JK ROWLING

She's sold over 400 million copies of her Harry Potter books, and also the movie rights for some of the biggest-grossing films in history, creating a global brand that's worth an estimated £7 billion, making her over £500 million personally; she's won squillions of awards; and she was even named the 48th most powerful celebrity in the world by Forbes magazine. So Ms Rowling definitely matters. She would hate to be called a celebrity, and guards her private life intensely, so she doesn't play any part of the celebrity game. And that's why I've marked her quite far down my list. But by encouraging children to read, feel inspired and be creative, she has had a greater impact on the world than most of the other names on it.

2. Queen Elizabeth I, the last of the Tudor monarchs, was the daughter of Henry VIII. She received an excellent classical education. She could read Latin and Greek and spoke French and Italian fluently.People rejoiced when Elizabeth became queen af­ter her elder sister Mary's death in 1558. Elizabeth was an intelligent, courageous and determined wom­an. People often called her Good Queen Bess,Elizabeth made her first task the settlement of England's religious affairs. She was determined to stop religious struggle. She tried to gradually spread Protestant religion, without offending the Catholics too much. However, the struggle between Catholics and Protestants continued and endangered Elizabeth's position. Some Catholic nobles wished to remove Eliz­abeth and replace her with the queen of Scotland, Mary Stuart, who was a Catholic. Mary, usually called Queen of Scots, was the heir to the English throne because she was Elizabeth's closest relation. Mary had powerful enemies in Scotland and had to escape to England. Elizabeth kept her in the Tower of London as a prisoner for nearly twenty years. During that time several Catholic plots were discov­ered, which aimed at making Mary queen of Eng­land. Finally Elizabeth had to agree to Mary's execu­tion in 1587.During Elizabeth's reign England became a great sea power. English sailors, the most famous of which are Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh, challenged the Spaniards in the Atlantic Ocean. They made dar­ing raids on the Spanish colonies in America and cap­tured Spanish ships that carried treasure from the New World to Spain.Elizabeth helped the Dutch Protestants. At that time the Netherlands was part of the Spanish em­pire, and King Philip II of Spain was trying to sup­press the Protestant rebellion there. He sent his army to the Netherlands. Elizabeth did the same. So Philip had to fight with England. He built a huge fleet of ships, which became known as the Invincible Arma­da. England was in danger. Elizabeth spoke to the crews of the ships that were going to do battle with the Armada. She won their hearts by saying that she was ready "...to live or die amongst you... for my God, and for my kingdom, and for my people... I know I am a week woman, but I have the heart of a king — and a King of England too!"The two fleets were fighting for six days, and on August 9, 1588, the Armada was defeated. Only half the ships of the Armada returned to Spain. It was a great victory for England.The Elizabethan age was one of the greatest pe­riods of English literature. Edmund Spenser, Chris­topher Marlowe and William Shakespeare were only a few of the many writers who created their great works at that time. Elizabeth's court became a centre of culture for English musicians, poets, scholars and artists. The English were proud of their country and their queen.

3. William Shakespeare was born in 1564, in Strat-ford-upon-Avon. He attended Stratford's grammar school, which still stands. The grammar school's cur­riculum at that time was limited to teaching pupils Latin, both spoken and written. The classical writers studied in the classroom influenced Shakespeare's plays and poetry; some of his ideas for plots and char­acters came from Ovid's tales, the plays of Terence and Plautus, and Roman history. We do not know when or why Shakespeare left Stratford for London, or what he was doing be­fore becoming a professional actor and dramatist in the capital. He probably arrived in London in 1586 or 1587.Shakespeare's reputation was established in Lon­don by 1592, when his earliest plays were written: Henry VI, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and Titus Andronicus.In 1594 Shakespeare joined other actors in form­ing a new theatre company, with Richard Burbage as its leading actor. For almost twenty years Shake­speare was a regular dramatist of this company and wrote on the average two plays a year. Burbage played the main roles, such as Richard IIP, Hamlet, Othel­lo and Lear.In 1599 the company of actors with which Shake­speare worked built a new theatre, the Globe. It was built on the south bank of the Thames. The Globe theatre is most closely associated with Shakespeare's plays. Two of his plays, Henry V and Julius Cae­sar, were almost certainly written during" the year in which the Globe opened.Some of Shakespeare's most famous tragedies were written in the early 1600s. They include Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth. His late plays, of­ten known as romances, written between 1608 and 1612, include Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale and TheTempest.Around 1611 Shakespeare left London and returned to Stratford. He died in Stratford at the age of fifty-two on April 23, 1616, and was buried in Holy Trin­ity Church.Shakespeare's greatness lies in his humanism. He created a new epoch in world literature. For nearly four centuries Shakespeare has remained one of the best known playwrights and poets in the world. Eve­ry new generation of people finds in his works some­thing important. As his contemporary Ben Jonson once said, Shakespeare "belongs not to the century, but to all times."

