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

Вид материалаУчебное пособие
Unit vii. scotland – a country or a nation?
Ii. vocabulary focus
Iii. interpretation
Iv. speaking personally
I agree + reason
Avoiding giving an opinion
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UNIT VII. SCOTLAND – A COUNTRY OR A NATION?




I. READING COMPREHENSION

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A. Pre-reading task. Answer the following questions:


1) What are the most popular notions associated with the word ‘Scotland’?

2) Do you know any facts about the history of Scotland?


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


Subsidize –финансировать, дотировать

Overbearing – властный, повелительный

Conquer – завоевывать, покорить

Subject to smth – покориться кому-либо

Dominion – власть

Inherit – унаследовать

Successor – преемник

Suspend – приостановить деятельность

Literate – грамотный

Piety – благочестие

Exuberant – цветущий, полный сил

Thrive – процветать

Venue – место проведения

Estate – поместье, владения

Allow for smth – допускать чего-либо


The English habit of considering Wales and Scotland to be extensions of England is an old one. In the sixteenth century William Shakespeare spoke of England as ‘This royal throne of kings ,this scepter’d isle’, even though much of this isle was not English. Since 1945 here has been a growing dislike in the Celtic countries of the habit of defining the ‘island race’ as English, a growing sense of difference, and a desire to have more control over their own affairs. The English, for their part, have sometimes felt resentful that, as the wealthiest member of the United Kingdom, England subsidises the others.

Scotland has stronger feelings than Wales about its overbearing neighbour, yet it was never conquered by England. But English attacks were so bad that in 1320 the Scottish clergy declared: ‘For as long as even one hundred of us remain alive, we shall never consent to subject ourselves to the dominion of the English’. Scottish nationalism was born. In fact, when the English Queen Elizabeth I died childless in 1603, the Scottish king James VI inherited the English throne. London was politically and economically more powerful than Edinburgh, and he and his successors ruled from London, becoming English. In 1707 England and Scotland were formally united as Great Britain. The government in London insisted on this union for political reasons, and the Scots could not refuse for economic reasons. The Scottish Parliament was suspended, and the new Parliament of Great Britain assembled in Westminster.

After 1707 Scotland kept three distinctive institutions: its own legal and educational systems and its own church, or ‘Kirk’, the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. All three are important symbols of national identity. In part they reflect Scotland’s closer relationship to continental Europe.

The most important of Scotland’s distinctive institutions is the Kirk, which is closely identified with national feeling. This is because of its role in national life since the Reformation in the late sixteenth century. The Kirk at that time insisted that all adults in Scotland should be literate, so as to read the Bible themselves. This laid the foundations for strong educational and democratic traditions. The head of the Kirk, or Moderator, is still elected by the General Assembly each year. The Kirk never allowed he monarch to interfere in the life of the Kirk or to become its head as happened in England. Even in a secular age, the Kirk remains an important focus for national feeling. Approximately 20 per cent of Scots are practicing members of the Church of Scotland.

The image of Scotland as one nation can be misleading. Scotland ‘has no unity except upon the map’ the nineteenth-century Scottish novelist, Robert Stevenson, wrote. ‘Two , languages, many dialects, innumerable forms of piety, and countless local patriotisms and prejudices’, he continued, ‘part us among ourselves more widely than the extreme east and west of that great continent of America’.

Even allowing for some exaggeration, there indeed is a big cultural as well as geographical divide between the Lowlands and Highlands. The Lowlanders are thought of as quiet, moral and hard-working, the Highlanders as exuberant, carefree and unreliable. If there is some truth in this, it is to be seen in another division, that between Scotland’s two great and rival cities, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Edinburgh thrives as Scotland’s capital, as the venue for the world-famous festival, and because it is the most handsome city in Britain. Glasgow, despite its exuberant spirit, struggles with high unemployment, poor health and low morale.

The Highlands, the greater part of Scotland, are now largely deserted. Once the Highlands were stripped of their inhabitants, the great landowners set aside their estates for sport: the hunting of deer. Most great landowners do not live on their estates, and many neither live in Scotland nor are Scottish. The reality of day-to-day life in the Highlands stands in cruel contrast with the tourist picture of jolly kilted Highlanders playing bagpipes .

C. Write questions to go with these answers:


1. ___ 1. It was William Shakespeare who said it.

2. ___ 2. No, it was never conquered by England.

3. ___ 3. It was London that was politically and economically more powerful.

4. ___ 4. In 1707.

5. ___ 5. It assembled in Westminster.

