Read the text and use the word given in brackets

April
Fools’ Day is
an unofficial
(unofficially)
holiday celebrated by many people around
the world on April 1st. It’s
a day where people revel in playing all kinds of tricks on friends
or family.
Another name for April Fools’
Day is All Fools’
Day.

No
one really knows where or when the holiday began. It seems most
_______ (like) that the holiday has _______ (slow) evolved into its
present form over hundreds of
years. Both the Romans and the Hindus had holidays around the vernal
equinox (весняне
рівнодення). In ages past, people often considered this as
the New Year, because it marked a change in seasons.

________
(history) believe we have the French to
thank for _______ (practice)
jokes on April 1st. Although most of Europe already celebrated New
Year’s in
January, France was one of the first countries to ________
(official)
declare January 1st as New Year’s
Day. _______ (tradition)
gifts, greetings, and visits to welcome the New Year also switched
days. But quite a few people resisted the change, while others hadn’t
heard of the ________ (declare).
Both were ridiculed as fools, and people played pranks (жарти)
on them. The _______ (traditional)
continued, and eventually spread to the rest of ________
(European),
and then the world.

Have
you ever heard of these April Fools’
Day classics?

In
1965, the BBC TV announced the _________
(create)
of “smellovision.”
Aromas from the TV studio would be broadcast to TV sets across the
nation.

In
1980, the BBC said that Big Ben would go ______
(digit).
People ________ (angry)
complained about changing the world-renown English landmark. The BBC
service in Japanese even announced that the hands would be sold to
the first four people to call the station.

Again,
the BBC announced that an ________
(astronomy)
event would precisely align Pluto and Jupiter. The result would
lesson the Earth’s
gravity. If anyone jumped in the air at _______
(exact)
9:47 a.m. on April 1st, they would feel a strange, floating feeling.
The BBC received hundreds of phone calls. One woman even said that
she and her eleven friends had floated around the room!

And
last, in 1998, Burger King in America advertised a “left
handed Whopper”
hamburger. It had been designed for left-handed customers, and all
the ingredients were rotated 180 degrees. Thousands of people rushed
to the restaurant to try the new sandwich, and many more ordered the
_______ (originally)
“right-handed”
version.

5. Translate the following sentences into English.

1. День
Святого Валентина – свято романтичного
кохання, день, коли закохані виражають
свої почуття, обмінюючись подарунками.

2. Шоколад,
квіти й прикраси – типові подарунки в
цей день.

3. Найтрадиційніший
подарунок у День Святого Валентина –
листівка зі словами кохання.

4. Інші
символи Дня закоханих – вироби у формі
серця та фігурки Купідона, що символізують
романтичні почуття.

5. Багато
закоханих пар ходить на романтичні
побачення в цей день.

6. Приклад
такого побачення – вечеря при свічках
у романтичному ресторані.

7. Коли
хлопець дарує дівчині валентинку, він
часто просто хоче показати, що дівчина
йому подобається.

8. Існує
багато теорій про походження цього
свята, і кожна з них має героїчний та
романтичний компоненти.

9. Хоча
День Святого Валентина став комерційним
святом, він не втрачає важливого аспекту
– це час, який ми приділяємо коханим
людям.

BLOCK
II

1. Read
   the dialogues.

Jeremy: Janet,
are the eggs boiled yet?

Janet: Yes,
and the dyes are ready, too. Look at the beautiful colors I mixed.
Let’s get busy!

Jeremy:Tell
the kids it’s time. They’ve been waiting so long.

Janet:After
the eggs are dyed then we can hide them in the grass for tomorrow.

Jeremy:We’d
better count them so we don’t lose any.

Janet:Did
you find the Easter basket from last year? Each child will need one.

Jeremy:They
are all waiting for the Easter Bunny to fill them with candies and
eggs.

Janet:Tomorrow
the children will be dressed in their best clothes so I hope the
weather is nice and they won’t get dirty before church.

Jeremy:Well,
you can be sure they will be into the chocolate eggs before church.
It’s all fun for them, so a little dirt can’t hurt.

Janet:I’m
going to be busy preparing dinner for the relatives, so it will be up
to you, Dad, to entertain the children.

Jeremy:We
might even take care of our garden before the spring season. That
would be a great place to hide some of the eggs.

*****

Jerry:
Look, Fei! I got a Christmas card from my sister.

Fei:It’s very beautiful. Why are the words “Happy Holidays”
written on the card? Christmas is only one holiday. Shouldn’t it
be “Happy Holiday”, without the “s”?

Jerry:We don’t just celebrate Christmas during this season. We also
celebrate the coming of the New Year.

Fei:Oh, I never thought about that before. There’s more than one
holiday at the end of the year.

Jerry:Now that I’m in China, I want to celebrate the holidays
Chinese-style. What do you and your family do for Christmas?

Fei:Actually, we don’t do much at Christmas. It’s not really a big
family holiday. Young people in China would rather spend Christmas
Eve with their boyfriends or girlfriends.

Jerry:So is it something like a date night?

Fei:Yes, I guess you could say that. Christmas Eve is special, but we
don’t usually have any special plans for Christmas Day.

Jerry:Don’t people give gifts to each other like they do in the U.S. and
Europe?

