Reading 6

READING / THE BRITISH MUSEUM

The British Museum has one of the largest libraries in the world. The library contains millions of books; among them are rare books, and thousands of manuscripts. It has a copy of every book that is printed in the English language, so that there are more than six million books there. They receive nearly two thousand books and papers daily.

The British Museum Library has a very big collection of old printed books and handwritten manuscripts. You can see beautifully illustrated manuscripts which they keep in glass cases.

You can also find there some of the first English books printed by William Caxton. Caxton was a printer who lived in the fifteenth century. He made the first printing-press in England.

In the reading-room of the British Museum many famous men have read and studied.

Charles Dickens, a very popular English writer and the author of 'David Copperfield', 'Oliver Twist', 'Dombey and Son’ and other books, spent a lot of time in the British Museum Library.

Nowadays people come to this famous library to get the information they need. Among the readers there are philosophers, scientists, economists, engineers, artists, musicians, in other words — specialists of all possible professions.

At the present time the library has modem electronic services, so the reader must not wait long to receive the material he needs.

Task 1. Read the text and decide if the statements are true or false.

1.   The British Museum has a big library.

2.   There are only very old books in the library.

All the books are in glass cases.

William Caxton wrote many books.

 Many famous people read and studied in this library.

 Charles Dickens made the first printing-press in England.

 People come to this library to look at beautiful pictures which they keep in glass cases.

You cannot read in the British museum library now.

 Specialists of all possible professions are the readers of this library.

The modem electronic services help people to get books quicker.