It is believed that the idea of supermarkets first belonged to an American businessman who opened a self-service grocery store in 1916. The main advantage of the new American store was that the goods were stocked on the shelves, so the customers could take their own goods and bring them to the front of the store to pay for them. Although there was a high risk of stealing, the owner found the new shop's organisation more effective because it allowed him to reduce the number of shop assistants. Later the new shop organisation spread widely throughout European countries.

Nowadays supermarkets are as British as football and cricket. In the UK 90% of all food is bought at five different supermarket chains. That makes these companies extremely powerful, especially when they deal with small businesses, for example farmers. Milk is a good example. Supermarkets like to use things such as milk and bread, which are at the top of almost everyone's shopping list, to attract customers. To offer the lowest price the supermarkets need to buy milk from dairy farmers very cheaply, so big supermarket chains agree on a very low price and dictate it to farmers. If the farmers don't agree to that price, supermarkets start to look for the cheapest possible products abroad instead.

The consumers are of course happy to get cheaper products, but they should also keep in mind the influence supermarkets have on the environment. First of all there's packaging. Supermarkets like all the products to be packed because it makes it easier to put them neatly on the shelves. Consequently, supermarkets produce nearly 10 million tons of waste packaging in the UK every year, less than 5% of which is recycled. Some supermarkets put large recycling bins in their car parks, trying to create the image that they are environmentally friendly. However, that is just an image.

To reach the supermarket shelves the products often have to travel half the globe. Due to preservatives even milk products can stay unspoiled for months. It's a great advantage for the supermarket as yoghurt bought from a farmer can't be kept for longer than 2 days. That is why many small farmers do not even get a chance to compete with long-lasting imported goods.

When a new supermarket is planned, everyone says that a lot of new jobs will be created. In reality the number of jobs lost in the area is greater than the number of new positions in the supermarket. Within a 15km radius of every new supermarket that opens the number of people working in the food business goes down. It happens because all the small shops nearby are forced to close.

Many Americans enjoy running marathons – a forty-two kilometer race. More than three hundred marathons were held in the United States last year and that number is expected to grow.

The New York City marathon is held every year on the first Sunday of November. It is a big sporting event with thousands of participants. One can see celebrities and famous sportsmen among the marathon runners. A famous cyclist, whose excellent physical condition helped him complete the marathon in less than three hours, admitted that the race was ‘the hardest physical thing he had ever done’.

While the New York City marathon is the biggest, the Boston Marathon is the oldest one. Boston’s is held in April. Boston is famous for the fact that Roberta Gibb became the first woman to unofficially run that marathon in 1966. At that time, people did not believe women could run marathons. The Olympics did not hold a women’s marathon event until 1984 in Los Angeles, California.

Today’s marathons welcome everyone. The popularity of the sport has spread among people who are interested in health and fitness. Many middle-aged people like to spend a weekend visiting a new city and running a marathon there. Some magazines call the middle-aged people of today the ‘marathon generation’. Forty-three percent of marathon runners in the United States are 40 years old or older. There are many organisations for marathoners. Nowadays many local running clubs offer training programmes that can prepare runners for the big race. A marathon really starts several months before the race. You need to run about five days every week to prepare. Most runs should be for half an hour. You should also try to run for an hour or more each Sunday. This is a very basic way for an average runner to prepare.

What you can’t prepare for is running in a big marathon with thousands of other participants. A marathon is in many ways a social event. There is a sense of community. The spectators are as much a part of the race as the runners. Almost every age group is present. At the start of the race there is a lot of shouting as the runners want to release some tension. They have three to five hours of hard running ahead of them.

However there are people who want to run farther. For them ultra-marathons are organised that take running to a different level. An ultra-marathon is any race longer than a marathon. One of the oldest ultra-marathons is held annually in California, USA. It is 160 kilometers long. Last year, 210 people finished the race. The winner, Graham Cooper, finished in eighteen hours and seventeen minutes.

For most of us it seems that money makes the world go round. However, not for Mark Boyle who has turned his life into a radical experiment.

Mark Boyle was born in 1979 in Ireland and moved to Great Britain after getting a degree in Business. He set up his own business in Bristol. For six years Mark Boyle managed two organic food companies which made him a good profit.

However, in 2008, he decided to give up earning money. He vowed to live without cash, credit cards, or any other form of finance.

Mark Boyle began to realise that many of the world’s problems are just symptoms of a deeper problem. He thought that money gave people the illusion of independence.

Mark sold his house and started preparing himself for his new life. He posted an advert on a website asking for a tent, a caravan (a vehicle for living or travelling) or any other type of a house. Soon an old lady gave him a caravan for free. At least he then had a roof over his head!

After that, with his pockets empty, Mark was ready to go. He didn't even carry keys as he decided to trust the world a bit more and not lock his caravan. On November 28th (International Buy Nothing Day 2008), he became the Moneyless Man for one whole year.

Everything was different from then on. Mark lived in his caravan on an organic farm where he worked as a volunteer three days a week. In return he got a piece of land to live on and grow his own vegetables. His food was cooked on a stove, and he washed in a shower made from a plastic bag hanging from a tree, and warmed by the sun.

Even breakfast was different. With no morning coffee to brew, Mark had to find an alternative drink to start the day with. So he drank herbal teas, sometimes with some fresh lemon verbena that he could find near the caravan. «It's all very good for you: iron, calcium, anti-oxidants,» Mark said.

