Учащиеся подобрали интересный материал по данной теме, красочно оформили свои проекты и представили их для защиты.
Торжественный выезд королевы и ее тронная речь по случаю очередной сессии парламента, спикер, восседающий на мешке с шерстью в палате лордов, караул в старинной форме у ворот Букингемского дворца, вороны, живущие в Тауэре на государственном довольствии, - все это не только эффектная декорация, привлекающая толпы любопытных и жадных до зрелищ туристов, но и попытка хотя бы внешне сохранить отблески славы и величия Британии.
Многие английские традиции обязаны своим появлением тем или иным историческим событиям.
Если спросить несколько человек о том, какая черта характера отличает англичан, среди ответов почти наверняка встретится “верность традициям”, или “консерватизма”. Именно о традициях и о том, как к ним относятся англичане, нам хотелось бы рассказать по следующему плану:
- Pancake Day. (Shrove Tuesday).
- Tea. High Tea.
- Easter.
- Traditional Ceremonies in London:
- Changing the Guard.
- Mounting the Guard.
- Trooping the Colour.
- Swan – Upping
- Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day)
Every country has its own traditions and customs. In Britain traditions play a very important role in the life of people mostly because the British are very conservative/ they are proud of their traditions. The pupils of the 8th form will tell you about Pancake Day which is celebrated on Shrove Tuesday in Spring at the beginning of Lent. Lent is a period of 40 days before Easter.
Well, on this day in England families usually have pancakes for school dinner, and in restaurants customers ask pancakes too.
Everyone knows that pancakes are delicious to eat, but do you know how to cook them?
Let’s arrange the instructions for making pancakes in the right order.
Another tradition is the Pancake fight when a cook tosses pancake high into the air. Half the fun of Pancake Day lies in eating the pancakes; the other half comes in tossing them. They are thin cakes made of batter, fried in a pan, and it is necessary to cook them on both sides. It is usual to throw them into the air, catching them in the pan as they come down. Many a pancake ends up on the floor, and some become stuck to the ceiling. Those that survive taste particularly good to a child who has successfully tossed them.
Can you make pancakes? It’s very easy. You need: four ? lb (about 250 g)
- eggs 4
- milk 1 pint (about 0.56 liters)
- sugar 1 tablespoon
- butter 2 oz. (about 60 g)
- a pinch of salt
Put the flour, eggs, milk, sugar and salt in a mixing-bowl.
Mix them with a fork. You now have a batter for the pancakes.
Put your finger in the batter. Is the batter too thin? Or is it too thick? Add more flour or more milk.
Melt the butter in a saucepan.
Add most of the butter to the batter.
Put the rest of the butter in a frying-pan.
Heat the frying-pan. It must be very hot.
Put some of the batter into the frying-pan. The butter must cover the bottom of the pan.
Cook the batter for half a minute. Then toss the pancake in the air and cook the other side for half a minute.
Put the pancake in a warm oven (low gas or electric).
Then make another pancake. You can make lots of pancakes with the batter.
Eat with lemon juice and honey.
Tea.
In Britain tea is the kind of English breakfast it is always given in a beautiful tae-pot and is poured in a beautiful cups. (It is a part of a cultural British tradition).
English people drink a lot of tea. Some English people have tea for breakfast, tea in the middle of the morning, tea after dinner, tea in the middle of the afternoon, tea at tea-time and tea with supper.
At work they lake five or ten minutes in the middle of morning and the afternoon to have a cup of tea.
At tea-time they have one, two, three or more cups of tea, bread and butter, or cakes.
Today the British drink more tea than any other nation – an average of 4 kilos a head per annum, or 1650 cups of tea a year. They drink it in bed in the morning, round the fire or winter afternoons and out in the garden on sunny summer days. In times of trouble the kettle is quickly put on the tea is made and comforting cups of the warm brown liquid are passed round.
High tea.
Probably the English meal which intrigues foreigners most is high tea. the famous English cookery writer, Mrs. Benton, pointed out possible confusion to her readers ‘there is tea, and there is tea ...’ Afternoon tea usually means bread and butter, or sandwiches (the idea of putting a filing between two pieces of bread came from John Montagu, Fourth Earl of Sandwich, in 1762) and cake, served with cups of tea. High tea is a more substantial meal with a savoury dish followed by different types of bread, cake and biscuits.
Many Englishmen eat porridge with milk for breakfast. English people often take sugar in their porridge. But porridge is a Scotch dish, and the Scotch always put salt in it, and never sugar. Porridge is made by steirring (a type of cereal) in boiling water of milk. It is eaten hot, with salt or sugar and hot milk. Porridge is a traditional Scottish food.
Eggs can be cooked in four different ways for breakfast. A hotel menu may say Eggs to order. This means that you can choose the way you want the eggs cooked-boiled, scrambled, poached or fried with bacon.
Easter
WHAT IS AN EASTER PARADE?
It's a parade of people, all dressed up for Easter. Many people wear new clothes on Easter. After church some of them go for a walk. Europeans used to say prayers and sing religious songs on Easter walks. Today people call an Easter walk an Easter parade. There is no music at an Easter parade. People just walk up and down the street. In years when hats are in style, women show off their fancy Easter bonnets. Sometimes famous people join the Easter parade on Fifth Avenue in New York City.
When Did People Begin to Decorate Eggs at Easter?
No one is certain. Some people think the Egyptians colored eggs in the spring long before Jesus was born. Before dye was invented, people colored eggs by wrapping them in leaves and flowers and dropping them in boiling water. This gave the eggs the color of green leaves or red petals. Later, Christians painted eggs and had them blessed. They ate some and gave the others to friends as Easter gifts.
