How the British relax. As British people say, ‘all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’

As British people say, ‘all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’. Like everybody else, British people like doing things outside work. Gardening is a well-known favourite. As the weather in Britain is relatively mild, British people manage to do gardening almost all the year round. Sometimes this can be just doing a bit of weeding and sometimes, serious vegetable and fruit growing. In fact, regardless of the size of the garden, the British can always find plenty to do in it. Mowing grass is also very important. Every Sunday morning (except for winter) they come out to mow their lawns. To outsiders, it almost seems like an obsession but to a British person it is an important social duty. The British see an unmown lawn, not only as a sign of laziness, but also as disrespect to others (and you can get fined for it as well).

Walking is also very popular. Ask any British person if they have a pair of walking boots and the answer will probably be yes. Except for dry summer days, the beautiful British countryside is pretty muddy, so you need a good pair of walking boots or 'wellies' to enjoy your walk. Walking as a leisure activity has a long tradition in England. You can buy a variety of maps and guides to walking routes. Organised walking is also popular and is a good way to discover local sights of interest with a group of like-minded people and a good guide.

Cycling is another popular activity. Unfortunately, many British roads are very busy and don't have cycling paths, so cycling can be a bit dangerous in Britain, many people find quiet country roads and spend their whole holidays exploring their homeland on their bikes. More extreme sports like rock climbing also attract people. And, of course, the famous British eccentricity is the cause of unusual sports like extreme ironing. Extreme ironing is a serious sport where teams of people compete at who can do their ironing in more extreme conditions. Extreme ironing is now an international sport with serious competitions and organised events.

Of course, not all British people keep fit by engaging in extreme sports. Many go to the gym, swimming pool or fitness classes. However, it has to be said that the British are not the most sporting nation in the world. You see, watching TV often gets in the way. Increasingly, British people spend their free time watching TV. The only comforting thing is that they are not on their own - most of the world seems to be doing the same!

As far as actually going away on holiday, many British people choose to spend their holidays abroad, preferably somewhere warm and dry. Spain, France and Greece are regular destinations, due to convenient location and kind climate, but by far the greatest numbers use the USA, especially Florida and California for their holidays. City breaks are also a good idea for changing the scenery and enjoying new places without too much trouble.

 

Answer the questions:

1. Can British people be fined for an unmown lawn?

2. What are the most popular recreational activities?

 

Choose the right answer to the question:

Why can cycling be dangerous in the UK?

a) the cyclists often break traffic rules

b) there are no cycling paths

c) traffic is very heavy in most places and there few cycling paths.

Text 4

CLASS SYSTEM

Some things about Britain make sense only to the British. Of these, probably the strangest is social class. There are three main class divisions in Britain with some 'in between' variations (such as 'upper middle'): upper, middle and lower or working class. And people in Britain are very conscious of class differences.

The different classes in Britain tend to eat different food at different time of the day (and call the meals by different names), they like to talk about different topics, they enjoy different pastimes and sports and have different ideas about the correct way to behave.

The easiest way to guess the class to which the person belongs to is to listen to the way he or she speaks. A person's accent in Britain is an identity card. Other people will be able to say what social background you come from, where you were born or educated, and what kind of job you do.

Changing an accent is difficult, even for actors. To achieve the desired accent, a British person must speak it from childhood. This is one of the reasons why people still send their children to expensive private schools. It is not only that the education there is better, but because, as adults, they will have the right accent and manners, and equally importantly, they will make good social contacts that they can use later in life.

A person's vocabulary is also very important. Here is a good class-test you can try: when talking to an English person, say some­thing too quietly for them to hear you properly. A lower-middle or middle­-class person will say 'Pardon?'; an upper-middle class will say 'Sorry? (or perhaps 'Sorry — what?'); but an upper-class and a working-class person will both say 'What?' The working per­son, however, will drop the 't' — 'Wha'?'

