andreeva_ln_volkovinskaia_lv_korziuk_nn_liudi_i_obshchestvo
.pdfto maintain your attitudes to hold your position
to die bravely
but much will blind you, much will evade you,
at what cost who knows?
The door itself makes no promises. It is only a door.
Task 4. Answer the following question.
What does “the door” in the poem symbolize?
T E X T 3
Pre-reading Activity
One minority group that has suffered from prejudice in many countries has been gypses. Why are gypses wanted out in many countries?
Reading Activity
Skim two stories and give your headlines to them.
1. As, after centuries of persecution, about 400,000 European gypsies died in concentration camps because the Nazis decided they were antisocial and criminal, talk of the inherent idleness of gypsies is considered to be in poor taste in polite circles.
In 1993 Vladimir Meciar, the Slovak Prime Minister, demanded the cutting of child benefits to gypsies to limit “the reproduction of socially inadaptable and mentally retarded people”.
Slovak villages have imposed curfews on gypsies and there have been numerous attacks culminating in the death of a 17-year-old who was burned alive in July last year.
In Austria six months earlier a mock gravestone was placed near the former Lackenbach concentration camp which held gypsies before they were sent to Auschwitz. Its inscription told gypsies to go back to India. When four gypsies tried to tear it down, a bomb exploded killing them all. Skinheads beat up mourners who gathered by the bomb site. The police did not intervene.
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Rallies in the Bulgarian capital Sofia have meanwhile seen banners reading “Turn Gypsies into soap”. Gypsies have been expelled from Bulgarian villages, burnt out of their homes and allegedly tortured to death in police stations. On one occasion last year, in the town of Rakitova, four gypsies were shot and 15 beaten in a co-ordinated armed assault by police and Bulgarian residents.
The depressing detail of how in country after country many would welcome the expulsion of gypsies can be found in an exhaustive report which will be released by Jewish Policy Research (JPR) next week. It draws comparisons with attitudes towards the Jews in the 1930s — which are no less true for being obvious.
A European Union without borders should appeal to gypsies, who have never had much time for the frontier posts and passports of the nation state. But the EU, in spite of showing concern about the treatment of gypsies in the East, had made it clear it does not want them roaming around Fortress Europe.
Germany, which has still not compensated the gypsy victims of Nazi sterilization programs, initially treated the flood of gypsy refugees from the violence in the post-communist states harshly. Gypsies were forced to live rough in Rostock where they were subsequently beaten up by neo-fascist rioters. But Germany soon decided it did not want gypsy asylum seekers on any terms. Between 40,000 and 50,000 have been deported since 1992. Some may have been looking for work in the rich West. Yet Germany has not granted one gypsy refugees status.
Britain, too, classes gypsies as bogus asylum-seekers and in the 1994 Criminal Justice Act made it virtually impossible for native gypsies to move around. The Act removed the obligation on councils to provide permanent sites for gypsies, thus forcing them on to the road. At the same time it ruled that any gathering of six or more vehicles in a field, wood or on a verge was a mass trespass which could result in three months in prison.
Who are the gypsies? The grim answer is that they are the victims of the greatest and least reported human rights scandal in Europe.
2. The way Jane Buckley protects her life and property is not much different to the method used by America’s Wild West frontiersmen.
Her compound in Willingham, Cambridgeshire, is circular and the doors of her three caravans face away from the compound’s entrance. From there, a narrow, gravel path opens on to enemy territory.
The largest caravan is used for cooking, eating and watching television. The others which are less modern, serve as bedrooms for herself and her three daughters. The compound resembles a farmyard: chickens peck, roosters strut and a sand-coloured dog warms himself in the sun.
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Last week the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Mrs. Buckley is not entitled to remain here against the wishes of Willingham district council, even though she owns the land. The council claims that, under planning laws, the caravans are an eyesore, detracting from the rural and open quality of the area.
Willingham feels itself under siege by gypsies. At meetings of Neighbourhood Watch, villagers have waved fists, called for vigilantes and the “burning-out” of travelers.
Post-reading Activity
Task 1. Look at these two headlines.
“GYPSIES LOSE THE RIGHT TO BE HUMAN” “GYPSIES HAVE BECOME THE JEWS OF EUROPE”
Which headline belongs to which of the stories you’ve just read? Explain your choice.
