1.4 Britain is the country of traditions
Traditions… They make a nation special. Some of them are old-fashioned and few people remember them, others are part of people’s life.
1 What do you know about British traditions?
Study the words:
substantial – солидный distinguish – определять
forbid – запрещать annual – ежегодный
prohibition – запрет pageant – пышное зрелище; маскарад
abolish – разрушать, отменять evolve – развивать
urge – побуждение, толчок peculiarity – особенность
rival – соперник Easter – пасха
cherish – воодушевлять sophisticated – утонченный, умудренный
to keep up – поддерживать holy – святой
2 Read the text and say what special is in Bank Holiday.
The British people are very proud of their traditions, cherish them and carefully keep them up. Speaking about British traditions we should distinguish bank, or public holidays, annual festivals, celebrations and pageant ceremonies. The term bank holiday dates back to the 19th century when the Bank Holiday Acts of 1871 and 1875 declared certain days on which banks were to be closed. Today their observance is no longer limited to banks only. Post offices, most factories and shops are closed too. There are 8 bank holidays: New Years’ Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, May Day Bank Holiday, Spring Bank Holiday, August (or Summer) Bank Holiday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. All public holidays, except New Year’ Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day are movable, that is they do not fall on the same day each year.
Most of Bank holidays are of religious origin, and meant holy days. But for the greater part of the population they have lost their religious significance and simply days on which people relax, eat, drink and make merry.
a) Good Friday is the Friday before Easter when the church marks the death of Christ. On this day people eat small sweet rolls marked on top with across. On Easter people give each other chocolate Easter eggs. Easter Monday is a traditional day fore the start of the summer tourist season, as schools close for two weeks.
b) May Day Bank Holiday is the first Monday after May 1. May Day which is not a bank holiday is a celebration of the coming of spring. Different outdoor events are held, and MAY-queen, the most beautiful girl of the celebration, is selected.
c) Spring Bank Holiday falls on the last Monday in May. Summer Bank Holiday is held on the last Monday in August. These two bank holidays are great days for excursions. In Britain people generally make a beeline for the coast. On the last weekend in August there is a big carnival at Notting Hill West London. It is the biggest carnival outside Brasil.
3 Speak in short about these holidays.
4 Read the story below and say if New Year parties are as popular as Christmas ones?
Is the First Foot a proper name? Who receives the name «the First Foot»? What superstitions (предрассудки) do people have? (reading for detail).
In Britain the New Year is not as widely celebrated as Christmas. Some people ignore it completely and go to bed at usual time. Others, however, do celebrate it in one way or another. The most common is a New Year party. There is a funny tradition connected with the New Year: the First Foot. This is the first visitor to enter the house on New Year’ morning. He is a person of great importance.
5 There are strange places in Britain and strange people connected with them. Read about one of them and try to explain: Who are the Druids? What is Stonehenge used for? Why did the Druids choose June 24th? Is this custom observed today? (reading for detail)
Midsummer’ Day, June 24th is the longest day of the year. On that day a very old custom at Stonehenge in Wiltshire, is observed. Stonehenge is one of the Europe’ biggest stone circles that is 10 or 12 metres high. The earliest part of Stonehenge is approximately 5000 years old. But what was Stonehenge? A holy place? A market ? Or a kind of calendar? Actually the Druids priests (жрецы) in Britain used Stonehenge for a calendar. They introduced it about 2000 years ago. The sun and the stones at Stonehenge let Druids know when the months and seasons start. On the morning of June 24th the sun shines on one famous stone – the Heel Stone, this is the most important moment of the year for the druids. There are Druids in Britain today, too, and every June a lot of them attend Stonehenge. It is a strange, ancient, rare but still living custom.
6 Read the text, think of the title to it. Divide it into logical parts. Find the kea sentences to each part.
Much social contact takes place in people’s homes, and invitation to tea is a common way of keeping in touch with friends and relatives. On special occasion the family may go out to tea: to a tea-shop or café and order high tea, that is a fairly substantial meal often consisting of fish and chips, or boiled ham and salad, followed by bread and butter and cakes. Relics of Puritanism forbade the playing of professional games on Sundays. So almost all amusement places were closed this day up to recent times. But nowadays these places are no longer forbidden on Sundays. Prohibitions on sport matches and meetings were abolished. But the Church of England’ Board urged that public performances should not be allowed to start until 2 p.m., not to interfere with the Sunday Dinner which is in many parts of the country a great family occasion . Pubs and clubs play an important part in social life of the country. On every town and village nowadays there are plenty of pubs where people can go for a drink and a chat.
7 Read the text. Define its main topics. Divide the text into logical parts. Give the title to the text and to each part.
English men are proud of their traditions and carefully keep them up. Foreigners coming to England are struck at ones by quite a number of customs and peculiarities in English life. Some ceremonies are rather formal, such as the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. Trooping the Colour, the State opening of Parliament. Sometimes you will see a group of cavalrymen riding on black horses through the streets of London. They wear red uniform, shining helmets, long black boots and long white gloves. These men are life Guards. Their special duty is to guard the king or the queen of Great Britain and very important guests of the country. To this day family prefers a house with a fire place and a garden to a flat with central heating.
Most English love gardens. Sometimes the garden in front of the house is a little square covered with cement painted green imitation of grass and a box of flowers. They love flowers very much.
The English people like animals very much, too. In Britain they have special dog shoes selling food, clothes and other things for dogs. A new tradition has been born in Britain. Every year a large number of ancient motor-cars drive from London to Brighton. Some of these veteran cars look very funny. This run is a colourful demonstration. People are dressed in the clothes of those times. It is not a race, and most of the cars come to Brighton, which is sixty miles from London, only in the evening.
8 The British have got many celebrations they enjoy.
1) What other interesting celebrations, holidays and customs do you know?
2) Give a short summary of any tradition you like.