Fei:Many parents do give gifts to their kids. But more important,
boyfriends give wonderful, special, romantic gifts to their
girlfriends!

Jerry:I see. How about the New Year in China? Is it a bigger holiday than
Christmas?

Fei:Not really. The Spring Festival is much more important to us here in
China.

Jerry:The Spring Festival is known around the world as “Chinese New
Year”. It’s the beginning of the year according to the
traditional lunar calendar, isn’t it?

Fei:That’s right. The Spring Festival is the biggest family holiday in
China, so we don’t celebrate the western New Year. How about in New
York? Do people celebrate New Year’s Eve more or New Year’s Day?

Jerry:Single people, or couples without children, often go out late on New
Year’s Eve. They drink and party after the clock strikes midnight.
There are big parties all over, but the biggest is in Times Square in
Manhattan.

Fei:I guess they won’t have much energy left over to do anything on
New Year’s Day, then.

Jerry: Right.
But there are families who don’t do anything special on New Year’s
Eve. Instead, they celebrate with their families on New Year’s Day.

*****

Grandpa:I
love parades. The Thanksgiving Day parade is always such a great fun.
(Pointing to the TV screen.) Look at that Superman balloon just
floating along high above Central Park West. Don’t you just love
it? Oh, and the bands and the music… I love this music. Look at the
decorations, Robbie. Look at those funny-looking clowns.

Robbie:It’s for kids.

Grandpa:Maybe so, but parades always make me feel like a kid. Remember when
you and your dad and I went to the Thanksgiving Day parade? You were
four or five years old, I think.

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Прочитайте текст и используйте слова, написанные заглавными буквами в конце каждой строки, чтобы образовать слово, которое подходит для пропуска в той же строке.
Charles Dickens
The famous British author Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, in Portsmouth, on the southern coast of England. He was the second of eight children. When Charles was just 12 years old, the family’s financial situation got worse. His father, John Dickens, had a dangerous habit of spending more money than he earned. John Dickens was sent to prison for debt in 1824, and Charles Dickens had to forget about education and to go to work at a factory. At the age of sixteen, Dickens got himself a job as a reporter and joined the staff of The Mirror of Parliament, a newspaper that reported on the decisions of Parliament. In 1836-1837 he wrote a humorous series of sketches “The Pickwick Papers” which became very popular. Within a few years he was considered to be one of the most successful authors of his time.
Чарльз Диккенс
Известный британский писатель Чарльз Диккенс родился 7 февраля 1812 года, в Портсмуте, на южном побережье Англии. Он был вторым из восьми детей. Когда Чарльзу был всего 12 лет, финансовое положение семьи ухудшилось. Его отец, Джон Диккенс, имел опасную привычку тратить больше денег, чем он зарабатывал. Джон Диккенс был отправлен в тюрьму за долги в 1824 году, и Чарльз Диккенс должен был забыть об образовании и пойти работать на завод. В возрасте шестнадцати лет, Диккенс нашел себе работу в качестве репортера и присоединился к сотрудникам Зеркало Парламента, газета, которая сообщала о решениях парламента. В 1836-1837 он написал юмористическую серию очерков «Записки Пиквикского клуба», которая стала очень популярной. В течение нескольких лет он считался одним из самых успешных авторов своего времени.

Use the word given in brackets to form a word that fits the space.

A young (1)__________ (TAIWAN) man wrote 700 letters to his girlfriend over a period of
two years, (2)________ (TRY) to get her to marry him. His (3)________________ (PERSIST)
finally brought results. The girl became engaged to the (4)______________ (POST) who
(5)_____________ (FAITH) delivered all the letters.

Key: 1. Taiwanese; 2. trying; 3. persistence; 4. postman;
5. faithhfully

Read the text below and think of the word which best fits each space. Use only
one word in each space.

Many, many years (1)__________ girls pinned five bay leaves to (2)____________
pillows on the eve of Valentine’s Day. They pinned one (3)___________ to the center of
the pillow and one to each corner. If (4)_________ charm worked, they (5)___________ their
future husbands in their dreams.

bay лавр, лавровое дерево

Key: 1. ago; 2. their; 3. leaf; 4. the; 5. saw

Read the dialogue below and think of the word which best fits each space. Use
only one word in each space.

– What (1)_____________ your dream holiday anywhere in the world? Is there one place
you (2)____________ really like to see for yourself one day?
– There are a lot of places I‘d really (3)__________ to see. But this summer we
(4)___________ exploring English Lakes and Scottish Highlands.
– Walking holidays?
– I think it’s the (5)___________ way to see the country.

Key: 1. is; 2. would; 3. like; 4. are; 5. best

Complete the sentences using one of the verbs below. There is one verb extra.

broaden attend hold

afford communicate cancel

1. You should know how (1)__________________ with the people from other countries.
2. A lot of students from Russia would like to go to Britain to improve their English and
(2) __________________ their mind.
3. Can you (3)__________ a holiday in Britain?
4. Will you (4)__________ your package tour if your work keeps you busy?
5. English language courses in July? I’d rather (5)________ driving courses.

Key: 1. to communicate; 2. to broaden; 3. afford; 4. cancel;
5. attend

to be continued

By Youdif Boyarskaya ,
School No. 814, Moscow