Comprehension

1. Explain in English the meaning of the following words:

• To meld together

• Retired parents

• Diapers

• To breastfeed

• Street vendor

• Gold-digger (coll.)

• Cheating

• Crib

• Casual clothes

• To reschedual the meeting

2. Put the questions to the following answers:

a)________________________________________?

At the age of 18.

b)________________________________________?

Age, income, religion, sexual orientation.

c)_______________________________________?

Because in the US it`s forbidden to use force against children.

d)________________________________________?

Jogging.

e)_________________________________________?

Sporting & unisex style.

3. Match the two parts together:

The parents in America expect their children	They usually get up at 5 or 6 in the morning to get to a job place in time
In the USA you can buy vegetables & fruits	Only in supermarkets or outside the city in special markets for farmers
You will never see an American couple	To leave home after finishing high school
If you prompt to your American friend	Conflicting or laughing at each other in public
Most Americans live outside the cities, so	You consider him stupid

4. What do these time markers in the text mean:

• 18 y.a.

• 3-4 y.a.

• 5-6 in the morning

• 5 minutes

5. Open the brackets (mind Tenses, Active & Passive):

a) If an American (to retire), he or she (to live) in retirement homes.

b) He (to imprison) for (to punish) his son in public.

c) If an American girl (to get) very expensive presents from her boyfriend, she (to consider) a gold-digger.

d) His irritation (to cause) by my (to be late) for the business meeting.

Discussing & Writing:

1. What facts impressed you the most in the text?

2. What negative Ukrainian features are mentioned in the text by American authors?

3. What description in the American way of life did you like best of all? Why?

4. What description in the American way of life appeared unacceptable to you? Why?

5. Write an essay “Ukraine vs America” according to the points in the text above, adding more examples.

TEXT B:

Pre-reading tasks

1.You`ll read the text between cultural differences between Britains and other nations. Before reading ask about your/your friend`s experience of communication with an Englishman.

2.Describe in some words a typical British, highlighting the most vivid features of the British character.

To newcomers, the British can seem a strange and difficult na­tion. To be fair, any host nation can seem strange and difficult to a newcomer in any land. We have all grown up learning strict codes of conduct, rules of behaviour and lists of what is or is not polite. However, these rules and customs are quite different from country to country and few of us are ever taught them in a systematic way. We absorb them, throughout our lives, learning what is acceptable within our own culture and discovering what is not.

Living within or alongside another culture, one is bound to make mistakes which offend, amuse or irritate members of the host culture. In the same way, newcomers can be offended, amused or irritated by the speech, behaviour or practices of the host culture. Because rules about what is polite, ac­ceptable or expected in our own culture are not recorded in a concise form, we often do not appreciate how rigid these rules can be or how closely we follow them. When our culture's rules conflict with another culture's, we often do not realise that this is what is happening and assume that breakdowns" in communication or lack of warmth are due to prejudice or unpleasantness.

1. Personal Space

a. British people like a lot of space around them.

b. They tend not to make physical con­tact of any kind with strangers and feel very uncomfortable if anyone stands too close to them. They will instinctively draw away if anyone comes too close.

Whenever

2. Shaking Hands

One example of the British 'keeping their distance' is the infrequency with which people will shake hands with one another. British people do not shake hands with one another very often at all.

3. Making Polite Requests

a. In making polite requests, British people tend to use very indirect language, using the conditional tense and negatives.

b. For instance, 'I don't suppose you could open the window, could you?' rather than 'Please open the window.'

4. Please and Thank You

a. 'Please' and 'thank you', are probably the three most important words in the British-English vocabulary.

b. . In many languages and cultures such fundamental importance is not attached to these words; one can be perfectly polite without uttering them. In Britain almost the first words children are taught are 'please' and 'thank-you' (or 'thanks' or 'ta').

c. What happens if you don't use them? In a hall of residence dining room, for example, if one says 'Chips' or 'Can I have chips?' or 'Let me have some chips', the chips will almost certainly be served. However, the facial expression and body language of the person serving will give a clear indication that they are unhappy, offended or do not like dealing with this particular student. The student may see this negative reaction but not be aware what has gone wrong. S/he may see that staff are more friendly towards British students and may assume that staff simply do not like foreigners. It is far more likely that 'please' and 'thank-you' were omitted from the exchange and that the British person was reacting to this.