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Тексты для доп. чтения для 1 курса

Text 1.  ENGLISH CHARACTER.

   One of the most striking features of English life is the self-discipline and courtesy of people of all classes. There is little noisy bevaviour, and practically no loud disputing in the street. People do not rush excitedly for seats in buses or trains, but take their seats in queues at bus stops in a quiet and orderly manner.

   Englishmen are naturally polite and are never tired in saying ‘Thank you’, ‘I’m sorry’,  ‘Beg your pardon’. If you follow anyone who is entering a building or a room, he will hold a door open for you. Many foreigners have commented on a remarkable politeness of the English people.

   English people don’t like displaying their emotions even in dangerous and tragic situations, and ordinary people seem to remain good-tempered and cheerful under difficulties.

   The Englishmen does not like any boasting or showing off in manners, dress or speech. Sometimes he conceals his knowledge: a linguist, for example, may not mention his understanding of a foreigner’s language.

   The Englishman prefers his own house to an apartment in a block of flats, because he doesn’t wish his doing to be overlooked by his neighbours. “An Englishman’s house is his castle”.

   Many Englishmen help their wives at home in many ways. They clean the windows on Saturday afternoon, they often wash up the dishes after supper in the evening. Sunday is a very quiet day in London. All the shops are closed, and so are the theatres and most of the cinemas.

   Londoners like to get out of town on Sundays. The sea is not far – only fifty or sixty miles away and people like to go down to the sea in summer or somewhere to the country for sking in winter.

AMERICAN CHARACTER.

   American society seems to be much more informal than the British and, in some ways, in characterized by less social distinction. Students do not rise when a teacher enters the room. One does not always address a person by his title, such as “Major” or “Genrral” or “Doctor” in the case of a holder of a Doctor of Philosophy degree. The respectful “Sir” is not always used in the northern and western parts of the country.

   However, it is best to use a person’s title when first meeting him/her, and then allow the person to tell you how he/she wishes to be called.

   They use first names when calling each other, slap on the back, joke and are much freer in their speech, which is more slangy than the conventional British English. You will often hear the word ‘He’ (a form of greeting among friends) used instead of the usual ‘Hallo’, and ‘Howdy’ instead of “How do you do?”

   Those who don’t easily show these signs of friendship are called ‘snooty’ or ‘snobbish’. In contrast, people who show such simple signs of friendship, particularly to their own economic and social inferiors, are praised as ‘regular guis’, or as ‘truly democratic’. As a description of character, democratic is generally used to signify that a person of nigh social or economic status acts in such a way that his or her inferiors are not reminded of their inferiority.

   Yet, in spite of all the informality, Americans, even in the way they address each other, show consciousness of social distinction. For example, one is likely to use somewhat more formal language when talking to superiors. While the informal ‘Hello’ is an acceptable greeting from employee to employer, the employee is more apt to say ‘Hallo, Mr. Ferguson’, while the employer may reply ‘Hello, Jim’. Southerners make a point of saying ’Yes, sir,’ or ‘No, sir’, when talking to an older person or a person in a position of authority. While this is good form all over the United States, ‘Yes, Mr. Weston’ or ‘No, Mrs. Backer’ is somewhat more common in a similar situation in the North or West.

Text 2. WEATHER IN WASHINGTON.

   The weather in Washington reminds me of winning candidate who promises everything, but you never known just when to expect it all. Sometimes it’s April in January, and March often behaves like December or May.

   Or as Mark Twain found it here: “When you arrived (at the station at night) it was snowing. When you reached the hotel it was sleeting. When you went to bed it was raining. During the night it froze hard and the wind blew some chimneys down. When you got up in the morning, it was foggy. When you finished your breakfast at ten o’clock and went out, the sunshine was brilliant, the weather balmy and delicious, and the mud and slush deep and all-pervading. You will like the climate – when you get used to it.”

   If you care to follow Mark Twain’s advice, take an umbrella, and overcoat, and fan, and go forth. My advise on that to expect, season by season, regarding the weather is: Spring – it’s a wonderful, most attractive, liveliest time of the year. Mild weather usually arrives earlier than it does in most northern cities. (Prepare for possible 27 degrees Centigrade in March), flowers burst into bloom starting with magnolia, then followed by cherry blossoms, azalea and pansies.

  Summer – it can hot, humid, sticky. Man wear tropical outfits. Autumn – the best season except for spring; in some ways the best of all. The climate is dry, mild. If you are driving, the colour in the mountains is beautiful.

   Winter – unpredictable, some years raw, cold, soggy; others shot and mild. You don’t have to bring your umbrella and galoshes, but come prepared to buy them.

Text 3.  ENGLISH MEALS.

   The English usually have 4 meals a day: breakfast, lunch, tea (5 o’clock) and dinner.

Breakfast can be a full “English breakfast” of cornflakes with milk and sugar, or bacon and eggs, toast and marmalade, tea or coffee. Some people, however, have just a cup of tea or coffee with a toast or something similar. This is usually called a “continental breakfast”.

   At midday everything is stopped for lunch. Most offices and small shops are closed for an hour and the city pavements are full of people on their way to cafes, coffee bars, restaurants. Factory workers usually eat in their canteens. The English like what they call “good plain food”. They must be able to recognize what they are eating. Usually they like steak, roast beef. Yorkshire pudding and fish and chips.

   Afternoon tea is taken at about 5 o’clock, but it can hardly be called a meal. It is a cup of tea and cake or biscuits. At the weekends afternoon tea is a special occasion. Friends and visitors are often invited to have a chat over a cup of tea.

   Dinner is the most substantial meal of the day. It is usually eaten at 7 o’clock. The first course may be soup (though the English don’t like it very much). The main course will often be fish or meat, perhaps the traditional roast beef of old England, and a lot of vegetables. The next course will be something sweet and often cooked, such as a fruit pie. Last of all there may be cheese, often with biscuits.

   It is common knowledge