British traditional holidays

   

Great Britain is famous for its old traditions. Some of them existed in

ancient times and survived through centuries. Some of them appeared when

Christianity came to British isles. Speaking about religious holidays one can’t

but mention Easter, Pancake Day and Mother’s Day. The dates of these

holidays aren’t strict, they depend on the date of Easter, that varies every year.

Pancake day is the popular name for the Shrove Tuesday, the day

before the first day of Lent. In the middle ages people on that day made merry

and ate pancakes. The ingredients of pancakes are all forbidden by Church

during Lent, that is why they have to be used the day before. The most

common form of celebrating this day in the old times was the all town ball

game or tug-of-war, in which everyone was tearing here and there, trying to

get the ball or rope into their part of the city. Today the only custom, that is

observed throughout Britain is pancake eating.

For the English people the best-known name for the fourth in Lent

Sunday is Mothering Sunday or Mother’s Day. For 3 centuries this day has

been a day of small family gatherings when absent sons and daughters return to

their homes. Gifts are made to mothers by children of all ages. Flowers and

cakes are still traditional gifts. Violets and primroses are most popular flowers.

Sometimes the whole family goes to church and then there is a special dinner at

which roast lamb, rice-pudding and home-made wines and served.

Easter is one of the most important holidays in Christianity. In England

it’s a time for giving and receiving presents, mostly Easter eggs. We can say

that the egg is the most popular emblem of Easter, but spring-time flowers are

also used to stress the nature’s awakening. Nowadays there are a lot of

chocolate Easter eggs, having some small gifts inside. But a real hard-boiled

egg, decorated and painted in bright colours, still appears on breakfast tables

on Ester Day, or it’s hidden in the house or garden for children to finny. In egg

that is boiled really hard will last for years. Egg-rolling is a traditional Easter

pastime. You roll the eggs down a slope until they are cracked and broken,

after they are eaten up.

 

Вариант C.

 

EX .1. Объедините предложения, пользуясь предлогами в скобках:

1. She’ll pay me back. She’ll get some money. (as soon as)

 

She’ll_pay_me_back_as_soon_as_she_gets_some_money.

2. I’ll wait here. You’ll get back. (until)

_______________________________________________

3. Give me a ring. You’ll heal some news. (when)

_______________________________________________

4. The TV programme about adventures will end. I’ll do my homework. (after)

_______________________________________________       

5. I’ll go to work. I’ll have a bath. (before)

_______________________________________________

6. She’ll be in Paris. She’ll visit friends. (while)

_______________________________________________

7. The lesson will end. I’ll go home. (as soon as)

_______________________________________________ 

8. I won’t leave the house. The postman will call. (until)

_______________________________________________

Ex.2. Вставьте где необходимо MUST, NEED’T, HAVE TO, OUGHT TO,

BE TO, SHOULD :

1) She’s crying . She_ be upset.

2) You _buy tickets beforehand.

3) Lilly _ come at 3. But she hasn’t come yet.

4) You _ be careful when you cross the street.

5) I_ return to the hotel because of the rain.

6) Tommy _ pump up the tyres.

7) You _stay in bed, you‘ve got a high temperature.

8) The excursion _ begin at 5.

9) Harry _learn French. He’s already known it.

10) Robert_ pass a driving test.

 

EX.3. Раскройте скобки , употребляя Present Simple, Future Simple, Present Progressive. Где необходимо добавьте :if, when, or as soon as.

British explorer Robin Drake says that the first international polar expedition (1)__________ (start) next March. They (2)___________ (try) to reach the North Pole on a

65 – day, 480 – mile journey. (3)_____________ Drake (4)_________ (succeed), he

(5)___________ (be) the first man to walk to both the North and South Poles.

Drake (6)__________ (go) on the Icewalk Expedition with navigator Alan Winterson.

(7)___________ they (8)________ (arrive) in Thule in northern Greenland, walkers from

the USA, Japan, Australia, Canada, and Italy (9)_________ (join) them. (10)_________

they (11)_________ (get) to their base camp, Eureka, inside the Arctic Circle, they

(12)___________ (have to) build huts to protect them from temperatures as low as minus 55

degrees Celsius.

