Angličtina - Various texts

Autor: Oto Krága

Where Do English People Live?

 

 \ I live in a family house.\ This expression is one of the most common and typical examples of \ Czenglish\ , I have heard during my time in the Czech Republic. I\ ve never met a native speaker of English, from any country, who would say they lived in \ a family house\ .

 However, one big difference between England and here is that it is actually not nearly so common to live in a purpose-built flat. Many of the flats that people do live in are in big old houses, built in the days when families were bigger and many people kept servants, and now converted into flats and bedsitters. The five-or six-storey apartment blocks that you see in a lot of European countries are not common in England, although you can find them in Scotland, which is in many ways a much more \ European\ country than England.

 A typical sight in built-up areas is a street full of terraced houses. These are joined to their neighbours on both sides and, from the outside, resemble one long building.

 

Read the text and say if these statements are true or false:

1. The English live in family houses.

2. Native speakers of English don\ t use the expression \ a family house\ .

3. Many people in England keep servants.

4. There are no five-or six-storey houses in England.

5. Scotland is more \ European\ country than England.

6. You can find terraced houses only in small towns.

 

 

Entertainments

 

 In the English speaking world \ culture\ is little used with regard to going to the cinema, theatre or even concerts. All these pastimes can come under the heading \ entertainment\ . You also speak about entertaining at home when you mean having guests, or giving a party. By entertaining in this sense you mean not only serving excellent food and drinks, but also providing amusement, which requires a good sociable company that will chat, tell jokes and play cards or even party games.

 Many Englishmen and their wives spend Saturday evening at the \ local\ (= pub or inn). There they play darts, talk and drink. The traditional pub was a place for men only. But things are changing, and more and more pubs are becoming places where men and women sit at tables and meals are often served as well. A few old pubs have real character and some of the new ones have a certain modern comfort, but many are dull and ugly, their walls decorated with dismal notices saying that no betting is allowed and no young persons may be served with drinks.

 

Read the text and answer:

1. How do English people entertain themselves?

2. What do they do when they entertain themselves at home?

3. What do the pubs look like?

4. Can they bet in pubs?

 

 

A 300-kilometre Walk  

 

 Mark Wallington began the path on the last evening of August. The sky was clear, the air warm and the grass high after one of the finest summers for years. Ahead of him there were 300 kilometres of foothpath. He walked five of them and camped out in some sand dunes.

 His bad experience began at dawn on the first morning when his tent came down in the wind. He was soon wet through, and as the storm went on blowing all that day, he was thoroughly drenched and depressed by the afternoon. His feet turned a strange colour and all of his clothes let in water. On many occasions after that he felt suicidal, according to the postcards he wrote at the time.

 Every night his tent nearly got blown down and every day, as he walked along the cliffs, he was sprayed by waves breaking on the rocks below. To make matters worse, other walkers who had wisely decided to walk the path from South to North were blown along while he struggled head down against the wind. For a few days, the weather improved, but at the end of the walk the rain returned with a vengeance.

 

Read the text and answer:

1. How long was Mark\ s journey?

2. What was the weather like the very first day?

3. How did the weather change?

4. Where did he sleep?

5. How did Mark feel?

6. What was the biggest problem he faced when walking along the cliffs?

 

 

The History of the Mobile Phone

 

 Do you know the name of the first person to use a phone out in the street? It was Marty Cooper. On April 3rd 1973 he stood at a street corner in Manhattan with an odd-looking plastic brick-shaped object in his hand. It had been developed by Motorola, an American electronics firm. It was the first-ever cellular phone call. That\ s why Mr Cooper is called \ the father of the cellular phone\ .

 But that didn\ t mean it was easy to get onto the market with this device. It was necessary to explain to users the difference to using a phone attached with a cable. They were told they would be able to make use of the time they spent driving the car. Customers were persuaded they would have more freedom, they would be able to be out of the office, and could be reached anywhere. Mobile phones enable people to stay in touch wherever and whenever they want.

 In 1973 it was difficult to imagine that by the year 2001, 800 million mobile phones will be used worldwide. In the early 1980s one American expert predicted that 900.000 Americans would have mobile phones by 2000. The actual figure was over 70 million.

 

Read the text and answer:

1. When was the mobile phone used for the first time?

2. Who developed it?

3. Who is the father of the cellular phone?

4. What are the advantages of having a mobile phone?

5. How many mobile phones were used in 2000 all over the world?

 

 

Terrorism

 

 From 1969 the main threat to law and order came from the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) whose terrorist campaigns of murder, bombings and violence were designed to force British withdrawal from Northern Ireland. Other republican groups such as the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), have also been involved.

 The IRA has been financed by various activities, including armed robbery, extortion and fraud. Funds have been received from overseas, including the Irish Northern Aid Committee (NORAID) in the United States. Libya has also in the past supplied significant quantities of arms and explosives to the IRA.

 More than 3.280 people have been killed and 36.000 injured since 1969 as a result of terrorist campaigns. Over 900 members of the police and army have been murdered. Bombs have exploded in crowded places like public houses and shops.

 Many deaths were caused by sectarian shootings, often carried out in the victims\ homes in front of their families. Hundreds of people have been injured by so-called \ punishment shootings\ in knees and elbows.

 

Read the text and say if these statements are true or false:

1. IRA kills people for fun.

2. IRA is financed by the British government.

3. NORAID has its seat in the USA.

4. Libya supplied IRA with lots of explosives.

5. Since 1969 more than 30.000 people were injured in terrorist campaigns.

6. Public houses and shops are safe.

7. \ Punishment shooting\ means that the victims are shot in their ankles.