Food was the first thing to consider. Mark discovered that there were four ways to find it: looking for wild food, growing his own food, bartering (exchanging his grown food for something else), and using loads of waste food from shops.

Public interest in his project was divided. While a huge number of people supported him, there was criticism of him, particularly on Internet forums.

“People are either very positive about what I'm doing or very negative; I think it's about 70 percent/30 percent. It's funny, if you don't have a massive plasma TV these days, people think you are an extremist,” Mark said.

People tend to ask Mark what he learnt from a year of a moneyless life. “What have I learned? That friendship, not money, is real security,” he answers.

Mark's remarkable journey is described in his new book “The Moneyless Man”, which shows in a detailed way the challenges he faced on the road to his new world.

Have you ever heard of the Great Barrier Reef? It is the world's largest coral reef system along the eastern coast of Australia. In February 2009 an extraordinary position was advertised by the Australian Tourism Office. The advertisement ran that the Great Barrier Reef needed a caretaker for half a year. It was for a special person who would look after the Reef.

The job offered a large salary, free accommodation in a luxury villa, and transportation there and around the islands. All expenses would be paid: the winner wouldn't need to spend any extra money on anything.

The job's duties were pretty simple. You could only dream of such requirements. First, the person had to speak English and swim well. Second, on the island his responsibility included writing a weekly Internet blog. That's right, weekly, not even daily! The job description also required the successful applicant to explore the islands of the Great Barrier Reef, swim, make friends with the locals and generally enjoy the tropical climate and lifestyle. A real dream!

Within the first 2 days of the contest, the tourism office received more than seven thousand online applications. All told, 34,000 people of all different nationalities applied. Each made and presented a 60-second video resume. They had to be creative and they were. In the end 16 people were chosen, who flew to Australia for the final selection. The candidates were interviewed and the winner was Ben Southall from the UK.

Ben greatly enjoyed the dream job he had got. He realised that people knew very little about planet earth and its treasures. Living in big cities, they forgot how important the flora and fauna of this world were. Every time Ben went outdoors, he could discover something new. “Every time I dived or went underwater, I forgot about all the troubles above water and concentrated on living in the moment. It was a good way to clean the mind and build respect for the natural world,” Ben said.

Ben's life on the island was not just fun. It was very busy, busier than most people imagined, and certainly busier than Ben himself had imagined. He worked seven days a week and up to 19 hours a day. The Best Job included travelling to over 60 islands of the Reef almost every day. It was not just looking after the Reef, Ben had a lot of meetings, press conferences and interviews. He was getting a lot of attention all the time and he couldn't get away from it. That was probably the hardest part of the job.

Moreover, any adventure has a certain degree of risk. Swimming and diving on the Great Barrier Reef was not different. Ben had to deal with whales, sharksand other huge sea creatures. Surprisingly, the most dangerous thing was a small jellyfish about the size of a little finger. It's considered to be extremely poisonous and Ben was stung by it. He had to spend a couple of days in hospital but luckily recovered after a course of antibiotics.

Ben often says that the project has taught him a few valuable lessons. Working with the Internet is one of those jobs you can do 24 hours a day. Ben realised it was hard to separate life and work, but this he had to do. He also said: “I've learned that we get one life on earth so we have to use it. There'll always be other countries to visit, other people to meet and other adventures to meet. This is what I wish to do. I'm planning to go to Asia in a few years time”.

Where do you expect to see graffiti? Probably not in a museum. Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, in the south-west of England, was the kind of place where you could see classical pictures and statues. However, in the summer of 2009 the exhibition ‘Banksy versus the Bristol Museum’ opened. The exhibition presented more than a hundred works by Banksy, one of the world’s most famous graffiti artists.

Banksy is a puzzle to all. He keeps his identity secret. He hardly ever gives interviews and likes to remain anonymous. Nobody knows much about his life or his background but many people believe that his real name is either Robert Banks or Robin Banks and that he was born in England, somewhere near Bristol.

Banksy’s street art is always provocative. It's his way of communicating with society. His graffiti is characterised by bright and frequently shocking images, often combined with slogans. His work is often a personal protest against wars, social policy or people's behaviour. Although graffiti is not allowed in cities, Banksy's works have become immensely popular.

Banksy believes that art should not be used for advertising. He has refused four times to do adverts for Nike, a famous sportswear company.

A year after the Bristol exhibition, Banksy made a film called “Exit Through the Gift Shop”. The film tells the story of a street artist. It got many positive reviews from the critics and from the general audience.

Another curious fact from Banksy's biography is that once he was named among the 100 most influential people in the world. He actually found himself in the company of Barack Obama, Steve Jobs and Lady Gaga. When he was asked to send a photo, Banksy sent a picture of himself with a paper bag (recyclable, naturally) over his head. His fans still don’t really know who he is.

Bristol isn’t the only place in Britain to welcome and accept graffiti. A park in Dundee, Scotland, has the longest legal graffiti wall (almost 110 metres long) in the UK. Anyone can paint on the wall any time they like. The idea of this graffiti wall project is to demonstrate the positive side of graffiti and to organise workshops and graffiti classes for local children.

