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Тексты для восприятия и понимания речи на слух к учебному
пособию для гимназий
«Английский язык / Англійская мова. 10 класс” авторов
Н.В. Демченко и др.
Минск: Издательский центр БГУ, 2014
UNIT 1
Unit 1 Lesson 2
1.
- Hello, my name is Henry.
- Nice to meet you. My name is Alison.
- Are you an American, Alison? Your accent sounds American way.
- Well, actually I am Canadian.
-Wow, really?
- And what about you?
- I am Australian, from Sydney.
- Really? I hear it is a beautiful city.
- Yes, it is. What do you do, Alison?
- I work for a bank now. I am a teller.
- A teller?
- And what about you, Henry?
- I am a teacher.
-
Really?
2.
- Hello, I don`t think we have met. My name is David Tarrintor.
- How do you do? Nice to meet you. I am Susan Lauw.
- And where are you from, Susan?
- I am from the United States, from Chicago actually.
- Oh, really?
- And where are you from, David? Are you British?
- That`s right. I am from London.
- Have you ever been here at the university? Are you a student?
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- No, I am not, I am a chemist. I work for the hospital.
- I see.
- And what about you? Are you a student?
- That`s right. I am studying law at the university.
UNIT 2
Lesson 1
Ex. 1b
1. In modern usage, a cottage is usually a modest, often cosy dwelling, usually in a
village or the countryside
2. A bungalow is a type of a detached single storey often with verandahs.
3. A semi-detached house, often abbreviated to semi in the UK, Canada and Australia is
joined to another house by one wall that they share.
4. A terrace or terraced house is
a house in a row of similar houses joined together on both sides. The American
word is row house. The first and last of these houses is called an end terrace, and is often a
different layout from the houses in the middle.
5. A single-family detached house is a free-standing residential building. It is not joined
to any other building.
6. A mansion is a large a large house, usually a beautiful and expensive one. In modern
British English a mansion block refers to a block of flats or apartments.
7. A maisonette (from the French - little house) is a flat with two levels in a large multistorey apartment building. The usual layout is combined kitchen and dining room, living
space and accessories on the lower floor, several bedrooms and a second bathroom on the
top.
8. A block of flats is a large building that is divided into apartments
9. A palace is
a very large building, especially one used as the official home of a royal family,
president, or important religious leader
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Ex. 2
The most essential things for man’s life are food, water, clothes and shelter. But a human
being wants not just a shelter, not just a house but a home.
In the past people used to build houses out of local materials and many areas developed
their own style of building. As a result the architectural landscape in Britain is extremely
varied.
There are huge differences among houses. They vary in style, size, colour, material, the
age of the building, ownership and many other things.
A great number of people in Britain dream of having a large spacious detached house with
a garden. But even a small detached house is very desirable. Such houses give more
privacy which is so dear to any British heart. They still think that “An Englishman’s home
is his castle”.
Many people like cottages especially if they are thatched and conveniently located.
Cottages are usually small but still detached. The next alternative is a semi-detached house
(duplex in American English) where you have just one neighbouring family. Each house is
the mirror of the other. They are exactly the same inside and outside.
Terraced houses (or rowed houses in America) are the last on the wish list but still better
than flats. Quite a few people try to avoid living in blocks of flats (American: apartment
blocks) first of all because they provide the least amount of privacy. Although Britain is
very densely populated, the proportion of flats is second lowest in Europe. Terraced
houses usually have no way though to the back garden except through the house itself.
Each house in a row is joined to the next one. Houses at the end of the row are called end
terrace houses and have more space around them. They are more desirable and more
expensive compared to the houses in the middle.
An exception is the town house which can be found in the inner areas of cities. They have
three or more floors and a basement. Even though they are terraced they are highly
desirable especially if they are conveniently located. Many of these houses have been
broken into flats or studios. A studio is a flat with a general living space combining a
living room, a bedroom and a kitchen in one room.
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Many people nowadays interpret the proverb “An Englishman’s home is his castle” in a
good old way. But quite a few interpret it very practically. Property ownership is a very
good long-term investment which can be sold with profit if need be.
Unit 2, Lesson 2, Ex. 2
Hi, my name is Sam. I live in a village not far from Lancaster in the north-west of
England.
I live in a detached house. It is made of bricks and tiles. In my house there are three
rooms downstairs and three rooms upstairs. We have central heating with radiators in
each room which keep our house warm. We also have an open fireplace.
If you come into my house through the back door, you will find yourself in the kitchen. In
the kitchen there is a fridge (refrigerator), a freezer, a cooker and cupboards. There is also
a freezer under the fridge. We have lots of cupboards and an electric cooker. Our
microwave is very quick and easy to use. We wash our things in the washing machine and
hang them out in our garden to dry. We wash up the plates in the sink as we don’t have a
dishwasher.
Downstairs there is also a lounge. Some people call this room the living-room. In our
lounge there is a table with chairs, a settee (in America I think they call this a sofa - it is a
comfy 2-seater chair), two comfy chairs, a television, a DVD Player and Video Recorder.
We also have satellite TV. There are some cupboards and a bookcase.
Most houses have a bathroom upstairs but ours is downstairs. In my bathroom there is a
toilet, a bath, a sink with two taps (one for hot water and one for cold), a shower and a
laundry basket. This is where we put our dirty clothes for washing.
The three rooms upstairs are all bedrooms. They all have carpets on the floor, except my
room. In my bedroom I have my own computer, a wardrobe - to hang clothes in,
cupboards with drawers for other clothes, cupboards for all other stuff like old toys etc.
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There is also a bookcase for my books and my bed. It is high up as I have my desk
underneath it and my computer. I also have my own television.
Outside my house we have a back garden and a front garden. In the back garden there is an
area of grass for us to play football on and for my little brother to ride his bike. Mum likes
to grow vegetables in the garden and plant flowers.
Welcome to my house!
Lesson 6
Ex.1 My name is Rita Oakleaf and I would like to share with you a couple of funny
stories about moving houses. The first one is called Great Flood. My husband's
promotion at work meant we had to move a bit farther south. We had been looking for
another house since November, but nothing had worked out by the time we sold our house.
Since we didn't know when we might find a house, we had to find an apartment that we
could rent by the month. I found one though we didn't have much of a choice. The day my
husband went to sign the papers, the landlord called and said he had bad news. The entire
apartment was flooded! Something went wrong with the toilet and it flooded the entire
upstairs, poured down the stairs, and caused the kitchen ceiling to become the kitchen
floor. It was very frustrating, but we also had a good laugh. We always try to find
something funny in the problem. It helps not to cry.
Good things to come out of this: The most important thing was that we hadn't moved in
yet, or it would have ruined all of our stuff. The landlord also knew another landlord who
had one apartment left. We had more parking there, the apartment was nicer and it was
closer to my family. So, it really was a blessing in disguise.
Lesson 7
Ex.1 A house is made of walls and beams; a home is built with love and dreams.
It takes hands to build a house, but only hearts can build a home.
Ex.2.:
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Presenter: If you were starting over in an empty house without any of your accumulated
belongings, what would you need to make it feel like home? In other words, what makes a
house a home? We asked four young people. This is what they said. Mary
Mary: I've decided that the first thing I would look for would be a big family dining table
– big enough for all of us, plus relatives and friends. That's because so many of our special
times have been when we've all been together around the table. It's where we giggle and
laugh and sing "Happy Birthday to you"; where we celebrate small things such as an 'A' in
arithmetic and momentous things like a promotion at work or a college degree; where we
soothe one another's hurts; and quiet our worries. And it's where we share our dreams,
because when families share their dreams, everyone pitches in to make them come true,
and miracles fan out from family dining tables like magic.
Presenter:
Peter: Our home would need an old-fashioned fireplace. I know most people prefer the
modern no-sparks, no-smoke gas kind, but we would need the type with burning an oldfashioned fireplace that crackle and glow red and smell of wood smoke. It's where we
always gather on bad-weather days to play Monopoly or work on a jigsaw puzzle or just
read. It's where we daydream.
And also, there would be an awful emptiness if the books we love were missing from our
home, so I'd search for a great big bookcase to hold books. Slowly, we would reaccumulate the books we cherish – from "A Child's Garden of Verses," "The Little Engine
that Could," and "Goodnight Moon" to books by Dickens, Twain, Hemingway, and Frost.
Presenter:
Lucy: I'd buy pillows for our sofa. Silly? Probably, but pillows always create that putyour-head-back-and-your-feet-up feeling. Pillows say, "Don't worry, everything will be
fine." I'd mix and match them: big red and white checks and blue toile and golden plaids.
Lots of them – puffy, fluffy and pretty and very therapeutic.
We would need a yardstick in order to start a new measuring wall – out in the kitchen,
probably behind a door, where children are measured, where year after year, and the
inches march upward on the wall to show how tall they have become. It's where they
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stretch with all their might and where futures are fashioned with the words, "When I grow
up..."
Presenter:
Steve:
Ever since I was three, I have shared two households. Both were—and remain—vastly
different. One belongs to my mother, one to my father, but both are a place I consider
home. My father’s cosy apartment remains my haven of peace and quiet, scratched Jimi
Hendrix records, really good food and a lot of understanding. My mother’s house is
crossword puzzles, paintbrushes and lots of friends. Never quiet but so diverse.
Home is comfort. Comfort is reading in bed. So I would start with a bed and good light
above it. That will remind me of my dad’s house. As I became accustomed to the noise of
my mum’s house I would like to have a spacious room with sofas and tables where my
friends and I will chat, eat and debate.
My home isn’t a singular unit; my home lies between and within two households. A house
is where you live—but a home is where your heart is.
Lesson 8
Ex. 1 In the House of upside-down
Cellars top floor, Attic's ground
In the House of upside down
Laughing cries and smiles frown
In the house of upside-down
Found is lost and lost is found
There was an old woman
who lived in a shoe
She had so many children
She didn’t know what to do
She gave them some broth
Without any bread,
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She kissed them all gently
And sent them to bed.
They lived
in a house by the sea
he and she.
Where fireflies lit the sky
crickets sang nearby
and gentle waves kissed
the golden sands goodbye.
Lesson 4 Ex. 3
My favorite room is my bedroom. Perhaps the bedroom is the most important room in man
y houses, because in this room you can relax. I would like to call my room private but
unfortunately it's not true. I share it with my
sister. Sometimes the fact that we live together makes me angry, but we have learned more
or less to live peacefully.
So what does this special room look like?
It’s medium size, not too big or small. It is bright and cozy.
In this room I have a bunk bed for me and my sister, a computer table, two desks, two
wardrobes, a chest of drawers and a dresser. On the chest of drawers I like to put
my family pictures because they remind me about past events. My sister doesn’t mind
but she would prefer to have them in albums.
Our window looks out onto a
forest and it’s really perfect because every evening we are watching the
wonderful sunset. Above my bed hangs a map of the world, I
often look on? it and daydream about different exciting places where I would travel in
future.
I like spending time in my room with
a book and with a steaming hot cup of tea on cold, rainy autumn evenings.
I will be sad to leave my room but next year I am finishing school and hopefully will
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become a university student. It is 300 kilometers away from home and I doubt I will be
able to come home very often. I am afraid that my sister will change everything in the
room because she doesn’t like it, especially my map on the wall.
UNIT 3
Lesson 6
Mr. Sorensen: Richard, what`s that under your paper?
Richard: What is what?
Mr. Sorensen: Lift up your arm. What`s this?
Richard: Oh, that. Uh, that`s a grocery list. I`ve got to pick up some things on my way
home.
Mr. Sorensen: Do you really expect me to believe that?
Richard: Well, that`s what it is.
Mr. Sorensen: (reading) Soren Kierkegaard, Denmark, 1800s, Hegel, Germany, Sartre,
Paris, 1900s… An interesting “grocery” list, Mister Jackson!
Richard: Oh, gee, let me see that. Oh, my gosh, they must be my notes. How did they get
here?
Mr. Sorensen: I`d like to see you in my office, please. (They leave the classroom and go
to the office down the hall) Now, Richard, would you care to explain how the answers to
the test questions appeared on your desk?
Richard: I can`t, sir. Someone must have left them on my desk.
Mr. Sorensen: Someone left them on your desk! Someone with handwriting identical to
yours left them on your desk? I`m afraid I can`t accept that answer.
Richard: Are you accusing me of cheating?
Mr. Sorensen: Yes, I am.
Richard: You can`t do that without proof! I`m going to call my counsellor!
Mr. Sorensen: By all means, do that. In the meantime, however, don `t come to class
again. I am extremely disappointed in your behavior.
Richard: (grumbling to himself as he leaves) What a pig-headed, narrow-minded jerk!
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UNIT 4
Unit 4 Lesson 1 ex.1b
Scouting in the UK is the largest volunteer movement for young people. There are
about 520,000 people involved in this movement. The motto of the Scout Association is
BE PREPARED which means your mind and body are always ready to do the right thing
at the right moment. The mission of Scouting is to contribute to the education of young
people, to help them build a better world, realise their full potential and take their place in
society.
The first scouting camp was held in 1907. The Boy Scouts Association was
officially created in 1910 and, at the start Scouting was for boys between the ages of 10
and 19. In 1967 the name of the organization was changed to the Scout Association. Now
it is made up of three sections: the Cub Scouts for younger children, the Explorer Scouts
for 14- to 18-year-old members, and the Scout Network for 18–25-year-olds.
Adventure is at the heart of everything we do. We believe that through the everyday
adventure of Scouting, young people regularly experience new challenges that enrich their
lives. We offer hundreds of activities, as diverse as kayaking, staged performance,
paragliding, and archery. There’s something for every young person, whatever their
physical ability: hiking in the dark, travelling across the country with just a backpack and
three friends or spending the first night away from home.
The zones vary slightly depending on which of our sections the young person is in,
but they cover a huge range of activities, from outdoor adventures to community
involvement, creative expression and learning about the wider world. Activities are an
integral part of Scouting. But as well as being challenging physically, our activities help
young people set and achieve goals and grow in confidence.
At an international level Scouting aims at promoting international harmony and
peace and encouraging tolerance of diversity.
Unit 4 Lesson 1 ex.2b
Reporter: So, Bill, you have received the Silver Buffalo Award, the highest award given
to adults in the Boy Scouts of America, for your achievements in business and
philanthropy. What achievement in your life do you find most important?
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Bill Gates: My career was very successful. I loved writing software and creating
Microsoft. Of course, Microsoft is very important to me. And this success gave me the
opportunity to say, “I want to give that money back to society. I can make a difference.” In
2000 my wife and I created the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. We use innovations,
new science, new vaccines, to help the poorest in the world and save millions of lives. I
think it’s a great achievement.
Reporter: Do you remember clearly your Scouting experience?
Bill Gates: Sure, I grew in Scouting. It was a positive experience. Our troop was very
active, we went places and did things. I had a lot of great friends.
Reporter: When and where did you get involved in the Scouting movement?
Bill Gates: I was a member of the Scouts in the 1960s and 1970s in Seattle.
Reporter: What influenced your decision to become a Boy Scout?
Bill Gates: Young people learn a lot from what their parents do and say. My parents set
me a good example as they were both leaders in the community. My father was a scout in
the 1940s.
Reporter: What activities were the most challenging for you?
Bill Gates: Well, I wasn’t good at hiking, I wasn’t good at cooking the food. It was the
overall experience of challenging yourself.
Reporter: What activity is the most memorable?
Bill Gates: Hiking in the Olympic Mountains was a regular thing we did. During one of
those hiking trips our Scoutmaster who was deathly afraid of snakes woke up at night and
felt something cold on his head. He thought it was a snake and he was going to die. My
friends and I had to drag him for 25 miles to the nearest road!
Reporter: That’s really amazing. What does Scouting mean to you?
Bill Gates: I learnt a lot. I’m glad I was a scout. I learnt to achieve my goals, to challenge
myself and, of course, the greatest value of scouting is the sense of community, service to
people, to society.
Reporter: Thank you very much for coming and sharing your memories with us. Service
to others is at the core of what it means to be a Scout. Mr. Gates, through his incredible
success, has provided tremendous opportunity and help to inspire others.
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Unit 4 Lesson 2 ex.1b
The Belarusian
Republican
Youth
Union (the
BRSM)
is
a youth
organization in Belarus. Its goals are to promote patriotism, to develop youth's initiatives,
to involve young people into useful public activities and encourage their creative
expression.
The BRSM was created on 6 September 2002. The BRSM has two official symbols:
an emblem and a flag. The emblem has a red bar with the initials of the BRSM, written in
gold, and a green bar with a golden olive branch. The flag of the BRSM has the same
elements as the emblem. In order to join the BRSM, the applicant must be between the
ages of 14 and 31.
The main activities of the BRSM involve the promotion of Belarusian patriotism. For
example, young people participate in memorial ceremonies around the country and pass
out flowers to veterans of the Great Patriotic War. The BRSM members are also involved
in various outdoor activities and sports, including camping, football, running, swimming,
skiing and ice-hockey. Social events, such as concerts for the youth of Belarus, flash mobs
and others, are hosted by the BRSM as well. Young people take part in competitions
amongst themselves as well as with other similar to the BRSM organisations all over the
world.
The BRSM supports youth volunteer movement in Belarus and organizes student
construction brigades.
Unit 4 Lesson 3 Ex. 2b
UNESCO club ‘Gulfstream’ was founded in Minsk Gymnasium 12 in 2008. At present
there are 26 members of the club including both students and teachers.
The main stream of our work is International Cooperation in the spheres of Education,
Ecology, Model UN conferences and Healthy Lifestyle.
We participate in different educational contests and festivals. Participation in international
Model UN conferences is an excellent opportunity for students to study leadership, to get
acquainted with main principals of humanity, tolerance, democracy. We have participated
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in MUN conferences held in Germany, Poland, Saint Petersburg and Minsk. We are proud
to be the organisers of GYMUN conferences for the last two years.
Through different actions, games and contests we make our students understand how
