Holidays and Celebrations in the Russia

All traditions, customs, habits are connected with the development of history and culture of the country. There are certain traditional holidays, festivals, anniversaries and ceremonies which have existed over centuries in the country. The inhabitants of the country used to do certain things on these days which have become traditions, customs and habits.

There are many national holidays in Russia, when people all over the country do not work and have special celebrations. The major holidays are: New Year's Day, Women's Day, May Day, Victory Day, and Independence Day.

The first holiday of the year is New Year's Day. People see the New Year in at midnight on the 31st of December. They greet the New Year with a glass of champagne and listen to Kremlin chimes at 12 o'clock. There are lots of New Year traditions in Russia. In every home there is a New Year tree glittering with coloured lights and decorations. Children always wait for Father Frost to come and give them presents. Many people consider New Year's Day a family holiday. But the youths prefer to have New Year parties of their own. Christmas is a renewed holiday in our country. It is celebrated on the 7th of January. It's a religious holiday and a lot of people attend church services on this day.

On the 8th of March we celebrate Women's Day when men give presents to women, do everything about the house and cook all the meals. The greatest national holiday is Victory Day. On the 9th of May, 1945, the Soviet Army and its allies completely defeated the German fascists and the Second World War (the Great Patriotic War) ended. In 1995 we celebrateded the 50^th anniversary of this great event. A magnificent memorial on Poklonnaya Gora was built to commemorate the victory. Many veterans took part in the military parade and laid wreaths to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. All stood in silence for a minute. Radio and television had been broadcasting popular war songs all day long. A lot of guests from all over the world came to Moscow to participate in the celebrations.

Independence Day is a new holiday in our country. On the 12^th of June, 1992, the first President of Russia was elected. We also celebrate the Day of the Defender of Motherland (on the 23d of February), Easter, the Day of Knowledge and lot of professional holidays, which are not public holidays, and banks, offices and schools do not close on these days.

Задание №2: Прочитайте и переведите текст. Выполните задания к тексту.

Easy money

Andrew Buxton, chair­man of Barclays, ought to have looked a troubled man as he presented his bank's annual results last week. In the last year, Barclays had lost a chief executive, dropped £205m on rash trading in the bond markets, another £153m on bad loans to Russian customers, and had let its operating costs run out of control.

Yet Barclays somehow managed to make profits of £1.9bn.

In the same year, Lloyds TSB reported a 14 per cent increase in its pre-tax profits to £3.29bn, equivalent to an after-tax return on shareholders' equity of 33 per cent. And other British banks made similar profits.

So where do these profits come from? And why have they not been lost to the competition from other institutions?

The first part of the answer lies in the condition of the UK econo­my at large. In principle, bank profits are built for the most part on the volumes of loans they make and the deposits they collect; the margins between the interest rates for these two sides of their balance sheet gives them their profits (or losses). But in a mature market such as the UK, it is hard for a very large bank to expand loan and deposit volumes much beyond the level of the economy as a whole, and even harder to widen net interest margins.

The biggest factor in bank prof­its has therefore been the level of bad debts. In 1992, when banks' accounts showed the worst of the effects of the last UK recession, the seven principal banks set aside £6.45bn of bad debt provisions between them. Last year, the total for the same group is estimated to have been around £2.6bn.

The other side of British banks' profitability reflects an interplay between technology-based effi­ciency gains and customer inertia.

Banks have become more effi­cient over the past decade, strip­ping out costs as new computer systems and telecommunications networks have enabled them to set up industrial-scale processing plants for tasks that used to be handled by clerks in the back of each branch.

Branches are expensive to run, and the network has been whittled down from a peak of 21,800 branches in 1985 to around 15,000 today. Each branch, too, has fewer staff.

One of the most frequent com­plaints is the disappearance of the human touch in the bank branch. Yet customers have reaped most of the benefits of the banks' efficiency gains - cash dispensed at the touch of a button by machines, instant account balances, trans­fers and even loans available over the telephone.

However, British banks remain years behind their French rivals in electronic banking. Nor is the UK's money transmission system the most consumer-friendly in the world. Customers in-New Zealand and Canada get deposits credited instantaneously, while in the UK they must wait days.

Competition in financial services has been steadily increasing since the 1980s. Yet the British consumer is more likely to swap a wife (or husband) than a bank. With such undemanding cus­tomers, leading banks could have years of fat profits ahead of them.

Discuss these questions.

1. How do banks make their profits?
2. What factors determine the profitability of a bank?

Reading tasks

A Understanding main points

Mark these statements Т (true) or F (false) according to the information in the text on the opposite page. Find the part of the text that gives the correct information.

1. Barclays' profits were higher than those of Lloyds TSB.
2. Banks in the UK can make more profit by charging higher interest on loans.
3. The provision for bad debts for the main UK banks was much higher in 1992.
4. The banks do not employ as many clerks as they did in the 19805.
5. Customers prefer to deal with machines rather than talk to bank staff.
6. British banks are the most advanced in the world.
7. British banks face a lot of competition from other institutions offering financial services.
8. The British don't complain very much about the service they receive from their banks.

