Развитие навыков чтения, письма и устной речи на английском языке. Практикум

8.What dialect did he use to pen his immortal verses?

9.Do you understand it?

10.Is it very different from literary English?

11.WhatimpressiondidhiscollectionmakeonEdinburgh’sliteraryelite?

12.How many children did he father?

13.What makes it possible for us to say that he was a passionately proud Scot?

IV. Read the following text and translate the passages and words that you don’t know.

CelebratingBurnsNight

BurnsNightmarkstheanniversaryof RobertBurns’birthon25January each year. Held throughout the world on Burns Night (or on an evening close to it) a traditional Burns supper is anevening event that celebrates Robert Burns’ life and work.

The first Burns supper was held in July 1801 when nine of Burns’ close friends got together to mark the fifth anniversary of their friend’s death. Taking place at Burns Cottage inAlloway, the night included a tasty meal (haggis, of course!), performances of Burns’ work and a speech in honour of the great Bard (now known as the Immortal Memory). The night was such a resounding success they decided to hold it again(this timeinhonour ofRabbie’s birthday), beginningthetradition we still enjoy to this day.

Everyone enjoys a hearty feast (which includes haggis, neeps and tatties, rounded off with drams of whisky), some of Burns’ poems and songs are recited and tributes are made to the great Bard.

Each Burns supper is individual, but the running order normally goes something like this:

To start – everyone gathers, the host says a few words, everyone sits and the Selkirk Grace is said.

The meal – the starter is served, the haggis is piped in, the host performs Address to a Haggis, everyone toasts the haggis and the main meal is served, followed by dessert.

After the meal – the first Burns recital is performed, the Immortal Memory (the main tribute speech to Burns) is given, the second Burns

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recital is performed, then there’s a Toast to the Lassies, followed by a Reply to the Toast to the Lassies, before the final Burns recital is performed.

To end the night – the host gives a vote of thanks, everyone stands and sings Auld Lang Syne, crossing their arms and joining hands at the line ‘And there’s a hand, my trusty fere!’.

But remember – if you holdyour ownBurns supper, you canfollow as much or as little of this running order as you like. You could even make your own additions – hold a quiz, play an epic Scottish Spotify playlist, add a ceilidh, include a treasure hunt – we don’t think Robert Burns would mind at all, as long as you’re having fun!

Many restaurants across Scotland host formal Burns suppers or you could join a Burns club near you to enjoy events throughout the year, as well as the annual Burns supper. The Robert Burns World Federation lists more than 250 Burns clubs worldwide.

(From Visit Scotland40)

V. Answer the following questions to the text.

1.What is Burns Night?

2.What is Burns Supper?

3.How did the Burns Supper begin?

4.What happens at Burns supper?

5.How is haggis prepared? Would you ever think of preparing a meallike that for yourself? Doyouknowanythingresemblingthis dish in the cuisine of other countries?

6.Didyouknowthat ‘neep’ is ‘turnip’?Haveyou ever eatencooked turnips? Do you think it tastes nice?

7.Would you find it interesting to hold a “Robert Burns Night”?

8.Could you use the same scenario for some other poet?

VI. Choose some poet that is a great favourite with you and make up a scenario to commemorate his birth or death. Don’t forget about the dishes that you would suggest for the evening party.

40 About Celebrating BurnsNight //Visit Scotland: [site].URL: https://www.visits- cotland.com/about/famous-scots/robert-burns/burns-night/ (date of access: 20.03.2020).

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Unit 11

TEACHERS’DAY

I. Use your dictionary to check the pronunciation and meaning of the following words.

Skit,mannerism,torespect,experienced,compulsory,co-educational, campus, anthem, sit-in, extra-curricular.

