Reading (1)

    FAMOUS WRITERS

     1.      Read the text about three famous writers. Find out the difficulties they had at the beginning of their career.

AGATHA CHRISTIE      (1890 – 1976) The English mystery writer, Agatha Christie, is one of the most popular writers in the world. She sold four billion copies of her books – the same number as Shakespeare’s plays. Surprisingly, Agatha Christie had a learning disability called dyslexia. People with this disability have got trouble reading, spelling and writing – three very important skills for a writer!

J.K. ROWLING     (1965 - ) J.K. Rowling is the author of the Harry Potter books. She became extremely rich, thanks to her books. But when she began writing the Harry Potter series, Rowling was a poor single mother in Edinburgh, Scotland. She was unemployed and her only money was from the government. During this period, Rowling often went for a walk with her baby, and when the baby fell asleep, she sat down at a café and wrote!

STEPHEN KING      (1947-) The famous American author of horror fiction, Stephen King, washed sheets in a laundry. His wife sold cakes in a bakery. He and his wife were poor. To save money, King asked the phone company to take the telephone out of their house.    King’s first novel, Carrie, was about a girl with special powers. In the beginning, he was disappointed with the story and he threw it in the rubbish bin. Fortunately, his wife rescued the story – and King’s career. The book sold over a million copies in its first year.

 

      2.     According to Stephen King’s biography, put these sentences in the correct order.

a.       King became rich.

b.      Stephen King threw his first novel in the bin.

c.       King wrote the novel Carrie.

d.      His family was poor.

e.       His wife helped his career.

 

    3.      According to Agatha Christie and J.K. Rowling’s biography, are these sentences true or false?

-          Agatha Christie wrote adventure books.

-          Agatha Christie is alive.

-          She sold the same number of books as 
Shakespeare.

-          She had a disability called dyslexia.

-          J.K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter book.

-          She was rich when she was a child.

-          She wrote her first book in Paris.

-          She had a baby.

   4.      Find two regular verbs and two irregular verbs in the text. Write them in their base form.

IREGULAR VERBS		RREGULAR VERBS
Past Simple	Base Form	Past Simple	Base Form
sold            →           sell

    

5. Now, make a list about the most popular writers in your country. What kind of books do they write? Do you like them?


                                            EXAMPLE!!

                              Miguel de Cervantes was a 
                              popular writer in my country. 

                                    He wrote adventure books. 
                              I like them because they are 
                              interesting.
                                                

                    

                                                   

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