The Importance of Reading
Nowadays, when many sources of information and types of entertainment have appeared (TV and video films, cinema, the Internet), many people do not think reading is necessary. They believe that people who read are 'nerds', 'geeks', or 'bookworms'. I believe this is not true, reading is very important as it can shape one's personality. Firstly, reading can improve your imagination and emotions. It can carry you to different places, worlds and times. Picking up a book is like picking up a world that is waiting to be explored. Whether fiction or fact, books can take you away with them, engulf you and make you a part of their environment. They can make you cry or laugh, the more pages you read, the harder it is to shut the book. Within the pages lie stories untold, places never visited and new people to meet. Secondly, reading is educational: it alleviates ignorance, improves a person's vocabulary and knowledge without the person even knowing it. Every book holds vast amounts of knowledge; reading forms the core of traditional education. Lastly, reading can shape your character. Following the plot of the book we read, sympathizing with or hating its characters, we follow the author's idea of life. We absorb it, think it over, and often make it part of our own philosophy.
Your reading preferences are numerous, aren't they?
My reading preferences are various. People have been writing novels, short stories, verse and essays for many centuries, and you can find a lot of brilliant writers and excellent books in many genres of literature. For me, it is not the genre of the book that matters, but the talent and emotion the author has put into it. I equally enjoy 'serious' classical prose and poetry and some 'easier' reading like 20th century detectives, fantasies and memoirs. The choice of a book to read depends on my mood and the amount of free time I have. Sometimes I read a book for the ideas and knowledge it contains; sometimes for the plot and entertainment.
When I am not pressed for time, I prefer classical literature of the 19th and 20th centuries. To my mind, it was the "golden age' in the history of literature when masterpieces were created- Full of philosophy, deeply psychological and thought-provoking, classical novels, short stories, plays and verse form the treasury of the world literature.
Of course, I have a number of favourite writers and poets. To name only a few, they are Pushkin, Gogol, Chekhov, Leo Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Kuprin, Bulgakov in Russia, and Hemingway, Faulkner, Dreiser, Fowles, and, really, many, many others.
Translate the following sentences into English.
1. В наше время появилось много источников информации и способов развлечения, но чтение все еще остается очень важным, так как оно может развить ваше воображение и чувства, оно имеет образовательную ценность и может сформировать ваш характер.
2. Чтение составляет основу традиционного образования, каждая книга содержит значительный объем знаний, может захватить вас и сделать вас частью своей среды.
3. В рамках любого жанра литературы можно найти массу блестящих писателей — в классической прозе и поэзии, фэнтази и мемуарах, детективах и многих других.
4. Некоторые люди читают книги ради идей и знаний, содержащихся в них, другие — ради сюжета и развлечения.
5. Классические романы, рассказы, пьесы и стихи XIX века составляют сокровищницу мировой литературы, они глубоко психологичны и заставляют задуматься.
6. Мои предпочтения в выборе книг разнообразны.
1. Nowadays many sources of information and types of entertainment appeared, but reading is still very important as it can improve your imagination and emotions, it is educational, and can shape your char¬acter.
2. Reading forms the core of traditional education, every book contains a vast amount of knowledge, it can engulf you and make you a part of its environment.
3. There are a lot of brilliant writers in any genre of literature — classical prose and poetry, fantasies and memoirs, detectives and many others.
4. Some people read books for the ideas and knowledge they contain, some read them for the plot and entertainment.
5. 19th century classical novels, short stories, plays and verse form the treasury of the world literature and are deeply psychological and thought-provoking.
6. My reading preferences are various.
Из пособия "ЕГЭ. Английский язык. Устные темы" Занина Е.Л. (2010, 272с.) - Part one. English examination topics. Forms 9/11.
