Read the text and answer the questions that follow it.

 

Every nation and every country has its own customs and traditions. Britain is different from our own country. This is natural. In Britain traditions play a more important part in people’s life than in other countries. Englishmen are proud of their traditions and carefully keep them up.

The combination of the words tradition and custom means a usual manner of doing something, a belief of principal, of conduct passed on from generation to generation. Traditions can be subdivided into the traditions dealing with private life, religious holidays, public celebrations, traditional ceremonies and traditional sporting events.

Here are some of the holidays celebrated in Britain during a year.

St. Valentine is the saint of people in love, and St. Valentine's Day is February 14th. On that day, people send Valentine cards and presents to their husbands, wives, boyfriends and girlfriends.

April 1st is April Fool’s Day in Britain. This is a very old tradition from the Middle Ages. At that time the servants were masters for one day of the year. They gave orders to their masters, and their masters had to obey. Now April Fool’s Day is different. It’s a day for jokes and tricks.

October 31st is Halloween; you can expect to meet witches and ghosts that night. Halloween is an old word for “Hallows Evening”, the night before “All Hallows” or “All Saints’ Day”. On that one night of the year, ghosts and witches are free. It’s time for fun. There are always a lot of parties on October 31st. At these parties people wear masks and dress as ghosts and witches. Some people make special Halloween lamps from a pumpkin. They take out the middle of the pumpkin, cut holes for the eyes, nose and mouth and put a candle inside the pumpkin.

There are lots of Christmas and New Year traditions in Britain. For example, it’s Christmas Day. In Britain the most important meal on December 25th is Christmas dinner. A 21st-century British Christmas dinner is a roast turkey with carrots, potatoes, peas, Brussels sprouts and gravy. There are sausages and bacon too. Then, after the turkey, there’s Christmas pudding.

December 26th is Boxing Day. Traditionally boys from the shops in each town asked for money at Christmas. They went from house to house on December 26th and took boxes made of wood with them. At each house people gave them money. This was a Christmas present. So the name of December 26th comes from the boys’ wooden boxes. Now, Boxing Day is an extra holiday after Christmas Day.

 

1. What does the combination of the words tradition and custom mean?

2. What do people do on St. Valentine's Day?

3. What is a 21st-century British Christmas dinner?

4. Who went from house to house on December 26th and took boxes made of wood with them?

5. What does the name of December 26th come from?

 

Give English equivalents to the following word combinations.

 

Обычаи и традиции, отправлять открытку, отдавать приказы, шутки и розыгрыши, умываться росой, майское дерево, ведьмы и привидения, День Всех Святых, вырезать сердцевину тыквы, поставить внутрь свечку, жареная индейка с подливой, деревянные коробки.

 

Make up a summary of the text.

 

Read and translate the text.

 

English Character

Englishmen are naturally polite and are never tired in saying “Thank you”, “I'm sorry”.

Queuing is a national habit and it is considered polite or good manners to wait your turn. They will become very angry, and even rude, if you 'jump' the queue.

The British have a reputation for being conservative; have a strong sense of being different from others. They keep up the left side of the road and use double-deckers. They stick to their own measurement system and continue to measure distances in miles and yards. They buy cheese in pounds and ounces, milk in pints, petrol in gallons.

English people don't like displaying their emotions even in dangerous and tragic situations. 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. They say «An Englishman's house is his castle.» The average British family lives in a semi-detached house with a garden in the south of England. They own their house, which is situated in the suburbs of a large town. The house has three bedrooms. On average they have two children and a pet.

They are rather conservative in many ways. They love familiar things. They keep old traditions.

English people show great love for animals. Pet dogs, cats, hens, canaries and many other animals have a good life in Britain.

The typical Englishman works in a London bank but lives in the countryside, in a house with a lovely garden. Every day he reads the Times and does the crossword on the way to work. He never speaks to anybody on the train, but will talk to you about the weather or cricket if you meet him in the pub at lunchtime. He always wears a dark suit to work and always carries an umbrella. At the weekend, he wears an old tweed jacket and a pair of gardening trousers. He likes plain, simple food and drinks tea at every opportunity. In his free time, he works in his garden, plays golf or takes his dog for a walk. He is suspicious of all foreigners. He is kind and polite to his wife but does not show her a lot of affection. They both admire members of the Royal Family and copy their accents. He is proud of his son, who is at Cambridge University, (but would rather die than tell him). He is rather worried about his daughter, who is currently living with a punk, but hopes that she will eventually marry a doctor or an accountant.

The most popular hobby is gardening and the most popular sports are fishing, football and tennis.