Reading and Comprehension. Учебно-методическое пособие по практике английского языка

9.He thinks Cranberry sauce goes well with turkey.

10.He enjoys Christmas shopping.

11.He seems to prefer a rather traditional Christmas.

More activities on this topic

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of

Christmas at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christmas

Magazine article: https://www.officeholidays.com/holidays/christmas-day Word game: https://www.word-game-world.com/christmas-word-games.html Christmas activity: https://www.shutterfly.com/ideas/christmas-activities/

SAINT PATRICK'S DAY

St. Patrick is the patron saint and national apostle of Ireland. He was born in the fourth century and is famous for bringing Christianity into Ireland. St. Patrick’s Day

is a very well known Irish national holiday, which is celebrated not only in Ireland but all around the world. It falls on the 17th of March.

History of St. Patrick

St. Patrick was born to wealthy parents in the late fourth century. Until the age of 16, he thought of himself as a pagan. He was kidnapped and sold as a slave at this age by Irish marauders. It was during this capture that he turned to God. He managed

to escape after being a slave for six years and then studied in a monastery in Gaul for

12 years. This was when he knew that his ‘calling’ was to try and convert all the pagans in Ireland to Christianity.

St. Patrick went around Ireland founding monasteries and successfully converting people to Christianity. The Celtic Druids were very unhappy with him and tried to arrest him several times but he always managed to escape.

After 30 years of being a missionary in Ireland, he finally settled down in a place called County Down. He died on the 17th of March, AD 461.

Legend and Folklore

Shamrocks, leprechauns and the blarney stone are associated with St. Patrick’s

Day. Shamrocks are three-leaved clovers found growing in patches on grass. You are thought to be lucky if you find a four-leaved clover, so do keep it if you ever come across one!

Leprechauns are little Irish fairies, and they are thought to work as shoe-makers for other fairies. The Irish say that if a leprechaun is caught by a human, he will reveal where he hides his pot of gold. On this day, pictures of shamrocks and leprechauns are hung everywhere. Some people even dress up as leprechauns complete with their big green hats!

The village of Blarney is situated northwest of the Irish city of Cork. Blarney comes from the Irish word ‘An blarna’, meaning the plain. Blarney Castle is a very

famous castle in this village and is 90 feet tall. The world famous Blarney Stone is on the top story. It is said that if one kisses this stone, one will be given the gift of eloquence,

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meaning to have beautiful speaking abilities. Nowadays, the word blarney means the ability to influence and coax with fair words and soft speech without offending.

Legend also says that St. Patrick could raise people from the dead. He is wellknown for driving the snakes out of Ireland, although many people dispute how true this is! Another great story was how he used the shamrock, with its three leaves,

to explain the Holy Trinity (the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost) to his followers.

What Do People Do on St. Patrick’s Day?

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated world-wide with people dancing and singing in Irish pubs, watching the St. Patrick’s Day parade, drinking ‘green’ beer, wearing

green clothes and just generally having a good time. Children in Ireland have a tradition of pinching their friends who don’t wear green on this day!

Traditional Food and Drink on St. Patrick’s Day

Bacon and cabbage is what most people have on this day. Another popular dish is Irish soda bread and potato pancakes. Irish pub owners go crazy on this day, putting green food colouring into their beers and traditional Irish Guinness Stout is a sell out in all Irish pubs! People also drink lots of Irish coffee, which is made with warm whiskey, sugar, coffee and topped off with cream. Sounds delicious? It is!

Irish Proverbs

The Irish have many proverbs but here are some favourites.

Better the coldness of a friend than the sweetness of an enemy.

Be nice to them on the way up. You might meet them all on the way down.

Let your anger set with the sun and not rise again with it.

Irish Humour

The Irish are famous for their jokes and good nature. Here’s an example: Definition of an Irish husband: He hasn’t kissed his wife in 20 years but he will kill any man who does! Now that you know almost everything about St. Patrick’s Day, go out

on March the 17th and enjoy yourselves! Why not try and spot a leprechaun or two to find your pot of gold…? Whatever it may be, don’t forget to wear green on this

special day!

After reading

Exercise 1

Decide if each of the following 8 questions is True are False.

1.Before the Fourth Century the people of Ireland knew a lot about Christianity.

2.St. Patrick is famous for introducing Christianity to Ireland.

3.St. Patrick was a slave all his life.

