Do you know the parts of a newspaper? What information can you find on the following pages?

Letters page, obituary, reviews, business, TV listings, features, appointments, comment and analysis, oversees news, leisure.

5. Complete the text. Use the words given to form new words that fit the gaps:

Fleet Street is a street in the centre of London, ¹ named (name) after the Fleet River which used to run nearby. It is also synonymous with the ²______ (England) press because of its ³______ (history) links with newspapers.

The first printer in Fleet Street was called Wynkin de Worde, and opened his shop in 1500. Soon, the area became well known for the printing of books and pamphlets and during the 1700s, the first ⁴_____ (day) newspapers appeared. By the middle of the 20th century, almost every major newspaper in England had its head office in Fleet Street. It was the perfect ⁵_____ (locate) for gathering news: close to the City, the ⁶ ____(finance) centre of London; the Old Bailey, which is the main ⁷______ (crime) court, and the Palace of Westminster (the British parliament). There were also plenty of pubs and restaurants on Fleet Street where journalists would spend hours interviewing their 'contacts' while enjoying large quantities of ⁸_____ (expense) food and drink which their employers paid for!

During the 1980s, it became clear that technology was changing the way newspapers were produced and that new premises were needed. The Times and Тhe Sun, both owned by Rupert Murdoch, were the first to move away from ⁹_____ (centre) London to the eastern edge of the capital. Gradually, all the other papers followed. Printing became ¹⁰_____ (computer). Journalists began spending more time on their mobile phones and less time on their ¹¹ _____ (prolong) business lunches. But many older journalists are still unhappy about the changes. One of them, a gossip columnist called Peter McKay, wrote in The Independent in 2005: 'Fleet Street was a seething mass of printers, advertisers and journalists, drinking and punching each other every night, all night. People ¹²_____(literal) never went home: there was a Turkish bath we went to for a shave in the morning... Nowadays we sit in the far corners of London, like battery hens at computer terminals, pecking out our stuff and never meeting one another.'

 

6. Read the text and discuss the importance of being politically correct in the contemporary society:

FOR the liberal parent concerned about his/her offspring being corrupted in the nursery, here is a politically corrected ver­sion of one fairytale.

THERE once was a young person named Little Red Riding Hood who lived on the edge of a forest full of endangered owls and rare plants that would proba­bly provide a cure for can­cer if only someone took the time to study them. Red Riding Hood lived with a nurture giver whom she sometimes referred to as 'mother', although she didn't mean to imply by this term that she would have thought less of the person if a close biological link did not in fact exist.

One day her mother asked her to take a basket of organically grown fruit and mineral water across the forest to her ill grand­mother's house.

'But mother, aren't you oppressing me by ordering me to do this?' Red Riding Hood's mother pointed out that it was impossible for women to oppress each other, since all women were equally oppressed until all women were free.

Many people believed that the forest was a fore­boding and dangerous place, full of thieves and deviants, but Red Riding Hood felt that in a truly classless society all mar­ginalised peoples would be able to 'come out' of the woods and be accepted as valid lifestyle role models.

When she was in the woods, Red Riding Hood.was startled to find herself standing before a wolf, who said, 'You know, my dear, it isn't safe for a lit­tle girl to walk through these woods alone.' Red Riding Hood said, 'I find your sexist remark offensive in the extreme, but f will ignore it because of your traditional status as an outcast from society, the stress of which has caused you to develop an alternative and yet entirely valid worldview. Now, if you will excuse me, I would prefer to be on my way.'

But the wolf burst into the house and ate grandma, a course of action affirmative of his nature as a predator. Then, unhampered by rigid, traditionalist gender role notions, he put on grandma's nightclothes, crawled under the bed­clothes and awaited devel­opments. When Red Riding Hood entered the cottage the wolf leaped out of bed, grabbed Little Red Riding Hood, and opened his jaws so wide that she could see her grand­mother cowering in" his belly.

'Aren't you forgetting something?' Red Riding Hood bravely shouted. 'You must request my permission before pro­ceeding to a new level of intimacy!'