'Toilet' is another word that makes the higher classes exchange knowing looks. The correct upper class word is 'lavatory' or 'loo'. The working classes all say 'toilet', as do most lower-middles and middle-middle classes, the only difference being the working-class dropping of the final 't' again.

An interesting thing about the class system in Britain is that very often it has nothing to do with money. A person with an upper-class accent, using upper-class words, will be recognized as upper class even if he or she is unem­ployed or homeless. And a person with working-class pronunciation, who calls a sofa a settee, and his midday meal 'dinner', will be identified as work­ing class even if he is a multi-millionaire living in a grand country house.

 

Answer the questions:

1. How many major class divisions are there in Great Britain?

2. What are the differences between the social classes?

 

 

Choose the right answer to the question:

Is it difficult to achieve the desired accent?

a) no, if you speak it from childhood

b) yes, for everyone

c) what other features can be used to distinguish class background?

 

Text 5

BIG RED LONDON BUSES

On October 25th 1911, the London General Omnibus Company ran their last horse-drawn omnibus through the streets of the capital. Then followed the era of the tramcar, but since then the big red motor bus has been London's 'king of the road'. Every day, thousands of Londoners use the big red buses to move around town; and lots of tourists know that a one-day London bus pass, valid on all regular bus routes, offers a wonderful way to see the sights of Britain's capital city.

The idea of the 'double decker' is actually much older than the motor bus; it is simply a continuation of the system that was used for public transport in the age of horse-drawn vehicles, when some of the passengers sat inside, and the rest travelled on the roof. If it rained, passengers could take a sort of oil-cloth cover out of the back of the seat in front of them, and pull it over them, but they still got pretty wet. It wasn't until the 1930s that all new buses became equipped with roofs over the upper deck. Today the only open-topped buses are the special tourist buses. The most famous London buses, how­ever, are not those that filled the capi­tal's streets in the 1930s, but the pow­erful 'Routemasters' which date from the 1950s and 60s. These are the buses that have been taken all over the world, the buses that you can see in the tourist brochures, and the ones which have been sold, in miniature, to millions of visitors and souvenir hunters.

The Routemaster is a legend in itself! With its open platform at the back end, the Routemaster is still the most popular bus in London, because passengers can climb on and off when they want, even if the bus is moving (though this is not recommended!).

These buses were designed specially for London, by people who knew what London needed, and they have served their purpose well.

Things started to go wrong for the London bus in the late 1960s. That was when the Ministry of Transport decided that it would only give financial assistance to bus companies that bought new buses with doors! They had to choose other models instead. Today, European Union rules also stipulate that new buses for public transport must have doors. Determined to keep the buses that Londoners (and tourists) want, London Transport has decided to keep the old Routemasters going as long as possible. The RM was taken out of use in June 2007 due to a law requiring busses to have access for disabled people. However London Transport has kept two RM routes running as tourists’ attractions. They are routes No 9 and 15. Both run from Trafalgar Square and run past many of London tourist sites. Five hundred of the popu­lar old buses have been renovated, and are now back on the road as good as new, if not better! The London Transport museum at Covent Garden has exhibits of all London buses from 1850 to the present day including the RM.

The black London taxi cab is another tradi­tional symbol of London. It looks old-fash­ioned and clumsy, but in fact it's comfort­able and speedy. Besides, London taxi dri­vers know the city very well. They spend up to two years studying and memorizing 25,000 streets, as well as the locations of hospitals, hotels, theatres, clubs, museums, etc. Then they have to pass a very difficult test called 'The Knowledge'. So when you climb into the famous black cab you can be absolutely sure that it'll get you wherever you want and by the quickest possible route.

Answer the questions:

1. Why was the RM taken out of use?

2. What kind of test do London taxi drivers have to pass?

Choose the right answer to the question:

Is the RM an open-topped bus?

a) yes b) no c) no, but it was before 1960s.