II. Read and translate the following text.

Several countries have Teachers’ Day, in honour of particular teachers who were instrumental in setting the course of education in their home country. Amongst others, the Czechs commemorate Comenius’ birthday (March 28), some Chinese celebrate Confucius’ birthday (celebratedondifferent daysinChina andTaiwan), andtheTurks remember Ataturk’s death(November 24). InArgentinaTeachers’Dayiscelebrated on September 11, and in Uruguay on September 22. In 1966 UNESCO proclaimed October 5 to be World Teachers’ Day. Apparently there are more than 50 million teachers in the world – more than any other profession. And, in case you were wondering, it was George Bernard Shaw (in Man and Superman) who said He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches.

(From The Book of Days41)

III. Comment on the following. Do you agree or do you disagree with the statements given below?

1.Teachers are better than books.

2.Younger teachers are generally better than older teachers.

3.Teachers cannot, and should not, be friends with their pupils.

4.Children learn more from each other than from their teachers.

5.Teachers generally don’t give their pupils enough homework.

41 Wallwork A. The Book of Days. A Resource of Activities for Special Days in the Year. P. 58.

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6.Primary school teachers are often better than secondary school teachers.

7.Teachers should never expose their political ideas.

8.Most teachers don’t make their subjects interesting enough.

9.Strict teachers are generally the best.

10. Teachers work more than most other professions and for a lot less money.

(From The Book of Days42)

IV. Here are some comments to the statements given above.

1.Teachers are better because pupils don’t always read the books.

2.Older teachers are more experienced, younger teachers – less, but they often show more enthusiasm.

3.The minute you become friends with your pupils, discipline disappears.

4.Children do learn more from each other. The only question is what do they learn from each other?

5.When teachers do give enough homework, pupils start complaining and bring their parents with protests into the picture.

6.Primary teachers do seem better because they are the first ones.

7.This one is quite correct because very often pupils hear things contrary to what teachers might say at home and in this way they start hating or detesting their teachers.

8.A teacher should find ways to make his/her subject interesting enough.

9.Strict teachers are the ones we remember and the ones we are afraid of. If they give you a good mark you are really grateful to them.

10. In many countries this is quite true because teachers have a greater responsibility.

V. Compare the statements given in еx. III and in еx. IV and give your commentary to them. Tell your groupmates why you agree or disagree with each one.

42 Wallwork A. The Book of Days. A Resource of Activities for Special Days in the Year. P. 58.

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VI. Read and translate the following letters sent by people from different countries.

Argentina

In Argentina we celebrate the death of Domingo Sarmiento who created state schools all around the country in the 1860s. Each class prepares funny skits on their teachers, imitating and exaggerating their voices and mannerisms. Then we act these out in front of the whole school. (Deborah Longobardi)

Slovakia

March28isourTeachers’Day,anditistheanniversaryofthebirthday of Komensky. He lived in the 17th century and thought subjects should be taught together, so to teach languages, for example, he got his students to talk about world history, politics, geography – and even to sing and play sports. He was convinced that there was nothing a child couldn’t do. (Monika Karulova)

Turkey

We dedicate our Teachers’ Day toAtaturk, who was the founder of modern Turkey. The children write short poems for their teachers. I think we show much more respect to our teachers than children in the West. (Aliye Gungor)

Singapore

On Teachers’ Day in Singapore we only have school from nine till one. Then we have parties, everybody brings food, and we draw cards for our teachers. We send flowers to the teachers we like, so if they are not popular teachers, they don’t get any flowers. In Singapore our government spends a lot of money on education because they believe that we children are the future. (Rebecca Tan Ching Kiang)

Taiwan

InTaiwantheschools areclosedonTeachers’Day, whichcelebrates Confucius’ birthday. The government gives prizes to the best teachers. Children send their teachers a card or flowers. (Li-Ying Chen)

(From The Book of Days43)

43 Wallwork A. The Book of Days. AResource of Activities for Special Days in the Year. P. 59.

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VII. Answer the following questions.

1.Who was your best/nicest teacher? Explain why.

2.Which teacher or teachers were you most afraid of? Why?

