The State Opening of Parliament

Traditionally the Queen opens Parliament every autumn. At the Houses of Parliament the Queen sits on a throne in the House of Lords. Then she reads the Queen’s Speech.

Guy Fawkes Day

November 5^th is Guy Fawkes Day in Britain. All over the country people build “bonfires”. On top of each bonfire is a guy. That is a figure of Guy Fawkes. Before November 5^th children use their guys to make money. They stand in the street and shout “Penny for the Guy”. Then they spend their money on fireworks.

Up-Helly-Aa

Every winter people of Zerwick, the capital of the Shetland Islands, make a model of a Viking longship with the head of a dragon at the front. Then, on Up-Helly-Aa night in January, the Shetlanders dress in Viking clothes and carry the ship through the town to the sea and burn it there.

Carol Singing

Carols were songs performed with dancing at Christmas. Many of today’s carols were written as Christmas hymns celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.

5. HOLIDAYS IN RUSSIA.

There are many national holidays in Russia, when people all over the country do not work and have special celebrations.

The major holidays are: New Year’s Day, Women’s Day, May Day, Victory Day and Independence Day.

The first holiday of the year is New Year’s Day. People see the new year in at midnight on the 31^st of December. They greet the new year with champagne and listen to the Kremlin chimes beating 12 o’clock.

There are lots of New Year traditions in Russia. In every home there is a New Year tree glittering with coloured lights and decorations.

Children always wait for Father Frost to come and give them a present. Many people consider New Year’s Day to be a family holiday. But the young prefer to have New Year parties of their own.

A renewed holiday in our country is Christmas. It is celebrated on the 7^th of January. It’s a religious holiday and a lot of people go to church services on that day.

On the 8^th of March we celebrate Women’s Day when men are supposed to do everything about the house, cook all the meals and give women flowers.

The greatest national holiday in our country is Victory Day. On the 9^th of May, 1945, our army completely defeated the German fascists and the Great Patriotic War ended. We’ll never forget our grandfathers and grandmothers who died to defend our Motherland. We honour their memory with a minute of silence and put flowers on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Independence Day is a new holiday in our country. On the 12^th of June, 1992, the first President of Russia was elected.

We also celebrate Day of defender of Motherland on the 23d of February, Easter, Day of Knowledge and lots of professional holidays which are not public holidays and banks, offices and schools do not close.

6. ABOUT MYSELF AND MY FAMILY

Let me introduce myself. My full name is (Svetlana Petrovna Ivanova). I’m (fifteen) years old. I was born on the (23^rd of July) in Moscow. When I was three I went to the kindergarten. At seven I entered a secondary school. Now I’m a pupil of the (ninth) form. I love my school and my favourite subjects are (English, Literature and History). Also I have a lot of friends here. We help each other with lessons, we discuss a lot of interesting problems, such as school, our future profession, love and friendship, etc. I like to listen to the music, to dance, to watch films and other interesting TV programmes. And then we usually discuss them with my friend.

My family is not large. I’ve got a mother, a father and (a sister).

My father is (fifty). He is a tall man with (dark hair and moustache). His eyes are (hazel). He is a very good (doctor). He loves his work very much. He is always busy, but when my father has free time he loves to go with us to the cinema.

I think my mum is a very attractive woman. She (isn’t) tall, but slim and graceful. She has (abundant reddish) hair and beautiful big (green) eyes. She is a very kind and cheerful person. She works as a (travel agent).

My sister is (6) years (older) than I am. She is a (student of the Medical Institute. She would like to be a doctor like our father). She loves to study and she is very smart. We are very close with her and she is my true friend.

Our family is a happy one. We love and respect each other. We feel so safe and comfortable together.

7. CHRISTMAS

Christmas is the main public holiday in Britain and the US. This Christian holy day is held on December 25^th (in Russia on January 7^th) in honour of the birth of Christ. People usually spend time with their families, eat special food and drink a lot. On Christmas Eve people go to a special church service.

People usually decorate their houses and many people have a Christmas tree with coloured balls or lights on it in their house which they also decorate.

People also buy and send Christmas cards to their friends usually containing the message “Merry Christmas”.

There is a tradition that children should put a long sock called a Christmas stocking at the end of their bed or by the chimney or hang it by the fireplace so that Santa Clause will fill it with presents.

Families usually spend Christmas day opening their presents. The most important meal is Christmas dinner. The typical meal consists of turkey with potatoes and other vegetables. In Britain this is followed by Christmas pudding- a sweet pudding containing a lot of dried fruit and often covered with burning brandy.

In Britain, the day after Christmas is called Boxing Day and is also a public holiday. A lot of sports take place on Boxing Day and many people now spend time watching sport on television.

8. BOOKS

A book is one of the greatest wonders of the world.

It develops our feelings and emotions, it makes us think, suffer and rejoice together with the characters of the book. It’s also a valuable source of knowledge and useful information about all sorts of things.

Books are classified into major categories: fiction and non-fiction. There are following kinds of fiction: tales, myths, legends, science fiction, detective stories, poetry, plays and novels.

Non-fiction books are about real events, people or nature.

As for me, I like to read detective stories. My favourite writer is Agatha Christie (1891-1976). She wrote 75 crime novels and 19 plays. Her books were translated into more than 100 languages. Many of her popular books and plays have been made into films. Her most famous characters are the detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, and two of her best books are “Murder on the Orient Express” and “Death on the Nile”.

