Обычаи и традиции англо-говорящих стран - Иностранные языки - Скачать бесплатно
Some greetings in England are very informal: a simple “good morning” or
a wave of the hand across the street is quite enough. Handshakes are only
exchanged on a first introduction or as a token of agreement or
congratulation. “Sorry” takes the place of “no” when you cannot do
something for a person or give a positive answer in situation like “May I
use your pen?”, “Do you know the time?” or “Have you any size seven
shoes?”. “Pardon” is the polite way of asking somebody to repeat what he
has said.
English people do not readily ask each other to do anything, they
prefer to wait for a service to be offered before asking for it. If they do
ask, then they say something like “I don’t really like asking you, but…”
It is considered polite to give up one’s seat a woman who is standing,
to open door for her, carry things for her, and so on.
Manners in Public
Our manners in public, like our manners in our homes, are based on self-
respect and consideration for other people.
It is really surprising how stingy we are with our “Please” when we ask
anyone to do something for us. We unwillingly part with our “Thank you”, as
if it were the most difficult and costly thing in the world. We don’t stand
aside for others to pass us in the trams, buses or the underground. We
don’t rice to let people pass us to their seats in the theatres or movies.
1.Not to make yourself conspicuous, not to attract unfavourable
attention to yourself or others, here are some of the rules for correct
behaviour in a public place.
2.Not to be conspicuous, don’t wear conspicuous clothes.
3.One should not talk loud or laugh loud.
4.No matter how trying the circumstance, do not give way to anger or
uncontrolled emotion.
5.Never eat anything in the street, or in a public place (restaurants,
buffets and cafes excluded).
6.Do not rudely push your way through crowds.
7.Never stare at people or point at them.
8.Do not ridicule or comment on anyone in public.
9.Reserve “affectionate demonstration” (kissing, embracing, etc.) for
appropriate places.
10.Don’t monopolise the sidewalk, by walking 3 or 4 abreast, or by
stopping in the centre to speak with someone.
When in the street keep to the right.
British institutes
Parliament is the most important authority in Britain. Parliament first
met in the 13th century. Britain does not have a written constitution, but
a set of laws. In 1689 Mary II and William III became the first
constitution monarchs. They could rule only with the support of the
Parliament. Technically Parliament is made up of three parts: the Monarch,
the House of Lords and the House of Commons.
The continuity of the English monarchy has been interrupted only once
during the Cromwell republic. Succession to the throne is hereditary but
only for Protestants in the direct line of descent. Formally the monarch
has a number of roles. The monarch is expected to be politically neutral,
and should not make political decisions. Nevertheless, the monarch still
performs some important executive and legislative duties including opening
and dissolving Parliament, singing bills passed by both Houses and
fulfilling international duties as head of state. The present sovereign is
Queen Elizabeth II who was crowned in Westminster Abbey in 1953.
The House of Lords comprises about 1,200 peers. The house is presided
over by the Lord Chancellor. The House of Lords has no real power but acts
as an advisory council for the House of Commons. As well as having
legislative functions, the Lords is the highest court of appeal.
The House of Commons consist of members of Parliament who are elected
by the adult suffrage of the British people in general elections which are
held at least every five years. The country is divided into 650
constituencies each of which elects one Member of Parliament. The Commons
therefore, has 650 Members of Parliament. The party which wins the most
seats forms the Government and its leader becomes the Prime Minister. The
functions of Commons are registration and security of government
activities. The house is presided over by the Speaker. The government party
sits on the Speaker’s right while on his left sit the members of the
Opposition.
Education in Britain
In England and Wales compulsory school begins at the age of five, but
before that age children can go to a nursery school, also called play
school. School in compulsory till the children are 16 years old.
In Primary School and First School children learn to read and write and
the basis of arithmetic. In the higher classes of Primary School (or in
Middle School) children learn geography, history, religion and, in some
schools, a foreign language. Than children go to Secondary School.
When students are 16 years old they may take an exam in various
subjects on order to have a qualification. These qualifications can be
either G.C.S.E. (General Certificate of Secondary education) or “O level”
(ordinary level). After that students can either leave school and start
working or continue their studies in the same school as before. If they
continue, when they are 18, they have to take further examinations which
are necessary for getting into university or college.
