Английский язык. Практическое занятие 5 (1 курс 2 семестр)

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Практическое занятие 5

Цель занятия: научиться читать текст, переводить его, письменно составлять высказывания. Закрепление навыка составления вопросов, пересказа, а также работы со словарём. Отработка навыков устной и письменной речи.

Задание 1. (максимальное количество баллов – 3 балла)

Прочитайте и переведите текст. Составьте пересказ на 10-15 предложений на английском языке (пересказ делается письменно

Traditions and customs in Great Britain/Обычаи и традиции в Великобритании.

British nation is considered to be the most conservative in Europe. It is not a secret that every nation and every country has its own customs and traditions. In Great Britain people attach greater importance to traditions and customs than in other European countries. Englishmen are proud of their traditions and carefully keep them up. The best examples are their queen, money system, their weights and measures.

There are many customs and some of them are very old. There is, for example, the Marble Championship, where the British Champion is crowned; he wins a silver cup known among folk dancers as Morris Dancing. Morris Dancing is an event where people, worn in beautiful clothes with ribbons and bells, dance with handkerchiefs or big sticks in their hands, while traditional music-sounds.

Another example is the Boat Race, which takes place on the river Thames, often on Easter Sunday. A boat with a team from Oxford University and one with a team from Cambridge University hold a race.

British people think that the Grand National horse race is the most exciting horse race in the world. It takes place near Liverpool every year. Sometimes it happens the same day as the Boat Race takes place, sometimes a week later. Amateur riders as well as professional jockeys can participate. It is a very famous event.

There are many celebrations in May, especially in the countryside.

Halloween is a day on which many children dress up in unusual costumes. In fact, this holiday has a Celtic origin. The day was originally called All Halloween's Eve, because it happens on October 31, the eve of all Saint's Day. The name was later shortened to Halloween. The Celts celebrated the coming of New Year on that day.

Another tradition is the holiday called Bonfire Night.

On November 5,1605, a man called Guy Fawkes planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament where the king James 1st was to open Parliament on that day. But Guy Fawkes was unable to realize his plan and was caught and later, hanged. The British still remember that Guy Fawkes' Night. It is another name for this holiday. This day one can see children with figures, made of sacks and straw and dressed in old clothes. On November 5th, children put their figures on the bonfire, burn them, and light their fireworks.

In the end of the year, there is the most famous New Year celebration. In London, many people go to Trafalgar Square on New Year's Eve. There is singing and dancing at 12 o'clock on December 31st.

A popular Scottish event is the Edinburgh Festival of music and drama, which takes place every year. A truly Welsh event is the Eisteddfod, a national festival of traditional poetry and music, with a competition for the best new poem in Welsh.

If we look at English weights and measures, we can be convinced that the British are very conservative people. They do not use the internationally accepted measurements. They have conserved their old measures. There are nine essential measures. For general use, the smallest weight is one ounce, then 16 ounce is equal to a pound. Fourteen pounds is one stone.

The English always give people's weight in pounds and stones. Liquids they measure in pints, quarts and gallons. There are two pints in a quart and four quarts or eight pints are in one gallon. For length, they have inches» foot, yards and miles.

If we have always been used to the metric system therefore the English monetary system could be found rather difficult for us. They have a pound sterling, which is divided into twenty shillings, half-crown is cost two shillings and sixpence, shilling is worth twelve pennies and one penny could be changed by two halfpennies.

Задание 2. (максимальное количество баллов – 3 балла)

Составьте 10 вопросов к тексту из первого задания. Вопросы должны быть составлены на английском языке.

Задание 3. (максимальное количество баллов – 4 балла)

Составьте собственное высказывание на английском языке, не менее 10 предложений о культуре и традициях в России. Назовите основные праздники на территории РФ. Выскажите своё мнение, – какие Вам нравятся, какие нет и почему. Расскажите о своём любимом празднике, о том, как принято его праздновать в кругу Вашей семьи.

Задание 4. (максимальное количество баллов – 4 балла)

Прочитайте текст. Составьте расширенный план для пересказа (не менее 6 подпунктов) на английском языке.

Housing in America/Дома в Америке

Before 1800, the Midwest of America was Indian country. Then, the Europeans came.

They did not like to move around or live in tepees. They were farmers and they wanted houses.

The first European Americans, the «pioneers», were tough people. They came to a hard country. The summers were hot, the winters were very cold. On the prairies, there were no trees and no stones. There was only earth. So the pioneers cut pieces of grass and earth and built houses with them.

These «sod houses» were very uncomfortable. The rain came in through the roof. Pieces of wet earth fell into food and onto the children’s beds. The pioneers worked hard on their farms to make money. With the money they built bigger, better farmhouses with wood. No Americans live in sod houses now.

It was easy in the Rocky Mountains because there were trees. The pioneers could cut them down and make small wooden houses, called «log cabins». Log cabins were warm and dry inside. The people were poor, but they tried to make their homes comfortable.

Pioneer women had no money, but they wanted nice covers for their beds. They could not buy them, so they cut up old clothes and sewed the pieces together. The beautiful bedcovers they made are called «patchwork quilts». Many American women still keep their grandmothers’ patchwork quilts, and they like to make new ones with the old patterns.Nearly all the Americans live in towns or cities now. And you can’t be a pioneer in Philadelphia or Chicago. But some people try. They like to go to vacation homes in the mountains, miles away from the cities. A real 200-year-old log cabin is best, but there are lots of new ones too. There, you can put your gun up on the wall above the fireplace. You can listen to the wind outside. You can talk about the bears and rattlesnakes. For two or three weeks you can be a pioneer again.

The great historic places of the Old World are cities, castles, and gardens. But in the New World, some of the most interesting historic places are the roads. Americans remember the great journeys of their history in movies, stories, and pictures. Their grandparents crossed America on horses and in wagons.