Suddenly a forester burst into the cottage, brandishing an axe. 'Get your hands off that endan­gered species! This is an FBI sting!' he screamed and sliced off Red Riding Hood's head.

7. Read the text and decide which answer (А, В, С or D) best completes each collocation or fixed phrase:

After more than fifty years of television, it might seem only too obvious to conclude that it is (1) ____ to stay. There have been many objections to it during this time, of course, and on a variety of grounds. Did it cause eye-strain? Was the screen bombarding us with radioactivity? Did the advertisements contain subliminal (2)____, persuading us to buy more or vote Republican? Did children turn to violence through watching it, either because so many programmes taught them how to shoot, rob, and kill, or because they had to do something to (3)____ the hours they had spent (4) ____to the tiny screen? Or did it simply create a vast passive audience, drugged by glamorous serials and inane situation comedies? On the other hand, did it increase anxiety by (5) ____ the news and (6) ____ our living rooms with war, famine and political unrest?

 

1) a around        b there                 c ready                d here

2) a information b messages          c data                               d communications

3) a counteract  b negate               c offset                d compensate

4) a attached      b fixed                 c glued                  d adhered

5) a scandalizing b hyping              c dramatizing     d sensationalizing

6) a filling          b loading             c stuffing             d packing

 

8. Explain in English the meanings of the following words:

Channel, chat show, quiz show, game show, cartoon, sitcom, soap opera, news reel, weather forecast, documentary, serial, host, guest, viewer.

 

9. Translate the text into English:

Столько бы не разоблачали телевидение, не раскрывали секреты иллюзий, вера в иллюзорный придуманный мир пересилит все попытки самых изощренных критиков. Хотят они того или нет, но своими возгласами негодования или призывами выключить телевизор, они только стимулируют интерес аудитории. Споры о дурном влиянии телевидения вертятся вокруг опасных образцов поведения, которые зритель усваивает, просматривая криминальные хроники, скандальные ток-шоу, откровенные выпуски новостей, а также боевики и мультфильмы для идиотов. Но с одинаковым успехом усваиваются не только плохие, но и хорошие модели поведения. Работает механизм идентификации с героями программ. Если зритель чувствует сходство, он с внутренним энтузиазмом «проживает» с таким персонажем его жизнь, и потом может подражать ему в реальности. Иногда сам того не подозревая.

Телевидение навязывает нам не только сценарии поведения, но и сценарии переживания. У экранных героев мы учимся плакать, смеяться и негодовать в определенных ситуациях. И телевизионные режиссеры умело выдавливают из нас слезу или доводят до коликов своими юмористическими программами. Там, где положено смеяться: пауза, подложенный смех, усиление сцены. Там где плакать: меланхолическая музыка, слезы на глазах актера, пауза для усиления, нарастание эмоций, синхронное усиление звука. Или: герой выхватывает пистолет и стреляет каждый раз, когда ему кажется, что его обижают. А потом у нас появляются мальчики, которые убивают по 37 человек в год. Конечно, телевидение не мотивирует, в этом смысле оно ни в чем не виновато. Но оно подсказывает ответы на вопросы, которые висят в воздухе. Оно создает атмосферу благоприятствования, «легализует», дает отмашку на воплощение самых страшных планов и фантазий.

Проблемные персонажи создают дополнительную мотивацию к жизни. Если нарушить нормальное положение вещей, человек начинает негодовать, возмущаться, плакать, жаловаться, то есть возбуждаться, отклоняться от состояния абсолютного покоя. А значит жить. Телевидение и создает непрерывный поток новых стимуляций для тех, кому их не хватает в жизни. И заставляет обывателя хоть о чем-то думать, тревожиться, смеяться.

