Rasputin

                            TEXT

        Rasputin, Grigory Yefimovich (1872-1916), Russian mystic and court figure, whose pervasive influence over the imperial family helped to destroy its reputation in prerevolutionary Russia. He was born in Pokrovskoye, Siberia. Rasputin was uneducated and lived as a peasant until about 1901, when he left his family to become a wandering holy man. He soon acquired a wide reputation for both his faith healing and his debauched behavior. In 1905, during a visit to Saint Petersburg, then the site of the national capital, Rasputin was presented at court and made a deep impression on Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna. Because he was able to relieve the suffering of her hemophiliac son and heir to the Russian throne, Alexis Nikolayevich, Rasputin became the most influential person in the czarina's entourage. After 1911 many high government offices were filled by his appointees, most  of whom were incompetent. After the start of World War I in 1914, when Emperor Nicholas II went to the front to take command of the army, Rasputin became the decisive influence in the government, advising Alexandra on the conduct of internal affairs. His famous orgies scandalized the people of Russia., and rumors circulated that he was conspiring with Germany. Called the Mad monk, he became an object of hatred, and on December 29, 1916, a group of aristocrats assassinated him during a midnight tea party. Rasputin's influence over the royal family was partly responsible for the rising tide of discontent that led to the 1917 revolution and the downfall of the monarchy.

                    TEXT COMPREHENSION

01- Choose the correct item according to the text:

a) Saint Peterburg is the current  Russia's capital city

b) Alexandra Fyodorovna was  Rasputin's wife

c) Rasputin always lived with his family

d) Rasputin was assassinated in the 19^th century

e) Rasputin had influence over Russia's government

02- Rasputin impressed Alexandra Fyodorovna 'cos

a) he was a monk

b) he was able to relieve her son

c) he was born in Siberia

d) he was Russian

e) he praised Saint Petersburg very much

03- Check the correct alternative

a) ) Rasputin contributed to the downfall of monarchy

b) When Rasputin died, he was forty six years old

c) The imperial family destroyed Rasputin's reputation

d) Rasputin killed Nicholas II

e) Nicholas II was Alexandra's bridegroom

04- When Rasputin was introduced to the Empress he was ___________________years old.

a) thirty two

b) thirty three

c) thirty four

d) thirty five

e) fifty six

05- Check the correct alternative:

a) Rasputin became popular 'cos of his debauched behavior

b) When Rasputin died, he was forty two years old

c) In Moscow, Rasputin was presented at court

d) Rasputin became popular 'cos he was honest

e) Rasputin was faithful to the Emperor

Louise Brown

Louise Joy Brown
Born	Louise Joy Brown 25 July 1978 (1978-07-25) , Oldham, UK
Known for	First in-vitro baby
Weight	5 lb 12 oz (2.608 kg) at birth
Spouse	Wesley Mullinder (2004–present)
Children	Cameron (b. 20 December 2006)

Louise Joy Brown (born 25 July 1978, in Oldham, Greater Manchester, UK) is the first person to be conceived by in vitro fertilization, or IVF.

Birth

Louise Brown was born to Lesley and John Brown, who had been trying to conceive for nine years, but without success because of blocked fallopian tubes. On 10 November 1977, Lesley Brown underwent a procedure, later to become known as IVF, developed by Patrick Steptoe and Robert Edwards. Edwards was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Medicine for this work.

Brown was born 25 July 1978 at 11:47 p.m. at Oldham General Hospital, Oldham, via planned Caesarean section delivered by registrar John Webster. She weighed 5 pounds, 12 ounces (2.608 kg) at birth.

Although the media referred to her as a "test tube baby", her conception actually took place in a petri dish.

Her younger sister, Natalie Brown, was also conceived through IVF four years later, and became the world's fortieth IVF baby, and the first one to give birth herself—naturally—in 1999.

