The ancient Phoenicians were a great civilisation that inhabited the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Phoenician civilisation lasted over 1,000 years. It began about 1550 BC and ended about 300 BC.
The Phoenicians were the best shipbuilders and sailors of the ancient world. For more than 400 years, they ruled the seas! They were the first people to learn how to sail using the stars at night.
The Phoenicians were brilliant traders too. They sailed their ships around the Mediterranean, and sold things like wood and glass to the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians. One special item that they traded made them very rich. It was a purple-coloured dye. Purple was the colour of royalty in ancient times. No one in the ancient world knew how to make purple clothes except the Phoenicians.
Historians think the Phoenicians were the first civilisation in the world to use an alphabet. They also think that all the alphabets in the world today come from the Phoenician alphabet. The Phoenicians invented an alphabet and a writing system around 1400 BC because they wanted to communicate with their trading partners in Greece, Rome and Egypt. It consisted of only 22 letters based on sound.
Once the Greeks and Romans saw the Phoenicians had an alphabet, they learnt it. They wanted to make sure the Phoenicians didn’t cheat them out of money! Soon afterwards the Greeks developed their own alphabet. That consisted of 24 letters. The Roman alphabet evolved from the Greek alphabet in the 7th century BC.
Read again and complete the sentences.
1 The Phoenician civilisation lived on .
2 The Phoenicians used to work as .
3 They sailed around the Mediterranean selling .
4 The first alphabet was the .
5 The Phoenicians needed the alphabet so that .
6 The Greek alphabet was a model for .
1 я не видел его сестру(в конце\в последнее время) - после того, как она была(возле\почти) покусала собака
2 экспресс поезд из-за в 11 часов(острый\резко) прибыл(поздно\в последнее время)
3 смотри, ласточки потока(высокая\высоко) над озером
4 он говорил(злой\сердито) и мы сразу поняли, что что-л. произошло
5 говорят это слово(правильно\неправильно)
6 я говорю по-французски(плохо\плохо).Давайте говорите по-гречески
7 быть(быстро\быстро).На такси приехал
8 Не волнуйтесь. Это может быть сделано(легко\легко)
9 Ваша обувь(точный\ - металлургической) как у меня
10 наша кошка любит гулять(бесплатная\свободно).
Agatha Christie is known all over the world as the Queen of Crime. She wrote 78 detective novels, 19 plays, and 6 romantic novels. Her books have been translated into 103 foreign languages. They are the third best-selling books in the world (after Shakespeare's works and the Bible). Many of her novels and short stories have been filmed. The Mousetrap, her most famous play, is now the longest-running play in history of world theatre.
Agatha Christie was born at Torquay, Devonshire. She was educated at home and took singing lessons in Paris. She began writing at the end of the First World War. Her first novel, "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" was published in 1920. That was the first appearance of Hercule Poirot, who became one of the most famous private detectives since Sherlock Holmes.
Agatha Christie became generally recognized in 1926, after the publishing of her novel "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd". It is still considered her masterpiece.
When Agatha Cristie got tired of Hercule Poirot she invented Miss Mar-pie, a deceptively mild old lady with her own method of investigation.
The last Poirot book, The Curtain, appeared shortly before the writer's death, and the last Miss Marple story, The Sleeping Murder, and her autobiography were published after her death.
Agatha Christie's success with millions of readers lies in her ability to combine clever plots with excellent character drawing* and a keen sense of humour with a great observation. Her plots always mislead the reader and keep him in suspense. He cannot guess who the criminal is. Fortunately, evil is always conquered in her novels.
Agatha Christies language is simple and good and it is pleasant to read her books in the original.