1. When did India become an independent state? Give a brief account of pre-history.
2. What famous British writers dedicated their creativity to India and its culture?
3. What role did Rudyard Kipling play in promoting the culture of India? Speak about Kiplings books as part of the world heritage.
4. What are recommended topics for safe and friendly conversation in South India?
5. What are most urgent home problems in India?
6. What makes frequent front headlines in South India?
7. What plays a key role in revolutionising Indias once-ramshackle economy?
8. Why are traditional toponyms changed in modern India?
Text 2. POPULATION AND PEOPLE OF MODERN GREECE
Assignment 1: Translate the text into Russian. Explain the ways of introducing xenonyms into the text.
A census is taken every 10 years in Greece. The 1991 census recorded a population of 10.264.156 - an increase of 5.4% on the 1981 figure. Women outnumber men by more than 200.000. Greece is now a largely urban society, with 68% of the population living in cities. By far the largest is Athens, with more than 3.1 million people living in the greater Athens area. Less than 15% of people live on the islands, the most populous of which are Crete (537.000), Evia (209.100) and Corfu (105.000).
Contemporary Greeks are a mixture of all of the invaders who have occupied the country since ancient times. Additionally, there are a number of distinct ethnic minorities living in the country.
The countrys small Roman Catholic population is of Genoese or Frankish origin. They live mostly in the Cyclades, especially on the island of Syros, where they make up 40% of the population. The Franks dominated the island from 1207 AD to Ottoman times.
About 300.000 ethnic Turks who were exempt from the population exchange of 1923 live in Thrace. There are also small numbers of Turks on Kos and Rhodes which, along with the rest of the Dodecanese, did not become part of Greece until 1947.
The small Jewish communities on the islands of Evia (at Halkida) and Rhodes date back to the Roman era. There are also Jewish communities in several mainland cities, including Athens, Kavala and Thessaloniki. Thessaloniki had a large Jewish community before WWII, mostly descendants of 15th century exiles from Spain and Portugal. In 1941, the Germans entered Thessaloniki and herded 46.000 Jews off to Auschwitz; most never returned. They comprised 90% of Thessalonikis Jews and more than half the total number in Greece. Today there are only about 5000 Jews living in Greece.
You will come across Roma (Gypsies) everywhere in Greece, but especially in Macedonia, Thrace and Thessaly. There are large communities of Roma in the Thracian towns of Alexandroupolis and Didymotiho.
The collapse of the communist regimes in Albania and Romania produced a wave of economic refugees across Greeces poorly guarded northern borders, with an estimated 300.000 arriving from Albania alone. These refugees have been a vital source of cheap labour for the agricultural sector; fruit and vegetable prices have actually gone down as a result of their contribution. Albanians also have a reputation as fine stone masons, and their influence can be seen everywhere.
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Assignment 2:Discuss the text while answering the following questions. Use reference books if necessary.
1. What is the current demographic situation in Greece?
2. What are the most populous islands?
3. What do modern Greeks represent ethnically?
4. What are ethnic minorities in Greece?
5. How are they spread around the country?
6. What are the Russian equivalents to the following toponyms: Athens, Thessaloniki, Cyclades, Thrace, Auschwitz?
7. Give the Russian equivalent to the name Ottoman times, Ottoman Empire.
Text 3. EDUCATION IN MODERN GREECE
Assignment 1: Translate the text into Russian. Explain the ways of introducing and explaining xenonyms in the text. Pay special attention to the graphic means of introducing xenonyms. Compare the Russian words , , the English words gymnasium, lyceum and their Greek etymons.
Education in Greece is free at all levels of the state system, from kindergarten to tertiary. Primary schooling begins at the age of six, but most children attend a state-run kindergarten from the age of five. Private kindergartens are popular with those who can afford them. Primary school classes tend to be larger than those in most European countries - usually 30 to 35 children. Primary school hours are short (8 am to 1 pm), but children get a lot of homework.
At 12, children enter the gymnasio, and at 15 they may leave school, or enter the lykeio, from where they take university-entrance examinations. Although there is a high percentage of literacy, many parents and pupils are dissatisfied with the education system, especially beyond primary level. The private sector therefore flourishes, and even relatively poor parents struggle to send their children to one of the countrys 5000 frontistiria (intensive coaching colleges) to prepare them for the very competitive university-entrance exams.
