When the world was at a very primitive stage of development there were no laws to regulate life of people

white hands, of which she was rather vain. Fifteen- year-old Jo was very tall, thin, and brown, and reminded one of a colt, for she never seemed to know what to do with her long limbs, which were very much in her way. She had a decided mouth, a comical nose, and sharp, gray eyes, which appeared to see everything, and were by turns fierce, funny, or thoughtful. Her long, thick hair was her one beauty, but it was usually bundled into a net, to be out of her way. Round shoulders had Jo, big hands and feet, a flyaway look to her clothes, and the uncomfortable appearance of a girl who was rapidly shooting up into a woman and didn't like it. Elizabeth, or Beth, as everyone called her, was a rosy, smooth- haired, bright-eyed girl of thirteen, with a shy manner, a timid voice, and a peaceful expression which was seldom disturbed. Her father called her 'Little Miss Tranquility', and the name suited her excellently, for she seemed to live in a happy world of her own, only venturing out to meet the few whom she trusted and loved. Amy, though the youngest, was a most important person, in her own opinion at least. A regular snow maiden, with blue eyes, and yellow hair curling on her shoulders, pale and slender, and always carrying herself like a young lady mindful of her manners. What the characters of the four sisters were we will leave to be found out. The clock struck six and, having swept up the hearth, Beth put a pair of slippers down to warm. Somehow the sight of the old shoes had a good effect upon the girls, for Mother was coming, and everyone brightened to welcome her. Meg stopped lecturing, and lighted the lamp, Amy got out of the easy chair without being asked, and Jo forgot how tired she was as she sat up to hold the slippers nearer to the blaze. "They are quite worn out. Marmee must have a new pair." "I thought I'd get her some with my dollar," said Beth. "No, I shall!" cried Amy. "I'm the oldest," began Meg, but Jo cut in with a decided, "I'm the man of the family now Papa is away, and I shall provide the slippers, for he told me to take special care of Mother while he was gone." "I'll tell you what we'll do," said Beth, "let's each get her something for Christmas, and not get anything for ourselves."

If there were no law, the manager could safely remain on the premises and, as you went out, smile at you and say: "Hope you've enjoyed the show, sir." That is to say, he could do this safely if he were bigger than you or had a well-armed bodyguard.
Every country tries,, therefore, to provide laws which will help its people to live safely and as comfortably as possible. This is not at all an easy thing to do, and no country has been successful in producing laws which are entirely satisfactory. But we are far better off with the imperfect laws which we have, than if we had none at all.

exactly where to find thousands of streets in London. You could find it on the bookshelves of the most London homes and in just every travel agency in the city. It lists every street in London and its carefully drawn maps show parks, gardens, railway lines, canals and just about anything else that can be put onto a piece of paper. So where did it come from? Phyllis Pearsall was a remarkable woman. She was born in Britain in 1906. She stayed there until she left school, and then travelled around France. She earned money by painting people's pictures and writing for a newspaper in Paris.
In the 1930s she returned to London, where she worked for her father's company, making maps of the world. She thought that there was a need for new street maps of London, after in 1935 she got lost while using a 20-year-old street map. So she started working on a book of maps. She walked along every street in the capital and wrote down the name, the important buildings and even the house numbers. Working eighteen-hour days she walked a total of 3,000 miles, while compiling her book. She kept the information about the streets on cards in small boxes.
One day a box with cards of all the streets beginning with "T" fell out of her window. She found most of the cards, but some cards landed on top of a bus and she never saw them again. When she sent the cards to the printer, someone asked her, "Why isn't Trafalgar Square in your book?" It was because she had lost the card. Phyllis Pearsall called her book A to Z. The first A to Z was in the shops in 1936 and sold very well. Now it is the most popular book of London street maps. It shows every street in London, important buildings, museums, theatres, schools, parks, train and underground stations. Later Phyllis Pearsall painted pictures of many of the city's famous buildings. In the same year, she formed the Geographers' Map Company which began publishing street maps and atlases of towns and cities and road maps of the whole country.
Today there are more than 130 people working for the Company. It publishes 359 titles including maps and atlases in both black and white and full colour. Computers were introduced into the drawing process in 1991. In 1996 the Company produced its first electronic street map of London on CD which contained over 90,000 streets, stations and different places of interest. 2005 saw the start of the next generation of A-Z maps, this time for mobile phones.
Phyllis Pearsall wrote about the history of the company in her book From Bedsitter to Household Name. She died in August 1996 at the age of 89.
Дайте пожалуйста перевод, но только не с переводчиков разных. заранее спасибо)

st man in the world. Microsoft, the business he started with a friend in 1975, has become the world's largest computer software company. Although the company is in big trouble today — the US government has broken it up — experts say it will remain successful. Bill Gates was born the 28th at October, 1955, in Seattle. USA. Seattle was once famous for producing Boeing aircraft, but is now better known as the home of Microsoft. From his parents Bill got a good business sense and a quick mind. His father is a lawyer and his late mother was a teacher and then a company director. At school Bill soon showed that he was very intelligent. His favourite subjects were Maths and Science. At 13 he got interested in computers. Bill Gates and his friend Paul Alien were soon spending all their time writing programmes and learning about computers instead of doing their homework. After finishing school in 1973, Bill went to Harvard, America's most famous university. Most of the lime he worked on the computers in the university laboratory. The next year, he and Paul Alien wrote an operating programme lor the Altair. one of the world's first microcomputers. Bill knew, even then, that lie would revolutionize the world of computing and he left Harvard before finishing his studies. The two friends started Microsoft in 1975. and very soon it became a business success. In 1980, Gates bought a small company which produced an operating system called DOS. He made some changes to it and renamed it MS-DOS. He sold the rights to use this system to IBM. Since 1980 MS-DOS has been the standard operating system for all PCs. Microsoft has also developed such well-known programmes as Windows, Excel and Internet Explorer. Bill's dream is to computerize everything — TVs, telephones, lights, even the way you cook dinner... One reason for his success is that Bill has always been very ambitious and hard-working. This hasn't left him much time for a normal personal life. but in 1994 he married Melinda French, a Microsoft employee. The couple has two children: a daughter, born in 1996, and a son, born in 1999. Bill Gates has written two books. The Road Ahead (1995) and Business and the Speed of Thought (1999). Both books are best-sellers. Bill hasn't got much tree time, but when he has a chance he likes playing golf and bridge. He is also fond of reading about science." For such a rich person, his life is simple, and he spends very little on himself. When it comes to helping others, though. Gates is very generous. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has already given $300 million to charity, and he says he plans to give away almost all of his wealth when he retires.