Some parents choose private schools for their children. They are very
expensive but considered to provide a better education and good job
opportunities.
In England there are 47 universities, including the Open University
which teaches via TV and radio, about 400 colleges and institutes of higher
education. The oldest universities in England are Oxford and Cambridge.
Generally, universities award two kinds of degrees: the Bachelor’s degree
and the Master’s degree.
Cambridge
Cambridge is situated at a distance of 70 miles from London; the
greater part of the town lies on the left bank of the river Cam crossed by
several bridges.
Cambridge is one of the loveliest towns of England. It is very green
presenting to a visitor a series of beautiful groupings of architecture,
trees, gardens, lawns and bridges. The main building material is stone
having a pinkish color which adds life and warms to the picture at all
seasons of the year.
The dominating factor in Cambridge is University, a center of education
and learning. Newton, Byron, Darwin, Rutherford and many other scientists
and writers were educated at Cambridge. In Cambridge everything centers on
the university and its Colleges, the eldest of which was founded in 1284.
They are 27 in number. The college is a group of buildings forming a square
with a green lawn in the center. An old tradition does not allow the
students to walk on the grass, this is the privilege of professors and head-
students only. There is another tradition which the students are to follow:
after sunset they are not allowed to go out without wearing a black cap and
a black cloak.
The University trains about 7.000 students. They study for 4 years, 3
teams a year. The long vacation lasts 3 months. They are trained by a
tutor; each tutor has 10-12 students reading under his guidance. There is a
close connection between the University and colleges, through they era
separate in theory and practice.
A college is a place where you live no matter what profession you are
trained for; so that students studying literature and those trained for
physics belong to one and the same college. However the fact is that you
are to be a member of a college in order to be a member of the University.
The students eat their meals in the college dining-hall. At some
colleges there is a curious custom known as “sooncing”. If a should come
late to dinner or not be correctly dressed or if he should break one of the
little unwritten laws of behaviour, then the senior student present may
order him to be “soonced”. The Butler brings in a large silver cup, known
as “sconce cup”, filled with offender, who must drink it in one attempt
without taking the cup from his lips. (It holds two and half pints). If he
succeeds then the senior student pays for it, if not, the cup is passed
round the table at the expense of the student who has been “sconced”. Now
the origin of this custom.
Until 1954, undergraduates (students studying for the first degree)
had to wear cloaks, called gowns, after dark, but now they are only obliged
to wear them for dinner and some lectures. This tradition is disappearing,
but one which is still upheld is that of punting on the Cam. It is a
favorite summer pastime for students to take food, drink, guitars (or,
alas, transistor radios) and girl friends on to a punt (a long, slim boat,
rather like a gondola) and sail down the rive, trying very hard to forget
about exams. Many students feel that they have not been christened into the
University until they have fallen into the River Cam. This has almost
become a tourist attraction.
Students also have an official excuse to “let themselves loose” once a
year (usually in November) on Rag Day*.
On this day, hundreds of different schemes are thought up to collect
money for charity, and it is not unusual to see students in the streets
playing guitars, pianos, violins, singing, dancing, eating fire, fishing in
drains for money, or even just lying in beds suspended over the street
swinging a bucket for money to be thrown into.
On May 21st every year, Eton College and King’s College, Cambridge,
honour the memory of their founder, Henry VI, who died very suddenly, and
was almost certainly murdered, in the Tower of London on that day in 1471.
he is generally supposed to have been killed whilst at prayer in the
Oratory of the Wakefield Tower, and here, on the anniversary, the Ceremony
of the lilies and Roses now takes place. Representatives of both colleges
walk in procession with Beefeaters and the Chaplain of the Tower, and the
short service is conducted by the latter, during which a player composed by
Henry himself is said. A marble tablet in the in the Oratory marks the
place where the King is believed to have died, and on each side of it
flowers are laid - lilies from Eton bound with pale blue silk, and white
roses from King’s College, bound with purple ribbon. They are left there
for twenty-four hours, and then they are burnt.
