National Days in Britain are not celebrated to the same extent as in France or America. Scotland’s National Day is St. Andrew’s Day (30 November), which has now largely been overshadowed by Burns’ Night. St. David’s Day (1 March) is the National Day of Wales. England’s National Day is St. George’s Day (23 April) which coincides with William Shakespeare’s Birthday. St. Patrick’s Day is an official Bank Holiday in Northern Ireland.
For many English people (with the exception of Scotsmen), Christmas is the favourite holiday. It is celebrated much earlier than in our country, on December, 25. Preparation for the holiday begins weeks before it with sending dozens of cards, buying presents and food, decorating the Christmas tree and the house. On Christmas Eve everything and everybody are in rush. Most offices and public buildings close at one o’clock, but shops stay open late. Railway and bus stations are overcrowded as people travel from all parts of the country to be with their families. Christmas is the most important family holiday. In the homes there is a great air of expectation. Holly and mistletoe are hanging on the wall waiting for the English traditional kissing when a girl standing under these evergreen plants can’t refuse being kissed. Mothers of the family are busy in the kitchen getting ready for the next day’s dinner of turkey, pudding and other tasty things. Before going to bed children may hang Christmas stockings on their beds in hope of getting presents from Santa Claus. Nowadays most children get so many presents that stockings are too small for them and gifts are put under the Christmas tree.
New Year in Britain (with the exception of Scotland) is not celebrated as widely as in our country. Some people may even completely ignore it and go to bed at the usual time without waiting for the clock to strike twelve. Those who do celebrate it may have parties or family get-together, go to the disco, or if they live in London, join in the festive mood of the huge crowds of people in Trafalgar Square or Piccadilly Circus. In Scotland New Year is called Hogmanay and is the most favourite holiday of the year.
Though February is a winter month, many British people start feeling spring on February, 14 when they get Valentine cards and symbolic love gifts. For many centuries St. Valentine’s day has been a good opportunity to openly show your feelings and exchange love-tokens.
Pancake Day is the popular name for Shrove Tuesday, the eve of the Lenten fast. In medieval times all Christians made their compulsory confessions or “shifts” from which the words “Shrove Tuesday” derives. They also took their last opportunity to eat up all the rich food prohibited during Lent. Thus all eggs, butter and fat remaining in the house were made into pancakes. And though you can eat them on any day of the year, they seem to be much tastier on Pancake Day! Some regions in Britain celebrate the day with pancake races during which a pancake should be tossed in the frying pan at least three times.
Easter in Britain is the time of giving and receiving presents which traditionally take the form of Easter eggs and hot cross buns. Nowadays eggs are usually made of chocolate with surprises in them, but the old custom of dying and painting eggs is still kept in some country districts. Other emblems of Easter are fluffy little chicks, the Easter Bunny and spring flowers.
April Fool’s Day is not an official holiday but few people are indifferent to it. Everyone who has a sense of humour likes to play practical jokes on their friends and family neighbours.
Bank Holidays are public holidays called so because the banks as well as most offices and shops are closed. There are winter, spring and summer Bank Holidays.
Another popular holiday in Britain is Guy Fawkes Day, which commemorates the discovery of the so-called Gunpowder Plot, a conspiracy to destroy the English Houses of Parliament and King James on November, 5 1605. It is usually marked with bonfires and dummies of Guy Fawkes.
3.Answer the questions.
1.When are National Days in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland celebrated?
2.Does the date of celebrating Christmas in Britain coincide with that in Ukraine?
3.What are the British people busy with on Christmas Eve?
4.What is the atmosphere in British homes on Christmas Day like?
5.What does the traditional Christmas dinner consist of?
6.In what way do the British celebrate New Year?
7.Which holiday is a good chance to openly show your feelings to your sweetheart?
8.What is pancake race?
9.What are the symbols of Easter?
10.What does Guy Fawkes Day commemorate? What is it marked with?
4.Match the English holiday words and expressions related to them with their Ukrainian equivalents.
| 1) fast 2) Easter 3) nationwide 4) annual 5) Shrove Tuesday 6) feast 7) solemn occasion 8) fireworks 9) gift 10) festivities 11) to celebrate 12) to observe 13) to commemorate 14) to mark | a) óðî÷èñòà ïîä³ÿ b) ñâÿòî, ÷àñòóâàííÿ, áåíêåò c) ôåºðâåðê d) ïîäàðóíîê e) Âåëèêäåíü f) ï³ñò g) ó íàö³îíàëüíîìó ìàñøòàá³ h) ñâÿòêóâàííÿ, âåñåëîù³ i) Æèðíèé ³âòîðîê, “Òåùèí³ Ìëèíö³” j) â³äçíà÷àòè k) óâ³÷íþâàòè l) ñâÿòêóâàòè m) äîäåðæóâàòè, äîòðèìóâàòè n) ùîð³÷íèé |
5.Fill in the gaps in the following text using the words given below.
