English Spelling

English spelling is unpredictable at the best of times, and occasionally totally chaotic — an opinion no doubt shared by British _______ (1) and by foreigners who study English. However, studies of the _______ (2) show that there are only about 400 ________ (3) whose spelling is totally irregular. Unfortunately many of them are _______ (4) the most frequently used in the language. The first problem with _______ (5) arose when the Romans tried to write down Old English words _______ (6) the 23 letter Latin alphabet. Old English at that time _______ (7) nearly 40 vowels and consonants. Another problem came with the Norman _______ (8) and the third with the introduction of the printing press in 1476 and emerging of a standard spelling system. The _______ (9) reflected the speech of the London area. During the 15^th _______ (10) the pronunciation of vowels changed but because of the printing _______ (11) the standard spelling system never caught up with the _______ (12). There have been many attempts to reform the________ (13) spelling system but so far no changes have been made since the 16th century, mainly _______ (14) nobody can agree on what the best alternative may be!

1.4. My working day

Activity 1. Match the words and word combinations with their Russian/Ukrainian equivalents.

1)	totakeashower	a)	привыкать к чему-л. / звикати до чого-небудь
2)	togetdressed	b)	обмениваться новостями /обмінюватися новинами
3)	to get used to smth.	c)	делать покупки / робити покупки
4)	to take long	d)	увлекаться чем-либо / захоплюватись чим-небудь
5)	to share news	e)	приводить в порядок / наводити порядок
6)	to have a chat	f)	требуется много времени / потребуєбагато часу
7)	to do shopping	g)	принимать душ / приймати душ
8)	to have a snack	h)	болтать / базікати
9)	to tidy up	i)	одеваться / одягатися
10)	to be keen on smth.	j)	перекусить / перехопити

Activity 2. Add the prepositions and put the following words in the corresponding column.

The weekend, the morning, Tuesday, 1995, the afternoon, 1 September, nine o’clock, December, Sunday morning, the evening, 3 days, half past three, Monday night, a quarter to one, Christmas, 9 May, Christmas Day, 5 years, Wednesday, night.

At	In	On
atthe weekend	inthe morning	on Tuesday

Make sentences with these word-combinations about your daily routine.

Activity 4. Read the text and do the communication activities that follow.

My working day

I am a first-year University student at Kharkiv National University of Civil Engineering and Architecture so from Monday to Friday my daily routine is nearly the same. On week-days the alarm clock wakes me up at 6 a.m. and my working day starts. I’m not an early riser that’s why I hate getting up early, especially in winter. But I got used to it. First of all I go to the bathroom to take a shower. After that I feel much better and completely wake up. Then I have breakfast. As a rule, it is not a big meal. I prefer a cup of coffee and a sandwich. Sometimes I have cereal with milk. After that I go to my bedroom to get dressed.

I leave my house at 7.15 a.m. and go to the nearest bus stop. The buses are always overcrowded in the morning, so if the weather is fine I prefer walking. I listen to music on my way to the University. As it is not very far from the place I live, it takes me half an hour to get there on foot.

Our lectures begin at 8 a.m. As a rule, we have 3 or 4 classes a day. The breaks are usually about twenty minutes. But at 12.40 we have thirty minutes for lunch and I have a snack in the University canteen. It’s a kind of a club where students meet their friends, share the latest news and chat.

I stay at the University from eight o’clock in the morning till half past two in the afternoon. Sometimes I need to work in the library or in the computer class, in this case I have to stay at the University till 4 or 5 p.m. I am keen on swimming. Besides, it helps me to keep fit. So twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays I go to the swimming pool.

I am usually back home at about 4 p.m. As soon as I come home I have my dinner for I’m very hungry after classes. After dinner I usually do the washing-up and have a short rest reading, watching TV or listening to music. Sometimes I tidy up the flat and do some shopping.

At about 7 p.m. I start preparing for my classes. Sometimes I do my homework till late in the night. I often go out on weekdays because I’m rather tired on weekdays and I want to have a little rest. But sometimes I manage to see an interesting film and stay at home. Before going to bed I take my dog for a walk. On returning home I read for a while and fall asleep.

Activity 5. Put 7-10 questions to the text starting with WHEN, WHAT, WHAT KIND OF, HOW, WHY.

Activity 6.

Step 1. In the table below you will find the information about a day in the life of an English student David Thompson. Fill in the next column with the information about your day and tell about it.

Time	David’s day	Time	Your day
6.30	wakes up
6.35	has a shower
6.50	gets dressed
7.00	has breakfast
7.30	leaves home
7.35	takes a bus
7.50	gets to University
8.00	classes start
12.20	third class finishes, lunch
13.20	forth class begins
15.30	classes are over
16.00	is back home
16.20	takes his dog for a walk
17.00	has a cup of tea
17.30	does his homework
19.00	has dinner with his parents
19.30	goes out with his friends
21.30	returns home
21.40	watches TV
23.00	goes to bed
23.30	reads for a while, falls asleep

Activity 7. Ask your partner about his/her personal habits using the following adverbs of frequency: always, usually, often, sometimes, seldom, never.

eg. A: How often do you go to the gym?

B: I sometimes go there.

A: Are you always ready to answer?

B: I’m usually ready to answer.

1. Wake up at six o’clock.

2. Do morning exercises.

3. Late for classes.

4. Have lunch.

5. Go to the library.

6. Do shopping.

7. Prepare for classes.

8. Go out with my friends.

9. Read books

Activity 8.