Задание

Read the text. Decide if the statements are true or false.

The Story of the Choir Boy Who Became a Great Composer.

Joseph Haydn was born in Rohrau, a little Austrian village not far from Hamburg. The parents lived in a very modest little house. The farm buildings were joined to the house itself. The windows looked inviting and pretty. They seemed to tell us very plainly that it was warm and cosy within.

Joseph Haydn was born on March 31st, 1752. Little Joseph Haydn’s father and mother were poor, but they loved cleanliness and system. They feared God, worked hard and loved music. Joseph’s father used to sing in a clear tenor voice, accompanying himself on the harp. When the child was old enough, he, too, began to sing. He quite surprised everyone with his sweet voice.

In the neighbouring town of Hamburg, there lived a schoolmaster named Frank, who used to visit the Haydns and play the violin. Joseph used to watch him very closely, and one day he, too, began to play the violin while his father and mother were singing. Then Cousin Frank, as they called him, had a long talk with Joseph’s father and mother. After a while, it was agreed that the little boy should go to Hamburg, and there become a pupil of the schoolmaster. When he was six years old, Joseph could “stand up like a man" and sing masses in the church choir besides playing the piano and the violin.

Later Joseph Haydn entered St Stephen’s. He was never lazy. His father and mother had taught him to love work. He was industrious, lighthearted, and made friends easily. If you could have watched him conduct the players, you would have seen a very short man with short legs; his face pitted with the marks of smallpox. His nose was large, his eyes grey, but of the kindest expression.

He received many invitations to travel to foreign countries. One of these he accepted. He went to England; twice in fact. The night before he left Vienna he and Mozart dined together. On the way north, along the Rhine, Haydn met Beethoven at Bonn; and it was arranged that Beethoven should study with Haydn on his return to Vienna. After the English journeys, Haydn lived quietly in Vienna in what is now known as the Haydn House.

TRUE

FALSE

He became a choir-boy in Hamburg.

He was born in England, March 31, 1732

He was a short, stout man, with kind hazel eyes, and very dark hair.

As a little boy he loved to hear his father and mother sing.

For a time he was Beethoven’s teacher.