ОГЭ: соответствие утверждений тексту – задание 8

Mary Shelley, the wife of the well-known English poet Percy Shelley, was also a famous writer. She is best known for her novel Frankenstein, one of the world’s greatest horror stories. Apart from Frankenstein, Mary wrote many other novels and short stories, as well as editing her husbands works after his death.

Mary was born in London in 1797. Her father was a political philosopher. Her mother was a philosopher and early feminist. Unfortunately, Marys mother died eleven days after her daughters birth. Mary was brought up by her father and, when her father later remarried, her stepmother.

Mary was only 16 years old when she fell in love with the young poet Percy Shelley. It caused a scandal in English society when they ran away together. Marys relations with her own family were very difficult because of her relationship with Percy. Even more severely, his family never forgave them or made peace with them. Even after Percy’s death, his father refused to meet Mary for the rest of his life.

In 1816, the Shelleys spent the summer months by Lake Geneva in Switzerland, where they were joined by other friends, including the poet Lord Byron. As it was a cold, wet summer, the party of friends would often sit in Byrons villa, talking late into the night by the light of a warm log fire. One night, someone suggested that everyone should come up with a ghost story to entertain them. Only the 19-year-old Mary Shelley managed to produce a horror story. This became the much-loved novel Frankenstein.

Mary Shelley suffered many misfortunes in her life. She had four children, but only one son, named after his father, survived into adulthood. Mary mourned the loss of her other children her whole life. Then, in 1822, while the Shelleys were living abroad in Italy, Percy drowned in a boating accident, at the age of 29. Mary was a widow at 25 years of age. She never remarried.

After the death of her husband, Mary returned to England with her young son. Her husband’s family offered a very small amount of financial help, so Mary had to become a full-time writer to support herself and her son. It was only after the death of Percy’s father that she was finally free from financial difficulties.

Mary Shelley died at the age of 53, probably from a brain tumour, although historians are not completely sure. She is buried alongside her mother and father in a churchyard in Bournemouth, Dorset. Although her husband was buried in a cemetery in Rome, his heart was removed and is buried with his wife in the grave in Bournemouth.

1) Many of Mary Shelley’s books were horror stories.

1. True
2. False
3. Not stated

2) Mary Shelley’s mother died when Mary was a baby.

1. True
2. False
3. Not stated

3) Mary and Percy met for the first time in London.

1. True
2. False
3. Not stated

4) Mary finally became close friends with Percy’s father.

1. True
2. False
3. Not stated

5) All the guests at Byron’s villa created a ghost story.

1. True
2. False
3. Not stated

6) Mary Shelley was deeply affected by the deaths of her children.

1. True
2. False
3. Not stated

7) Percy Shelley’s family offered Mary no money at all.

1. True
2. False
3. Not stated

8) There is some doubt about the cause of Mary’s death.

1. True
2. False
3. Not stated

1) – Not Stated
2) – True
3) – Not Stated
4) – False
5) – False
6) – True
7) – False
8) – True