Text two
Read the extract of the text. Define its general idea and genre (scientific, popular, science or fiction).
Equally marked were the contrasts in the countryside. The nobles, who were losing those social functions that had been their justification in the earlier Middle Ages, had acquired, in the French wars, settled habits of violence. They were evolving on the one hand, into modern landowners and, on the other, into gangster chiefs, each with his band of armed retainers, drawn from unemployed soldiers and those of the lesser gentry who had been unable to adapt themselves to the changed conditions.
In earlier times, the nobles had their own courts of Law. Now they used their armed followers to overawe and defy the local courts. Great nobles undertook to protect their followers from justice, and this practice, known as maintenance, became a permanent scandal. Nobody from members of Parliament down to the magistrates were secure from the menace of these bands. The fundamental cause of this political gangsterism was the decay of the great estates as economic units. Agricultural prices were falling and a corresponding fall in rent prevented the lords from restoring their positions at the expense of their tenants. For a time war plunder and the profits of war contracting gave them a partial solution: however, with the ending of the Hundred Years’ War, the only means left by which many great lords could increase their income was real brigandage.
Commentary
On the one hand… on the other hand – с одной стороны, с другой стороны.
For a time – на некоторое время, некоторое время, временно.
Text three
Translate in writing the extract into Russian.
The Age Of “Compromise”
The term “compromise” is an early concept in any study of Victorian England. The society of these years (the 1850s) represents a series of compromises. There were of course many protests against this society, but during this decade no really important changes were made: these came later. The principle of “Live and let live” was at work, even if only within certain well-defined limits. It encouraged a decent piety and, failing that, at least an obvious respectability. The upper class and the middle class (especially if it had money) came closer together. The Reform Bill, dating back to 1832, leaving five men out of six without a vote because they were not £10 householders, was already out of date, but there would not be another Reform Bill, enlarging the franchise, until 1867. The new oligarchy the old Bill had helped to create had settled down and felt quite comfortable. The English system avoided revolution or indeed any startling radical changes by opening the Establishment to any new powerful class. In politics and actual government, as distinct from the general tone and style of society, the upper class in the 1850s was still surprisingly dominant. The foreground in the Westminster scene was filled with Lords. Room had to be made for a few commoners, notably Disraeli, and Gladstone who became Chancellors of the Exchequer, but it was the Lords who took over most of the chief ministries, no matter how often cabinets were formed. It would be many years before a popular wit like W. S. Gilbert could raise a laugh by saying that the House of Lords did nothing in particular and did it very well. In the 1850s the House of Lords did a great deal, though not always very well. Quite apart from accepting or rejecting bills already passed by the Commons, this ‘other House’ still had a considerable influence on the actual composition of the Commons. In the country elections a local peer, a great landowner who was important both in his economic patronage and his social pull, might easily decide what safe men should represent the constituency. Many men who resented his patronage and pull might not have had any vote, or, if they had, would find it hard to influence other voters. These might know only well how their bread could be buttered or might act out of downright snobbery. For one result of the upper class and the more affluent middle class coming together, no longer glaring at one another across a barrier, was the rapid spread of social snobbery.
Commentary
Franchise – право участвовать в голосовании, право голоса.
The Establishment – истэблишмент, власть имущие, правящие круги.
The Westminster scene – (зд.) парламент.
Disraeli – Бенджамин Дизраэли (1804-1881), премьер-министр Великобритании в 1868 и 1874-1880 гг.; лидер консервативной партии. В 1852, 1858-59, 1866-68-министр финансов. Правительство Дизраэли вело политику колониальных захватов (захват Кипра в 1878 г., подготовка аннексии Египта и др.).
Gladstone – Вильям Гладстон (1809-1898), премьер-министр Великобритании в 1868-1874 гг., 1880-85, 1886-94 гг.; лидер либеральной партии с 1868 г. Правительство Гладстона подавляло национально-освободительное движение в Ирландии. В 1882 г. осуществило захват Египта.
But it was the Lords who took over most of the chief ministries – но именно члены палаты лордов возглавляли большинство важнейших министерств.
No longer – уже не, больше не.
This question is no longer important to him. – Этот вопрос для него уже не важен.
He could stay no longer here. – Он больше не мог здесь оставаться.
Glossary
Foreground – the main position;
social pull – ties;
piety – respect for God and religion;
householder – someone who owns or is in charge of a house;
startling – very unusual or surprising;
dominant – stronger, more powerful or more noticeable than other people or things;
to make room (for) – to give opportunity;
commoner – someone who is not a member of a noble family;
to form a cabinet – to establish a cabinet;
to accept
a bill
– to take something that someone offers you,
to reject
– to refuse something that someone offers you,
to pass
– to accept something that someone offers you officially;
country elections – выборы местных органов власти;
patronage – support, especially financial;
constituency – an area of the country that elects a representative to a Parliament;
to resent – to feel angry or upset about the situation;
affluent – having plenty of money so you can buy expensive things;
no longer – уже не, больше не.