Easy English (начальный этап обучения). Учебно-методическое пособие для студентов младших курсов средних специальных учебных заведений

Dialogue “Where do you live?”

-Hi, Jim! How are you?

-Hi, Sam. I’m alright. Thanks. And you?

-Thank you, I’m well. I haven’t seen you for ages.

-Oh, I’ve been moving to a new flat.

-Where do you live now?

-We have a flat in a new district in the suburb. It’s a quiet place.

-How many bedrooms do you have?

-We have three bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, a hall, a bathroom and a toilet.

-Wow! You have your own room now. I remember at your old place you have to share the room with your sister.

-Yes, we all live in our own rooms – my parents, my sister and me. My bedroom is very spacious and light. There is a bed, a desk, a chair and a wardrobe there.

-How about the living room? Is it large?

-Yes, it is. It’s very cozy and nice. We have a big sofa with many cushions on it and two armchairs. There is a TV set in front of the sofa.

It’s not only for watching films. We also sing karaoke, watch DVD and play computer games on it.

-Sounds exciting!

-I want to invite you to our place. Come this Sunday!

-With pleasure. I like singing karaoke and I would like to see your new bedroom.

-You’re welcome!

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Topic 4

Halloween

Halloween is a festival that takes place on the 31st of October. In the United States and Great Britain children wear costumes and masks and go trick-or-treating. Many of them carve jack-o’-lanterns out of pumpkins. Fortunetelling and storytelling about ghosts and witches are popular activities.

Halloween developed from New Year festivals and festivals of the dead. Christian church established a festival on the 1st of November called All Saints’ Day so that people could continue to celebrate their festivals. The Mass said on All Saints’ Day was called Allhallowmass. The day before All Saints’ Day was known as All Hallows’ Eve or All Hallow e’en.

The main Halloween activity for children is trick-or-treating. Children dress in costumes and masks and go from door to door saying "trick or treat". The neighbours give children such treats as candy, fruit and pennies so that children do not play tricks on them.

Jack-o’-lanterns are hollowed-out pumpkins with face carved on one side. Most jack-o’-lanterns contain a candle inside. An Irish legend says that jack-o’-lanterns are named after the man called Jack. He could not enter heaven because he was a miser, and he could not enter hell because he had played jokes on devil. As a result, Jack has to walk on the earth with his lantern until Judgement Day.

College students and other young adults may attend masquerade parties. At most Halloween parties, prizes are given for the best costumes. Bobbing for apples, playing scary games and snacking on caramel apples, candy, apple cider and pumpkin pie are all part of the fun.

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Fortunetelling is an important part of Halloween. For example, a

coin, a ring, and a thimble were baked into a cake. It was believed that the

person who found the coin would become wealthy. The one who found the

ring would marry soon. And the person who found the thimble would

never get married. Today people practice cardreading or palmistry.

People once believed that there were many ghosts and witches on the

Earth and that they met on October 31 to worship the devil. Today, people

do not believe in ghosts and witches but they like to tell stories about them

on Halloween.

Vocabulary

Wear costumes and masks – носить костюмы и маски

Trick-or-treat – игра «шутка или угощение» To carve – вырезать

Jack-o-lantern – фонарь из тыквы Pumpkin – тыква

Fortunetelling – предсказывание судьбы Ghost – привидение

Witch – ведьма

Christian church – христианская церковь

To establish – учреждать To celebrate – праздновать

All Saints Day (All Hallows) – День всех Святых

Mass – месса Eve – канун

Candle – свеча Heaven – небеса Hell – ад

Judgement Day – Судный день The Earth – Земля

Attend masquerade parties – посещать костюмированные вечеринки

Prize – приз

Apple cider – яблочный сидр

Bobbing for apples – игра «поймай яблоко»

Cardreading – гадание на картах

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Palmistry – гадание по ладони (хиромантия)

Answer the questions!

1.When do people celebrate Halloween?

2.What countries celebrate Halloween?

3.What do people celebrate on the 1st of November?

4.What are the popular activities on Halloween?

5.What is jack-o-lantern?

6.What do college students and young adults attend?

7.What is Halloween food?

8.Do you know the traditional colours of Halloween?

9.What is a symbol of Halloween?

10.What are the main characters of Halloween?

11.Do you celebrate Halloween?

12.Do you find this festival interesting or funny?

13.Why don’t you celebrate this holiday?

Complete the sentences!

1.People celebrate Halloween …

2.The main symbols of Halloween are …

3.The traditional colours of Halloween are …

4.… is a lantern made of pumpkin.

5.The Halloween food is …

6.On the 1st of November people celebrate …

7.The main characters of Halloween are …

8.Children wear scary costumes to …

9.The Halloween’s activities include …

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Dialogue “Why do you celebrate Halloween? /Why not?”

-Hi, Alice! How are you doing?

-Hi! Thanks, I’m Ok. And you?

-All right. Thank you. Hmmm… You’re wearing a masquerade costume… What for?

-It’s Halloween today. We’re going to have a party. Do you want to go with me?

-Thank you. But actually, I don’t.

-Why not?

-I don’t celebrate Halloween. I think the Russian people shouldn’t celebrate this pagan British festival. We have a lot of other festivals and holidays. I respect our traditions.

-But all this dressing up is theatrical. We just want to have fun with our friends. It’s very exciting to wear costumes and masks, watch horror movies together, tell ghost stories and play games.

-Well, tastes differ.

Topic 5

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day comes on the fourth Thursday in November. Every year, the President writes a kind of letter to the people. He writes that the fourth Thursday in November will be a national holiday. All the stores, banks, schools, and offices close. The people can spend Thanksgiving Day with their families.

