lænd 'eɪʤ(ə)n(t)sɪ] – Дублинское агентство по продаже и покупке земельных участков и домов;
2. in the nineties [ˊnainti:z]– в девяностые годы;
3. grouped under the title “Plays Unpleasant” – объединенные под названием «Пьесы неприятные»;
4. "Commonsense about the War" – «Здравый смысл о войне»;
5. "Saint Joan" [seɪnt ʤəun] – «Святая Иоанна», пьеса, посвященная Жанне Д’Арк;
6. Nobel Prize for Literature – Нобелевская премия по литературе.
- Dublin ['dʌblɪn]– Дублин
- Ireland ['aɪələnd] – Ирландия
- Joan of Arc – Жанна д’Арк
- the Maid of Orleans – Орлеанская дева
- China ['ʧaɪnə] – Китай
- Africa ['æfrɪkə] – Африка
- outstanding [ˌaut'stændɪŋ] – выдающийся, знаменитый
- playwright ['pleɪraɪt] – драматург
- poor [puə] – бедный
- gifted ['gɪftɪd] – одаренный, талантливый (gift – дар, подарок)
- musician [mjuː'zɪʃ(ə)n] – музыкант
- leave [liːv] (left, left) – покидать, бросать to leave school – оставить обучение в школе
- age [eɪʤ] – возраст at the age of twenty (ten, etc.) – в возрасте двадцати (десяти и т.д.) лет
- hate [heɪt] – не выносить, ненавидеть, испытывать отвращение I hate it when it rains. – Я не люблю, когда идет дождь.
- join [ʤɔɪn] – 1. присоединяться; входить в компанию 2. вступать в члены (общества, партии и т.п.) He joined the party last year. – Он вступил He will join us later. – Он присоединится к нам позже.в партию в прошлом году.
- for a long time – в течение длительного времени, долго He has not seen his brother for a long time. – Он не видел своего брата в течение долгого времени.
- living – средства к существованию
- make a living (as smb.; by doing smth.) – зарабатывать на жизнь (в качестве кого-либо; делая что-либо) Shaw had to make a living as a cashier in a land agency.
- publish ['pʌblɪʃ] – издавать, опубликовывать to be published – быть опубликованным When was Shaw’s first novel published? – Когда был опубликован первый роман Шоу?
- success [sək'ses] – успех to be a success – пользоваться успехом, иметь успех
- as – в качестве, как (вводит предикатив и др. члены предложения); to work as (a) teacher (journalist, etc.) – работать учителем (журналистом, в качестве журналиста и т.д.); (Обратите внимание, что в сочетании с work as артикль перед существительным может не употребляться: At the age of twenty he began to work as teacher.)
- critic ['krɪtɪk] – критик
- work – работа; произведение, сочинение
- realize ['rɪəlaɪz] – 1. сознавать, понимать; 2. осуществлять, выполнять, реализовывать (план, замысел)
- necessity [nə'sesətɪ] – необходимость
- creator [krɪ'eɪtə] – творец, создатель
- publicist ['pʌblɪsɪst] – публицистический
- title ['taɪtl] – заглавие, название
- criticize ['krɪtɪsaɪz] – критиковать
- society [sə'saɪətɪ] – общество
- period ['pɪərɪəd] – период, промежуток времени
- war [wɔː] – война World War I (One), the First World War – Первая мировая война
- drastic ['dræstɪk] – радикальный, крутой; сильнодействующий; интенсивный; решительный
- criticism ['krɪtɪsɪz(ə)m] – критика drastic criticism – резкая (решительная) критика
- policy ['pɔləsɪ] – политика
- several ['sev(ə)r(ə)l] – несколько
- describe [dɪ'skraɪb] – описывать, изображать
- achievement [ə'ʧiːvmənt] – достижение
- devote [dɪ'vəut] – посвящать; отдавать (себя) целиком He devoted his life to art. – Он посвятил свою жизнь искусству.
- to be devoted to – быть посвященным чему-либо His new book is devoted to the life of a famous actor.
- be out – выходить; выходить из печати
- stage [steɪʤ] – сцена, подмостки; ставить (пьесу, оперу и т.п.)
- performance [pə'fɔːmən(t)s] – спектакль, представлениe
- the public – (собир.) публика
- the reading public – читающая публика, читатели
- the theatre-going public – театралы
- tour [tuə] поездка, экскурсия to make a tour to – совершить поездку по When did you make a tour to Scotland?
- award [ə'wɔːd] – награждать to be awarded – быть награждённым Shaw was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925. – В 1925 г. Шоу был награжден Нобелевской премией за достижения в области литературы.
- die [daɪ] – умирать
- death [deθ] - смерть