Ex. 2. Answer the questions:
1. What are the origins of Halloween?
2. Why does modern Halloween get the paraphernalia of the evil spirits?
3. What are common Halloween traditions? How did they start?
4. What does a legend say about the jack-o-lantern?
5. Do you approve the communities that ban Halloween?
6. Have you ever been to Halloween parties? How was it?
Guy fawkes’ day.
cellar – подвал, погреб barrel – бочка gunpowder – черный порох blow up – взрывать stuff – начинять fireworks – фейерверк drum – барабан torch – факел |
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outskirts – окраина riot – бунт, разгул |
Ex. 1. Read and translate the text.
In Britain, November 5th is the anniversary of the arrest of Guy Fawkes. On that day in 1605, he was discovered in the cellars of the Houses of Parliament, where he had laid a great pile of wood and thirty-six barrels of gunpowder. He intended to blow up the building during the opening of Parliament by the King.
Guy Fawkes’ Day has become Britain’s main fire festival. Models of Guy Fawkes, stuffed with fireworks, are burnt on bonfires throughout the country. The celebrations in some towns are famous. In Lewes, for example, the six Bonfire Societies march through the town with drums and torches, before setting fire to huge bonfires on the outskirts. In the mid-nineteenth century, when immense fires were lit in the heart of the town, and lighted tar-barrels were rolled through the streets, the danger of fire was very great. Even today, the possibility of riots has forced the town to close its pubs on November 5th. There is something very violent about the emotions which are released on this occasion. It is a reminder that in pre-Christian times, the New Year was celebrated on November 1st, and fires were lit on hill-tops to purify the people and the land, and to defeat the powers of evil, which were then at their strongest.
Ex. 2. Discuss the following:
1. The origin of the celebration.
2. How Guy Fawkes’ Day is celebrated today.
3. The past and present dangers of Guy Fawkes’ Day.
4. Ways in which it might help community feeling.
5. Its excitement or entertainment value.
6. How you could make money out of the celebration.
Thanksgiving.
bounty – щедрость survival – выживание fowl – охотиться на дичь turkey – индейка feast – пир, праздник cannon – пушка dressing – приправа sumptuous – роскошный, обильный persevere – упорно продолжать clam – двухстворчатый моллюск mincemeat – начинка из изюма, миндаля, сахара и пр. |
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crop – с/х культура rejoice – ликовать drill – тренироваться array – множество squash – кабачок, тыква |
Ex. 1. Read and translate the text.
Every year on the fourth Thursday of November the people of the United States pause to express their gratitude for the bounty and good fortune that they enjoy both as individuals and as nation. Thanksgiving Day is a legal holiday, observed everywhere throughout the US and in US territories, as well as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Customarily, the President of the US issues a proclamation of Thanksgiving Day, and the governors of many of the 50 states often add their own messages.
Although Thanksgiving is one of the most popular holidays in the US, the ideas of setting aside a day to express gratitude for good fortune did not originate in this country. In ancient time many peoples held special festivals in the autumn to give thanks for bountiful harvests.
Since most of the settlers who came to America probably had known some form of thanksgiving day in their homelands, it is not surprising that they transplanted this custom to the New World. The first thanksgiving day service in what was to become the United States was the one held on August 9, 1607, by colonists after their two ships had reached one of the Georges Islands off the Maine coast.
The first permanent English settlement in America was founded at Jamestown, on the James River in Virginia, also in 1607. After the tobacco introduced there in 1612 proved to be a successful crop, plantation settlements, or “hundreds” – an early British designation for area smaller than counties – sprang up elsewhere along the banks of the James. As early as December 4, 1619, the settlers at one of them - Berkeley Hundred – set aside a day to give thanks for the survival of their small company.
Although the Berkeley thanksgiving was probably the first full celebration of its kind by colonists in the New World – “the first official” thanksgiving is a term favoured by some – it was another thanksgiving, which took place in Plymouth Colony in 1621, that set the pattern for present-day observances. After landing on the bleak New England coast in 1620, the Pilgrim band had endured tremendous hardships.
During the winter of 1620 about half the 101 passengers of the Mayflower died. But those who survived persevered. In the spring and summer of 1621 they constructed a number of wooden houses, and with the aid of Squanto, a Pawtuxet Indian, they planted and cultivated fields of corn and barley. In the fall the Pilgrims gathered a rich harvest, and Governor Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving.
The first Pilgrim thanksgiving probably occurred some time in the middle of October 1621. Governor Bradford “sent four men fowling, so they might in a special manner rejoice together after they had gathered the fruit of their labour.” According to Bradford’s history of Plymouth Plantation, the hunters brought back a “great store of wild turkeys,” and to this were added lobsters, clams, bass, corn, green vegetables, and dried fruits.
The Pilgrims invited Massasoit, the chief of Wampanoag tribe, to share their feast. Massasoit enthusiastically agreed to attend the celebration, but when he unexpectedly brought along 90 companions the Pilgrim settlers feared that the natives would consume their entire winter larder. Fortunately, however, Massasoit recognized their difficult position and sent his hunters into the forest. They returned with five deer, and the feast began.
For three days the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag shared the bountiful feast. The militia under the leadership of Captain Myles Standish drilled and fired their muskets and cannon to entertain their guests, and in turn the Wampanoag delighted their hosts with demonstration of their traditional dances. The group also competed in foot races and other athletic contests.
Thanksgiving has always been a day on which families come together for a sumptuous dinner – just as the Pilgrims in Plymouth enjoyed “a great store of wild turkeys,” many Americans now feast on the domesticated descendants of these birds. Dressing, sweet potatoes, squash, creamed onions, and cranberries generally complement the turkey, as does a vast array of other culinary attractions. Pumpkin and mincemeat pies are the favoured desserts of the day, with Indian and plum pudding as close seconds.
Many special events are held on Thanksgiving and the following weekend. It is traditionally a period for professional and college football games, some nationally televised.