What are their traditions текст

Traditions and Customs in Great Britain

Every nation and every country has its own traditions. In Britain traditions play a more important part in the life of the people than in other countries.
The English are very proud of their traditions and carefully keep them. When you come to England you’re struck at once by quite a number of customs. Some ceremonies are rather formal, such as the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, Trooping the Colour, the State opening of Parliament, the Ceremony of the Keys. Sometimes you will see a group of cavalrymen riding on black horses through the streets of London. They wear red uniforms, shining helmets, long black boots and long white gloves. These men are Life Guards. Their special duty is to guard the King or the Queen of Great Britain, and very important guests of the country.

One of the most impressive and popular displays of royal pageantry is the Changing of the Guard, which takes place at Buckingham Palace every day including Sunday at 11.30. The troops who take part are selected from the five regiments of Foot Guards. Their numbers depend on whether the Queen is in residence or not. The men of the duty guard march from either Wellington or Chelsea Barracks to Buckingham Palace with a band.
The guard to be relieved forms at the south end of the forecourt under the command of the Captain of the Queen’s Guard. The New Guard enters the forecourt by the north gate. As it approaches, the Old Guard is called to attention. The New Guard is then halted to be formed into files before it advances to position at a slow march. While this is taking place, the band plays. Later the band leads the Old Guard back to their barracks.

The Ceremony of the Keys
Every night at 9.53 the Chief Warder of the yeomen warders (Beefeaters) of the Tower of London lights a candle lantern and then makes his way towards the Bloody Tower. In the Archway his Escort awaits his arrival. The Chief Warder, carrying the keys, moves off with his Escort to the West Gate, which he locks, while the Escort «presents arms». Then the Middle and Byward Towers are locked.
The party then returns to the Bloody Tower Archway, and there they are halted by the challenge of the sentry. «Halt», he commands. «Who goes there?» The Chief Warder answers, «The keys». The sentry demands, «Whose keys?» «Queen Elizabeth’s keys», replies the Chief Warder. «Advance Queen Elizabeth’s keys, all’s well», commands the sentry.
At 10 p. m. the Chief Warder proceeds to the Queen’s House, where the keys are given into the custody of the Resident Governor and Major.
The Ceremony of the Keys dates back 700 years and has taken place every night during that period. Only a limited number of visitors are admitted to the ceremony each night. Application to see it must be made at least forty-eight hours in advance at the Constable’s office in the Tower.
A new tradition has been born in Britain. Every year a large number of ancient motor cars drive from London to Brighton. Some of these cars look very funny. This run from London to Brighton is a colourful demonstration. People are dressed in the clothes of those times. It is not a race, and most of the cars come to Brighton (which is 60 miles from London) only in the evening.

EXERCISES
I. Answer the questions.
1. What are the English so proud of?
2. What formal ceremonies do you know?
3. What is the route of the duty guard?
4. How often does the Ceremony of the Keys take place?
5. Are tourists admitted to the Ceremony of the Keys?
6. What new tradition has been born in Britain?
7. How far is Brighton from London?

III. Give the opposites.
1. ancient —
2. to be on duty —
3. to open —
4. to reply —

IV. Find the words and expressions that mean:
1. to be greatly surprised
2. to go along the streets
3. to close the door
4. to answer
5. old (cars)

a) of their traditions.
b) guard the Queen of Great Britain.
c) at Buckingham Palace.
d) the Bloody Tower.
e) red uniforms and shining helmets.
f) its customs and traditions.
g) «Whose keys?»
h) at least forty-eight hours in advance.
i) «Queen Elizabeth’s keys».
j) whether the Queen is in residence or not.
k) from London to Brighton.
l) funny.

VI. True or false?
1. The Changing of the Guard takes place every Sunday at 11.30.
2. The men of the duty guard march from Buckingham Palace to the Tower of London.
3. Every night the Chief Warder of the yeomen warders makes his way towards the Bloody Tower.
4. At 10 p. m. the keys are given into the custody of the Resident Governor and Major.
5. The Ceremony of the Keys dates back 700 years.
6. Every year a large number of motor cars take part in a race London — Brighton.

Answers
II. 1. customs and traditions; 2. quite a number of customs; 3. to guard the King or the Queen of Great Britain and important guests of the country; 4. Buckingham Palace; 11.30 a.m.; 5. either Wellington or Chelsea Barracks to Buckingham Palace; 6. the Tower of London; 7. 700.
III. 1. modern; 2. to be relieved; 3. to close; 4. to demand.
IV. 1. to be struck; 2. to march; 3. to lock; 4. to reply; 5. ancient.
V. 1. f; 2. a; 3. e; 4. b; 5. c; 6. j; 7. d; 8. g; 9. i; 10. h; 11. k; 12. 1.
VI. 1. F; 2. F; 3. T; 4. T; 5. F; 6. T.