Transport in Britain
You can reach England either by plane, by train, by car or by ship. The
fastest way is by plane. London has three international airports: Heathrow,
the largest, connected to the city by underground; Gatwick, south of
London, with a frequent train service; Luton, the smallest, used for
charter flights.
If you go to England by train or by car you have to cross the Channel.
There is a frequent service of steamers and ferry-boats which connect the
continent to the south-east of England.
People in Britain drive on the left and generally overtake on right.
The speed limit is 0 miles per hour (50km/h) in towns and cities and 70 mph
(110 km/h) on motorways.
When you are in London you can choose from different means of
transport: bus, train, underground or taxi. The typical bus in London is a
red double-decker. The first London bus started running between Paddington
and the City in 1829. It carried 40 passengers and cost a shilling for six
kms.
The next to arrive were the trains; now there are twelve railway
stations in London. The world’s first underground line was opened between
Baker St. and the City in 1863. Now there are ten underground lines and 273
underground is also called the Tube, because of the circular shape of its
deep tunnels.
British Literature
Great Britain gave the world a lot of talented people. Many famous
writers and poets were born in Great Britain.
One of the best known English playwrights was William Shakespeare. He
draw ideas for his tragedies and comedies from the history of England and
ancient Rome. Many experts consider Shakespeare the greatest writer and the
greatest playwright in England language. William Shakespeare wrote 37 plays
which may be divided into: comedies (such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream),
tragedies (such as Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth) and historical
plays (such as Richard II, Henry V, Julius Caesar, Anthony and Cleopatra).
Robert Burns represents the generation of Romantic writers. In his
poems he described with love and understanding the simple life he knew.
Among his well-known poems are Halloween, The Jolly Beggars, To a Mouse.
George Gordon Lord Byron. His free-spirited lie style combined with his
poetic gift makes him one of the most famous figures of the Romantic Era.
His famous works such as Stanzas to Augusta, The Prisoner of Chillon,
Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Manfred draw readers into the passion, humors
and conviction of a poet whose life and work truly embodied the Romantic
spirit.
Sir Walter Scott wrote the first examples of historical novel; Lewis
Carroll became famous when he published Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Places of Interest in Great Britain
Britain is rich in its historic places which link the present with the
past.
The oldest part of London is Lud Hill, where the city was originated.
About a mile west of it there is Westminster Palace, where the king lived
and the Parliament met, and there is also Westminster Abbey, the coronation
church.
Liverpool, the “city of ships”, is England’s second greatest port
ranking after London. The most interesting sight in the Liverpool is the
docks. They occupy a river frontage of seven miles. The University of
Liverpool, established in 1903, is noted for its school of Tropical
Medicine. And in the music world Liverpool is a well-known name, for it’s
the town of “The Beatles”.
Stratford-on-Avon lies 93 miles north-west of London. Shakespeare was
born here in1564, and here he died in 1616. Cambridge and Oxford
Universities are famous centers of learning.
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument, presumably build by Druids,
members of an order of priests in ancient Britain. Tintagel Castle is King
Arthur’s reputed birthplace. Canterbury is the seat of the Archbishop o
Canterbury, head of the Church of England.
The British Museum is the largest and riches museum in the world. It
was founded in 1753 and contains one of the world’s richest collections of
antiquities. The Egyptian Galleries contain human and animal mummies. Some
parts of Athens’ Parthenon are in the Greek section.
Madam Tussaud’s Museum is an exhibition of hundreds of life-size wax
models of famous people of yesterday and today. The collection was started
by Madam Tussaud, a French modeler in wax, in the 18 century. Here you can
meet Marilyn Monroe, Elton John, Picasso, the Royal family, the Beatles and
many others: writers, movie stars, singers, politicians, sportsmen, etc.
Sports in Great Britain
British people are very fond of sports. Sport is a part of their normal
life. The two most popular games are football and cricket.
Football, also called soccer, is the most popular sport in the United
Kingdom. England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own
Football Leagues and national teams. Games are played on Saturday
afternoons from August to April. In addition to the FL games there is a
competition called the Football Associations Cup. The Cup Final is played
at Wembley Stadium(London) in May.
Cricket is considered to be the English National game. Its rules are
very complicated. Two teams of eleven men each play it, the player at a
time tries to hit ball with a bat.