‘We (13)__________ (do) a lot of experiments to see how much pollution there is in the area,’ said Robin. ‘The results (14)__________ (help) us to understand the effect.’

(15)__________ the weather (16)___________ (be) good enough, they (17)__________

(make) a film of the expedition. Robin said, ‘(18)_________ we (19)___________ (get)

back home, we (20)__________ (show) it to people all over the world.’

 

Ex .4. Составьте вопросительные предложения к выделенным словам:

The day everything went wrong.

· It was a warm winter so icebergs floated into the Atlantic .

· There was a fire in the boiler room. The heat from the fire made the shop weak.

· The lifeboat practice was cancelled so many sailors didn’t know how lifeboats worked.

· The sailors didn’t fill the lifeboats. Some left half empty. A lot of people drowned.

· There weren’t enough lifeboats for all the passengers.

· The captain received lots of warnings about the iceberg but he didn’t receive the most important warning. His ship hit the iceberg.

· The Titanic didn’t slow down when it got to the ice field. It crashed into the iceberg.

· A ship called Californian didn’t hear the Titanic ’s calls for help because its radio was switched off.

· Another ship called Carpathia heard the calls for help. Unfortunately it was a slow ship so it arrived an hour and twenty minutes after the Titanic had sink.

 

Ex .6. Переведите текст на русский язык:

 

Ecology .

 

Nature gives people everything they need for their lives. People have learnt to

use the soil, the water, the minerals on the earth and under the earth.

Forests are the lungs of the planet. They give us fresh air, from the forest we get

wood to build the houses, the furniture and what-not. Paper is also made from wood.

Can you imagine our life without a common piece of paper. No books, no newspapers.

Terrible, isn’t it? Most of our clothes are also made from natural material: leather, wool,

cotton.

People will simply die if nature is spoiled. It may sound strange, but no one does

more harm to nature than people do.

Plants and factories throw their wastes into seas and oceans, pollute water,

contaminate sea animals and fish. Some birds and animals have disappeared from the

earth in this century. People often killed them for their beautiful skins and feather.

But today there are people in all parts of the world who are trying to protect

wild animals and birds. There is even an international organization called “Green Peace”

. Reservations for rare plants and animals are set up in different parts of the world.

Hunting is not allowed there.

We all love our Earth. We love its green fields and forests, mountains, rivers and

lakes. We must take care of every thing that grows and lives on the Earth.

 

III Семестр

Вариант A.

 

EX .1. Дополните текст необходимыми по смыслу словами. Обратите внимание на употребление Present Perfect and Progressive:

 

I’ve never been to Paris.

‘You look brown. Have you________ on holiday?’

‘Yes, we’ve________ god back.’

‘_______ you heard? Jane’s________ a baby!’

‘_______ she?________ she come out hospital?’

‘No, not________.’

‘I’ve________ all my Christmas cards.’

‘What,________? But it’s only October!’   

‘________anybody seen my glasses? I’ve ________them.’

‘No, we________.’

‘I________ worked here_______ two years.’

‘ _________ you? And how long________ you lived in London?’

‘_________ 1992.’

‘Where’s Nick?’ ‘He’s________ shopping.’

 

EX .2. Раскройте скобки, употребляя, где необходимо Future Perfect :

1. Her sister ( finish) packing the luggage by 10 o’clock.

2. They ( build) the new hotel by September.

3. Most libraries (have) a professionally educated staff by the end of the year whose first duty is to help you.

4. Librarians also (select and purchase) books and other materials, (organize) materials so that you can easily use them by February.

5. Every people (have) Internet at home by the end of 2005.

6. An even greater environmental threat (be) nuclear power stations by tomorrow.

7. People (realise) that environmental problems are not somebody else’s.

8. They (oin and support) various international organisations and green parties when you come

9. Perhaps we already(avoid) the disaster that threatens the natural world and all of us with it.

10. Overpopulation, pollution and energy consumption (creat) such planet-wide problems as massive deforestation, ozone depletion, acid rains and the global warming.

 

EX .3. Заполните пропуски, вставляя где необходимо : while , during , or for :