Task 2. Answer the following questions.
1.What European countries are highlighted in text 1 in respect to the situation of gypsies in Europe and where is their situation the worst?
2.Is there any difference between your country and Britain and other countries in Europe in the way gypsies are treated? Prove your opinion.
T E X T 4
Pre-reading Activity
1.Do you think it is right to speak about the nationality stereotype?
2.What definition can you give to the term “national stereotype”?
Reading Activity
(!) Read the text. Answer the following: What is the essence of the experimental ways of investigating stereotypes?
A SCHOLAR’S VIEW ON NATIONALITY STEREOTYPES
There are experimental ways of investigating stereotypes. One of the most obvious is to ask a group of people what traits characterize the Germans, the
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Italians, the Americans and so forth. Results of such studies on the whole agree fairly well with what might have been expected; there is considerable agreement between different people in any one nation regarding the most characteristic traits of other nations. There is even agreement between different nations: for instance the Americans and English with respect to other groups, and even, though less markedly, themselves. The Germans, for instance, are regarded as scientifically minded and industrious by English and Americans alike; they are also considered solid, intelligent, mathematical, extremely nationalistic, efficient and musical by the Americans, and arrogant, aggressive and over-nationalistic by the English. Italians are regarded as artistic, impulsive, passionate, quick-tempered, musical, religious, talkative, revengeful, lazy and unreliable by both.
Jews are believed to be shrewd, mercenary, industrious, intelligent, loyal to family, grasping, ambitious, sly and persistent. They are also credited with being very religious. The Chinese, as one would have expected, are looked upon with more favour by the English, who consider them industrious, courteous, meditative, intelligent and loyal to their families, than by the Americans, who consider them superstitious, sly, conservative, ignorant and deceitful. The French, needless to say, are sophisticated, talkative, artistic, passionate and witty, whereas the Russians are industrious, tough, suspicious, brave and progressive. The English consider themselves sportsmanlike, reserved, tradition-loving, conventional and intelligent; astonishingly enough, Americans agree, adding, however, that the English are also sophisticated, courteous, honest, industrious, extremely nationalistic, and, I hardly dare put this down, humourless! The Americans consider themselves industrious, intelligent, materialistic, ambitious, progressive, pleasure-loving, alert, efficient, straightforward, practical and sportsmanlike; the English agree that Americans are materialistic and pleasure-loving, but also consider them generous, talkative and, most widely used adjective of all, boastful.
The close agreement found in English and American groups is probably due to the fact that these stereotypes derive from books, films and other cultural media shared by both groups. It is unlikely that a comparison between stereotypes held by the Spaniards, Turks or Russians would show much agreement with those given here. To judge by German writings, it appears that, to the Germans, the average Englishman is “a clever and unscrupulous hypocrite; a man who, with superhuman ingenuity and foresight, is able in some miraculous manner to be always on the winning side; a person whose incompetence in business and salesmanship is balanced by an uncanny and unfair mastery of the diplomatic wiles; a cold-blooded, prescient, ruthless opportunist; a calculating and conceited egoist.” There is little resemblance between this picture of the Englishman, quoted from an account by Harold
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Nicolson, and another one given by him. “The French portrait of the Englishman is a picture of an inelegant, stupid, arrogant and inarticulate person with an extremely red face. The French seem to mind our national complexion more than other things. They attribute it to over-consumption of ill-cooked meat (O tempora! O mores!). They are apt, for this reason, to regard us as barbarians and gross. Only at one point does the French picture coincide with the German picture. The French share with the Germans the conviction of our hypocrisy…”
(H. J. Eysenck, Uses and Abuses of Psychology. Penguin Books, 1953)
Post-reading Activity
Task 1. Look through the above text again. Spot the adjectives characterizing the following nationalities.
The Germans, the Italians, the Russians, the Jews, the Chinese, the Americans, the English.
Task 2. State the differences and similarities in perceiving the English by the Germans and the French.
Task 3. Comment on the American and English opinions about themselves and each other.
T E X T 5
Pre-reading Activity
Here is a list of typical features of character of different nationalities. Choose the ones belonging to the English to your mind.