4. The centuries-long rivalry between the Crown and Parliament came to an open fight in the 17th century.

The king of England was Charles I, a young man who wanted to rule over England without Parliament. He needed money for wars, but Parliament refused to give it. In 1642 Charles I tried to arrest some members of Parliament, but could not do it. Then he left Parliament and never came back as a king. Mem­bers of Parliament decided to build up an army to fight against the king, and gave money to teach the soldiers. But they understood that courage alone was not enough to win battles. It was necessary to have a strong leader who would train the army and lead it. Such a leader was found. It was Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell was a member of Parliament. He was a country gentleman, a rough man, unskilful as a speak­er, but known for his strength of character and his deep sincerety and religious feeling.Cromwell trained his soldiers in complete obedi­ence, filled them with the desire to fight for free­dom, Parliament and religion. His famous orderwas: '[Trust in God and keep your powder dry."Many thousands of soldiers were killed during the Civil War. In 1644 a Scottish army of 20,000 men came to help Cromwell. In the battle near the town of York the Parliamentary army won a victory and the king's army was defeated. Charles I was brought to trial in London and accused of having made war on his people and of being an enemy of his country. He was found guilty and sentenced to death. In Janu­ary 1649 Charles was beheaded. In the same month the Parliamentary government came to power and proclaimed England a republic. Cromwell got the ti­tle of Lord Protector.Cromwell ruled the country firmly, but he did not like to be contradicted, and finally dismissed Parlia­ment. During the last years of his life he became a dictator who ruled the country without the council of the people. The English Republic, the first repub­lic in Europe, did not justify the hopes of the people. In September 1658 Oliver Cromwell died. The po­litical instability that followed his death led to the demand for the restoration of monarchy. In 1660 the newly elected Parliament invited Charles II, the son of the executed king, to occupy the English throne.

5. Sir Isaac Newton was born in a small village in Lincolnshire in the family of a poor farmer.Since childhood the boy was fond of science. He began his first experiments at school. After school he studied at Cambridge University, where, still a student, he formulated the binomial theorem.Newton devoted all his life to scientific experi­mentation. Among his discoveries was the law of de­composition of light. He proved that the white light of the sun is made up of rays of light of all the col­ours of the rainbow.Newton's greatest discovery was certainly the Law of Universal Gravitation. It is described in his book Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. The fundamental principle of the book is that "every parti­cle of matter is attracted by every other particle of mat­ter with a force inversely proportional to the square of their distances apart". Applying the principle of grav­itation, Newton proved that the power which guides the moon around the earth and the planets around the sun is the force of gravity. The fact that the earth is flattened at the poles because of rotation was also ex­plained by the law of universal gravitation.Newton was highly honoured by his countrymen. In 1703 he was elected President of the Royal Society.Much later, is the 20th century, another great sci­entist, Albert Einstein, who had a very high opinion of Newton's scientific achievements, wrote these words about him: "Nature to him was an open book, whose letters he could read without effort."Sir Isaac Newton died in 1727 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

