New Orleans Mardi Gras

The New Orleans Carnival, also known as Mardi Gras, begins twelve days before Lent. Mardi Gras (‘Fat Tuesday’ in French) is actually the last day of the carnival – the day when everyone ate as much as possible before they began to fast. New Orleans was North America’s first truly multi-cultural community. It was founded by the French, was temporarily handed over to the Spanish and was the major port of entry for immigrants from the Caribbean and the rest of the Americas. This melting pot of cultures meant celebrations and processions as a means of proclaiming identity had always been commonplace. The birth of the modern-day Mardi Gras Carnival, however, was in 1857. An official Mardi Gras flag (green, gold and purple standing for faith, power, and justice) was introduced in this year and the Mardi Gras anthem ‘ If Ever I Cease to Love ’ was adopted. The song, which, today, is known to all New Orleans natives, features these peculiar lyrics:

‘If ever I cease to love,

May cows lay eggs and fish grow legs.

If ever I cease to love.’

Today’s Mardi Gras offers the visitor an array of spectacles. Marching jazz bands fill the streets, unusual mating rituals take place in some of the streets in the French Quarter and, on Mardi Gras Day, the spectacular finals of the gay costume contest take place. The carnival culminates with displays by Mardi Gras Indians. These displays of cultural values and spirit of freedom pay tribute to the early multi-cultural roots of New Orleans. Christmas trivia quiz to celebrate the festive season, here’s a quiz full of Christmas traditions and trivia from around the world.

· CULTURE of GREAT BRITAIN

· Artistic and Cultural Life in Britain

· Artistic and cultural life in Britain is rather rich. It passed several main stages in its development.

· The Saxon King Alfred (849-901), encouraged the arts and culture. The chief debt owed to him by English literature is for his translations of and commentaries on Latin works. Art, culture and literature flowered during the Elizabethan age, during the reign of Elizabeth I; it was the period of English domination of the oceans.

· It was at this time that William Shakespeare lived.

· The empire, which was very powerful under Queen Victoria, saw another cultural and artistic hey-day as a result of industrialisation and the expansion of international trade.

· But German air raids caused much damage in the First World War and then during the Second World War. The madness of the wars briefly interrupted the development of culture.

· Immigrants who have arrived from all parts of the Commonwealth since 1945 have not only created a mixture of nations, but have also brought their cultures and habits with them. Monuments and traces of past greatness are everywhere. There are buildings of all styles and periods. A great number of museums and galleries display precious and interesting finds from all parts of the world and from all stage in the development of nature, man and art. London is one of the leading world centres for music, drama, opera and dance. Festivals held in towns and cities throughout the country attract much interest. Many British playwrights, composers, sculptors, painters, writers, actors, singers and dancers are known all over the world.

· Music and Musicians

· The peopleliving in the British Isles are very fond of music, and it is quite natural that concerts of the leading symphony orchestras, numerous folic groups and pop music are very popular.

· The Promenade concerts are probably the most famous. They were first held in 1840 in the Queen's Hall, and later were directed by Sir Henry Wood. They still continue today in the Royal Albert Hall. They take place every night for about three months in the summer, and the programmes include new and contemporary works, as well as classics. Among them are symphonies and other pieces of music composed by Benjamin Britten, the famous English musician.

· Usually, there is a short winter season lasting for about a fortnight. The audience may either listen to the music from a seat or from the ‘promenade’, where they can stand or stroll about, or, if there is room, sit down on the floor.

· Concerts are rarely given out-of-doors today except for concerts by brass bands and military bands that play in the parks and at seaside resorts during the summer.

· Folk music is still very much alive. There are many foul groups. Their harmony singing and good humour win them friends everywhere.

· Rock and pop music is extremely popular, especially among younger people. In the 60s and 70s groups such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd became very popular and successful.

· The Beatles, with their style of singing new and exciting, their wonderful sense of humour became the most successful pop group the world has ever known. Many of the famous songs written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney are still popular. Some of the more recent rock groups are Eurhythmics, Dire Straits, and Black Sabbath.

· British groups often set new trends in music. New staff and styles continue to appear. One of the most popular contemporary musicians and composers is Andrew Lloyd Webber. The musicals and rock operas by A. L. Webber have been a great success both in Britain and overseas.

· Theatres in Britain

· The centre of theatrical activity in Britain is London. There are some 48 principal theatres in or near the West End and some 8 in the suburbs.

