N. Kryazheva - The United States and the United Kingdom. Past and Present (doc) (798446), страница 10
Текст из файла (страница 10)
Tasks:
1. Divide the group into 4 or 5 parts. Discuss American holidays and compare them with Russian ones.
2. Speak about prejudices (предрассудках) when celebrating holidays.
3. Speak about superstitions (приметах) when celebrating holidays.
4. Discuss with your group-mates:
a. What holidays do you consider to be the most dear to the American people in this country?
b. What do the people of the US and Russia have in common while celebrating the New Year's Day ?
IN THE END
The general picture given above is, of course, a generalization. A home owner in Arizona might not have any grass, but rather a gravel "lawn" and a rock garden. Other people don't have to change their term windows, because their climate is mild, or because the entire house is air-conditioned. When it gets to be 90 degrees (Fahrenheit) and 90 per cent humidity week after week, you wouldn't want to live there without it. Some children come to cosy homes or apartments. Others learn
their lessons at high cost in the streets. The pleasures and worries of a construc-ton worker in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, or a wheat farmer in Kansas are often different from those of a lawyer in Connecticut, a divorced mother of three in Chicago, or a medical doctor in Southern California.
Some Americans detest all clubs and organized activities. Some take care about their neighbors or the neighborhood. Some Americans go in for kidding and subtle humor. Some haven't been to a church since they were married, and won't again until they die. Some wouldn't marry, as this can lead to children. Some teen-agers can't find any jobs, part-time or full-time, and some children from wealthier families wouldn't try. Some Americans seem content to spend their days at everyday jobs and their week-ends fishing. Others feel trapped and bitter, because the chance they needed never came. Most Americans look forward to the Christmas season, or getting together with the family at Thanksgiving, or even remember Halloween as children and the excitement of "trick or treating." Others are afraid of holidays as the loneliest times of the year. And many Americans do not care much for public displays of patriotism: flag-waving and parades leave them cold.
The generalization refers to the variety of America and Americans. It's more or less middle-class life, in American terms, with everyday concerns.
The extremes frequently seen in films and on television have little in common with the lives of the vast majority of people, or what average Americans dream about. They look forward to the summer vacation, but in the meantime, the dog is sick and the furnace needs to be fixed.
Words and Phrases:
gravel - гравий subtle humor - тонкий юмор
lawn - газон the loneliest times - одиночество
term window - сезонная рама to detest - ненавидеть
to seem content - казаться довольным to refer to - относиться
to feel trapped - чувствовать себя в ловушке
variety - разнообразие
to go in for kidding - заниматься подшучиванием
to feel bitter - чувствовать себя разочарованным
Tasks:
1. Study the text.
2. Agree or disagree with the following statements.
a. Many men, many minds;
b. Rome was not built in a day;
с Experience is the mother of wisdom; d. You never know what you can till you try; e- Practice is the best master.
3. Try to recollect all you know about the USA.
4- Discuss the problems of life in the United States of America.
5. Express your likes and dislikes as to the customs and traditions in the US.
PART II
GREAT BRITAIN
IT IS INTERESTING TO KNOW ABOUT THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
ENGLISH is losing its political and cultural associations and becoming the prop, erty of all cultures. Over 70 countries in the world use English as the official or semi-official language and in 20 more English occupies an important position. It j$ the main foreign language taught within most school systems. Worldwide, many newspapers are published in English and it is the language of much radio and tele-vision broadcasting. English is the language of international businness, the main language of airports, air traffic control and international shipping. It is the language of science, technology and medicine, and it is estimated that two-thirds of all scientific papers are first published in English. It is the language of diplomacy and sport; it is one of the working language of the United Nations and the language used by the International Olympic Committee. International pop culture and advertizing are also dominated by English. 70 % of the world's mail is written in English, and 80 % of all information in electronic retrieval systems is stored in English.
But the English language began to spread throughout the world only in the 17th century, when the first English settlements arose in North America. The rapid growth of population in the United States in the following years increased the number of English-speakers greatly. In the course of massive migration of people in the 19th and 20th centuries English became a mother tongue or one of the officical languages in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the South Africa Re-pablic that finally established English as a world language.
Nowadays English is the most wide-spread language geographically, second one only to Chinese in the number of people who speak it (there are 400 million speakers of English against 700 million Chinese speakers; 200 million speak Russian and 100 million German as a native language).
Many people believe that the English language is rather an easy one to learn because it doesn't have such a difficult grammar as modern Russian, German or Greek. But it is true only by half. One shouldn't forget the problems of English spelling, pronunciation and prepositions. Learning any foreign language is not an easy thing. If you want to master a foreign language, you must be ready to make efforts and be patient.
Words and Phrases:
settlement - поселение to establish - упрочить, устанавливать
to spread - распространяться wide-spread- широко распространенный
the number of - число second to - быть вторым после
in the course - в процессе to make effort - прилагать усилия
to increase - увеличивать to master a language- овладевать языков
increase -увеличение patient -терпеливый
one shouldn't forget - нельзя забывать rather - слишком
BRITISH AND AMERICAN ENGLISH
"England and America are the two countries separated by the same language."
G. B. Shaw
These two varieties of the English language are very similar to each other. Many people believe that these are the same languages with only a few minor differences in grammar, spelling and vocabulary. Differences in pronunciation are sometimes very noticeable, but most American and British speakers can understand each other without much difficulty.
These differences emerged during the isolation of America from Great Britain in the 18th century. The United States had long been the "melting pot" of the world. People of many nationalities came to America and they brought their native traditions and languages with them. Those people adopted the English language and the very flexible English language took a lot of innovations from them. Differences between English and American English are rapidly disappearing nowadays. Modern British English is strongly influenced by American English. A lot of Americanisms from the language of advertizing, journalism, technology, rock music and show business have come into everyday speech of British people.
There are too many common words which are spelled differently in England and the US, for example:
American I Word Translation | British
thru_ через__ through_
caliber_ калибр_ calibre__
center__ центр__ centre_
fiber__ волокно__ fibre_
theater__ театр_ theatre_
check_ чек__ cheque_
program__ программа__ programme
organization организация__ organisation
honor__ честь__ honour_
behavior__ поведение__ behaviour_
labor__ труд_ labour_
traveler_ путешественник traveller_
But American English is not British, they say. Compare the list of some other words:
_In America Word Translation _In England_
_railroad__ железная дорога__ railway_
conductor проводник ж.д.__ railway guard
ticket window билетная жд. касса booking office
gas__ бензин, газолин__ petrol_
fall__ осень__ autumn_
side-walk__ тротуар__ pavement_
subway__ метрополитен__ underground
store__ магазин__ shop_
truck грузовик lorry
elevator лифт lift
Such words as teen-ager, superpower, know-how, video, body building, shaping and a great deal of others are well-known all over the world. There are a lot of such words in Britain and American English. It is highly advisable for the people who learn English to know both forms of those words which are in most common usage.
Words and Phrases:
similar - похожий, подобный teen-ager - подросток
the same - одинаковый, похожий noticeable - заметный
to believe - верить, полагать to advise - советовать
to emerge - возникать, появляться advice - совет
"melting pot" - зд.: смеситель advisable - рекомендуемый
flexible - гибкий a great deal of - множество
to adopt - принимать, усваивать a lot of - много
![](https://s.studizba.com/z.php?f=/templates/si/i/noavatar.png&w=100&h=100&t=1"){kind=avatar}