6. James Cook was born in Yorkshire on October 27, 1728. At the age of^eighteen he took his first voyage as an apprentice on board a ship. In 1755 he enlisted in the Royal Navy as an able seaman and was sent to the American coast. While charting the tioast of Newfoundland, Cook mastered the skills of a mapmaker.Cook's first round-the-world voyage took place in 1768-1771. Onboard the Endeavour he sailed round Cape Horn and explored the South Pacific. He dis­covered several islands in the South Pacific, sailed around both islands of New Zealand and explored the eastern coast of Australia.The second voyage (1772-1775) was undertaken in search of the Southern Continent. There were two ships: the Resolution^ commanded by James Cook, and the Adventure® commanded by Tobias Furneaux. The second voyage demonstrated the outstanding skills and experience of Cook as a seaman and a cap­tain. Cook did more than any other man of his time to promote the health of his crew. In those times lots of sailors on long voyages died of scurvy because of the lack of vitamins in food and bad hygiene. Cook made his men wash every day and air their beds; he tried to get as much fresh food as he could; he made his men eat sauerkraut. His second voyage lasted three years and eighteen days, they sailed into the stormi­est seas on earth, through uncharted southern seas filled with ice. Out of 112 men Cook lost four, among whom only one died of an illness.The purpose of Cook's third voyage (1776-1779) was to look for the Northwest Passage (between the At­lantic and the Pacific Oceans) from the Pacific side. Cook set out from England on the Resolution, in company with Captain Clerke on the Discovery. They sailed around Africa and across the Indian Ocean into the Pacific, then turned north to find the pas­sage. They sailed round the tip of the Alaska Penin­sula, through the Bering Strait and into the Arctic Ocean, where they were stopped by thick ice. After spending there as much time as he could, Cook turned south to reload and repair the ships for the next year.But he never returned to the Bering Strait. Cap­tain Cook met his death on. the Hawaiian Islands where he and his crew were attacked by the natives on February 14, 1779.

7. Queen Victoria is the long­est-reigning monarch in Eng­lish history. She came to the throne as a young woman in 1837 and reigned until her death in 1901.Victoria married her German cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg but he died at the ageof forty-two in 1861. She could not get over her sor­row at his death, and for a long time refused to be seen in public.This was a dangerous thing to do. Newspapers be­gan to criticize her, and sojne people even doubted the value of the monarchy. Many radicals believed that as a result of developing democracy it was time for monarchy to die.The Queen's advisers persuaded her to take more interest in the life of the kingdom. She did so, and she soon became extraordinary popular. At the time when monarchy was losing its place as an integral part of the British governing system, Victoria managed to establish it as a respected and popular institution. One important step back to popularity was thekpub-lication in 1868 of the Queen's book Our Life ih_ the Highlands. The book was the Queen's own diary of her life with Prince Albert and her family in her cas­tle in the Scottish Highlands. It delighted the public, in particular the growing middle class. They had nev­er before known anything of the private life of the monarch, and they enjoyed reading about it. They were impressed by the fact that the Queen wrote about her servants as if they were members of her family.The democratic British liked and respected the example of family life which the Queen had given them; they saw that the Queen and her family shared their own moral and religious values. By her book Victoria touched people's hearts. She succeeded in showing the newly industrialized nation that the monarchy was a connection with the glorious history of the country. Quite suddenly, the monarchy was out of danger. It had never been safer than now, when it had lost most of its political power. "We have come to believe that it is natural to have a virtu­ous sovereign," wrote one of the critics.Queen Victoria was also popular in Europe. She became known as the Grandmother of Europe after marrying members of her family into many royal houses of Europe. Among her grandchildren were Emperor William II of Germany, and Alexandra, wife of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.