· If you're staying in London for a few days, you'll have no difficulty whatever in somewhere to spend an enjoyable evening. You’ll find opera, ballet, comedy, drama, review, musical comedy and variety. The best seats, at the theatres are those in the stalls, the circle and the upper circle. Then comes the pit, and last of all the gallery, where the seats are cheapest. Boxes, of course are the most expensive. Most theatres and music hall have good orchestras with popular conductors. You ought to make a point of going to the opera, at least once during the season, if you can. There you can get the best of everything – an excellent orchestra, famous conductors, celebrated singers and a well-dressed audience. But, of course, if you’re not fond of music and singing opera won’t interest you. At the West End theatres you can see most of the famous English actors and actresses. As a rule, the plays are magnificently staged – costumes, dresses, scenery, everything being done on the most lavish scale. Choose a good play, and you’ll enjoy yourself thoroughly from the moment the curtain goes up to the end of the last act. Get your seat beforehand, either at the box office of the theatre itself or at one of the agencies.

· English literature

· English writers stand high in world Literature. Shakespeare, Swift, Byron, Dickens and many others are dear to all those who love literature.

· Shakespeare was one of the greatest writers that ever put pen to paper. People in all countries enjoy his plays. We can say this, too, about the works of Byron and Shelley, two great English poets. They loved freedom, and they tell their readers how people have fought for it. In their works we read about a happy future, when people will live in peace and friendship all over the earth.

· Among the books we read and enjoy there are many English novels. One of the first novels in the history of literature was written in England in 1719; it was «Robinson Crusoe» by Defoe. Some years passed, and Swift wrote his famous «Gulliver’s Travels». In the middle of the century, Fielding became one of the greatest English writers.

· At the beginning of the XIX century, the world heard about Walter Scott, who wrote historical novels. Today people often call Walter Scott the father of historical novel.

· Among the nineteenth century authors Dickens and Thackeray were, perhaps, the greatest. In their novels, Dickens and Thackeray described English life in those days, and told people the truth about it.

· Next to these great names stand the names of the three English women-writers, Jane Austen and the two sisters – Charlotte and Emily Bronte.

· As you see, England has had many great writers. Poems and novels by English writers are translated into Russia, French, German and other languages.

Прочитайте текст и выполните задания PUBLISHING 1. The history of publishing is characterized by a close interplay of technical innovation and social change, each promoting the other. Publishing as it is known today depends on a series of three major inventions—writing, paper, and printing—and one crucial social development—the spread of literacy. 2. Before the invention of writing, perhaps by the Sumerians in the 4^th millennium BC, information could be spread only by word of mouth. Writing was originally regarded not as a means of spreading information but as a way to fix religious formulations or to secure codes of law and other socially important matters. Publishing could begin only after the monopoly of letters, often held by a priestly caste, had been broken, probably in connection with the development of the value of writing in commerce. 3. Scripts of various kinds came to be used throughout most of the ancient world for proclamations, correspondence, transactions, and records; but book production was confined largely to religious centres of learning, as it would be again later in medieval Europe. Only in Hellenistic Greece, in Rome, and in China, where there were essentially nontheocratic societies, does there seem to have been any publishing in the modern sense—i.e., a copying industry supplying a lay readership. 4. The invention of printing transformed the possibilities of the written word. Printing seems to have been first invented in China in the 6^th century AD in the form of block printing. The Chinese invented movable type in the 11^th century AD but did not fully exploit it. Other Chinese inventions, including paper (AD 105), were passed on to Europe by the Arabs but not, it seems, printing. The reason may well lie in Arab insistence on hand copying of the Qurān. The invention of printing in Europe is usually attributed to Johannes Gutenberg in Germany about 1440–50, although block printing had been carried out from about 1400. In less than 50 years it had been carried through most of Europe, largely by German printers. (Encyclopedia Britannica) Определите, является ли утверждение:Technological progress combined with the spread of literacy made publishing possible.

ВАРИАНТЫ ОТВЕТОВ:

ЗАДАНИЕ N 28 (- выберите один вариант ответа) Определите, является ли утверждение:Medieval religious centres were strongly against book printing and publishing.

ВАРИАНТЫ ОТВЕТОВ:

ЗАДАНИЕ N 29 (- выберите один вариант ответа) Определите, является ли утверждение:It was the Arabs who brought Chinese experience in printing to Europe.

ВАРИАНТЫ ОТВЕТОВ:

ЗАДАНИЕ N 30 (- выберите один вариант ответа) Определите, является ли утверждение:German printers brought the art of printing to most European countries.

ВАРИАНТЫ ОТВЕТОВ:

ЗАДАНИЕ N 31 (- выберите один вариант ответа) Укажите, какой части текста (1, 2, 3, 4) соответствует следующая информация:Democratic regimes were the first to introduce copying industry for the common people.

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ЗАДАНИЕ N 32 (- выберите один вариант ответа) Укажите, какой части текста (1, 2, 3, 4) соответствует следующая информация:The first inventors of the movable type failed to fully appreciate its advantages.

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