important it is to care of nature. We have found appropriate ways to teach them ecology
problems.
Among the brightest events we have taken part in I can name “The Youth Training”
devoted to the World Anti-AIDS Day, the Swedish-Belarusian on-line «Young Masters
Programme», the action “Utilisation” aimed at utilizing used batteries, the meeting with a
representative of the European Volunteer Network “Creative ideas in business”, the
international projects “Now And Then”, “Let’s Discover Europe” and many more.
We are young, active and open to new ideas!!!.
Unit 4 Lesson 3 Ex. 3b
In my view, MUN conferences help me and other participants develop our communication
and critical thinking skills. In the future I’d like to work in the sphere of international
cooperation and here we learn to be diplomats. These conferences let me feel important in
solving world problems. We hold intelligent, respectful discussions and debates which
raise awareness of the challenges and dilemmas faced by ‘governments’. It’s a chance to
look at an issue from another point of view as the participants are made to speak on behalf
of a certain country, not expressing their own opinion. Moreover, the delegates aren’t
allowed to speak Russian, so it’s a great opportunity to improve your English. And of
course, the participation in such conferences let us make new friends from all over the
world.
Unit 4 Lesson 4 Ex. 3b
“We are the world, we are the children”
There comes a time when we heed a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
And it’s time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all
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We can't go on pretending day by day
That someone, somehow will soon make a change
We are all a part of God’s great big family
And the truth, you know,
Love is all we need
[Chorus]
We are the world, we are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let’s start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It’s true we'll make a better day
Just you and me
Send them your heart so they'll know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free
As God has shown us by turning stones to bread
So we all must lend a helping hand
[Chorus]
When you're down and out, there seems no hope at all
But if you just believe there's no way we can fall
Let us realize that a change can only come
When we stand together as one
Unit 4 Lesson 5 Ex. 1b
After passing his A Levels, Prince William took a gap year. That means he had a one year
break before going to university. He spent the first part of it in the Belize jungle sleeping
in a hammock, wearing jungle combats, and eating army rations. He also worked on a
farm in the UK before travelling to a remote part of Chile. As a volunteer for the charity
Raleigh International, William helped build new walkways and teach English in a
mountain village in the south of the country. William spent 10 weeks in Chile where he
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lived in primitive conditions. He took his turn with the chores such as cooking porridge for
the team or cleaning out the toilet.
Unit 4 Lesson 7 Ex. 2a
CISV (Children’s International Summer Villages) is a global organization dedicated to
educating and inspiring for peace through building inter-cultural friendship, cooperation
and understanding. Founded in 1950, today we are a federation of 60 Member
Associations with over 200 Chapters or local groups. In over 60 years we have given
countless children and young people the experience of their lives and the opportunity to
build lasting friendships through our international educational programmes.
CISV programmes are for all ages. Our original and unique Village programme for 11year-olds is a great introduction to the fun, friendship and educational experience that
CISV offers.
Another programme is Interchange. It’s a two-way family exchange programme for 12–
15 year olds. Interchange encourages a deeper encounter between two cultures by placing
young people within families. Group activities during the exchange, such as a mini-camp,
are a vital complement to the in-depth family experience.
Step-up is a camp-based programme for 14-15 year olds, lasting 23 days. CISV's Step Up
programme encourages young people to take a leading role in planning and organising
activities. The participants and their adult leaders use CISV's peace education to guide the
theme of the camp around which they plan activities, such as identity, democracy, or
environmental protection.
Seminar camp is a camp-based programme for 17-18 year olds, lasting 21 days. This
personally challenging, intensive programme is coordinated by the young participants
themselves. They develop their own agenda and explore global issues based on their
backgrounds and interests, through activities and in-depth discussions.
Mosaic is CISV's local community-based programme for participants of all ages. Mosaic
can be anything from a one-off event to a year-long project. Mosaic projects are planned
and delivered by our Chapters, using CISV's educational approach, and each one responds
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to local needs and interests in a meaningful way. Most projects are designed and run in
cooperation with partner organizations to further the benefit to the local community.
Unit 4 Lesson 7 ex. 3а
Maine CISV Chapter members, in the USA, and community partners are in their
second year of a charity local “Mosaic” project called Harvest for the Homeless. It is a
one-year ‘Plant to Plate’ community service programme - a gardening and cooking
project. CISV families of all ages work in the garden from June through September,
learning about sustainable agriculture together. The CISV Harvest Garden grows primarily
root crops that work well in a hearty, healthy vegetable soup, a whole grain bread and
vegetable-based dessert. Varieties are chosen according to their storage qualities and
tolerance to cold weather. Then, October through May, volunteers meet on the third
Sunday of each month, 4:00 – 6:30 pm at the Orono Senior Center and prepare vegetarian
meals to aid the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter and Dorothy Day Soup Kitchen.
"We planted the garden and watered and all of that awesome stuff and weeded all
through the summer," said Nash Allan-Rahill, whose family works on the garden. With
their hard work, it grew.
To name just some of their crops, they planted tomatoes, lettuce, peppers and onions, plus
several kinds of flowers.
"To make global friendships and promote peace both within the community as well
as globally," said Brian Rahill of Orono, explaining the mission of CISV.
"It makes me feel really good like I'm actually making a difference here in my
community. I hope it will inspire others," said Maddy Allan-Rahill.
"We're actually preserving the food and freezing it in freezers that are at the Birch
Street School right here on the site so we're able to store that so we can make the soup
over this 8 month period," said Brian Rahill.
Over the long winter, they'll continue maintaining the garden so it will be ready for
another year of growth and giving.
Unit 4 Lesson 7 Ex. 4a
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International children’s UNESCO clubs linguistic camps “Bridges of Education”
operated in Belarus in summer 2013, BelTA learnt from the press service of the Ministry
of Education of Belarus.
The linguistic camps brought together children from different countries to develop
their conversational skills, promote tolerance and mutual understanding between people.
The Bridges of Education linguistic camps are a good alternative to language schools in
Germany or the United Kingdom, the press service of the Education Ministry noted. The
children were able to improve their speaking skills in English, German, French and
Chinese.
Students from Belarus, Russia, Latvia, China, Lithuania, Israel, Kazakhstan and
other countries gather together. Teachers were specialists from Germany, the Netherlands,
Switzerland, the UK, France, China, Sweden, Ireland, the U.S., Japan, Austria and
Belarus.
The Chinese language camps were held in Radoshkovichi from 15 to 26 June, the
German language camp in Molodechno from 6 to 17 July, the French in Zelva from 13 to
21 July. The camps in conversational English for beginners were held in Molodechno from
19 to 31 July, while those for advanced English speakers in Gomel District from 4 to 15
August.
The education process included interactive games and trainings. The cultural part of
the camps was made up of thematic days, contests, sports activities, dancing and theater
performances, debates and many other exciting activities.
UNIT 5
Lesson 1 Ex5
Cave painting, black-figure, world-famous, warehouse, twentieth-century, pyramidshaped, artwork, lifetime, left-handed, watercolour, thirty-minute, Oscar-winning, all-time,
best-selling, five-line, red-headed, priest-composer, father-in-law, son-in-law, quickwitted, open-minded.
Lesson 2 Ex2b
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In That’s Amazing! today we’ll look at some interesting facts concerning the history of
art. You may find some of them difficult to believe, however, everything you’re going to
hear about is true.
Feel excited? Let’s get started. Do you like the Olympic Games? You may wonder what
sport has to do with art? Well, there is a perfect example of sport and art once being
closely connected. Art competitions formed part of the modern Olympic Games from 1912
to 1952. Medals were awarded for works of art inspired by sport, divided into five
categories: architecture, literature, music, painting, and sculpture.
What do we know about the competitors? Few of them can be considered well-known
artists globally but they were real national heroes of their time. For example, the 1928 gold
medal for architecture was awarded to Jan Wils for his design of the Olympic Stadium
used in the same Olympics. There were even Olympians who won medals in both sport
and art competitions. Incredible, isn’t?
By 1952 the art contests had been replaced with art exhibitions without awards or medals.
The main reason for abolishing the art competitions was the fact that by that time
practically all contestants
were professionals while the original rules required all
competitors to be amateurs.
Well, the first Olympic Games started in Greece and our next amazing fact is to do with
ancient Greece too.
In the autumn of 2007, Harvard University hosted an exhibition of great importance. On
display were painted replicas of Greek statues and other works of Greek and Roman
sculpture. Why were they painted? The exhibition was aimed at demonstrating that the
practice of painting sculpture in bright colours was very common in ancient Greece.
Actually, this unbelievable fact had already been known by the early 19th century.
However, some influential art historians were such strong opponents of the idea that
proponents of painted statues were dismissed as eccentrics. It was not until findings
published by German archaeologist Vinzenz Brinkmann in the late 20th and early 21st
century, that it was finally established beyond doubt that ancient Greek sculptures were
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painted. After thousands of years, those paints wore away and presented us with the
image we are all used to.
Painted Greek statues? Sounds like something tasteless to me. Speaking of tasteless art,
have you ever visited the Museum of Bad Art? It is situated in the United States and its
permanent collection includes 500 pieces of "art too bad to be ignored”. To be included in
MOBA's collection, works must be original and have a serious intention, but they must
also have significant flaws without being boring; curators are not interested in displaying
deliberate kitsch.
The founders say it isn’t as easy as it may seem to get your piece of art displayed at this
museum. According to them, nine out of ten pieces don’t get in because they’re not bad
enough. So if you think your work of art deserves to be displayed at MOBA, make sure
you really meant it but it turned out to have an “Oh my God” quality.
How many paintings of this kind have you seen, by the way? And where is this fine line
that separates good and bad art?
What do you think of Malevich’s Black Square for example? It’s in art history books and
commonly considered to be a great work of art. However, there are people who think it’s
something anybody can produce without making any effort and therefore not valuable.
You know Malevich wasn’t the first to come up with the idea of creating Black Square.
The picture with just black background in it was first painted twenty- two years before
Malevich’s work by a French humourist Alphonse Allais. It was called “The Battle of the
Negroes in the Deep Dark Cave at Night”.
Perhaps the only difference between Allais and those who followed him, was that in his
innovative works, he did not try to appear serious or as a meaningful philosophical
pioneer. This is probably the reason why he didn’t gain so much recognition for his works.
He was one of those, though, who proved that art can be really funny.
Allais’ works weren’t taken seriously and didn’t cost much. In contrast Malevich’s Black
Square is ridiculously expensive. People probably wouldn’t be so indignant about the fact
if they lived in an era when the value of a painting depended on the cost of the paints used
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to create it. I’m talking about the time of the Renaissance. European artists then were in a
difficult situation. Pure, intense colour was regarded as a reflection of God’s glory. Now
imagine that ultramarine, the most beautiful of all blues, was more expensive than even
gold! And as using expensive pigments in a painting was seen as an act of devotion to
God, painters simply had to use it. You can understand why, in spite of this fact, it wasn’t
so commonly used and those lucky artists who did have it saved the paint for the most
admired subjects, such as the robes of the Madonna and Christ.
I’m afraid that’s all for today and I hope you enjoyed listening to us. Contact us to share
any amazing facts that you’ve discovered. Till next time and goodbye.
Lesson 4 Ex2, 3
1
I was trying to watch TV last night switching channels to find something worth seeing,
and there came that stunningly beautiful song! The one they played at the party when I
saw David for the last time. Whenever I hear it, it brings back lots of memories. So I was
just sitting there with a lump in my throat trying to fight back tears…
2.
-
What do you think of abstract art?
-
I can’t say that I dislike abstract art paintings as a whole, but in fact I have mixed
feelings about them. I’ve always struggled to understand abstract work. I hate the idea
of art for art's sake, and I really don't like thinking that people are becoming wealthy by
making art that they refuse to explain. How do we know they even meant anything at
all, for instance, and aren't just laughing at us behind our backs!
On the other hand, I have encountered abstract art paintings that expressed such a rush
of pure emotion that I felt overwhelmed looking at them. So, my feelings are definitely
still mixed about abstract art paintings, and I am still not totally convinced that I like
them.
3.
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- I saw The Avengers last weekend. It was really cool!
- Well, I don't understand all the hype about it. It's just a nine days' wonder. Nobody will
remember it in a year!
4.
There is going to be an exhibition at our art school next week. It's our tenth year so we’re
very proud to welcome you. Every single student at the school did a painting, which will
be on display. This year's exhibit will also include a professional wall, featuring the
artwork of a number of professional artists. Come and feast your eyes on our fabulous
paintings!
5.
A book that made me raise my eyebrows? Well, probably Michael Grant’s Lies, the third
book of the series. A girl who died now walks among the living and other weird things like
that. This one just kind of confused me. I saw no point to this; it was like a filler book in
the series.
6.
You should have seen that amazing photo exhibition last month. They displayed a
collection of the best pictures by different photographers. The photographs took my breath
away! I was so impressed I even bought a bunch of postcards with the photos in the gift
shop.
Lesson 6
Ex 3b Song “Yesterday”
Ex 4b
A: I was browsing the Internet last night and came across some interesting facts about
famous songs. And there was some information about the Beatles songs. I started reading
and got quite interested. I was particularly impressed by the story behind the song
Yesterday. It was rather fascinating!
B: Oh, I love this song. It’s the one of a genius.
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A: And the genius is Paul McCartney alone although it is credited to Lennon and
McCartney. Paul is the only Beatle to appear on the recording and it was the first official
song by the Beatles performed by a single member of the band.
B: Really? So what’s the story?
A: McCartney composed the entire melody in a dream one night in his room at the home
of his then girlfriend Jane Asher and her family. When he woke up, he hurried to a piano
and played the tune to avoid forgetting it. He liked the music but first couldn’t believe it
was his own melody as he hadn’t written songs in this way before. He was worried that he
may have copied someone else’s work. That’s why for about a month he went round to
people in the music business and asked them whether they had ever heard it before. As he
put it, it became like handing something in to the police. He thought if no-one claimed it
after a few weeks then he could have it.
B: Did anybody claim to be the author?
A: No, he was finally convinced he hadn’t robbed anyone of their melody and so he began
writing lyrics to suit it.It’s funny how, so as his memory of the melody wouldn’t “go
away,” he wrote some simple words to go along with the phrasing of the melody line. The
lyrics used to go, ‘Scrambled eggs, oh, my baby, how I love your legs…’ And the Beatles
called it Scrambled Eggs for quite a long time because it took a while to finish it.
B: Scrambled Eggs?! What a title for that brilliant melancholy ballad he turned it into!
A: Yeah, I know, it’s amusing! The song was around for months and months before they
finally completed it. And everybody was greatly annoyed by Paul’s work in progress.
Every time the Beatles got together to write songs or for a recording session, this song
would come up and it became a joke between them.
B: He was in the middle of creating a masterpiece I suppose.
A: Yes, and then Paul wrote nearly all of it, but they still couldn’t find the right title. They
made up their minds that only a one-word title would suit, they just couldn’t come up with
the right one. Then one morning Paul woke up and the song and the title were both there,
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completed. Later Lennon recalled, “I was sorry in a way, we’d had so many laughs about
it.”
B: I wonder how old McCartney was when he wrote this hit.
A: It was recorded four days before McCartney's 23rd birthday.
B: That’s amazing! He really IS a genius!
A: McCartney has said it’s probably his best song. By the way, they carried out a survey
for BBC Local Radio last year and found out that Yesterday is the second favourite Beatles
song among the UK fans (the first being Hey Jude).It’s very special, anyway, one of the
most successful songs ever!
Lesson 7 Ex 4c
Greatest Art Thefts
1)
One of the most daring art thefts of all time took place in France in 1911. On 21
August the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre. The theft remained undiscovered for
most of the next day, as workers thought it was being photographed for marketing
purposes.
A lot of people working in and out of the Louvre came under suspicion. Among them the
name of famous Spanish painter Pablo Picasso came up. However, the thief turned out to
be an employee of the Louvre named Vincenzo Peruggia. He was an Italian patriot who
believed Leonardo’s painting should be returned to Italy for display in an Italian museum.
After having kept the portrait in his apartment for two years he was finally caught when he
tried to sell it to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. The thief was sent to prison and the
paining was exhibited all over Italy and finally handed in to the Louvre in 1913.
2)
140 objects, including jade and gold pieces from the Maya and Aztec sculptures,
were stolen from the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City on Christmas Eve
1985. The alarms had not been working for three years, which fitted in with the thieves’
plans very well. They simply removed the glass from the cases and were off with the
treasures. The reports said the theft had been carried out at night and the thieves had left
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the museum without seeing any of the security guards, who must have been asleep. In June
1989, 111 of the objects were recovered and the two thieves were sent to prison.
3)
Prominent Norwegian artist Edvard Munch created four versions of The Scream, a
world-famous image of a figure with an agonized expression against a yellow-orange sky.
On
22
February
1994,
the
same
day
as
the
opening
of
the Winter
Olympics in Lillehammer, two men broke into the National Gallery in Oslo and stole its
version of The Scream. It took them only 50 seconds to climb a ladder, smash through a
window and cut the painting from the wall. The guards discovered the theft when they
came across the ladder leaning against the museum wall. The thieves also mockingly left a
note reading: “Thanks for the poor security.” The world found out about the crime the
same day and it became a sensation because of the presence of international media
covering the games.
The Norwegian police came up with the idea of an undercover operation with the help
