II. Read the text, search for information and complete the table below.
Four nations
The patron saint of England is St. George who was a soldier of Roman Empire in the 6th century AD and later became a Christian martyr. Saint George is also the patron saint of Aragon, Catalonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal, and Russia, as well as the cities of Beirut, Genoa, Ljubljana, Barcelona, Moscow and others. The day of St. George in England is April 23rd.
Saint George became the patron saint of England in the thirteenth century with the return of the crusades, and the legend of Saint George slaying a dragon dates from the twelfth century. The Flag of England is the St George's Cross. The red cross on a white field appeared as an emblem of England during the Middle Ages and the Crusades and is one of the earliest emblems representing England. It achieved status as the national flag of England during the sixteenth century.
The floral symbol of England is Tudor rose that takes its name and origins from the Tudor dynasty.
In Scotland the day of St. Andrew is celebrated on the 30th of November. St. Andrew was a disciple of John Baptist and became the patron saint of Scotland in the 10th century when his relics were brought from Constantinople. In Russia St. Andrew is the patron saint of the fleet. We use the same flag of St. Andrew as in Scotland (white cross on the blue field) though with the inverted colours.
The national floral symbol of Scotland is the thistle. They say that Vikings wanted to conquer Scotland and were ready to attack at night. Not to make noise they went barefooted and stepped on thistles. Their cries woke up the defenders of the Scottish castle and so the country was saved.
The patron saint of Wales is St. David. He was a Celtic monk, archbishop of Wales who helped to spread Christianity among the pagan Celtic tribes. Dewi was born in the southwest of Wales in the city which is now called St. Dawid. He was educated in a monastery and travelled a lot on religious missions and established churches. Once he spoke to a congregation and there were so many people that one person said: “We won`t be able to see or hear him”. The ground rose and David could be seen by anyone. St. David was a vegetarian; his usual food was leek that comes from the same family as daffodil — the symbol of Wales. St. David lived over 100 years and died on the 1st of March AD 589. He is buried near the cathedral of St. David.
The Flag of Wales consists of a red dragon on a green and white field. Green and white are the colours of the leek, and the red dragon has been associated with Wales for centuries.
On the 17th of March the Irish people celebrate St. Patrick day. The patron saint of Ireland was born AD 385. At 16 he considered himself pagan. He was sold into slavery during which “the Lord opened his unbelieving eyes”. He returned to Ireland filled with faith. In his sermons he used shamrock to explain the idea of Trinity. Saint Patrick`s Cross is a red X-shaped cross on a white field.
The Union Flag, popularly known as the Union Jack is used as the flag of the United Kingdom and represents a combination of the flags of England and Scotland with the Saint Patrick`s Cross to represent Ireland.
| Nation | England | Scotland | Wales | Northern Ireland |
| Floral symbol | ||||
| National saints | ||||
| Feast (day) | ||||
| Flag | ||||
| Language | ||||
| Capital |
III. Fill in the blanks with prepositions:on, of, to, in, with
Red Nose Day
Every two years (1)_____the 14 (2)____March people (3)_______Britain have the funniest holiday (4)______the aim (5)_______collect money for charity. The symbol (6)______the day is the red clown nose. The design (7)______the nose has been changed each year, beginning (8)______a plain one, which later grew arms, turned into a tomato and even changed colour.
Each nose costs one pound, and 70 pence go charities. One third (9)_______ the money raised goes (10)______the projects in Britain and two-thirds (11)_______the African countries.
Red Nose Day is organized by Comic Relief — a British charity organization which was founded (12)_______the UK (13)______1985 (14)______response (15)______famine (16)_______Ethiopia. The event is broadcasted (17)______BBC. Many celebrities take part (18)___the “Do Something Funny For Money” campaign.
(19)______2009, there were three noses available. Nose 1 had a big smile, Nose 2 had glasses (20)______, and Nose 3 had a shocked look. All (21)_______all, 57 million pound were collected (22)_____2009. This money will go (23)______teach children and (24)_____help people who suffered (25)______civil wars and conflicts (26)______Africa, (27)______help young people, older people, refugees and those who have health problems (28)______Britain.
TEST 7
I.True or false. Correct the false statements:
1. Sport helps people to be more organized and better disciplined in their daily activities.
2. Regular exercises give you more energy.
3. The national British sports are football, golf, cricket, table tennis, lawn tennis, snooker, steeplechase, racing, darts.
4. Rugby is played by teams of 17 men with an oval ball.
5. Golf, one of the most popular sports in Britain, originated in Ireland.
6. When Englishmen consider something unfair, they sometimes say: “That`s not cricket”.
7. Horse-racing is the chief spectator sport in American life next to football.
8. The Americans are attracted by such sports and activities as swimming, tennis, marathons, track and field, bowling, archery, skiing, skating, squash and badminton.
9. The four major American sports are cricket, baseball, football and basketball.
10. Triathlon includes swimming, boat racing and long-distance running.
II.Choose the correct variant:
1. The first holiday of the year in Russia is _________.
a) Christmas
b) New Year`s Day
c) Boxing Day
2. A renewed holiday in our country is _________.
a) Christmas
b) Easter
c) Mother`s Day
3. The first President of Russia was elected in __________.
a) 1991
b) 1992
c) 1993
4. Every year the people of _______ give the city of London a big Christmas tree.
a) German
b) Norway
c) Finland
5. Traditional Christmas songs are called_______.
a) carols
b) rhymes
c) refrain
6. The biggest festival of the year in Scotland is ________
a) Boxing Day
b) Hogmanay
c) Christmas
7. Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament and kill King James I in _______
a) 1705
b) 1605
c) 1505
8. The main holiday in the USA is __________.
a) Independence Day
b) Doomsday
c) Thanksgiving Day
9. The Declaration of Independence was adopted in ________.
a) 1774
b) 1775
c) 1776
10. Columbus Day is observed only by ________ of the 50 states.
a) 34
b) 33
c) 32
MODULE 8
(4 term)
EDUCATION IN RUSSIA
It is widely known that education helps to form the personality and prepares one for life. That is why all countries consider the system of education a very important part of national politics.
In Russia, everyone has the right to receive education guaranteed by the Constitution. But it is not only a right, it is a duty, too. Every boy and every girl in Russia must go to school, that is, they must get a full secondary education. This right is realized by the broad development of compulsory secondary education, vocational, specialized secondary and higher education and also by the development of a system of scholarships, grants, evening and correspondence courses.
In Russia there is nine-year compulsory education, but to enter a university one has to study two years more. School starts at the age of six for Russian children. But most of them have learned letters in kindergarten which is now part of primary school. Primary and secondary schools together comprise eleven years of study. Every school has a “core curriculum” of Russian (or a native language), Literature, Mathematics, Science, History, Biology, Music, Arts, Physical Education, Foreign Languages. There is also a number of specialized schools, where the pupils get deep knowledge of foreign languages, or Maths, or Physics. A variety of elective subjects are taught at lyceums and gymnasiums.
After finishing secondary school, lyceum or gymnasium one can go on to higher education. All applicants must take competitive examinations. Higher education institutions train undergraduate and graduate students in one or several specializations. The system of higher education, as well as secondary one, in Russia is going through a transitional period. The main objectives of the reform are: decentralization of the higher education system, development of autonomy in higher education institutions, expansion of academic freedoms for faculties and students, development of new financial mechanisms. All Russian schools until recently have been state-subsidized. Nowadays, education in Russia can be free and paid.
Questions:
1. Why do you think education is so important?
2. How long is compulsory education in Russia?
3. When do Russian children start to study?
4. What is a “core curriculum”? Is it necessary to expand it?
5. How can you enter a higher education institution in Russia?
6. What are the main problems in Russian universities now?
7. What famous Russian universities do you know?
Vocabulary (transcribe the words, learn them by heart):
academic – учебный, академический
applicant – кандидат
competitive – состязательный
compulsory – обязательный
correspondence course – заочное обучение
curriculum – учебный план
decentralization – децентрализация
duty – долг, обязательство
elective – элективный, курс по выбору
evening course – вечернее обучение
expansion – расширение, развитие, увеличение
faculty – факультет
free – бесплатный
graduate – выпускник
grant – грант
higher education – высшее образование
kindergarten – детский сад
national politics – национальная, государственная политика
objective – цель
paid – платный
personality – индивидуальность, личность
primary school – начальная школа
scholarship – стипендия
secondary education – среднее образование
specialized – специализированный
state-subsidized – на государственном обеспечение
to prepare for life – готовить к жизни
transitional period – переходный период
undergraduate – студент
vocational – профессиональный
Exercises
I. Compose your own sentences with the following words:
academic, applicant, competitive, compulsory, correspondence course, curriculum, elective, evening course, expansion, graduate, higher education, kindergarten, objective, personality, primary school, scholarship, secondary education, state-subsidized, transitional period, undergraduate, vocational.
II.Speaking