Even the capital of the country could not stay free of street art. There's a special website dedicated to London's street art and artists. The site's team is a group of enthusiastic young people who are closely connected with the street art world. They try to record and register all the works and display them on their “Street Art London” site. That is quite a job to do! The reason is that street art is very temporal and short-lived: graffiti is soon covered by another wall painting so they have to be quick to take a picture and post it on the website.

There's one special day in Britain when you can see lots of people all over the country wearing clown red noses. This is known as Red Nose Day. It's arranged by a charity organisation “Comic Relief” whose aim is to collect money for people who are in need.

“Comic Relief” was started in 1985 by the writer Richard Curtis and the comedian Lenny Henry. At that time, people in Ethiopia were suffering from an awful hunger and something had to be done. The idea was simple. Richard and Lenny decided to gather a group of much-loved British comedians to give public performances. And in this way they would collect money to help people in desperate need. They also hoped to let people know about poverty in Africa. Richard and Lenny strongly believe that laughter is the best weapon to fight tragedy, poverty and injustice. That was how “Comic Relief” was born.

One of the main events organised by “Comic Relief” is Red Nose Day. It takes place every two years in the spring, though many people think that this day should be held annually. The first Red Nose Day was held on 5 February 1988 and since then they have been held on the second or third Friday in March.

The event is widely celebrated in the UK and many people consider it to be a type of unofficial national holiday. The symbol of the day is the red nose which you can find in various supermarkets and charity shops. The thing is that red noses are not sold and you cannot buy them, but you can leave a small sum of money (a donation) and just take one. The exact sum of the donation is not fixed. You can leave as much as you want  — it's an act of charity.

Since 1985 there have been all kinds of noses: plastic, soft, boring common ones, there were noses that looked like faces, noses that made noises, noses that changed colour when they got hot… This year it's a dinosaur theme, which means noses are shaped like small creatures from pre-history.

On Red Nose Day money-raising events take place all over the country and many schools participate.

In the evening of Red Nose Day a ‘telethon' takes place on the BBC channels. This is like a televised marathon that shows a selection of the events of the day, and lots of short comic performances and reports of how the money will

be spent. It starts in the evening and goes through into the early hours of the morning.

There’s a Red Nose Day page on Facebook and you can follow it on Twitter. People also upload videos of local charity events on YouTube and Facebook.

So, if you are ever in the UK on Red Nose Day, now you know why you will find normal people wearing red noses and doing silly things! It's all for a good reason!

First introduced in 1927, The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories are a series of books about the adventures of brothers Frank and Joe Hardy. They are teenage detectives who solve one mystery after another.

The Hardy Boys were so popular among young boys that in the 1930s a similar series was created for girls featuring a sixteen-year-old detective named Nancy Drew. The cover of each volume of The Hardy Boys states that the author of the series is Frank Dixon. The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories for girls are supposedly written by Carol Keen. Over the years, though, many fans of both series have been surprised to find out that Frank Dixon and Carol Keen were only pen names. Nobody knew who was hiding behind those names or who actually wrote The Hardy Boys and The Nancy Drew Stories.

The Hardy Boys and The Nancy Drew Stories were written through a process called ghostwriting. A ghost-writer creates a book according to a specific formula. Ghost-writers are paid for writing books, but their names do not appear on the covers when the works are published. Ghost-writers can create books for children or adults, and most often they work on book series.

The initial idea for both The Hardy Boys and The Nancy Drew Stories was developed by a man named Edward Stratemeyer, who owned a publishing company that specialised in children’s books. Edward Stratemeyer noticed the increasing popularity of mysteries among adults and decided that children would enjoy reading mysteries about younger detectives.

Edward Stratemeyer first described the plot, the setting, and the characters himself. Then he hired a ghost-writer to develop his ideas into a book of over 200 pages. After the ghost-writer had written the book, he or she sent it back to Stratemeyer, who made a list of corrections and mailed it back. Once Stratemeyer had approved the book, it was ready for publication.

As each series was published for so many years, The Nancy Drew Stories and The Hardy Boys both had a number of different ghost-writers. However, the first ghost-writer for each series turned out to be the most influential.

Although The Hardy Boys and The Nancy Drew Stories were very popular with children, not everyone approved of them. Critics thought their plots were very far from the real life of teenagers  — most of them could not experience adventures such as the young detectives from the books had.

The way the books were written also attracted criticism. Many teachers and librarians disliked the ghostwriting process. They said it was designed to produce books quickly rather than create quality literature. Some libraries, including the New York Public Library, even refused to include the books in their children’s collections.

Ironically, this decision helped sales of the books because children simply bought them when they couldn’t find them in local libraries. Despite the debates about the literary value of these books, they have had a great influence on American and even global culture. Most Americans have never heard of Edward Stratemeyer and his ghost-writers, but people throughout the world are familiar with Nancy Drew and Frank and Joe Hardy.

Take a look around. How many people are wearing Nike right now? There is at least one, trust me. Nike is the number one manufacturer of footwear and clothes, and it has become a world famous brand on the same level as Coca Cola, McDonald’s, and Apple.

Nike was originally known as Blue Ribbon Shoes. It was founded in 1964 by the runner Philip Knight and his coach Bill Bowerman. They established the company to import cheap Japanese running shoes for sale in the U.S. At the very beginning they had no room or shop, so Philip Knight sold the shoes out of the back of his car. Meanwhile Bill Bowerman worked on improvements to the footwear. He tore the shoes apart to see how he could make them lighter and better.