Agatha Christie was born in England in Devonshire. She was educated at home and she began to write at the end of the First World War. Her first novel was published in 1920. But she became recognized six years later after publishing of her novel “The Murder of Roger Acroyd”.

Agatha Christie’s books are so popular, because the plots are so exciting and you never guess who the criminal is. Her language is simple and at the same time so expressive and emotional. I read a lot of books by A. Christie, such as “Body in the Library”, “Curtain”, “Death on the Nile”, etc.

A.A. MILNE

Alan Alexander Milne was born in London on January 18^th, 1882. His father was the headmaster of a small preparatory school.

Milne went to Westminster School at the age of 11 and then went on to Cambridge to become a mathematician. But he became editor of the university’s journal “Granta” in which he published some of his light humorous poems. Then he went to London to earn his living as a writer. In 1905 he published his first book of humorous essays. Aged only 24 he was given a post of assistant editor of the famous magazine “Punch”.

In 1913 he married and the following year when the war broke out he joined the Army. At the front line he got ill and had to return home, to London.

The Milne’s only child, Christopher Robin, was born in 1920. The Milnes bought him a teddy bear for his first birthday. The teddy bear was soon named Winnie.

A.A. Milne wrote a lot of poems for Christopher Robin and about him. Some of the poems became very popular songs.

In 1924 he published a book of poems “When We Were Very Young”. His famous book “Winnie-the-Pooh” was published in 1926. The illustrations to it were done by Ernest Shepard.

After the book “Winnie-the-Pooh” A.A. Milne wrote another book of children’s verses- “Now We Are Six” and “The House at Pooh Corner”. The four Pooh books are still as popular today as they were many years ago when they were written.

9. THEATRE

Theatre is a place where you can see a play staged. It is also one of the entertainments.

A theatre consists of two parts: the stage and the hall. They are separated by a curtain and the orchestra. Actors and actresses perform on the stage and public occupies the hall, the pit, the dresscircles, the boxes and the gallery.

If we made up our mind to go to the theatre we should go to the box-office to buy tickets. Seats can be reserved beforehand.

The last performance I saw was “The Nut Cracker” by Tchaikovsky. How great it was! The main parts were performed by Vadim Pisarev and Janna Dorofeeva. Everyone knows that they are very talented dancers. But I also was impressed by a very young ballet-dancer who was performing the part of Masha girl. I think she deserves respect of the audience because she did her best and looked great for her young age. I had a great time that night.

But we are to admit that theatre is not popular now as it used to be. There are many people who prefer to seat comfortably before the TV and enjoy themselves without leaving their homes.

THEATRE AND CINEMA: HOW IT ALL BEGAN?

Theatrical drama is based on three things. First there must be an actor or actors speaking of singing. Second, there must be some dramatic conflict between actors. Third, there must be an audience following the progress of the drama.

The first theatrical performances of this kind took place in ancient Greece. The first actor known was called Thespis. He was the leading singer and traveled from his birthplace to Athens in a cart that carried all his belongings and could be turned into a stage for performance. In Athens he won a prize at the new drama festival. He was the first professional performer who was brave enough to play a god.

Cinema is much younger than theatre. It was born at the end of the 19^th century. The first people who showed the first movies to a paying public were the Lumiere Brothers in France. They did this at the Grand Café, Boulevard de Capucines, Paris, in 1896. The first films showed moving people and transport or newsreels of processions and wars, short comedies. In 1901 France was the first country to produce a dramatic film, “The Story of a Crime”.

Cinema rapidly developed in both the New and the Old World. Charlie Chaplin made his first film, “Making a Living”, in 1914 in the USA. Russia’s great achievement in cinema was connected with its directors such as Eisenstein. (“The Battleship “Potemkin”), Pudovkin (“Mother”), Kuleshov (“By the Law”), Dovzenko (“Earth”). Then, in 1927, Warner Brothers in Hollywood made the first film in which an actor sang and spoke. The film was called “Jazz Singer”. It opened a new era in films-the era of the “talkies”. The first one hundred percent sound film, “Lights of New York”, appeared in 1928. The first colour films were made in the 1930s, but the black-and-white films are made even today.

10. HISTORY OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES

The Olympic Games are an international sports festival that began in ancient Greece. The original Greek games took place every fourth year for several hundred years, until they were brought to an end in the early Christian era. The Olympic Games were renewed in 1896, and since then they have been staged every fourth year, except during World War I and World War II.

The ancient games were held in honour of Zeus, the most important god for ancient Greek. According to the earliest records, only one Athletic event was held in the ancient Olympics-a footrace. Only men were allowed to compete or watch the games. The 18^th Olympics already included wrestling and pentathlon, and later Games- chariot races and other sports. In 394 AD Games were officially ended by the Roman emperor Theodosius.

Pierre de Coubertin, a young French nobleman, had an idea to bring the Olympic Games back to life. With the help of the people who supported him he managed to organize the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Greece.

The Athens Games in 1896 were a success. Athletes from thirteen countries competed in nine sports. A second Olympiad was held in France in 1900. The 2004 Summer Olympics were held in Greece.

The Winter Games are held two years after the Summer Games. The Olympics are governed by the International Olympic Committee.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 898