HOLIDAYS IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IN THE USA

 

There are fewer public holidays in Great Britain than in other European countries. They are: Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year`s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, May Day, Spring Bank Holiday and Summer Bank Holiday. Public holidays in Britain are called bank holidays, because the banks as well as most of the offices and shops are closed.

The most popular holiday is Christmas. Every year the people of Norway give the city of London a present. It`s a big Christmas tree and it stands in Trafalgar Square. Central streets are beautifully decorated.

Before Christmas, groups of singers go from house to house. They collect money for charity and sing carols, traditional Christmas songs. Many churches hold a carol service on the Sunday before Christmas.

The fun starts the night before, on the 24th of December. Traditionally this is the day when people decorate their trees. Children hang stockings at the end of their beds, hoping that Father Christmas will come down the chimney during the night and fill them with toys and sweets.

Christmas is a family holiday. Relatives usually meet for the big Christmas dinner of turkey and Christmas pudding. And everyone gives and receives presents. The 26th of December, Boxing Day, is an extra holiday after Christmas Day. This is the time to visit friends and relatives or perhaps sit at home and watch football.

New Year`s Day is less popular in Britain than Christmas. But in Scotland, Hogmanay is the biggest festival of the year.

Besides public holidays there are some special festivals in Great Britain. One of them takes place on the 5th of November. On that day, in 1605, Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament and kill King James I. He didn't succeed. The King`s men found the bomb, took Guy Fawkes to the Tower and cut off his head.

Since that day the British celebrate the 5th of November. They burn a dummy, made of straw and old clothes, on a bonfire and let off fireworks. This dummy is called a “guy” (like Guy Fawkes) and children can often be seen in the streets before the 5th of November saying, “Penny for the guy”. If they collect enough money they can buy some fireworks.

There are also smaller, local festivals in Britain.

As for holidays in the United States of America, there are no national holi­days provided by the USA constitution. Each state has the right to decide which holiday to observe. Many states have holidays of their own, but there are also major holidays observed in nearly all the states.

The main holiday in the USA is Independence Day, celebrated on the fourth of July. On that day in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted. It is a patriotic holiday, celebrated with the firing of guns, and fireworks, parades and open-air meetings.

Another traditionally American holiday is Thanksgiving Day which falls on the fourth Thursday of November. It has been celeb­rated since the 17th century, when the English colonists decid­ed to celebrate the end of their first year in America and to give thanks to God. It is a family holiday with a large traditional din­ner including turkey and pumpkin pie.

There are other holidays in the USA besides Christmas, New Year and Easter, which are popular all round the world. 34 of the 50 states observe Columbus Day on October 12. It commemorates the discovery of America. Labour Day on the first Monday of September marks the end of the summer and of the vacations. Veterans` Day on the 11th November is dedicated to the end of the First World War. There is also Memorial Day or Decoration Day observed on the 30th of May when Americans honour the servicemen who gave their lives in all the past wars and hold memorial services.

 

Questions:

1. Are there many holidays in Great Britain?

2. What is a “bank holiday”?

3. What is the most popular holiday in Great Britain?

4. When is Christmas celebrated?

5. What are traditional Christmas songs called in Britain?

6. What do children leave at the end of their beds? Why?

7. What do the British do on Boxing Day?

8. What is the name of New Year`s Eve in Scotland?

9. When is Guy Fawkes Night celebrated?

10. What do you know about Guy Fawkes?

11. What is the main holiday in the USA?

 

Vocabulary (transcribe the words, learn them by heart):

bomb – бомба

bonfire – костер

Boxing Day – второй день Рождества, день рождественских подарков (в этот день принято дарить подарки)

carol – кэрол (рождественская песня религиозного содержания, славящая рожде­ние Христа)

charity – благотворительность

chimney – труба

Christmas Day – Рождество (25 декабря)

Christmas pudding – рождественский пудинг (с изюмом, цукатами и пряностями)

Christmas tree – рождественская (новогодняя елка)

discovery – открытие

dummy – кукла, чучело, манекен

Easter Monday – первый понедельник после Пасхи

Father Christmas – Рождественский дед, Дед Мороз

festival – празднество, праздник

Good Friday – Великая пятница (пятница на страстной неделе)

Guy Fawkes – Гай Фокс (глава Порохового заговора)

Hogmanay – хогманей, канун Нового года

King James I – Джеймс I (король Англии с 1603 по 1625 г.)

local – местный

May Day – майский праздник, праздник вес­ны (отмечается в первое воскресенье мая)

New Year`s Day – Новый год

Norway – Норвегия

penny – пенни, пенс

pumpkin pie – тыквенный пирог

relative – родственник

service – служба (церковная)

Spring Bank Holiday – весенний день отдыха (в мае или начале июня)

stocking – чулок

straw – солома

Summer Bank Holiday – летний день отдыха (в августе или сентябре)

Thanksgiving Day – День Благода­рения

the Houses of Parliament – здание английского парламента

the Tower – Тауэр

to adopt – принять, утверждать

to blow up – взорвать

to burn – жечь, сжигать

to celebrate – праздновать, торже­ственно отмечать

to commemorate – праздновать, отмечать, чтить

to cut off smb`s head – отрубить кому-либо го­лову

to decorate – украшать

to hang (hung, hung) – развешивать

to let off fireworks – устроить фейер­верк

to observe – праздновать, отмечать

to succeed – достигнуть цели, добить­ся

Trafalgar Square – Трафаль­гарская площадь

turkey – индейка

 

Exercises

I. Compose your own sentences with the following words:

bonfire, charity, discovery, dummy, festival, local, relative, to adopt, to blow up, to celebrate, to cut off smb`s head, to decorate, to let off fireworks, to observe, to succeed.

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

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