3.Which teacher did you learn the most from?

4.Were any of your teachers unfair? Do you remember any cases when it was so?

5.Which teacher had the greatest influence on you?

6.Did you want to look like or copy any teacher you had?

VIII. Choose the points that are more appropriate for you.

My (ideal) English teacher is/was:

1.a) the same age as me, b) older than me

2.a) the same sex as me, b) the opposite sex to me

3.a) the same nationality as me, b) of a different nationality

4.a)veryexperiencedbut notveryenthusiastic, b)veryinexperienced but very enthusiastic

5.a) someone I would like to invite to dinner, b) someone I would never invite to dinner

Now put the following characteristics in order of priority:

sense of humour

abilityto communicateimagination

ability to command respect

understanding of students’ problemsother points you findimportant

IX. Now that you have made your choice, prepare a short story that would summarize your opinion.

X. Answers to questions are given below. Think of what questions you could ask so that the following would be correct answers.

1.You arean adult by thetime you leave school and you’vestill got lots of years to learn things.

2.Well, obviously when you areyounger you learn a lot from being at homeandfromyour family andtelevision andthe Internet andtheyoung children’s programs.

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3.Ithinkit’suptoyou,isn’tit?Imeaneverybodyhastotallyindividual

tastes.

4.I definitely think it should be up to the individual to decide what they want to do because obviously everyone wants different careers and wants to study different things.

5.Obviously there aren’t so many distractions if boys and girls are kept separately, but then, you know, you shouldn’t really be separate, because that’s just a fact of life, isn’t it?

6.I really don’t know. I mean I wasn’t yet born 20 years ago, so…

7.Now, I think they will be the best years of your life because once you leave school, everything changes and you have so much more to worryabout.

XI. Now you can listen to Pink Floyd’s classic Another Brick in the Wall (which begins with “We don’t need no education”) from their album The Wall.

XII. Choose one answer for each question in the quiz and make up a story about yourself with the help of these answers.

1. You learn more…

a) at school, b) at home, c) from your friends, d) from the Internet, e) from TV

2. You learn more at…

a) same sex schools, b) co-educational schools

3.Which school you go to and which subjects you study should be decided by…

a) you, b) your parents, c) your teachers

4.The standard of education in your country is…

a) better than 20 years ago, b) worse than 20 years ago

5.School should be compulsory until the age of… a) 10, b) 14, c) 16, d) 18

6.It’s better to go to school from…

a) 8.30–13.30 six days a week, b) 8.30–15.30 five days a week 7. Exams are…

a) a waste of time, b) the only way to test pupils’ learning, c) an inefficient way of testing pupils’ learning

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8. Your school years were…

a)the best years of your life, b) the worst years of your life,

c)somewhere in between

XIII. Use your dictionary to check the pronunciation and meaning of the following words.

Comenius,Moravia,Czech,entertaining,innate,advocate,particularly, direct, economics, geography, handicrafts, isolation, metaphorical, mountain,toclimb,lamentable,utterly,Confucius,disciple,self-sufficient, aware, fault, to encourage, passionate, Ataturk, campaign, prowess, thoroughness, Renaissance, enmities, rival.

XIV. Read the three pieces that follow about men who considered education in their respective countries to be a very important thing.

JohnAmos Comenius (Komensky) was born in 1592 in Moravia, which is now in the Czech Republic. He believed that we all are born with a desire for knowledge and that it is the teacher’s task to find thesimplest andmost entertainingways ofdrawingout thepupils’innate capacity for learning in an atmosphere of love rather than fear. He advocates what we would now call a hands-on approach, which was radically different from the pedantic teaching methods of his time. He wasparticularlyinterestedinteachinglanguages,whichhewas convinced must be learnt in the same way as the mother tongue. So his lessons revolved around topical conversations and direct contact with objects and pictures. In fact, Comenius was the first person to write illustrated books for children. Languagelearningwas alsointegrated withlessons on politics,economics,worldhistory,geography,science,thearts,handicrafts, andevensingingandsports.Hisideawasthateverythingispartofsomething else, that nosubjectshouldbestudiedinisolation, andthat whathappened outside the classroom during playtime was just as important as what happenedinsidetheclassroom. Comeniuswas convincedthat noexpense shouldbesparedin giving childrenaneducation andthat, giventheright training, there was no metaphorical mountain that could not be climbed by a child. So great has Comenius’ influence been in Europe that he is now known as the Father of Modern Education. As he once said:

