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1. Always introduce yourself, never wait for someone else to introduce you.
2. A gentleman should never wait for a woman to proffer her hand first.
3. The continental habit of exchanging kisses is very popular and recommended for visitors.
4. Try to avoid gestures such as backslapping and hugging.
5. When you hear “How do you do?” you should immediately answer “Very well!”
6. Use “How do you do?” when you are introduced to someone for the first time.
7. Stay very close to your interlocutors, otherwise they will be discouraged.
8. Stop talking if you notice that your partner has his hands in his pockets.
9. Maintain eye contact to emphasise important points of your speech.
10. Talk very loudly.
11. Avoid any temptation to ‘eye-ball’.
12. Gesticulate wildly while talking.
13. You should not strive to be interminably witty yourself.
14. The most important rule of dining etiquette is to behave in such a way to cause as more annoyance as possible.
15. Try to eat and drink faster than the rest of the group.
16. Do not speak with your mouth full.
17. Always lick your knife after cutting the meat.
18. If you are a guest, follow the host’s instructions.
UNIT 5. CANADA
The total land area of Canada - more than 9 mln sq. km - makes it the second largest country in the world. Canada is bordered by three oceans, it spans six time zones.
Canada's topography is dominated by the Canadian Shield, an ice-scoured area covering half the country. Most of northern Canada has subarctic or arctic climates, with long cold winters lasting 8 to 11 month, short sunny summers, and little precipitation. In contrast, the populated south has a variety of climatological landscapes.
The total population according to the 2001 census was about 30,750,100 people with an average population density of 3.1 per sq. km. Even though Canada is less densely populated than most countries, it has major cosmopolitan centers such as Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, along with numerous mid-sized cities, small towns, and rural areas. Almost all of Canada's population is concentrated in a narrow band along the country’s southern edge. The population is also concentrated by province: Ontario and Quebec contain between them 62% of the total population.
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English and French are the official languages of Canada and have equal static, rights and privileges as to their use in all governmental institutions.
As a country of immigrants, Canada has a special appreciation for cultural diversity. The country's earliest inhabitants were the Aboriginal Peoples, also known as First Nations. Many historians believe that these first settlers probably came to what is now Canada from Asia thousands of years ago. Aboriginal Peoples still make up two to three percent of the Canadian population.
The main period of European settlement began in the early 1600s with the French, who established settlements on the east coast and in the St. Lawrence River valley. British explorers and settlers soon followed, and there was considerable competition and conflict between the two groups over trade (mainly in furs) and territory. This conflict eventually led to the battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759, in which the British army defeated the French. As a result, all of the Canadian colonies came under British control. In the 1780s, following the U.S. Declaration of Independence, large numbers of "Loyalists" (people of British origin who were loyal to the British Crown) left the United States and moved to the Canadian colonies. Most settled in areas now part of Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
Another large wave of European settlement occurred in the late 1800s and early 1900s, when the Canadian authorities encouraged people from all over Europe to come to Canada and settle in the areas west of Manitoba.
On July 1st, 1867, four colonies joined together to become a federation of provinces called the Dominion of Canada. This event, known as Confederation, was the foundation of Canada as we know it today. July 1st is a national holiday (Canada Day) in recognition of the event.
The federal Parliament is made up of the House of Commons and the Senate. The leader of the party that wins the largest number of seats in a newly elected House of Commons is asked to form the government.
Because the four founding colonies were British, the legislation that joined them together and set out the framework for Canadian government was also British. This meant that the British parliament still had ultimate legal control over how Canada was run. This situation ended in 1982 when the Canadian and British parliaments jointly passed legislation establishing Canada's full legal independence. At the moment Canada is a federation of 10 provinces and 2 northern territories.
Canada is a world leader in the production of asbestos, nickel and other elements, forestry products, and ranks first in the world in export of minerals. Although no longer the foremost sector of the economy, agriculture is of major importance to the economy as a whole. Canada is among the world's leading wheat producers and is second in the export of wheat.