Golf is the Scottish national game. It originated in the XV century and
the most famous golf course in the world, known as a Royal and Ancient
Club, is at St. Andrew’s.
Lawn tennis was first played in Britain in the late 19th century. The
most famous British championship is Wimbledon, played annually during the
last week of June and the fist week of July.
Those are the most popular kinds of sport in the UK. But there are many
other sports such as rugby, golf, swimming, horse-racing and the
traditional fox-hunting.
Scotland
Scotland is a country in the north of Great Britain. It is a part of
the United Kingdom. Scotland is divided into three natural regions: the
Southern Uplands, the Central Lowlands and the highlands and islands. A lot
of places in Scotland are a natural paradise, still untouched by man.
The capital of Scotland is Edinburgh, well known for its castle.
Glasgow is the industrial capital of Scotland. It us the third largest city
in Great Britain. The typical products of Scotland are timber, whisky,
salmon. Golf is the Scottish natural sport it seems to have originated in
this country.
Scottish Traditions
The thistle is the national emblem of Scotland. This is how, according
to a curious legend, this plant came to be chosen as a badge, in preference
to any other. Many years ago the Vikings once landed somewhere on the east
coast of Scotland. The Scots assembled with their arms and took their
stations behind the River Tay. As they arrived late in the day, weary and
tired after a long march, they pitched their camp and rested, not expecting
the enemy before the next day. The Vikings, however, were near: noticing
that no guards were protecting the camp, they crossed the Tay, intending to
take the Scots by surprise. For this purpose they took off their shoes so
as to make the least possible noise. But one of them stepped on a thistle.
The sudden and sharp pain he felt caused him to shriek. The alarm was given
in the Scots' camp. The Vikings were put to fight, and as an
acknowledgement for the timely and unexpected help from the thistle, the
Scots took it as their national emblem.
The Scottish national costume (Highland dress) includes a kilt worn by
men. For day wear, the kilt is worn with a tweed jacket, plain long socks,
a beret and a leather sporran, that is, a pouch hanging from a narrow belt
round the hips. The Scottish beret - tam-o'-shanter - is a woollen cap
without a brim but with a pompon or a feather on top, traditionally worn
pulled down at one side. It got its name after Tam o' Shanter, the hero of
Burns's poem of that name.
The Clan
The Gaelic word "clan" means "children", and the central idea of a clan
is kinship. Nowadays it refers, as a rule, only to Highland families, in
Scotland. A clan is a family, and theoretically the chief is the father of
it, although not every clansman can be a direct descendant of the founder.
Many people in Scotland today will be surprised to learn that those who
founded the present clans were not themselves always Highlanders, but
included Normans (Gordon, Eraser), Bretons (Stuart), Flemings (Murrey,
Sutherland). Irish (MacNeil), and Norsemen (MacLeod), Mac meaning "son of".
Concerning that early period of their settlement, which was between the
eleventh and fourteenth centuries, we must not be dogmatic on the subject
of nationality; the important point is that all these were "incomers" to
the Highlands.
When the incomers acquired their land they virtually took over a good
many people who were living on it, and who, perhaps, were already formed
into a family or clan unit. Gradually the old clan came to acknowledge the
protection of their new leader, and at last built up a nominal kinship with
him. In course of time intermarriage made it difficult to determine how
far this kinship was nominal and how far real.
Under the patriarchal system of clanship, which reached its peak in the
sixteenth century, order of precedence was strictly observed. First, after
the chief himself, came members of his immediate family, his younger sons
and grandsons, and then the clansmen. All of them, whether connected by
blood or not, owned a common heritage of loyalty as clansmen. In return for
the help and support of his clansmen, the chief was their leader in war and
their arbiter in peace. Even in the early days the king was, in theory at
least, the "chief of chiefs", and as the royal power spread through the
Highlands the chiefs were made responsible for the good conduct of their
clansmen. Among the most famous clans were: Campbell, Fraser, Munro,
Cameron, Stewart, Murray, MacDonald, Maclean and Mackenzie.
