I. Read the following words and word combinations paying attention to their pronunciation:
| 1) annual 2) gift 3) to fall in love with 4) sign 5) guess 6) pancake 7) to throw 8) to celebrate 9) chocolate Easter eggs 10) bun 11) brightly 12) ghost 13) witch 14) particularly 15) to connect 16) to pretend 17) strange 18) recent 19) sheet 20) to knock 21) trick 22) treat 23) to spill 24) carol 25) to glitter 26) to wrap up 27) turkey 28) spectator 29) Event | , , , , , , |
II. Read and translate the text:
Traditions and Holidays of the UK
It may seem surprising but the British have fewer holidays than many other countries. Some of them are named Bank Holidays due to the fact that on those days banks are closed. The particular dates of the bank holidays are fixed annually.
New Year's Day is a bank holiday though many Britons do not celebrate New 
Years Eve. The Christmas tree is an annual gift from Norway. That Daypeople traditionally take a shower in the fountains in Trafalgar Square! In Scotland New Year is a occation for joyous celebration.
On February 14, St. Valentine's Day, many people send a card to the one they love or someone whom they have fallen in love with. People usually do not sign these cards and a lot of time is spent trying to guess who has sent them!
Easter
At Easter time, the British celebrate the idea of new birth by giving each other chocolate Easter eggs which are opened and eaten on Easter Sunday. On Good Friday bakers sell hot cross buns, which are toasted and eaten with butter. Easter Monday is a holiday and many people travel to the seaside for the day or go and watch one of the many sporting events, such as football or horse-racing.
May is here 
As summer comes, Britain likes to celebrate the end of the harsh winter months on May, 1 welcoming the beginning of Summer, and optimistically look forward to the bright and productive months. At school children may dance traditional spring dances such as the Maypole, when they weave their brightly coloured scarves into a beautiful pattern around a long pole.
Ghosts and witches
Halloween means 'holy evening', and takes place on October 31. This festival is particularly connected with witches and ghosts.
At parties people dress up in strange costumes and pretend they are witches. They cut horrible faces in pumpkins and other vegetables and put a candle inside, which shines through the eyes. People may play different games such as trying to eat an apple from a bucket of water without using their hands.
|
|
|
In recent years children dressed in white sheets knock on doors at Halloween and ask you if you would like a 'trick' or 'treat'. If you give them something nice, a 'treat', they go away. However, if you don't, they play a 'trick' on you, such as making a lot of noise or spilling flour on your front doorstep!
Christmas
For most British families this is the most important festival of the year, it combines the Christian celebration of the birth of Christ with the traditional festivities of winter.
On Sunday before Christmas many churches hold a carol service where special hymns are sung.
Most families decorate their houses with brightly-coloured paper or holly, and they usually have a Christmas tree in the corner of the front room, glittering with coloured lights and decorations.
One of the most main traditions of this festival is the giving of presents. Family members wrap up their gifts and leave them at the bottom of the Christmas tree to be found on Christmas morning.
At some time on Christmas Day the families will sit down to a big turkey dinner followed by Christmas pudding. In this day Queen delivers her traditional Christmas message to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.
December 26 is also a public holiday, Boxing Day (the first weekday afterCristmas Day, the day of giving small Cristmas presents/money to emploees, postmen, milkmen, etc), and this is the time to visit friends and relatives or to be a spectator at one of the many sporting events.
Pancake Day
On Pancake Tuesday, they eat lots of pancakes. These are made of flour, milk and eggs, and fried in a hot pan.
Some towns also hold pancake races on that day. People run through the streets holding a frying pan and throwing the pancake in the air. Of course if they drop the pancake, they lose the race!
Read, make and serve your friends!!!
English Pancake Recipe
Ingredients
For the pancake mixture:
220 g/8oz plain flour, sifted
pinch of salt
2 eggs
1 pint of milk
50 g/2oz butter
Method for making the batter
Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl with a sieve held high above the bowl so the flour gets airing. Make a well in the centre of the flour and break the eggs into it. Whisk the eggs making sure any bits of flour from around the edge of the bowl are mixed in with the egg. Gradually add small quantities of the milk, still whisking. Continue whisking until the batter is smooth, with the consistency of thin cream. Melt the 50g/2oz of butter in a non-stick frying pan. Spoon 2 tbsp of the melted butter into the batter and whisk it in. Let the pancake mix stand for at least 30 minutes before cooking. Pour any left over butter into a dish. This will be used later to grease the frying pan after each pancake has been made. Make sure the non-stick frying pan is really hot before adding about 2 tbsp of the batter mixture. As soon as the batter hits the hot pan, tip the pan around from side to side to get the base evenly coated with batter. Carefully lift the edge of the cooked pancake with a palette knife to see if it's tinged gold as it should be. Flip the pancake over with a pan slice or palette knife to cook the other side. Slide it out of the pan onto a plate. Stack the pancakes as you make them between sheets of greaseproof paper on a plate.
|
|
|
To serve
Sprinkle each pancake caster sugar and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Roll them up.
Serve sprinkled with a little more sugar and lemon juice and extra sections of lemon.
III. Translate the words in the brackets into English:
1. People usually ( ) these cards and a lot of time is spent trying to guess who has sent them.
2. Pancakes are made of (, ) and fried in a hot pan.
3. At Easter time, the British celebrate the idea of new birth by giving each other ( ) which are opened and eaten on Easter Sunday.
4. As summer comes, Britain likes () the end of the winter.
5. At parties people dress up in () costumes and (/ ) they are witches.
6. Family members () their gifts and leave them at the bottom of the Christmas tree to be found ( ).
7. December 26 is also a public holiday, Boxing Day, and this is the time to visit friends and relatives or to be a () at one of the many sporting ().
IV. Find the corresponding translation of the words and word combinations:
)
| 1. family 2. party 3. to fry 4. to spill 5. to dress up | A. B. C. D. E. |
b)
| A. B. C. D. , E. F. G. H. | 1. pudding 2. to take a shower 3. bottom 4. to fall in love 5. birth 6. hot 7. message 8. to deliver |
V. Answer the following questions:
1. What is an annual gift from Norway?
2. What do families usually give each other on Easter Sunday?
3. When do the British open their Christmas presents?
4. What do you know about Pancake Day?
5. What do the British usually do on Easter Monday?
6. What do the children do on May 1?
7. How is a traditional spring dance called?
8. Where do people cut horrible faces on Halloween?
9. What celebration and festivities does the Christmas combine?
10. What is the main tradition of the Christmas?
VI. Translate the sentences into English:
1. .
2. .
3. .
4. .
5. .
VII. Find out the sentences which correspond to the text. Correct the wrong sentences in accordance with the text:
1. Although not many people actually give up eating during this period, on Pancake Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, they eat lots of meat.
2. People run through the streets holding a frying pan and throwing the pancake in the air.
3. On Good Friday businessmen sell hot cross buns, which are toasted and eaten with chocolate.
4. In England on May 1, Morris men may be seen in country areas celebrating traditional dances, waving their white handkerchiefs to drive away the evil spirits and welcome in the new ones.
5. In recent years children dressed in white T-shorts knock on doors at Halloween and ask you if you would like a 'trick' or 'treat'.
