Методические указания к видеофайлу “The Grumpy Guide to Christmas”.

1) Translate the following words and word combinations into Russian:

to be gloomy, to be upset, to come around, to pretend, to be jolly, to turn one’s stomach*, to go on, to cheer up, ridiculous, awful, to drive smb. mad, a reminder, obscene, a blocke, to be depressed, an advent calendar, to be bombarded, to be stressed out, sycophantic verses*, to get round to smth, to be intended, to send smth straight to the bin, a stamp, to lighten the lead*, a goodwill, fictitious, to compose oneself, to get things straight, Get it?, Get over it, sickening, an impression, a waste of time, to be bothered, vile, to get up one’s snitch*, to take advantage, to cheese smb. off*, a collective madeness, a justification, a kumquat, a sprout, a luncheon meat, a balanced individual*, to make an effort, an aisle, to push smb. over the edge*, to lose one’s wit*, to look forward to, to sue, to deliver a writ, to be on a dangerous ground*, a hatred, hart-warming, a circumstance, a mystery, to seethe, the birth of our Lord, a gag, a vomit, a drunken abandon*, an excessive alcohol intake*, to run out of ideas*, proverbial HobNob, to jam smth. in, mental, a bulb, a frankincense, a myrrh, a revenge, weird, a hectic dash*, to receive, to suppose, to puke, to get drunk, a skinful*, fart-inducing, hung-over, to reign smth, it dawns on you, a cynic, posh people, receipt, an oomph*, a youngster, leftovers, an argument, wrong, a tip for life*, to reign, violent, cold cuts, to overdo, to set the scene, laden, a paperback*, a constipation.

2) Explain the word combinations in English, marked with the sign * in the exercise #1.

3) There are some words in this videofile that belongs to a certain layer of vocabulary. Which layer is this? How are these words different from abusive language. Translate them or give Russian equivalents:

a blimey, to sod off, to bog off, a scumbag, a humbug, a claptrap, a daft hat, Christmas creep, to give a damn, a harridan, a rat’s bum, a whore, bovine, a moron, smth sucks, sods, a plonk, a tat, a cack, a crap, a halfwit, snotty, a pain in the arse, bollocks, bloody, to bugger off.

Do we have such words in our language? Do you use it? Do you think it is important to learn and know them in English, or not? Why?

4) The following citations are taken from the video file. Translate them into Russian and answer the question:

· You can’t put Christmas in a sack and drown it. [Whose words are these?]

· Would you Adam and bloody Eve it? [Is this passage about Adam and Eve? Why are they present in the sentence? What did the author actually wanted to say? Rephrase.]

· And then you've got to repeat it back like a demented parrot. "Merry Christmas to you, too!" Like you could give a damn. [Whose words are these? What did the person talk about?]

· Yes, that's right. We're even irritating our stupid selves. [What is this about?]

· It's like the gestation period of an elephant. [Whose words are these? What did the person talk about?]

· Because Christmas, once you get past a certain age it's just a reminder you're getting closer to death. [Whose words are these? Do you feel that way about holidays?]

· If it's not bad enough that your own year has been awful, it's all so much worse when you learn that everyone else's has been wonderful. [What word can we use to describe that feeling?]

· Suddenly, it's like we're expecting Napoleon to drop by for dinner during the siege of Moscow. And oh, horror of horrors! We haven't got enough satsumas to feed his entire bloody army. [What is this about?]

· But the worst, the absolute worst, the one thing guaranteed to make us want to kill has got to be this man. You'd rather immerse your head in a bucket of festive reindeer snot than listen to it. [What man did the people talk about? Find it and present to the class.]

· Crowds and crowds of like-minded, irritable, dead-eyed souls. [Whom is this about?]

· Christmas Eve is a time when all of the sort of difficulties of Christmas crystallise, if you like, in that the enforced jollity and the stress all combine to make it probably the most violent evening of the year, I would think. [What did the speaker talk about? What is the meaning of his/her words? Explain it. Give your opinion.]

· It’s not about the getting, it’s about the giving. The joy is in the giving. [What is the phrase about? What does it mean? Do you agree?]

· I invested in an organic, free-range, privately-educated... turkey from a high family. It was knighted, actually, I think, at one point. [Can this be true? If not, why did the person say this? What did he or she mean?]

· But the sad thing, really, about Christmas now is that a lot of youngsters seriously don't know the meaning of Christmas and they genuinely don't know that it's the time when we celebrate the birth and the life and the work of Morecambe and Wise. [Explain the words. Do you share the opinion?]

· It's like doing full royal icing treatment on a digestive biscuit. [Whose words are these? What did the speaker talk about?

5) Answer the questions:

· Why is the programme called “The Grumpy Guide to…?”

· Have you recognized the famous people in the video? Who are they? If you haven’t recognized them all, go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00pk61h and find out. Pick one of the participants and tell class about it.

· What mood does the video evoke?

· What is the general attitude of the interviewed people toward Christmas days? Why do they feel like this?

· Why do the participants believe that Christmas attributes and symbols make people depressed and stressed out?

· What is the point of Christmas cards by the opinion of the interviewed people? What is their real purpose? Have you ever send a card to somebody? What was the occasion? Are they still popular?

· What funny pranks do the participants propose to do with postcards? Would you try this yourself?

· Is an e-mail or SMS congratulation better or worse than sending a postcard?

· When does “the Christmas madness” starts and ends?

· What is meant by “food shopping for Christmas”? Why do the speakers question its necessity in modern days?

· Why does Christmas turn some people into crazed shopaholics?

· What are the things that irritate people during Christmas shopping?

· Why do the shopping mall owners turn the Christmas music on so early in November? Why does it make people mad?

· Why do the stand-up comics and actors think that Christmas is a bad period for them?

· Why did the speaker question the idea of having a Christmas tree?

· The speaker asked if anyone know the actual story. What story was he talking about? Do you know it? Retell it in short.

· Is there places on Earth where Christmas is not been celebrated?

· Why do the people, when eating the reindeer meat, wanted to get revenge on the song about the reindeer? Which song is that? How many famous people have sung it? Name some of them. Which one do you like best? Have you ever heard the song before?

· Why do you have to buy a present at a Jesus’s birthday? Why do we always buy presents in the last moment?

· What presents does the speaker lists, when giving his opinion about his last-minutes presents to his wife? What was the most ridiculous one?

· What is the difference between the posh people and the common people?

· Why do the people give each other the same presents as they did the previous year?

· When was the last time you’ve received a present you really wanted?

· What should be present on Christmas dinner table? Is there a tradition? What sometimes go wrong? Why is it the most important meal of the year? Is it the same in our country? If not – which one is?

· What is called a turkey genocide?

· What is the biggest waste of money of all Christmas time by speakers’ opinions?

· “It is almost Dickensian” What does that mean?

· What is a cracker? How does it look like? What’s inside? How do you play with it?

· What do people traditionally do after the Christmas meal? What films are mentioned as the traditional choice for Christmas?

· What does the Queen do for Christmas?

· Why such a big amount of food is being thrown away? Is it justified? What do you do with the leftovers from celebration meals?

6) Translate the contents of the Christmas postcard. Who could send such a card? Imagine the situation and the people. Describe them? Could anyone receive such a card in real life? If not – why? What is usually written there? Make the similar non-standard Christmas greeting on a card and share with your class members.

Date: 2016-01-03; view: 1272