Никоненко Тамара Петрівна

   Kelly Ryan lives in Kentucky in the USA and starts her new school year in August. She doesn’t go back to just one school, but two. As well as ordinary high school, she goes to virtual high school. Kelly wants to study history of art, but her local high school doesn’t teach it. So she’s taking it on the Internet.
   Kentucky is one of the two states in America at the moment that of­fers virtual high school classes to all their school students — the oth­er is Florida. This is just the beginning. Virtual schools and universities are starting up all over the world. Some education experts think that in 20 years’ time, there’ll be no more real classrooms — only virtual ones.
   So how does virtual school work? When Kelly gets home from regular school, she logs on to the Internet on the family computer. On the home page of her course web site she reads any messages from her teacher and other students. On the ‘What’s new’ page the teacher explains what the next piece of work is and where to find out about the subject on the Internet. Each student has a virtual course book. Kelly does her work here and only she and her teacher can look at it. She uses e-mail to talk to other students of the course (no more than 25) and her teacher. There is a text page where the teacher puts video clips, pieces of text to read and pictures to look at. Any extra materials, such as books, are sent through the post to Kelly’s home.

   Bill was thirty years old when his wife died. Their daughter, little Minna, was only four then. Bill was a carpenter. His carpenter’s shop was near his house and all day while he worked there, Minna played in the street. Bill prepared dinner, washed Minna’s clothes and sometimes played with her. When Bill was very busy, his neighbours looked after his daughter.
   When the girl was seven, Bill took her to school every morning and brought her back in the afternoon. Minna was about eight, when Bill fell ill. Once he decided to visit a doctor. When he came back, he sat quietly in his shop for a long time.
   The doctor told him that he would die in six months. The next day Bill went to another doctor. The other doctor told him the same. Bill did not know what to do with Minna. He had a sister, who lived in another city. She was an old tired woman. She will not be able to help him. And he had only six months left.
   The whole nights Bill was thinking about his little and helpless Minna at her bed. Soon he made a decision. His daughter had to be adopted by nice people! He wrote a note into a local newspaper.
Vocabulary
a carpenter – тесля
neighbours – сусіди
brought back – забирав

   Many years ago a rich man named Llewellyn lived in the mountains of Wales. He had a little son two years old, whom he loved very much. Gelert, a large dog, was always near the boy. He was ready to protect him at any moment.
   One morning, as Llewellyn prepared to go hunting, he couldn’t find Gelert. So, Llewellyn had to go without him. That day the hunt was not good because his favourite dog was absent. When Llewellyn came back home late in the afternoon, Gelert came running to meet him. There was blood on his muzzle and head. Llewellyn hurried to the room where the child slept.
   The master could not see the child. The bed, chairs and tables were overturned. Here and there he could see blood on the floor.
   Llewellyn turned to Gelert and said, “You have killed my child!” So he killed the dog. But a few minutes later he found his son in his overturned bed. He was all right. Then he saw the body of a large grey wolf lying in a dark corner of the room.
   Then Llewellyn understood everything. Gelert had killed the wolf before it attacked the child.
   Llewellyn laid a great stone in his yard as a monument to his dog Gelert.
Vocabulary
Llewellyn – [‘lu:’elın] – м. Луелін
to protect – захищати
to go hunting – ходити на полювання
blood – кров
muzzle – морда (собаки)
overturned – перекинутий

1. David spent his summer holidays in England.
2. David’s classes at school began on the 1^st of September.
3. David Smith had a good time in Ukraine.
4. David’s father is reading a newspaper.
5. The sister is watching TV in her room.
6. David is reading a letter from his Ukrainian friend.
7. Oleg’s family is big: a mother, a father two sisters and a grandmother.
8. Oleg’s mother is talking with her friend over the telephone.
9. Oleg’s father is watching TV.
10. Sister Nadia is doing her homework for the next day.
11. Grandmother Svitlana is reading a book to her granddaughter.
12. Oleg is writing a letter to his British friend.

   Before 1840 there were no stamps. In those days people usually paid a lot of money for a letter when they received it. That is why people who were poor did not write to one another often. But when they sent or received a letter, it was a very important thing for them and many people knew about it.
   There is a story from that time about a letter to a poor woman. One day the postman came to her house to bring her a letter. He told the woman to pay a lot of money, which she did not have. She looked at the letter, and gave it back to the postman. “I cannot pay for it,” she said.
   Just at that moment a man heard the conversation between the postman and the woman. He came up to the woman and said, “Let me pay for the letter. I have money and I want to help you.” Then he gave the postman the money he wanted to get from the woman. “I thank you very much,” said the woman, “but you must not pay for the letter. It is from my brother. He sends me one letter every three months. He does not write about himself and his family, he writes only my address on the letter. Then I know that he is well, and as I cannot pay for the letter, I give it back to the postman.”
Vocabulary
a stamp – марка
a postman – поштар
the conversation – розмова