4.Four-leaved clovers are very easy to find.

5.The Irish believe that leprechauns like to catch humans and steal their money.

6.People kiss the Blarney stone because they believe it will help them become beautiful speakers.

7.Irish coffee is made with alcohol.

8.On St. Patrick’s Day people usually dress in green.

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More activities on this topic

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of Ireland at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Saint-Patricks-Day.

•Wordgame: https://www.digipuzzle.net/education/stpatricksday./ https://www.esolcourses.com/topics/saint-patricks-day.html.

•Poem: An Irish Airman Foresees His Death. This poem graphically illustrates how it felt to be an Irishman fighting for the Allies.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57311/an-irish-airman-foresees-his-death.

YOU AND YOUR DATA

On Safer Internet Day let’s take a closer look at who uses our online data, what it’s used for and what we can do to protect it.

Before reading

Do the preparation task first. Then read the article and do the exercises.

Preparation task

Match the definitions (a–h) with the vocabulary (1–8).

You and your data

As the internet and digital technology become a bigger part of our lives, more of our data becomes publicly accessible, leading to questions about privacy. So, how do we interact with the growing digital world without compromising the security

of our information and our right to privacy? Imagine that you want to learn a new language. You search ‘Is German a difficult language?’ on your phone. You click on a link and read an article with advice for learning German. There’s a search function

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to find German courses, so you enter your city name. It asks you to activate location ser- vices to find courses near you. You click ‘accept’. You then message a German friend

to ask for her advice. When you look her up on social media, an advertisement for

a book and an app called German for Beginners instantly pops up. Later the same day, while you’re sending an email, you see an advert offering you a discount at a local lan-

guage school. How did they know? The simple answer is online data. At all stages

of your search, your devices, websites and applications were collecting data on your preferences and tracking your behaviour online. ‘They’ have been following you.

Who uses our data and why?

In the past, it was easy for people to keep track of their personal information.

Like their possessions, people’s information existed mostly in physical form: on paper,

kept in a folder, locked in a cupboard or an office. Today, our personal information can be collected and stored online, and it’s accessible to more people than ever before.

Many of us share our physical location, our travel plans, our political opinions, our shopping interests and our family photos online – as key services like ordering a takeaway meal, booking a plane, taking part in a poll or buying new clothes now

take place online and require us to give out our data. Every search you make, service you use, message you send and item you buy is part of your ‘digital footprint’. Compa- nies and online platforms use this ‘footprint’ to track exactly what we are doing, from

what links we click on to how much time we spend on a website. Based on your online activity, they can guess what you are interested in and what things you might want to buy. Knowing so much about you gives online platforms and companies a lot of power and a lot of money. By selling your data or providing targeted content, companies can turn your online activity into profit. This is the foundation of the growing industry of digital marketing.

Can you protect your data?

Yes … and no!

Some of the time our personal data is shared online with our consent. We post our birthday, our photographs and even our opinions online on social media. We know that this information is publicly accessible. However, our data often travels further than we realise, and can be used in ways that we did not intend. Certain news scandals about data breaches, where personal data has been lost, leaked or shared without consent, have recently made people much more aware of the potential dan-

gers of sharing information online. So, can we do anything to protect our data? Or should we just accept that in fact nothing is ‘free’ and sharing our data is the price

we have to pay for using many online services? As people are increasingly aware of and worried about data protection, governments and organisations are taking a more active role in protecting privacy. For example, the European Union passed the General Data Protection Law, which regulates how personal information is collected online. However, there is still much work to be done. As internet users, we should all have a say in how our data is used. It is important that we pay more attention to how data is acquired, where it is stored and how it is used. As the ways in which we use the internet continue to grow and change, we will need to stay informed and keep demanding new laws and regulations, and better information about how to protect ourselves. Safer Internet Day is an ideal time to find out more about this topic.

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You can find more information at: https://www.saferinternetday.org/.

Tasks

Task 1

Are the sentences true or false?

Task 2

Complete the sentences with the words.

1. Our devices, websites and applications collect ………………………………

about our online behaviour.

2.Until recently, many people were not ……………………………… of how much of their personal information was collected and shared.

3.Information about products you are interested in is used to create ……………

advertising.

4.The news of how certain applications used people’s private information caused a ………………………………

5.People felt their information had been used for purposes that they had not agreed to, without their ………………………………

6.The General Data Protection Law ……………………………… how personal

data is collected online.

