III. In the following sentences find the examples of words which are characteristic of American English.

II. This text includes some words used in American English. Underline them and write the British English words on the right-hand side.

It was getting near lunchtime and I needed some gas, so I left the interstate and drove towards the nearest town. There was a gas station just outside the town and I decided to stopandhave a look round. I put the car in a parking lot and took a cab to the center. It was midday and very hot, so I stoppedata little cafe with tables on the sidewalk. I started talkingto a truck driver, who gave me a history of the town, and afterwards he took me on a guided tour. It made a very nice break.

III. In the following sentences find the examples of words which are characteristic of American English.

1. As the elevator carried Brett downward, Hank Kreisel closed and locked the apartment door from in­side. 2. A raw fall wind swirled leaves and dust in small tornadoes and sent pedestrians scurrying for in­door warmth. 3. Over amid the bungalows a repair crew was coping with a leaky water main. 4. We have also built, ourselves, experimental trucks and cars which are electric powered. 5. In a plant bad news trav­elled like burning gasoline. 6. May Lou wasn't in; she had probably gone to a movie. 7. The bank was about equal in size to a neighbourhood drugstore, brightly lighted and pleasantly designed. 8. Nolan Wainwright walked towards the apartment building, a three-storey structure probably forty years old and showing signs of disrepair. He guessed it contained two dozen orsoapartments. Inside a vestibule Nolan Wainwright could see an array of mail boxes and call buttons. 9 Barbara likes to spend all her free time in beauty sa­lons. 10. He hadn't had an engineering degree to start, having been a high school dropout before World War II. 11. Auto companies regularly invited design school students in, treating them like VIP's, while the students saw for themselves the kind of aura they might work in later.

IV. Identify the etymology of the following words.

Ohio, ranch, squash, mosquito, banjo, toboggan, Mississippi, sombrero, prairie, wigwam.

V. Look through the following list of words and state what spelling norms are accepted in the USA and Great Britain.

1. favour – favor; honour – honor; colour – color;

3. centre – center; metre – meter; fibre – fiber;

5. to enfold – to infold; to encrust – to incrust; to empanel – to impanel;

2. defence – defense; practice – practise; offence – offense;

4. marvellous – marvelous; woollen – woolen; jewellery – jewelry;

6. cheque – check; catalogue – catalog; programme – program;

7. judgement – judgment; abridgement – abridgment; acknowledgement – acknowledgment.

VI. Read the following passage. Draw up a list of terms de­noting the University teaching staff in Great Britain and in the USA. What are the corresponding Russian terms?

Q: But speaking of universities, we've also got a dif­ferent set of labels for the teaching staff, haven't we? M: Yes, in the United States, for example, our full time faculty, which we call staff incidentally — is ar­ranged in a series of steps which goes from instructor through ranks of assistant professor, associate profes­sor to that of professor. But I wish you'd straighten me out on the English system. Don for example, is a com­pletely mysterious word and I'm never sure of the dif­ference, say, between a lecturer and a reader. Q: Well, readers say that lecturers should lecture and readers should read! But seriously, I think there's more similarity here than one would imagine. Let me say, first of all, that this word don is a very informal word and that it is common really only in Oxford and Cambridge. But corresponding to your instructor we've got the rank of assistant lecturer, usually a beginner's post. The assistant lecturer who is successful is pro­moted, like your instructor and he becomes a lecturer and this lecturer grade is the main teaching grade throughout the university world. Above lecturer a man may be promoted to senior lecturer or reader, and both of these — there's little difference between them — correspond closely to your associate professor. And then finally he may get a chair, as we say — that is a professorship, or, as you would say, a full professor­ship. It's pretty much a difference of labels rather than of organization, it seems to me.

VII. Give the British equivalents for the following Ameri­canism.

Apartment, store, baggage, street car, full, truck, elevator, candy,corn.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 2565