Тексты для аннотирования и реферирования Текст 1

I. Read the text and answer the questions:

1. British people don't think about clothes very much, do they?

2. What do British people wear to restaurant?

3. What clothes do Americans wear on holidays?

4. Do people in these countries often wear formal clothes?

5. What is the difference between British and American fashion?

2. Write if these statements are true or false:

1. In Britain, as well as in the USA, men in offices usually wear jeans and women wear clothe they like.

2. Doctors, lawyers and business people wear quite formal clothes.

3. British people don‘t like to be comfortable. They always wear formal clothes.

4. In many ways, Americans are more relaxed than British people, and they are not careful with their clothes.

5. These days most people in Britain and the USA do not wear very formal clothes.

Fashion in the USA and Britain

Many British people don't think about clothes very much. In Britain, as well as in the USA, men in offices usually wear suits and ties and women wear dresses or skirts (not trousers). Doctors, lawyers and business people wear quite formal clothes.

And in some hotels and restaurants men have to wear ties and women wear smart dresses. Jeans and open shirts are sometimes not allowed. It is difficult to say exactly what people wear in Britain and the States because everyone is different. It you are not sure what to wear watch what other people do and then do the same. Or ask the advice of a friend or your host. You'll fell relaxed if you don't look too different from everyone else.

British people just like to be comfortable. When they go out to enjoy themselves, they can wear almost everything. At theaters, cinemas and concerts you can put on what you like — from elegant suits and dresses to jeans and sweaters.

In many ways, Americans are more relaxed than British people, but they are more careful with their clothes. At home or on holiday most Americans wear informal or sporty clothes. But when they go out in the evening, they like to look elegant. In good hotels and restaurants men have to wear jackets and ties and women wear pretty clothes and smart hairstyles. But these days most people in Britain and the USA do not wear very formal clothes. But sometimes it is important to wear the right thing.

Текст 2

1. Read the text and answer the questions:

1. What is meant by the term ‗occasions‘ in the article?

2. How many of the greetings cards sent in the USA are Hallmark cards?

3. How many of the cards sold in the USA are non-occasion cards?

4. Where did Hallmark base?

5. What do you think is the strangest type of non-occasion card mentioned?

2. Write if these statements are true or false:

1. Hallmark would prefer people to write each other letters, rather than send cards.

2. The market for cards has grown continuously from 1945 till now.

3. There are cards for people to send a friend whose dog has died.

4. There are cards to help a woman to make a date with a man.

5. There are cards to send people who have suffered any personal disaster you can imagine.

Mid-way between Father‘s Day (June 16th) and Halloween (October 31st) is the worst of times for American publishers of greeting cards. Despite their success in filling the calendar with ‗occasions‘ (Mother-in-law‘s Day is October 27th), people send fewer cards than at any other time of the year. Hallmark Cards, the leader with a 44% share of a market worth almost $5 billion a year, is trying to change that by reviving an old habit.

Just as illiterate people in some countries still pay scribes to write letters for them, Hallmark is trying to persuade today‘s too-busy-to-write Americans to let it express their sentiments for them. That is how this private company, based in Kansas City with 15,000 employees, is getting people to send cards even on days when there is no ‗occasion‘. This latest marketing idea is designed to boost sales in a market that threatens to stop growing for the first time since 1945.

Some industry insiders trace the birth of Hallmark‘s so-called ‗non-occasion‘ cards to a death-of-a-pet card the firm‘s 700-strong creative staff produced in 1984. Examples of non-occasion cards include a new line of adult-to-child cards, called ‗To Kids With Love‘, which Hallmark introduced in January 1989. The number of cards in this series has grown to 125. They are supposed to help children aged 7 to 14 (and their parents) cope with growing up.

Hallmark is so encouraged by the success of these cards that it has produced a series of 520 non-occasion cards for adults. Some seek to deepen friendships or simply to keep in touch. Others address almost every imaginable calamity, from loss of a job to mental illness.

Hallmark‘s two biggest competitors – American Greetings with 30% of the market and Gibson Greetings with 8% - have followed Hallmark‘s lead. Non-occasion cards now account for more than 10% of the 7.3 billion greeting cards sold in America each year. Nobody knows how big non-occasion cards can become. But they too will eventually reach saturation. Perhaps the industry‘s next marketing frontier will be to get customers to send cards to themselves.