Text 6

FAMILY LIFE

In 1870, the average family had five or six children and it was a typical Victorian family. Each member of the family had its own place and chil­dren were taught to 'know their place.' The father was often strict and was obeyed by all without question. The children were taught to respect their father and always spoke politely to him calling him 'Sir.' Very few children would dare to be cheeky to their father or answer him back. When he wanted a little peace and quiet he would retire to his study and the rest of the family were not allowed to enter without his special permission. The mother would often spend her time planning dinner parties, visiting her dressmaker or calling on friends, she did not do jobs like washing clothes or cooking and cleaning. Both parents saw the upbringing of their children as an important responsibility. If a child did something wrong he would be punished for his own good. 'Spare the rod and spoil the child' was a saying Victorians firmly believed in. For poorer families their greatest fear was ending up in the workhouse, where thousands of homeless and penniless families were forced to live. If your family was taken into the workhouse you would be split up, dressed in uniform and have your hair cut short.

The family in Britain is changing. People get married at a later age and many career-oriented women don't want to have children immediately. They prefer to do well at their jobs first and put off having a baby until late thirties. In 1969, the law made it easier to get a divorce and now Britain is often called 'the divorce capital of Europe'. That means that there are more and more one-parent families.

However, marriage and the family are still popular. Most people in Britain still get married and stay together until the end of their lives. The majority of divorced people marry again, and they sometimes take responsibility for a second family. Relationships within the family are also changing. Parents treat their children more as equals than they used to. Children have more freedom and the things they are interested in reflect this: music, computers, television, the Internet, fashion, shopping and money.

As for young British people, they are keen to become independent and can't wait to move out of their parents' homes, although for some of them this may be financially impossible. Members of a family try to keep in touch, but they see less of each other than they used to. This is because people often move away from their home town to a different part of the coun­try to find a job, which makes it more difficult for them to be in regular contact with their par­ents. That's why Christmas is so important in Britain. It's the traditional season for reunions and relatives often travel many miles in order to spend the holiday together.

 

 

Answer the questions:

 

1. How many children were there in a typical Victorian family?

2. Why is Britain called 'the divorce capital of Europe'?

 

Choose the right answer to the question:

Why do young British people leave their parent’s homes?

a) their parents are too strict with them

b) they want to be independent

c) they want to live and work in different part of the country

Text 7

OXBRIDGE

Oxford and Cambridge are the oldest and most prestigious universities in Britain. Known together as 'Oxbridge' (the word was invented by Lewis Carroll, the author of 'Alice in Wonderland' and a lecturer in mathematics at Oxford), they have been chosen as national icons. Of the two universities Oxford is the oldest. Nobody knows for sure when it was founded but teaching was already going on there by the early 12th century. Life was hard at Oxford at that time because there was constant trouble, even fighting, between the townspeople and the students. Then one day a student accidentally killed a man of the town. The Mayor arrested three other students who were innocent, and by order of King John they were hanged. In protest, many students and teachers left Oxford and settled in another little town, and so the University of Cambridge was born.

Since then there has been constant friendly (and sometimes not-so-friendly) rivalry between Oxford and Cambridge. In the early centuries, Oxford and Cambridge were the only universities in the country - if you wanted a uni­versity education, that's where you went. But in those days student life was very different from what it is now. Students were not allowed to play games, to sing or to dance and all the lessons were in Latin. Until the late 19th century, only men were allowed to be students at the two universities.

Both Oxford and Cambridge students refer to each other as 'the other place'. Oxonians sometimes call Cambridge 'a pale imitation of the real thing'. (Cambridge's colours are light blue). Cantabrigians (people of Cambridge) refer to Oxford as 'the dark side' (Oxford's colours are dark blue).