In 1967 a third person joined Blue Ribbon Shoes. It was Jeff Johnson. A runner himself, Johnson became the first full-time employee of Blue Ribbon Shoes. His contribution to the company is so great that it's hard to estimate. Johnson created the first product brochures, print adverts and marketing materials, and even took the photographs for the company’s catalogues. He established a mail-order system and opened the first company shop.

At about the same time the company became ready to take a big move forward. They no longer wanted to be distributors, but wished to start designing and manufacturing their own brand of athletic shoes. Here again Johnson made an enormous contribution to the company. One night, he dreamed of Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, and suggested the name to his bosses.

Yet, another thing was missing  — a memorable logo. One was created by a graphic design student Carolyn Davidson. She had become acquainted with Philip Knight who asked her for her design ideas and Carolyn agreed to do some freelance work for his company. Soon she presented a number of designs to Philip Knight and the other company managers, and they finally selected the mark which today is the Swoosh. That has been the Nike logo ever since then. Amazingly, Carolyn asked just $35 for her work.

In 1988 Nike started an advertising campaign with its world famous slogan “Just Do It”. The slogan was born during a Nike meeting with the advertising agency. The slogan has become so closely associated with Nike that as soon as most people hear or see those three words, they remember Nike, even if the company name is not mentioned. Today, the words «Just Do It» and the Nike “swoosh” brandmark are all that are needed to identify something as a Nike product.

Isn't it amazing how a small symbol we call a logo can make a company into a huge success.

Louis Armstrong played jazz, sang jazz and wrote jazz. He recorded hit songs for fifty years and his music is still heard today on television, radio and in movies.

Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans, in the state of Louisiana on August 4^th, 1901. His father was a factory worker and left the family soon after Louis's birth. Young Louis was desperately poor. He lived with his sister, mother and grandmother in the poorest area of New Orleans known as the Battlefield because of the fighting and shooting that often happened there.

When Louis was eleven years old, he was arrested for firing a gun into the air on New Year's Eve. He was sent to a reform school, where he learned to play the trumpet in the school's band. Eighteen months later Louis was back home and already dreaming of the life of a musician. He sold newspapers, unloaded boats and sold coal. However, in the evenings Louis played the trumpet with local groups or went to clubs to listen to jazz bands. He soon became friends with one of the greatest musicians of the time, Joe Oliver, who became young Louis's teacher. As Louis's skills developed, he began to perform professionally.

He was soon able to stop working on manual labour jobs and began concentrating full-time on music, playing at parties, dances, and at local cafes. He joined Joe Oliver's band and moved to Chicago. Later, Louis organised his own band and began to record one of the greatest series of songs in the history of jazz. Louis developed a unique style of singing: he could make his voice sound like a musical instrument and he could make an instrument sound like a singer's voice. Louis enjoyed singing improvised melodies and rhythms. Armstrong was an easygoing and communicative person. His fellow musicians called him “Satchelmouth” because of his wide smile. Later, it was shortened to “Satchmo”.

Armstrong's biggest hits came later in his life. In 1964, his version of the song «Hello Dolly» was a top hit around the world. It even replaced a top-selling hit by the hugely popular British group, the Beatles. Three years later, he appeared in the film version of “Hello Dolly” with singer Barbra Streisand. The song “What a Wonderful World”, recorded in 1968, was his final big hit.

Louis Armstrong never finished the fifth grade in school, yet he wrote two books about his life and many stories for magazines. He appeared in more than thirty movies. He composed many jazz pieces. He won several gold records and many other awards. Armstrong performed about three hundred concerts each year, travelling all over the world. He became known as the legend and symbol of jazz.

Pat Mac and Mike Faverman first met when they were comedians going on tour and organising shows around the country. Later their love of food became a new hobby they had in common and a new project.

Before they met in 2005, Mac had grown up cooking in his father’s restaurant in Idaho, and Faverman had worked as a chef in restaurants across the US. They decided to combine their two hobbies – making people laugh and

cooking good food – into a travelling road show called Ultimate Outdoor Cooking. The idea of the show was to prove that cooking by campfire out in the woods is exciting but not always simple.

Mac had had a lot of camping experience before he met Faverman and it had taught him that food was extremely important for people on vacation. Interestingly, better food brought more people to the campground. When it was their turn to cook, the new campers started to give up eating hot dogs and hamburgers and started to create new recipes.

Mac and Faverman have tried different types of camping together, each time experimenting with the most suitable recipes. Their favourite dish for car camping, for example, is steak in lemon juice mixed with salt and pepper. To keep the meat fresh, they keep it cool in a car while travelling. Afterwards, when they get to the campsite, the steak is barbecued with red potatoes.

For travelling on foot with a rucksack they suggest either red potatoes with grilled and salted fish or sausages with different vegetables like zucchini, cabbage, carrots and onions. The only secret to keeping the vegetables nice and fresh while walking is to pack them properly and leave them until ready to cook in a pan over the fire at the campsite.

As they do a lot of cooking, the most useful instruments for Mac and Faverman are plastic bags, knives, a wooden rack to cut the food on and also matches and a lighter. Besides the latter, they use electric things, which can be a little risky at times. For example, a couple of years ago Mac was using an oven to slow-cook meat on a little grill. Suddenly one of the legs of the oven broke; the grill itself and the pot fell to the ground and the meat fell straight onto the dirt. Luckily, Mac used the «five-second rule»: just wash the meat off and put it back on the grill. He said later that it tasted a bit sandy but the campers didn’t notice.