from the British police and on 7 May 1994 the painting was recovered. In January 1996
four Norwegian men were charged with the theft.
However, sadly, eight years later the story had a continuation. You can imagine the shock
the people got, who had decided to get together for a visit to the Oslo’s Munch Museum,
when masked thieves with guns broke in in broad daylight, tore The Scream and another
famous Munch work, Madonna, from the walls and fled. Their motive seemed unclear as
it was absolutely impossible to sell these paintings. The thieves just couldn’t go round to
rich collectors offering the paintings because the works were too famous.
Fortunately, the thieves were finally caught and in August 2006 both paintings were
recovered, but the police didn’t reveal the details of the case.
UNIT 6
Unit 6, Lesson 1, Ex.1a
What is Art?
What are the forms of art? When you think of art, what do you think of? Paintings,
statues? What else?
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Is there a size limit to art? What’s the largest piece of art you can imagine? How small is
the smallest?
Is art defined by its materials? We're all used to thinking of paintings as art. Or bronze
sculptures. But art can be made from all kinds of materials. Try to think of some. Various
kinds of paint and metal, wood, plastics... it can even be an old shoe or a newspaper. What
about putting different materials together?
Does art have to be understandable? Is it necessary for it to actually look like
something, such as a woman, or a vase of flowers? Does art have to be realistic? Is it better
if it is realistic?
What about abstract art? Do you know what that means? What is abstract art about?
Can art describe feelings?
Is all art good art? Who decides, and how is it decided?
Does art have to be beautiful? What about a piece that looks truly ugly to you? Is it still
art? Sometimes the artist is trying to shock the viewer, or to make you feel uncomfortable.
Why would an artist want to do that? Perhaps to make people see things in a new way?
Does art have to “say” something? Communicate some feeling, idea, a record of fact,
another way of looking at something? Just try to think of an example of art that does not
communicate anything... can you?
Unit 6, Lesson 1, Ex.2a
I: Our world has become a very visual one - we have art all around us. Understanding art
is understanding our world! A good first step is to try to understand what we mean by art.
Let’s Shelley Esaak, a portrait artist, graphic designer, writer and educator. Hi, Shelley,
could you clarify this question?
L: I’d be delighted to. First of all, there’s the arts that are a great subdivision of culture. It
is a broader term than art, which usually means only the visual arts. The arts includes
visual arts, literary arts and the performing arts, like music, theatre, and film, among
others.
If you ask people in the street what art is, paintings and statues are common answers. But
actually that’s a bit more than that. The types of visual art include architecture, animation,
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collage, comics, design, drawing, graffiti, illustration, installation art, photography,
sculpture and so on.
I: All right. But how do you know it’s art that you are looking at?
L: The first time that the question of what art is came up was in the 19th century in an
essay by Leo Tolstoy. In his work he argues against numerous theories which define art in
terms of the good, truth, and especially beauty. In Tolstoy's opinion, art at the time was
much more than that. According to him, art must create an emotional link between artist
and audience, one that "infects" the viewer.
The idea that art is actually about communicating the feelings of the artists is a romantic
one which is widely popular among the researchers.
Or as Frank Zappa once said “Art is making something out of nothing and selling it.”
I: Ha-ha-ha. For all that, how would you personally answer this question today?
L: I could tell you that art plays a large part in making our lives infinitely rich. Imagine,
just for a minute, a world without art! (You may think "So what?" but please consider the
effect that lack of graphics would have on your favorite video game.) Art stimulates
different parts of our brains to make us laugh or cry, calm down or start shouting. For
some people, art is the entire reason they get out of bed in the morning. You could say
"Art is something that makes us more thoughtful and well-balanced humans."
On the other hand, art is such a large part of our everyday lives that we may hardly even
stop to think about it. Look at the desk or table where you are, right this minute. Someone
designed that. It is art. Your shoes are art. Your coffee cup is art. All functional design,
well done, is art. So, you could say "Art is something that is both functional and
(hopefully) beautiful."
Art is form and content.
Form means: The elements of art, the principles of design and the actual, physical
materials that the artist has used. Form, in this context, is fairly easily described--no matter
which piece of art we are studying.
Content, now, gets a little more tricky. Content is idea-based and means: What the artist
meant to say, what the artist actually did say and how we react, as individuals, to the
authors messages.
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Unit 6, Lesson 2, Ex. 3a
Influenced by a childhood spent in rural surroundings, Chagall’s ‘I and the Village’ is a
dreamlike representation of goats, pastures, a farmer, a violinist, and simplistic images of
houses, some of them upside-down. The whole could be viewed as a jigsaw puzzle in a
child’s imagination. Clearly exhibiting aspects of Cubism, the components are randomly
put together to produce an abstract arrangement. The colours are rich and a stark contrast
exists between the red, the green and the blue. It is a painting that provides many
viewpoints and perspectives.
The painting is full of intrigue and symbolism. In the foreground of the painting, a greenfaced man, wearing a cross around his neck, a cap on his head, and holding a glowing tree,
stares directly across at the head of a goat. In the background, a row of houses, an
Orthodox church, and a man dressed in black hurries past an upside down woman playing
what looks like a violin.
The geometric shapes and symbols catch the viewer’s attention. The small and large
circles have been said to represent 3 spatial phenomena: the sun’s revolution in orbit, the
earth’s revolution around the sun, and the moon’s revolution around the earth.
Unit 6, Lesson 3, Ex.3a
A.
Four years ago I knew two things about graffiti: that it was all criminal and that it was
ugly. I was right it was ugly but I was wrong about it being all criminal. Most of it is
done by kids of every race and social group from big cities to small towns. Today I’m a
member of Together Against Graffiti (TAG) group aimed at bringing people together to
fight against this kind of so called street-art.
B.
In the past ten years graffiti seems to have become more about leaving your mark, and
less about art or political statement. Most of it is unreadable anyway. I say make it
illegal if it’s not saying anything of interest!
C.
Graffiti as a public service! Oh please - the majority of graffiti you see is not art, but
tags scribbled on someone else's property - trains, walls, tubes or buildings. 6 weeks
service cleaning trains or public toilets should do the trick.
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D.
I am a mural artist and have also been involved with graffiti art. Most of my graffitistyle work has been done on large canvases in my town centre. Spray paint is the most
fun to use because it is fast, rustic, colourful and loud. I would like to suggest the
following: a) fight vandalism (especially taggers); b) provide gallery space and public
places for graffiti artists and encourage trouble-makers to participate by providing
materials and guidance.
E.
There are two different types of graffiti artists, with two very different aims. One is the
‘bombers’, who just tag everything to get their name up. Then there’s the real artists
who spend more time doing pieces that have artistic merit and are pleasing to the eye.
The authorities, however, call both types of graffiti vandalism. But the latter is not
vandalism, but art with the street as a canvas. There are, of course, legal parks where
pieces can be put up, but the point of graffiti is taking over spaces that have been closed
off. So having little corners or large walls for creation is against the whole philosophy.
F.
If walls were set up throughout Britain, and everyone was encouraged to use them (all
ages, classes, etc) then graffiti could become a democratic form of cultural expression
that need not trouble anyone. It would be cheap public art.
G.
Graffiti should be banned. The creation of graffiti is dangerous. Graffiti artists climb to
high places to draw on highway signs or billboards. To get to these high places, the
graffiti artist has either got to climb to the high place or in some cases, hang down from
high places to draw their picture or make their inscription. This is taking an
unnecessary risk. The artist may believe that their life is not in any danger, but if there
is one wrong move, the artist can lose his life.
Unit 6, Lesson 4, Ex. 3a
Why Did You Choose To Become An Artist?
I didn't choose art. Art chose me. It's just something that I find myself doing, without even
thinking about it. I can, have, and often do, find myself with a drawing nearly finished
before I realize I've even picked up a pen at all.
What Training Did You Have?
uhm... none. I started drawing before I could read and write. I had already written and
illustrated my first book at the age of 3, two years before starting school.
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My school time was limited to three years, from the time I was 5 to 8 years old. In K-5 I
sat through their baby classes bored out of my mind, because I had already been reading
and writing for two years, while the rest of the class was still learning their ABCs. The
only lessons I took any interest in was art class and theater. At age 9 I did not return to
school, opting instead to teach myself via high school and college texts.
My mom was a dressmaker, and by age 6 I’d been drawing, designing, and sewing my
cloth doll’s wardrobe. At age 12 I drew, designed, and sewed my first party dress. At age
14 I enrolled in a college course in fashion design and dressmaking, graduating 2 years
later at age 16. From that point on, a large majority of my art career was devoted to
fashion and costumes. My aim then was to recreate in complete historical accuracy every
costume throughout history. Yes, I know, when I dream big, I dream big.
When Did You Start Creating Art For Gift Items?
I was about 25 years old, when I bought a book on painting art for greeting cards. I'm not
sure why I bought it, it was just there and I saw it there, and bought it. Before I finished
the book I had been drawing art designed specifically for greeting cards.
Where Do You Get Your Ideas?
I live on a farm. I own and run The Pidgie Fund, a shelter that rescues feral cats and pitfighter cocks (roosters). My home is currently the home of 13 formally stray no-longer
feral cats, and 60+ now tame and peaceful roosters, and one 13 year old dog who loves all
his cats and birds. In my lifetime I have owned more than 500 pets, all of those pets have
sat for portraits to be drawn or painted. About 90% of the art I sell on CafePress and
Zazzle, are pictures of my own pets.
Have you got any final advice to offer?
For anyone just starting out in an art career, or looking to expand their skills as an artist, I
would tell them this. Be original. You are the only you there is in this world. Go ahead and
be influenced by the work of others, but ultimately, let your own light shine and create art
that is unique to you.
Unit 6, Lesson 5, Ex.2a
photograph, photographer, photography, photographic
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Unit 6, Lesson 5, Ex.2b
A good photograph is the one that communicates a fact, touches the heart, leaves the
viewer a changed person for having seen it. It is, in a word, effective.
Unit 6, Lesson 6, Ex.2a
Want to learn how to understand abstract art? Let's start with this quote from Jackson
Pollock, one of America's most famous abstract painters:
"Abstract painting is abstract. It confronts you. There was a reviewer a while back who
wrote that my pictures didn't have any beginning or any end. He didn't mean it as a
compliment, but it was."
Pollock's critic didn't know where to begin in terms of how to understand abstract art.
There is nothing to hold onto, so you have to open up your intuition and see where the
painting takes you. Abstract art allows the viewer to decide what the artwork is about, on
a very personal level.
Understanding abstract art is easy: all it requires is an open mind and a big imagination.
When you look at an abstract painting, what do you see? Flying shapes, colorful patterns...
The path of a river cutting through grasslands... or maybe you see cosmic energy? There is
no right or wrong answer to this question. Abstract art is open to interpretation, and that is
one of the beautiful things about it. An abstract painting doesn't jump out and declare
"THIS is what I'm all about." Instead, you must enter the painting and see where it takes
you.
Understanding abstract art does not come naturally for everyone. It is the kind of art that
makes some people scratch their heads and say, "My 5-year old could do that." What
people don't realize is that the best abstract artists have excellent drawing skills, a fine
sense of composition, and a deep understanding of the workings of color. Most abstract
artists have the ability to draw a perfectly portrayed rose or a realistic portrait, but they
choose not to. Instead they choose to express their emotions by creating a piece that is
more free, free of the weight of objects.
If you want to fully understand an artwork, it's important to know the artist's intention
behind it. On the one hand, a large part of the beauty of art is that we, the viewers, can
bring our own meaning.
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On the other hand, knowing the artist's thought process for creating a certain work of art
adds to the meaning and value of a painting.
Well, Pablo Picasso once said: "Everyone wants to understand art. Why not try to
understand the song of a bird?”
Picasso has a point. Art can't be explained in words, because its influence on people is
very personal. Look at abstract art in the same way that you would listen to a symphony.
When you listen to music, you don't try to hold on to the notes - you let them wash over
you. Let your eyes play with the painting, slipping around corners, following the lines,
twists and turns. Let your eyes dance around the piece.
Rather than trying to figure out what the painting looks like, just allow yourself to be taken
in by the painting. See what emotions, images or memories emerge. Examine the colors,
forms, materials. Take your time. Let the painting "speak" to you.
Unit 6, Lesson 6, Ex. 4c
1. I live in a fairly small town and when we got our first set of traffic lights installed (in
2008 only!), we were all excited and it was the talk of the town. The first time I drove
through them after they were installed, I felt it was really a sign our town was going up. I
kept thinking about them and started to draw sketches and came up with my version of this
special event. I called my painting "The Road Home". I was pleased with my painting and
I painted it in black and white, and then put red in it for impact. I also won first prize in an
art show I entered it in so that was really special. I sold my painting to a man that was
visiting here after those terrible Victoria bush fires that took so many lives. He liked the
name "The Road Home" and said the name would give him hope to rebuild his house, so
that was really special.
2. I was on an abstract painting course on holiday and I had reached a point where I was
blocked and not able to produce anything. I went for a walk down to the nearby beach and
sat and watched a heron wading and feeding in the foreshore rock pools. Just watching 10
minutes of this free nature show lifted my spirits and inspired me. When I got back to the
studio I started painting and this was the result. I love that no one can pinpoint exactly
what it is or what it represents. The course tutor was lost for words and said she had never
32
seen anything quite like it. I can see elements of the heron in it but that's purely accidental
I think. Oddly enough we had also been discussing the work of abstract artist Patrick
Heron that very morning so initially I called this my 'two herons' picture. I also love that it
was painted in one go and without a moment's conscious thought.
3. “Guitar and bottles” was painted from life. It was an attempt to learn from the Cubist
masterworks created by Picasso. I usually paint in an expressionist way, so this was a new
style to try. I love the colours and the style of the work. Most of all, I enjoyed the process.
I began with pasting on papers of various kinds, which was a child-like experience, much
like being a kindergarten student! I liked the result. Results are often more interesting
when I work quickly and instinctively. Then I went back and changed the guitar to
primarily blue. I often use too many colours, and with the many lines and colours I often
use, my paintings can be too "cluttered". When I look at it, I find it can hold my attention
for some time. I always find some new thing to look at within the body of the work. I have
it in my bedroom. Sometimes I move it to the hall.
Unit 6, Lesson 7, Ex.1.
The Comedian and the Farmer
A wealthy patrician once treated the people of Rome to great theatrical arts and publicly
offered a prize to anyone who could perform something unique. Stimulated by this offer,
numerous actors arrived from all over the country to compete for the prize, and among
them was a well-known comedian, who spread the news that he would do something
extraordinary. When the people heard his news, the whole city came together, and the
theatre could barely hold the number of spectators who came to see the spectacle.
When the comedian appeared alone on stage without any props or assistants, curiosity and
suspense mounted, keeping the spectators in silence. All of a sudden the comedian thrust
his head into his bosom and mimicked the squealing of a young pig in such a natural way
that the audience believed he had one under his cloak and ordered him to be searched. Yet,
once this was done, nothing could be found, and they celebrated this event with the most
extravagant applause imaginable.
33
A farmer was in the audience, and when he witnessed this unique act, he remarked, “Oh, I
can do better than that!” And all at once he announced that he would perform the next day.
As a result, an even larger crowd gathered the following day. However, most of the people
were biased in favour of the comedian, and they had been planning to laugh at the farmer
rather than give him a fair chance. When the two men came out on stage, the comedian
granted away first, and his performance was received with great clapping and applause.
Then the farmer pretended that he had concealed a little pig under his clothes (which he
had really done) and pinched its ear until he made it squeal.
The people cried out that the comedian had imitated the pig much more naturally and
began hooting and demanding that the farmer leave the stage. But to show them how
wrong they were, the farmer produced the real pig from his bosom.
“And now, gentlemen, “he said, “you can decide for yourselves what sad judges you
make!”
Unit 6, Lesson 8, Ex.5a
What is Art Therapy?
At some point in their lives, people may find themselves overwhelmed by the emotions
which are difficult to face either by themselves or with others. Art therapy offers a chance
to express these thoughts and feelings in a supportive environment. It involves using a
wide variety of art materials, for example paints, clay and batik, to create a visual
representation of thought and feelings.
Who is it for?
It’s for everybody. For people who are generally stressed and overworked. For people with
health problems. For people with learning difficulties. For children and young people who
have problems in school or personal problems at home. For people who feel they are
problem free but would like to learn more about themselves.
What skills do you need?
The simple answer is none. Art therapy requires no artistic ability. The Art Therapist
offers guidance and support and a variety of art materials.
What is the aim of art therapy?
34
The aim of art therapy is to improve or maintain mental health and emotional well-being.
But whereas some of the other expressive therapies use the performing arts for expressive
purposes, art therapy generally uses drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, and other
forms of visual art expression. For that reason art therapists are trained to recognize the
nonverbal symbols and metaphors that are communicated within the creative process,
symbols and metaphors which might be difficult to express in words. By helping their
clients to discover what underlying thoughts and feelings are being communicated in the
artwork and what it means to them, it is hoped that clients will not perhaps develop a
better understanding of themselves and the way they relate to the people around them.
Unit 6, Lesson 9, Ex.2
See SB
UNIT 7
Unit7, Lesson 1, Ex.1b)
4. False - They are
1. Jupiter
2. O
3. Tsunami
5. Nitrogen
6. A trunk
7. True
8. Mount Everest
9. The sun
10. True
11. Helium
12. Spiders
13. 7
14. Lava
15. True
16. The skull
17. An acid
18. False (it is the
(hydrochloric acid)
cheetah)
19. 0
20. Albert Einstein
omnivores
Unit 7, Lesson 1, Ex.1c)
 physics, science, marine

