Exercise №12. Find the predicates in the following sentences. Define their tense forms. Translate the sentences
1. The laboratory assistant is writing down the data in the register book. 2. The water in the tube is boiling. 3. The importance of mathematics will be constantly increasing. 4. Even in his childhood Newton was searching out the secrets of nature. 5. The laser is finding the most extensive application in the field of communications. 6. In the process of labour man himself was constantly changing. 7. The group of scientists will be investigating this problem for some years. 8. In 1880 Bessemer’s factory was producing 830,000 tons of steel a year. 9. The laboratory will be carrying on the same research in the coming two or three years. 10. The thermal fluctuations of plasma are continually changing.
Exercise №13. Make the following sentences: a) negative; b) interrogative (general questions).
1. Bessemer was always trying some new idea. 2. Our colleagues are now performing a new set of experiments. 3. The conference is coming to an end now. 4. They will be collecting the data for six weeks. 5. We were discussing some recent works in the field of physics at the conference yesterday. 6. A direct-current motor is driving water-cooling pumps. 7. The sun is emitting energy. 8. He was conducting important observations for some hours two days ago. 9. She will be talking to her scientific adviser at 6 p.m. tomorrow. 10. I shall be writing about some works in the field of my speciality tomorrow’s night.
Exercise №14. Put all possible special questions.
1. Everybody is talking about the new discovery. 2. They are listening to the lecturer with great attention. 3. My colleagues were taking part in the discussion on the problems of environment all day long yesterday. 4. I am going to do the work all by myself. 5. We are looking for new ideas in science. 6. Before Edison was nine he was collecting things. 7. We shall be discussing your paper first at 3 o’clock the day after tomorrow. 8. They are going to prepare everything for the experiment. 9. Roentgen was working on the problem of electricity during 1895. 10. My wife will be preparing for the report from 5 till 7 next Monday.
LESSON 5
HOLIDAYS and CELEBRATIONS
| Grammar in practice: 1. Видо-временные формы Perfect (Active Voice) 2. Таблица неправильных глаголов (повторение) 3. Say, Tell, Speak, Talk |
LEAD-IN:
Use the holiday`s calendar and get ready to answer the following questions:
1) How do you understand the word “holiday”?*
2) Official public holidays are named as bank holidays in Great Britain and national holidays in the USA, aren`t they? **
3) What are Bank Holidays? ***
4) What American national holidays do you know? ****
5) Do you know any American religious and not public holidays? (use the holiday`s calendar)
6) Can you give any examples of British religious holidays***** and non-official holidays? (use the holiday`s calendar)
7) What holidays are celebrated both in the USA and Great Britain?
______________________
Notes:
*- holy day (святой день) The word "holy" means "dedicated to God" or "for a religious purpose" (for example "the Holy Bible", "the holy month of Ramadan"). Today, of course, many holidays have no connection with religion, but the origin of the word was religious. Nowadays most holidays have lost their religious significance and are simply days on which people relax, eat, drink and make merry.
**These holidays were established by Act of Parliament in 1871 and now, as two centuries ago, banks do not work. That's why these holidays are called Bank Holidays.
*** Bank Holidays: Christmas; Boxing Day; New Year’s Day. Also: Good Friday; Easter Monday; May Day; Spring bank holiday; Summer bank holiday.
**** National holidays: New Year’s Day; Birthday of Martin Luther King; President's Day; Memorial Day; Independence Day; ; Labor Day; Columbus Day; Veterans Day; Thanksgiving Day; Christmas.
*****Patron saints’ days are not celebrated as “bank holidays”. They are St. David’s Day (March 1st) in Wales, St. George’s Day (April 23rd) in England and St. Andrew’s Day (November 30th) in Scotland. Only Ireland has a holiday on St. Patrick’s Day (March 17th).
Holidays’ Calendar
New Year’s Day,celebrated onthe 1st of January
Martin Luther King`s Day, celebratedthe third Monday of January, USA
Groundhog Day,February 2, USA/Canada
St. Valentine's Day, February 14
President's Day - День Президента, the third Monday of February, USA
St. Patrick’s Day, March 17
All Fool's Day, April 1
Good Friday - Великая пятница, пятница на Страстной неделе, UK
Easter Sunday, Gregorian calendar dates, USA/ UK
Easter Monday, UK
May Day, the first Monday of May,UK
Mothering Sunday , March, UK / Mother's Day, thesecond Sunday of May, USA
Armed Forces Day, the third Saturday of May, USA
Memorial Day - День памяти, the last Monday of May, USA
Spring Bank Holiday, the last Monday of May, UK
Queen's Official Birthday - День рождения английского монарха, the second Saturday of June, UK
Flag Day, celebratedJune 14, USA
Father's Day,the third Sunday of June, UK / USA
Independence Day, celebrated July 4, USA
Late Summer Bank Holiday, the last Monday of August or the first Monday of September, UK
Labor Day, the first Monday of September, USA
Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, September 17, USA
Columbus Day, the second Monday of October, USA
Halloween,“holy evening”, October 31
Election Day, the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, USA
Guy Fawkes Day, November 5, UK
Veteran`s Day,USA/ Remembrance Day,UK,November 11
Thanksgiving Day - День благодарения, the fourth Thursday of November, USA
Christmas Day, December 25
Boxing Day, December 26, UK
Exercise 1. Read the legends and guess the holiday.
