Form 11
Foreign Philology Class
Task 1. Read the text, translate and prepare 20 questions about the text.
History of Canada
Canada's history is
an exciting story of development of a vast wilderness into a great nation. Most
experts believe that the first people who lived on this land came from Asia
about 15000 years ago. They came over a land bridge that once connected Asia and
North America. Their descendants are known today as Indians. The ancestors of
the Eskimos came to Alaska after them probably about 5000 years ago. In 1497,
John Cabot, an Italian navigator in the service of England, found rich fishing
grounds off Canada's south- east coast. His discovery led to the European
exploration of Canada. France set up a colony in eastern Canada in the early
1600's. Great Britain gained control of the country in 1763, and thousands of
British emigrants came to Canada. In 1867, the French and English-speaking
Canadians helped to create a united colony called the Dominion of Canada. Two
groups worked together to settle the country and to develop its great mineral
deposits and other natural resources. Canada gained its independence from
Britain in 1931. During the middle of 20th century, hard-working Canadians
turned their country into an economic giant. Today Canada is a leading producer
of wheat, oats, and barley, Canada also ranks among the world's top
manufacturing countries, and it is a major producer of electric power. Throughout
its history, Canada has often been troubled by lack of unity among its people.
French Canadians, most of whom live in the province of Quebec, have struggled
to preserve their own culture. They have long been angered by Canadian policies
based on British traditions. Many of them support a movement to make Quebec a
separate nation. People in Canada's nine other provinces also frequently favour
local needs over national interests.
Food and Economy
The other main feature of Canadian food is diversity. The complex ethnic
landscape of Canada and the tendency of ethnic groups to retain a dual cultural
orientation have meant that Canadian cuisine is quite diverse in its content,
with many ethnic dishes seen as somehow quintessentially Canadian as well.
Whether pizza or chow mein, cabbage rolls or plum pudding, Canadian cuisine is
best characterized as eclectic rather than consistent in content. There are a
small number of food items that are considered distinctively Canadian, such as
maple syrup, but overall the Canadian diet is drawn from a panoply of ethnic sources.
Political Life
Government. Canada is a confederation of ten provinces and three
territories, with a central federal government managing national services and
international relations. Each province and, to a lesser extent, each territory has
constitutional sovereignty over at least some aspects of its affairs. Each
level of government is a constitutionally governed democracy, modeled on the
British parliamentary system with representatives chosen in statutorily
scheduled elections. Suffrage is universal for all citizens over the age of
eighteen, except, in some instances, those in prison or citizens living
overseas. Political control at each level of government is determined by the
political party that wins the largest number of representative seats, not by
proportion of popular vote. The election of each representative, however, is
direct and proportional, the winner being the candidate who receives the single
largest percentage of the votes cast.
Leadership and Political Officials.
Leadership is dominated, in
particular at the provincial and national levels, by professionals, often
though not exclusively, lawyers, and most often though not exclusively, men.
These political leaders are selected for election by political parties, and
there is an informal network of control that governs these nominations which
requires service to the political party as part of the process of gaining
access to that party's nomination for election by the citizens. There are no
limits on the number of terms a political leader may serve. In general, these
elected political officials serve two functions: representing the interests of
their constituents at whatever level of government they serve, and advancing
the political interests and the platform of the party that nominated them.
Where these two functions come into conflict, the interests of their political
party most often takes precedence, resulting occasionally in elected government
officials being punished by their political parties.
Leadership and governing is carried out as well, however, by appointed
officials who form a large bureaucracy that implements the decisions of elected
officials. This bureaucracy is mostly drawn from middle-and upper-class,
well-educated sectors of the population, and apart from a small percentage of
appointments at the pleasure of the governing party, their positions in this
system are lifelong if they choose. Access to this bureaucracy is in part
through training and merit and in part through a network of connections outward
from the bureaucracy to the business and higher educational communities. Statutory
prohibitions exist against bribery and other kinds of influence peddling in
dealings with politicians and government officials, although violations do occur
and often result in considerable scandal and criminal sanction.
Marriage. Family and Kinship.
Marriage. Except for some ethnic sectors, marriages are freely chosen by
the two partners. Marriage is restricted to the union of a man and a woman by
statute, although this is currently under review by the country's courts.
Official marriages, officiated by either religious authorities or by municipal
clerks or judges, must be dissolved by the legal procedure of divorce.
A second form of marriage, the de facto or common-law union, gives the
couple almost all the same privileges and obligations as official marriage.
Common-law union is a matter of informal declaration by the partners.
Common-law conjugal recognition has recently been extended to include same-sex
partners. The dissolution of common-law unions or same-sex partnerships
requires no special legal proceedings, although resolution of shared property
rights and support responsibilities arising from the union often require legal
intervention and enforcement. In both cases, the marriage union involves mutuality of financial
support, some degree of joint ownership of property, and joint responsibility
for the care and support of children. Under Canadian law, all marriages must be
monogamous. The de facto or common-law union is considered to be annulled
should either partner take on a new conjugal partnership. Marriages are most often celebrated privately between the two families
involved. There is, however, an interesting rural/urban distinction. Engagement
or marriage celebrations in smaller communities are often community events at
which anyone may attend, usually for a small fee.