chemistry, computer , genetics

zoology, geology, geography, astronomy, seismology, biology, psychology,
anatomy, mathematics

archaeology
  meteorology
Unit 7, Lesson 1, Ex.4b)
35
Astronomers study objects found in space such as planets, moons, stars, solar systems and
galaxies. Astronomy is one of the oldest fields of science. Becoming an astronomer
usually requires a high level of education such as a PhD in Physics. Strong math skills are
important for astronomers. Astronomers usually work for Universities or research
institutes. While there aren’t a large number of professional astronomers compared to
some other scientific fields, there are a large number of amateur astronomers who often
share their findings and assist professionals. Professional astronomers only spend a small
amount of time with telescopes, most of their time is spent analyzing images and data.
Some work entirely with data observed by other people. Astrophysics is a branch of
astronomy that focuses on the physics of the Universe. Galileo is often regarded as the
father of modern astronomy.
Unit 7, Lesson 1, Ex.6b)
Meteorology is the study of the atmosphere and is especially useful for weather
forecasting. Atmospheric research has applications in weather prediction, climate change
and our general understanding of weather patterns. Scientists who study meteorology are
called meteorologists. Important subjects related to meteorology include physics,
chemistry, algebra, calculus and computer science. Meteorologists usually have good
communication skills, strong analytical minds and a passion for events related to weather.
Meteorologists who work on television or radio have excellent communication skills and
extra qualifications in areas such as journalism. A career in meteorology could see you
working on air transportation, global warming, pollution control, ozone depletion,
droughts, forestry, agriculture and more. Meteorologists use a range of satellites, weather
balloons, radars, sensors and weather stations to study wind velocity, temperature,
humidity and air pressure. Knowing the weather conditions in advance is important to a
number of industries including agriculture, shipping, forestry, fishing and transportation.
Weather predictions have improved with the introduction of powerful computers which
run complex weather simulations.
Unit 7, Lesson 2, Ex.1a)
36
Atom: I’d like to report a missing electron.
Policeman: Are you sure?
Atom: Yes, I’m positive!
Unit 7, Lesson 2, Ex.1d)
Old chemistry teachers never die, they just fail to react.
What did the biologist wear on his first date? - Designer jeans.
What did the volcano say to his wife? - I lava you so much!
If an experiment works, something has definitely gone wrong.
Mushrooms look like umbrellas because they grow in damp places.
Why is electricity so dangerous? - Because it doesn't know how to conduct itself
properly.
How many astronomers does it take to change a light bulb? - None, astronomers
aren't scared of the dark.
Why did the weather forecaster move to another country? - Because the weather
didn’t agree with him.
Never lend a geologist money. They think a short term loan is a million years.
How many programmers does it take to change a light bulb? - None. It’s a
hardware problem.
Unit 7, Lesson 3, Ex.1b)
Waclaw Sierpinsky – a great Polish mathematician – became rather absent-minded with
age. Once he had to move to a new place for some reason. His wife didn’t trust him very
much, so when they stood down on the street with all their things, she said:
- Now, you stand here and watch our ten trunks, while I go and get a taxi.
She left and he stayed there, humming absently, eyes somewhat glazed. Some minutes
later she returned, presumably having called for a taxi. Says Mr. Sierpinski:
- I thought you said there were ten trunks, but I’ve only counted to nine.
- No, they’re TEN!
- No, count them: 0, 1, 2, …
Unit 7, Lesson 3, Ex.2a)
37
Host: Well, dear listeners, now we’re going to make much ado about nothing. And the
topic of our today’s programme is not Shakespeare with his wonderful play, but His
Majesty Zero. In the story of zero something can be made out of nothing. Without it,
modern astronomy, physics and chemistry would have been unthinkable as we know them.
In our studio today there is a historian and a philologist and they will vividly demonstrate
the power of zero and unveil its history. Over to you, Professor Dalton. We’re full of
anticipation.
Unit 7, Lesson 3, Ex.2c)
Professor Dalton: Understanding and working with zero is the basis of our world today;
without zero there would be no calculus, financial accounting, and, finally, computers.
When we think of one hundred, three thousand, the image that we have in our mind is that
of a digit followed by a few zeros. The zero here plays the role of a placeholder. If we
were missing one zero, that would seriously change the amount. Just imagine having one
zero erased (or added) to your salary or pocket money!
Host: And how old is zero?
Professor Dalton: It’s difficult to say. The thing is zero was invented independently by
several civilizations. The number system we use today – Arabic, though it in fact came
originally from India – is relatively new. For centuries people marked quantity with a
variety of symbols and figures. The ancient Sumerians were the first to develop a counting
system, which was positional: that is the placement of a particular symbol relative to
others denoted its value. The Sumerian system was handed down to Babylonians in 2000
BC and it was them who first thought of a mark to show that a number was absent from a
column; just as 2014 signifies that there are no hundreds in that number. The greatest
mathematicians of Ancient Greece did not have a name for zero, nor did their system have
a placeholder as did the Babylonian. It was the Indians who began to understand zero both
as a symbol and as an idea. The Maya of Central America also invented zero.
Host: Did they solve the mystery of division by zero?
Professor Dalton: This had to wait for Isaac Newton and Leibniz. But it would still be a
few centuries before zero reached Europe. Adding, subtracting, and multiplying by zero
are relatively simple operations. But division by zero confused even great minds. In the
38
1600’s Newton and Leibniz solved this problem independently and opened the world to
innumerable possibilities. Calculus was born without which we wouldn’t have physics,
engineering, and many aspects of economics and finance.
Host: In the twenty-first century zero is so familiar that to talk about it seems more like
much ado about nothing. But if we hadn’t discovered the zero, what sort of maths would
we be able to do?
Professor Dalton: I think that without the concept of zero, algebra would have stagnated at
about the stage it reached around 800 AD. It is precisely understanding and working with
this nothing that has allowed civilization to progress. Mathematics is a global language, so
zero exists and is used everywhere.
Host: Yet, until you go to algebra, there is really no need for zero. Thank you very much,
Professor Dalton, for taking us down the history lane to hear the tale of zero…
Unit 7, Lesson 3, Ex.3a)
… Now – how do we use the word ‘zero’ in everyday life? Professor Scholey, could you
introduce us to this intricate system, please?
Professor Scholey: The first thing that springs to mind is the absolute zero – 0 degrees on
the Kelvin scale, which is equivalent to -273.15 C and -459.67°F. Absolute zero is
theoretically the lowest possible temperature, the point at which all molecular motion
would cease. By the way, you can have a look at the Fahrenheit and Celsius (or
Centigrade) Scales compared. To convert from Fahrenheit to Celsius, subtract 32 and
divide by 1.8. To convert Celsius to Fahrenheit, multiply by 1.8 and add 32. The
Fahrenheit scale is used in the US. On this scale 32° is the freezing point of water, 212° is
the boiling point. The Celsius or centigrade is used by the World Meteorological
Organization and most countries of the world. On this scale 0° is freezing and 100° is
boiling.
Host: So, we use zero to say the temperature.
Professor Scholey. Quite right. We also say: the number ‘one million’ is written with six
zeros (or noughts). But the number 0 can be said as zero, naught (in the UK), oh, nothing,
nil (in the UK again), love and zip (in the US).
Host: Oh, no! Do we use the word ‘zero’ in telephone numbers?
39
Professor Scholey: No, we don’t. We say ‘oh’ instead. The same applies to house or room
numbers. When we announce the results of football games, we say ‘nil’, in tennis it’s
‘love’. We play the famous game of ‘noughts and crosses’, which is called ‘tick-tack-toe’
in the US. In the US you can also say ‘I know zip about computers’, meaning that you
know nothing about them.
Host: Well, zero added to or subtracted from any number leaves the number unchanged,
but zero itself has changed our world completely. Without it, our chances of achieving
progress in some spheres would be zero. Good-bye for now and listen to us …
Unit 7, Lesson 3, Ex.3b)
Nought point seven per cent (0.7%),
twelve point nought five grams (12.05g),
10 degrees below zero (-10°C),
my telephone number is nine oh five double eight (90588),
I live in one oh seven Blackwell Street (107 Blackwell Street),
Chelsey won three-nil (3-0),
Azarenko leads Sharapova thirty love (30-0)
Unit7, Lesson 4, Ex.4a)
Sir Isaac Newton has been used as an icon by two groups that hold a radically different
vision of reality. Both astrologers and rational mechanistic scientists have made claims on
Newton so support their belief systems. Both groups claim Isaac Newton as a hero.
From the times immemorial, astrology has been a determining factor in the decisions and
actions of men of all ranks and stations. At the beginning of the 17th century, great
scientists as Tycho Brahe, Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler – now best remembered for
their roles in the development of modern physics and astronomy – all held astronomy in
high esteem. However, at the end of the 17th century, the scientific community had
completely turned away from astrology. Hardly a single word on astrology, either pro or
contra, is to be found in the works of Isaac Newton. Nevertheless, astrological literature
presents a different view and even claims that Newton was a secret student of astrology.
Interestingly, among, the 1752 books from Newton’s personal library, no less than 477
were on the subject of theology, 169 – on alchemy, 126 – on mathematics, 52 on physics
40
and only 33 – on astronomy. At his death, Newton’s library possessed no more than four
books on the subject of astrology. Ironically, a book on astrology may have inspired
Newton’s interest in science. On August 31st, 1726, shortly before his death, Newton was
interviewed by his nephew John Conduitt, who was collecting biographical material on his
famous uncle. During his interview, Newton confided to Conduitt that his interest in
science had first been roused in the summer of 1663, when as a young student at
Cambridge, he bought a book on astrology at a fair. Confused by the diagrams and
calculations in the book, he then studied some books on geometry and calculus and was
soon convinced in the emptiness of the pretended science of astrology.
Unit 7, Lesson 4, Ex.4b)
The story is told of an atheist scientist, a friend of Isaac Newton, who knocked on the door
and came in after Newton had finished making his solar system machine (one of the
machines like those in science museums, where you can make planets and moons move by
turning the handle of the machine). The man saw the machine and said it was wonderful.
As he was cranking the handle of the machine, he asked, “Who made this?” Sir Isaac
stopped writing and said, “Nobody did.” Then he carried on writing. The man said, “You
didn’t hear me. Who made the machine?” Newton replied, ‘I told you, nobody did.” The
man stopped cranking and turned to Isaac, “Now, listen, Isaac, this marvelous machine
must have been made by somebody – don’t keep saying that nobody made it.” At this
point Isaac Newton stopped writing and got up. He looked at his friend and said, “Now,
isn’t it amazing! I tell you that nobody made a simple toy like that and you don’t believe
me. Yet you gaze out into the solar system – the intricate marvelous machine that is
around you – and you dare say to me that no one made it. I don’t believe it!” As far as the
record goes, Newton’s friend was no longer an atheist.
Unit 7, Lesson 5, Ex. 1b)
This is a very interesting story I heard in school days that an apple fell on the head of Isaac
Newton and this is how he discovered the law of gravity. The reality behind the story is
that it was never mentioned by Newton himself and the story came into existence many
decades after the law of gravity had been discovered. So this story is the biggest lie of
41
science that our teachers taught us in school. But the story added a humorous aspect to the
very important and serious discovery of science.
Unit 7, Lesson 5, Ex.2b)
Interviewer: So what is QI, then?
John Lloyd: QI – Quite Interesting – is a British comedy panel game television quiz show
hosted by Steven Fry. Most of the questions are so challenging that they make it extremely
unlikely that the correct answer will be given. Points are awarded not only for right
answers, but also for interesting ones. Conversely, points are deducted from a panelist who
gives ‘answers which are not only wrong, but obvious’ – typically answers that are
generally believed to be true but in fact are not. Points are also often deducted if an
obvious joke answer is given.
Interviewer: So, as far as I can gather, points are awarded for being interesting and funny
(and, very occasionally, right) but points are deducted for answers which merely repeat
common misconceptions and urban myth. It’s okay to be wrong, but don’t be obviously,
boringly wrong. So what’s the central concept of the programme?
John Lloyd: The concept of the programme is to unveil the common misconceptions, as
you so nicely put it. QI not only makes us look more closely at things, it encourages us to
question all the received wisdom we have carried with us since childhood. It’s about
finding undiscovered connections and seeing hidden patterns, just like the best comedy.
Having started in 2003 with all things ‘A’, QI is attempting to get all the way through the
alphabet, and then, possibly continue through the numbers which are, naturally, slightly
more numerous.
Unit 7, Lesson 5, Ex. 4
… From geography to psychology, there are many examples of people collectively doing
it wrong by learning fiction as truth. Here are four of the biggest errors walking around
masquerading as well-known facts.
Number 1: Christopher Columbus’ crew had a lot to be worried about as they set sail.
There was the possibility that they might fall ill with scurvy or get into a weather front,
and of course there were all those warnings about monsters.
42
But falling off the edge of the planet? Not so much. The idea that Columbus was trying to
attempt the unimaginable and become an international celebrity for not falling off the
world is false.
People have known since the learned and logic-laden age of the Greeks that they lived on a
great, big globe. There were lots of obvious clues, like the way ships sailed over the
horizon and how the Earth cast a crescent shadow on the moon.
There were many objections to Columbus' plan to reach the East Indies via a somewhat
novel route, but a tragic (and expensive) fall into the abyss wasn't one of them. It was not
until the 1800s that the "knowledge" that our ancestors had forgotten the shape of the thing
which they lived on started to circulate.
Number 2: You're out in the yard and you see a distressing sight – a baby bird is
floundering around on the ground, looking like it's desperate to get in the air, but it can't
despite all its efforts. Suddenly, you spot a cat readying for a pounce. You rush over to
save the little bundle of feathers, take it into the house, and make a shoebox nest to serve
as a habitat for your precious little find. You'll raise it yourself until it's ready to fly.
While this is wrong on several levels, it's not because you touched the bird.
Baby birds usually don't leave the nest until they're ready (or at least readyish) to fly. But,
just like how well you drive during your very first driving lesson, they typically stink at
flying at first. So needless to say, they suffer a few false starts and end up on the ground,
whining like a teenager who wants the car keys but hasn't completely got the hang of
which is the gas and which is the brake.
But that doesn't mean the parents aren't supervising their offspring. They're probably in a
nearby tree shuddering as their little dunce forgets all the lessons they taught it. And if you
leave the baby bird alone, chances are they'll be there soon to smack it upside the head
and tell it to pay more attention during the next round of flying lessons.
As for the scent issue – birds just don't smell too well. A few species are an exception, but
chances are vastly greater that the little chirping ball of fluff won't suffer if you need to
43
move it to the other side of the fence from where your dog plays. Plus, its parents have
invested way too much time and energy raising it to go away at the first opportunity, no
matter how the little guy smells.
Number 3: Lots of people think different parts of the tongue are fine-tuned to detect
different tastes. The tip of the tongue is where you get your desserts on, the sides are
where the salty taste really hits home, bitter's in the back, and in between is the sour zone.
This "fact" was the prevailing notion for a very long time. It has persisted in spite of
millions of kids in health class insisting that the wooden spoon just tastes like wooden
spoon, no matter how they lick it.
More recently, however, we've found out that the whole zones theory was pretty much
nonsense. It turns out people can sense different tastes all over their tongues.
Then there's the fifth basic taste that doesn't get a lot of PR, and that's umami. Auguste
Escoffier, the famous chef in 19th century France, came up with this idea. Foodies
swooned over it – it's been described as savory and meaty – but scientists stuck to the
sweet/salty/bitter/sour taste tetrahedron.
Even though umami was a familiar taste in Japan, the "fifth taste" idea didn't get much
traction there, either. That is until Kikunae Ikeda, a whiz-bang Japanese chemist, decided
to get to the bottom of what umami was all about. He figured out the taste came from
glutamic acid, and he called it the Japanese version of yummy.
No one at the time believed him, though, and it wasn't until the end of the 20th century
that scientists decided to look into it. They realized Ikeda was right all along.
Number 4: We hear what you're saying. We see your point of view. We feel your pain.
Also, you smell bad and possibly taste funny, the latter of which we don't intend to test.
But if you believe these are the only five ways you can detect information about your
environment, we're going to punch you in the face. There. Boom. You will feel it thanks to
nociception, the ability to sense pain.
44
There are lots more, too, although the lists vary and the final number-of-senses record is in
great dispute. There are several boring ones that your body does without you knowing it.
So let's skip those. More interesting is proprioception, which helps you pass the "close
your eyes and touch your nose" test. Basically, it's what lets two parts of your body
connect without visual confirmation. If you're (successfully) rubbing your eyes in
disbelief, you used proprioception to do it. If you accidently smacked yourself in the
forehead instead, you experienced a proprioception fail.
Apart from those, hunger and thirst can count according to some, as can feelings of hot
and cold. Itch, interestingly, is apparently independent from both touch and pain. It's
annoying on so many levels!
Unit 7, Lesson 7, Ex. 2a)
Host: Everything on Earth has its advantages and disadvantages. Professor Tom Hunter
and an environmentalist, Professor Judith Crawley join us today to talk about pros and
cons of scientific and technological progress. Welcome to our studio. Dr. Hunter, Dr.
Crawley, thanks for being with us today.
JC: Thanks for inviting me and introducing me. Well, I must say I’m not against the
development of science and technology. I want people to realize what this development
entails.
TH: Let’s first talk about what progress means for humanity. It definitely improves the
quality of life. Progress means less work for humans. It makes life more enjoyable.
JC: Less work – yes, but people tend to become lazy and prefer not to work at all. We
don’t have to think and work as much these days. Enjoyable? – Yes, but it makes people
more materialistic. There is more greed. People want things they could easily live without.
TH: You can’t deny that for people with disabilities progress means a lot. It makes their
lives considerably easier. Just a century ago people were dying of terrible diseases. Now
we have better medical care, vaccinations are more reliable. Scientific and technological
45
progress has extended our life span. We’re now coming closer to the solution of the
mystery of life.
JC: You are right, of course… And you are not. What kind of life do you think our
children will have, and their children and grandchildren in the world polluted by thousands
of factories, in the world where progress is so wide-spread that there is no place for a tiger
or a panda? I’m trying to think forwards, warning you about the things we might lose
irretrievably in the future.
TH: Progress means doing some jobs faster. Scientific and technological progress will
help to overcome problems we have today. We will get new energy sources, cars will be
safer and the problem of pollution will be solved.
JC: It might be solved too late for some animal and plant species. And it will be solved too
late for some people whose health has deteriorated because of the so-called ‘progress’ –
chemical factories, water poisoning, accidents at work places involving machines and
mechanisms. People die of malfunctions - take Chernobyl and Fukushima, for instance.
The list is endless.
TH: If a mother is always warning her child about the dangers of life, this child will grow
up into an adult who is too cautious, who never dares to take risks, to make new
discoveries. Science means discovering new things, finding new ways of solving
problems, taking risks sometimes. Let’s take natural disasters. Now we can predict them
faster.
JC: More weapons are created, technology is used in wars. Whether or not to use this or
that scientific discovery is usually decided by the people who have all the power. But they
are normally the people who want more profit, more money out of this discovery. They are
not worried about the future of the planet. Don’t forget about climate change.
TH: Every child knows now that climate change is a debatable thing. Nobody knows for
sure if it is actually happening. But talking about getting information, I must say that
46
progress makes knowledge more accessible regardless of class, age and wealth. And more
information inevitably leads to more choices.
JC: Yes, and many people will choose to work at home, in front of the computer and, as a
result, will miss out on socialising skills and personal contacts. Moreover, progress should
lead to more time in our lives, but it actually doesn’t. We have to spend too much time on
keeping up-to-date with all the newest technologies. So, it’s a kind of a vicious circle.
Host: It seems there is no easy way to decide if science and technology are constructive or
destructive…
Unit 7, Lesson 7, Ex.3b)
Host: What’s the conclusion then? Can science save us from ourselves? Science is neither
good nor evil. It’s how we apply scientific knowledge that counts. Medical science has
defeated many diseases. Is that good? It may have saved many from suffering, but it is a
factor in human population expansion which leads to the need for more food. Human lives
are important, but we are not the only species to inhabit this planet. Agricultural science
has given us more crops, less disease and protection from pests. But this has had effects on
nature, some of which have yet to become evident. Science has given us power, but this
power has a price. Yes, we have acquired great scientific knowledge, but we have yet to
learn the secret of natural balance. It is not science we must look to, to ensure the future, it
is us. We must understand that whatever we do has a consequence. Do not blame the gun
for killing a child, blame the one who pulls the trigger. The gun is an inanimate object, but
the politicians, scientists, engineers, manufacturers and financiers are behind its
development and they should take the responsibility. We should make life better on a
global scale. The whole infrastructure of every society bears the responsibility for the use
of science and technology either for good or for ill. Anyway, it’s a different subject.
Thanks you for joining us today.
JC and TH: Thank you.
Unit 7, Lesson 8, Ex.1c)
47
Step 1: Work in two groups to prepare for the debate. One group proposes the motion; the
