- •Министерство образования и науки
- •Contents
- •Vocabulary List
- •Some Facts about English
- •The Future of English
- •To Learn or Not to Learn Foreign Languages?
- •A Language Teacher’s Personal Opinion
- •Divided by a Common Language
- •Vocabulary List
- •Appearance: Beauty
- •Appearance: Parts of the Face
- •How Good Looks Can Guarantee Lifetime of Opportunity
- •Average Age
- •Personal Quality Meter (Speaking about characters)
- •My Hobbies and Interests
- •My Working Day
- •My Flat
- •Steve Jobs: Apple’s Creative Genius
- •Tom Cruise: Long Way To the Top
- •Michael Jackson: the King of Pop
- •Family Relationships
- •British Family Life
- •Generation Gap
- •Sibling Rivalry
- •My Family And Me
- •Vocabulary List
- •The School System in Great Britain
- •Private Education in Great Britain
- •Higher Education in Great Britain
- •Oxbridge
- •The Open University
- •Education in the usa
- •American Private Universities
- •Going to College in the usa
- •An American View on Russian Education
- •Education in Russia
- •Types of Higher Education Institutions in Russia
- •Moscow State University
- •History of Technical Education in Russia
- •The Smolensk Branch of the Moscow Power Engineering Institute (National Research University)
- •How to Cope with Exams
- •Vocabulary List
- •When in Britain …
- •Amazing Facts about Great Britain
- •Icons of Great Britain
- •How the British Relax
- •How the British Complain
- •The British and the Food
- •British Proverbs
- •British Superstitions
- •Political System of Great Britain
- •British National Customs and Traditions
- •British Holidays, Notable Dates and Festivals
- •Sport and Competition in Britain
- •Four Characters of the British
- •Some Views on the English Character
- •Personal Impressions of London
- •Sights of London
- •Great Britain
- •Vocabulary List
- •Fantastic Facts about America
- •Funny facts about American Presidents
- •The Long Road to the White House: How to Become a us President
- •American Symbols
- •The Values Americans Live By
- •Individualism
- •Informality
- •Washington, dc
- •New York
- •Los Angeles
- •Welcome to Chicago
- •Alaska: the Great Land
- •Hawaii: the Pacific Paradise
- •The Silliest American Laws
- •The Independence Day or Happy Birthday, America!
- •Thanksgiving Day
- •The usa
- •Vocabulary List
- •Tourism in Russia
- •Seven Wonders of Russia
- •1. The Baikal Lake
- •2. Valley of the Geysers
- •3. Mamayev Kurgan
- •4. Peterhof
- •5. Saint Basil’s Cathedral
- •6. Poles of the Komi Republic
- •7. Elbrus
- •Lake Baikal: the Pearl of Siberia
- •What is Russia famous for?
- •Russian Character
- •Russians
- •National Symbols of Russia
- •Foreigners in Moscow
- •St. Petersburg
- •In May, 1703 tsar Peter I founded a fortress on a small island called Zayachy. The fortress was named after saint Peter and it gave its name to the future northern capital of Russia.
- •The Russian Federation
- •About Smolensk
- •Museums of Smolensk
- •Churches of Smolensk
- •Varvara’s Church
- •Smolensk
- •Технический редактор м.А. Андреев
How the British Relax
As British people say, «all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy». Like everybody else, British people like doing things outside work.
Gardening is a well-known favourite. As the weather in Britain is relatively mild, British people manage to do gardening almost all the year round. Sometimes this can be just doing a bit of weeding and sometimes, serious vegetable and fruit growing. In fact, regardless of the size of the garden, the British can always find plenty to do in it. Mowing grass is also very important. Every Sunday morning (except for winter) they come out to mow their lawns. To outsiders, it almost seems like an obsession but to a British person it is an important social duty. The British see an unmown lawn, not only as a sign of laziness, but also as disrespect to others (and you can get fined for it as well).
Walking is also very popular. Ask any British person if they have a pair of walking boots and the answer will probably be yes. Except for dry summer days, the beautiful British countryside is pretty muddy, so you need a good pair of walking boots or «wellies» to enjoy your walk. Walking as a leisure activity has a long tradition in England. You can buy a variety of maps and guides to walking routes. Organized walking is also popular and is a good way to discover local sights of interest with a group of like-minded people and a good guide.
Cycling is another popular activity. Unfortunately, many British roads are very busy and don't have cycling paths, so cycling can be a bit dangerous in Britain, many people find quiet country roads and spend their whole holidays exploring their homeland on their bikes. More extreme sports like rock climbing also attract people. And, of course, the famous British eccentricity is the cause of unusual sports like extreme ironing. Extreme ironing is a serious sport where teams of people compete at who can do their ironing in more extreme conditions. Mountains, rivers, tall buildings, busy streets… no location is unsuitable for extreme ironing fans. The contestants are judged on both the extremity of the location and quality of the ironing. Phil Shaw, the creator of the sport, says it «combines the thrill of an extreme sport with the satisfaction of a well-ironed shirt». Extreme ironing is now an international sport with serious competitions and organized events.
Of course, not all British people keep fit by engaging in extreme sports. Many go to the gym, swimming pool or fitness classes. However, it has to be said that the British are not the sportiest nation in the world. You see, watching TV often gets in the way. Increasingly, British people spend their free time watching TV. Sad, but true. The only comforting thing is that they are not on their own - most of the world seems to be doing the same!
As far as actually going away on holiday, many British people choose to spend their holidays abroad, preferably somewhere warm and dry. Spain, France and Greece are regular destinations due to convenient location and kind climate. City breaks are also a good idea for changing the scenery and enjoying new places without too much trouble.
TEXT 5. Read and translate the text and the dialogue. Share your experience about complaining.