The great period of the clans declined by the beginning of the
eighteenth century and the failure of the Jacobite Risings in 1715 and 1745
completed the destruction. But today clan societies flourish in Scotland
and, perhaps more ' bravely, elsewhere in the world. These societies are
acquiring land and property in their respective clan countries, financing
magazines, establishing museums to preserve the relics, founding
educational trusts, and - perhaps above all - keeping alive the family
spirit.
The Tartan
Tartan is and has for centuries been the distinguishing mark of the
Highlander. It has a long history. Evidence can be brought to show that as
long as the thirteenth century, and probably earlier, Highlanders wore
brightly coloured striped or checked tartan plaids, which they called
"breacan". There is some controversy about clan tartans as such.
Traditionalists state the Highlanders wore tartan as a badge so that they
could recognize each other and distinguish friend from foe in battle. Like
many theories, this looks well on paper, but in practice it seems to break
down. Even though the old tartans were simpler than the modern ones, they
could not easily be recognized at a distance.
On the other hand, various descriptions can be quoted to show that, in
the Highlands, the patterns of the tartans were considered important. A
district tartan is a very natural development in a country divided into
small communities. By the sixteenth century the particular patterns of
tartan worn in a district were connected with the predominant local clan.
But the study of the portraits shows that there was no uniformity of tartan
even in the early eighteenth century. Members of the same family are found
wearing very different tartan and, what is more surprising, many of the men
are seen to wear the kilt of one tartan and a Jacket of another. The
history of development of tartan was sharply broken in 1747, when wearing
of Highland dress was forbidden by law after the failure of 1745.
In the early years of the nineteenth century efforts were made to
collect authentic patterns of each clan tartan, but this does not seem to
have been very successful. The fashion for tartan was fostered by the
amazing spectacle of a kilted King George IV at holyrood in 1822, and
demands for clan tartan poured into the manufactures. The wave of
enthusiasm for tartan outstripped the traditional knowledge of the
Highlanders, and it was at this time and in response to popular demand that
a great many of familiar present-day tartans became associated with their
respective clans. Some of the patterns had previously been identified by
numbers only, while some were invented on the spot, as variations of the
old traditional patterns.
The term "Highland dress'' has not always meant the same thing. In the
seventeenth century the ki1t was not worn. Clansmen wrapped themselves in a
generous length of tartan cloth some sixteen feet wide. The upper portion
covered the wearer's shoulders, and it was belted at the waist, the lower
portion hanging in rough folds to the knees. In the eighteenth century,
this belted plaid was superseded by the kilt. Modern Highland dress
consists of a day-time kilt of heavy material, sometimes in a darker
tartan, worn with a tweed jacket, while for the evening finer material,
possibly in a brighter "dress" tartan, can be matched with a variety of
accessories.
Food and Drink
What sort of food has Scotland to offer the stranger? Scotland produces
a number of dishes: Scots collops - a savoury dish popularly known as
"mince", small mutton pies which must be served piping hot and the immortal
haggis. And no country has a greater variety of puddings and pies, creams,
jellies, and trifles.
The excellence of Scottish soups has been attributed to the early and
long connection between Scotland and France, but there are some genuine
soups, such as Barley Broth, Powsowdie or Sheep’s Head Broth. Hotch Potch
or Harvest Broth. Baud Bree (Hare Soup) is flavoured with toasted oatmeal
and Cullen Skink is made with a smoked haddock.
Plenty of ingenuity is shown, too, in the preparation of both oatmeal
and milk. Porridge, properly made with home-milled meal and fresh spring
water, and served with thin cream or rick milk, is food for the gods.
Lastly there is the national oatcake, which is described as “a masterpiece”
by the French gastronomes.
As a nation the Scots are definitely better bakers than cooks. To beat
the best Edinburgh bakers one must go, it is said, all the way to Vienna.
There is an endless variety of bannocks and scones: soda scones, made with
buttermilk, girdle scones, potato scones, without which no Glasgow Sunday
breakfast is complete. Also the pancakes, the crumpets, the shortbread that
melts in the mouth, buns of every size and shape! They are on offer in
every bakery.
The Scottish housewife likes to buy her meat fresh and sees that she
gets it. She likes the meat off the bone and rolled, as in France, and the
Scottish butcher is an artist at his trade. Most of the cuts are different
from England and have different names. Sirloin, one would understand, but
what is Nine Holes? Steak is steak in any language, but what is Pope's
eye?
