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Е. В. Захарова язык и культура великобритании в условиях европейской интеграции предисловие данное учебное пособие

Вид материалаУчебное пособие
Unit iii.. modern society - cohesion and fragmentation
Ii. vocabulary focus
Iii .interpretation
Iv. speaking personally
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UNIT III.. MODERN SOCIETY - COHESION AND FRAGMENTATION



I.. READING COMPREHENSION
  1. Pre-reading task. Answer the following questions:



  1. Can you think of any major changes in life-style and attitudes in recent times?
  2. What are they connected with?



  1. Now read and translate the text. You can make use of the words and expressions given below:

Cohesion - сплоченность, согласие

Fragmentation - раздробленность, разобщенность

Affluence – изобилие, богатство

Ramifications – последствия

Endeavour – попытка, усилия, старания

Gender- род, пол

Witness – быть свидетелем

Emergence – возникновение

Earnings – заработок

Plentiful – обильный, богатый

Onset – начало

Consumer – потребитель

Adulation – низкопоклонство

Icon – икона, символ

Rebellious – бунтующий, непокорный

String – вереница, ряд

Authorities – власти

Flowering – процветание

swinging – полный жизни, замечательный, современный

leisure - досуг

hostile – враждебность

environmental – связанный с проблемой окружающей среды

acute – резкий, острый

permeate – проникать, просачиваться, пропитывать

mainstream – основное направление, тенденция

access – доступ

embark on smth – браться за что-либо; предпринимать

mature – зрелый

benefit – оказывать благотворное воздействие

reject – отвергать

conventional – обычный

child rearing – выращивание детей

agenda – повестка дня, программа

domain – область, сфера, поле деятельности


It is hard to identify the forces capable of holding the country together in the long term. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, British attitudes towards the rest of the world are still shaped. Most of the competing social identities described below have manifested themselves in other Western countries, and probably the nearest thing to a common denominator is the spread of affluence, with all its ramifications. At one level, affluence has obviously tended to promote the atomization of society, elevating the fulfillment by individuals of their needs and wants to the point where this seems to be regarded as the primary purpose of human endeavour. Enlarged incomes, personal transportation by means of the motor car, impersonal shopping by means of the supermarket (or Internet), home ownership (preferably away from city centres), and domestic technology such as televisions and computers for entertainment, have all helped to create a society founded on the desire for privacy. Individuals and families are nowadays more likely to lead somewhat isolated, self-contained existences,in which communal action has less of a part to play. But affluence has also helped to fragment society into groups, deriving their identities from considerations of age, gender or ethnicity, rather than from nationality.

The 1950’s witnessed the emergence of a distinct ‘youth culture’, made possible by the earnings and plentiful employment opportunities which accompanied the onset of affluence. For the first time , teenagers were recognized as a separate consumer group with their own interests and tastes, expressed in the dramatic rise of rock and roll and other styles of popular music, the adulation of film icons and the desire to dress fashionably in jeans. Often, teenagers’ demand for personal freedom led them to adopt rebellious attitudes towards their parents and the authorities. The full flowering of British youth culture appeared in the 1960s, when, London was the swinging place to be and Liverpool produced a string of successful pop groups, including The Beatles. Ironically, a phenomenon that owed so much of its existence to the commercialization of leisure contained within it elements hostile to capitalist values. This was instanced by the idealism of the ‘hippies’ in the late 1960s, and in more recent times, by campaigns over environmental issues. There has always been a tendency for youth culture to divide into sub-cultures, connected with a particular style of dress or allegiance to a particular style of music. It is now taken for granted that acute generation tensions will be found in society, and, while the culture of one generation permeates the mainstream as that generation grows older, so another comes along to take up youth’s self-appointed task of upsetting its elders.

For increasing numbers of women since the 1970s, an emphasis on gender has suggested a more meaningful category than any other for defining themselves in relation to society. This is a remarkable illustration of the way that a form of social identity that obviously has always existed can quite suddenly take on a new political significance. Again, it is due in no small part to the spread of affluence that many women have been able to widen their personal horizons. Improved educational provision, especially easier access to places at universities, has produced cohorts of well-qualified young women ambitious to enter professions like medicine, the law and teaching,or to embark on careers in business and management generally. In a ‘mature’ economy requiring more people to work in offices, service industries and light manufacturing, and relying far less on heavy manual labour, new employment opportunities are available where women can compete on equal terms with men. Post-war advances in nutrition and medical care have benefited women’s health generally, while the introduction of the contraceptive pill in the early 1960’s , together with the legalization of abortion in 1967, have allowed women to take greater control of their reproductive function. With dramatically heightened expectations of what life can offer women, many have rejected the conventional path towards marriage, housewifery and child rearing, and sought instead to renegotiate their relationships with men or even avoid them entirely. As part of this process, an organized feminist movement has emerged pushing a broad agenda of specifically ‘women’s issues’ into the public domain, such as equal pay, marital and divorce entitlements, childcare provision for working mothers, and attitudes towards rape and domestic violence.