И все-таки телевизор надоедает. Социологические службы фиксируют устойчивое падение рейтингов. Почему телевизор стали меньше смотреть? Чего хочет зритель, уже достаточно раскормленный и прихотливый, не скажет с уверенностью ни один продюсер, ни один телевизионный аналитик. Почему взрослые женщины смотрят молодежные реалити-шоу, футбол, а молодые мужчины стали смотреть мексиканские сериалы? Куда сваливают зрители в самый что ни на есть предпраздничный период, канун Нового года? Каналы выкладывают свои лучшие проекты, а показывать их некому. Гипотеза, хоть и ироническая такова: настоящую конкуренцию телевидению составляет шопинг. Женщиныэлементарно ушли по магазинам.Мужчины — за женщинами. Теперь они тоже ходят по магазинам. Хотя бы для того, чтобы проконтролировать семейный бюджет. А дети сбежали на улицу, пока родителей нет дома.

 

10. Group discussions and role-play:

1. You are invited to broadcast for three minutes on any topic you choose. What would you say?

2. You are a TV reporter/ journalist. You are interviewing: a popular sportsman, a writer, a politician, a president of a country, a film star.

3. Discuss what kinds of newspapers you mostly read. Do you prefer reading printed newspapers or finding information in the Internet?

 

11. Writing:

Write an essay (200 -250 words) on the topics:

1. Violence on TV and in movies creates violence in real life.

2. There should be government censorship of mass media.

 

 

UNIT 5

RELIGION

1. Read and translate Text 1:

The Russian Orthodox Church

The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) has a thousand-year history of strong political as well as spiritual influence over the inhabitants of the Russian state. After enduring the Soviet era as a state-controlled religious facade, the church quickly regained both membership and political influence in the early 1990s.

The term “Orthodox” translates from the Greek to mean “correctly believing” and was adopted by the Church in order to distinguish itself from what was becoming a larger and larger body of non-orthodox Christian denominations. The Russian Orthodox Church is a body of Christians who constitute an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church under the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Moscow, in communion with the other Eastern Orthodox Churches.

The Russian Orthodox Church is autonomous, or self-governing. The highest church official is the patriarch. Matters relating to faith are decided by ecumenical councils in which all member churches of Eastern Orthodoxy participate.

The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world and second only to the Roman Catholic Church among Christian churches, numbering over 135 million members world wide and growing numerically since late 1980s. Up to 65% of ethnic Russians and a significant number of Belarusians and Ukrainians identify themselves as "Orthodox".

Orthodox belief holds that the Orthodox Church is Christianity's true, holy, and apostolic church, tracing its origin directly to the institution established by Jesus Christ. Orthodox beliefs are based on the Bible and its traditions.

Orthodox teachings include the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and the inseparable but distinguishable union of the two natures of Jesus Christ--one divine, the other human. Among saints, Mary has a special place as the Mother of God. Icons, sacred images often illuminated by candles, adorn the churches as well as the homes of most Orthodox faithful.

The Russian Orthodox Church traces its origins to the time of Kievan Rus'. In 988 Prince Vladimir made the Byzantine variant of Christianity the state religion of Russia. The Russian church was subordinate to the patriarch of Constantinople, seat of the Byzantine Empire. The original seat of the metropolitan, as the head of the church was known, was Kiev. As power moved from Kiev to Moscow in the fourteenth century, the seat moved as well, establishing the tradition that the metropolitan of Moscow is the head of the church.

In 1448, the Russian Church became independent from the Patriarchate of Constantinople. After the Constantinopol`s fall the Russian Orthodox Church saw Moscow as the Third Rome, legitimate successor to Constantinople, and the Primate of Moscow as head of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The conflict named ‘raskol’ erupted in the 1650s when reformist clergy attempted to modify liturgical texts and ritual practices. At issue was the model for such changes: Reformers advocated Greek models, but opponents deemed the Orthodoxy of the Third Rome inviolable and any change tantamount to apostasy. The result was a split between the official church, supported by the state, and an underground of disaffected clergy, self-described as "Old Believers."

