Theodore Roosevelt

Read the text and mark the sentences below as T (true) or F (false).

Theodore Roosevelt was one of our best-known presidents, being known as T. R. Teddy. He was an Oyster Bay Roosevelt, which is one of the two principal varieties.

As a boy, Roosevelt was weak and sickly, but he built himself up by boxing and taking exercises with dumbbells in a gymnasium. Gradually he became more and more robust, despite several years at Harvard. He liked the out-of-doors, and bought a large amount of it on a ranch in North Dakota, the acquisition of which he modestly described as 'The Winning of the West'.

Roosevelt grew so muscular that the politicians deemed it wise to put him on a shelf in the vice-presidency, where they thought he would be safe, not knowing that McKinley was so close to being shot.

When Roosevelt got down from the shelf and moved into the White House, the United States was at peace. The former Rough Rider found this intolerably dull and decided to make war on someone. The British, Japanese, Germans, Canadians, Russians, and Venezuelans were all considered. In a final act of desperation, Roosevelt sent the American fleet around the world looking for a suitable enemy. Unable to find one, he was forced to accept the Nobel Peace Prize as a consolation.

Roosevelt was known as a man of unquenchable energy. He paid little attention to rank, money, and social position, perhaps because he had so much of all three. He was deeply interested in nature, which he tried to conserve. He did this by collecting such natural resources as butterflies and birds, which he thought were being wasted. At the same time he was violently opposed to Big Business, then busily engaged in collecting money and other unnatural things. As might be expected, Roosevelt was greatly annoyed when somebody sneeringly referred to him as 'Buster'.

At the conclusion of his term, Roosevelt went West to find his successor and picked a hearty, pioneer type named William Howard Taft. Then he went off to Darkest Africa where, despite the poor light, he bagged many magnificent specimens and brought them home for zoos and museums. One specimen of which he was especially proud was the bull moose, which he captured by speaking softly and then hitting it on the head with a big stick.

1. T. R. Teddy is Theodore Roosevelt’s nickname.

2. He studied at Harvard.

3. Roosevelt described his ranch as 'The Winning of the West'.

4. They planned to put him on a shelf in the vice-presidency because of his wisdom.

5. Roosevelt wanted to make war on someone and he succeed.

6. He paid little attention to rank, money and social position, perhaps because he was from the poor family.

7. He liked nature very much.

8. William Howard Taft was Roosevelt’s successor.

9. Roosevelt captured the bull moose in a very humane way.

Unit 3

Do you know? Read and choose the best answer

That the treaty of Versailles was the peace treaty that ended World War One. There was one country which was actually left out of it. People forgot about Andorra, the tiny state in the Pyrenees beside Spain. Eventually Andorra did sign a peace treaty with Germany ending World War One, but not until it was fighting Germany in World War Two.

the Roman Emperor Caligula did crazy things and a lot of people think he was mad. He was bald on top, so he made a law, which said that people couldn’t look down on him when he was passing by. Another thing he did, he kept his horse inside the palace, decorated with jewels.

our year used to be three hundred and sixty-six days long, instead of three hundred and sixty-five. It doesn’t sound much of a difference, does it? Just one day. But in fact, the year is connected with the sun and moon, and by the time of Julius Caesar, things were in a big mess! Midsummer’s day was in August, instead of June. To sort all this out, Julius Caesar had to add sixty-seven days to one year: the year forty-six BC. So it was a really long year!

that in the Middle Ages people took animals to court and actually put them on trial. Once, in France, some rats were taken to court for taking food that didn’t belong to them! The worse thing, though, is that the rats didn’t appear in the courtroom because, as their lawyer said, they had been attacked by evil cats, on their way to court. He wanted money as a guarantee that the cats wouldn’t attack the rats again, but he never got it.

When did Germany and Andorra sign the peace treaty?

A before World War Two

B during World War Two

C at the end of World War One

What did the Roman Emperor Caligula keep inside the palace?

A a horse

B jewels

C a lot of crazy things

How many days did Julius Caesar add to the year 46 BC?

A 1 day

B 66 days

C 67 days

What did a man accuse the rats of?

A stealing money

B attacking cats

C stealing food

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