Make use of Ex 29.

118* You might have noticed that J. K. Rowling’s books are read by both children and grown ups and m ost of them have seen their screened versions. But do you know anything about the author? If not, skim through the passage below and be ready to answer the questions that follow.

& Rowling, J.K., born July 31, 1965, Chipping Sodbury, near Bristol, England, in full Joanne Kathleen Rowling is a British author, creator of the popular and critically acclaimed Harry Potter series about a young sorcerer (magician) in training. After graduating from the University of Exeter in 1986, Rowling began working for [4] Amnesty International in London, where she started to write the Harry Potter adventures. In the early 1990s she traveled to Portugal to teach English as a foreign language, but after a brief marriage and the birth of her daughter, she returned to the United Kingdom, settling in Edinburgh. The idea for the Harry Potter stories came to her during a train ride in 1990, and she

began writing the magic adventure while sitting in cafès and pubs. Living on public assistance between stints (урочная работа) as a French teacher, she continued to write. Rowling's first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone 1997; U.S. title Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone), was an immediate success, appealing to both children (its intended audience) and adults. Featuring vivid descriptions and an imaginative story line, it followed the adventures of the unlikely hero Harry Potter, a lonely orphan who discovers that he is actually a wizard and enrolls in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The book received numerous awards, including the British Book Award. Succeeding volumes—Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999), and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000)—also were best-sellers, available in more than 100 countries and some 25 languages. In 2001 the companion books Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them and [5]Quidditch Through the Ages were published, with proceeds going to charity.The series sparked great enthusiasm among children and was credited with generating a new interest in reading. Rowling was appointed [6]OBE (Officer of the British Empire) in March 2001.

119* Answer the questions.

a. How did Joan Rowling come to write the Harry Potter series?

b. Did her educational background help her in her endeavors, do you think?

c. How did she support herself while working at her books?

d. Since you have read or seen at least one the series, what in your opinion makes it so attractive to the reader or viewer?

e. In your opinion, will the other sequels as interesting as the first ones?

f. Besides her royalties, how were her services for the country recognized?

g. Have you read her latest books either in English or in Russian?

120* The passage mentions the British Book Award that the Harry Potter series have won. If interested, read more about literary awards in America and Britain.

National Book Awards are annual awards given to books of the highest quality written by Americans and published by American publishers. The process begins when publishers submit selected books to compete in several categories, chiefly fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Winners are chosen by five-member panels selected for each genre; they receive a $10,000 cash award and a crystal sculpture. Awards are also intermittently given for children's literature, autobiography, first novel, and other categories.

Booker Prize,in full Man Booker Prize , formerly Booker McConnell Prizeis a prestigious British award given annually to a full-length novel; those eligible (имеющий право ) include English-language writers from the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth countries , the Republic of Ireland, and South Africa. The award is administered by the Book Trust. In 1992 the Booker Russian Novel Prize was set up to reward contemporary Russian authors, to stimulate wider knowledge of modern Russian fiction, and to encourage translation and publication of Russian fiction outside Russia.

Whitbread Book Award- any of a series of literary awards given to writers resident in the United Kingdom and Ireland for books published there in the previous year. Established in 1971 and sponsored by the British corporation Whitbread PLC, the awards are given annually and are administered by the British Booksellers Association.

Awards are given in five categories (novel, first novel, poetry, biography, and children's); in addition, from these winners one is chosen the Whitbread Book of the Year. A prize purse of £50,000 is shared among the winners.