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7. When private information was stored physically, on paper, it was easier to keep ……………………………… of where your data went.

8. If you want to use many online apps and services, you still have to ……………………………… your right to privacy.

Discussion:

What do you do to protect your data?

"FEEDING THE WORLD" WHY WE NEED RICE by Clare Powell

Rice is low-fat and high in energy, and you can mix it with just about anything to make a wide variety of tasty nutritious dishes. Ask anyone from any country in the world to tell you their favourite rice recipe and you will get a wide selection, ranging from sushi in Japan to risottos in northern Italy. Rice is closely connected to the culture of many societies. Hindu and Buddhist religions use rice as a religious offering. Burmese folklore uses rice as a central part of their creation story; the gods gave the

first people of Burma rice seeds and directed them to Burma, where the rice would grow well. A Chinese proverb says that ‘precious things are not pearls and jade but the five grains, of which rice is the finest.’

Chinese myth tells how, after severe floods, there was nothing to eat and the

people were starving. One day they saw a dog coming across the fields, and hanging onto the dog’s tail were bunches of long yellow seeds. The seeds grew into rice and

the people survived. The origins of rice are uncertain, because rice has been grown for so many thousands of years. In several Asian languages, the words for food and rice, or for rice and agriculture, are the same, one of the facts that points to Asia as the origin of rice. It is certain, however, that rice cultivation is one of the most important developments in history, for rice has fed more people over a longer period of time than any other crop. The demand for rice is growing steadily, with consumption stretching beyond the traditional rice growing areas in Asia. You can find rice fields in Europe, Latin America and Australia.

However, Asia is still the biggest rice producer, accounting for 90 % of the world’s production and consumption of rice. Rice is a staple food for many countries.

In parts of Africa and Asia, many poorer urban families get over half their daily calories from rice. As the world population increases, can rice keep up? To meet growing demands, rice production has to be raised by at least 70 % over the next three decades. The area devoted to rice cultivation cannot grow, so much international research is being done to find ways of growing rice on less land. Rice needs a good water supply to grow. Water is wasted daily all over the world and estimates suggest that most Asian countries will have severe water problems by 2025. It takes 5 000 litres of water to grow a kilo of rice, yet many rice growing areas in Asia and Africa are drought-prone.

Scientists need to develop varieties of rice that can withstand sudden heavy rains and compete with weeds. Worryingly, rice production is affected by global climate changes. Global warming is caused by toxic gas emissions in developed countries.

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The rise in global temperature cuts rice-growing time, and ultra violet light radiation from the sun reduces tolerance to disease. Methane gas, one of the culprits of global warming, is, ironically, a by-product of wet lowland rice cultivation. Methaneproducing bacteria thrive in wet rice fields and the plants themselves send the gas into the atmosphere. Water management could reduce methane emissions, but practical methods that do not reduce rice yields still have to be found.

After reading

Multiple Choice

Read the sentences and select the right answers.

1.Rice is produced...

a. All over the world.

b. Only in Asia and Africa. c. Only in China and Japan.

2.In Chinese mythology, people were saved from starvation by...

a. A dog carrying rice in its mouth.

b. A dog carrying rice seeds on its tail. c. A dog carrying rice on its tail.

3.According to a Chinese saying, rice is...

a.More important than other grains but less important than pearls and jade.

b.Less important than other grains but more important than pearls and jade.

c.More important than other grains and more important than pearls and jade.

4.90 % of rice is...

a. Eaten in Asia.

b. Eaten and produced in Asia. c. Produced in Asia.

5.Rice production must increase by 70 %...

a. In the next three years. b. In the next thirty years.

c. In the next three hundred years.

6.A by-product of rice production is methane which...

a. Has no effect on global warming. b. Helps global warming to increase. c. Stops global warming.

7.Global warming means changes in the earth’s temperatures which...

a. Increases the amount of time rice can grow. b. Decreases the amount of time rice can grow.

c. Has no effect on the amount of time rice can grow.

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THANKSGIVING

Every autumn, Canadian and American families gather for a day centred around community, food and giving thanks – the day of Thanksgiving. Where did this holiday come from and how is it celebrated today?

Before reading

Do the preparation task first. Then read the article and do the exercises.

Preparation task

Match the definitions (a–h) with the vocabulary (1–8).