Unlike Mac, at the beginning of the project Faverman was usually unsuccessful at making a fire and putting up a tent because he didn’t have enough experience. Later he became quite a skillful camper who could give a useful tip or two to beginners. The best piece of advice from the pair for cooking in the woods is to design the menu ahead of time and to know exactly what you are going to cook on the first and second days. A good camper should try to make the first meal easy because setting up camp takes a lot of time and effort.

Within a ten minute walk of Windsor Castle, across a bridge over the River Thames, there’s an old Gothic building. It is the legendary Eton College. It is one of England’s largest independent schools and one of the highest in prestige. Members of the British royal family are traditionally educated here. It was one of the best schools when first founded and remains so now; it is still commonly known as one of the greatest schools among all the schools in the world.

Following the old tradition, Eton is a full boarding school, which means all students live and study at the school with their fellow students throughout the school year. Eton is also one of the four remaining boys’ schools, so there’s no opportunity for a girl to study there. Eton students traditionally come from England’s wealthiest and most prestigious families, many of them aristocratic. Boys enter Eton at about 13 and continue there until they are ready to enter university.

The school was founded by Henry VI in the fifteenth century to provide free education for poor pupils who would then go on to get a higher education at King’s College in Cambridge. That connection no longer exists today.

All students have a uniform of a black tailcoat and a waistcoat, a white collar and dark trousers. All students wear a white tie. This uniform is not for special occasions, it is worn at all times for all classes. If you visit Eton during term time, you will see students walking the streets with books under their arms dressed in their uniforms.

At Eton, there are dozens of organisations known as “societies”, in many of which students come together to discuss a particular topic. The societies are traditionally governed by the boys themselves. Societies range from astronomy to Scottish dancing and stamp-collecting. Some of them are dedicated to music, some to arts, some to languages, and so on. Meetings are usually held after supper and often include a guest speaker. Among past guest speakers are composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, writer J. K. Rowling, designer Vivienne Westwood, and actor Ralph Fiennes.

One of the oldest and most influential Eton societies is called the Pop. Its members are like school head-boys or prefects who are given limited authority over other students. They are called Poppers and take an active part in many official events of the school year, including parents’ evenings. While all students wear black waistcoats, members of the Pop are allowed to wear any waistcoat they please. Prince William, when he was a Popper, wore a waistcoat designed like the British national flag. The style immediately became popular.

Irrespective of this, the official colour of the college is the so-called “Eton blue”. It’s a light blue-green colour which has been used since the early 19^th century. The main purpose was to identify Eton sportsmen in rowing races and on the cricket field.

Lewis Carroll was the pen-name of Charles Dodgson, an English writer and author of two of the best loved children's books in English Literature – “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking Glass”. The characters and phrases from these books have entered and become part of the English culture so if someone calls you “Mad as a Hatter”, you know whom to thank.

Charles Dodgson was talented in many ways. Apart from being a creative writer, he was also a Mathematics Don (professor) at Oxford and a well-known logician. He was interested in photography and music. He sang very well, played chess and enjoyed creating and solving puzzles.

Charles Dodgson was born on 27 January 1832 and spent the first eleven years of his life at Warrington, Cheshire where his father was the priest. His family was large; his parents had 11 children, 4 boys and 7 girls.

Charles was educated first by home-schooling, then at two boarding schools, and finally at Christ Church College, Oxford. Later in life, he remembered his boarding school experience without any warm feelings. Still, he was an excellent student and studied very well in all his subjects.

In 1854 Charles Dodgson got a 1^st class degree in Mathematics and one year later he became a lecturer in Mathematics at Christ Church College. It was then that he started his literary career and took his pen-name, Lewis Carroll. While his creative books and poetry were published under his pen-name, he also wrote books on Mathematics under his own name.

When a new Headmaster arrived at Christ Church College, he brought with him his family. Dodgson became the family’s close friend. The Headmaster’s little daughters, the youngest of which was called Alice, enjoyed his company very much. Charles often entertained the girls by telling them stories about imaginary worlds with fantastic creatures.

The story about the adventures of little Alice became popular all over the world. “Alice in Wonderland” is primarily a children’s story, but adults have enjoyed the novel for over a century together with children.

Many elements of “Alice” were not completely new. Talking animals, for instance, or the story idea in which a child or children are carried away from reality into a fantasy world. However, it was Carroll who established a new motif that would be used again and again in children’s literature: Peter Pan, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Narnia books, and the Harry Potter books. That is the possibility for the main characters to travel back and forth between the real world and wonderland.

Though his characters travelled a lot between one world and another, Charles Dodgson himself didn’t like being away from home. The only occasion on which (as far as it is known) he went abroad was a trip to Russia in 1867.

He died of pneumonia on 14 January 1898 at his sisters' home. He was 2 weeks away from turning 66.

Mark Twain wrote “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” in 1884. Since then, the book has been published in at least sixty languages, and some people say it is the best book ever created by an American writer. American students have “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” on their school reading list and parents, teachers and literary experts still debate the problems touched in the book.

The writer’s real name was Samuel Clemens. Samuel was born in 1835. He grew up in the state of Missouri on the Mississippi River. After his father died, young Samuel went to work as an assistant to a publisher. Ten years later, he became a pilot on a steamboat that sailed on the Mississippi. He heard the riverboat workers call out the words “mark twain!” That was a measure for the depth of water. Later he used this word combination as a pen-name.

