Gardening

Introduction

Gardening is growing and caring for plants as an enjoyable leisure activity, to produce food, or to create beautiful landscapes with artfully arranged flowers, shrubs, and trees.

For some, gardening is a form of exercise, a way to save money on food, or a way to ensure that fruits and vegetables are free from pesticides or other chemicals. For others, gardening is a profession: landscape gardeners design, install, and maintain gardens for a living(1). Unlike farmers, who typically produce large quantities of crops using complex equipment, such as tractors and combines, gardeners usually produce plants in smaller quantities, relying on manual tools, such as spades, rakes, and hoes, and small power tools, such as mowers and tillers.

Evidence of gardening dates back to 6000 BC. For much of history, functional gardens were more important than pretty ones(2) — people relied on their gardens not only for fruits and vegetables but also for plants used to make medicines and dyes. Elaborate, decorative gardens were found only on the estates of rulers and wealthy people who had slaves or servants to tend the gardens. Gardening for pleasure did not become widespread until the development of the middle class, around AD 1500. With money and time to spare, many began to create gardens for enjoyment, not simply out of necessity(3), foreshadowing the present-day popularity of gardening as a recreational activity.

Today gardening is practised all over the world. With a little soil, some seeds, and a few basic tools, even inexperienced gardeners can enjoy the rewards of creating a garden and watching it grow. Gardeners with more experience and time can delve more deeply, carrying out research to select appropriate plants, and learning about the particular requirements for each type of plant. The more gardeners apply what they learn, the more(4) their gardens thrive and grow.

Notes

1. for a living – (щоб заробити) на прожиття

2. functional gardens were more important than pretty ones – функційні сади були важливішими за ті (сади), що призначалися для оздоблення

3. out of necessity – через необхідність

4. The more ... , the more – чим більше ..., тим більше

ЗАПАМ’ЯТАЙТЕ! В англійській мові є багато слів, які мають не одне, а декілька значень. Це явище називається полісемією. Вибір вірного значення слова залежить від контексту.

Vocabulary

leisure – дозвілля

landscape – ландшафт

shrub – кущ

pesticide – пестицид

chemical – хімікат

install – установлювати

maintain – підтримувати

quantity – кількість

crop – врожай

equipment – інструмент

rely – покладатися

spade – лопата

rake – граблі; рихлити

hoe – мотика

mower – косарка

tiller – машина для обробки грунту; хлібороб, фермер; той, хто обробляє землю

foreshadow – передвіщати

dye – барвник

delve – копати, рити

Vocabulary exercises

1. Practise the pronunciation of the following words:

leisure, arrange, ensure, quantity, equipment, hoe, mower, evidence, medicine, dye, eleborate, pleasure, widespread, foreshadow, requirement

2. Find the stem in the following words; point out prefixes and suffixes. Translate the words into Ukrainian:

enjoyable, beautiful, artfully, farmer, typically, functional, decorative, wealthy, development, popularity, recreational, activity, inexperienced, unlike

3. Form new nouns with the help of the given suffixes. Translate the words into Ukrainian:

-er: garden, design, manage, produce, use, fertilize, research, travel, foreign

-ment: move, require, enjoy, treat, measure, fulfill, improve, arrange

-ion : select, protect, evaluate, prevent, demonstrate, communicate, discuss

-ation: invite, organize, explain, inform, pollinate, fertilize

-ity: pure, stupid, special, real, valid

-ty: cruel

4. Find in the text English equivalents to the following word combinations:

сучасна популярність, знаряддя ручної праці, оздоровлююча діяльність, особливі вимоги для кожного типу рослин, спосіб заощадити гроші, у всьому світі, на відміну від фермерів, складне обладнання, люди розраховували на свої сади , близько 1500 р. нашої ери, маючи гроші та вільний час

5. Choose words from the list to fill in the gaps, then use them to make sentences.

research, food, crops,to use, gardens, plants, recreational, to apply, maintain, enjoyment, to create

1 to produce ................ 6 ............... what they learn

2 decorative .............. 7 ............... complex equipment

3 ................... activity 8 to create gardens for .............

4 to carry out .............. 9 to design, install and ............. gardens for a living

5 to tend the ................ 10 ............. beautiful landscapes.

6. Find in the text synonyms to the following words and word combinations:

for enjoyment, to apply, to tend, beautiful, pesticides

7. Make a list of all the tools mentioned in the text.

Grammar exercises

1. In the text there are eight examples of participles. Find them and define their function.

2. Translate into Ukrainian:

a time-wasting activity, frozen vegetables, handmade tools, a falling tree, home-grown vegetables, well-cooked meat, a fast-selling product, dried fruit, a beautifully-kept garden, a broken heart, an embarrassing question

3. Complete the gaps with –ed or –ing:

a promis___ start a confus___ explanation

a frighten___ film disturb ___ news

a shock___ story a neglect___ garden

a cake load___ with calories a bor ___ exercise

an unexpect___ surprise screem___ children