Вариант 9

You are going to read a text on the life of a famous person. For questions 1-15, read the text below and decide which answer (А, В, or С) best fits each gap.

Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë were sisters and writers whose novels have become classics.

Charlotte was born on 21 April 1816, Emily on 30 July 1818 and Anne on 17 January 1820 all in Thornton, Yorkshire. They had two sisters, (1) of whom died in childhood and a brother, Branwell. Their father, Patrick, was an Anglican clergyman who (2) as the rector of the village of Haworth, on the Yorkshire moors. After the death of their mother in 1821, their Aunt Elizabeth came (3) after the family.

All three sisters attended different schools at various times as well as (4) at home. The Brontë children were often left alone together in their (5) home and all began to write stories at an early age.

All three sisters were (6) at various times as teachers and governesses. In 1842, Charlotte and Emily went to Brussels to (7) their French, but (8) return home early after the death of their aunt Elizabeth. Charlotte returned to Brussels an English teacher in 1843-1844. By 1845, the family were back together at Haworth. By this stage, Branwell was (9) to drink and drugs.

In May 1846, the sisters published (10) their own expense a volume of poetry. This was the first use of their pseudonyms Currer (Charlotte), Ellis (Emily) and Acton (Anne) Bell. They all went on (11) novels, with differing levels of success.

Anne’s ‘Agnes Grey’ and Charlotte’s ‘Jane Eyre’ were published in 1847. ‘Jane Eyre’ was one of the (12) bestsellers. Anne’s second novel, ‘The Tenant of Wildfell Hall’ and Emily’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ were both published in 1848. ‘The Tenant’ (13) well, but ‘Wuthering Heights’ did not.

(14) alone with her father after her siblings’ death, Charlotte continued to write. She was by now a well-known author and visited London (15) number of times. In 1854, Charlotte married her father’s curate, Arthur Nicholls. She died of tuberculosis on 31 March 1855.