In 1861 Clemens travelled west and became a reporter for newspapers in Nevada and California. He wrote news stories, editorials and sketches under his pen-name Mark Twain. He became one of the best known storytellers in the West. He developed his own narrative style  — friendly, funny, and often satirical, which won him a wide audience. The first success came with the story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”.

Mark Twain travelled a lot during his lifetime not only round the USA but also to Europe and the Holy Land. He naturally began writing books about his travels. “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” was published in 1876, and soon after he began writing a sequel, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”.

It took Mark Twain longer to write “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” than any of his other books. He started writing in 1876, but put the story away after about two years of work. He returned to it in 1883, and the following year it was published.

From the beginning, the book was strongly debated. Some critics praised its realism and honesty but the others strongly disliked it. They protested against the personality of Huck  — a rough, dirty and disobedient boy. They could not agree that such a person should be the main character of a book. What's more, critics disliked the way Mark Twain used the language of a common, uneducated person to tell the story; no writer had ever done that before.

Today there is no longer any debate about the importance of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn» in American literature. In 1935 Ernest Hemingway wrote: «All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called «Huckleberry Finn.» There was nothing before. And there has been nothing as good since.”

No wonder then, that the novel “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” was a great inspiration for film producers  — more than 20 screen versions of the book have been shot not only in America but in Europe, Russia and Japan. There are feature films, musicals, cartoons and even Japanese anime.

One day young William was called to a lawyer’s office. The lawyer announced that William’s uncle had left him a thousand dollars. He also added that William was required to give the lawyer a report of how he used the money as soon as he spent it. That was his uncle’s last wish.

William promised to follow his uncle’s wish and went straight to his club. He looked for Bryson, a calm wise man of about forty who was sitting in a corner reading a book. When William told him about the contents of the will, Bryson did not seem at all surprised. He only remarked that the uncle was worth about half a million.

William told Bryson that his uncle had left a lot of money to charity while his servants had received only ten dollars each. There was one more person mentioned in the will, Miss Hayden, a distant relative who lived in the uncle’s house. She was a quiet, musical girl and the dearest woman in the world to William. William had been in love with her for two years but he had never told her about his feelings.

William had no idea how to spend a thousand dollars and he hated making the report. He had a feeling that his uncle was making fun of him. In the street William saw a blind man selling pencils. William went up to him and asked him what he would do with the money. The blind man shrugged his shoulders and said that he had never seen such a huge amount of money and therefore had never had the problem of spending such a sum. William bought all his pencils and gave him ten dollars above the asking price.

William was walking down the empty street when he had an idea.

He got into a cab and went to his uncle’s house where Miss Hayden lived. He found her, sad and beautiful, writing letters in the library. William knew that like the servants she had received nothing from his uncle but ten dollars. So he said that there was an addition to his uncle’s will that allowed her to have a thousand dollars and he gave her the money there and then. Miss Hayden turned white, took the banknotes and put them in the drawer of the writing desk. Then she quietly thanked William and gave him a shy smile.

In excitement William went back to the lawyer’s office, ready to hand over the report. Suddenly the lawyer took out another document which had been given to him by William’s uncle and started reading. It said that in the case that William spent the money wisely, he was to receive another fifty thousand dollars. On the contrary, if he had spent it in a foolish way, the fifty thousand would go to Miss Hayden.

Smiling brightly, William destroyed the report and said he had lost a thousand dollars on the races. William realised that he was going to lose much more than that but he felt happy about it.

In the Irish Sea about 20 miles away from the UK you will find a beautiful island. This is the Isle of Man. The people of the island are called Manx and they speak the Manx language. The island occupies a mid-point in the Irish Sea and the British Isles – right between England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

The scenery of the Isle is varied. There are ranges of hills with green valleys between them, there are sandy beaches in the north which contrast with the rocky cliffs along the coasts. The island's only mountain is slightly over 600 metres high. An old legend says that from its top on clear days you can see six kingdoms: the island itself, Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales and Heaven.

The Isle of Man has the oldest parliament in the world. It is called the Tynwald and it has met regularly since 979. The Tynwald usually meets in the capital of the country. However, for one day every summer the Manx parliament

gathers in a small village to celebrate Tynwald Day. It is the only day of the year when parliament is held in the open air. On this day government officials read a summary of all the laws that have been passed during the year in both the English and the Manx languages. There is entertainment before and after the ceremony and it is a real community event. In addition to that, an open air market is organised and different concerts are held in the evening. At the conclusion, the Manx national anthem is played and there is a firework display.

Another thing that attracts tourists to the Isle of Man is its rich and unique culture. Any visitor to the island will be particularly fascinated by the legends, folklore and the ancient traditions that are still kept alive today. Most tourists are happy to participate in the folk programmes.

In Manx mythology, the island’s name comes from the name of a Celtic sea god. He ruled the kingdom and protected the land from invaders by covering the island with mist and thick fog. The island is also reputedly home to fairies who are very special. The Manx fairies are described as small and human-like. They wearred caps and green jackets and are naughty and wicked.