Domestic Unit. The most common domestic unit is the nuclear family, made
up of both parents and their children. Almost all newlywed couples start their
own family unit independent of their parents. A demographic shift, which has
seen a slow and steady increase in the number of elderly in Canada, has led to
an increase in the number of domestic units in which one or more elderly
relative can also be present. Increases in rate of divorce since the 1970s has
also meant an increase in the number of single-parent households, most often
headed by women. Authority in domestic units is generally shared by adult members, though
men most often exercise more power in financial and disciplinary matters than
their female partners. Skaters on the frozen Rideau Canal celebrate the Winterlude, a festival
held annually in Canada.
Inheritance radiates outward from the nuclear family to
more distance relatives, with members of the immediate nuclear family taking
precedence. All manner of property, as well as most if not all of a deceased
person's debt, can be inherited. There are no gender differences in what can be
bequeathed and what can be inherited, although in rural communities and areas
there is a tendency for male children to inherit land, while female children
inherit more liquid forms of property. In most instances, spouses take
precedence over children in matters of inheritance. All inheritances can be
contested through legal proceedings.
Kin Groups. Allowing
for some ethnic variation, in general, kinship is a dispersed system of
relatedness in Canada, and while there are general expectations of mutual
support along kin lines, levels of which diminish with kin distance, there are
no formal rules of kinship observance, other than those statutory prohibitions
against marrying close kin, or criminal code provisions regarding incest.
Kinship does not determine residence, though kin networks are often used to
gain access to employment.
Etiquette
The ethnic diversity of Canada means that rules of social propriety are
quite complex. There are certain general expectations. Greeting, except in
formal settings, does not require touching in the form of embraces or
handshakes. Behavior in public should be subdued. Rowdiness and loud speech,
for example, are considered inappropriate except under special circumstances or
in places such as bars or other venues. As a community, Canadians are in
general soft spoken, patient, and almost apologetic in their public behavior.
They are also in general tolerant of the complex network of cultural
differences in public behavior, more so in cities perhaps, where such diversity
is more common place.
Task 2. Make up 30 questions about the text.
Task 3. Write an article to a school journal about Canada. Mention the key facts.
Task 4. Revise the rules of using Participle I, II, Participial Constructions. Make up a grammar card.
Task 5. Open the brackets:
1.
We
have) enough time if we wanted to see the castle?
2.
In
case you (buy) a car, will you teach me
to drive?
3.
If
I (not be) in a hurry, I wouldn't have made so many mistakes.
4.
She
won't finish it on time if she (not
start) right now.
5.
She (get angry) if you had told her.
6.
On
condition that they (support) our
product, they would get a discount.
7.
Even
if I (ask) him, he won't come.
8.
Had
I driven slowly, I (not crash)
9.
It
will be a disaster unless they (help) us.
10. If you (have)
something to eat, you wouldn't have felt sick.
11. I wouldn't risk it if I (be) you.
12. She would get fat if she (not stop) eating.
13.
The
chicken wasn't good. It (taste) better
if you had put some spices on it.
I. Read the following article
on getting fit and mark sentences 1 to 7 T (True) or F (False).
My first piece of advice to people who want to start
getting fit is: don’t buy an exercise bike. Typically, people who buy them use
them for a week or so and then forget about them. They are effective if they
are used regularly but you need to be determined. Most people will find it much
easier to go for a gentle jog around the park. As well as being easy to do,
jogging is also relatively cheap compared to most other sports. You don’t need
to buy expensive clothes if you’re just going running around the park or on the
beach. The main thing is that they’re comfortable, and that they keep you warm
in the winter and cool in the summer. There is one piece of equipment, however,
that you will have to spend time and money on, and that’s your running shoes.
Remember that you are not looking for a fashion item, but for something that
will support your feet and protect you from injury. They can be expensive, but
if they are good quality they will last you a long time. It’s always best to
get expert advice, and the best place for that is a sports shop. As for the
actual jogging, the secret is to start gently, and not to do too much at the
beginning – especially if you haven’t had any exercise for a long time. Try a
mixture of walking and running for ten minutes about three times a week at
first. Once you are happy doing that you can then start to increase the amount
you do gradually. After a few months you should hope to be able to run at a
reasonable speed for twenty minutes three or four times a week. It’s important
that you feel comfortable with whatever you do. If you do, you’ll start to
enjoy it and will probably keep doing it. If it makes you feel uncomfortable,
you’ll probably stop after a short time and return to your bad habits. In any
case, training too hard is not very effective. Research has shown that somebody
who exercises for twice as long or twice as hard as another person doesn’t
automatically become twice as fit.
1) Most people don’t use exercise bikes for very long.
T/F
2) Exercise bikes don’t get you fit. T/F
3) You should keep warm at all times when you are
jogging. T/F
4) Running shoes don’t have to be fashionable. T/F
5) You should start jogging by walking for ten
minutes. T/F
6) You should expect to feel uncomfortable when
jogging. T/F
7) You won’t necessarily be a lot fitter by running
twice as fast. T/F
Немає коментарів:
Дописати коментар