(Великобритания: Тексты для устных ответов и письменных работ на английском языке. Авт.-сост. И. Ю. Баканова)

Traditions and holidays of Great Britain.

British Traditions

Every nation and every country has its own traditions and customs. Traditions make a nation special. Some of them are old-fashioned and many people remember them, others are part of people’s life. Some British customs and traditions are known all over the world: bowler hats, tea and talking about the weather.

Britain is full of customs and traditions. A lot of them have very long histories. Some are funny and some are strange. But they are all interesting. There is the long menu of traditional British food. There are many royal occasions. There are songs, saying and superstitions. They are all part of the British way of life.

We can classify English traditions into several groups: traditions concerning private life, state traditions; national holidays, religious holidays, public festivals, traditional ceremonies.

I think Royal traditions are the most interesting of them, for example the changing of the guard. This happens every day at Buckingham Palace, the Queen’s home in London. Soldiers stand in front of the palace. Each morning these soldiers (the «guard») change. One group leaves and another arrives. In summer and winter tourists stand outside the palace at 11.30 every morning and watch the Changing of the Guard.

Another interesting tradition is The Queen’s telegram. This custom is not very old, but it’s for very old people. On his or her one hundredth birthday, a British person gets a telegram from the Queen.

Traditions of everyday life if English people are also worth our attention. For example, talking about the weather.

Shaking hands is another nice tradition. Hundreds of years ago, soldiers began this custom. They shook hands to show that they didn’t have a sword. Now, shaking hands is a custom in most countries. In Britain you don’t shake hands with your friends and family. But you doshake hands when you meet a person for the first time. You also say «How do you do?» This is not really a question, it’s a tradition. The correct answer is exactly the same, «How do you do?»

Traditions and holidays of Great Britain.

Every nation and every country has its own traditions and customs. Traditions make a nation special. Some of them are old-fashioned and many people remember them, others are part of peoples life. Some British customs and traditions are known all the world.

From Scotland to Cornwall, Britain is full of customs and traditions. A lot of them have very long histories. Some are funny and some are strange. But they are all interesting. There is the long menu of traditional British food. There are many royal occasions. There are songs, saying and superstitions. They are all part of the British way of life. You cannot really imagine Britain without all its traditions, this integral feature of social and private life of the people living on the British Isles that has always been an important part of their life and work. English traditions can classified into several groups: traditions concerning the Englishmens private life (childs birth, wedding, marriage, wedding anniversary); which are connected with families incomes; state traditions; national holidays, religious holidays, public festival, traditional ceremonies. What about royal traditions? There are numerous royal traditions in Britain, some are ancient, others are modern.

The changing of the Guard happens every day at Buckingham Palace, the Queens home in London. The ceremony always attracts a lot of spectators Londoners as well as visitors to the British capital.

So soldiers stand on front of the palace. Each morning these soldiers (the “guard”) change. One group leaves and another arrives. In summer and winter tourists stand outside the palace at 11:30 every morning and watch the Changing of the Guard. Traditionally the Queen opens Parliament every autumn. But Parliament, not the Royal Family, controls modern Britain. The Queen travels from Buckingham Palace to the Houses of Parliament in a gold carriage the Irish State Coach. At the Houses of Parliament the Queen sits on a “throne” in the House of Lords. Then she reads the “Queens Speech”. At the State Opening of Parliament the Queen wears a crown. She wears other jewels from the Crown Jewels, too.
Every year, there is a new Lord Mayor of London. The Mayor is the citys traditional leader. And the second Saturday in November is always the day for the Lord Mayors Show. This ceremony is over six hundred years old. It is also Londons biggest parade.

The Lord Mayor drives to the Royal Courts of Justice in a coach. The coach is two hundred years old. It is red and gold and it has six horses.

As it is also a big parade, people make special costumes and act stories from Londons history. In Britain as in other countries costumes and uniforms have a long history. One is the uniform of the Beefeaters at the tower of London. This came first from France. Another is the uniform of the Horse Guards at Horse Guards Parade, not far from Buckingham Palace. Thousands of visitors take photographs of the Horse Guards. Britannia is a symbol of Britain. And she wears traditional clothes, too. But she is not a real person. Lots of ordinary clothes have a long tradition. The famous bowler hat, for example. A man called Beaulieu made the first one in 1850. One of the British soldiers, Wellington, gave his name to

pair of boots. They have a shorter name today “Wellies”.

There is a very special royal tradition. On the River Thames there are hundreds of swans. A lot of these beautiful white birds belong, traditionally, to the king or queen. In July the young swans on the Thames are about two months old. Then the Queens swan keeper goes, in a boat, from London Bridge to Henley. He looks at all the young swans and marks the royal ones. The name of this strange nut interesting custom is Swan Upping.

