III. Answer the questions:

1. When did the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant take place?

2. What effect did it have on the life in Ukraine?

3. What memorable dates in the history of Ukraine are known to you?

4. What state was set up within the boundaries of the present-day Ukraine in the IX

century?

5. When did Kyivan Rus rise to the peak of its development?

6. What did the beginning of the XIII century see?

7. Who headed the liberation war of the Ukrainian people against the Poles?

8. How long did the Ukrainian people fight for independence?

9. When did Ukraine gain its independence?

10.What do you know about hetmans of the Ukraine?

IV. Find in the text the English equivalents for the expressions below:

1. независимое государство

2. известное нам из различных источников

3. племена, населяющие Украину

4. устанавливать руководство над кем-то

5. волны варваров прокатились по территории Украины

6. которые постепенно расширяло свои земли

7. обращать в другую веру

8. феодальная раздробленность

9. отсутствие согласованных действий

10.объявлена полная независимость

11.соперничать за превосходство

12.движение в поддержку за независимость

V. Give the Russian equivalents for:

1. public figures

2. in a fit of ultra-patriotic fillings

3. to go deep into the murky prehistoric past

8

4. to contribute to the emergence and development

5. from various sources

6. the earliest tribes inhabiting Ukraine

7. to establish somebody’s hegemony over something

8. substantial evidence

9. a process of feudal disintegration

10.the lack of any concerted action against the invader

11.a war of independence

12. to sign a union treaty

13.a massive disruption

14.to vie for supremacy

VI. Make up 3-5 questions about each period in Ukrainian history. See if other students can answer them.

Provide the correct answers.

VII. Which period of Ukrainian history requires more substantiated

research? Which period awakes more disputes among scholars? Prove

your viewpoint.

Ukrainian style

I. Study the following words:

1. resurrection [ ] – воскрешение

2. holy [ ] – святой, священный

3. Hebrew [ ] – еврей

4. Testament [ ] – завет

5. devout [ ] – благочестивый

6. icon [ ] – икона

7. ailment [ ] – недомогание

8. revelry [ ] – бурное веселье

9. abstinence [ ] – воздержание

10. staple[ ] – основная черта, основной продукт

11.dumpling [ ] – клёцка

12.buckwheat [ ] – гречиха

13.flour [ ] – мука

14.toboggan [ ] –кататься на санях

15.carnal [ ] – плотский, телесный

16.penitence [ ] – раскаяние

17.salvation [ ] – спасение

18.substitute [ ] – заменять

19.adorn [ ] – украшать

20.fast [ ] - поститься

II. Read and translate the text

Spring comes to Ukraine rather early, not so much in a seasonal sense but

rather in a spiritual sense – the Orthodox Christians begin to prepare themselves

properly for the Christian holy day of Easter that commemorates Christ’s

resurrection. For Orthodox Christians, it is probably the holiest day of the year

(in Ukrainian, Easter is called "Paskha" – from Latin-Greek “Pasch of Pascha”

derived from Hebrew “pesah” and “Velykden” – “The Great Day”).

Spiritual preparation begins on February 15 (the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

continues to use the Julian calendar which is thirteen days behind the Gregorian

calendar) when Stritennia Hospodne is observed; it is a church festival in

commemoration of the presentation of Christ in the temple and the purification of

the Virgin Mary, (called Candle mass in English). According to on age-old

Ukrainian folk tradition, it is the day when the winter meets the summer halfway.

The sacral meaning of the festival lies in the meeting of the Old and New

Testaments in the persons of Simeon, a devout man of Jerusalem, and of the child

Jesus.

On Stritennia Hospodne the faithful come to church to have the water and

candles they bring with them consecrated. These candles are called

“hromnychny” (“protecting against thunder”) because traditionally they used to

be lighted and put before icons during the thunderstorms as protection against

lightning striking the house. These days, when the roofs of the houses are no

longer mode of straw and have lightning rods, people use such candles

consecrated by the priest on Stritennia Hospodne as a general protection against

evil. The water consecrated on Stritennya Hospodne is believed to have some

medicinal and curative properties; particularly helpful it is in cases when the

ailment has been caused by the ill-wisher’s “evil eye.”

At the end of February and in early March, Masliana (Mardi Gras) is

observed during the last week before Lent. In some countries it is a carnival

period somewhat extravagantly celebrated (like, for example, in New Orleans,

USA) with music, dance and general revelry. In Ukraine, the celebrations are

generally more restrained but in the past few years they have begun to acquire the

character of a public festival full of merriment and even celebratory abandon.

During Masliana, the Ukrainian church tradition requires abstinence from

meat and that is why the staple diet is mode up of varenyky z syrom (a kind of

dumplings stuffed with cottage cheese and usually served with sour cream) and

hrechani mlyntsi (pancakes mode from buckwheat flour). In the country side,

evening parties are held during the period of Masliana; young people toboggan

down the slopes of hills, build “snow fortresses,” play snowballs and in general

make merry.

Velyky Pist (“Great Fast;” Lent)

It is a period when both the body and soul of the Orthodox Christians are put

to the test. The Orthodox Christian Church established certain restraints to be

observed by the faithful during the seven weeks between Masliana and

Velykden’. It is a period of fasting, abstinence and general self-denial; also, one is

supposed to be particularly careful not to succumb to anger, to avoid offending

anyone by speech or by deed, not to lie, and so on. All kinds of entertainment,

private and public, used to be strictly forbidden (the only kind of music one was

allowed to listen to was religious singing). No sexual congress was allowed for

married couples (needless to say, extramarital relations were strictly forbidden)

and all carnal thoughts were to be suppressed. Xerophagy was encouraged; meat,

fish and diary products were to be abstained from; oil and wine were allowed in

small quantities on religious feasts and Sundays. In our time, the number of those

who observe the Lenten fast strictly is not too big but it should be remembered

that abstinence and self-denial during Lent are not ends in themselves. Penitence

is the most important part – penitence aimed at the salvation of our immortal

soul.

The first day of Lent is called “pure – or clean – Monday” because on that

day begins “the purification” — the expiation of sins (also, no food is allowed to

be cooked and cooking pots remain “clean”). Every week of Lent has a name: the

first one, for example, is called The Triumph of Orthodoxy.

The Sunday before Passion Week commemorates the solemn and triumphal

entrance of Christ into Jerusalem. “On the next day much people that were come

to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches

of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna...” (John

12:12,13). “Hosanna in highest, blessed He that cometh in the name of the Lord!”

Since no palms grow in Ukraine (except on the southern coast of the Crimea),

budding willow branches are substituted for the palm fronds. Hence the

Ukrainian name for Palm Sunday — Willow of Budding Sunday. The willow

branches are consecrated in church and then people’s homes are adorned with

them.