· Once upon a time there was a big forest through which many travelers went to get to the town on the other side. The forest was so big and dark that the travelers often got lost. They tried to find their way and finally came to a pretty little cottage where a witch tricked the poor travelers by placing a magic spell on them. One day a poor little girl got lost in the forest. It grew very dark and the girl was frightened. She tried many times to light the candle but couldn't. Then the poor girl walked under a big nut-tree but the witch turned the nut over the little girl's head into a pumpkin. The girl felt around in the dark and found out a pumpkin. She hollowed it and put the candle into the pumpkin, and then put it on her head. After a while she came to the witch's cottage. On seeing a horrible two-headed monster the witch fell down on the stone floor and soon died. The magic spell was lifted and the travelers were saved.
· This tradition comes from old times when King James I was on the throne. He was a Protestant that is why Roman Catholics did not like him because of the religious differences. In 1605 Roman Catholics made a plan to blow up the Houses of Parliament. They placed barrels with gunpowder under the House of Lords. The man called Guy Fawkes was one of those people. Nevertheless, they did not have a chance to blow up the Parliament because the King discovered their plan, his soldiers found Guy Fawkes and executed him. This happened on November 5th.
Exercise 2. Guess the holiday:
(April Fool’s Day, Independence Day, Easter, Thanksgiving Day, Mother’s Day, New Year's Day, Halloween, St. Valentine Day)
1) It is a public American Holiday, which is dedicated to the birth of the state.
2) The festival in honour of all saints, now celebrated as a masquerade with costumes of different wicked characters such as witches, skeletons, ghosts.
3) For this holiday people buy greeting cards and flowers and give presents to women.
4) In the autumn of 1621, the Pilgrim Fathers celebrated their first harvest festival in America. Since that time it has been celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November every year.
5) This holiday is marked in honour of the resurrection of Jesus.
6) A celebration where the people show their affection to each other.
7) All the people have a lot of fun, they play jokes on each other. This is the day of national good humour.
8) It is not so popular in England as in our country, but it is rather popular in Scotland. On that day people usually visit their friends and there is a lot of dancing and eating. In Scotland people bring a piece of coal for good luck .
Exercise 3. Read, translate and discuss:
Vivien`s Holidays
Our family is not really that traditional. We don’t often go to church, only for weddings and funerals. We used to try to go to midnight mass on Christmas Eve, but when it got around to midnight on Christmas Eve, everyone was usually too drunk or had eaten too much or was too tired to walk a mile up to the church. So we went a couple of times, but we didn’t usually manage it. I remember going once, after a party, when my cousin Sarah had hiccups through the whole service, which was quite embarrassing. At this time of the year, I would normally be at home but, unfortunately, because of problems at work, this year I couldn’t go home, which I’m quite sad about really.
I went to stay with a Hungarian family for Christmas, with my flatmate and her family, which was really nice, and they let me see a different side to it. We had a little party on Christmas Eve and ate fried fish. We didn’t have fish soup because no- one in that family likes it particularly. We had a toast, and stood around and wished each other a Happy Christmas and chinked our glasses together. Then we gave presents and we put chocolates on the Christmas tree. They had two kinds of Christmas cake. One was a kind of poppy seed cake, the other much lighter, with walnuts and honey in a kind of twisted pastry. I can’t remember what it was called, but anyway it was very nice.
Christmas at my parent’s house was quite a big event, I mean for the children especially, and I remember when I was very small it was so exciting. We would wake up at 6 o’clock or earlier on Christmas morning, and immediately look at the bottom of the bed, where there would be a pillow case, not a stocking (which was good because you can get more presents into a pillow case) at the bottom of the bed, which supposedly Father Christmas had brought. It was full of little presents and fruit and nuts and all kinds of little things. Mine was always very exciting, I think my mum had very original ideas. I don’t remember when we stopped getting them, I suppose I was about fifteen or something, but in the years up until then we used to get them, in some form. However, towards the end they got smaller and smaller, so that in the end it was just a sock, maybe with an orange and a walnut in it.