But they don’t go in wagons now, of course. They go in mobile homes. Some mobile homes are pulled by the family car. Some, like Winnebagos, have a driver’s cab. Behind the cab there is a room with beds, a small kitchen, a table, a washing place.

Winnebagos are great for vacations. A family can travel in the Winnebago, and stop at campgrounds to sleep and eat. They do not have to spend money on motels. In summer, the campgrounds in the national parks are full of mobile homes.

American factories make new and better mobile homes all the time. Some of them are palaces on wheels. But the idea is not a new one. In 1930s, there were a large number of «Airstreamers» on the road. These wonderful old mobile homes looked like small space ships. They were made of shiny silver metal. Sometimes you can still see them out on the highways.

Mobile homes are not good only for vacations. Many people live in them. Five percent of all American homes started as mobile homes, but many of them do not travel any more. They parked in trailer parks. People build on new rooms, and grow flowers and trees near them. Soon the mobile homes look like houses. The difference is that mobile homes are much cheaper than houses. Most Americans buy them.

Задание 5. (максимальное количество баллов – 4 балла)

Сделайте письменный перевод на английский язык. Переведите на английский.

Погода в Британии имеет плохую репутацию потому что быстро меняется. Люди никогда не могут быть уверены в том, что не будет дождя. Из-за изменчивой погоды люди носят зонтики каждый день. Британцы говорят «дождь льет как из ведра», если идет сильный дождь.

Лето в Британии не очень жаркое. А зима не очень холодная. В некоторых частях Британии зима проходит совсем без снега. Поэтому можно сказать, что климат в Британии мягкий. Британцы часто говорят о погоде. Говорят, что разговор о погоде – это хороший способ начать разговор с незнакомцем.

Задание 6. (максимальное количество баллов – 3 балла)

Найдите в тексте соответствия следующих слов и выражений:

И так далее; кроме того; завязать разговор; никто не имеет дел с незнакомцами; избегать сплетен; давать советы и взваливать на себя груз чужих проблем; личный опыт; действуйте по ситуации; это сработало; сводить на нет; не имеет значения; я пришла к выводу; невыносимо неловко.

Talking about weather/Разговоры о погоде.

It seems to me that the English begin the day with conversation about the weather and finish it with the same theme. At home, at work, on the street — always: ‘Today is wonderful, isn’t it, dear?’ or ‘Awful weather today, isn’t it? Will it stop raining at last today?’ And so on… Like this arise a million conversations about various topics, starting with a short chat over breakfast or at the bus stop and finishing with a conversation with a friend or a colleague at work.

For me this was always fascinating. In Russia people at bus stops look at you like potential competition who could occupy your potential seat. There are no friendly conversations about the weather with strangers at the bus stop, you wouldn’t even think about it. Besides, there are so many people that you would have to spend no less than half an hour walking around everybody sharing your sentiments about the weather. I think people would start to recoil from the friendly questioning potential passenger and think that one was loony.

How do people usually start a conversation with friends or colleagues in Russia? ‘How are you? OK?’ or ‘How’re you feeling?’ and about feelings people talk readily and always. Not only this, but they start to share their problems, and the conversation can stretch on until dinner, starting with analysis of the problem, cigarette breaks and heaps of advice from personal experience or the experience of a friend. But with strangers…no, nobody has any dealings with strangers; everybody has ‘distressing deep thoughts’ about tomorrow’s day. For some: ‘What fur coat to wear — mink or fox?’, for others: ‘To buy a litre of milk or is it better two loaves of bread?’

So, this kind of communication and start of a conversation I am, of course, used to, for me it was civil to ask about mood. Once, when I was in college in England, where I taught language, I asked the students about their

moods, in answer I heard ‘deadly’ silence. I was lost for some seconds but recollected the advice of our lecturer in foreign languages. His main advice comprised — when entering an auditorium you need to consider yourself an actor who has walked out on stage, and be prepared for all the surprises of stage life. In his words — be spontaneous!

I immediately started talking about the weather, and it helped. I saw puzzled faces, trying to translate my questions about the weather. The English people were in a familiar situation!

From time to time I asked myself — well, from idleness of thoughts, I supposed ‘Hmm, why are English people so worried by the weather? Maybe, it’s because the weather changes several times a day?’ You can experience, in the course of one day, all the seasons of the year, depending on which sea the wind is blowing in from. The position of the sun in this does not play a significant role. It can be shining, and even brightly, but the wind from the North Sea brings to nothing all the sun’s efforts. Or in January, for example, you can get a tan and even sweat somewhere in a corner sheltered from the wind by the sea.

I think that the initial reason for the ‘passion’ for talking about the weather was precisely this bottom line. ‘No matter how you look at it’ the theme in discussion is broad; anyone and everyone can ‘blaze’ about it.

However, I came to the conclusion that there are also at least two more reasons for this chattiness.

One of them, I speculate, is hidden in the extraordinary / traditional / genetic politeness of the English. If they need to find something out then firstly they will cautiously utter one or two phrases about the weather and only after will present the question they crave to ask. Also, they consider it unbearably awkward to stand with ‘puffed out cheeks’ at the bus stop in the company of two or three people. And… they start to twitter about the weather.

The other reason again leaks from my observations — they tried to avoid gossip. They don’t like over-the-fence talk. Praise to you English! Likewise they don’t like to give advice and take upon themselves the heaviness

and responsibility of other people’s problems. In Russia, you just murmur your problem and you receive 33 happy answers and assurance that there are no unsolvable problems.

Задание 7. (максимальное количество баллов – 4 балла)

Составьте письменное высказывание на тему «Лондон-столица Великобритании» на английском языке. Высказывание должно содержать не менее 10-15 предложений.