other group opposes the motion. Brainstorm your arguments for or against. Be ready to
provide facts supporting your arguments. Try to predict what arguments your opponent
can come up with. Prepare counterarguments. Think of a slogan to motivate the audience
to vote for you.
Step 2: Choose a speaker to represent your group. Help them to structure their speech. It
should consist of three parts: introduction, main body and conclusion. In the introduction
the speaker is supposed to say what they are going to speak about. In the main body they
are supposed to present the arguments and support them with facts. In the conclusion the
speaker should say what they have spoken about and should finish up with the slogan.
Step 3: Take a vote. Forget about your personal preferences as far as the motion or the
speaker is concerned, just think whose arguments are more numerous and persuasive.
UNIT 8
Unit 8, Lesson 1, Ex.1c)
1. What is the most important gift of science? Science has offered many gifts to mankind.
We are familiar with them; we have routinely been using them. Can you name a gift of
science without which the modern civilization can not survive? Name one, only one gift. If
we stop using it, the whole world would come to a standstill. What is it?
2. Another interesting question: Which are the most important devices today? Name just
two of them. Without them, all functions of the society would be impossible. The structure
of the ultra-modern civilization would collapse. Have you guessed them?
Unit 8, Lesson 1, Ex.1d)
What is the most important gift of science? Science has offered many gifts to mankind.
We are familiar with them; we have routinely been using them. Can you name a gift of
science without which the modern civilization can not survive? Name one, only one gift. If
we stop using it, the whole world would come to a standstill. What is it? (pause)
It is electricity. If there is no electricity, the survival of the modern man would be put at
risk. (pause)
48
Another interesting question: Which are the most important devices today? Name just two
of them. Without them, all functions of the society would be impossible. The structure of
the ultra-modern civilization would collapse. Have you guessed them?
One is the time-measuring device, the other is the computer. A time-measuring device (a
clock or a watch) regulates the activities and functionalities of our life - ranging from
personal life to communication and transportation. Two is a computer. A computer
controls both personal and impersonal issues at local and global levels. How chaotic life
could result if these two devices stop functioning all of a sudden! (Thank God! That can
never happen!)
Unit 8, Lesson 2, Ex. 3b
A. Melissa Hu: I love music so giving up my iPod was definitely a challenge. I listen to it
during car rides, when I’m eating at restaurants, and sometimes when I’m supposed to be
sleeping.
The first few days were the worst. I was trying to study at the library when this guy started
talking nonstop to one of his friends. I wanted to reach for my iPod so I wouldn’t have to
listen to him, but I couldn’t. So I tried to do my work but finally moved to another table.
This challenge was especially difficult when I was at home. My parents were installing a
floor, so they were constantly using the nail gun. The noise was terrible.
After a couple of days, it got easier. I paid more attention to the things around me and was
more productive. I noticed a cat in my backyard bushes. I read books like Sybil and
Dubliners.
Without my iPod, I started remembering songs that I had forgotten about. I had always
skipped one of my former favorite songs, Green Day’s “Jesus of Suburbia,” after years of
wearing it out.
I realized I spend too much time using my iPod and feel like I need to always have it with
me. I am going to try to use my iPod less by not bringing my earphones with me
everywhere I go. Hopefully I’ll be more attentive.
B. Alma Sanchez: I decided to do this challenge because I watch a lot of TV. In the
summer, the first thing I did after waking up was turn on the TV in the living room.
Sometimes it didn’t matter what show it was, as long as I could pass time and not be
49
bored. I thought this challenge would help me get more done, but giving up TV for a week
was harder than I thought.
On Monday as soon as I woke up I thought about the shows I’d be missing like I Love
Lucy and a Spanish soap opera. I killed time by going on the Internet. In the afternoon, my
mom and I went to the supermarket, where there was a TV screen in every corner of the
store! “How can they do that to me, don’t they know I’m not suppose to watch TV!?” I
turned away immediately but I still felt bad.
On Tuesday, I went to my aunt’s house next door and before I knew it I was staring at the
video game my cousin was playing. Then I went to the bedroom where my other cousin
was switching channels and I left immediately. I went home and read 1984, my summer
reading. The book was full of suspense and I couldn’t put it down. I didn’t think about TV
at all.
On Wednesday I even saw a TV on the bus that showed news clips, games and ads. I took
a book to read on Friday to avoid watching.
On the other days, I could control not watching TV by staying in my bedroom. Instead of
watching TV, I cleaned my desk, looked through college brochures and finalized my
college list. I felt more productive but I wanted to watch TV with my family because I
could hear them laughing.
When the challenged ended, I wanted to keep going because I did more that week than any
other week in the summer. But I knew I would eventually cave and want to watch TV. I
realized that TV distracted me and that not watching it helped. Now I only watch my
favorite shows and skip boring ones.
С. Elliot Kwon: I always knew that I depended way too much on my phone. But I didn’t
know how much, so I decided to do this challenge to find out.
Every morning since I got a smartphone, I’ve used The Weather Channel to figure out
what to wear. On the first morning I had to dress without guidance, but thankfully I was
able to predict that the day would be cold and foggy by looking out my window. When
was the last time I did that … eighth grade?
I also lost track of time. I haven’t worn a watch for more than a year, because my phone
showed the time. So I was late picking up friends who took the bus for two hours to come
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from Santa Monica to Palos Verdes. I also was late to my tutoring job. And even worse, I
couldn’t call people to tell them that I was running late.
Getting places was harder, too. I got lost because I couldn’t use the GPS on my phone. My
driving, though, got a lot safer because I no longer had my phone in one hand checking
directions while driving with the other.
But the number one problem was not having my contact list. I forgot to write down my
friends’ and family members’ phone numbers before I started the challenge. It was sad to
realize that I couldn’t remember my brother’s and my mom’s cell phone numbers.
In the midst of all the problems, however, I found peace not worrying about missing a text
message or an e-mail.
This challenge was a great learning experience. It surprised me how I’d overlooked even
the simplest things like remembering phone numbers. We all should take some time to
think about how we can depend less on our cell phones.
Unit 8, Lesson 5, Ex.4a
What’s nanotechnology?
Imagine if you climbed out of the shower only to discover you'd gone smaller by about
1500 million times! If you stepped into your living room, what you'd see around you
would not be chairs, tables, computers, and your family but atoms, molecules, and cells.
Down to "nanoscale," you'd not only see the atoms that everything is made from—you'd
actually be able to move them around! Now imagine you started sticking those atoms
together in interesting new ways. You could build all kinds of fantastic materials,
everything from brand new medicines to computer chips. Making new things on this
fantastic small scale is called nanotechnology and it's one of the most exciting and fastmoving areas of science and technology today.
How small is nanometer?
We live on a scale of meters and kilometers, so it's quite hard for us to imagine a world
that's too small to see. Nano means "billionth", so a nanometer is one billionth of a meter.
This is all very interesting and quite impressive, but what use is it?
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This is the work of nanoscience: it helps us understand why things happen by studying
them at the smallest possible scale. Once we understand nanoscience, we can do some
nanotechnology: we can put the science into action to help solve our problems.
How do you work on the nanoscale?
Your fingers are millions of nanometers long, so it's no good trying to pick up atoms and
molecules and move them around with your bare hands. That would be like trying to eat
your dinner with a fork 300 km long! Amazingly, scientists have developed electron
microscopes that allow us to "see" things on the nanoscale and also work with them.
When did nanotechnology start?
Engineering on the nano-scale isn't a new thing. Animals and plants have long been using
the nanoparticles and nanostructures in their shells, skins and wings.
Bacteria and viruses act just like nanorobots. For example, a common bacteria called
E.coli can build itself a little nanotechnology tail that it whips around like a kind of
propeller to move it closer to food.
Can we use nanotechnology in our everyday life?
It could be you're already using nanotechnology. Clothes have just got clever with
nanotechnology: the materials stay clean, warm, strong and dry.
Nanotechnology is big news in sport. Tennis and golf players, skiers and mountain bikers
are already enjoying the advanced technology with lighter, stronger sports equipment.
The displays on everything from iPods and cellphones to flatscreen TVs are made from
plastic built on the nanoscale.
One of the most exciting areas of nanotechnology is building incredibly small machines
from individual atoms. Nanomachines could be made into nanorobots (sometimes called
"nanobots") that could be injected into our bodies to carry out repairs or sent into
dangerous environments.
Nanotechnology can be used in the food industry right from field to table. For example,
nanomaterials could help keep food fresh for longer. Scientists are already manufacturing
nano-sized vitamins that are easier for our bodies to take in. In the future they hope to
create 'interactive' food - food and drink that could change colour, flavour or ingredients
on demand.
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That’s unbelievable!
Unit 8, Lesson 6, Ex.4a
1. When you're not home, nagging little doubts can start to crowd your mind. Did I turn
the coffee maker off? Did I set the security alarm? Are the kids doing their homework or
watching television? With a smart home, you could quiet all of these worries with a quick
trip online. Smart homes connect all the devices and appliances in your home so they can
communicate with each other and with you.
Anything in your home that uses electricity can be put on the home network and at your
command. Whether you give that command by voice, remote control or computer, the
home reacts.
2. Ok. Here are a few more examples of cool smart home tricks: Turn on the coffee maker
from bed. There are cameras that will track your home's exterior even if it's pitch-black
outside. A video door phone provides more than a doorbell -- you get a picture of who's at
the door. Motion sensors will send an alert when there's movement around your house.
Door handles can open with scanned fingerprints or a four-digit code, no need to look for
house keys. While most home automation technology is focused on lighting, security and
entertainment, smart appliances may be on their way as well. Ideas include: Trash cans
that monitor what you throw away and generate online orders for replacement.
Refrigerators that create dinner recipes based on the ingredients stored inside.
3. Smart homes obviously make life easier and more convenient. Who wouldn't love being
able to control lighting, entertainment and temperature from their couch? Whether you're
at work or on vacation, the smart home will alert you to what's going on, and security
systems can be built to provide help in an emergency. For example, not only would a
resident be woken with a fire alarm, the smart home would also unlock doors, dial the fire
department and light the way to safety.
Smart homes also provide some energy savings. The devices can go to "sleep" and wake
up when commands are given. Electric bills go down when lights are automatically turned
off when a person leaves the room, and rooms can be heated or cooled based on who's
there at any given moment. Smart home technology promises great advantages for an
elderly person living alone. Smart homes could notify the resident when it was time to take
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medicine, contact the hospital if the resident fell and turn off the oven if the cook had
wandered away.
4. A smart home probably sounds like a nightmare to those people not comfortable with
computers as sometimes you may find them difficult to operate.
Of course, there's also the question of whether an individual needs all this technology. Is
our society really so lazy that we can't turn flip a light switch? It's an interesting argument,
but smart homes are coming.
Unit 8, Lesson 8, Ex. 2
Prefixes and suffixes are generally known as affixes. Affixes create new words, usually by
changing the meaning of a root word.
A prefix is a letter or group of letters added to the beginning of a word to make a new
word: In the word '”UNHAPPY”, 'UN-' is a prefix added to HAPPY. UN- is a Latin word
for NOT.
A suffix on the other hand is a letter or group of letters added to the end of a word to make
another word. The suffix NESS added to the end of the word TOGETHER creates another
word TOGETHERNESS. A good knowledge of English prefixes and suffixes will help
students develop vocabulary without the need to always check their dictionary.
Since English is a language that has thousands of words from other languages, a brief
description of commonly used prefixes and suffixes would do much good.
UNIT 9
Unit 9, Lesson 1, Ex. 2a)
Lena: Well, Frank, you’ve been teaching English in Moscow for quite a long time, haven’t
you?
Frank: Five years in fact. I’ve never realized how long I’ve been teaching here.
Lena: Have you picked up any Russian?
Frank: To be honest, I’ve been learning Russian the same number of years. I’ve always
been fascinated with your great writers: Pushkin, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy. My Mum used to
teach Russian in England, so when I was a boy, I would listen to her reciting poems by her
favourite Akhmatova and fell in love with the music of the language.
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Lena: Could we switch over to Russian now?
Frank: We’d better not. I don’t feel confident enough yet. Russian is so amazingly difficult
to learn!
Lena: Don’t worry, I’ve no desire to embarrass you. I just wanted to talk about the things
that seem a little strange to you.
Frank: You mean the equivalents of some English words inappropriately used in Russian?
Sure. Let’s take this overused word ‘great’. Once I was watching the Oscar ceremony
broadcast on Russian television. In English we can say ‘It’s great song!’ and ‘He was a
great composer.’ Strangely enough, it was translated into Russian as ‘Это великая песня,”
“ Он был великим композитором.” So, in both cases, the interpreter used the same
equivalent: the Russian word ‘великий’. But the thing is that ‘great’ has got lots of
different shades of meaning.
Lena: How would you translate ‘It’s a great song’ into Russian?
Frank: Это великолепная песня, а не великая.
Lena: Your Russian is very good indeed. You sound like a native speaker.
Frank: Great minds think alike. I’ve got the same idea. Of course, I’m kidding. I’ve still
got so much to learn. Anyway, talking about some new 21 st century song, which has just
appeared on radio and television, it’s better to say ‘великолепный, а не великий’. In
English, it would be synonymous to ‘very good, first-rate, wonderful or fantastic’. While
talking about Tchaikovsky, we can easily say that he was a great composer – он был
великий композитор – meaning that this person is really distinguished, famous and
admired by a lot of people. And, in my opinion, the fame and importance of a person or
their work should be time-tested.
Lena: I see. I think the same applies to the word ‘genius’ that has been overused or even
misused recently.
Frank. That’s true, I’m afraid. Every second person is labeled a ‘genius’ while in English
there are so many wonderful words to describe intelligent people…
Unit 9, Lesson 1, Ex.3b)
Lena: Could you give a couple of examples?
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Frank: There’s a great choice: intelligent, brainy, bright, brilliant, clever, or as the
Americans prefer it – smart and gifted, for example.
Lena: I’ll be trying to use them rather than the word ‘genius’ now. Thanks, Frank, for
sharing your thoughts with our listeners.
Frank: Thanks for inviting me over… У вас – великолепная передача.
Lena and Frank: Ha-ha-ha…
Unit 9, Lesson 2, Ex.2c)
1) Leonardo Da Vinci - Leonardo Da Vinci is considered one of the most notable
painters of all time and possibly the most multi-talented man to have ever lived! Two of
his works include: The Last Supper & The Mona Lisa. Da Vinci was truly ahead of his
time with breathtaking ideas such as: a helicopter, a tank, solar power and a calculator.
Leonardo was a unique individual who exercised the curiosity of his powerful brain.
2) Nikola Tesla- Tesla was a renowned physicist, inventor, and engineer. He has made
phenomenal contributions to science and has been classified as the “world’s greatest
electrical engineer.” Nikola engaged in studying many works, memorizing complete
books, and supposedly had a photographic memory. Tesla had above average brain
power and was an advanced thinker when compared to others of his time.
3) Michelangelo - Michelangelo was a phenomenal painter, sculptor, architect, and poet.
His diverse interest in art and the world really showed. He sculpted the Pieta and the
David before he was 30 years old! He painted the Sistine Chapel and worked on the dome
of St. Peter’s Basilica. Michelangelo was a genius that was able to bring an entirely new
artistic perspective from his mind to reality.
4) Archimedes - Archimedes was a Greek philosopher, engineer, inventor and
astronomer. He is also considered one of the most outstanding mathematicians of all time.
Though there isn’t a ton of documented information regarding his personal life, we do
know that he has had a large impact on science and physics. Archimedes’ thoughts were
clearly ahead of his time: not many would disagree that he was a genius.
5) Pablo Picasso - Though Picasso may not have been an amazing scientist, his
revolutionary mind forever changed the way people looked at art. He was a masterful
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drawer, painter, and sculptor. He founded “cubism” – an art style which became a huge
movement in the 20th century. Pablo Picasso’s unique perception, which he expressed
through his art, caused many people to view reality from a different perspective.
6) Ludwig van Beethoven - Beethoven was a German pianist and exceptional musician.
He was very influential in Western classical music and is thought of as the best composer
of all time. Though Beethoven’s hearing began to deteriorate in his early twenties, he was
still able to create most wonderful music. He was able to conduct, compose, and perform
even after he was completely deaf! Beethoven blessed the world with his musical genius
and brilliant mind.
Unit 9, Lesson 3, Ex.4b)
First of all, Leonardo is described by historians as a procrastinator. He planned to write
three books on mathematical subjects, but they were never published. His notebooks were
filled with ingenious inventions and machines; most were never built or implemented. If
they had been, it would have transformed Renaissance society. On his death bed he
apologized to "God and Man for leaving so much undone.
Leonardo invented some of his own mathematical symbols and terms. Many scientists of
his time did this because numbers were not standardized until after the invention of the
printing press. This made it difficult for scientists and mathematicians to communicate
their ideas to each other.
Leonardo also used "mirror writing" going from right to left on the pages of his notebooks.
He was left-handed so maybe this was a matter of convenience. He started every page on
the back side and worked over onto the front. Paper was expensive and scarce so Leonardo
scribbled on every scrap he could find. These scraps were then assembled. Scholars have
complained that Leonardo’s notebooks are a terrible jumble of drawings and writings on
various subjects like a continuous stream of consciousness. Two thirds of his notebooks
have never been found.
There is something ironic about the fact that the Mona Lisa was painted by a man with no
women in his life. Leonardo Da Vinci never married, and he never had any children. He
seems to be afraid of losing himself in another person when he writes: "The painter must
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be solitary ... For if you are alone you are completely yourself, but if you are accompanied
by a single companion, you are half yourself."
Leonardo studied math on his own after he finished his apprenticeship as a painter. He had
trouble with arithmetic and calculating square roots in particular. He doubted that some of
the rules of arithmetic were even true. He simply could not "do the math!"
If you tried to cook dinner in the kitchen designed by Leonardo for Ludivico Sforza, it
would probably be your last supper*. Leonardo learned the hard way not to over-engineer
his designs on this project. He re-modeled the Duke's kitchen by automating the food
preparation with some mechanical conveyor belts for moving dishes. He also built a much
bigger, more powerful stove. For safety purposes, he installed a sprinkler system overhead
to put out any kitchen fires. Leonardo then acted as the head chef on the day of the big
banquet. He brought in more than a hundred of his friends to carve each dish as a work of
art. You can guess what happened. The conveyor belts did not work; there was total
confusion in the overcrowded kitchen; a fire broke out; the sprinkler system rained down
on the food making a colossal mess. Leonardo's project should have been a dish washer.
Leonardo, like many other Renaissance mathematicians, became obsessed with the
problem of squaring the circle. Artists and architects of the Renaissance wanted to
establish a rational proportional relationship between the circle and the square.
Leonardo believed that the quadrature of the circle was the most important problem in
geometry. But it turned out to be a mission impossible. Squaring the circle would
require that pi, used in calculating the area of a circle, be a precise or a "rational"
number. Leonardo did not know that pi is "irrational." The area of the circle is
irrational, too.
In 1483, when Leonardo is 31 years old, he is hired by the Duke of Milan as a military
engineer. Milan was the center of arms manufacture in Italy at this time. Why did the
young painter make this career switch? Maybe he liked monkeying with machines, like
guys working on their cars. He wrote in his notebook: "Mechanics is the paradise of
the mathematical sciences." It must have paid well because in 1502, he changed jobs
and went to work for none other than Cesare Borgia. His job description is chief
architect and military engineer.
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Unit 9, Lesson 5, Ex.3b) and d)
Thomas Alva Edison was the American great genius inventor, scientist and businessman
who developed many devices that greatly influenced the quality of life around the world.
It was he who suggested using the word ‘hello’ at the beginning of a call. Some 25,000
notebooks contained his research records, ideas and mistakes.
In 1837 the Edison family fled from Canada to the US because Thomas Edison’s father
was involved in a revolutionary movement against the Canadian government. Ten years
later Thomas was born, and within his first six years he had managed to burn down the
family barn. During his early years, Thomas suffered from scarlet fever and several ear
infections, which left him hard of hearing. Even so, he was a talkative child who used to
annoy adults with his constant questions.
Although young Al (as he was called in those days) was certainly very gifted and must
have had a very high IQ, one teacher called him ‘addled’, which meant confused or stupid.
He attended three different schools between the ages of seven to nine, and none of his
teachers had the patience to deal with the mischievous and inattentive student. Al liked to
talk but not listen.
The hero of Al’s childhood was his mother, who pulled him out of school after the school