В Information search

Look quickly at the text and find the answers to these questions.

l Which of the following reasons are given in the text to explain the British banks' profitability?

a) trading in bond markets

b) reduction in the number of branches

c) effective management

d) reduction in the level of bad debts

e) interest from loans to overseas customers

f) large-scale processing of transactions

g) competitive interest rates attracting more customers

h) British customers preferring to stay with the same bank

i) the strength of the economy

2 Which of the following examples of improved banking technology are mentioned either directly or indirectly in the text?

a) ATMs

b) smart cards

c) credit cards

d) telephone banking

e) electronic banking

Vocabulary tasks

A Key terms

Match these terms with their definitions.

1 net interest margin

2 provisions

3 return on equity

4 money transmission system

a) money reserved to cover bad debts

b) profit as a percentage of shareholders' capital

c) difference between interest income and interest payments

d) method of transferring funds from one person to another

В Word search

Replace the underlined items with words or phrases from the text that have a similar meaning.

1. Banks are affected by the state of the UK economy in general, (para 5)

2 The UK has a very established loan market, (para 5)

3 It's difficult for a large bank to increase loan and deposit volumes, (para 5)

4 The UK's seven principal banks set aside about £6.sbn of bad debt provision, (para 6)

5 Banks have closed thousands of branches over the last ten years, (para 8)

6 Many routine banking tasks are dealt with by computer. (para 8)

7 A bank branch is expensive to operate, (para 9)

8 Technologically, British banks are behind their French competitors, (para 11)

9 Few people change banks in Britain, (para 12)

10 Most UK banks still make huge profits, (para 12)

С Understanding expressions

Choose the best explanation for each of these words or phrases from the text.

1 troubled

a) worried

b) pleased

2 rash trading

a) trading without enough care and consideration

b) trading in large volumes

3 let its operating costs run out of control

a) allowed its costs to go over the budget

b) allowed its costs to be checked by external auditors

4 customer inertia

a) customers don't want to move or change anything

a) customers expect a lot of improvements in service

5 stripping out costs

a) adding to costs

b) removing costs

6 reaped most of the benefits

a) collected most of the benefits

b) lost most of the benefits

D Word search

Find a word or phrase in the text that has a similar meaning.

1 total amounts or quantities (para 5)

v…………………

2 system of local offices spread around the country (para 9)
b ................... n ...................

3 highest level recorded over a period (para 9)

P ...................

4 designed so as to be of maximum benefit to the consumer (para 11)
с ................... -f ...................

5 when the value of a deposit is added to an account balance (para 11)
с ...................

6 banks with the biggest share of the market (para 12)
1 ................... b ...................

E Linking

Match the first half of each sentence with the most appropriate second half. Notice the words that are used in each sentence to mark a contrasting idea. (These words are in italics.)

1. Barclays Bank had a troubled year

2. Banks make a profit on their net interest margin

3. British banks have introduced a range of technically-advanced services

4. Canadian customers get deposits credited instantaneously

a) while UK customers have to wait a few days.

b) yet it managed to make a lot of profit.

c) but it is difficult for them to widen their margins.

d) but they are still behind the French in electronic banking.

Задание №3: Выполните следующие грамматические задания.

1. Определите какая глагольная форма соответствует русскому ва­рианту (гр. Continuous):

a) идёт is going, goes, go;

b) летят flies, are flying, fly;

c) бегу run, runs, am running;

d) читал were reading, was reading, reads;

e) бегаю run, runs, am running;

f) иду is going, goes, am going;

g) писал is writing, will be writing, was

writing;

h) делали is doing, were doing, was doing;

i) буду работать work, will be working, worked;

j) буду спать sleep, were sleeping, will be sleeping.

2. Поставьте глаголы в нужную форму:

a) We.......... next weekend at home (spend).

b) They......... in a rented house these days (live).

c) When I arrived, Tom........................... on the sofa and........................ over the phone (lie; speak).

d) Somebody stole the money from Dad's pocket while he................................

(sleep).

e) This time tomorrow they........................... in the train on their way to Chicago (sit).

3. Задайте все типы вопросов к предложениям:

a) Не is taking his examination on Friday.

b) We are buying a new radio set soon.

c) He was writing his exercises at 5 o'clock.

d) Some visitors were waiting for the manager.

e) He can't come at 2 o'clock tomorrow, because he'll be giving a lesson at the time.

4. Употребите CAN, COULD, MAY, MIGHT по смыслу:

a) I........ easily carry this trunk to the station.

b) He........... come to night, but I am not sure.

c) If I had received his letter last week, I.................................... have helped him.

d) I said that he was not in the house, but he.......be in the garden.

e) He............. not have done it, it is very unlike of him.

5. Переделайте предложения, используя MUST:

Example: It is necessary for me to go to the lab after classes.

I must go to the lab after classes.

a) It is necessary for you to read a lot of literature.

b) It is necessary for me to give a paper at the seminar.

c) It is necessary for him to write an account of his work.

d) It is necessary for us to discuss this question with the group leader.

e) It is necessary for them to attend lectures.

6. Употребите MUST, SHOULD, OUGHT TO по смыслу перед инфи­нитивом, стоящем в скобках.

a) You are grown up enough and you..................................... (to know) that you.................................. (not to say) such things in public.

b) He could not see anything in the cave. He thought he....................................

(to bring) a torch.

c) If one is in love it is only natural that he............................... .(to be) happy and radiant.

d) Then, logically, he...................... (to laugh) but he heard himself saying: "You are absolutely right", instead.

e) How I.............. (to know) where you have left your glasses? They can be anywhere con­sidering your absent-mindedness.

ВАРИАНТ 2

Задание №1: Прочитайте, переведите и перескажите текст.