Charles Dickens was born in 1812. He lived in the south of England when he was a little boy. His father worked in an office. He was a very clever man, but he was very poor. Charles had many brothers and sisters, but he did not often play with them. His father had many books and Charles liked to read them. He learned to read very early. When Charles was 10 years old, his family went to London.
   There his father got into debt (as he had little money) and then into debtor's prison. So little Charles began to work when he was ten. That was the beginning of Charles' hard life. He worked at a small factory in London, pasting labels on blacking bottles. He had to work in a dirty room with no windows. He did not like his work, but he had to work at the factory for two years. Then he went to school for three years, but he did not learn much at school. He learned much at home, from his father and from other clever people.
   Later he worked as a reporter to the Parliament and became a writer of short stories.
   In 1837 he published his first novel "The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club". And the young reporter became a famous writer. Then he published novel after novel — "Oliver Twist", "Dombey and Son", "David Copperfield" and many other good books.
   His books are very interesting, they tei* us aoout the hard life of the poor people in. England of that time. When we read his books, we sometimes laugh, but we often want to cry.
   Charles Dickens died in 1870. He is one of the greatest novelists in the English literature. Dickens lived more than a hundred years ago, but people in the whole world like to read his books today, because in his books he showed a real world and people of Victorian England.
   
   Questions:
   1. Where did Charles Dickens live?
   2. Where did his father work?
   3. When did his family go to London?
   4. Why did Charles have to work?
   5. What novel did Charles Dickens publish in 1837?
   6. What do his books tell us about?
   7. What did Charles Dickens show in his books?
   
   Vocabulary:
   to get into debt — залезть в долги
   to cry — плакать
   poor — бедный
   prison — тюрьма

   Charles Dickens is one of the greatest novelists in the English literature. In his books he showed a real world and people of Victorian England.
   Charles Dickens was born in London in 1812. His father was a clerk and had eight children. His father always spent more money than he received. When Charles was 10 years old his family was put into prison for his father's debts. Charles had to give up the school and work. He worked at the blacking factory ten hours a day. Charles hated it and never forgot the experience. He used it in many novels, especially in "David Copperfield" and "Oliver Twist".
   At the age of 15 he was lucky to get a job in a London lawyer's office though he didn't like this job. When he was 16 he started to work for a newspaper. And by the age of 25 he became one of the best journalists in London.
   "The Pickwick Papers" was his first great work which made him popular. His books became very popular in many countries and he spent much time abroad. In the last years of his life he began to meet with his readers and to give public readings from his books. These meetings were very successful.
   He never stopped writing and travelling and he died very suddenly in 1870.
   
   Questions:
   1. When and where was Charles Dickens born?
   2. Why did he leave school at the age of 11?
   3. What was his first job?
   4. What was the name of his first novel?
   5. What did he do in the last years of his life?
   6. When did he stop writing?
   
   Vocabulary:
   novelist — романист
   Victorian England — викторианская Англия
   debt — долг
   to give up — бросать
   blacking — вакса
   abroad — за границей
   successful — успешный