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Частное образовательное учреждение высшего профессионального образования

«Санкт-Петербургский Институт Экономики, Культуры и Делового Администрирования»

Задания к зачету

по предмету «Английский язык»

для студентов 2 курса

уровень Pre-Intermediate

составитель

старший преподаватель кафедры ГиСД

Собакарь Т.Г.

Третий семестр

1.Переведите тексты:

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UNUSUAL WAYS OF KEEPING FIT

KORFBALL

A mixture between handball and basketball, korfball is a fast, exciting game. The main difference is that men and women play on the same team. It’s also a great way to keep fit! The game began in the Netherlands about 100 years ago, and there are now korfball clubs in more than forty countries around the world. There are eight players on each team – four male and four female – and each player tries to throw the ball (similar to a soccer ball) into the ‘goal’ which is a bit like a basket but bigger. You can’t touch your opponent, kick or run with a ball, and men can attack against men and women can only defend against women. A game lasts for sixty minutes and the teams change ends after every two goals. ‘It’s a terrific sport and a great way to meet people’, says Paul Dick of the British Korfball Association.

TAI – CHI

Tai –Chi is a Chinese martial art which goes back thousands of years. It is different from most forms of exercise in that it is very gentle. It consists of a series of slow movements which you must do very carefully and exactly. The big advantage is that you can do it anywhere, anytime, and you don’t need to be a member of a club or use expensive equipment – all you need is a qualified teacher! Tai – Chi fans say it is an excellent way of getting rid of stress. Early in the morning, you can see people doing the gentle movements of Tai – Chi in the parks all over China, and it is now common in the West, too. So what’s the secret of Tai – Chi? ‘Mind and body working together,’ says one enthusiast.

GAMING FOR FITNESS

Most people don’t see playing video games as a way of keeping fit. You sit on the sofa, you look at the screen – and the only part of your body that moves is your thumb. But that’s all changing … Thanks to a brand - new game from Japan called Dance Dance Revolution, gamers are now getting onto exercise floor. In this case, the floor is a grid of nine squares. You put one foot in the centre and move your other foot in time to the dance music that gets faster and faster as you go through the levels. ‘Most gamers just want to go to a fantasy world when they play a video game, but why not have games which are physical as well?’ says one DDR fan. So, who knows? Perhaps the gamers in the future will be fit and healthy people – thanks to Dance Dance Revolution.

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The tradition of birthday parties started a long time ago. People thought that there was a special danger from evil spirits, so friends and family came together to bring good thoughts and wishes and even presents. At one time, only kings had birthday parties but as time went by, children and then adults began to have their own birthday celebrations. There are some traditions – such as sending birthday cards, blowing out the candles on a birthday cake and singing the ‘Happy Birthday’ song, that you can find almost anywhere, any time. Others are more specific to certain ages … and certain countries.

BIRTHDAY TRADITIONS AROUND THE WORLD

1 In China everyone celebrates their birthday on New Year’s Day: they become one year older on that day. On a child’s second birthday, family members put a variety of objects on the floor around the child. According to Chinese tradition, the first object that the child pick up tells you what profession the child will choose later in life.

3, 5, 7 For Japanese children, the third, fifth and seventh birthdays are particular important. At this age, there is a special celebration called Shichi – Go – San (seven, five, three in Japanese) when children go to the temple wearing a brand-new kimono. The priest gives them special sweets, and the parents usually organize a party for their friends in their home.

15 In Argentina, Mexico and several other Latin American countries, girls have a special birthday celebration when they reach the age of fifteen. After a religious ceremony, the girls dance a waltz with their father and other boys.

18 Eighteen is the traditional ‘ coming age’- the age where you have the right to vote, join the armed forces and (in many countries), drink alcohol and (in the UK) buy a house or become a member of parliament!

21 In many English-speaking countries, a twenty-first birthday cake often has a key on top, or the cake itself is sometimes in the shape of a key. The key means that the young person is now old enough to leave and enter the family home at any time they want.

30 In the past in parts of Europe, men who reached the age of thirty and were still single, had to clean the stairs of the City Hall. This way every girl could see that the man didn’t have a girlfriend – and how good he was at cleaning the house!

40, 50 After the age of thirty, many people prefer to forget their birthdays rather than celebrate them … children often bring Mum (or Dad) breakfast in bed, and it’s also a day when your friends and family have to pay if you go out for drinks or a meal!

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Charlotte Dutton

FROM MOUNTAINS TO MODELLING

Charlotte Dutton has two jobs. Half the year she’s a top model in Europe, and the other half she’s a professional snowboarder in Canada.

‘I love modelling and snowboarding,’ she says,’ but I have to be two different people! You need muscles to be a snowboarder, but you have to be slim to be a model. When I’m modeling I can’t eat anything fattening. But in the mountains it’s freezing, so you have to eat protein, cakes and chocolate. For jumps and turns, you have to be strong. Snowboarding is sometimes dangerous, and I often fall. But I have to be careful because I can’t break my leg and then go to Paris to model the best skirts. It’s funny – half the year I have to wear warm, baggy clothes and a crash helmet. Then I go to Europe for a season, and I have to wear beautiful designer clothes.’

Does she want to be a top international model or an Olympic snowboarder? The answer is she wants to be both – but when she’s much older, she dreams of living in a bakery and eating cakes all day!

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