Unit 2 Life in the Future
Lesson 7
Exercise 1.2
Jules Verne (1828-1905)
Science fiction is a popular type of writing,
and many people think of Jules Verne
as the father of science fiction.
He was born in France in 1828.
His father wanted him to become a lawyer
but from his early twenties
Verne decided to become a writer.
At first he wrote plays for the theater.
Then,in 1863,
he wrote a story called Five Weeks in a Balloon
The success of this book encouraged him
to write more stories such as
A Journey to the Center of the Earth(1864)
and from the Earth to the Moon(1865).
In the 19th century,
many people were interested in
science and inventions.
Jules Verne wrote about scientific subjects
in his stories and ,as a result,
they were very popular.
Verne's writing included many predictions
for the 20th century
and many of them came true.
He described space flight,movies,
and air conditioning,
a long time before they appeared.
These books were very successful
and they made Verne rich.
Jules Verne's books have been the subjects
for many movies.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
was a successful movie for Walt Disney.
It was the first Disney movie
to use real actors instead of cartoon drawings.
Around the World in Eighty Days
is another famous movie based on
one of Verne's books .
The main character is an Englishman
called Phileas Fogg.
For him,the most important thing is
to be always on time!
Exercise 2.1
Jules Verne's novel
A Journey to the Center of the Earth
is an exciting story.
The main characters are a strange scientist
called Professor Hardwigg.
Henry(Hardwigg's nephew)and a guide named Hans.
The basic plot of the novel is as follows:
Hardwigg finds dirctions to the center
of the Earth in an old book.
He decides to try to follow the directions.
Hardwigg,Henry and Hans
enter an inactive volcano in Iceland.
It leads to the center of the Earth .
After weeks of traveling,
they finally come to a huge sea
in the middle of the earth.
Verne described this setting
as a large field lying before them.
At the end,Hardwigg,Henry and Hans
escape by traveling in a stream of lava
from a volcano .
When they come out,
they find themselves thousands of miles away
from where they first started their journey.