What would you answer if somebody asked you the following?

A.: I’d like to check out this book, please.

B.:

A.: Here you are. I am in the English department.

B.:

A.: Can I have it renewed after then?

B.:

A.: Thank you very much. Bye.

53. Discuss the following:

1. Does reading play an important role in your life?

2. How much time do you devote to it?

3. Do you read for pleasure or information, or both?

4. How often do you visit library? Do you like it?

5. How long can you keep books?

54. Speak about the statements below. To what extend do you think they are true? Express your own point of view:

1. Love for reading gives those who are great readers of books an advantage over those who have not read so much.

2. There is an art of reading as well as an art of writing.

3. The classics are boring.

4. The classics never die.

WRITING PRACTICE

55. Read the following text carefully in order to discover the main line of thought and make a plan for writing a short summary:

The Library of Congress

The Library of congress is the Nation’s library in the USA. It serves not only to members and committees of the Congress, but to libraries throughout the USA and the world, and to the scholars, researchers and scientists who use it.

Its foundation was laid in 1815 when President Thomas Gefferson offered his personal library accumulated for 50 years and considered one of the best in the United States at that time as the basis for a great national library. Now the Library of Congress complex on Capital Hill includes three buildings. The Thomas Gefferson Building, which has been built in Italian Renaissance style, is the oldest of them. It was the largest and costliest library building in the world when it was completed in 1897. It is decorated with splendid sculpture, murals created by 50 American artists. Its Main Reading Room is 160 feet high.

The Room houses a collection of 45,000 reference books, a part of the extensive main catalog of more than 23 million cards and desks for 212 readers. The computer Catalog Center provides public access to the Library’s automated catalog.

The simply designed John Adams Building faced with white marble, was opened in 1939. Sculptures on its large doors represent 12 famous writers. The white marble James Madison Memorial Building opened in 1980 more than doubled the Library’s available Capitol Hill space. The building, which is the official memorial to the Nation’s fourth President, contains the James Madison Memorial Hill, exhibition areas, eight reading rooms, offices and storage areas for collections which number over 50 million items.

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