C. Write 10 questions giving an outline of the text:

1. ___________________

2.__________________

3._____________________

4._____________________

5._____________________

6.______________________

7._____________________

8.________________________

9._______________________

10.______________________


II. VOCABULARY FOCUS


A.. Translate the following word-combinations into Russian:


To take on a new significance; to enter professions; educational provision; service industries; light manufacturing; childcare provision; desire for privacy; marital and divorce entitlements; employment opportunities; capitalist values.

In which situations are they given in the text? Reproduce them.


B.Find the English equivalents in the text:


Насилие в семье; феминистское движение; по отношению к обществу; на равных правах с кем-либо; полагаться на что-либо; ручной труд; послевоенный; равная оплата труда; проявить себя; возросшие доходы.

Think of your own sentences with these expressions


C. Match the words which collocate with each other:

1. youth a. icons

2. employment b. culture

3. film c. endeavour

4. human d. labour

5. manual e. opportunities


D. Match the following words which are close in their meaning:

1. meaningful a. ameliorated

2. conventional b. blooming

3. improved c. prosperity

4. flowering d. relevant

5. affluence e. typical


E. Match the words having the opposing meaning:

1. flowering a. insignificant

2. improved b. destitution

3. meaningful c. unusual

4. conventional d. fading

5. affluence e. worsened


F. Match the words and their definitions:

1) an effort to do smth, especially smth new or difficult

a. icon

2) someone who buys and uses goods and services

b. mainstream

3) someone who is very famous and who people think represents a particular idea

c. endeavour

4) to start a new project or activity, usually one that will be difficult and take time

d. consumer

5) ideas, methods, or people that are considered ordinary or normal and accepted by most people

e. embark



G. Translate the following sentences into Russian:


1) The business was built up largely through the endeavour of his father

2) He has always shown a shrewd understanding of what consumers want

3) He was one of the best-known pope icons of the 1980s

4) After leaving college, she embarked on an acting career

5) Many feminist ideas have entered the mainstream


H. Insert prepositions where necessary (towards; on; to; at; for)


1. __ the beginning 6 to owe ___ smth

2. to be founded __ smth 7. hostile ___ smth

3. desire ___ smth 8. a tendency ___ smth

4. demands ___ smth 9. allegiance ___ smth

5. attitudes ___ smth 10. to take ___ granted

11. to embark ___ smb

12. access ___ smth


I. Complete the sentences using the words in the box:

Consumer group embark emergence

Educational provision ambitious teenagers

Well-qualified witnessed access

Feminist emerged agenda



1) The 1950s ___ the ___ of a distinct ‘youth culture’.

2) For the first time, ___ were recognized as a separate ___ with their own interests and tastes.

3) Improved ___ , especially readier ___ to places at universities, has produced cohorts of ___ young women ___ to enter professions like medicine, the law and teaching, or to ___ on careers in business and management generally.

4) An organized ___ movement has ___ pushing a broad ___ of specifically ‘women’s issues’.


J. In which meanings are the following words used in the text:


1) to witness

a. to see smth happen

b. to watch smb sign an official document, and then sign it yourself to state that you have watched them

c. to tell people about your strong Christian beliefs.


2) a string

a. thin rope, usually made of twisted fibers and used for tying things together

b. a group of similar or connected things

c. one of several long pieces of nylon, wire or another substance stretched across a musical instrument and used for producing sounds.


III .INTERPRETATION


A. Answer the questions:

1) What ramifications of the spread of affluence in Western countries can you name?

2) What made possible the emergence of a distinct ‘youth culture’ in the 1950s?

3) What do you think are the most characteristic features of youth culture?

4) What is meant by the phrase that in the 1960s London was the swinging place to be?

5) What new opportunities for women have recently come along? How did they make use of them? Were ramifications mostly positive or negative?


B. Paraphrase and explain the following statements. Comment on them


1) Affluence has obviously tended to promote the atomization of society, elevating the fulfillment by individuals of their needs and wants to the point where this seems to be regarded as the primary purpose of human endeavour.

2) Affluence has also helped to fragment society into groups, deriving their identities from considerations of age, gender or ethnicity, rather than from nationality.

3) It is now taken for granted that acute generation tensions will be found in society, and, while the culture of one generation permeates the mainstream as that generation grows older, so another comes along to take up youth’s self-appointed task of upsetting its elders.


IV. SPEAKING PERSONALLY


Discuss with your partners advantages and disadvantages of recent social changes in society.

The following phrases can help you to avoid sounding domineering or even pushy:

It looks like ___ because ___

It seems to me that its ____ because_____

I don’t think it’s ____ because ______

It could either be ____ or ____

I think this comes from _____ because __________