Post-reading Activity

Task1. Answer the questions.

1. How are the Amish called and why?

2. Where did they come from?

3. How do the Amish feel about modern conveniences?

4. What are the main customs among the Amish?

5. How can you prove that the Amish are self-sufficient?

6. What is the Amish’s attitude to the laws of the country?

7. How do they educate their children?

8. What tendency can be noticed among the Amish folk?

Task 2. Say if the following is true or false.

1. The Amish came from Great Britain.

2. They came near the beginning of the 1990’s.

3. The Amish folk have preserved their own way of life.

4. The Amish do not have telephones in their homes.

5. It is unusual between the Amish to intermarry.

6. Weddings take place in November where there is much work on the farm.

7. In the barnyards there are two cows.

8. The families are completely self-sufficient.

9. The Amish won’t obey the laws that violate their beliefs.

10. The Amish prefer to teach their children at home.

Task 3. Use the following words and word combinations in the sentences of your own to describe the way of life of the Amish people.

Plain, to worship, forefathers, in emergency, customary, neighbours, self-sufficient, to raise, to violate, to take care, to trade.

Task 4. Act as a journalist and interview a member of the Amish folk. Think over the questions you’ll ask him/her.

Task 5. Feminism – the belief that women should have the same right and opportunities as men – is highly developed in the USA. Can you prove that the social phenomenon didn’t touch the Amish folk?

Listening practice

T A P E S C R I P T 1

The comparison game

Pre-listening Activity

Task 1. Do you compare yourself in mind and body with people around you? What are your feelings if anyone is cleverer, prettier and luckier than you?

Task 2. Look through the following list of words and clear up any difficulties.

To be intent on doing smth – стремиться что-либо сделать

To be superior to smb – превосходить кого-либо

To be inferior to smb – уступать кому-либо (по положению)

Eternal competition – вечное соревнование

To strive to do smth – стараться, прилагать усилия что-либо

сделать

Listening Activity

Task 1. Listen to the recording. Identify the variety of speech.

1. reading a letter from a friend

2. reading a letter on a professional radio programme

3. reading a letter to the editor.

Task 2. State the overall topic of the recording.

1. the problems children have at school;

2. the competitive nature of school life;

3. the competitive nature of society.

Task 3. Listen to the recording again and finish the missing part of the sentence.

1. Society has always been competitive but in this century life is perhaps … .

2. Even as children we are already intent on showing that we are not merely different from our fellows but in some way … .

3. School life is an … .

4. Our jobs, our possessions and even the areas in which we live become … .

5. Are we interested in proving our superiority, or is it that we take a sadistic delight in proving that some poor fellow being is … ?