There are only six public holidays a year in Great Britain, that is days on which people need not go in to work. They are: Christmas Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Spring Bank Holiday and Late Summer Bank Holiday, Boxing Day. So the most popular holiday in Britain is Christmas. Christmas has been celebrated from the earliest days of recorded history, and each era and race has pasted a colourful sheet of new customs and traditions over the old.

Crackers are also usual at Christmas dinner. These came to Britain from China in the nineteenth century. Two people pull a cracker. Usually there is a small toy in the middle. Often there is a joke on a piece of paper, too. Most of the jokes in Christmas crackers are not very good. Here is on example:

Customer: Waiter, theres a frog in my soup. Waiter: Yes, sir, the flys on holidays.

A pantomime is a traditional English entertainment at Christmas. It is meant for children, but adults enjoy is just as much. It is a very old form of entertainment, and can be traced back to 16 th century Italian comedies. There have been a lot of changes over the years. Singing and dancing and all kinds of jokes have been added; but the stories that are told are still fairy tales, with a hero, a heroine, and a villain.

In every pantomime there are always three main characters. These are the “principal boy”, the “principal girl”, and the “dame”. Pantomimes are changing all the time. Every year, someone has a new idea to make them more exciting or more up-to-date.

December 26 th is Boxing Day. Traditionally boys from the shops in each town asked for money at Christmas. They went from house to house on December 26 th and took boxes made of wood with them. At each house people gave them money. This was a Christmas present. So the name of December 26 th doesnt come from the sport of boxing it comes from the boys wooden boxes. Now, Boxing Day is an extra holiday after Christmas Day.

Traditionally Boxing Day Hunts is a day for foxhunting. The huntsmen and huntswomen ride horses. They use dogs, too. The dogs (fox hounds) follow the smell of the fox. Then the huntsmen and huntswomen follow the hounds. Before a Boxing Day hunt, the huntsmen and huntswomen drink not wine. But the tradition of the December 26 th hunt is changing. Now, some people want to stop Boxing Day Hunts (and other hunts, too). They dont like foxhunting. For them its not a sport it is cruel. In England people celebrate the New Year. But it is not as widely or as enthusiastically observed as Christmas. Some people ignore it completely and go to bed at the same time as usual on New Years Eve. Many others, however, do celebrate it in one way or another, the type of celebration varying very much according to the local custom, family tradition and personal taste. The most common type of celebration is a New Year party, either a family party or one arranged by a group of young people. And another popular way of celebrating the New Year is to go to a New Years dance. The most famous celebration is in London round the statue of Eros in Piccadilly Circus where crowds gather and sing and welcome the New Year. In Trafalgar Square there is also a big crowd and someone usually falls into the fountain. Every Year the people of Norway give the city of London a present. Its a big Christmas tree and it stands in Trafalgar Square. Also in central London, Oxford Street and Regent Street always have beautiful decorations at the New Year and Christmas. Thousands of people come to look at them.

There is a Scottish song that is sung all over the world at midnight on New Years Eve. It was written by Robert Burns, the famous Scottish poet, and you may find some of the traditional words a bit difficult to understand, but thats the way its always sung even by English people!

According to an Irish legend, jack-o-lanterns were named for a man called Jack who was notorious for his drunkenness and being stingy. One evening at the local pub, the Devil appeared to take his soul. Clever Jack persuaded the Devil to “have one drink together before we go”. To pay for his drink the Devil turned himself into a sixpence. Jack immediately put it into his wallet. The Devil couldnt escape from it because it had a catch.

Текст для чтения на английском языке » Национальные обычаи и традиции Великобритании»

«National Traditions and customs in Britain».

Every nation and every country has its own customs and traditions. In Britain traditions play a more important part in people’s life than in other countries. The British are proud of their traditions and carefully keep them up. Some ceremonies are rather formal, such as the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, Trooping the Colour, the State opening of Parliament.

Sometimes you will see a group of cavalrymen riding on black horses through the streets of London. They wear red uniforms, shining helmets, long black boots and long white gloves. These men are Life Guards. Their special duty is to guard the king or the queen of Great Britain and very important guests of the country.

To this day a British family prefers a house with a fireplace and a garden to a flat in a modern house with central heating. Most British love gardens. Sometimes the garden in front of the house is a little square covered with cement painted green in imitation of grass and a box of flowers. They love flowers very much. The British like animals very much, too. Pet dogs, cats, horses, ducks, chickens, canaries and other friends of man have a much better life in Britain than anywhere else. In Britain they have special dog shops selling food, clothes and other things for dogs. In recent years the British began to show love for more «exotic» animals such as crocodiles, elephants, tigers, cobras, camels.

