2017-11-01
397
_______________________________________________________________
At age 18, interested in having some kind of performing career, Guy Lali-berté quit college and left home. He toured Europe as a folk musician and busker. By the time, he returned home to Canada in 1979, he had learned the art of fire breathing. Although he became ‘employed’ at a Hydroelectric power plant, his job ended after only three days due to a labour strike. He decided not to look for another job. He helped organize a summer fair in Baie-Saint-Paul with the help of a pair of friends named Daniel Gauthier and Gilles Ste-Croix. Daniel and Gilles were managing a youth hostel for performing artists named ‘Le Balcon Vert’ at that time. In sum-mer of 1979, they decided to turn ‘Le Balcon Vert’ and the talented performers who lived there, into an organized performing troupe. As part of a publicity stunt to convince the Quebec government to help fund their production, Ste-Croix walked 90km to Quebec City on stilts. The ploy worked, giving the three men the money to cre-ate their own Circus. Employing many of the people who would later make up Cirque du Soleil, the Circus toured Quebec during the summer of 1980. Although well received by audiences and critics alike, the Circus was a financial failure. In 1981, they met with better results. By that fall, the Circushad broken even. The success inspired Laliberté and Ste-Croix to organize a summer fair in their hometown. This touring festival first took place in July 1982. Itfeatured workshops to teach the circus arts to the public, after which those who participated could take part in a perfor-mance. Ironically, the festival was barred from its own hosting town after complaints from local citizens. Guy Laliberté managed and produced the fair over the next couple years, nurturing it into a moderate financial success. In 1983 the government of Quebec gave him a $1.5million grant to host a production the following year as part of Quebec's 450th anniversary celebration of the French explorer Jacques Cartier's discovery of Canada. Laliberté named his creation ‘Le Grand Tour du ‘Cirque du Soleil’
|
|
|
| 9) Answer the following questions |
1) When did Guy Laliberté return from his European tour?
2) What had he learnt by the time he came back to Canada in 1979?
3) How long did he work at the Hydroelectric power plant?
4) Who organized a summer fair in Baie-Saint-Paul?
5) What business were Daniel Gauthier and Gilles Ste-Croix ha-
ving at that moment?
6) What did they decide to do in summer of 1979?
7) What did Ste-Croix do to convince the Quebec government to
help fund his production?
8) When did The Circus have a success?
9) When did the touring festival take place?
10) What could the public learn in the workshops of the festival?
11) Why did the Quebec government of finance Guy Laliberté?
12) How did Guy Laliberté name his creation?
| 10) Find in the text in what sentences the following numbers are mentioned |
| 1) 18 years old | |
| 2) in 1979 | |
| 3) 90 km | |
| 4) during the summer of 1980 | |
| 5) in 1981 | |
| 6) in July 1982 | |
| 7) in 1983 | |
| 8) 450th anniversary |
| 11) Read the above text and write the main concepts using the following expressions |
1) The text is about ________________________________________.
2) The first part of the text is focused on ______________________.
3) Then the author describes smth (suggests, states that) ________.
4) After that the author passes on to (description of, statement of, analysis of ________________________________________________.
5) At the end of the text, the author pays attention to the fact that_______________________________________________________.
6) I have read the text with great interest ______________________.
| 12) Translate the Russian text into English and retell it |
Use the following words:
| Hereditary – потомственный; international network – между-народная сеть; circus spectacle –цирковое зрелище, merchant-try – купечество, businesslike- предприимчивый; matinee – утренник; union of circus and cinematography - объединение цирка и кино, traffic way – проезжая часть, safety considera-tions – соображения безопасности, devotion – преданность ‘The Prisoner of the Caucasus’ –Кавказская пленница |