WHY IS THE EGG AN EASTER SYMBOL?
In many of the world's cultures the egg stands for new life. An egg looks like a stone or a rock. But it is from an egg that new life bursts forth. The egg is a reminder to Christians of the resurrection of Jesus.
Why Do Christians Celebrate Easter?
Easter is the happiest and most important Christian holy day. On Easter Christians celebrate their belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion. "Resurrection" means "a rising from the dead." "Crucifixion" means "being put to death on a cross."
The Christian religion teaches that Jesus’ resurrection is a great victory over death. It brings new and everlasting life to all who believe in Jesus.
The English word "Easter" probably comes from "Eostre", the name of an old goddess whose festival was in the spring. Easter is always in the spring.
TRADITIONAL CEREMONIES IN LONDON
London has still preserved its old ceremonies rind traditions to a greater extent than any other city in England. However, it is beyond the cope of this book to deal with all the ritual surrounding the skittish capital. We have, therefore, limited ourselves to the description of those traditional ceremonies which arc widely known both in Great Britain and abroad.
The troops who take part are selected from the five regiments of Foot Guards. Their numbers are depended on whether the Queen is in residence or not. These form the famous Brigade of Guards, and they consist of the Grenadiers, the Coldstream Guards, and the Welsh, Irish and Scots Guards.
The men of the duty guard March from either Wellington or Chelsea Barracks to Buckingham Palace with a band, which during the actual ceremony plays in the forecourt of the Palace.
The guard to be relieved forms at the southern end of the forecourt under the command of the Captain of the Queen's
Guard. They are drawn up into two ranks. Before they are stood at ease, the colour is paraded by the ensign on duty. Each regiment has two colours — a royal one and a regimental one. The royal colour can be seen only when the Queen is at home. Sometimes the colour is decorated with a laurel wreath, signifying the anniversary of a battle in which the regiment was engaged.
The new guard enters the forecourt by the north gate. As it approaches, the old guard is called, to attention; the new guard is then halted to be formed into files before it advances to position at a slow march. While this is taking place, the band plays. Later the band leads the old guard back to their barracks.
When the Queen is in residence at Buckingham Palace there is a guard of four sentries. Only two are on duty when she is away from London.
When the Queen is in residence at Windsor Castle, another Changing the Guard ceremony takes place in the Quadrangle there at 10 a. m. daily.
MOUNTING THE GUARD
The colourful spectacle of Mounting the Guard, at the Horse Guards, in Whitehall, always attracts London sightseers.
It can be seen at 11 a. m. every weekday and at 10 a. m. on Sundays.
The guard is provided by a detachment of the Household Cavalry and involves units of the Royal Horse Guards, known as the "Blues", and the Life Guards, sometimes referred to as "The Tins".
The Life Guards wear scarlet uniforms and white metal helmets with white horsehair plumes and have white sheepskin saddles. The Royal Horse Guards wear deep-blue tunics and white metal helmets with red horsehair plumes and have black sheepskin saddles.
The actual ceremony is dependent on whether or not the Queen is in residence in London. If she is, there is more to see. On these occasions the ceremony is performed by what has become known as the "long guard". The guard is commanded by an officer in charge of sixteen troopers" a corporal of horse, a corporal major, and a trumpeter. The trumpeter rides a grey horse; the others ride black chargers. A standard is carried, except when the Queen is not in London, when, also, there is no officer in command.
TROOPING THE COLOUR
During the month of June, a day is set aside as the Queen’s official birthday. This is usually the second Saturday in June. On this day there takes place on Horse Guards Parade in Whitehall the magnificent spectacle of Trooping the Colour, which begins at about 11.15 a. m. (unless rain intervenes, when the ceremony is usually postponed until conditions arc suitable).
This is pageantry of rare splendour, with the Queen riding side-saddle on a highly trained horse.
The colours of one of the five regiments of Foot Guards are trooped before the Sovereign. As she rides on to Horse Guards parade the massed array of the Brigade of Guards, dressed in ceremonial uniforms, await her inspection.
For twenty minutes the whole parade stands rigidly to attention while beginning inspected by the Queen. Then comes the Trooping ceremony itself, to be followed by the famous March Past of the Guards to the music of massed bands, at which the Queen takes the Salute. The precision drill of the regiments is notable.
The ceremony ends with the Queen returning to Buckingham Palace at the head of her Guards.
The Escort to the Colour, chosen normally in strict rotation, then mounts guard at the Palace.
SWAN-UPP1NG
When swans were first introduced into Britain (probably from Cyprus about the thirteenth century) they were very rare and were considered a great delicacy in the kitchens of the nobility. They were proclaimed royal birds, and the reigning sovereign was, and still is, Seigneur of the Swans. Ownership of all the swans on the Thames is divided between the Queen and two of the oldest trade Companies in the City of London, the Dyers and the Vintners. These two Companies were granted the privilege in the reign of Elizabeth I. Once a year, usually in the second half of July, the ceremony of Swan-Upping and Marking is performed from gaily flagged skiffs by the Queen's Swanmaster and the. Swanmasters of the Dyers and Vintners. The Swanmasters wear special gold-braided uniforms, and their assistants are dressed in striped jerseyss. Their task is to mark cygnets on the Thames from London Bridge to Henley-on-Thames. Royal swans are not marked, but those of the Dyers Company are recorded by one nick in the bill; those of the Vintners by two nicks. There are always several hundred birds to be marked, and the job takes a week or more to complete.
