Jim and delia

Jim and Delia were two young people, husband and wife. They loved each other dearly. They lived in a small room in an old house in one of the dirty streets of New York.

They worked from early morning till late at night, but they got very little money for their work. And still they had two things, which were very dear to them—Jim's gold watch and Delia's beautiful hair.

Christmas was coming and Delia wanted to give Jim a nice present, but she had no money. She really did not know what to do. She sat on the sofa and began to cry. Suddenly an idea came to her. She got up and stood in front of the mirror and looked at her beautiful long hair. Then she left the house and in a few min­utes she was already at the hairdresser’s shop.

"Will you buy my hair?" she asked, the hairdresser looked at her hair and said, "Yes, I will. It's fine hair. I can give you twenty dollars for it." Delia was very happy. She took the money and went to buy a present for her husband. In one of the shops she saw a very beautiful watch-chain. "I'll buy it, Jim will be very glad," she said to herself. "He needs a chain for his watch."

So Delia bought a gold watch-chain as a Christmas present for Jim. When she got home, Jim was already there waiting for her. He looked at his smiling little wife and understood every­thing.

"Why did you do it?" he asked.

"Dear Jim, my hair will grow and I wanted to give you a pres­ent. Here it is," and she put the watch-chain -into his hand.

The beautiful chain, Delia's present, was of no use to him. He had sold his gold watch to buy a Christmas present for his wife. He took a packet out of his pocket and gave it to Delia. She opened it and saw two beautiful combs, the combs that she had seen in a shop window and had wanted for so long.

(After 0. Hanry)

Industrial revolution in england

Formerly England was chiefly an agricultural country where thousands of farmers grew corn and produced other food stuffs for the population. Industry was very poorly developed. There were only small factories scattered over the country, near the places where the raw materials were found in plenty, and along the rapid rivers that provided power. The discovery of coal lying side by side with iron-ore, the invention of the steam-engine and its general use in industry, caused a revolution that made England the workshop of the world. The larger towns in old times lay in the fertile plains of the South and of the East, and these today are beautiful, quiet, rich in fine buildings and various works of art which tell the history of their past. Canterbury, York, Durham, Lancaster, have been famous, but are now just villages in comparison with the huge towns that are gathered round the tall chimneys with columns of smoke rising to the sky.

People came to cities, leaving the country. In the fields and meadows, where sheep once quietly grazed, or where the farmer used to drive his plough, one could only hear the deafening din and shriek of railway engines, the clang of steam-hammers, the rumbling of spinning-mules and looms. Cheap coal, cheap iron and steel from numerous blast-furnaces and smelting works led to a rapid development of industry. A large network of railways covered the country and curried passengers and goods quickly to the most distant places, while numerous ships brought in raw materials and took them away in the form of manufactured goods.