Text IV. Languages of the British Isles

 

It may surprise you to know that until a few centuries ago there were natives of the British Isles, who did not speak English. The Western land of Wales spoke Welsh; in the farthest north and the islands of Scotland the language was Gaelic; and in Ireland people spoke a similar language, Irish Gaelic; Manx was the language of the Isle of Man, and Cornish was the language of the south-western tip of Britain.

We’re not talking about dialects – localized versions of a language – which often contain alternative words or phrases for certain things; but which are forms of English. Welsh, Gaelic, Manx and Cornish are complete languages with their own grammar, poetry and stories – all that we call a culture.

Strangely enough, there’s a strong revival of interest in them. In Scotland Gaelic Language Society has existed for eighty years. It’s dedicated to preserving the traditions of the Gaelic songs, verse and prose. And more and more people in the Lowland areas of Scotland, as well as the islands, where Gaelic is still spoken, now want to learn the language.

Since the early 1970s, more and more people are learning Gaelic and go to evening classes. Now people in schools can choose to take Gaelic for their final exams. In Wales the Welsh language Society was formed in 1962 and it has been fighting to restore Welsh to an equal place with English. In 1967 they won an important victory: Welsh was recognized as being equally valid for use in law courts, either written or spoken. In Wales some of the programmes of the fourth channel are broadcast in Welsh.

 

Упр. 5. Прочитайте текст еще раз и письменно ответьте на следующие вопросы:

1. What is the text about? 2. Did all the natives of the British Isles speak English a few centuries ago? 3. What languages did they speak? 4. Are these languages dialects of English? 5. Do any people in the Lowland areas of Scotland want to learn Gaelic? 6. What does Gaelic language Society do? 7. Is there such a society in Wales? When was it formed? 8. What was its aim? 9. Are Welsh and Gaelic restored to an equal place with English?

 

Контрольная работа № 1

 

Вариант № I

 

Упр. 1. Перепишите предложения, указав время, в котором стоит глагол-сказуемое. Предложения переведите:

1. Where are you going? 2. Where does he go in the evenings? 3. We went to the cinema. 4. They will not go there. 5. You go there every month. 6. Your parents are proud of you. 7. He has no family. 8. They didn’t understand us. 9. Shall I see you tomorrow? 10. I know that. 11. You knew that.

 

Упр. 2. Сделайте предложения отрицательными:

1. Mary knows three thousand English words. 2. Tom worked in the garden yesterday. 3. They try to help us. 4. You will take the first place in the competition. 5. It is raining at present. 6. They are going to the stadium. 7. Kate met her friend. 8. I shall think about you.

 

Упр. 3. Сделайте предложения вопросительными:

1. I go to the Institute by bus. 2. My friend has breakfast at home. 3. They came home from the Institute at 3 o’clock. 4. Ann is speaking English. 5. You are listening to me. 6. We shall translate the text tomorrow. 7. They study at our Institute.

 

Упр. 4. Перепишите предложения, подчеркнув слово с окончанием –s. Укажите, какую функцию выполняет это окончание в каждом конкретном случае (т.е. служит ли оно для образования множественного числа существительного, 3 лица сказуемого в Present Indefinite или образует притяжательный падеж):

1. There are a lot of studies at our Institute. 2. Bill studies well. 3. It was pleasant to see the children’s rosy faces. 4. The room faces south. 5. My brother parks his car here. 6. Near our houses there is a large park. 7. I am going to my friend’s.

 

Упр. 5. Вставьте some, any, no и производные от них слова:

1. Have you … books? 2. Put … sugar in your tea. 3. He does not need … help. 4. Give me … to eat. 5. We read … about it. 6. Is there … on the table? 7. Is … listening to the radio?

 

Вариант № 2

 

Упр. 1. Перепишите предложения, указав время, в котором стоит глагол-сказуемое. Предложения переведите:

1. He reads well. 2. He read well. 3. What is he reading? 4. They will not read this book. 4. Why didn’t you read it? 5. He is not afraid of anybody. 6. I had many friends at school. 7. We saw you. 8. I shall understand you. 9. They do not go there. 10. She does not remember me. 11. She is looking for something.