8. In St. Mary's Churchyard, Cholsey, Berkshire, forty-seven miles west of London, lies Lady Mal-lowan — Dame Agatha Christie. She was, and is, known to millions of people throughout the world as the Queen of Crime or, as she preferred, the Duchess of Death.Agatha Christie was born in 1890 in Torquay in England. Her father was called Frederick Miller, so she was born as Agatha Miller. In 1914 she married Archie Christie. During the First World War Agatha worked at a hospital, and that experience was useful later on when she started writing detective stories. Her first book was published in 1920. It was The Mysterious Affair at Styles, and was met by the reading public with interest. But Agatha's really great popularity came in 1926, when she published her masterpiece, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.In the same year, 1926, Agatha surprised the pub­lic by suddenly disappearing for a few days after her husband wanted a divorce. She was soon found to be staying in a hotel under an assumed name. Her dis­appearance is still a mystery!After the divorce she married a British archae­ologist, Max Mallowan. This marriage proved to be a happy one. Agatha wanted to stop using her former husband's name. But her publishers said that it would not be wise because the name of Ag­atha Christie had already become well known to the public. So she remained Agatha Christie to her readers for the rest of her life.Agatha Christie wrote «early seventy novels in her career, and more than a hundred short stories. Her most famous characters are Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.Hercule Poirot first appeared in 1920, Poirot has become a legend all over the world: the huge moustache, the egg-shaped head, his high opinion of him­self, and his great ability to solve complicated mys­teries thanks to his knowledge of human psychology.Miss Marple is an English spinster and lives in the English village of St. Mary Mead. She does not look like a detective at all, but always succeeds where the police have failed. Instead of using a magnifying glass looking for clues, she uses her instinct and knowl­edge of human nature. As Miss Marple herself once said, "Human Nature is the same everywhere".In March 1962 a UNESCO report stated that Agatha Christie was now the most widely read Brit­ish author in the world, with Shakespeare coming second.

9. Margaret Thatcher is the second daughter of a grocer and a dressmaker, who became the first wom­an in European history to be elected Prime Minister. Then she became the first British Prime Minister in the twentieth century who won three consecutive terms. At the time of her resignation in 1990, she was the longest-serving Prime Minister of Britain since 1827, Some people consider her a true political revolutionary because she broadened the base of the Conservative Party, including the middle class along with the wealthy aristocracy.Margaret Thatcher was born on October 13, 1925, in Lincolnshire, England. She was a clever child. Early in life she decided to become a member of Parliament. She was educated at Somerville College and at Oxford University. She earned a master of arts degree from Oxford in 1950 and worked for a short time as a research chemist. In 1950 she married Denis Thatcher, a director of a paint firm. After her mar­riage she specialized in tax law.In the 1959 elections Thatcher won a seat in Par­liament. Because of her debating skills she soon be­came prominent among other politicians. In 1974 she became the leader of the Conservative Party.When the Conservatives won a decisive victory in the 1979 general elections, Thatcher became Prime Minister. As Prime Minister she limited government control, giving individuals greater independence from the state and ending government interference in the economy. Thatcher became known as the Iron Lady because of her strict control over her cabinet and the country's economic policies.During her third term Thatcher continued the "Thatcher revolution" by returning education, health care and housing to private control.Margaret Thatcher resigned from office in 1990. Margaret Thatcher is certainly an outstanding fig­ure in Britain's political life. According to political observers, she brought long-needed changes to Brit­ish government and society.

10. George Gordon Byron, one of the greatest poets of England, was born in London in an old aristocratic but poor family. After the death of his father in 1791, his mother took him to Aberdeen in Scotland, where the boy spent his childhood. At the age of ten he inherited the title of Lord and returned to England. He lived in the family castle which was situated near Nottingham close to the famous Sherwood Forest. He studied at Harrow, then at Cambridge University. When he was 21, he became a member of the House of Lords. In 1809 he travelled abroad and vis­ited Portugal, Spain, Albania, Greece and Turkey. He returned home in 1811.His speeches in the House of Lords in defence of the Luddites and the oppressed Irish people caused universal irritation. When he and his wife parted after an unhappy marriage, his enemies seized this opportunity and began to persecute him. The poet was accused of immorality and had to leave his na­tive country.In May 1816 Byron went to Switzerland, where he made friends with his great contemporary, the poet Percy B. Shelley. At the end of 1816 he went to Italy, where he became actively engaged in the movement for the liberation of Italy from Austrian rule. In the summer of 1823 he went to Greece to fight for the liberation of that country from Turkish oppression.Byron's creative work is usually divided into four periods.During the London period (1812-1816) he wrote the first two cantos of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, his fa­mous lyrics Hebrew Melodies, and Oriental poems. In the Swiss period (1816 May ~ October) Byron wrote the third canto of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, The Prisoner of Chillon, and the philosophic drama Manfred.During the Italian period (1816-1823), which is considered to be the most important and mature one, he wrote the last canto of Childe Harold's Pilgrim­age, and the novel in verse Don Juan, in which he gave a great satirical panorama of the European so­cial life of his time.During the short months of the Greek period (1823-1824) Byron wrote little: just some lyrical poems, one of which is On this Day I Complete my Thirty-sixth Year. The poet's thirty-sixth year was to be his last: he fell seriously ill and died on April 19, 1824. Deeply mourned all over Greece, he be­came a symbol of liberation struggle and a Greek national hero.

