The Value of a Sense of Humour

There are troubles in everybody's life, and very often the small ones are more irritating than the big ones. But the person who can face his difficulties with a sense of humour does not allow them to press upon him.

When you are waiting for a bus, and bus after bus goes by full, you can either fidget and grumble about the inadequacy of public transport, or you can amuse yourself by watching the various expressions on the faces of the other people, and joking with your neighbours. If you do the first, the rest of your day will be ruined; if you have chosen the second, you will save yourself, for your nerves will not suffer from irritation.

Laughter is a very good tonic. There are many proverbs about the salutary effect of laughter, and its infectious nature. The cheerful people are, as a rule, the healthiest, if not always physically, at least mentally. They do not suffer from melancholia and depression and other miserable afflictions of the mind that makes their victims’ lives hardly worth living.

   b) Explain the meaning of the following sayings:

1) He is not laughed at that laughs at himself first.

2) To make a laughing-stock of somebody.

XVII. Define the main idea of the text and give its summary in English.

С чего начинаешь, впервые попав в чужую незнакомую страну? Спешишь познакомиться с уличной жизнью. Пытаешься разговориться со случайными встречными: с попутчиками в автобусе, с соседом на скамейке. Но вот первое открытие: к английской жизни, оказывается, подступиться очень трудно: вроде бы постоянно находишься среди англичан, а непосредственного контакта с ними почти не имеешь. Впечатление такое, словно на тебя надели скафандр. Прежде всего понимаешь, что с англичанами не только невозможно разго­варивать на улице, но и трудно прислушиваться к их разговорам со стороны. Дело не в том, что англичане немногословны, а в том, что они разговаривают каким-то особым голосом: приглушенным, почти усталым. Мы, по-видимому, так привыкли без нужды повышать голос, что перестали замечать это. Когда, привыкнув к полубезмолвию английской толпы, вновь попадаешь в свою страну, то человеческая речь режет ухо; люди кажутся излишне шумливыми.

Англичанин молчаливо шагает по своим делам. Никогда не увидишь, чтобы он обернулся, проводил кого-то взглядом. Считается, что улицы существуют только для того, чтобы без помех добраться из одного места в другое. Поэтому попытка вступить в разговор с незнакомым человеком на улице для англичанина неуместна и даже антиобщественна. Даже на людях англичанин сохраняет собственное одиночество. Так, если четыре англичанина входят в пустой вагон, они инстинктивно рассядутся по разным купе. И каждый новый пассажир непременно обойдет весь вагон, прежде чем решится подсесть к кому-либо из них.

(from “The oak’s roots” by V.Ovchinnikov)

XVIII. Read the poem and the dialogue and speak on the English character. Say, what reputation have the Russian, in your opinion.

The English

They dress in what they like; They are interested in sport; They partake in all activities; If they think they ought. They all succeed in doing. They work in five short days, Which leaves them the two longest ones To spend in different ways. Then some indulge in gardening, Or walking in the rain. And some delight in cricket, Or in riding in the plain.

In spite of what’s around him The average Englishman Does crosswords in the newspaper in pencil – if he can. Involved in any accident The English take a pride In being unemotional; They take things in their stride. In any circumstances – Whatever they may be – The English solve their problems With an English cup of tea.

 

Dialogue

- Every nation has a reputation of some kind. For example, everybody believes that the French are light-minded and the Germans are punctual.

- What kind of people are the English?

- They say that unlike the Americans, the English are cold, reserved and conservative.

- That isn’t always true.

- Of course not. But we are talking about the reputation they have.

XIX. Read the extracts about the late Princess of Wales, Diana Spencer. Write out the words that describe her personality.

- Her grace, her ease with ordinary people and her indefi­nable magic lit up the lives of all who met her. Diana impressed the whole world.

- Always concerned, always caring, she became increasingly committed to the campaign against landmines.

- Even when experiencing her own grief, she didn’t hesitate to try and bring comfort and compassion to others. She used her unique combination of compassion and charisma in the service of others. The list of charities Diana supported was wide-ranging. By last year she was associated with over 100 charities, a large proportion benefiting children, ill, AIDS victims.

- She will be remembered for remarkable warmth and sensitivity towards the patients…

- All who met her were struck by her interest and commitment to homeless people.