master said Al was unteachable and became his mentor. Young Edison read every book on
the shelves. Later on he came to like reading Shakespeare. Al was a scientist from a very
early age, and his mother encouraged him. He loved to explore and experience, not learn
by heart. His mother let him set a laboratory in the cellar. Her faith in his natural abilities
was at odds with the rest of the world. Even his father seemed to think that he was stupid.
At the age of twelve, Al got a job selling newspapers and other goods on the train. He set
up a chemistry lab in the baggage car, acquired a printing press and began publishing a
newspaper for commuters. Unfortunately he started a fire in the chemistry lab and was
fired. Throughout his teens he landed and lost many jobs, but he was inventing the whole
time. As a railroad signalman he had to clock in every hour by telegraph. Al invented a
way to transmit his hourly signal automatically, and was fired when he was caught. The
invention, however, eventually led him to develop the first automatic telegraph and the
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first clock ticker. “I owe my success to the fact that I never had a clock in my workroom.’
One group of his workers called themselves ‘The Insomnia Squad’.
Edison wasn’t just an inventor. He was a businessman who was able to deal his inventions,
attract new capital, and motivate his employees. And he was a very hard worker. He said
his success was 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. He became close with another
inventor and businessman, Henry Ford with whom he had a lot in common.
By the end of his career, Edison had received 1,093 patents and was credited for inventing
the electric light bulb, the central power generating station, the phonograph, the flexible
celluloid film and movie projector, alkaline storage battery and the microphone. Dozens of
his inventions have been used for comfort and convenience, communication and
entertainment. He used to repeat that he had not invented any weapons.
Unit 9, Lesson 6, Ex.4a)
Buddy you're a boy make a big noise
Playin' in the street gonna be a big man some day
You got mud on yo' face
You big disgrace
Kickin' your can all over the place
We will we will rock you
We will we will rock you
Buddy you're a young man hard man
Shoutin' in the street gonna take on the world some day
You got blood on yo' face
You big disgrace
Wavin' your banner all over the place
We will we will rock you
We will we will rock you
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Buddy you're an old man poor man
Pleadin' with your eyes gonna make you some peace some day
You got mud on your face
You big disgrace
Somebody better put you back in your place
We will we will rock you
We will we will rock you
Unit 9, Lesson 7, Ex.4a)
In February 2013, Sergey Brin and Mark Zuckerberg together with Yuri Milner have
created the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences Foundation to reward lifesaving research.
The first 11 winners of the award received $3 million each, compared with Nobel Prize’s
$1.1 mln. A Russian internet investor who quit a PhD in physics and invested in social
networking, Milner persuaded his fellow internet billionaires to contribute to the prize to
encourage a new generation of molecular biologists and geneticists. "Young people will
hopefully get the message that not only the careers in sports or entertainment can get a
public recognition." Milner, who has homes in Moscow and California, distributed prizes
last year for the field of fundamental physics. He decided to repeat the model on a bigger
scale for life sciences. "Unfortunately I have two very close relatives with very bad
diseases, one of them is cancer. This is part of my personal connection with this prize."
The prize was intended to make a statement. "It's a lot of money, yes. But the people who
make game-changing contributions are often scientists who work without much
recognition and without much compensation. To my mind these are the true heroes," said
Art Levinson, the chairman of Apple, who will also chair the new foundation.
The prize-winners from the United States, Japan, Italy and the Netherlands, expressed
shock and delight when told of the awards. "I had to sit down on the floor for a while. I
thought it must be a practical joke," said Cornelia Bargmann, 51, who has pioneered work
in neurology. Hans Clevers, 55, professor of Molecular Genetics, said he would use some
of the windfall to invite about 150 collaborators to a symposium in Amsterdam. "We'll
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have a big party." Lewis Cantley, director of a cancer centre, whose work could help
tackle diabetes and other genetic disorders, said he was overwhelmed when notified of the
news. "I almost fell over. I didn't even know this prize existed." Titia de Lange, 57, who
researches cell biology, genetics and cancer, said the award felt strange. "I'm not used to
having a lot of money. I don't really have possessions." Two women from a list of 11 fairly
reflected the percentage of women working at that level, she said. "One would like it to be
higher of course." One of the oldest recipients, David Botstein, 70, expressed some unease
about the amount of money and said he would give some of it away.
Unit 9, Lesson 8, Ex.2b)
1. My favourite things in life don’t cost any money. It’s really clear that the most precious
resource we all have is time.
Steve Jobs
2. If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss… Life is not divided into
semesters. You don’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping
you find yourself. Bill Gates
3. Obviously everyone wants to be successful, but I want to be looked back on as being
very innovative, very trusted and ethical and ultimately making a big difference in the
world. Sergey Brin
4. All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.
Walt Disney
5. The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.
Albert
Einstein
6. Astronomy’s much more fun when you’re not an astronomer.
Brian May
7. If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.
Isaac
Newton
8. Life well spent is long.
Leonardo Da Vinci
9. If you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right. Henry Ford
10.Success is often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.
Chanel
11.By giving people power to share we’re making the world more transparent. Mark
Zuckerberg
Unit 9, Lesson 8, Ex.3c)
Coco
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1. “In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.” Coco Chanel
2. “Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using his
intelligence, he is just using his memory.” Leonardo Da Vinci
3. “I despise the Lottery. There is less chance of you becoming a millionaire than there is
of getting hit on the head by a passing asteroid.” Brian May
4. “We build too many walls and not enough bridges.” Isaac Newton
5. “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to
stop questioning.” Albert Einstein
6. “We keep moving forward, opening new doors and doing new things because we are
curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” Walt Disney
7. “Solving big problems is easier than solving little problems.” Sergey Brin
8. “Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me. Going to bed at night
saying I’ve done something wonderful, that’s what matters to me.” Steve Jobs
9. “I think a simple rule of business is, if you do the things that are easier first, then you
can actually make a lot of progress.” Mark Zuckerberg
10.“As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who will empower
others.” Bill Gates
11.“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.”
Henry Ford.
UNIT 10
Unit 10, Lesson 1, Ex.3a
The borders of Belarus were changed so many times it can be hard to know where your
family really comes from: Russia, Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine or Belarus. Our lecture is
not limited to persons of Belarusian ethnicity; Russians, Jews, Poles, Vikings, etc., may be
found in the list.
How many of us would have guessed that the legendary Hollywood actor Kirk Douglas
was born to Belarusian parents? They emigrated from Gomel to the USA when Kirk was
just three years old, in 1919. Likewise, top American designer Ralph Lauren’s parents are
from Belarus (his father from Pinsk and his mother from Grodno).
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Belarus also has its fair share of writers. Yanka Kupala, Yakub Kolas, Vasil Bykov…
Science-fiction king Isaac Asimov was born in the village of Petrovichi in the Mogilev
Region of Belarus. Few know that Fyodor Dostoevsky - one of Russia’s greatest prose
writers – was born into a Belarusian family. Although his parents had moved to Moscow
by the time he arrived in the world, they hailed from the small Belarusian village of
Dostoevo in the Ivanovo District. Last autumn, the village celebrated the 500th
anniversary of the famous family.
Belarus has brought forth some of our world’s most prominent athletes. Just think of Olga
Korbut – from Grodno or Max Mirnyi (nicknamed The Beast for his aggressive play).
Other notable sporting heroes include Olympic medalists Yulia Nesterenko, Yekaterina
Karsten, Yanina Korolchik and Ellina Zvereva. How about Stuttgart midfield Alexander
Hleb? The wrestler Alexander Medved? The winner of the 2009 World Chess Cup, Boris
Gelfand?
One of most famous of all people from Belarus, Marc Chagall is known around the world
as a master of classic avant-garde art. The pioneer of geometric abstract art Kazimir
Malevich, sculptor Osip Zadkine, Vladimir Vyshnevski also come from this land.
As far as science is concerned: Ignat Domejko was a well-known geologist who spent
most of his life in Chile where he became a national hero. He is officially recognised by
UNESCO for his achievements. Alexander Chizhevsky, born in the Grodno region in
1897, was a famous scientist who studied the biological effects of the sun and universe.
Zhores Alferov, born in Vitebsk, won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2000.
Haim Weizman from the small village near Pinsk was an outstanding chemist who gave
lectures in Switzerland and Great Britain. He also became the first president of Israel in
1949 and remained at this post until his death. By the way, Shimon Peres, Israel’s new
President and Nobel Prize winner, was born in Belarus in the village of Vishnevo in the
Minsk Region.
Petr Klimuk, the first Belarusian cosmonaut and a researcher in technical sciences was
born in Komarovka village, Brest region, in 1942. He made three space flights as a
member of spaceship and orbital space station missions.
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Vladimir Kovalenok was born near Minsk in 1942. He trained as a pilot and became a
celebrated cosmonaut in the Soviet Union. He commanded 3 space missions and was twice
declared a Hero.
There are successful Belarusian artists, writers, models and businessmen all over the
world. But the number one Belarusian in the world is Boris Kit. This outstanding rocket
scientist and Belarusian turned 100 this year. Today he lives in Frankfurt-am-Main but
remains truly devoted to his language and his motherland. Perhaps he is the man to make
you feel that, in fact, you are lucky to come from Belarus.
Unit 10, Lesson 4, Ex.2b
a) Mr. Smith opened the door very quietly, looked carefully around the room and slowly
walked in. The window was open and the curtains were blowing in the wind. Clearly
someone had left in a hurry.
b) A: I met Steven Spielberg. Well, I think it was him.
B: Oh yeah?
A: Yeah, really. It was in LA airport.
B: What were you doing up there?
A: Oh, I was meeting some friends. They’d asked me to pick them up and I’d driven all
the way from Santa Barbara.
Unit 10, Lesson 5, Ex.2
Not everyone who's on top today got there with success after success. More often than not,
those who history best remembers were faced with numerous problems that made them
work harder and show more determination than others. Next time you're feeling down
about your failures at school or any other business, keep these ten famous people in mind
and remind yourself that sometimes failure is just the first step towards success.
A. While Henry Ford is known as one of the richest and influential people in the world
whose introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American
industry, he wasn't an immediate success. In fact, his early businesses failed and left him
broke five times before he founded the successful Ford Motor Company.
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B. Bill Gates didn't seem to promise any success after giving up his studies in Harvard and
starting a failed first business called Traf-O-Data with his friend Paul Allen. While this
early idea didn't work, Gates' later work did, creating the global empire that is Microsoft.
C. Today Walt Disney rakes in billions from products, movies and theme parks around the
world, but Walt Disney himself had a bit of a rough start. Hardly had he started his first
job in a newspaper when he was fired because, "he lacked imagination and had no good
ideas." After that, Disney started a number of businesses that didn't last too long and ended
with loss of money and failure. He kept working hard, however, and eventually found a
recipe for success that worked.
D. Most of us take Albert Einstein's name as synonymous with genius, but he didn't
always show such promise. Einstein did not speak until he was four and did not read until
he was seven, causing his teachers and parents to think he had mental problems, was slow
and anti-social. Eventually, he was expelled from school and couldn’t enter the Zurich
Polytechnic School. It might have taken him a bit longer, but most people would agree that
he caught on pretty well in the end, winning the Nobel Prize and changing the face of
modern physics.
E. In his early years, teachers told Thomas Edison he was "too stupid to learn anything."
Work was no better, as he was fired from his first two jobs for not being productive
enough. Even as an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the
light bulb. Of course, all those unsuccessful attempts finally resulted in the design that
worked.
F. The brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright had to cope with depression and family illness
before starting the bicycle shop that would lead them to experimenting with flight. After
numerous attempts at creating flying machines, several years of hard work, and tons of
failed models, the brothers finally created a plane that could get up in the air and stay
there.
G. While today Abraham Lincoln is remembered as one of the greatest leaders of our
nation, Lincoln's life wasn't so easy. In his youth he went to war a captain and returned a
private (if you're not familiar with military ranks, just know that private is as low as it
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goes.) Lincoln didn't stop failing there, however. He started numerous failed businesses
and lost in numerous elections for public office he participated in.
H. Oprah Winfrey: Most people know Oprah as one of the most iconic faces on TV as well
as one of the richest and most influential women in the world. Oprah faced a hard road to
get to that position, however, having a terrible childhood. No sooner had she been born
than her teenage mother fled away leaving her to live on her grandmother’s farm. The
family was so poor that Winfrey often wore dresses made of potato sacks, for which the
local children made fun of her. At 13, after years of horrific life, Winfrey ran away from
home. Later she also had numerous career setbacks including losing her job as a television
reporter because she was "unfit for TV."
I. Stephen King: The first book by this author, the iconic thriller Carrie, was turned down
30 times, finally causing King to give up and throw it in the trash. His wife fished it out
and encouraged him to finish it and send it again, and the rest is history, with King now
having hundreds of books published the distinction of being one of the best-selling authors
of all time. His books have sold more than 350 million copies which have been made into
many movies and television films.
Unit 10, Lesson 6, Ex.2a)
Who is Nelson Mandela?
Nelson Mandela was the first black President of South Africa. He spent 27 years in prison
for trying to overthrow the pro-apartheid government. After he left prison, he worked to
achieve human rights and a better future for everyone in South Africa. He is held in deep
respect within South Africa, where he is often referred to by his Xhosa clan
name of Madiba or as Tata meaning Father; he is often described as "the father of the
nation".
Why is he famous?
Nelson Mandela became famous for his long fight against bad government and racial
prejudice. He became a hero to people all over the world. As South Africa's President, he
was respected for his courage and wisdom in bringing people together to live in peace.
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When was he born?
Nelson Mandela was born in 1918. He was in prison from 1962 to 1990. He became
President of South Africa in 1994, and retired in 1999.
Where was he born?
Rolihlahla Mandela was born on 18 July 1918. Mandela's birth name – Rolihlahla – is an
isiXhosa name that means "pulling the branch of the tree". Colloquially it also means
"troublemaker". His English name, Nelson, was given to him by a missionary
schoolteacher. He was born in the Transkei, south-eastern part of South Africa covered
with mountains, valleys and grasslands called savannas.
Where did he grow up?
Mandela's father Henry was a chief of the Tembu people. The Mandelas were related to
the Tembu royal family. When Nelson was 9, his father died. He was looked after by
another chief of the Tembu.
What education did he get?
Nelson went to a mission school, and then to college. He achieved academic success
through "plain hard work." He also excelled at track and boxing. At Fort Hare University,
he studied law. One of his friends there was Oliver Tambo. Nelson left the university in
1939, after student protests about the way it was run.
What job did he choose?
Mandela's family had chosen a wife for him. But he did not want an arranged marriage, so
he left for the city of Johannesburg. He went on with his studies, and became a lawyer in
1942.
How did the history of South Africa develop?
Most South Africans are black. There are also people of European and Asian backgrounds,
and Coloureds (people of mixed race). Dutch people set up the first white colony in South
Africa in 1652, later British settlers arrived. Dutch farmers called themselves ‘Boers’,
from a Dutch word meaning 'farmers'. They spoke a language called Afrikaans, but most
other white settlers spoke English. Black people spoke Bantu languages such as isiNdebele
and isiZulu. Britain took over the Dutch colony in 1815 and, as a result, South Africa
became part of the British Empire. Gold was found in 1886; with gold and good farmland,
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the country was really rich. However, it was not peaceful. Whites and blacks fought over
the land and there were wars between the Boers and the British. The Boers wanted their
own country.
How was South Africa ruled?
When Mandela was growing up, black people had little say in how South Africa was run.
The government was whites-only. Most black people were poor. They worked as servants
in rich white families, they also worked on farms, in factories and gold mines.
What was the ANC?
In 1944, Nelson Mandela joined the African National Congress or ANC. The ANC wanted
black South Africans to have the same human rights as whites. In 1948, the South African
government made new laws to keep white people and black people apart. The new system
was called 'apartheid'.
What was apartheid?
Apartheid forced white and non-white people to live in separate areas. Non-white people
meant black people, people from Asia and people of mixed race.
A white person and a black person could not marry. Black people and white people could
not share a table in a restaurant, or sit together on a bus. Black children and white children
went to different schools. Sports teams were all-white or all-black, never mixed.
What was Mandela’s role in doing away with apartheid?
Mandela and Oliver Tambo set up South Africa's first black law firm. Poor people came to
them for help. Mandela led young people in the ANC. Many white people, as well as black
people, spoke out against apartheid. Mandela admired Gandhi, who had used peaceful
protest in India. Perhaps peaceful protest could get rid of apartheid, without fighting? But
to speak out was dangerous. In 1956, Mandela and 155 other people were arrested for
treason. After a trial lasting five years, he was set free in 1961.
In 1960, people held a demonstration against apartheid at Sharpeville, near Johannesburg.
The police shot dead 69 black people. The government blamed the ANC, and banned it.
Mandela became leader of a secret army, known as 'Spear of the Nation'. He was hunted
by the police, and had to hide and use disguises. He travelled to other countries to ask for
help.
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How did Mandela get to jail?
In 1961 South Africa left the Commonwealth. Millions of people in other countries
supported the anti-apartheid movement. Many nations stopped trade with South Africa.
Sports teams and entertainers refused to go there. Still the government refused to change.
In 1962, Nelson Mandela was arrested again. He was accused of sabotage and plotting to
overthrow the government. In 1964, aged 46, he was given a life sentence. Mandela was
sent to the prison on Robben Island. Oliver Tambo had left South Africa to live abroad.
Mandela spent 18 years on Robben Island. During his time in prison, Mandela
was restricted to a 2m x 2.5m cell, with nothing but a bedroll on the floor and a bucket for
sanitation in it. He was consigned to hard labour in a lime quarry for much of that time and
was, at first, only allowed one visitor and one letter every six months. He was later moved
to another prison.
How did he get out of prison?
Mandela became the most famous prisoner in the world. He did not give up and for that
even the prison guards admired him. At last, in 1988, the South African government began
to make changes, one of which was to let black students into 'white' universities. From
around the world, the calls got louder. Free Nelson Mandela! In 1990, South Africa's new
President F.W. de Klerk set Nelson Mandela free. Mandela and de Klerk had negotiations
and agreed: no more fighting. Mandela called on all South Africans to work together in
peace.
How did he become President?
In 1991, Mandela became leader of the ANC. In the 1994 elections, all black people in
South Africa were able to vote for the first time. The ANC won the election. A new
government took over and in May 1994, Nelson Mandela became South Africa's first
black president. Mandela also worked to protect South Africa's economy from collapse
during his presidency. Through his Reconstruction and Development Plan, the South
African government funded the creation of jobs, housing and basic health care. In 1996,
Mandela signed into law a new constitution for the nation, establishing a strong central
government based on majority rule, and guaranteeing the rights of minorities and the
freedom of expression.
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How did Nelson Mandela inspire people?
Another famous South African, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, called South Africa a 'rainbow
nation'. Nelson Mandela also spoke of it this way. Its people were of all races and colours,
working together.
In 1995, South Africa was host for the rugby World Cup. President Mandela wore a
Springbok rugby shirt. The springbok antelope is South Africa's national animal. South
Africa's rugby team, the Springboks, had been all-white, but Mandela wore the shirt to
help bring white and black together. Sport helped to do this.
How did the world honour Mandela?
Mandela was welcomed around the world as a great world leader. He was given many
honours. In 1993, Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk shared the Nobel Peace Prize.
Mandela wrote a book about his struggle called 'Long Walk to Freedom'. From 2004, he
gave up politics, to enjoy a quiet life with his family. Within South Africa, Mandela is
widely considered to be "the founding father of democracy", being seen as "the national
liberator, the saviour, its Washington and Lincoln rolled into one". In 1993, he received
the joint Nobel Peace Prize with de Klerk. In November 2009, the United Nations General
Assembly proclaimed Mandela's birthday, 18 July, as "Mandela Day", marking his
contribution to the anti-apartheid struggle. It called on individuals to donate 67 minutes to
doing something for others, commemorating the 67 years that Mandela had been a part of
the movement.
Many artists have dedicated songs to Mandela. He has been depicted in cinema and
television on multiple occasions, the latest of them was Invictus (2009) where Mandela is
portrayed by Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon plays the role of the national rugby team