When the first English colonists landed in 1620 near Cape Cod, Massachusetts, their first year was very hard. The winter was much colder than they were used to, and many people died. They did not mark the

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graves because they did not want the Indians to know how many were dead. But they had little trouble with the Indians.

Some Indians made friends with the Pilgrims (the original English settlers in America, the colonists who came to Massachusetts by the ship

“The Mayflower”, they were Puritans and made the long journey to find religious freedom). They showed them how to plant corn. They helped them with fishing and trapping. Conditions began to improve in the spring of 1621. The Pilgrims planted a large crop. In the fall they had a good harvest. There were wild vegetables, berries and fruit. Fish and game were plentiful. The colonists' health improved with the warm weather and their better food.

In the fall, they looked back over the past year. They were both regretful and thankful. Only fifty of the original one hundred passengers remained. The price in human lives and tragedy has been great. On the other hand, they saw new hope for the future. They wanted to celebrate the end of their first year in their new home with a real holiday. Governor Bradford decided on December 13, 1621, as the day of giving thanks to God.

Today, the fourth Thursday in November is the biggest travel day in America and many people fly, drive and take trains to be with their families for Thanksgiving dinner.

A traditional Thanksgiving dinner includes a roasted turkey (served with gravy and cranberry sauce), lots of vegetables, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and much more. The most popular dessert is pumpkin pie with whipped cream on top.

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Vocabulary

Thursday – четверг

To land – высаживаться

To die – умирать

Grave – могила

The Indians – индейцы

Settlers – поселенцы

To plant – сажать

Corn – кукуруза

To trap – ставить капканы

To improve - улучшать

Crop – урожай

Fall – осень

Harvest – урожай

Vegetables – овощи

Game – дичь

Regretful – полный сожаления

To remain – оставаться

To decide – решать

To give thanks/thank – благодарить

To include – включать в себя

A roasted turkey – жареная индейка

Gravy – подливка (из сока жаркого)

Cranberry sauce – клюквенный соус

Mashed potatoes – картофельное пюре

Whipped cream – взбитые сливки

Answer the questions!

1.When does Thanksgiving Day come?

2.When and where did the first English colonists land in America?

3.Was their first year hard?

4.Who helped them?

5.Why did the colonists want to celebrate the end of their first year?

6.What does the traditional Thanksgiving dinner include?

7.What is the most popular dessert?

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Complete the sentences!

1.People celebrate Thanksgiving Day …

2.The main symbol of this holiday is …

3.The Pilgrims arrived in the New World on a ship called … in …

4.The first English colonists landed near …

5.The … saved the settlers.

6.Usually people spend the holiday with …

7.A traditional Thanksgiving dinner includes …

8.The most popular dessert is …

Topic 6

Books and Reading

The world of books is enormous. Many people are fond of reading and their interests are different. There are many genres of books around us. They can be divided into fiction and non-fiction books.

Non-fiction books contain real information and are used for education and work. They are reference books, dictionaries, atlases, biographies and autobiographies, scientific reports, textbooks and encyclopedias. In reference books as well as in encyclopedias you can find facts about different objects and famous people, about countries and animals. At school we use dictionaries to learn the meanings of words. Biographies are a good source of information. Sometimes they can also be a pleasant reading. For example, the biography of Moliere by Bulgakov, or of Tchaikovsky by Nina Berberova. Historical books describe different epochs and reigns of kings and queens.

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Fiction books are written to give pleasure. They are also called

belles-lettres. This word is mostly used when we speak about stories,

novels and romances. «War and Peace» by Leo Tolstoy is an example of

fiction. But the young usually prefer fantasy books and science fiction.

The difference between them is the following: fantasy books usually

describe the events and countries in the form of a legend and narrate about

the past. A good example of fantasy is «Conan the Barbarian»; science

fiction books describe events in the future, the characters and places are

given as imaginary and usually take place in the future. «Starship

Troopers» by Heinlein, «The Invisible Man» by Herbert Wells are

examples of the style.

Vocabulary

Enormous – огромный

To be divided into – разделенный на что-либо

Fiction – художественная литература

Non-fiction – документальная литература

Contain – содержать

Education – образование

Reference books – справочник

Scientific – научный

Dictionary – словарь

Meaning – значение

Pleasant – приятный

Describe – описывать

Reign – правление

Pleasure – удовольствие

Belles-lettres – беллетристика

Science fiction – научная фантастика

Difference – отличие

Events – события

To narrate – повествовать

Imaginary – воображаемый, нереальный

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Arrange these words into two columns!

Atlas, fairy-tale, autobiography, science fiction, cookery book, thriller, romantic novel, dictionary, directory, encyclopedia, detective,

biography, reference book, guidebook, poetry, novel, text book, fantasy.

My Favourite Book

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien “The Lord of the Rings”

My favourite book is a fantasy novel “The Lord of the Rings” written by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. The novel is set in the fictional world Middle-earth. The main character of the story is a hobbit. His name is Frodo Baggins. He is a very brave little hobbit who fights against the powers of darkness in order to save the peace in his world. I think that this novel is a praise to courage and friendship. It is a triumph of good over evil. The book has made a very good impression on me.

Robert Heinlein «Starship troopers»

As for me I like science fiction most of all. My favourite science fiction book is «Starship troopers». The author of the book is Robert

Heinlein. It has been filmed, but I don't like the film, which is very primitive. The plot of the book, on the contrary, is complex and there are many philosophical ideas built in the sequence of fantastical events and surroundings. The main character of the book is a boy named Johnny. The

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