Ex. 13. Develop the ideas of Ex. 4 without looking into the text.

 

Ex. 14. Retell the text using your own plan and expressions from Ex. 5, 6.

 

Ex. 15. Give the gist of the text in three or four sentences.

 

Ex. 16. Role play.

Discuss the role of the Zhou dynasty in a dialogue. One of you argues that the period was unique, another one thinks that it was as typical of China as any other period.

 

Ex. 17 Study the table and comment on it:

to 1500ВС – Neolithic

c. 1500-1050ВС - Shang

1050-771 ВС - Western Zhou

771-221 ВС - Eastern Zhou

770-475 ВС - Spring and autumn period

475-221 ВС-Warring States

221-207 ВС - Qin

206 ВС - AD 9 - Western Han

 

 

VI. WRITING SKILLS

 

Ex. 18. Make sentences of your own using expressions from Ex. 5,6, provide similar historical context.

Ex. 19. Prepare Ex. 12 in writing.

Ex. 20. Look back through the unit and make a list of historical terms.

 

Ex. 21. Let's imagine that you have attended the public lecture of a foreign professor on the Zhou period. Write a short article for your local newspaper on the Zhou period in China's history. Do not forget to mention your impressions.

VIII. TRANSLATION SKILLS

Ex. 22. Translate into Russian:

 

The family has always been at the core of the Chinese understanding of society, its values were imposed on the nation at large. At the top was the emperor, who claimed to be a Son of Heaven. This meant that he was not simply an ordinary person but rather had his origins in a divine plan that made him a companion of the immortals. It was his responsibility, like a father, through elaborate ceremonies and sacrifices, to keep heaven well disposed to the people of the country. Should he fail, the world of the Chinese might well collapse and his commission from heaven be withdrawn.

The emperors commissioned huge tombs for their final resting place. The wife of one emperor was buried with a treasury of 200 bronze vessels and a collection of oracle bones reciting her accomplishments. Servants and slaves were also entombed alive in order to serve their masters in the next life.

Beneath the emperor and the royal family were the nobility scattered throughout the country. The nobles were important because of their inherited wealth in land that was augmented by the rents they charged the peasantry that worked on the lands they owned. Strong class distinctions separated them from the peasantry. The payments the nobles received allowed them to lead lives of leisure, filled with games, sports, and hunting.

In the Chinese family, from peasant to aristocrat, the oldest male enjoyed preeminence. It was his decision to dispose of property, find marriage partners for the children, and guarantee the family honor. The oldest woman was in charge of all the other females, often a large group of daughters-in-law, to whom she assigned their tasks. The most respected of virtues was filial obedience.

 

Ex. 23. Translate into English:

Государство Джоу

 

К концу II тысячелетия до н.э. государство Джоу одержало победу над государством Шань (Инь). Процесс перерастания племенных союзов в царство Джоу - «золотой век» китайской истории.

Начальный этап Чжоуского царства нашел отражение в разнообразных указах, манифестах и декларациях, объединенных в «Великий закон об управлении», где излагаются основы бытия. К ним относятся пять стихий (elements) материальной природы (вода, огонь, земля, дерево, металл). Основы нравственного поведения составляют «пять дел»: как держать себя, как говорить, как видеть, как слышать и как думать.

В эпоху Джоу продолжалось совершенствование техники бронзового литья и городское строительство. В VIII в. до н.э. Западное Джоу распалось на ряд самостоятельных государств, давших название периоду «многоцарствия».

Words to remember

abound v - иметь в большом числе, иметь в изобилии (in, with)

armo(u)r n - доспехи, броня

bend n — излучина реки

flee (fled) v — 1. убегать, спасаться бегством (from; out of; away; to), Syn: escape; 2. искать убежища, пристанища

grapple v — схватиться, сцепиться

heir [еə] n - наследник, преемник, продолжатель (to); immediate ~ — прямой наследник, Syn: successor

launch v — 1. запускать (спутник, ракету и т. п.); 2. начинать (что-л., какие-л. действия); ~ an offensive - предпринять, начать наступление; ~ a campaign - развернуть кампанию, Syn: begin, initiate

luminous a — светящийся

plough [plau] n — плуг (АmE plow )

quarrel n — ссора, перебранка (about, over; with, between); раздоры, спор

priesthood n — 1. священство; 2. священники, служители культа, духовенство, Syn: clergy

sage n - мудрец; Eastern ~s — волхвы, Syn: wise man

scripture n - 1. (Scripture) Библия, Священное писание; (the Holy Scripture), Syn: Holy Writ, Bible; 2. священная книга; 3. письмо (действие), каллиграфия; 4. надпись, Syn: inscription; 5. запись, письменное сочинение, Syn: record

secular a - 1. мирской, земной; 2. светский, нецерковный

spring up (sprang, sprung) phr v — возникать, появляться

Unit X

THE GREEK WORLD

I. PRETEXT EXERCISES

 

Ex. 1. a) Make sure you know how to pronounce the following proper names:

 

b) Sort the words into three groups:

1) place names; 2) personal names; 3) nationality words.

 

Ex. 2. Practice the pronunciation of the following words:

architectural, jewelry, throughout, geometric, characterized, migration, supremacy, unrivalled, to acquire.

 

Ex. 3. Guess the meaning of the following words:

figurines, legendary, prestige, alphabetic, figurative, linear, mainland, epics, archaic, tyrants, city-states, triumph, autocracy, tyranny, oligarch, coexisted.