 

Упр. 2. Сделайте предложения отрицательными:

1. She thinks about you. 2. Jane wanted to buy some fruit. 3. I shall see you tomorrow. 4. They are walking with little Alice. 5. I come home late. 6. I am waiting for you. 7. I get up early. 8. She understood well.

 

Упр. 3. Сделайте предложения вопросительными:

1. Peter worked at the plant last year. 2. She often meets her friends at the University. 3. They are listening to music. 4. Alice’s brother is sitting in the garden. 5. I teach biology. 6. I shall come home late. 7. She will understand you.

 

Упр. 4. Перепишите предложения, подчеркнув слова с окончанием –s. Укажите, какую функцию выполняет это окончание в каждом конкретном случае (т.е. служит ли оно для образования множественного числа существительных, 3 лица сказуемого в Present Indefinite или образует притяжательный падеж):

1. Their great aims are mental health and normal development. 2. Our foreign policy aims at promoting peace. 3. He is Tom’s father. 4. The children’s names are Peter, Jack and Bill. 5. This hall houses only a part of the exhibits. 6. There are many new houses in our town. 7. London stretches for many miles.

Упр. 5. Вставьте some, any, no и производные от них слова:

1. … can understand this text: it is so difficult. 2. There is … in the next room. 3. Did you read … about it? 4. I can see … without glasses. 5. Is there … in that box? 6. Does … like apples? 7. He wrote … letters in the morning.

 

Вариант № 3

 

Упр. 1. Перепишите предложения, указав время, в котором стоит глагол-сказуемое. Предложения переведите:

1. John writes poems. 2. You do not understand me. 3. What are they writing? 4. What books did he write? 5. I wrote a letter to my friend. 6. When will you write it? 7. He was there at 12 o’clock. 8. She has many friends. 9. We didn’t tell them about it. 10. What will you do? 11. They are laughing at us.

 

Упр. 2. Сделайте предложения отрицательными:

1. I shall go there next week. 2. They visited the museum on Sunday. 3. She likes sweets. 4. I know Byelorussian as well as Russian. 5. Her parents arrived yesterday. 6. Mary is having an exam now. 7. We are going to the cinema. 8. We study French.

 

Упр. 3. Сделайте предложения вопросительными:

1. My brother goes to town every day. 2. My sisters are standing at the window. 3. I bought the book. 4. They’ll come here on Tuesday. 5. You are studying the same book. 6. We get back at 5 o’clock. 7. They went by bus to the University.

 

Упр. 4. Перепишите предложения, подчеркнув слова с окончанием –s. Укажите, какую функцию выполняет это окончание в каждом конкретном случае (т.е. служит ли оно для образования множественного числа существительного, 3 лица сказуемого в Present Indefinite или образует притяжательный падеж:

1. There are two tram stops near our Institute. 2. The tram stops not far from my house. 3. The boy places his instrument into a special box. 4. I’d like to see all the places of interest in your town. 5. We looked at the women’s faces. 6. I didn’t know that teacher’s friends. 7. He plays Hamlet.

 

Упр. 5. Вставьте some, any, no и производные от них слова:

1. … boys are football fans. 2. Have you … questions? 3. Is there … in the classroom? 4. It was very dark. We could see …. 5. Is there … in that box? 6. She is singing …. 7. He said … about it.

 

ЧАСТЬ II

LESSON 1

Степени сравнения прилагательных

Degrees of Comparison

 

Качественные прилагательные	Положительная the positive degree	Сравнительная the comparative degree	Превосходная the superlative degree
одно- и двусложные на –er, –ow, –y, –e.	young heavy hot simple	younger heavier hotter simpler	the youngest the heaviest the hottest the simplest
многосложные	difficult	more }difficult less	the most }difficult the least
особая группа	good bad many, much little	better worse more less	the best the worst the most the least
имеющие по две формы степеней сравнения, различающиеся по значению и употреблению	far далекий	farther более далекий further дальнейший	the farthest самый дальний the furthest самый далекий
old старый	older старше (по возрасту) elder старше (в пределах одной семьи или по обществ. положен.)	the oldest самый старый the eldest самый старший
near близкий	nearer ближе	the nearest ближайший the next следующий
late поздний	later более поздний latter последний из двух	the latest последний (по врем. появления) the last последний (по порядку)