British Holidays

British Holidays. It may seem surprising but the British have fewer holidays than many other countries. Some of them are named Bank Holidays due to the fact that on those days the banks are closed. In England and Wales they comprise at present five bank holidays New Year’s Day, Easter Monday, spring and late summer holidays at the end of May and August respectively, and Boxing Day); they also have two common holidays (Good Friday, Christmas Day). New Year’s Day. It is a bank holiday though many British do not celebrate on New Year’s Eve. April,3. Easter. Every spring European peoples celebrated the festival to honor the awakening of new life in nature. Christians related the rising of the sun to the resurrection of Jesus and their old spiritual rebirth. November, 11.Remembrance Day. This day is observed throughout the Commonwealth and dates back to November 11, 1918 when all fighting in World War I ended. Special services are held and wreaths are laid at the Cenotaph, a war memorial at Whitehall, where thousands of Londoners observe the two-minute silence and participate in the remembrance ceremony.

Christmas. In England Christmas is the most important of all the bank holidays of the year. It is celebrated much the same way as in the United States of America. On December 26, the Boxing Day, traditionally people give each other Christmas presents, which used to come in boxes. It is a very pleasant custom indeed. Trooping the Color. This ceremony is held on the Sovereign’s official birthday in June. This is the most colorful of all London’s annual events with the Queen riding side-saddled on a highly trained horse.

Exercise 6. Make a plan to the text.

Exercise 7.

Complete the following adjectives with the nouns on the right:

1. We had to queue at the check-I a) bed

2. She’s got two grown-up b) name

3. He signed in under a made-up c) daughters

4. In the guest room there’s a fold-away d) food

5. We feed the birds on any leftover e) desk

Check yourself

1. Find adverb-adjective pair?

a) closed

b) closely connected

c) fire-placed

d) constructed

2. What British holiday is celebrated on the 25^th of December?

a) New Year’s Eve

b) Christmas

c) Jesus

d) Easter

3. What ‘holy’ day is celebrated in many countries of the world?

a) Easter

b) Christmas

c) Jesus

d) New Year’s Eve

4. What are the equivalents of ‘sticks and swords’?

a) палки и скалки

b) палки и мечи

c) роботы и работники

d) ножи и вилки

Glossary

English	Kazakh	Russian
diversity [də'vɜ:rsətɪ, daɪ'vɜ:rsətɪ]	айырмашылық	различие
retention [rɪ'tenʃən]	сақтау, қорғау	сохранение
reverence ['refərəns]	құрметтеу	почитать
abiding [ ə’baɪdɪŋ ]	өзгеріссіз	неизменный, остающийся прочным
national festival[’næʃənəl] 'festəvəl]	ұлттық мейрам	национальный праздник
traditionalpoetry [trə'dɪʃənəl'pəʋɪtrɪ]	ұлттық поэзия	национальная поэзия
competition [‚kɒmpɪ'tɪʃən]	жарыс	соревнования
remembrance [rı’membrəns]	еске алу	церемония памяти
spiritual rebirth [ ‘spɪrɪtjuəl ri’bə: θ]	рухани қайта жаратылу	духовное перерождение
awakening [ ə’weɪknɪŋ ]	ояну, жандану	пробуждение

Office hours № 13

Write an essay on the given topic ‘The national holiday I like to celebrate with my family’.

LIW № 39

Be ready for retelling the text ’British holidays’ (p. 172 )

References

Main literature:

1.Зубанова И.В., Никольская А.И. Такая Разная Америка. Москва, 2012.

2. Gillie Cunnigham and Jan Bell with Chris Redston Face to Face. Advanced. Student’s Book. Cambridge, 2012.

Additional literature:

3. T. Aspinall, A. Capel. Advanced Master Class. New Edition. Oxford, 2011.

4. R.Side and G. Wellman. Grammar and Vocabulary for CA. Longman, 2011.

5.Face to Face. Advanced. Student’s Book, 2014.

HAND OUT№ 27 (147) Discipline: English as a foreign language Credits - 2 Advanced level Practical lesson Lexical theme: Holidays and celebrations in Kazakhstan Grammar: Ellipsis Teacher: assistant professor Akbalaeva Zhanat Kelzhanovna

Can you give Kazakh or Russian equivalent of the given saying?

Holidays are all different depending on the company and time of your life.

GRAMMAR COMMENT: Ellipsis: leaving out subjects and auxiliaries

After and, but, and or we often leave out a repeated subject or a repeated subject and auxiliary verb, especially when the clauses are short. After then we can also leave out a repeated subject pronoun. You cannot leave out the subject pronoun after before, after, because, when, and while. He got up and (he) had a shower. We’ll have a look at the photos after we finish dinner I met Sam while I was working in Italy.

Cross out the words/phrases which could be left out.

1. Everyone else loved the hotel we stayed in, but I didn’t like it.

2. Nobody expects us to win, but you never know, we might win.

3. I didn’t take the job in the end ,but now I think that I should have taken it.

4. I got into the car and I turned the radio on.

5. I won’t be able to go to the exhibition, but my wife will be able to go

Change the sentences to avoid repeating verbs or phrases

1. I don’t speak German, but my sister speaks German

2. My parents haven’t been there, but we’ve been there

3. Penny doesn’t like golf, but they’re going out tonight

4. Tom enjoyed the play, but I didn’t enjoy the play

5. Ian didn’t go to college, but her sister went to college

Exercise 1. [T. 27] Listen to the text “Family traditions” and ­­­ give T(true) and F(false) answers.

		true	false
1	The speaker’s family holds to the tradition of large family meals.
2	The family does praising before the meal.
3	The family does calls ahead the occasion to mobilize the relatives.
4	Manners always prevent us from actual bodily assault.

Exercise 2. Retell the text using the given questions

1. What does the author mean by the word ‘large”?

2. What kind of tradition do they hold?

3. How do they prepare to the family meal?

4. What happens before and during such a meal?

5. Have you ever attended such a family event?

Exercise 3. Talk about celebrations of Nauryz in Islamic countries.

Exercise 4. Discuss the questions with your partner.

1. When are the public holidays in your country? (What does it celebrate? What are you planning to do?)

2. Do people in your country generally know what public holidays celebrate? (Why/ Why not)?

3. What holiday should be abolished?

4. Do you have any special family traditions?

Exercise 5. Read and translate the text.