Thanksgiving

The history of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving combines the traditions of different groups of people. Travellers and migrants brought different religious traditions from Europe to the United States and Canada. Several celebrations are claimed as the first Thanksgiving. The best known is the celebration held by the pilgrims in what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts after their journey across the Atlantic Ocean on the famous Mayflower ship. Like the pilgrims, many groups held days of prayer, fasting or feasting to give thanks for successfully making the long boat journey. Later, settlers celebrated their successful harvest in a new land by holding feasts with their Native American neighbours. Over time, the Canadian and American traditions have become similar and developed into the modern holiday of Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving today

In Canada, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday in October. In the United States, it is on the fourth Thursday in November. Although its origins are religious, today, Thanksgiving is a largely secular holiday. For most Americans and Canadians, it is a day for coming together with family and friends to share a large meal. It is an occasion to spend time with loved ones and express gratitude

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for the year that has passed. In many households there is a tradition of everyone seated at the table sharing what they are most grateful for.

Thanksgiving food

Thanksgiving is also about food. Thanksgiving dinner traditionally includes roast turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and, for dessert, apple, pumpkin or pecan pies. Every family has its own recipes, sometimes secret recipes handed down through generations. Turkey, a bird native to North America, is the unofficial mascot of Thanksgiving, with roast turkey on the menu and turkey decorations on the

wall. In the United States, a tradition of gifting turkeys to the President has more recently evolved into a humorous turkey ‘pardoning’. At this light-hearted ceremony,

the President issues an official pardon for one or two turkeys, saving them from being cooked for supper.

More than food: football, parades and traffic jams!

Beyond food and gratitude, there are some unexpected sides to the American and Canadian holiday. One of these is football. This popular sport is an important part of the holiday, when families gather around to cheer on local or national teams. American football and Canadian football are both similar to rugby, played primarily

not with the feet but with the hands. Parades are another common part of the festivi- ties. In the United States, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade takes place in New York City on the morning of Thanksgiving. It’s one of the world’s largest parades

and is broadcast nationwide. A similar Thanksgiving parade happens in Canada as part of the Kitchener – Waterloo Oktoberfest, a multi-day autumn festival. Unfortunately, heavy traffic is also common at Thanksgiving. In both countries, the week

of Thanksgiving is one of the most popular travel times of the year, as everyone heads home to visit their extended family. So try to avoid any road trips if you’re visiting

North America during this holiday!

Tasks

Task 1

Are the sentences true or false?

Task 2

Complete the sentences with words from the box.

1.New ……………………………… from Europe brought religious traditions with them to North America.

2.Even though the first Thanksgiving celebrations were days of prayer, the modern holiday is largely ………………………………

3.A roast turkey is the centrepiece of the big Thanksgiving …………………..

4.Modern Thanksgiving is a ………………………………, fun holiday full

of activities like football and parades.

5.The American President saves some turkeys from being feasted on by issuing a presidential ………………………………

6.More than just food and fun, Thanksgiving is about …………..… and reflecting

on a successful year.

Discussion:

When do families gather to have a feast in your country?

AMELIA EARHART by Linda Baxter

“Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others.” (Amelia Earhart) Amelia Earhart was born

in 1897, in Kansas, USA. Even as a child she didn't behave in a conventionally 'feminine' way. She climbed trees and hunted rats with her rifle – but she wasn't particularlyinterested in flying. She saw her first plane when she was 10, and wasn't impressed at all. But she was very interested in newspaper reports about women who were successful in male-dominated professions, such as engineering, law and management. She cut them out and kept them.

During the First World War she worked as a nursing assistant in a military hospital, and later started to study medicine at university. Then, in 1920, Amelia's life changed. She went to an aviation fair with her father and had a 10-minute flight in a plane. That was it. As soon as the plane left the ground, Amelia knew that she had to fly. So Amelia found herself a female flying teacher and started to learn to fly. She took all sorts of odd

jobs to pay for the lessons, and also saved and borrowed enough money to buy a secondhand plane. It was bright yellow and she called it “Canary”. In 1922 she took

“Canary” up to a height of 14,000 feet, breaking the women's altitude record. In 1928,

Amelia was working as a social worker in Boston when she received an amazing phone call inviting her to join pilot Wilmer Stultz on a flight across the Atlantic.

The man who organised the flight was the American publisher, George Putnam.

Amelia's official title was “commander” but she herself said that she was just a passenger.

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