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1. Each year in the US there are festivals to celebrate almost anything you can think of.
2. Festivals are only for a day.
3. Festivals attract just a few people.
4. Many people enjoy state fairs.
5. The festival “Mardi Gras” is not known in the world.
6. It is common for two women to kiss each other on the cheek.
7. When you are invited to dinner it is usual to arrive one or two minutes earlier.
8. People who have just met may ask you personal questions.
9. Waiters in restaurants will talk with customers as they serve them.
II. Answer the questions.
1. What are state fairs?
2. When do these fairs take place?
3. Do farmers enter their animals in competitions?
4. What famous entertainers are there during the state fairs?
5. What other festivals are there in different parts of the US?
6. What is one of the best known festivals in the world?
7. How long does this festival last?
8. Can strangers start up a conversation even in cities?
9. What do foreigners feel sometimes?
III. ☼ Would you like to visit any festivals and fairs in the US? Why?
IV. Group work. Discuss American superstitions. Which of them are similar to the Russian ones? the British ones? Which of them surprised you most?
V. Study the American cultural patterns and say what misunderstandings with the Russians can emerge from the differences.
VI. Translate into English and comment on the following realias: День сурка, День благодарения, День поминовения погибших в войнах, День ветеранов, День предков, «ночь попрошаек».
VII. Answer the questions on American holidays.
1. What American holidays are not necessarily celebrated on Mondays?
2. What holidays are observed only in the USA?
3. What holidays were first observed in the US but have spread elsewhere?
4. What two holidays are “most American”?
5. What are the national holidays in the USA?
VIII. Guess which American holiday is meant and complete the sentences.
1. The first day of the year is celebrated as the _________.
2. _________ is observed on the 3rd Monday in January in commemoration of the birthday of the civil rights leader.
3. _________ is observed on the 3rd Monday in February as a legal holiday.
4. _________ is celebrated in honor of George Washington, the first president of the US, and Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president, whose birthdays fall in February.
5. ________ is the day on which sweethearts exchange gifts or go out to dinner.
6. ________ is recognized as a day marked by the playing of practical jokes.
7. ________ honors the US soldiers who died in war.
8. ________ is celebrated on June 14th.
9. ________ celebrates the discovery in 1492 of the New World.
10. _______ is a day set by law for the election of public officials.
11. _______ is observed in honor of the US veterans of the armed forces.
12. __________ is the holiday when children often go “trick or treating”.
IX. What holidays do these symbols belong to? Group the symbols and speak about the holidays in detail.
Jack-o’-lanterns, boughs of holly, shamrocks, black cats, hot cross buns, doves, turkeys, skeletons, flowers, Irish coffee, “Indian corn”, spiders, cupids, lace, red poppies, chocolates, birds, wreaths of dried flowers, goblins, bells, leprechauns, kisses, eggs, white lilies, decorated trees, witches, mistletoes, haunted houses, harvest still-lives, angels, vampires, green color, hearts, stockings, anonymous messages, pilgrims.
X. Learn the dialogue by heart.
PUBLIC HOLIDAYS.
A: Can you name some of the main public holidays in the USA?
B: Do you mean those which are celebrated in all the states?
A: Yes, that's exactly what I mean.
B: Well, I'll try. Let's start with the first holiday in the year – New Year's Day.
A: I'm sure on this day all the banks, stores, factories and educational establishments are closed, aren't they?
B: They are. People do not go to bed until after midnight on December, 31st.
A: Sure, people everywhere like to see the old year out and the new year in.
B: Such a holiday as Decoration Day or Memorial Day as it is also called, is observed in most states of the USA as a day of remembrance for all Americans killed in wars.
A: When is Decoration Day observed?
B: On the last Monday in May.
A: I hear that on this day patriotic songs are sung on the radio and TV.
B: That's true.
A: Which is the biggest holiday in the USA?
B: It is the Independence Day, or it is simply called The Fourth of July.
A: On the 4th of July, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed and adopted, wasn't it?
B: You are right! That's when the event took place.
A: How is the holiday celebrated?
B: It is celebrated with firing of guns and fireworks, parades and patriotic speeches.
A: Veteran's Day is another public holiday which is celebrated throughout the United States, isn't it?
B: Right you are! They celebrate it by holding parades and ceremonies in honor of those who fell in the World Wars. The celebrations take place on second Monday in November.
A: I also hear of the holiday called «Thanksgiving Day»?
B: Yes, it is celebrated in November, too. Thanksgiving Day comes on the fourth Thursday in November.
A: Do you know how the holiday originated?
B: I do. The Pilgrims celebrated their first harvest festival in America way back 1621 and called it Thanksgiving Day.
A: Do you mean to say it has been celebrated since then?
B: That's exactly what I mean.
A: Christmas is the most widely celebrated Christian holiday, isn't it?
B: Yes, it is celebrated on December, 25th. When Christmas comes, people usually wish one another a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
A: You haven't mentioned a few other holidays observed by the Americans.