The eighteenth century brought still more profound change. Driven by the needs of war and inspired by Western models, Peter the Great restricted the church's role in secular affairs, and in 1721 replaced the patriarchate with a more tractable Synod, staffed by secular officials, to administer and control the church. As a result, the church's moral authority declined in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The Soviet era brought the church to a disaster. New ideology abolished the religion. By 1921 the church as an institution had virtually disappeared; it existed only as individual parish churches registered by committees of laity. The most of churches were closed; vast numbers of believer-activists, not just clergy, were arrested, church valuables were confiscated. Although the exigencies of World War II forced some concessions (including election of a new patriarch in 1943 and an increase in churches, although mainly in Ukraine), the postwar regime gradually returned to its antireligious policies.

During the mid-1980s the church experienced recovery. The breakup of the USSR in 1991 changed this situation. Since 1991 the church has greatly expanded the number of parishes, monasteries, and seminaries.

Although the church faced stiff competition from other faiths (especially the proselytizing sects), it rebuilt its institutional structure and carved out a salient role in Russian post-communist life and culture.

 

 2. Give English equivalents to the following words and expressions:

Духовное и политическое влияние; святая Троица; законный наследник; духовенство; раскол; глубокие изменения; вдохновлять; Ограничить роль церкви в светских делах; упразднять/запрещать; распад СССР; расширять количество приходов; сталкиваться с жестокой конкуренцией.

 

3. Fill in the gaps:

ascended  apostles    blasphemy brotherhood Christian  uprising

condemned creatures  crucified   dead          deliverer   Resurrection

disciples   doctrines  Easter        followers  heaven      religion

humility    leaders      preaching prophets   God

Christianity

Jesus Christ founded the Christian ….. He began His teaching in Palestine, instructing and …. to people about the Kingdom of ….. He travelled around the country with a group of …. called disciples. He chose 12 disciples, called …., to preach His doctrine. Like the Old Testament …., Jesus insisted upon justice toward men and …. toward God. He also preached mercy and the …. of men, and told of the love of …. for all …..

The Jewish religious …. of Jesus’ time did not approve of His claim that he was the Messiah, or the promised …. of the Jews. They considered this action to be ….. The Roman authorities feared that He meant to lead an …. against Roman rule in Palestine. As a result, He was tried, …. to death, and …..

After the death of Jesus, His …. scattered in fear. However, they soon reassembled. One after another of them, beginning on the first …. morning, reported that they had met Jesus alive. This rising from the …. is called the Resurrection, and forms one of the basic …. of the Christian faith. According to …. teaching, Jesus remained on earth for 40 days after His …., and then …. into Heaven.

 

Choose the right answer:   

1. The nicer conducted the …. in the church.  

       a) class                 b) lecture             c) meeting            d) service

2. They say that the ghost of a nun …. the convent at night.

       a) displaces         b) haunts              c) parades            d) shivers

3. The …. listened attentively to every word of the preacher.

       a) audience          b) congregation   c) sightseers        d) spectators

4. Early man used to …. the sun, moon, trees and stones as his gods.

       a) admire              b) consider          c) serve                d) worship

5. The Hindus are forbidden by their …. to kill cows and eat beef.

       a) belief                b) confession                  c) doctrine           d) religion

6. In Britain, members of the …. usually wear a special white collar that fastens at the               back of the neck.

       a) church              b) clergy               c) priests              d) vicarage

7. Although he never claimed to be …., he attended church every Sunday.

       a) holy                  b) moral               c) religious          d) spiritual

8. Do you really believe in the …. of the evil eye?

       a) being                b) existence         c) occurrence                  d) realism

9. They are so concerned with …. day-to-day problems that they never stop to think about God.

       a) agnostic           b) devilish           c) mundane          d) skeptical

10. Priests like to remind us that life is …..

a) passing             b) short-term                   c) temporary        d) transient

 

5. Translate into English:

РЕЛИГИЯ В СОВРЕМЕННОМ МИРЕ

Одной из древнейших форм культуры является религия. Религия – это определенные взгляды и представления людей, соответствующие обряды и культы. 