Holidays are especially rich in old traditions and are different in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. Christmas is a great English national holiday and in Scotland it is not observed at all. But six days later, on New Year’s Eve the Scots begin to enjoy themselves. All the shops and factories are closed on New Year’s Day. People invite their friends to their houses. Greetings and presents are offered. Some British traditions are strange, some are funny, but they are all interesting.

Write the words into each gap:

1. In Britain traditions play a more important part in people’s in other countries.

2. Sometimes the garden in front of the house is a covered with cement painted green in imitation of grass and a box of flowers.

3. All the shops and factories on New Year’s Day.

Popular Traditions in England

Traditions in England have been around for centuries. British traditions are famous worldwide. When one thinks of Britain, you imagine people drinking tea, wearing bowler hats and gorging on fish and chips. Sports, food and music, are tightly knit traditions in Britain.

Guy Fawkes Night

Guy Fawkes Night is celebrated on the 5th of November each year. Guy Fawkes was the mastermind of the Gun Powder Plot in 1605, which failed when he attempted to destroy the House of Parliament. These night traditions celebrated famously in East Sussex, and Lewes commemorates this fail by having firework displays, bonfires, torch-lit processions and pagan rituals.

Celebration of the Guy Fawkes Night, England

Daylight Savings Time

It is a tradition observed by England. Clocks are moved back one hour and takes place one week ahead of daylight savings time in America.

Daylight Savings Time in England

Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day

If America is famous for its Mardi Gras, England is known for Shrove Tuesday. Shrove Tuesday takes place before the start of Lent and is celebrated by Christians across the country by making pancakes. Pancakes are similar to crepes in England accompanied by golden syrup, sugar or lemon.

Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day in England

Christmas

Christmas celebrated on 25th December is a big holiday for the British people. The season is lovely, and since Thanksgiving is not an occasion for celebration in England, Christmas comes early for the British people. Nativity plays and carols are traditional along with City centres everywhere decorated with Christmas trees. The most famous Christmas tree can be found lit in all its glory at Trafalgar Square in London. Santa Claus is called Father Christmas and will appear in the night, on Christmas Eve. Traditional food left for Father Christmas includes mince pies and sherry or brandy. Christmas lunch or dinner served on Christmas Day consists of roast turkey, baked potatoes, carrots, parsnip, mini sausages, Brussels sprouts and Yorkshire pudding. Christmas crackers are another tradition with each guest or family member receiving one.

Christmas in England

Boxing Day

Boxing Day is the day after Christmas and almost like an extension of the main holiday. People spent time with their families and loved ones, as many are tired or off from work. Typical traditions include watching sports, playing games, hunting, going for walks and eating Christmas leftovers. People also love to shop on Boxing Day.

Boxing Day in England

New Year’s Eve

The largest celebration of fireworks explodes at midnight over the London Eye. Big Ben chimes and rings in the New Year and British people sing Auld Lang Syne. Crowds gather at Trafalgar Square or Piccadilly Circus.

New Year’s Eve in England

Poppy Day or Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day pays homage to the men and women who died during World War I and World War II. It is a commemoration held in November with people wearing red poppies.

Poppy Day in England

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Traditions and Customs
British nation is considered to be the most conservative in Europe. It is not a secret that every nation and every country has its own customs and traditions. In Great Britain people attach greater importance to traditions and customs than in other European countries. Englishmen are proud of their traditions and carefully keep them up. The best examples are their queen, money system, their weights and measures.
There are many customs and some of them are very old. There is, for example, the Marble Championship, where the British Champion is crowned; he wins a silver cup known among folk dancers as Morris Dancing. Morris Dancing is an event where people, worn in beautiful clothes with ribbons and bells, dance with handkerchiefs or big sticks in their hands, while traditional music- sounds.
British people think that the Grand National horse race is the most exciting horse race in the world. It takes place near Liverpool every year. Sometimes it happens the same day as the Boat Race takes place, sometimes a week later. Amateur

2. Ответьте на вопросы к тексту:
1. What nation is considered to be the most conservative in Europe?
2. What are the best examples of their conservatism?
3. What are the most popular English traditions?

3. Выпишите из текста подчеркнутое предложение, найдите сказуемое и определите его временную форму.

4. Задайте к предложению все типы вопросов.

5. Найдите в тексте прилагательные и наречия в разных степенях сравнения и напишите их недостающие формы.

2. Ответьте на вопросы к тексту:
1. What nation is considered to be the most conservative in Europe?
British nation is considered to be the most conservative in Europe.

2. What are the best examples of their conservatism?
The best examples are their queen, money system, their weights and measures.

3. What are the most popular English traditions?
The most popular English traditions are the Marble Championship, Morris Dancing, the Grand National horse race.