Ethical and religious issues

Although the Browns knew the procedure was experimental, the doctors did not tell them that no case had yet resulted in a baby. This has raised questions of informed consent.

Shortly before the death of Pope Paul VI, when asked for his reaction to Brown's birth, the patriarch of Venice, Albino Cardinal Luciani (later Pope John Paul I), expressed concerns about the possibility that artificial insemination could lead to women being used as "baby factories", but also refused to condemn the parents of the child (cf moral theology of John Paul I).

Later life

Brown married nightclub doorman Wesley Mullinder in 2004, with Dr. Edwards attending their wedding. Their son Cameron, conceived naturally, was born on 20 December 2006. Nowadays Louise Brown is a postal worker.

              TEXT COMPREHENSION

01- Choose the correct sentence according to the text:

a. Louise Brown is thirty two years old

b. Louise Brown was born in London

c. Robert Edwards is Louise Brown's husband

d. Patrick Steptoe is Louise Brown's dad

e. Louise Brown is British

02- Cameron is

a. John Webster's nephew

b. Wesley Mullinder's offspring

c. Robert Edwards's grandson

d. Louise Brown's cousin

e. John Brown's great grandson

03- Choose the correct item according to the text:

a. Natalie Brown is Cameron's aunt

b. Pope John Paul I condemned the parents of Louise Brown

c. IVF is a natural way of conceiving.

d. Louise Brown's son is four years old

e. Louise Brown and Wesley have two children

04- Lesley Brown is Louise Brown's __________.

a. sibling

b. mom

c. cousin

d. sister-in-law

e. daughter

05- Louise Joy Brown was born in the operating theatre at Oldham General Hospital in ________.

a. nineteen seventy eight

b. nineteen seventy seven

c. nineteen seventy six

d. nineteen seventy five

e. nineteen seventy four

Eric Clapton

Text: ERIC CLAPTON

                   Eric Patrick Clapton was born on March 30th 1945. He is an English blues-rock guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only person who has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times.

                  Clapton was born in Ripley, Surrey, England, the son of 16-year-old Patricia Molly Clapton and Edward Walter Fryer, a 24-year-old soldier from Montreal, Quebec. Years later, his mother married another Canadian soldier, moved to Canada and left young Eric with his grandparents in distant Surrey.

                   In 1962, Clapton started performing as a duo with fellow blues enthusiast David Brock in the pubs around Surrey. When he was 17 years old, Clapton joined his first band, an early British R&B group, called "The Roosters". He stayed with this band from January thru August 1963.

                  "Tears In Heaven"            

                  Clapton wrote this song about his 4-year-old son Conor, who

Died in 1991 when he fell out of a 53rd floor window in the apartment where his mother was staying in New York City. Clapton had one other child at the time, his daughter Ruth was born in 1987, The year after Conor was born. Clapton wrote this song with Will Jennings.

                  Conor`s mother is actress Lory Del Santo. She and Clapton

began dating while he was going through a divorce with his wife Pattie.

                      TEXT COMPREHENSION

01- Check the correct alternative according to the text:

A. Conor was Pattie's son

B. Ruth is Eric Clapton's step-daughter

C. Eric Clapton is American

D. Patricia Molly Clapton was born in 1927

E. Conor's accident happened in New York City

02- Eric Clapton was born ______________years ago.

A. seventy one    B. seventy two     C. seventy three     D. seventy four        E. seventy five

03- Eric Clapton is _______________.

A. Canadian    B. Italian     C. German      D. British       E. Australian

04- In ______________________Eric Clapton joined his first band.

A. nineteen sixty      B. nineteen sixty one       C. nineteen sixty two

D. nineteen sixty three      E. nineteen sixty four

05- Conor passed away in __________________________.

A. nineteen ninety      B. nineteen ninety one      C. nineteen ninety two

D. nineteen ninety three      E. nineteen ninety four

06- Ripley is a _____________.

A. state      B. county      C. town       D. country        E. street