Сердцем религии является вера. Вера, по словам Евангелия, есть осуществление ожидаемого и уверенность в невидимом. Она чужда всякой логике, и поэтому ей не страшны обоснования атеистами того, что Бога нет, и не нужны логические подтверждения того, что Он есть. В чем особенности религиозной веры? Первым ее элементом является вера в само существование Бога как творца всего существующего, управителя всеми делами, поступками, помыслами людей. Значит, за все поступки человека отвечают управляющие им высшие силы? Согласно современным религиозным учениям, человек наделен Богом свободой воли, обладает свободой выбора и в силу этого сам отвечает за свои поступки и за будущее своей души.

Идея существования Бога – центральный момент религиозной веры. В течение многих веков богословы всех религий стремились доказать существование Бога. Однако, немецкий философ И. Кант убедительно показал в своих рассуждениях, что логическим путем доказать ни существование Бога, ни его отсутствие невозможно, остается только верить.

В мире существует многообразие верований, сект, церковных организаций. Это и различные формы политеизма (многобожия), традиции которых идут от первобытных религий (веры в духов, поклонения растениям, животным, душам умерших). С ними соседствуют разные формы монотеизма (единобожия). Здесь и национальные религии – конфуцианство (Китай), иудаизм (Израиль) и т.д., и мировые религии, сформировавшиеся в эпоху возникновения империй и нашедшие себе приверженцев среди народов, говорящих на разных языках, - буддизм, христианство, ислам. Именно мировые религии оказывают наибольшее влияние на развитие современных цивилизаций.

 

6 Complete the text with appropriate words:

THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND

Christianity arrived in Britain 1_____ the first or second centuries, probably via Ireland and Spain, but it only became firmly established when the Pope sent St Augustine from Rome in the sixth century 2_____ convert the people of Britain, especially the newly arrived Saxons, to Christianity. 3_____ the help of Christians already living in Kent, Augustine established his church in Canterbury and became 4_____ first in the series of Archbishops of Canterbury, unbroken to this day.

For the next 1,000 years, England was part 5_____ the Roman Catholic Church. But in 1534, during the reign of King Henry VIII, the English Church separated from Rome. The principal reason 6_____ the split was that Henry VIII wanted to divorce his wife, Catherine of Aragon. Pope Clement VII refused to agree 7 _____ Henry’s request and so Henry decided to become head of the Church of England himself 8_____ order to ensure that the divorce went through and that he could marry the second of his six wives.

England briefly rejoined 9_____ Roman Catholic Church during the reign of Queen Mary in 1555, but reverted to Protestantism after her sister Elisabeth I came to the throne. In the 17^th century there was conflict 10_____ the Puritans, who wanted further reform, and the church, 11______ wanted to retain traditional beliefs and practices. This led 12_____ a bloody civil war in which King Charles I was executed 13_____ the Puritans. However, the monarchy and the Church of England were restored in 1660, and to this day, the British monarch is still the head of the Church of England. For many decades following the Restoration of 1660, Catholics were excluded from public life and could not 14_____ elected to Parliament, but gradually they were granted full rights and liberties. However, the heir to the British throne 15_____ still forbidden by law to marry a Catholic.

 

7. Are the sentences true or false? Write T or F:

1. St Augustine came to Britain via Ireland and Spain          

2. Augustine was the first to introduce Christianity to Britain        

3. Some Christians who already lived in Britain helped Augustine to set up his church           

4. England remained in the Catholic Church until the sixteenth century  

5. King Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church because the Pope wouldn't do what he wanted

6. Catherine of Aragon was Henry's second wife       

7. England briefly became a Catholic country again when Elizabeth became queen     

8. There was a struggle between the church and the Puritans          

9. King Charles I was on the side of the Puritans       

10. Catholics were discriminated against for many years following the Restoration of the monarchy

11. The heir to the British throne can marry whoever he or she likes          

 

8. Group-work and discussions:

1. Prepare a talk on different religions and confessions.

2. In groups discuss different religions and confessions and find similarities and differences among them.

3. Carry out a sociological poll among members of your family, friends, and group-mates and find out their attitude to religion, what they know about religious services and rituals, whether or not they take part in them. Discuss your findings in the round-table talks.

