Jane Austen Jane Austen is one of the most famous English novelists. She was born on December 16, 1775, in
Steventon, Hampshire, England. She was the seventh child of Cassandra and George Austen. Her father
had a large library and the children could read a lot of books. Jane was especially close to her father and
to her older sister, Cassandra. Jane and her sister were sent to boarding schools. During this time, they
caught typhus and Jane almost died. After a short period of studying, they had to retum home because
the family didn't have enough money.
Jane Austen started writing her own novels in the 1790s. She spent a lot of her time reading, helping her
parents, playing the piano, going to the church and meeting her neighbours. She became a very good
dancer. In 1801, Jane Austen moved to Bath with her father, mother and Cassandra. Then, in 1805, her
father died after a short illness. The family had some financial problems, but in 1809, they settled at
Jane's brother Edward's cottage in Chawton.
Now in her 30s, Jane started to anonymously publish her works. She published Sense and Sensibility in
1811. Pride and Prejudice in 1813, Emma in 1815 and Mansfield Park in 1816. The most famous of
these novels is probably Pride and Prejudice. It is the story of the Bennet family. The Bennets have five
daughters. They are very different from each other and they all want to get mamied. The main character
is Elizabeth, the second eldest daughter. She has a complicated relationship with the handsome and rich
but very proud Mr. Darcy. In the end, they get mamed.
In 1816, Jane Austen became ill. She tried to continue writing as long as she could. In May 1817, she
was taken to Winchester to be under the care of a good doctor and she died there on July 18. She was
buried in Winchester Cathedral. A year after her death, her novel Northanger Abbey was published by
her brother.
1 Read the text and answer the following questions.
1 Why did Jane Austen and her sister have to stop studying?
2 Where did Jane Austen move in 1801?
3 What happened to Jane Austen in 1805?
4 How many daughters do the Bennets have?
5 What kind of man is Mr Darcy?
6 Where did Jane Austen die?
7 Who published Northanger Abbey?
The invention that swept the world and changed leisure habits for countless millions was pioneered by Scottish-born electrical engineer John Logie Baird. It had been realised for some time that light could be converted into electrical impulses, making it possible to transmit such impulses over a distance and then reconvert them into light.
Motor Car (Late 19th Century)
With television, the car is probably the most widely used and most useful of all leisure-inspired inventions. German engineer Karl Benz produced the first petroldriven car in 1885 and the British motor industry started in 1896. Henry Ford was the first to use assembly line production for his Model Т car in 1908. Like them or hate them, cars have given people great freedom of travel.
Electricity
The name came from the Greek word for amber and was coined by Elizabeth I's physician William Gilbert who was among those who noticed that amber had the power to attract light objects after being rubbed. In the 19th century such great names as Michael Faraday, Humphry Davy, Alessandro Volta and Andre Marie Ampere all did vital work on electricity.
Photography (Early 19th Century)
Leonardo da Vinci had described the camera obscura photographic principle as early as 1515. But it was not until 1835 that Frenchman Louis Daguerre produced camera photography. The system was gradually refined over the years, to the joy of happy snappers and the despair of those who had to wade through friends' endless holiday pictures.
Telephone (1876)
Edinburgh-born scientist Alexander Graham Bell patented his invention of the telephone in 1876. The following year, the great American inventor Thomas Edison produced the first working telephone. With telephones soon becoming rapidly available, the days of letter-writing became numbered.
Computer (20th Century)
The computer has been another life-transforming invention. British mathematician Charles Babbage designed a form of computer in the mid-1830s, but it was not until more than a century later that theory was put into practice. Now, a whole generation has grown up with calculators, windows, icons, computer games and word processors, and the Internet and e-mail have transformed communication and information.
Aeroplane
The plane was the invention that helped shrink the world and brought distant lands within easy reach of ordinary people. The invention of the petrol engine made flight feasible and the American Wright brothers made the first flight in 1903.