Comprehension check

I. Answer the questions based on the text.

1. What do you think of wedding superstitions?

2. What is the meaning of dowry?

3. What necessary elements the bride's wedding outfit should include?

4. What are the taboos the bride should observe?

5. What are the obstacles a newly-married couple should negotiate?

6. What is the most important item of the wedding feast?

II. Give Russian equivalents for the following English expressions:

to become loaded with, to bless the marriage with fortune and fertility, an eligible bachelor, a large dowry, to symbolize pu­rity, a lucky omen, to negotiate some obstacles, a fruitful marriage.

3. Are these sentences true or false?

1. The wedding ceremony is full of ritual practices in order to make it more interesting.

1. Many modern couples marry in May in order to save money.

2. The bride's outfit should include something old and borrowed not to waste money.

3. The chimney sweep is paid to attend the ceremony in order to entertain the guests.

2. The most important item is the wedding cake as it is very tasty.

4. You are going to marry an Englishman. Discuss with your friend what wedding superstitions you should follow.

Easter. Christmas.

Pre-reading activity

1. What Russian holidays do you like most of all? How are they usually celebrated?

2. What British holidays do you know? Are they different from ours?

At Easter the British celebrate the idea of the new birth by giving each other chocolate Easter eggs, which are opened and eaten on Easter Sunday. On Good Friday bakers sell hot cross buns, which are toasted and eaten with butter. Easter Monday is a holiday and many people travel to the seaside for the day or go and watch one of the many sporting events as football or horseracing.

Egg-rolling is a traditional Easter pastime which still flourishes in Northern England, Scotland, Ulster, the Isle of Man, and Switzerland. It takes place on Easter Sunday or Monday, and consists of rolling colored, hard-boiled eggs down a slope until they are cracked and broken after which they are eaten by their owners. In some districts, this is a competitive game, the winner being a player whose egg remains longest undamaged, but more usually, the fun consists simply of the rolling and eating. This is evidently the older form of the custom, since egg-rolling does not appear to have been originally a game to be lost or won.

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If you try to catch a train on the 24^th of December you may have difficulty in finding a seat. This is the day when many people are traveling home to be with their families on Christmas Day, December 25^th. For most British families, this is the most important festival of the year; it combines the Christian celebration of the birth of Christ, with the traditional festivities of winter.

On the Sunday before Christmas many Churches hold a carol service where special hymns are sung. Sometimes carol-singers can be heard on the streets as they collect money for charity. Most families decorate their houses with brightly-coloured paper or holly, and they usually have a Christmas tree in the corner of the front room, glittering with coloured lights and decorations.

There are a lot of traditions connected with Christmas but perhaps the most important one is the giving of presents. Family members wrap up their gifts and leave them at the bottom of the Christmas tree to be found on Christmas morning. Children leave a long sock or stockings at the end of their bed on Christmas Eve, December 24^th, hoping that Father Christmas will come down the chimney during the night and bring them small presents, fruits and nuts. They are usually not disappointed. At some time on Christmas Day

the family will sit down to a big turkey dinner followed by Christmas pudding. They will probably pull a cracker with another member of the family. It will make a loud crack and a coloured hat, small toy and joke will fall out! Later in the afternoon they may watch the Queen on television as she delivers her traditional Christmas message to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. If they have room for even more food they may enjoy a piece of Christmas cake or eat a hot mince pie.