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The proper education ofthe young does not consist in stuffing their heads with a mass ofwords, sentences and ideas dragged together out of variousauthors, but in openingup their understanding tothe outer world, so that a living stream mayflow from their minds, just as leaves, flowers and fruitspring from the budon a tree.

On the right to education he said:

It is lamentable, utterly unjust and insulting that while all men are admitted to God’s theatre, all are not given the chance of looking at everything. The nation is a happy one that has good schools and good books in great numbers.

Confucius.TheChinesecelebrateConfucius’ birthdayasa national holiday – Teachers’Day. This is because Confucius was the greatest of all Chineseteachers.Onthisdaysomeofthemost seniorandthebestteachers are recognized for their contribution to society. Confucius believed that everyone should be taught without any discrimination and according to their abilities. He taught his pupils/disciples (more than 3000 in his lifetime) to be self-sufficient, to be aware of their faults, and to amend them. He encouraged them not only to help themselves, but also to help others to achieve their goals. He was passionate about education.

Learn as though you would never be able to master it, hold it as though you would be in fear of losing it.

Ataturkwas thefounder of modern Turkey. He gaineda reputation as a great leader during militarycampaigns but his militaryprowess was really nothing compared to what he did to reform his country. In its massivescope, depthandthoroughness it compared, accordingtoBritish historianArnoldToynbee,totheRenaissance, theReformation,theFrench andIndustrialRevolutionsallrolledintoone.Ataturkbelievedthatmilitary victories solved little and that the true way of solving enmities between rival groups was by attaininga high level of culture. Andthis could only be done through education.

(From The Book of Days44)

44 Wallwork A. The Book of Days. A Resource of Activities for Special Days in the Year. P. 60.

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XV. Divide your group into two equal parts. Take each educator separately and hold a debate where one group supports one set of views and the other group is in opposition. Try to confirm your opinion with examples.

1.Kamenskywas wrong. Educationshouldhaveremainedpedantic. Look what has happened with all this freedom that young people now have. Never mind a good attitude towards them. Valuable knowledge can only be stuffed down their throats. It doesn’t work any other way.

2.WhatConfuciussaidisgoodonlyfortheChinese.WeareEuropeans. There has always been discrimination and there always will be, so why try to do anything about it.And who is self-sufficient? My parents must push me along in this world. And who has ever amended his faults? I won’t even try. Helping others? Ha!!!

3.Ataturk thought he was very clever. Not all people in Turkey agree with what he did. He gave women equal rights with men. They still don’t have them and they won’t have them in a Muslim country. Humanity walks forward with its head turned back, said an eminent philosopher.Thingsshouldnever bedoneina hurry. IthinkTurkeyshould have been allowed to stay in its medieval times. But then, who knows, they mightn’t have developedtheir tourist industry, and wherewould we go for a holiday?

You are welcome to use other ideas to prove your points. Don’t forget that it is a debate and you have to argue with your opponent and prove that you are right no matter what you personally think.

* * *

TheBritishEducationSystem

I. Look the following words up in the dictionary to see how they are pronounced. Find their meaning.

Bewildering, United Kingdom, institution, either, throughout, divergence, curriculum, framework, to require, regularly, available, responsibility, preference, comprehensive, to range, oriented, guidance, to pursue, exceptionally, subsidiary, qualification, substantial, extracurricular, leisure, preparatory.

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