Условие:

Listen to the text about Joanne Rowling and say which of the following facts are true, false or not stated in it. Текст аудирования: There are very few people who do not know the name of Joanne Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series. She is internationally famous and her books are sold in millions of copies worldwide. J. K. Rowling is one of the world’s most successful writers. So, how did she become one? Rowling was born near Bristol, England. As a child, she enjoyed writing stories, which she often read to her sister. At school, Rowling was good at languages, but didn’t like sports or mathematics. She studied French and Classics at the University of Exeter, with a year of study in Paris. After graduating from the University Rowling moved to London to work as a researcher and secretary for the organisation called “Amnesty International”. One day while she was on a train trip between Manchester and London, she had the idea for a story of a young boy who goes to a school of wizardry. As soon as she got home, she began writing. A few months later, Rowling went to Portugal to teach English as a foreign language. While there, she married the Portuguese television journalist Jorge Arantes.They had a daughter Jessica. The couple soon divorced, their marriage lasted only one year. In December 1994, Rowling and her daughter moved to Scotland to be near Rowling’s sister. At the time, Joanne was unemployed and badly needed money. In 1995, Rowling finished her manuscript for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone on an old typewriter. Shortly afterwards, the book was sent to twelve publishing houses. None of them took it. A year later, Barry Cunningham from the small publishing house “Bloomsbury” agreed to publish the book. He did it after eight-year-old Alice Newton, the daughter of the company chairman, read the first chapter and immediately asked for the second one. Anyhow, while publishing the book, Cunningham was not sure that the book would make any money and even advised Joanne to find a day job. “Bloomsbury” were worried that young boys might not want to buy books by a woman author. They asked her to use two initials instead of her Christian name. Rowling chose K from her grandmother’s name Kathleen, as the second ini’ tial of her pseudonym. “Bloomsbury” published Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in just one thousand copies, five hun’dred of which were given to libraries. That was the first step on the book’s way to success. 1) Joanne Rowling began writing early. 2) When she was at school, she preferred mathematics to other school subjects. 3) Joanne enjoyed her year in Paris. 4) Joanne thought of writing about Harry Potter while she was on a train journey. 5) Rowling left the UK only once. 6) When Joanne and her little daughter lived in Scotland, they were rather poor. 7) Several publishers understood that the book would be a success as soon as they saw the manuscript. 8) Alice Newton’s interest in the book helped to publish it. 9) At first Barry Cunningham from Bloomsbury was not sure of the book’s success. 10) The book became a bestseller as soon as it was published. B. Have you read any of the Harry Potter books? Have you seen any films based on them? What are your impressions?

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