Burns’ night

January 25 is the birthday of Scotland’s greatest poet Robert Burns¹. There are hundreds of Burns clubs in Britain and throughout the world; on the 25^th of January they mark the birth of Scotland's greatest poet. The first club was founded in 1802. Thousands of people drink a toast to the memory of Robert Burns. The traditional dishes are tasted. To the sounds of bagpipes there appear on the tables the traditional dishes of the festival dinner: chicken broth, boiled herring, and haggis – a typical Scottish dish. It is eaten with boiled turnip and potatoes. The dinner is followed by dancing, pipe music, and reciting Burns’ poems. The celebration ends with singing the poet’s famous Auld Lang Syne².

Shakespeare’s Birthday

Every year the anniversary of William Shakespeare’s birth is celebrated in Stratford-upon-Avon³. He was born on April 23, 1564. Flags were hung in the main street, people buy springs of rosemary⁴. A long procession goes along the streets to the church where everyone puts flowers at the poet’s grave. In the evening there is a performance in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre⁵.

The Shakespeare Birthday is celebrated from spring to autumn. So, when his birthday comes each year, people think of William Shakespeare, a son of Stratford.

The Edinburgh International Festival

The Edinburgh International Festival⁶ is held annually in August and September. The Festival is international as it gives a representation of artistic production from many countries. Leading musicians of the world take part in it.

The first Festival was held in 1947. The Edinburgh International Festival is one of the important events in the world.

1. Robert Burns – Роберт Бернс

2. Auld Lang Syne – песня «Забыть ли старую любовь»

3. Stratford-upon-Avon – Страдфорд-на-Эйвоне

4. springs of rosemary – веточки розмарина

5. the Royal Shakespeare Theatre – Королевский Шекспировский театр

6. The Edinburgh International Festival – Эдинбургский международный фестиваль

Vocabulary

Task 3. Give the Russian equivalents of the English words and word combinations:

a toast, memory, a bagpipe, boiled herring, haggis, performance, a representation of artistic production.

Task 4. Make up your own sentences with these words and word combinations.

Task 5. Find in the text the synonyms to the following words:

to celebrate, all over the world, to come into being, a soup, telling by heart, a tomb, every year.

Task 6. Find in the text the antonyms to the following words:

a usual dinner, to be ahead, not known, beginning.

Task 7. Match the words with their definitions:

haggis	anything that happens, something important
celebration	people moving forward
anniversary	Scottish dish of various parts of a sheep, cut up and cooked in a sheep’s stomach
procession	most important
event	an important day, the act of celebrating
leading	yearly return of the date

Grammar

Task 8.Word formation. Look at the words and fill in the table.

word	prefix	base word	suffix
annually		annual	ly
boiled
reciting
celebration
procession

Task 9. Find examples with the grammar material “Past Simple”, “Future Simple”, “the Possessive Case of the Noun” and translate them into Russian.

Task 10. Choose the right variant and explain your choice.

The first club was founded in 1802.

The first Festival were held in 1947.

A long procession will goes along the streets to the church.

Leading musicians of the world will take part in it.

The dinner was followed by dancing, pipe music, and reciting Burns’ poems.

Thousands of people drink a toast to the Robert Burns’s memory.

Task 11. Revise your Grammar. Check yourself consulting the following rules.

Past Indefinite (Simple) Прошедшее неопределенное время (Past Indefinite или Past Simple) образуется (во всех лицах) из второй формы глагола: Regular verbs: I worked we worked you worked you worked he, she, it worked they worked Irregular verbs: I spoke we spoke you spoke you spoke he, she, it spoke they spoke Past Simple употребляется: Для выражения обычного, регулярно повторяющегося действия в прошлом: Last year the celebration ended with singing the poet’s famous “Auld Lang Syne” as it always ended. Для выражения действия, совершенного в прошедшем времени и ничем не связанного с настоящим: William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564. В связанном повествовании для выражения ряда последовательных действий: The traditional dishes were tasted. To the sounds of bagpipes there appeared on the tables the traditional dishes of the festival dinner. The dinner was followed by dancing.

Future Indefinite (Simple) Будущее неопределенное время (Future Indefinite или Future Simple) образуется (во всех лицах) из вспомогательного глагола will + первая форма глагола: I will work we will work you will work you will work he, she, it will work they will work Future Simple употребляется: Для выражения обычного, регулярно повторяющегося действия в будущем: Next year the celebration will end with singing the poet’s famous “Auld Lang Syne” as it always ends. Для выражения действия в будущем: They will go to the Edinburgh International Festival in spring. Для выражения ряда последовательных действий в будущем: On W. Shakespeare’s birthday people will buy flowers and will go to the church where everyone will put them at the poet’s grave.

See also Lessons 2 and 8.

Task 12. Make up your own sentences using the grammar material.

Task 13. Choose the right sentences.

Robert Burns’ birthday - of Scotland’s greatest poet – is on January, 25.

Thousands of people drink a toast to Robert Burns memory.

The dinner is followed by dancing, pipe music, and reciting Burns’ poems.

Every year the anniversary of William’s Shakespeare birth is celebrated in Stratford-upon-Avon.

People go to the church where everyone puts flowers at the poet’s grave.

Leading musicians’ music is heard at the Edinburgh International Festival.

Foreigners should follow Englishman’s’ traditions in Britain.