B: No, I haven't. The thing is that they are not observed by the whole nation.
A: One of them is Martin Luther King's Day, isn't it?
B: It is. That holiday is observed on January 15th.
A: In February they observe Lincoln's Birthday and Washington's Birthday, don't thy?
B: They do. Besides, on February,14th they observe Valentine's Day.
A: Then the Americans have an annual day of commemoration of mothers and fathers, I hear.
B: Right. Mother's Day is observed on the second Sunday in May.
A: And Father's Day falls on the third Sunday in June, if I'm not mistaken.
B: Here is another holiday – Labor Day. It is celebrated on the first Monday in September in honor of labor.
A: Yes, but in many countries May Day (May 1st) is the workingman's holiday.
B: The discovery of America is commemorated by a holiday in October called Columbus Day. But not all the 50 states observe that holiday.
A: Halloween is alsdo celebrated in October. The holiday falls on October 31 of each year. That's when children go in costumes from door to door begging treats or playing pranks.
B: Children like this holiday, don't they?
A: They love it.
XI. ☼ Which of the American holidays would you like to share with an American family? Explain your answer in detail.
XII. ☼ Work in groups.
What ideas do people in Russia sometimes have about Americans? Where do they get these ideas from? Do you think they are true? Write three stereotypes you have heard about Americans. Compare your ideas.
XI I I. ☼ Discussion.
There are a lot of good US made films. Name three American films that you particularly liked. Tell your friends what they are about (very briefly) and why you liked them. What peculiarities of the American way of life are shown in them?
XIV. ☼ Imagine:
- you are a tourist coming to the travel agency. Tell the travel agent what place(s) in the US you would like to visit, and why.
- you are an American. Advertise your country for the tourists.
- you are going to talk to a group of Americans. What questions would you ask them?
- you are going to the trip in the USA. What ideas do you have about the Americans? What kind of people are they? Where do you get these ideas from?
XV. ☼ Discuss the elements of the American culture and lifestyle which we have got in Russia now.
TOPIC 8: AMERICAN MONEY AND MEASURES
The Government of the USA issues the following bills: bills for one dollar, five dollars, ten dollars, twenty dollars, fifty dollars, one hundred dollars, one thousand dollars, ten thousand dollars.
American metal money is made of the following metals: bronze, nickel and silver. A one cent coin is made of bronze, and is called a “penny”, a five cent coin is made of nickel and is called a “nickel”. Ten cents are called a “dime”. Ten dimes make a dollar. Twenty-five cents make a “quarter”, fifty cents make half a dollar. The dime, the quarter, the half dollar are of paper. One dollar is made either of silver or of paper.
one dollar (I) = 100c (100 cents).
a half dollars = 50 c
a quarter = 25 c
a dime = 10 c
a nickel = 5 c
Quarter are twenty-five cents and are used in most pay telephones and coin-operated machines. They are often confused with nickels.
The origin of the dollar sign
The dollar has an interesting history, and also it has the $ generally used to represent it.
The word “dollar” comes from the Low German for Thaler, which is an abbreviation of Joachimsthaler. Joachimsthaler (Joachim’s dale) is a little town in Bohemia near which, in the beginning of the 16th century, a rich silver mine was discovered. The feudal lords of the town had coins made there, and they, because of their excellence, were soon used all over Europe. These and similar coins were called Joachimsthalers, or simply Thalers.
Coins of similar value were issued in Spain. They were called “pieces of eight”, because their value was divided into eight smaller coins. All these coins circulated freely in the colonies in both North and South America. In North America they were called “dollars”.
When the United States had been formed, the word “dollar” was adopted for its unit of coinage, but the sign of the new coin was that of the old Spanish pieces of eight. The sign showed a scroll, with the words Plus Ultra, waving between the Pillars of Hercules, the gateway between the Mediterranean and Atlantic. Thus the dollar sign has nothing to do with the letter S, nor was it, as some people believe, originally formed by placing a narrow U over an S to form the monogram of the United States.
RHYMES AND POEMS
American Coins
by Caroline Graham
Pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters,
Pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters,
How many pennies in a nickel? Five.
How many nickels in a dime? Two.
Pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters,
Pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters,
How many dimes in a dollar? Ten.
How many nickels in a dime? Two.
Pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters,
Pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters,
How many quarters in a dollar? Four.
How many nickels in a dime? Two.
When I was Little
When I was little and had no sense,
I bought me a fiddle for fifty cents.
But the only tune that I could play
Was “Yankee Doodle, get out of my way.”
I Had a Nickel
I had a nickel and I walked around the block.
I walked right into a baker shop.
I took two doughnuts out of the grease.
I handed the lady my five-cent piece.
She looked at the nickel and she lokked at me,
And said: «This money's no good to me.
There's a hole in the nickel and it goes right through.»
Said I, «There's a hole in the doughnut, too!»
Дата: 2019-03-05, просмотров: 228.