 

UNIT 6

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

 

1. Match the words (1-17) with the nouns (a-q) to make compound nouns. Use your dictionary to help you:

1. carbon                                    a warming

2. fossil                                       b countries

3. global                                      c dioxide

4. greenhouse                            d effect

5. industrialized                        e fuel

6. climate                                    f gases

7. endangered                            g caps

8. greenhouse                            h habitats

9. heat                                         I levels

10. ice                                                      j waves

11. natural                                   k species

12. sea                                          l change

13. renewable                             m countries

14. developing                            n power

15. carbon                                  o energy

16. solar                                       p emissions

17. nuclear                                  q power

2. Complete the text with compound words from above. Use 1-5 in the first paragraph, 6-12 in the second paragraph, and 13-17 in the third:

The biggest threat to life on Earth cones from 1 …... Rich 2 …… in the West have been burning 3 …… such as coal, oil and gas for about 150 years, pumping out vast quantities of the 4 …… in the atmosphere. The CO2 traps the heat from the Sun and causes the Earth and the atmosphere to get warmer. This is called the 5 …... The problem has been made worse by deforestation, the process of clearing forests in order to create land for growing crops or raisin cattle and sheep.

Why is global warming a problem? High levels of 6 ….. in the atmosphere lead to 7 …... The oceans and seas are getting warmer and the polar 8 ….. are melting. This causes 9 ….. to rise, which threatens low coastal regions and islands. Furthermore, the weather is becoming more unpredictable, with severe storms and floods, or unexpected 10 ….. and droughts. Another effect of global warming is a rise in the number of 11 …... Many animals and plants could become extinct if their 12 ….. are altered.

What can we do about it? The majority of scientists now agree that there is an urgent need to cut 13 ….. across the world. Countries in the West are still responsible for most of the CO2 emissions, but it won’t be long before 14 ….. such as China and India overtake the West. However, it is proving very difficult to reach an international agreement. As well as cutting carbon emissions we need to develop alternative sources of energy. Some scientists advocate 15 ….., while others stress the importance of 16 ….., such as wind, wave and 17 …...

3. Read and translate text 1:

Air pollution is a major problem all over the world today. Probably the single biggest contributor to the problem is the motor vehicle. However, there are many other man-made sources, such as industrial factories, power stations, mining, building, and the burning of fossil fuels and wood in homes around the world. There are natural sources of air pollution too; volcanoes and forest fires produce a lot of pollutants. However, it is the increasing number and use of motor vehicles that is doing the most damage, and logically, where there are more cars, there is more pollution, that is, in the major cities of the world. Some of the most polluted cities include Beijing, Mexico City, Athens, Moscow, and Mumbai.

Health problem

This problem of increased pollution in the major cities of the world has led to an increase in the number of studies done to look at the effects on our health. The results so far are not very reassuring. In fact, air pollution may be a much greater danger to our health than scientists believed before. A 20-year study of residents of a Cairo suburb shows that the tiny particles in polluted air could lead to three times as many long-term health problems as was previously thought. A connection between the number of particles in the air and health is suggested by Dr Razia of Cairo University. He and his colleagues collected data on 25,000 residents of Cairo over two decades. I hey found that as the number of tiny particles, those less than 2.5 microns in diameter increased, so did the risk of dying from health problems such as heart attacks and lung cancer.

Traffic and asthma

Other studies show a similar link between traffic pollution and ill health. A second group of researchers in Ottawa, Canada, reported that children living near busy roads were more likely to develop asthma. They studied the health of 250 children in different Canadian cities. The results suggest a strong connection between how close a child lives to traffic and the possibility of that child developing asthma and other similar diseases.

It is clear from these studies and others that the time has come to start reducing the levels of air pollution in our cities for the sake of our children and future generations.

 

4. Scan the report and answer the questions:

1. What is the main cause of air pollution?

2. What are two natural sources of air pollution?

3. Which are the most polluted cities in the world?

4. Where was the first study done?

5. What health problems did the second study look at?

6. Where was the second study done?

7. What health problems did the second study look at?