As I got older, the big parties used to be on Christmas Eve, on the 24th, when all my cousins would come around - actually, four cousins, a boy and three girls - and maybe some of their respective boyfriends and girlfriends, and my two brothers with their girlfriends. It would start at maybe 8 o’clock in the evening, and we’d make a big punch, which consisted of red wine, vodka, orange juice and fruit, and put it in the hall so people could dip in and have a drink if they wanted to. We’d also have a cold buffet with crisps, chicken, sausages and quiche, so it wasn’t a sit-down meal but just snacks really. When everyone had had enough punch to drink, we started playing games, just silly party games that people play in England. For example, we used to play pass the orange, where you have two teams, and you all stand in a line and have to pass the orange under your chin to the next person, who would take it under their chin. It sounds really boring, but for some reason it gets really funny, ‘cause it’s quite difficult, as the orange tends to travel down your chest. Then we’d also play charades, where again you have two teams and you think of a film, a book, a play or a TV programme, and you give the title to the other team who then have to act it. It’s quite simple but also quite difficult, as there are lots of different signs you can use, but you mustn’t speak. That would go on all evening.
After that, there’s Christmas Day, the 25th, which is supposed to be the big day, the big event. While the turkey was cooking in the morning, everyone would open their presents, and then usually hang around in the kitchen and annoy my mum who’d be trying to cook. We would have a turkey with bacon on the top, which was really nice, and sausages, stuffing - two kinds of stuffing, chestnut stuffing and a kind of sage and onion stuffing - roast potatoes, sprouts, gravy, and bread sauce, which my cousin really liked. Afterwards, we’d have Christmas pudding, which is an incredibly rich, very sweet, very heavy pudding made from all kinds of dried fruit, like raisins and sultanas, with a lot of alcohol in it. You pour brandy ever the top and set fire to it, so it comes into the room alight, on fire, and then you eat it with brandy butter, which is made of butter, sugar and brandy, I think, all mixed up. We also had mince pies, which are small dried fruit-filled pies. So it’s an incredibly heavy meal. Everyone eats that for about an hour, and then we have to watch the Queen’s speech, which I think is at two o’clock, and a kind of tradition. My father insists that we all have to sit down and watch the Queen as she speaks for five or ten minutes about the year that’s gone by, and then, usually, everyone just carries on watching television all afternoon.
The Christmas weather in England is so uninspiring, either rainy or cold, so after such a huge meal people just sit down, flop in front of the television and watch old films until evening. When evening comes, we have tea. We have a cup of tea and some Christmas cake - another very rich, heavy cake which my aunty Patty always makes, with sultanas, raisins, nuts, cherries and all kinds of dried fruit in it. After that, nobody usually wants to eat anything. People are usually just too exhausted or bloated to do anything other than maybe open a few more presents, if there are any left, or play with the children, to keep them entertained until it’s time for them to go to bed.
For a long time, I haven’t spent New Year with my parents, I’ve usually spent it in London with friends or for the last couple of years, I’ve spent it in Hungary. It was never a big tradition in our family. Because we didn’t live near a town, or even a village, we didn’t go out, so we would normally just watch television, maybe drink some champagne at midnight and then go to bed.
Find out whether the following statements are true or false:
1. Vivien’s family goes to church very often, especially on Christmas.
2. Vivien wasn’t able to go to England for Christmas and she was sad about it.
3. They ate fish soup at Hungarian Christmas party.
4. When she was a child, Vivien got her Christmas presents in a stocking at the bottom of the bed.
5. They never play party games at Christmas.
6. When you play charades, you mustn’t speak and use signs to show the title of the film.
7. They used to eat turkey on the 25th of December.
8. Vivien’s mother usually insists on watching Queen’s speech.
9. Everyone in England is sitting in front of television at Christmas because the weather is bad.
10. Vivien’s family has a tradition to celebrate New Year.
Exercise 4. Say when the following festivals are celebrated in the US:.
| New Year’s Day St. Valentine's Day Mother's Day Independence Day Labor Day Columbus Day Halloween Election Day Thanksgiving Day Christmas Day | is marked is celebrated is observed is held | December 25; the fourth Thursday of November; thesecond Sunday of May; October 31; the first Monday of September; July 4; thesecond Sunday of May; February 14; the 1st of January; the Tuesday after the first Monday of November |
Exercise 5. Fill in the words: parades, constitution, observed, Independence, states, main, guns
Independence Day
In the USA ___ there is no provision for national holidays. Each state has the right to decide which holiday to observe. Many ___ have holidays of their own, but there are also major holidays ___ in nearly all the USA.
The ___ holiday in the USA is Independence Day celebrated on the 4th of July. On that day in 1776 the Declaration of ___ was adopted. It is a patriotic holiday celebrated with firing of ___ , fireworks, ___ and open-air meetings.