And then the puddings! The black puddings, the white puddings, the
mealy puddings. And king of puddings, the haggis! I once asked a Scot:
"What's in a haggis?" His answer was: "I know. But I know no reason why you
should. All you need to know is that it should be served with mashed
potatoes and bashed neeps (turnips), and you must drink whisky with it. You
will discover that the oatmeal in the haggis absorbs the whisky, and so you
can drink more of it. What else do you need to know?" "A recipe of
haggis", was my answer. "Hell, well, here you are", said my friend: B
ounces of sheep's liver, 4 ounces of beef suet (fat), salt and pepper, 2
onions, 1 cup of oatmeal. Boil the liver and onions in water for 40
minutes. Drain, and keep the liquid. Mince the liver finely, and chop the
onions with the suet. Lightly toast the oatmeal. Combine all the
ingredients, and moisten the mixture with the liquid in which the liver and
onions were boiled. Turn into a sheep's stomach, cover with grease-proof
paper and steam for 2 hours.
Although the Scots are not a nation of beer-drinkers in the sense that
the English are, some of the best beers in the world are brewed in the
Lowlands of Scotland. But however good Scots beer and ale are, it is
universally known that the glory of the country is whisky. Scotch whisky
was a by-product of traditional Scottish thrift. Frugal Scots farmers,
rather than waste their surplus barley, mashed, fermented and distilled it,
producing a drink at first called uisge beatha, Gaelic for "water of life",
and now simply called whisky. No one knows when the Scots learnt the art of
distilling, though it may have been before they arrived from Ireland in the
fifth century AD, for in Irish legend St Patrick taught the art. The first
mention in Scottish records of a spirit distilled from grain does not occur
before 1494.
Today there are two kinds of Scotch whisky - the original malt whisky,
made by the centuries-old pot-still process from barley that has been
"mailed" or soaked and left to germinate; and grain whisky, made from maize
as well as matted and unmalted barley. Most of the well-known brands of
Scotch whisky are blends of many different grain and malt whiskies. The
technique of blending was pioneered in Edinburgh in the 1860s, and a taste
for the new, milder blended whiskies quickly spread to England and then to
the rest of the world.
Barley is the raw material of the malt whisky distiller. The first
process in making whisky is mailing - turning barley into malt. Mailing
begins when the distiller takes delivery of the barley, usually in
September or October, soon after it has been harvested. The barley is in
grain form, and must be ripe and dry, otherwise it may turn mouldy and make
properly controlled mailing impossible. The barley is cleaned, weighed and
soaked for two or three days in tanks of water. Then it is spread on the
malting floor, where it germinates for 8-12 days, secreting an enzyme which
makes the starch in barley soluble and prepares it turning into sugar. The
barley is regularly turned over to control its temperature and rate of
germination. The warm, damp, sweet-smelling barley is passed to the kiln
for drying, which stops germination. It is spread on a base of perforated
iron and dried in the heat of a peat fire. Distillery kilns have
distinctive pagoda-shaped heads. An open ventilator at the top draws hot
air from the peat fire through the barley. This gives it a smoky flavour,
which is passed on to the whisky. The barley has now become malt - dry,
crisp, peat-flavored, different from the original barley in all but
appearance. It is ready for the next stage in the process - mashing. It is
stored in bins and then it is weighed to ensure that the right amount of
malt is passed to the mill below, where it is ground. The ground malt,
called grist, is carried up to the grist hopper and fed in measured
quantities into the mash tun. There the grist is mixed with hot water and
left to infuse. This extracts the sugar content from the malt. The sugary
water, called wort, is then drawn off through the bottom of the mash tun.
This process is repeated three times, and each time the water is at a
different temperature.
For centuries, Scotch whisky has been made from mailed barley mixed
with yeast and water, then heated in pear-shaped containers called pot
stills. The early Highland farmers who distilled their own whisky heated
their pot stills in huge copper kettles over a peat fire. Smoke from the
peat added to the whisky's flavour. Big modern distillers use basically the
same technique. The vapor
|