Holidays
The word “holiday” comes from the _____ “holy days”. Holidays were first religious festivals. Now many holidays have nothing to _____ with religion. Almost every country has holidays honoring important ____ or people in its history. Some holidays are ____ in many countries. Some are observed in just one. Some are celebrated only in one ____ of one country. Some are celebrated by the people of ____ one religion. For example, Halloween always comes on the ____ day of the same month. Many other holidays do, too. But some do not. Easter, for ____ , is a movable holiday. It is ____ on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the beginning of spring. It can be as early as in March and as ____ as in May. Every person has his own private ____ when he is given gifts by his family and friends. It is his ____ .
________________________________
late, events, holiday, words, celebrated (2), birthday, part, only, same, example, do
6.Match the names of the holidays given in the box with their descriptions.
| St. Valentine Day, Guy Fawkes Day, Easter, Shrove Tuesday, Christmas, Mother’s Day |
1.This day commemorates the plot to blow up some government building.
2.It is the annual festival commemorating the birth of the Savior and observed by Orthodox Church on January, 7 and by other Christian churches on December, 25.
3.These are Pre-Lent spring festivities usually accompanied by making and eating pancakes.
4.This holiday gives children their chance to show their love and respect to their mothers.
5.On this day people send special cards to somebody they love and also give them symbolic gifts.
6.This holiday is the chief Christian feast which celebrates the resurrection of Christ and is held on the first Sunday after the first full moon in spring.
7.Speak on the following.
a)What holidays celebrated in Britain are also marked in Ukraine? Do they have the same traditions and rituals? Name at least three differences in celebrating Christmas and Easter.
b)Which holiday in Great Britain would you like to take part in? Why?
READING
Text A. Easter Sunday
1.Remember the following words and word combinations.
capture çàâîþâàòè
vernal âåñíÿíèé
equinox ð³âíîäåííÿ
denomination â³ðîñïîâ³äàííÿ
Good Friday ñòðàñíà ï’ÿòíèöÿ
ressurrect âîñêðåñàòè
settler ïîñåëåíåöü
at dawn íà ñâ³òàíêó
hunt ïîøóêè, øóêàòè
bunny êðîëèê
neighborhood îêîëèöÿ
multiple ÷èñëåííèé
seed äæåðåëî, ïî÷àòîê
dye ôàðáóâàòè
pray ìîëèòèñÿ
mistreat ïîãàíî ïîâîäèòèñÿ
tax ïîäàòîê
blow a loud horn õâàñòàòè
showoff õâàëüêî
praise ïîõâàëà
2.Read and translate the text. Why do a lot of people consider Easter Sunday to be the light holiday?
The meaning of customs observed during Easter Sunday lies in pre-Christian religions and Christianity. All in some way or another are a “salute to spring”, marking rebirth. The white Easter lily has come to capture the glory of the holiday. The word “Easter” is named after Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring. A festival was held in her honor every year at the vernal equinox.
People celebrate the holiday according to their beliefs and their religious denominations. Christians commemorate Good Friday as the day that Jesus Christ died and Easter Sunday as the day that he was resurrected, Protestant settlers brought the custom of a sunrise service, a religious gathering at dawn, to the United States.
Today on Easter Sunday, children wake up to find that the Easter bunny has left them baskets of candies. He has also hidden the eggs that they decorated earlier that week. Children hunt for eggs all around the house. Neighborhoods and organizations hold Easter egg hunts, and the child who finds the most eggs wins a prize.
The Easter Bunny is a rabbit-spirit. Long ago, he was called the “Easter Hare”. Hares and rabbits have frequent multiple births, so they became a symbol of fertility.
The custom of an Easter egg hunt began because children believed that “All life comes from an egg”. Christians consider eggs to be “the seed of life” and so they are symbolic of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Why we dye, or colour, and decorate eggs is not certain. In ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome and Persia eggs were dyed for spring festivals. In medieval Europe, beatifully decorated eggs were given as gifts.