Conservative, tolerant, reserved, open-minded, easy-going, hospitable, trustworthy, undisciplined, too money minded, diligent workers, hidebound, good sense of humor, lazy, thrifty, vivacious, superior.
Reading Activity
(!) Read the text. See if the given characteristics corresponds to the list you’ve made.
THE ENGLISH
Almost every nation has a reputation of some kind. The English are reputed to be cold, reserved, rather haughty people who do not yell in the street, make
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love in public or change their governments as often as they change their underclothes. They are steady, easy-going, and fond of sport.
The English are a nation of stay-at-homes. There is no place like home, they say. “The Englishman’s home is his castle”, is a saying known all over the world; and it is true that English people prefer small houses, built to house one family, perhaps with a small garden.
The fire is the focus of the English home. What do the other nations sit around? The answer is they don’t. They go out to cafes or sit round the cocktail bar. For the English it is the open fire, the toasting fork and the ceremony of the English tea.
Foreigners often picture the Englishman dressed in tweeds, smoking a pipe, striding across the open countryside with his dog at his heels. This is a picture of the aristocratic Englishman during his holiday on his country estate. Since most of the countryside is privately owned there isn’t much left for the others to stride across. The average Englishman often lives and dies without ever having possessed a tweed suit.
Apart from the conservatism on a grand scale, which the attitude to the monarchy typifies, England is full of small scale and local conservatism, some of them of a highly individual or practical character. Regiments in the army, municipal corporations, schools and societies have their own private traditions, which command strong loyalties. Such groups have customs of their own, which are very reluctant to change, and they like to think of their private customs as differentiating them, as groups, from the rest of the world.
Most English people have been slow to adopt rational reforms such as the metric system, which came into general use in 1975. They have suffered inconvenience from adhering to old ways, because they did not want the trouble of adapting themselves to new. All the same, several of the most notorious symbols of conservatism are being abandoned. The twenty-four hour clock was at last adopted for the railway timetables in 1960s — though not for most other timetables, such as radio programs.
(Habits and Ways in Great Britain and in the USA.
I. A. Tenson, G. A. Voitova, 1978)
Post-reading Activity
Mark the statements as true (T) or false (F). Support your idea by some facts from books, films or your personal experience.
1.The English are reputed to be boastful, energetic and vulgar.
2.The traditions of five o’clock tea and toasting fork are closely connected with their home loving nature.
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3.The way the foreigners describe the English fully corresponds to the actual situation.
4.The English are generally adhered to old ways and traditions.
T E X T 6
Pre-reading Activity
Answer the following questions.
1.Do you know who the ancestors of the Belarusians are?
2.What features differ Belarusians from other nationalities?
3.What influences the formation of these qualities?
Reading Activity
(!) Read the text and see whether the description of a typical Belarusian corresponds to your personal view-point.
THE PEOPLE OF BELARUS
Have you ever thought what kind of person a Belarusian is? What kind of people are they? As a matter of fact, it is very difficult to give an answer to this question, for it is one that can hardly be answered at all.
There is a certain something about his appearance — very elusive though. It lies in the shape of his nose, ears, eye sockets and the set of the eyes themselves, his manner of moving about, gesticulating, speaking and many other things.
The general appearance is gentle, and the constitution may seem at first glance, a little delicate, but this is deceptive. The show of outward strength that might impress you for a moment and soon vanish is substituted here by endurance, wiriness, and staying power. Where another person might give up, the Belarusian will stick it out. Otherwise in ancient times they would not have survived in the midst of these thick forests and boundless swamps, on this unprolific land. This hardening has become a permanent part of their character. Not for nothing were Belarusians, even in old times, considered indispensable for such hard tasks as earth clearing and timber-drifting. Later also it was turned to good account, for instance in unbearably difficult war situations, and in partisan warfare.