captain Francois Pienaar.
Unit 10, Lesson 8, Ex. 3
People whose courage has been met by violence populate history. Few, though, are as
young as Malala was when, at 15, a Taliban gunman boarded her school bus in
northwestern Pakistan and shot her and two other girls, attempting to both kill Malala and,
as the Taliban later said, teach a “lesson” to anyone who had the courage to stand up for
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education, freedom and self-determination, particularly for girls and women. Or as young
as 11, when Malala began blogging for the BBC’s Urdu site, writing about her ambition to
become a doctor, her fears of the Taliban and her determination to not allow the Taliban
— or her fear — to prevent her from getting the education she needed to realize her
dreams.
Malala is now where she wants to be: back in school. The Taliban almost made Malala a
martyr; they succeeded in making her a symbol. The memoir she is writing to raise
awareness about the 61 million children around the world who are not in school indicates
she accepts that unasked-for responsibility as a synonym for courage and a champion for
girls everywhere. However Malala concludes her book, her story so far is only just
beginning.
UNIT 12
Unit 12 Lesson 4 Ex. 3a
Carlos:
My dear Anita, let’s run away together!
Anita:
No, Carlos. I can’t do it.
Carlos:
I’ll help you to settle down in Mexico. I’ll take care of you.
Anita:
I love another man.
Carlos:
Is that Fernando? Don’t believe him. He’s a dangerous man. If you don’t
break up with him, I’ll give your secret away.
Anita:
What secret are you talking about?
Carlos:
You stole Donna Rosa’s jewellery when you were working in her house.
Anita:
What? I didn’t take a thing. You’re a liar!
Carlos:
Can I have a look at your finger? Is this Donna Rosa’s diamond ring?
Anita:
Yes, it’s her ring, but she gave it to me as a present when I was leaving her.
Carlos:
You know what? You shouldn’t show the ring to anyone.
Anita:
Why not?
Carlos:
Because Donna Rosa’s box with jewellery has disappeared!
Anita:
What???
Unit 12 Lesson 5 Ex. 2a
A.
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“Hi, Claire – it’s Emma. Have you heard the latest? Joanna and Vicky’s brother started
seeing each other!”
“No!!! If Vicky gets wind of this, she’ll go wild with anger, she literally hates Joanna!”
“Tell me about it! They meet in secret. That’s why you can’t breathe a word to anybody
about it! I only told you because you’re my best friend and I’m sure it won’t go any
further.”
“Of course it won’t, dear, you know you can trust me! I’m the soul of discretion.”
Well, I’m in a hurry now. I’ll call your back later.”
B.
“Hello, Jimmy – it’s Lisa, how are you? Fine, thanks. Guess what? You’re not going to
believe it, some say it’s malicious gossip, yet I think it’s the naked truth! Ben’s parents are
going to divorce and he’ll move with his father to L.A! When Ben found it out, he cried
his eyes out and didn’t go to school for three days. His father had to go to the school to
explanation the situation. Rumours are about that his mother is addicted to alcohol and
now she’s in hospital. By the way, Ben doesn’t want to leave and he goes to the hospital
every day to visit her. I’ll call you back with more fresh news, bye! But don’t breathe a
word!!!
C.
“Hi, dear cousin! How are things going in your life?”
“Thank Goodness, I’m fine, Grandpa isn’t. His small restaurant is going bankrupt! But
don’t let on to anyone!!! You know how sensitive he is about this!
“It’s a pity! Perhaps he’d better close the restaurant.”
“It’s out of the question. It is a part of him that he can’t give up on so easily.”
“It must be tough for him, and of course I’ll keep it to myself! I’ll pretend everything is
just fine, in fact I’ll better pay him a visit to lift his spirit, what do you think?
“That’s a wonderful idea! I know we won’t be able to keep it under wraps forever, but the
later people find out, the better!”
“You’re so right, that’s the least we can do for him, OK, Lisa, thanks for calling. Bye for
now!
D.
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“Hi Tina – it’s Ted. I need to talk to you.”
“Well, what’s the matter?”
“Your brother is in trouble, but it’s not a telephone conversation. I’d prefer to talk to you
in person, not by phone.”
“Sure. At Tony’s café in half an hour. OK?”
“Yes, see you.”
…
“So, what about my brother?”
“My friend Jeremy met him by chance the other day. He saw him at the supermarket. He
was shoplifting!”
“What? You’re telling a lie!”
“Sorry, but I’m telling the truth. Jeremy saw him put some snack packets in his pockets.”
“It’s a shame! What shall I do? I’m at a loss.”
“I think you should talk to him. You don’t want him to get into trouble, do you?”
“No, I don’t. Thank you, Ted.”
Unit 12 Lesson 6 Ex. 1b
7 Tips to Being a Great Conversationalist
Over the years I have been told that I am easy to talk to and have good conversation
skills. I guess that is because I just love meeting new people and having conversations
with them on just about anything that may come up. It didn’t always used to be like this
though, I have read a couple of books and been fortunate enough to know some brilliant
conversationalists and learnt from them how to improve my own conversational and
communication skills. How can you improve your conversational skills to become a
welcome sight at every party and social event you attend? Here are some tips that might
help.
1) Ask questions
The truth is that most people prefer to talk about themselves and are hardly interested to
hear about the other person or people in the conversation. Asking non-threatening
questions is a great way to start and refresh conversations.
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2) Listen
A simple fact is that good conversationalists are good listeners. The key is to listen
attentively whether you are with one person or with a group of people. Also, when you
listen you learn. When you are speaking you are not learning anything new. Make a
conscious effort to focus on what people say. Show that you are genuinely interested by
asking questions that support and develop the conversation; “What do you mean exactly?”,
“What happened next?”, or “How did you feel about that?”
3) Give compliments
Remember to give compliments whenever you can, and do it sincerely because people will
know if you are just trying to flatter them. If someone looks smart or has lost weight or
has a stylish new haircut then show that you have noticed by giving a genuine compliment.
4) Keep yourself current with topical issues
It is important to keep up to date on key current issues and topics in the news,
entertainment, sports and politics. You should be ready to comment with questions,
ideas, facts and opinions on the issues that other people are interested in. In general it
is best to avoid really sensitive or controversial topics especially if they risk offending
people’s personal feelings.
5) Be Funny
One thing I love to do is make people laugh and also have a good laugh myself. There is a
place for serious discussion and there is a place for humour, so be ready to contribute in
either environment. Personal anecdotes relating to unusual experiences and misfortunes
that have happened to you often go down well. Jokes, quotes and other people’s witty
remarks can also be used sparingly and with acknowledgement. Remember to laugh at
other people’s funny stories, even if you have heard them before.
6) Speak Clearly
When you speak, say what you have to say with clarity and enthusiasm.
Don’t mumble your words, or rush through them or whisper so quietly that people have to
strain to hear them. Good conversationalists are clear, articulate, and easy to understand.
Keep your sentences short and to the point.
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7) Enjoy yourself
Remember to just be yourself and don’t try to be anything that you are not. Relax and
enjoy the occasion whatever it might be. People prefer to mix with the happy and goodnatured rather than grumpy and miserable people. Have fun and really enjoy meeting new
people at every opportunity.
Unit 12 Lesson 6 Ex. 1c
Kate: Hi John! Haven’t seen you for ages! Where have you been?
John: Hello Kate! I’ve just come back from Australia.
Kate: Really? How interesting! What did you do there?
John: I helped my uncle to finish building his farm house.
Kate: Did you? I didn’t know your uncle lived in Australia.
John: He’s been living there for two years.
Kate: Has he? Why did he move there?
John: Well, he couldn’t find a good job here for a long time.
Kate: Couldn’t he? That’s a pity.
John: He’s fine now. He’s got a farm. Actually, he keeps crocodiles there.
Kate: He keeps what?
John: Crocodiles. His business brings him good money.
Kate: His business?
John: Yes, his farm is a kind of local entertainment. He organizes crocodile shows.
Kate: Does he? It must be dangerous!
John: Not really. I even learnt some tricks.
Kate: Did you? I’d like to see some day.
John: I’ve got a video. So I can show it to you.
Kate: Great! I’m looking forward to seeing it.
Unit 12 Lesson 7 Ex. 3a
Your publication began September 2009. Where and how did you get your start?
Well it all started with my good friend Aly Silverio of Jawbreaking Jewelry. She had been
designing and selling her own handmade jewelry for a while and the success of her
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company inspired me to create a business of my own. I've always loved magazines and a
challenge, so it was the perfect fit. I wanted to create something different from any other
magazine I had seen. Something specifically tailored to what I personally would like to
pick up and read if I was a magazine lover searching for a new read. Fast forward to now,
WeTheUrban Magazine has had over 5 million page views and over half a million readers
within it's first four issues! Crazy.
You've developed an eclectic taste for fashion, music, and art where did your
inspiration come from? Magazines? Websites? Fashion Icons?
99% of my inspiration comes right from my Tumblr dashboard and fashion editorials.
Most of the time I'll see an editorial imagine and love the way the models hair is
positioned or I'll get inspired by the most miniscule aspect of a photo and build off of that
to create my own editorial concepts. That happens a lot when I watch Youtube videos as
well. There must be thousands of inspiration images I've saved and screen capped on my
computer!
What's your primary goal for We The Urban? Do you plan on staying an online
publication or would you branch out to print?
Collaborating and curating with everything and everyone! My two ultimate dreams would
be to collaborate on a limited edition pair of sunglasses with the Italian brand SUPER!
and to collaborate on a crew neck and t-shirt line with Opening Ceremony. I also see a
shop in the near future and possibly even a record label. The sky is the limit!
What's your primary goal for yourself? Should we be expecting to see a fashion line
in the future?
That would be to just wake up 10 years from now loving what I'm doing. As long as I'm
creating, I'm happy. As for a fashion line, i'll never say never!
Being an editor probably doesn't warrant any free time; however, in the event you
do, how do you spend it?
I'm still a teenager haha! I love going shopping, going to parties, the movies, etc. But
believe it or not, I do love working! If I'm not constantly doing something to better my
brand, I feel like I'm wasting valuable time.
Do you have any advice for people trying to break in to this industry?
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Don't be lazy and don't be easily discouraged. This industry can be vicious, so be
confident and always keep your head up. This industry is very small as well - don't get
caught up in it for the wrong reasons. If your true passion is fashion and you're just
starting out, remember that Rome wasn't built in a day and always do your research.
UNIT 13
Scripts Unit 13 Year 10 (gym)
Lesson2 ex.2
My name is Bikash Nahar. I came to Minsk from the Indian town of Calcutta 27 years ago.
At the age of 13 I finished school with flying colours and when I was 18 I got my first
degree in Chemistry. As a student I was quite good at chess and very often I took part in
various competitions where I met a lot of nice young people from the USSR. We made
friends and thus I got interested in the Russian language and culture. And later I decided to
continue my education there.
I came to Minsk in December, 1986. My first impressions of the city were unbelievable! I
had never expected it to be so bitterly cold - about 30 degrees below zero! Since I wasn’t
used to such weather, of course very soon I had a bad cold and was running a high
temperature.
Before coming here, I didn’t know much about Belarus. It turned out to be extremely cosy
and welcoming. I was impressed by people’s friendliness and responsiveness. Despite my
poor command of the language at that time, I always felt comfortable here.
In fact, the Belarusians and Indians are very similar. Both the nations take pride in their
history, deeply respect their parents and their Motherland. I believe that a person who
worships his parents and his country will achieve inner harmony.
I like Belarusian people and enjoy Belarusian nature. My wife is Belarusian and my
children were born here. I’m still on good terms with men and women I studied with. But
we don’t meet very often, because we are all busy. In the mornings I work at the
Komarovski market, or Kamarovka, as they say, where I sell Indian goods and in the
evenings I teach yoga. If necessary I translate, because I know six languages: English,
Russian, Hindi, Bengali, Urdu and Farsi. All this is not just business, I take a lot of
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pleasure in it. Yoga is a great hobby for me, and I’m proud to have 65-year-old ladies in
my Yoga club. From time to time I run workshops in nonconventional medicine.
I live in Minsk and I love it! It is a wonderful and very clean city. I also enjoyed my visits
to Grodno, Slonim, Mozyr, Mogilev and Vitebsk. Every summer I go Slavianski Bazar.
Belarusian culture appeals to me very much. When I was younger I used to go to the circus
with my kids. My daughters loved the circus! But now we are more into ballet. The ballet
here is great! We all love it. I also believe that dance enriches person’s inner world.
Belarusian sport impresses me all the time. Although Belarus is a dozen times smaller that
India, sport here is developed far and away better. I believe that the Belarusian president
does a great job in the sphere of sport. If I had a chance I would shake his hand and thank
him for giving young people such an amazing opportunity. Maxim Mirny and
ViktoriaAzarenko are my favourite sportsmen. Isn’t it great to watch them win? If I have
time I always watch sport on TV.
I like Belarusian cuisine very much, even though I’m a true vegetarian and I eat neither
meat nor fish. That is why Belarusian Draniki is my favourite dish. My wife and I often
cook national Belarusian and Indian dishes.
I feel that Belarus is my second native country. I live and work here, my family are here
with me. I’m a Belarusian citizen and am proud to be so. I’m happy that my lucky stars
brought me here one day.
Lesson 4
Ex.2
Presenter: (P:) What print media is currently operating in Belarus?
J: A variety of print media and electronic media of different forms of ownership is
operating in Belarus. Foreign media are widely represented in the national media space,
too.
P: Are newspapers and magazines state owned or private?
J: As of 1 January 2012, 678 newspapers and 676 magazines were published in Belarus.
More than two thirds of them are private.
P: Are they all published in Belarusian?
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J: Printed press is available mainly in the Belarusian and Russian languages, though there
are some newspapers in English, Polish, Ukrainian and German.
P: What are the most influential newspapers?
J: The most influential newspapers include Belarus Segodnya and the Respublika. Local
editions of major Russian newspapers Komsomolskaya Pravda and ArgumentyiFaktyare
very popular in Belarus, too.
All in all, more than 4,000 print media outlets are distributed throughout the country,
including those from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, the USA, the UK, Germany, Italy,
France, the Netherlands, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia.
Ex.3
As everywhere else, in Britain we have the press and radio and TV. Let’s start with
newspapers. First of all there is no subscription. You may buy any at newsagents. We
have popular and quality papers. The popular such as Daily Express, Daily Mail, Daily
Mirror, The Sun are small with many pictures, big headlines and short articles. The quality
papers are for serious people. These papers are bigger in size, with larger articles and more
detailed information. I think that the most popular are The Times, Daily Telegraph, The
Guardian, Financial Times, and The Independent.
There are also Sunday papers which may be both popular like News of the World, Sunday
Express, Sunday Mirror, Mail on Sunday and quality like Observer, Sunday Times, Sunday
Telegraph. They have a higher circulation than the dailies.
There are two radio and TV stations. The first one - well-known BBC - British
Broadcasting Corporation, and the second - IBA - Independent Broadcasting
Lesson 5
Ex.2
A: Hi Nastia, how’s life?
N: Busy as usual. I’ve just come home from dancing class and still have a composition to
write.
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A: I can phone later.
N: Oh, no. It’s OK. There is a TV show I Sing in twenty minutes. I’ll watch it first as I
need some rest before getting down to work.
A: What kind of show is it?
N: It’s a song contest for young people, 6 to 15 year olds. Many of them live in child care
or have one parent only. They are so talented! The winner goes to Euro Disney in Paris.
A: What a coincidence! I was phoning to interview you about TV in Belarus and your
favouriteprogrammes.
N: I don’t really watch TV a lot. This contest doesn’t run long. Five or six programmes a
year. I also enjoy similar contests such as Slavianski Bazar and Eurovision contest. I love
songs and dances! There is one programme though which I watch regularly. It’s Good
Morning Belarus – a weekday morning programme where you can listen to news very
briefly, listen to some nice music and various interviews. Saying ‘watch’ is not probably
correct. I listen to the programme and have an occasional glance while getting ready for
school. It’s a nice programme, very informative and relaxing. I also watch an evening
news programmePanorama to know what has been going on in Belarus and the world.
My dad usually watches it. So, in a way it’s a family habit. He has another habit though,
watching all sports – football, hockey, tennis, biathlon and what not! He is a great sports
fan but I am more into music and dancing.
A: Is that all you watch?
N: No, of course not. Films…
A: Any soaps?
N: Oh, no! No time for that! But there is one more programme which is probably my
favourite. It’s Tomorrow Is Us! It’s a very inspiring programme about fairly young people
who’ve already achieved something.
A: Like what?
N: All possible achievement in studies, arts, sports. One programme was about a young
musician who is only a second year student and who already won an international
competition. Another is about two girls who set up a private enterprise with the help of
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Business Startup week. If you were here I would’ve recommended you to watch these
programmes. They just show that patience hard work and persistence bear fruit.
A: Thank you. That’s already something. I’ll talk to Dasha, Vlad and Anton.
N: That’s a good idea. I was just about to apologize as the show is about to start.
A: Oh yeah. Don’t miss it. Thank you. Buy-buy.
N: Buy-buy.
Lesson 6
ex.4
Wooden House by Theresa Suslov
The apartment I rent, and in which I live, is located in a wooden house on a cozy, cobblestoned square across the street from the Bridge of Tears in Minsk.
To enter the house, there are two steps which lead directly into a small, enclosed porch.
The owner usually keeps vegetables harvested from her ‘dacha’ in this area. The porch
remains cool during the autumn and winter months, so her bounty of produce will not
spoil.
Once inside the small enclosed porch, there is a heavy, thick door separating the entrances
to the house. I write entrances in the plural because this house is a duplex. Upon opening
this door, there is another door straight ahead, which leads to the owner’s apartment. The
entry door to my apartment is immediately to the left.
Entering my apartment, one must climb a staircase of heavily varnished stairs. The stairs
and floors throughout the apartment are made of wood the color of honey. Along with the
wooden doors, the warmth of the wood adds to the comfortable feeling in the apartment.
At the top of the stairs, straight ahead, is a door leading to the large kitchen and bathroom.
The kitchen and bathroom have high ceilings. The owner took great pride in renovating
this apartment and installed a heated floor in the bathroom. It is a lovely feeling to put feet
down on this floor during the cold winter months.
On the staircase’s landing, to the left, is an area which acts as a buffer between the kitchen
and bathroom area and the rest of the apartment. This area is also used to remove, or put
on, shoes, as there is a cabinet here for storing them. Personally, I use this area to do my
daily exercises. There is little furniture here, and I have plenty of space.
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Through double doors is the living area and bedroom. These two rooms, along with the
buffer area, have slanted ceilings. The living area consists of two sofas, three cabinets
lining the wall on the right, a desk and its accompanying chair, a round, glass topped table
and an area rug, pink in color with a brown floral design.
Along the left side of the living area is a row of four square windows which look out upon
the inner square. These windows are protected with iron bars formed in small squares.
Small blue, pull down shades are installed to cover the windows if desired.
Through the living area is the bedroom. The bedroom consists of a queen sized bed, a
chest of drawers with mirror attached, a cushioned sitting chair and an area rug. There is a
large closet with three sections, each section separated by sliding doors. One of these
doors is mirrored. There are two windows in the bedroom. One is large, spanning almost
the entire length from floor to ceiling. The other is very small, square in shape, and high
up close to the ceiling. Each of the windows has a pull down shade.
The apartment in which I live is my sanctuary. It is clean, cozy and comfortable and I
always look forward to coming ‘home’ to it.
Lesson 7
Ex.1
Sometimes just a smile on your face
Can help to make this world a better place.
Stand up for the things that are right.
Try to talk things out instead of fight.
Lend a hand when you can, get involved this is good.
You can help to make a difference in your neighborhood.
Ex.3
My story takes place in my home town, an old mining community in Pennsylvania. I love
my community and my state, and want my leaders to recognize the environmental
destruction caused by coal mining and the effects on human health. I did a lot of research
into environmental affects of different types of pollutants in our environment including the
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larger scale pollutants such as greenhouse gases, and so I kind of started exploring all
these different things related to climate change.
I kind of stumbled upon the work of James Hanson because I was involved with an online
community through NASA and studied graphs and reports about how much the climate
was changing, and how little was being done about it.
My community gets its energy from coal plants, and residents suffer from the effects of
extraction. Everything I learned led me to want to do something about climate change.
I walk a lot in my small community and once when I was out taking photographs, I noticed
an absurd amount of litter in the water and along the side of the road.
And I kept thinking to myself, it wouldn't take that long to clean this up. Just a small group
of people together could make the entire area better and improve and help our community
as well as the environment. So, I called my friend and we decided to start the "Pollution
Patrol."
From there I went to my township and a borough meeting and presented the idea and
asked if we could be the clean up crew and promote environmental stewardship. We
became the first "Adopt-a-Community" in Westmoreland County.
It’s always worth starting with something small even if you think about serious
environmental improvement.
Lesson 8
Ex. 2
Official Name -Republic of Belarus
President of Belarus - Alexander Lukashenko (1994 - present )
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Total land area of Belarus - 207,600 km²
Population – 9.463,3 million (on 1 January 2013)

