The English

Almost every nation has a reputation of some kind. The French are supposed to be amorous and gay; the Germans dull, formal, efficient, fond of military uniforms and parades; the Americans boastful and energetic. The English are reputed to be cold, reserved, rather haughty people. They are steady, easy-going and fond of sport.

The foreigner’s view of the English is often based on the type of Englishman he meets traveling abroad. Mostly these are members of the upper and middle classes. It is obvious that their behaviour cannot be taken as general for the whole people. There are however, certain kinds of behaviour, manners and customs which are peculiar to England.

The English are a nation of stay-at-homes. “ The English-man’s home is his castle”, is a saying known all over the world. The fire is in the focus of the English home. What do other nation sit around? The answer is they don’t. They go out to cafes or sit round the cocktail bar. For the English it is the open fire, the toasting fork and the ceremony of English tea.

The Tower of London

The Tower of London is a notable example of a medieval castle on the British Isles.

The Tower of London was first built by William the Conqueror with the aim to protect and control the city.

The present buildings are partly of the Norman period. In the past the Tower was a fortress, a palace and a prison. For centuries it was the arsenal for small arms.

The Tower was occupied as a palace by all Kings and Queens down to James I. It was the custom for each monarch to longe in the Tower before his coronation and ride in a procession to Westminster through the city.

The oldest and most important building is the Great Tower, called the White Tower. The security of the walls made it convenient as State prison and to the beginning of the XIXth century the Tower was constantly used for State prisoners.

The White Tower is the oldest part of the whole fortress. It is somewhat irregular in plan, for although it looks so square from the river. Its four sides are all of different lengths, and three of its corners are not right angles.

The west side is 107 feet from north to south. The south side measures 118 feet. It had four turrets at the corners. From floor to battlements it is 90 feet in height. The original entrance was on the south side, on the first floor, being reached, as usual in Norman castles, by an external stair which disappear , when it is necessary. The interior is of the plainest and sternest character.

The outer walls vary in thickness from 15 feet in the lower to 11 feet in the upper storey.

Unit 7

Grammar 1. The Past Indefinite Tense.

1. Word – building suffixes of Adjectives.

1. –al (-ical) (N+(ic)al)

agriculture-agricultural

history – historical

biological, central, continental, geographical, industrial, national, natural, practical, professional, traditional, formal, informational, political, critical, technical, chemical, conditional, conversational, cultural, musical, mechanical, personal, seasonal, theatrical, mathematical

2. –able (V+able)

to wach-washable

Breakable, comfortable, enjoyable, honorable, reasonable, agreeable, understandable, lovable, unshakable, excitable

3. –ful (N+ful)

beautify – beautiful

careful, eventful, lawful, peaceful, powerful, respectful, successful, thankful, useful, wonderful, youthful, doubtful, forceful, helpful, hopeful, restful, skillful, fruitful, thoughtful, pitiful

4. –ic (N+ic)

philosophy – philosophic

artistic, athletic, atomic, capitalistic, cosmic, energetic, historic, metallic, microscopic, photographic, classic, diplomatic, comic, tragic

5. –ive (V+iv)

to collect – collective

active, comparative, expressive, progressive, creative, imaginative, preparative, elective

6. –less (N+less)

end – endless

careless, friendless, fruitless, groundless, hairless, heartless, helpless, homeless, hopeless, leafless, nameless, noiseless, powerless, restless, sleepless, spotless, starless, thoughtless, useless, formless, bottomless, aimless, cloudless, colourless

Ex 1. Write down and translate words corresponding to nouns and verbs (points I, II, III, IV, V, VI).

Ex 2. Make up sentences using some adjectives.