6. ___ 6. Scotland kept its own legal and educational system and its own church.

7. ___ 7. It’s called ‘Kirk’.

8. ___ 8. He is elected by the General Assembly.

9. ___ 9. Approximately 20 per cent.

10. ___ 10. The main divide is between the Lowlands and the Highlands.


II. VOCABULARY FOCUS

.

A.Translate the following word-combination into Russian:


To be stripped of smth; allowing for smth; low morale; distinctive; to have control over smth; resentful; to lay the foundations; an extension; for their part; overbearing neighbour.


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


B. Find the English equivalents in the text:

Волынка; быть опустевшим; преувеличение; беззаботный; высокий уровень безработицы; духовенство; по политическим причинам; взрослое население; вмешиваться во что-либо; бесчисленный.

Think of your own sentences with these expressions.


C. Match the words which collocate with each other:

1. cultural a. feeling

2. high b. spirit

3. national c. unemployment

4. world d. divide

5. exuberant e. famous


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

1. exuberant a. domineering

2. thrive b. defeat

3. overbearing c. energetic

4. conquer d. abandoned

5. deserted e. flourish


E. Match the words having the opposing meaning:

1. overbearing a. decline

2. exuberant b. populated

3. conquer c. unassertive

4. deserted d. succumb

5. thrive e. lifeless


F. Match the words and their meanings:

1) to pay some of the cost of goods or services so that they can be sold to other people at a lower price

a. successor

2) to take control of land or people using soldiers
b. dominion

3) control or the right to rule over smth

c. literate

4) able to read and write
d. to subsidize

5) someone who has an important position after someone else
e. to conquer



G. Translate the following sentences into Russian:


1) The government has said it will no longer subsidize public transport.

2) The tribes were easily conquered by the Persian armies.

3) At that time the island was under foreign dominion.

4) Only 20 per cent of women in the country are literate.

5) He had been widely regarded as a possible successor to Kohl.


H. Insert prepositions where necessary: (in; over; to; on; for; with)

1. the habit ___ 6. ___ some reasons

2. to have control ___ smth 7. to interfere ___ smth

3. to consent ___ smth 8. despite ___ smth

4. to subject oneself ___ smth 9. to allow ___ smth

5. to insist___ smth 10. to be ___ contrast ___ smth


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


Assembled suspended overbearing

Conquered divide inherited

Exaggeration image misleading


1) The ___ of Scotland as one nation can be ___.

2) The Scottish Parliament was ___, and the new Parliament of Great Britain ____ in Westminster.

3) Scotland has stronger feelings than Wales about its ___ neighbour, yet it was never ____ by England.

4) Even allowing for some ___, there indeed is a big cultural as well as geographical ___ between the Lowland and the Highlands.

5) The Scottish King James VI ___ the English throne.


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


1) to suspend

a. to officially stop someone from doing their job a limited time.

b. to hang smth from smth else

c. to decay

2) division

a. one of the parts into which a large organization is divided.

b. a disagreement between people

c. system of voting in the British Parliament


3) focus

a. the thing that people are concentrating on

b. particular attention paid to smth

c. the state of being able to be seen clearly


III. INTERPRETATION


A. Answer the following questions:


1) England has always been a domineering partner in the relations with Scotland. How has it been reflected in different spheres of life?

2) After the reunification of the thrones in 1603 Scotland retained its national identity. How has it been manifested for more than four centuries?

3) Why is it considered that Scotland’s legal and educational systems are closer to continental Europe than England?

4) Why is the Church of Scotland the most important of the country’s distinctive institutions?

5) What makes Edinburgh a thriving city?


B. Paraphrase the following statements and comment on them:


1) Even in a secular age, the Kirk remains an important focus for national feeling.

2) Glasgow, despite its exuberant spirit, struggles with high unemployment, poor health and low morale.

3) The reality of day-to-day life in the Highlands stands in cruel contrast with the tourist picture of jolly kilted Highlanders playing bagpipes.


IV. SPEAKING PERSONALLY


Discuss with your partners the following statement:


The big cultural divide between the Lowlands and the Highlands of Scotland doesn’t contradict the idea of national identity.


Do you agree with it or not?

Use the expressions below:

I agree + reason

That’s right, because

Right!

That’s true, because


I couldn’t agree more. That’s what I think.

I don’t agree + reason

That’s not true

I don’t agree at all

That’s not quite the way I see it

I’m not sure I quite agree

Avoiding giving an opinion

I really don’t know, I’m afraid

I’m not really sure