There's even a bridge called Fairy Bridge. Those who cross it are advised to say “hello fairies” in order to get good fortune. If the person doesn’t greet the fairies, the fairies will become angry with him and may play a nasty trick on him. Some people go further in trying to pay their respects to the ‘little people’. They do not just simply say hello, they also leave messages and gifts at the side of the road.

If you love reading about King Arthur and his knights, then a must-see place is Peel Castle. It was constructed in the 11th century by the Vikings and has a fascinating history. It is believed that Peel Castle was the location of Avalon – the legendary island where King Arthur’s sword was made and where King Arthur was taken after being wounded.

Three friends Alan, Tom and Martin decided to run 184 miles along the most famous British river–from the beginning of the Thames down to its mouth, where the river runs into the sea.

Their preparations for the marathon didn’t take long and they set out. It was not easy to find the place marked on the map as the official source of the river Thames. In reality, it was an old stone under a big tree. Surprisingly, there was practically no water at the source, just a small pit. However, at the end of the first day, they came to a narrow stream running under a wooden bridge.

The runners were lucky with the weather; it was cool and bright for the whole week. Soft winds blew and the sun shone. In spite of the weather, the start of the marathon was not very promising. On the first day, Martin accidentally fell over a tree root and hurt his foot. In addition to that, Alan said he had damaged his rucksack during their preparation. However, the friends went on running.

They passed lovely houses and some wonderful nature. The Thames had grown from a small river into a strong stream. Hypnotised by the view of the river, Tom missed the path and fell into the mud. Cold and angry, he was a real trouble the first day. In the evening, the runners reached the point where the river became possible to navigate. The friends were so tired that they stopped at a cheap hotel for food, drink and sleep.

The second day they ran along arched stone bridges and through forty-five river locks¹, each one having its own history. The runners stopped at the first lock to take a photo by the 19th century statue of Old Father Thames. The other locks and the bridges, dating from the 13th century, could have told much about British royal families, writers and inventors, battles and victories. So the runners spent the second day exploring the locks and the old bridges and taking photos.

The next few days Alan, Tom and Martin ran through quiet and peaceful places in Oxfordshire. The calm river occupied all their thoughts and they left their troubles behind them. They spent nights at small Bed-and-Breakfasts with unusual foreign guests who were discovering the old British towns, castles and churches.

Closer to London the Thames changed its character. It became wide and busy with numerous boats and ships. The banks were full of grand houses with green lawns, street markets and modern walkways.

On the seventh day the runners followed the river as it cut the capital in two. The friends made their way past famous London sights such as The Tower, The London Eye and Greenwich.

Finally the friends got to The Thames Barrier, where the river ran into the sea. The marathon was over.

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¹River locks  — шлюзы на реке.

My name is Ted. I grew up in the 50s but my childhood memories are still alive. The most pleasant of them is the family Christmas tree. Besides my mum and dad, there were five children in the family. We all took part in decorating the Christmas tree, one way or another. It was a special time for me as dad took us for a trip to the winter forest.

The experience was special as only boys were allowed to go to the countryside to pick out the tree. At the age of five I felt proud to be in a man’s adventure. I remember walking through the forest with dad looking for the perfect, large tree. We had a tall ceiling in the living room, so a small tree did not look right there.

At the age of five, even a small tree seemed great to me. To measure a tree I raised my hands above my head and looked up. If I could reach the top of the tree I thought it was big enough. Dad, however, always chose the perfect tree very carefully.

Once he had made his choice, he took out an axe to cut down the tree. I wanted to help my dad and brothers, but they always told me to stand back. When the cutting began, I tried to hold the tree up. I was afraid the tree would fall on them and I felt strong enough to hold it.

After the tree was down we took it to the car and went back home. I don’t remember how we got that large tree through the door, but it was always right. Then dad got the tree to stand up and we could start the decorating. The tree, the boxes with decorations and a tall ladder took up the whole room.

All the family took part as mum gave everyone a task. I had to pass the decorations. What I liked best about the Christmas tree were the lights. When everybody else had left I stayed in the room and watched the lights travelling up and down the Christmas tree.

Dad had one more special job that day. Mum took her favourite ornament, a lighted angel, which she had got as a present from her family. Dad climbed up the ladder and fixed the angel at the top of the Christmas tree. When I looked at the angel, I thought Santa was close to my house.

Everyone, and the decorated shining tree, was ready to celebrate Christmas. It was so big that it nearly touched the ceiling. I felt I was a small part of a big adventure. The last few years we lived in that house the trips to the forest with dad ceased. We bought an artificial tree instead.

Christmas Eve is a special time for children. Every year they wait for their presents from Santa Claus. Magic is everywhere in Tim and Robert’s house which is decorated with greeting cards, candles and lights. The sweet smell of Mum’s homemade cookies also brings to mind the coming wonders.

Throughout the month before Christmas Tim and his brother Robert regularly made their beds, set the table and followed their parents’ instructions about the house. As usual, each of them wrote a letter to Santa to ask for a toy. They knew Santa wouldn’t visit naughty children.

The same thing happened each year until the brothers were nine. They suddenly began to doubt that Santa could decorate their tree and millions more trees in a single night. It also seemed hard for Santa to deliver all the gifts before daybreak. Besides, they kept asking Dad how Santa could get inside their house without a chimney!

Dad usually answered that Santa would surely come, but that the children should be good and go to bed early. So on Christmas Eve, after Mum had checked that there was enough food left for Santa, the boys were sent to bed as usual. Robert was soon asleep, but Tim silently lay in bed, hoping to hear Santa coming. It seemed the longest night of Tim’s life.

