Did you know that? weird laws

1. In Turkey in the 16th and 17th centuries, anyone caught drinking coffee was sentenced to death.

2. It is against the law to hunt camels in Arizona, USA.

3. In Kentucky, USA, it is required by law to take bath once a year.

4. In Idaho, USA, it is against the law to give anyone a box of chocolates weighted more than 50 pounds.

5. It is against the law not to flush a public toilet in Singapore.

___________________________TALKING POINT

TASK 18. Comment on the following statements.

1. It’s often said that “Frenchmen are good lovers” or “Englishmen are cold-blooded”. Do you agree that there are always plenty of stereotypes about nationalities?

2. What do usually foreigners think of Ukrainian national character? Would you like to change this stereotype? Why?

TASK 19.

А) Discuss the typical characteristics of the following nationalities. Use the following phrases:

They believe French to be very proud.

The Irish are considered to be very talkative.

The Italians are said to be rather loud.

They say the Spaniards are quite passionate.

The Americans ...The British ...The Chinese …The Dutch ...The Germans ...

The Indians...The Japanese ...The Polish ...The Russians ...

B) Compare your ideas with the groupmates and see how many people got similar descriptions. Debate on the correctness or truth of the choices.

TASK 20. Find the appropriate variant for each blank space using the following words.

dress code	eye contact	facial expressions
personal space	small talk	culture shock

1. Polite discussion between strangers or acquaintances is called _________.

2. Physical and emotional discomfort one suffers when coming to another country different from the place of origin is known as __________.

3. Rules limiting what people can or cannot wear are called a _________.

4. Smiling and frowning are two examples of _________.

5. The distance a person likes to keep from other people is called _______.

6. When you look in someone’s eyes, you _________ with this person.

TASK 21. Read the text and answer the questions that follow.

Language of signs

When we want to tell other people what we think, we can do it not only with the help of words, but also in many other ways. For instance, we sometimes move our heads up and down when we want to say “yes”, and we move our heads from side to side when we want to say “no”.

People, who can neither hear nor speak (i.e., deaf and dumb people), talk to each other with the help of their fingers. People who do not understand each other’s language have to do the same. The following story shows how they sometimes do it.

An Englishman who could not speak Italian was once traveling in Italy. One day he entered a restaurant and sat down at a table. When the waiter came, the Englishman opened his mouth, put his fingers in it, took them out again and moved his lips. In this way he meant to say, “Bring me something to eat.”

The waiter soon brought him a cup of tea. The Englishman shook his head, and the waiter understood that he didn’t want tea, so he took it away and brought him some coffee. The Englishman, who was very hungry by this time and not at all thirsty, looked very sad. He shook his head each time the waiter brought him something to drink. He brought him wine, then beer, then soda-water, but that wasn’t food, of course.

He was just going to leave the restaurant when another traveler came in. When this man saw the waiter, he put his hands on his stomach. That was enough: in a few minutes there was a large plate of macaroni and meat on the table before him.

As you see, the primitive language of signs is not always very clear. The language of words is much more exact.

Discuss the following questions:

1. What are the ways of communicating information to people?

2. How do deaf and dumb people talk to each other?

3. Which language is more exact – the language of signs or the language of words? Explain your opinion.

TASK 22. Read the text and answer the questions that follow.