James Smithson’s Gift

Read the text and answer the questions:

 

1 Do you think Mr. Smithson found a good way to dispose of his money?

2 What do you call people who donate money for institutions promoting arts and scholarships? Name several more.

 

 

In 1826, James Smithson, a British scientist, drew up his last will and testament, naming his nephew as beneficiary. Smithson stipulated that, should the nephew die without heirs (as he would in 1835), the estate should go “to the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.” The motives behind Smithson’s bequest remain mysterious. He never traveled to the United States and seems to have had no correspondence with anyone there. Some have suggested that his bequest was motivated in part by revenge against the rigidities of British society, which had denied Smithson, who was illegitimate, the right to use his father’s name. Others have suggested it reflected his interest in the Enlightenment ideals of democracy and universal education.

Smithson died in 1829, and six years later, President Andrew Jackson announced the bequest to Congress. On July 1, 1836, Congress accepted the legacy bequeathed to the nation and pledges the faith of the United States to the charitable trust. In September 1838, Smithson’s legacy, which amounted to more than 100,000 gold sovereigns, was delivered to the mint at Philadelphia. Recoined in U.S. currency, the gift amounted to more than $500,000. After eight years of sometimes heated debate, an Act of Congress signed by President James K. Polk on Aug.10, 1846, established the Smithsonian Institution as a trust to be administered by a Board of Regents and a Society of the Smithsonian.

The Smithsonian Institution is now the world’s largest museum complex, composed of a group of national museums and research centers housing the United States’ national collections in natural history, American history, air and space, the fine arts and the decorative arts, and several other fields ranging from postal history to cultural history. The Institution includes 17 museums, four research centers, the National Zoo, the Smithsonian Institution Libraries (a research library system), the Smithsonian magazine, the Smithsonian Institution Press, a Travelling Exhibition Service, an Office of Education, and a number of other offices and activities.

 

Some Facts about the Smithsonian Institution:

 

− 17 museums

− 140 affiliate museums

− 9 research centers

− 24 mln visitors (2004)

− 143.5 mln objects, artworks and specimen

− 2.1 mln members

 

 

Find in the text the English equivalents to the following Russian words:

 

− составлять завещание

− бенефициарий

− умереть, не оставив наследников

− завещание, дарование

− частично вызванное местью

− строгость, непреклонность Британского общества

− лишать права на что-либо

− внебрачный ребенок

− наследство, завещанное нации

− составлять, равняться

− естествознание

Part 6