28.Relations between Ukraine and English speking countries. There is no denying the fact that not so long ago Ukraine had very weak connections with other countries in the world.But at present the situation has changed for the better.As now Ukraine is a sovereign state it establishes new relations with the countries throughout the world.Ukraine is one of the members of the United Nations Organization and participates in the work of many international organizations.We have wide relations with Canada, the USA and Great Britain in policy, economics and culture.Foreign Embassies of these countries work in Kyiv.We have some joint political projects with the United States of America and Canada.A lot of joint ventures have appeared in Ukraine recently.Such big plants of ours as Cherkassy joint-stock company “Azot”, Gorlivka chemical plant “Stirol”, Kharkiv aircraft plant sell their products at the international market.Scientific cooperation is also very important.We have joint projects for space exploration with the USA and Canada.Cooperation in culture, education and sport is very important, too.We exchange students and teachers with these countries.The Ukrainian orchestras, pop and opera singers, ballet dancers are warmly received abroad.A lot of tourists from English-speaking countries visit Ukraine every year.It’s very important to mention that many people who are Ukrainians by origin live in Canada.So we have particular relations with this country.Canada was the first among the western states that recognized the state independence of Ukraine.Many of the Ukrainians living now in Canada and other English-speaking countries don’t lose connections with UkraineA lot of public organizations, educational establishments, religious organizations make considerable contribution to the development of our culture, literature and art.

29.Symbols in Ukraine and UK? The Constitution states that the national symbols of Ukraine shall be the National Flag, the National Emblem and the National Anthem.The Ukrainian flag consists of two horizontal stripes of equal width. The top is blue, the bottom is yellow. Blue and yellow, the colours of the sky, mountains, streams, and golden fields had symbolized Kyivan Rus' long before the introduction of Christianity. With the acceptance of Christianity, blue and gold were incorporated into church symbolism. After the Mongol-Tatar invasion in the 1200s, the-use of blue and gold was interrupted to be revived again in church ornaments and city crests some time later. The emblem of the city of Myrhorod, for example, was a gold trident over a blue background. Another city, Pryluky, used the head of an ox in gold over a blue background as its insignia. And in Lubny the city emblem pictured a hand holding a golden mace over a blue background. The banners of the Cossacks (XVII century) were blue with gold stars, a gold cross or with pictures of saints rendered in gold.The National Emblem is a trident. The first image of a trident appeared in the IX century A.D. When Ihor, Prince of Kyivan Rus' from 912 to.945, sent ambassadors to sign a treaty with the Byzantine emperor, they sealed the document with a trident. As the official emblem of the Kyivan princes, the trident was stamped on coins and seals; it was depicted on porcelain and in frescos. It is thought that the tridentrepresented -the division of the world into three spheres: the earthly, the celestial and the spiritual — as well as the union of the three natural elements: air, water and earth. The trident was endorsed as the National Emblem of Ukraine, and the blue and yellow flag — as the National Flag of Ukraine — by the Verkhovna Rada in 1992. The red rose is the symbol of England. It comes from the history of the country.This symbol goes back to the War of the Roses, which was the war within the country. In the 15th century two Houses were struggling for the English throne — the Lancastrians and the Yorkists. Red rose was the emblem of the Lancastrians and the white rose was that of the Yorkists. Their rival ended when King Henry VII, the Lancastrian, married Princess Elizabeth, the daughter of the Yorkist. Since that time the red rose has become the national emblem of England. An oak is also depicted as the national symbol of the country

30.What would you do to prevent children of having bad habits?