Oxbridge is made up of independent colleges. The 'University' is just an administrative body that organises lectures, arranges exams, gives degrees, etc. Today, there are 70 colleges at Oxbridge, and each college has its name, its coat of arms and its own buildings, including a chapel, a library, a dining hall and rooms for students to live in. Each college has its own character and its own traditions. Students go to lectures that are arranged by the University and are open to all students. The normal length of the degree course is three years, after which the students take the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Some courses, such as medicine or languages, may be one or two years longer. The students may work for other degrees as well.

Oxbridge has 35,000 students from the UK and all over the world. Oxbridge graduates often become powerful and suc­cessful members in British society, and many leading people in professions such as the law and politics have traditionally been 'Oxbridge-educated'.

Sport is a very important part of Oxbridge life. Colleges within each university often compete with each other in various tournaments. The most famous competition between the two universities is the Boat Race, a rowing race which takes place every year on the River Thames. It's a popular national event and is shown on television.

 

Answer the questions:

1. Who invented the word 'Oxbridge'?

2. Could women study at universities in the 19th century?

 

Choose the right answer to the question:

What is the name of the most famous competition between the two universities?

a) chess tournament

b) basketball

c) a rowing race

Text 8

Rolls Royce

 

After Henry Royce's father died in 1872, the boy worked as a newspaper seller and telegram delivery boy. In 1884, Frederick Henry Royce started an electrical and mechanical business. He made his first car, a "Royce", in his Manchester factory in 1904. He was introduced to Charles Stewart Rolls at the Midland Hotel in Manchester on May 4 of that year, and the pair agreed to a deal where Royce would manufacture cars, to be sold exclusively by Rolls. A clause was added to the contract stipulating the cars would be called "Rolls-Royce". So, the most luxurious classic car in the world was born more than 100 years ago. It was the brainchild of engineer Henry Royce and car trader Charles Rolls. When they founded the Rolls Royce Company, their aim was nothing less than to make 'the best car in the world. Two years later, 'the best car' was produced. It was the famous 40/50, which was nicknamed the 'Silver Ghost' because of its quietness and smoothness. A journalist of the time wrote that the car had 'the feeling of being wafted through the countryside.' Since then the company's engineers use the term 'waftability.' Some models of the original Silver Ghost cars is still run­ning, however, and even today, their engines barely make a sound.

Almost 8,000 Silver Ghosts were made before produc­tion finally stopped in 1925. The Silver Spirit, introduced by Rolls-Royce in 1980, was the first of a new generation of models for the company.

In 1933, the colour of the Rolls-Royce radiator monogram was changed from red to black because the red sometimes clashed with the coachwork colour selected by clients, and not as a mark of respect for the passing of Royce as is commonly stated. During World War II the Rolls Royce Company produced engines for fighter planes, in particular, the famous “Merlin” engine used to power the “Spitfire” aircraft.

John Lennon's Rolls Royce (he had a Phantom V) was black, but John soon became bored with this. He had the car repainted in a psychedelic style. After Lennon's death, the car was sold for $2,299,000.

New generations of Rollers became more and more luxurious and had all sorts of luxury things - from cocktail cabinets to picnic tables. Individual buyers could have the car's equipment changed according to their needs. Of course, only a few people can afford such large, expensive cars -members of the Royal Family and other heads of state, millionaires and very rich celebrities. In 1998, the Rolls Royce Company was bought by the German company Volkswagen. These days, Rolls-Royce models look more like ordinary cars - instead of five-star hotel rooms on wheels. The small metal statue on the radiator cap at the front of every Rolls Royce is a work of art in its own right. It's called the 'Spirit of Ecstasy'. The name Rolls Royce is often used to describe something very good and expensive: for example, the Rolls Royce of electric guitars costs $ 5,000.

 

Answer the questions:

1. Who founded the Rolls Royce Company?

2. Why did John Lennon have the car repainted?

 

Choose the right answer to the question:

Why did the first luxurious classic car have the name the 'Silver Ghost'?

a) it was very beautiful

b) it ran very quietly and smoothly

c) the production of the car was limited

Text 9