Provision – положение, условие
Major - главный
Exercise 6. Complete the sentences with the words listed and translate the sentences:
| celebrations -costumes -decorated -fireworks national anthem- national flag- ornament- parade present - speeches -symbol –tradition |
1. The children were dressed in clown _______________.
2. Several people made _______________ at the wedding.
3. The shiny star was the most beautiful _______________ on the Christmas tree.
4. I have always wanted to see the Rio Carnival _______________ live.
5. When it gets dark we'll let off the _______________.
6. I think it’s sad that nowadays people don’t sing the _______________ along with the music.
7. I'm looking forward to many more birthday _______________ with her.
8. By _______________, children play tricks on 1 April.
9. The Americans call their _______________ the Stars and Stripes.
10. They gave me theatre tickets as a _______________.
11. They _______________ the room with flowers and balloons.
12. To them the monarchy is a special _______________ of nationhood.
Exercise 7. Classify the Russian holidays (official public holidays, not public holidays, religious holidays, family holidays) and answer the questions given below:
Russian Holidays
New Year, the 1st of January
Orthodox Christmas, the 7th of January
Old New Year, the 14th of January
Defenders of the Motherland Day, the 23d of February
International Women’s Day, the 8th of March
Orthodox Easter Sunday, unfixed date
The Day of Spring and Labor, the 1st of May
Victory Day, the 9th of May
International Children’s Day, the 1st of June
Russia Day, the 12th of June
Day of the Russian Federation State Flag, the 22d of August
The Day of Knowledge, the 1st of September
People's Unity Day, the 4th of November
Day of Accord and Reconciliation (День Согласия и Примирения), the 7th of November
Constitution Day, the 12th of December
Other holidays:
Tatiana Day (also called Students day); Cosmonautics Day; Radio Day; City Day; Mother`s Day; Shrovetide (Pancake Week) - Maslenitsa (a week before the Great Lent); Ivan Kupala Day; Troitsa; Yuletide (12 дней Рождества называются Рождественскими святками); birthday; wedding day; anniversary; anniversary celebration; housewarming party; etc.
1. Can religious holiday be national one?
2. What is the greatest holiday in our country?
3. What is more important for you in a holiday: a day-off or a holiday?
4. What local celebrations do we have?
5. Do you like to get presents? What presents do you like to get?
6. What present do you like to give?
Exercise 8. Read the following text and ask 5 questions:
Holidays in Russia
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 champagne and listen to the Kremlin chimes beating 12 o'clock.
There are lots of New Year traditions in Russia. In every home there is a New Year tree glittering with colored lights and decorations. Children always wait for Father Frost to come and give them a present. Many people consider New Year's Day to be a family holiday. But the young prefer to have New Year parties of their own.
A renewed holiday in our country is Christmas. It is celebrated on the 7th of January. It's a religious holiday and a lot of people go to church services on that day.
On the 8th of March we celebrate Women's Day when men are supposed to do everything about the house, cook all the meals and give women flowers.
The greatest national holiday in our country is Victory Day. On the 9th of May, 1945, our army completely defeated the German fascists and the Great Patriotic War ended. We'll never forget our grandfathers and grandmothers who died to defend our Motherland. We honour their memory with a minute of silence and put flowers on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Independence Day is a new holiday in our country. On the 12th of June, 1992, the first President of Russia was elected.
We also celebrate Day of the Defender of Motherland on the 23d of February, Easter, Day of Knowledge and lots of professional holidays which are not public holidays and banks, offices and schools do not close.
Exercise 9. What holidays are celebrated both in Russia and the USA/Great Britain? (Choose one holiday. Find the information in the Internet. Fill in the facts about this holiday in Russia, Great Britain and in the USA. Tell about it.)
For example:
| England | USA | Russia |
| Shrovetide | Shrovetide | Maslenitsa |
| When? | When? | about 7 weeks before Orthodox Easter |
| One day | One day | One week |
| Pancake Eating Contest | Interesting events? | Each day in Pancake Week has a different name, with different traditions to celebrate! Day 1 - Monday - "A Meeting" Day 2 - Tuesday - "Game Day" Day 3 - Wednesday - "Sweet Day" Day 4 - Thursday - "Playing Thursday" Day 5 - Friday - "Mother-in-law's Evening" Day 6 - Saturday - "Daughter-in-law's Day" Day 7 - Sunday - "Forgiving Sunday",the man of straw should be burned and this custom means that winter has come to the end. People ask for forgiveness from each other, and everyone tries to make amends and forgive all old quarrels. In this way, people meet spring with a clear conscience and an open heart. |
For example: Christmas
| Russia | Great Britain | USA | |
| Date Background Symbols Sounds Food Activities | the 7th of January traditional, religious a day of Christmas tree, baby Jesus, angel Kolyadkas, church bells dinner for the whole family -give and receive gifts -write and send postcards -go to the church and stay for a service -wear fancy costumes |
Exercise 10. Read the letter and write your own answer: