N. Kryazheva - The United States and the United Kingdom. Past and Present (pdf), страница 21

Organizedamateur cricket is played between club teams on cities, towns and villages. "Rugger" (rugby football) isplayed especially in summer. People visit horse races and dog races. The British have a mania forgambling. They can spend the whole day playing roulette or computer games.Great numbers of people, especially women of middle class and middle age spend much of their leisuretime working together for good causes, making clothes or food or collecting money for the benefit ofvarious types of people who are in need.

England is famous for its gardens, and most people likegardening.Dancing is very popular, and there are numerous public dance-halls. They are Isited mainly by youngunmarried people. Lately night-clubs have spread from jondon to other towns. They arrange dances andballs as social occasions for |ieir members. Everywhere there are plenty of pubs in which people playdarts, alk and drink usually while standing up. Snack bars and espresso coffee bars jave great successamong young people.IN THE ENDBritain has more living symbols of its past than any other country. It still has a Ipyal family and a smallnobility. Its capital, cities and countryside boast of many Indent buildings, castles, cathedrals and the richhouses.

Every year there are Bstorical ceremonies. These symbols are a true representation of the past.When looking at Britain today, it is important to remember the great benefits (rom the past. No othercountry has so long a history of political order, going back almost without interruption to the NormanConquest. Few other countries have fenjoyed such long periods of economic and social well-being. Thegovernment lays much about maintaining "traditional values", particularly law and order. But puture is fullof uncertainty.These doubts resulted from disappointment with lost economic and political bower. People are dividedconcerning the nation future possibilities.

Some of them lire optimistic and some of them are verypessimistic. They are worried by the weakening of the welfare state, particularly in the educational andhealth services.The questions are almost endless, and the answers are neither obvious nor easy.SUPPLEMENTARY READINGUS INFLUENCE ON THE WAY WE SPEAK IS A HOT 'POTAYTO'By A J McllroyThe generations are at war over a surge in "Americanisms" entering our every day use of words,according to a survey for the authoritative Longman pronunciation dictionary.Older people loyal to traditional pronunciation are complaining that the Queen's English is beingabused by the young, who prefer "skedule" to schedule the survey says.The research, the most comprehensive examination to date of the way we pronounce words finds thatthe young are giving in to the11 all-pervasive" influence of American English already marked by thedifferent pronunciation of "tomato" at home and "tomayto" across the Atlantic.Of 2,000 people in England, Wales and Scotland questioned on their pronunciation preferences, twothirds of those aged under 26 referred to schedule as "skedule".

This was in sharp contrast to the 95 percent over 65 years old who insisted on using "schedule" and disapproved of the American influence.John Wells, professor of phonetics at University College London, who is the dictionary's author, saidyesterday that the survey, based on 100 words, had shown a growing trend among the young forAmericanism.

Those questioned used "veycation", placed the emphasis on PRIN in "princess"and turned"garage" into "guRARGE", stressing the final syllable.Half of the young pronounced "ogle" as "oggle", while nearly all those over 65 used the traditional"oagle".Prof. Wells, the world's leading authority on English pronunciation, said there other examples of theolder generation's impatience with what was seen to be youthful lack of respect for the Queen's English."They are shocked at those under 26 preferring "misCHIEVous" to traditional "Mischievous" and whothink that a shopping mall should be pronounced "mawl" and not after "the Ma//" leading to BuckinghamPalace, he said."The young in their turn laugh at the older ones who don't know how to pronounce gigabyte [starts likegiggle]".He said his research had shown a tendency among young southerners to adopt a northern lilt inpronouncing some words.

For example, chance was pronounced "chans' with a flattened vowel by 60 percent of them while 80 per cent of the over 65s used "chance".The new edition of Longman pronunciation dictionary is due to appear in November and will contains80,000 words.THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH AND THE PRESIDENT'S ENGLISHThe American vocabulary during the 19th century began to be exported abroad, and by the 20thcentury, with its economic, political and technological prominence in the world, America and its languagebecame one of the greatestforces for change and the expansion of English, American infiltration of the British Bord stock beganbefore talking films, radio and television were ever thought of, lalthough they have certainly hastened theprocess.In recent years many Americanisms have been introduced into British usage: "cafeteria, cocktail,egghead, electrocute, fan".

American "radio" has replaced British "wireless". The ubiquitous OK seems tooccur more frequently nowadays К England than in the land of its birth and may be found in quite formalsituations, Buch as on legal documents to indicate the correctness of details. These and BtherAmericanisms have slipped into British English in the most unobtrusive way, Ко that their American originis hardly regarded at all; since they are used by the English, they are "English", and that is all there is toit.We can cite as firmly established in Standard British English "disk jockey", Wnatural" (something verysuitable), "show business", "star" (popular performer) -Bill originally from the usage of the world ofentertainment, enormously importantin Modern America.

Most words and usages are frequently borrowed from Ameri-Ban English quiteunconsciously. Even when they are consciously borrowed, thefact that they are of transatlantic origin is soon forgotten. To recognize American Boinages sometimesmeans to get a taste of American history and character: mbolitionist, automobile, baby-sit, basketball,chewing gum, credit card, electric Bfta/'r, home-made, know-how and so on and so forth.Many of the new American words added to the English vocabulary are based Bn old processes, suchas compounding existing words, as in "boyfriend, book-mtore, brainstorm".

American English also tendsto coin and use more freely Bouns compounded from a verb and a preposition, such as "blowout,checkup,fallout, feedback", etc. New words and frequently created by shifting the function Ef an exiting word.Nouns are used as verbs: to park, to package, to program, tovacation; adjectives can become nouns: briefs, comics, reds.The convenient use of noun as verb in "to contract1, meaning "to see, call,meet, get in touch with", seems to have originated in America, though it might just pis well have done soin England, since there is nothing un-English about such a Bmctional charge. But this one word "contract"carries high symbolic importance В there will be no American language, for the simple reason that theQueen'sEnglish and the President grow together.OXFORDThere is an old saying: "Cambridge is always trying to be like Oxford, but it MWill never be".Oxford is the oldest, the most prestigious University of the Western civilization.There are currently 39 colleges that make up the University of Oxford.

Like in Cambridge, every collegehere is an independent institute of higher education, but put together they are referred to as the Universityof Oxford. It would be right to say that the whole city with all buildings, streets, shops is the universityitself.For almost 900 years the University of Oxford has been teaching both British : students and foreigners.The history of Oxford began in the early 12th century. Before that there was not any institute of highereducation in England and everybody who wanted to studv went to Europe, usually to France. When theEnglish king Henry II quarreled with the French king, he forbade all English people to study in Paris andthey started to gather in Oxford - a small town on the Thames, 88 km from London.Today the University has about 17,000 students.

Every college here is like a little world with its owndining halls, hostels, church, libraries, pubs, museums and bookshops and even its own jargon.For example, at Christ College the head is called a dean, but at Lincoln Col-lege he is a rector, at BalliolCollege they call him a master. At most colleges the teachers are called "fellows", but for some unknownreason they are"students" at Christ College, and elsewhere students are called students, but at MertonCol-lege they are"postmasters".Oxford is a mixture a traditions and eccentricity.All colleges are open to visitors during summer months, if you enter the central building and take a lookaround, you will see gorgeous architecture, elegant furniture and you will understand why here in Britainwe say: "Oxford is very aristocratic and rich".Oxford has the greatest concentration of historic buildings in the UK - 900 per one square kilometer.