Life expectancy at birth – 70.6 years

Population living in cities – 76.3%

The capital is Minsk – 1.900,8 million inhabitants
Regional centres of Belarus (January 2013):

Brest – 321,4 inhabitants

Vitebsk – 360,3 inhabitants

Gomel – 514,9 inhabitants

Grodno – 352,4 inhabitants

Mogilev – 366,8 inhabitants
Ethnicity
Belarusian
83.4%
Russian
8.2%
Polish
3.1%
Ukrainian
1.7%
Jewish
0.13%
LanguagesspokeninBelarus -BelarusianandRussian
NationalholidaysinBelarus: 15 March – ConstitutionDay (15 March marks the day in
1994 when Belarus established its new Constitution: April - Union Day of Belarus and
Russia (This is the official holiday marking the union of the states of Belarus and
Russia;2nd Sunday in May - Day of the National Emblem and Flag of Belarus (This
holiday is dedicated to the main symbols of the country which embody the ideas of
national unity and are the major attributes of sovereignty and independence in Belarus); 9
May - Victory Day (Victory Day commemorates victory in the World War 2 (known as
the Great Patriotic War).During the war, 25 per cent of the population of Belarus died. The
occasion is marked with a large parade in Minsk Victory Square led by war veterans);3
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July - Independence Day (In Belarus, Independence Day is celebrated on 3 July and
marks the liberation of Minsk in 1944 from fascist aggressors. The occasion is marked
with a large military parade in Pobeditilei Avenue. Independence Day demonstrates
the achievements of a sovereign Belarus and reminds the people that by suffering great
loss, they have won the freedom of their country).
Other holidays and memorable dates in Belarus
Holidays:1 January –NewYear;7 January- OrthodoxChristmas;23 FebruaryFatherland Defenders and Armed Forces day of the Republic of Belarus – a day
that pays tribute to servicemen past and present, and recognises all men too;8 March Women’s Day. In modern Belarus 8 March is a celebration of love and respect towards
women;1 May: Labour Day (Worker’s Day) - International Labour Day is one of the
most popular holidays in Belarus. To celebrate there are lots of concerts and public
entertainment and many families celebrate with picnics and barbecues.7 NovemberOctoberRevolutionDay;25 December- CatholicChristmas.
Memorable dates:
Belarus officially established memorable dates to acknowledge victims of great tragedy
and to pay respect to those that died: 9th day after Orthodox Easter: Commemoration
Day (Radonitsa) – on this day, people in Belarus usually visit cemeteries to pay respect
and lay flowers on the tombs of relatives and friends; 26 April- Day of Remembrance of
the Chernobyl tragedy;22 June-Day of Remembrance of the victims of the Great
Patriotic War.
Apart from the official holidays in Belarus there are also popular ancient national
holidays:
6 – 7 July: Kupalle – Celebrated over the entire night of 6 July, this holiday is
accompanied by songs, dances and traditions such as fire-jumping and night swims.
National holidays when all offices are closed:

1 January: NewYear

7 January: OrthodoxChristmas

8 March: Women’sDay

9th day after Orthodox Easter: Radonitsa
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
1 May: LabourDay

9 May: VictoryDay

3 July: IndependenceDay

7 November: OctoberRevolutionDay

25 December: CatholicChristmas
Currency of Belarus
Belarusian rouble (Br)
Main Business Partners of Belarus: Russia, Netherlands, Ukraine, Germany,
Latvia ,China, Poland,Italy, Lithuania, Brazil, Venezuela
Main Industries of Belarus: metallurgical, mechanical engineering, including tractors
and agricultural, cars, machine-tool constructing and tool industry, instrument making,
radio engineering, electro technical, electronic, optics-mechanical industry; and metal
working, chemical and petrochemical, light industry, food industry
Agriculture: specializes in grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beet, flax, meat and dairy
products
Natural resources: wood, peat, small oil and natural gas fields, granite, dolomite
limestone, clay, sand
Number of people in employment
4.6 million (2012)
Internet users: more than 6.8 million