Across the continents and countries

Part 1. Cultures and national stereotypes

I. Прочитайте новые слова и их перевод:

share – делить; разделять area – район; область regard – считать, расценивать scientifically-minded – с научным складом ума industrious - трудолюбивый solid – надежный list – вносить в список, составлять список tough – сильный, выносливый suspicious - недоверчивый

reserved - сдержанный courteous – вежливый, учтивый delicate - утонченный open-hearted – чистосердечный, открытый majority - большинство influence - влиять belonging – принадлежность trait - черта feature – черта

1. Выберите 3 любых слова. Пользуясь словарями, найдите к ним как можно больше однокоренных слов. Прочитайте эти слова и их перевод группе. Пример: majority – большинство; major – главный, значительный; majors – главные компании, монополии.

Прочитайте текст и объясните, что такое национальный характер.

Cultures and national stereotypes

A nation is a group of people who share common history and usually a language and usually, but not always, live in the same area. Culture can be described as our everyday life: how we communicate, what makes us happy and sad. It also includes our language, religion, traditions, behavior, way of life – in other words, what we do each day. People that belong to various nations may differ and they always differ from one another.

For example, the Germans are regarded as scientifically-minded and industrious, they're always considered solid, intelligent and mathematical. There is a big amount of examples we can list about national character of different people. Proving the difference of the national stereotypes I want to compare Russian and English nations. There are a lot of features that vary. The Russians are industrious, tough, brave, progressive and suspicious. They are also considered to be over - patriotic (because of this reason they're good soldiers), we are willing to respect opinion of other people.

Speaking about Englishmen I may note that they're reserved, tradition-loving, courteous, honest etc. To my mind, they have a specific sense of humor. They say that they can't understand our jokes and anecdotes not only because of the different meanings of the words, but because their humor is more delicate. Looking at these features of the Russians and the Englishmen it is not hard to mark out the differences. The Englishmen are reserved, but the Russians are open-hearted and communicative. The Englishmen are tradition-loving and the Russians, to my mind, don't keep their traditions in such a degree. There is a great majority of factors that influence the nations stereotype and its people's character. People that live in the southern countries have less problems than those who live in the North and because of this they're more cheerful and artistic. The history also has a great influence on the national character.

The National Character exists. It is not a myth, it's a reality. But the National Character doesn't describe the character of every person, it describes the character of people of nation in general. Every person has its own character, but according to the person's belonging to some nation many traits of character are similar and these features may be explained as the national character.

3. a) Запишите все национальности из текста. Найдите и запишите прилагательные, которые описывают стереотипы в отношении этих национальностей. Ответьте на вопрос: What is your opinion, does national character exist?

b) Напишите 3 черты вашего характера (положительные). Сравните их со стереотипными чертами характера русских из текста/стереотипными чертами характера вашей национальности. Ответьте на вопросы: Are there any differences? How do you think, why? Can we judge people of the other nation, thinking only about stereotypes? Why? Используйте эти фразы: In my opinion/view…; To my mind…; It seems to me that…; I think that…

Part 2. Russia

I. Прочитайте новые слова и их перевод:

I. Equal – быть равным Border on – граничить с Highland - нагорье Desert – пустыня Motherland - родина Sweet – пресный (о воде) Include – включать в себя Due to – благодаря, вследствие Mild – умеренный (о климате) Ferrous metals – черные металлы Non-ferrous metals – цветные металлы Aerospace – аэрокосмическая промышленность Aircraft – авиационный Chemical - химический Coal-mining – угольная промышленность II. Comprise – включать в себя Legislative – законодательной Executive - исполнительный Branch – зд. ветвь власти, власть Judicial - судебный Chamber – палата (учреждение)

Council – совет (орган государственной власти) To be headed – быть возглавляемым To be appointed – быть назначенным To be approved – быть одобренным, утвержденным Court - суд Supreme Court – верховный суд Tricolor - трехцветный Bicephalous - двуглавый Eagle - орел Census – перепись Influential - влиятельный Irrespective – безотносительный, независимый Raw material - сырье Immense - огромный Provide – снабжать, обеспечивать Cargo - груз Backwards – в обратном направлении

1. Найдите и выпишите все слова, связанные со следующими темами: a)climate b) industry c) government

2. Прочитайте текст и напишите его краткое изложение (5-6 предложений, иллюстрирующих основные идеи текста)

Russia

I.

The official name of our country is the Russian Federation. It is the largest country in the world. No other country equals it in size. Our country is situated both in Europe and Asia. Its total area is over 17 million square kilometers.

Our land is washed by 12 seas, most of which are the seas of the Arctic, the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. In the south and in the west our country borders on 14 states. It also has sea borders with the USA and Japan.

The country has a great variety of flora and fauna. There are numerous forests, endless plains and steppes, taiga and tundra, highlands and deserts on the Russian territory. The country's highest mountains are the Caucasus, the Altai and the Urals.

In the Russian Federation there are over 2 million rivers. The longest of them are the Volga, the Lena, the Yenisei, the Ob, the Amur and some others. Our Motherland is also rich in lakes (over 200 000 lakes), with the deepest, oldest and unique lake of sweet (fresh) water in the world, the Baikal, included.

On the Russian territory there are 11 time zones. Due to the vast territory, the climate conditions are rather different: from arctic and mild to continental and subtropical.

Russia is one of the richest in the natural resources countries in the world: oil, gas, coal, different ores, ferrous and non-ferrous metals and other minerals. It is also one of the highly developed agro-industrial powers in the world. The main industrial branches comprise aerospace, aircraft, atomic, machine building, ship building, automobile, chemical, coal-mining, metallurgical, electrical-engineering, textile, food and some others.

II.

The Russian Federation is a constitutional state headed by the President. It comprises over 80 subjects: two cities of the federal status (Moscow and St. Petersburg), several autonomous republics, provinces (krais), regions (oblasts) and some autonomous districts (okrugs), each having equal rights.

The state powers are divided among the legislative, executive and judicial branches which are independent of one another.

The legislative power belongs to the Russian Parliament, called the Federal Assembly, consisting of two Chambers: the Council of the Federation (the Upper Chamber) and the State Duma (the Lower Chamber). Each Chamber is headed by the Speaker.

The executive power belongs to the President and our country Government (the Cabinet of Ministers) headed by the Prime Minister. The country Prime Minister is appointed by the President and approved by the State Duma.

The judicial power belongs to the system of courts: the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court, as well as federal and regional courts.

The state language of the Russian Federation is Russian. The national symbols of our country are the white-blue-red Flag (Tricolour) and the Golden Two-Headed (or Bicephalous) Eagle.

Russia is a multinational state. It is a unique country hosting a great variety (over 150) of nationalities, nations, ethnic groups, cultures and epochs. It ranks sixth in the world in population after China, India, the USA, Indonesia and Brazil. According to the last census, our country population is about 150 million. Our country has a multiparty system. The most influential and largest political parties are the United Russia, the Liberal Democratic, the Communist and some others.

The foreign policy of the Russian Federation is that of international cooperation, peace and friendship with all the nations of the Globe, irrespective of their political and social systems.

The role of the Russian Federation in the today's world is great and extremely significant. Being the major source of raw materials for many countries of the Globe, Russia is also an important mechanism of developing these countries' economies.

In addition, due to its immense territory, our unique country is a bridge connecting Europe and Asia. It is able to provide more than 7% of the world's transport corridor to transit various cargoes from Europe to Asia and backwards.