Christmas in Great Britain (2)

Christmas Day, December 25, is probably the most popular holiday in Great Britain. It is a family holiday. Traditionally all relatives and friends give each other presents. So, before Christmas all the department stores and shops are crowded, everybody is choosing a present. In general, people get prepared for this holiday very carefully. They decorate their houses in the traditional way. Christmas trees are set up in houses, in the streets and churches. They are always decorated with fairy lights, angels and small toys. In addition, little packets with nuts, candies and special biscuits are hung on the tree. Presents are put around the tree and artificial «frost» is scattered over the branches. The Germans are believed to be the first to use the Christmas tree in their celebrations and Martin Luther was the first to place a star on the top of the tree. This star represents the star appeared over the stable in which Christ was born. In Great Britain, the Christmas tree became popular while Queen Victoria ruled the country. Besides the Christmas tree, holly and mistletoe are used to decorate the house. Branches of holly are put up behind pictures and mistletoe is hung over doors, so the young people have a chance to kiss the girls under it, plucking each time a red berry from the mistletoe. It is said that the girl who was not kissed under it at Christmas would not get married that year. On the eve of Christmas children hang their stockings, so that Santa Claus could put presents into them: oranges, sweets, nuts and if the child didn't behave properly Santa Claus can put there a piece of coal as punishment. Santa Claus got his name from a man known as St. Nicolas, who lived in the fourth century. He gave his wealth to the poor and often to children. After he died, the Dutch brought this legend to colonial America. Soon the Dutch name Sinter Klaus became Santa Claus. Carol singing is an essential part of Christmas. No church or school is without its carol service. Carols may be traditional or with some variations that express different feelings. Carols were used for the first time during Christmas in the fifteenth century. Usually children come around in the evening to the front doors and start singing carols and people who live in these houses give children candies, nuts, pies and so on, to thank them for carol singing. A typical Christmas lunch includes turkey with cranberry sauce and pudding. Every young woman in each household helps to stir the Christmas pudding, if she wishes to be married that year. Usually a coin or two are hidden inside the pudding and part of the fun is to see who finds it. After the lunch they go to the sitting room to listen to the Christmas speech of the Queen, shown on TV.

The Cinema 1). Cinematography has rather a long story. 2). Owing to the work of the great American engineer Thomas Alva Edison, thousands of people got an opportunity of enjoying this kind of art. 3). It was he who created a machine to show films and made one of the first cinema films. 4). The first real film show took place a hundred years ago in Paris, 1895, when a group of 33 people saw a short film about a train coming to a railway station. 5). Since then many thousands of films have been shot in different countries. 6). The majority of all the films are made with great professional skill. 7). And it's far from being easy to shoot a good film. 8). The film that we see at the cinema is the product of joint efforts of many people. 9). First, a good screenplay should be written or chosen. 10). Camera work should be superb. 11). The designer should properly think over the setting. 12). Besides, acting should be excellent. 13). And, of course, everything and everybody is directed by the film producer who is responsible for the artistic side of the film. 14). A great number of various films are released every year. 15). They differ in artistic value as well as in genre. 16). There are films based on novels or plays (so-called "screen versions") and films which deal with historical events. 17). In such films you can see the familiar characters and you feel satisfied if they look exactly as you have pictured them. 18). Epics (such as "War and Peace") are films depicting heroic events of the past on a grand scale, often with vast crowd scenes. 19). Musicals, the successors of musical comedy, are films with songs and dances. 20). Thrillers are films describing some thrilling events usually connected with crime, especially murder. 21). Horror films are films with mysterious and supernatural happenings, ghosts and monsters. 22). Westerns are films with fast action, uncomplicated heroes, and clearcut conflicts between good and evil. 23). Science fiction films offer the viewer flying saucers, extraterrestrial living beings, space battles and explosions of planets. 24). Many films nowadays raise urgent problems facing contemporary society: ecology, ethnic conflicts, politics and moral, rise in crime and others. 25). Cinema films help us to study these problems, to see our drawbacks and understand our life better.

 

4). The theatre is one of the most ancient kinds of arts. 5). For centuries people have come to the theatre for different aims: to relax, to be amused and entertained, to have a good laugh, to enjoy the acting of their favourite actors and actresses. 6). Some people like drama, others are fond of musical comedy. 7). The subtlest theatre-lovers prefer ballet and opera. 8). In our country there are a lot of theatres: big and small, new and old, famous and not very well known.