Before the revolution public opinion often discredited the quiet, patient Belarusian, by making him out to be a “poor wretch”. This opinion arose in the thirties of the 19th century, and then it caught on. With generous compassion, with anguish and a bleeding heart, the great Hertzen wrote about him as a person
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who “had lost his tongue”. He said that many generations of serfs had given birth to this outcast with a narrow skulk the great Nekrasov portrayed him as inarticulate overburdened by toil. The same opinion has found an expression in the works of some Belarusian poets. All this was, midly speaking far from the truth. Those who lived with these people, who deeply understood their way of life were of a different opinion. Here are the words of the publicist Gruzinsky: “The current notion of the Belarusian pleasant type makes him out to be an unprepossessing feeble fellow down-trodden by a hard life in a marshy, barren country. My personal impression was otherwise. I saw him as strongly built, although rather gaunt… The main thing, however, is that I did not notice any trace of depression, or drooping spirits. His carriage and manner of speech differed from those of Great Russians in its deliberateness and restraint, but it showed rather a dignified self esteem, to be more exact, a deep pensiveness, not lacking in nobility. Expressive features are very frequently found, and there are many genuinely beautiful faces among the women and young girls”.
At the same time these people were, as always, instinctively conscious to the highest degree of the right and the wrong. Its main characteristics was a love of freedom.
Belarusians are noted for their generosity, and their unfailing willingness to come to your aid when you are in trouble.
Formerly, in time of famine, people from more prolific places used to come to Belarusians for help.
True, many ancient customs of hospitality are slowly going out of use. A city dweller is often not acquainted with the person living next door. However, even today you would hardly find a home where they would hesitate to give a guest an open-handed welcome.
Generally speaking, Belarusians are characterized by an innate respect for other peoples, and tolerance towards those who hold a different opinion. Naturally, there are deplorable exceptions but these are just exceptions, and nothing else.
A practical-minded man in real life, a Belarusian is a great fantasy-weaver, romanticist and dreamer in his ambitions.
This is why the Belarusian tales recorded by folk-lore collectors could not possibly be squeezed into even a hundred volumes. Such tales, by the way, are unparalleled by similar subjects in the folk-lore of the neighbouring peoples.
Post-reading Activity
Task 1. Write out phrases characterizing a typical Belarusian and arrange them in the order of priority from your point of view.
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Task 2. How does the author prove that under the simple sometimes delicate outlook strong character and staying power are hidden? Are you of the same opinion? Give the examples to support your idea.
Task 3. Can you contradict to Hertzen’s opinion about a Belarusian as a person who “had lost his tongue”?
LISTENING PRACTICE
TAPESCRIPT 1
Pre-listening Activity
Go through the following list of verbal combinations and translate them.
a)to stay on at school;
b)to earn a decent living;
c)to give the boat fare;
d)to make chocolate bars;
e)to get used to;
f)to be made to feel;
g)to treat somebody very differently.
Listening Activity
Task 1. Listen to the recording and choose the correct continuation for the following statements.
1.The girl left the shoe-factory and became a nanny because … à) she wanted to earn more money.
b)she wanted to work with children.
c)she had to work from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the factory.
2.The girl came to Slough, Buckinghamshire, as …
a)her father knew the place well.
b)the boat fare was cheap.
c)most of the people from her part of the country went there.
3.When the girl went back to Ireland people treated her differently because …
a)she was rich.
b)she had been to England.
c)she had been to college.
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Task 2. Listen to the recording again and give answers to the following questions.
1.Where did the girl find her first job in England?
2.What did the girl have to get used to in England?
3.How was the girl made to feel in England?
4.Where did the girl move to in the late 1960’s?
TAPESCRIPT 2
FIVE O’CLOCK NEWS
Pre-listening Activity
Task 1. a) First recall the definition of the terms “ethnic group” and “minority”.
b)Do you know any examples of the people’s persecution because of some ethnic peculiarities?
c)Have you ever heard about the minorities movement for equal rights?
Task 2. Get familiar with the meaning of the word which you’ll hear in the pieces of news.
a)to grant a judgment — to give or transfer by legal procedure;
b)a testimony — a statement made under oath or to established a fact;
c)a suit — any form of evidence, proof an action to secure justice in a court of law;
d)an attorney — a lawyer powered to act for another;
e)a sermon — a speech on religion or morals;
f)to be assassinated — to be murdered by an assassin;
g)a garbage man — a person who collects or clean out garbage.
Listening Activity
Task 1. Listen to two pieces of news and choose the best completion of the sentence.
1.The family has been granted $30 00 as …
a)a gift from IBM in New York.
b)the decision of the court against a landlord.
c)as an award from his company in Chicago.
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