In the early morning, when the other members of the family were still asleep, Tim bravely went to the living room to check for presents from Santa. When he switched on the light, he cried “Wow! He’s come!” In the room the Christmas tree stood in the middle of a big platform that looked like a small town with a toy railroad. It was unbelievable; a toy wonderland!

Tim spent an hour among the toys and then decided to wake up Robert and his parents to see the presents. While running upstairs he saw that the cookies had disappeared. In excitement he went into his parents’ bedroom but didn’t notice that they seemed a little bit more tired than usual.

“Mum! Dad! Quick! Robert! It’s fantastic!” he shouted. Everybody went down. Robert immediately saw his new car. It was wonderful. Poor Robert was upset because the car wouldn’t run. Dad said he couldn't understand why the car wouldn't start. The batteries in the car had been absolutely new.

He didn’t know Tim had turned on the car and had forgotten about it when he was checking out other gifts earlier. Within that hour the batteries died, in those times they didn't last long. Tim kept silent as he didn’t want to be punished on Christmas Day.

Jamie Oliver is a genius in the world of food and one of Britain's most famous cooks. He has encouraged people to spend more time in the kitchen and enjoy it. His programmes are shown in over 100 countries including the USA, Australia, South Africa, Brazil, Japan and Iceland. They were translated into over 30 languages, Jamie Oliver's cookery books are bestsellers not only in the UK but across the world.

Jamie Oliver was born in 1975 in England. From an early age he got interested in food. His parents had a pub where he often helped them in the kitchen. He actually began working there at the age of eight. Jamie cut vegetables like any other ordinary worker in the pub.

Jamie Oliver left school at 16 without any official certificate. He went to Westminster College to study economics and after that travelled to France. Jamie knew that in France cooking was a kind of art. And he wanted to master that art. It was no doubt the best place to study if he wished to become a professional chef.

After returning from France, Jamie worked in a number of British restaurants. At that time there was a programme on the telly about the café where Jamie worked. TV producers were impressed by the young chef. The next day Jamie received calls from five different TV companies wishing to work with him. He soon became the best-liked celebrity chef on television and his programme was a real revolution in cooking shows. Thanks to an informal and friendly manner Jamie Oliver won crowds of fans around the world.

However, Jamie devotes his time not only to cooking. He's a family man, with a wife and four children. He also works on a number of projects. For example, Jamie Oliver created the ‘Fifteen Foundation’. Each year, fifteen young people are trained and taught to work in the restaurant business. Some of them are from unhappy families and are unemployed. Some of them were in prison or took drugs. In this way Jamie Oliver tries to help them start a new life.

Another project by Jamie Oliver is connected with school dinners and lunches. He wants school children to eat healthy food instead of junk food. The British government supported the project. It spent extra 280 million pounds to improve school meals. Part of the money was spent on training cooks and buying modern cooking equipment for schools.

It's really hard to name all the TV programmes, shows, projects that Jamie

Oliver had and is still having. He's so creative and imaginative, that there's no end

to new ideas and projects. Except television, Jamie Oliver is a writer. His every

book immediately becomes a bestseller. It's interesting that he became the bestselling author in the country after J.K. Rowling, the ‘Harry Potter’ writer.

In the Irish Sea about 20 miles away from the UK you will find a beautiful island. This is the Isle of Man. The people of the island are called Manx and they speak the Manx language. The island occupies a mid-point in the Irish Sea and the British Isles – right between England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

The scenery of the Isle is varied. There are ranges of hills with green valleys between them, there are sandy beaches in the north which contrast with the rocky cliffs along the coasts. The island's only mountain is slightly over 600 metres high. An old legend says that from its top on clear days you can see six kingdoms: the island itself, Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales and Heaven.

The Isle of Man has the oldest parliament in the world. It is called Tynwald and it has met regularly since 979. Tynwald usually meets in the capital of the country. However, for one day every summer the Manx parliament gathers in a small village to celebrate Tynwald Day. It is the only day of the year when parliament is held in the open air. On this day government officials read a summary of all the laws that have been passed during the year in both the English and the Manx languages. There is entertainment before and after the ceremony and it is a real community event. In addition to that, an open air market is organised and different concerts are held in the evening. At the conclusion, the Manx national anthem is played and there is a firework display.

Another thing that attracts tourists to the Isle of Man is its rich and unique culture. Any visitor to the island will be particularly fascinated by the legends, folklore and the ancient traditions that are still kept alive today. Most tourists are happy to participate in the folk programmes.

In Manx mythology, the island’s name comes from the name of a Celtic sea god. He ruled the kingdom and protected the land from invaders by covering the island with mist and thick fog.

The island is also reputedly home to fairies who are very special. The Manx fairies are described as small and human-like. They wear red caps and green jackets and are naughty and wicked. There's even a bridge called Fairy Bridge. Those who cross it are advised to say ‘hello fairies’ in order to get good fortune. If the person doesn’t greet the fairies, the fairies will become angry with him and may play a nasty trick on him.

If you love reading about King Arthur and his knights, then a must-see place is Peel Castle. It was constructed in the 11th century by the Vikings and has a fascinating history. It is believed that Peel Castle was the location of Avalon – the legendary island where King Arthur’s sword was made and where King Arthur was taken after being wounded.