- With the face of a movie star and the personality of an angel, Diana brought warmth to the Royal Family. We heard the rumors of Royals displeased with Diana’s outspoken manner, but to us, the honesty of her candid remarks and manner had a lot to do with her worldwide appeal.

- Diana fought to make her sons realise that the old British way of “keeping a stiff upper lip” was not expected of them. She tried to encourage them to express their feelings when they were upset telling them gently that there was nothing wrong with letting their true emotions emerge.

- Diana was a caring, generous and warm-hearted individual with a tireless and relentless need to help others.

XX. Match the English proverbs given below with their Russian equivalents. Speak on the situations when one can use them.

1. to wear one’s heart upon one’s sleeve	a) У него все из рук валится (он очень неловок).
2. They are hand and glove.	b) Два сапога пара.
3. Extremes meet.	c) Душа нараспашку.
4. Jack of all trades and master of none.	d) Мудрый, как сова.
5. His fingers are all thumbs.	e) Преданный душой и телом.
6. All sugar and honey.	f) Трудолюбивый, как пчела.
7. As busy as a bee.	g) Их сам черт связал веревочкой.
8. As true as steel.	h) Крайности сходятся.
9. As wise as an owl.	i) Скользкий как угорь.
10. Birds of a feather.	j) Сахар Мёдович.
11. As slippery as an eel.	k) За все берущийся и ничего не умеющий делать человек.

XXI. a) You are going to read an article about the changing state of the family. Look at the following statements and check the meaning of the words in bold in your dictionary or with your teacher.

q More young people are moving away from home and leaving their family roots.

q Marriage is becoming less important to many young people.

q Families are spending less time together.

q The divorce rate is rising.

q More parents are bringing their children up alone without a partner.

q More women are having careers rather than starting families.

q The average family is getting smaller as the birthrate falls.

   b) In groups, discuss which of these things are happening in your country and why.

XXII. Read the article and tick þ the topics above if they are mentioned.

A Quiet Revolution?

As divorce rates rise and fewer couples bother with marriage, we ask if the traditional nuclear family is becoming a thing of the past.

While you are reading this article, somewhere in the Unit­ed States two couples will get married and another will get divorced. One in three American children now lives with only one parent, and the United States is not alone in this: in Canada and France the divorce rate has doubled in the last twenty-five years, and in Hungary and Greece it has increased by 50 %. Even in Japan, where the tradi­tional family is still strong, divorce went up by 15 % between 1980 and 1995.

What is more, the nature of the fatally is changing. In Sweden and Denmark, around half of all babies are now born to unmarried parents, and in the United Kingdom and France more than a third. Even in Ireland, traditionally the most Catholic country in Europe, the rate of birth outside marriage is 20 %.

Families are also getting smaller. The average Turkish family had seven members in 1970; today it has only five. And in Spain and Italy, where families were always traditionally large, the birthrate was the lowest in the developed world in 1995. This fall in the birthrate is due in part to the fact that, as more women have careers, they are waiting longer and longer to start a family. The age at which the average woman has her first baby is now 28 in Western Europe, and it is getting later.

So the nuclear family is clearly changing, but is it in danger of disappearing completely?

The truth is that it is still too early to tell. In some countries these patterns are actually reversing. In the United States, Scandinavia and the United Kingdom, the birth-rate is rising once more; and in Denmark for example, marriage is becoming more popular again. In the United States the divorce rate in fact fell by 10 % between 1980 and 1990, and it is continuing to fall.

Perhaps a new revolution is beginning?

XXIII. Read the article again. Which ONE of the following statements is NOT true according to the information in the main text?

a) Although there is not very much divorce in Japan, there is more than before.

b) Although Ireland is strongly Catholic, quite a lot of Irish people are now having children without getting married.

c) Although families in Spain and Italy were often big in the past, these days they are becoming smaller.

d) Although a lot of people in France have children without getting married, marriage is becoming more popular there again now.

e) Although there are a lot of divorces in the United States, there are not as many as there were fifteen or twenty years ago.

Review

I. Make up a dialogue about your family (relatives, their names, age, place of birth/residence, occupation, hobby, appearance, character).

II. Speak about your family. (Use the same plan as that in task I). You may use these sentences and expressions:

1. Before I start talking about my family let me introduce myself.

2. And now I’m going to tell you about my family.

3. To begin with…

4. To tell the truth…

5. And finally a few words about…

6. Put it into a few words…

Higher Education

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