английский для гуманитариев. Учебное пособие
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Decide whether these statements are true or false. 1. According to a Japanese proverb, “Better than a long and proper study is one day with a proper teacher.” 2. Priests and other learned men of ancient times became the teachers. 3. Respect for teachers was proportional to money they earned. 4. Confucius became the first private teacher for children of the wealthy and noble. 5. In ancient Greece teachers were respected by any Greek. UNIT 3 History WHAT IS HISTORY? History is the study of the past – specifically, the peoples, societies, events and problems of the past – and our attempts to understand them. It is a pursuit common to all human societies. History can be a tremendous story, a rolling narrative filled with great personalities and tales of turmoil and triumph. Each passing generation adds its own chapters to our history while reinterpreting and finding new things in those chapters already written. History gives us a sense of identity. By understanding where we have come from, we can better understand who we are. History provides a sense of context for our lives and our existence. It helps us to understand the way things are and ways that we might approach the future. History teaches us what it means to be human, highlighting the great achievements and disastrous errors of the human race. History also teaches us through example. It offers hints about how we can organise and manage our societies for the benefit and betterment of all those who live in them. Tasks for the text 1. Give the Russian equivalents to the words and word-combinations, learn the vocabulary: 1. attempts to understand 2. pursuit 3. human societies 4. narrative 5. turmoil 6. triumph 7. reinterpretation 8. a sense of identity 9. a sense of context 10. approach 11. achievement 12. disastrous error 13. human race 14. hint 15. benefit and betterment 16. event 17. passing generation 18. through example 2. Find the following English expressions in the text: - помогает понять - что значит быть человеком - лучше понять кто мы такие - исследование прошлого - народы, культуры, события прошлого - каждое предыдущее поколение - наша жизнь и опыт - кто мы и откуда - история намекает (подсказывает) как обустроить наше общество - добавлять свою главу в историю - попытки понять - стремление, поиски, свойственные всем культурам - великие достижения и пагубные ошибки 3. Find close synonyms to the words. 1. provide - _______________ 2. great - _______________ 3. story - ______________, ____________, ____________ 4. betterment - ______________ 5. existence - ______________ 6. manage - ______________ 4. Correct the sentences: 1. History is a story of the past. 2. It is full of great personalities and tales of war victories and defeats. 3. History teaches us to be kind. 4. History gives us a sense of humor 5. History teaches us to get benefits. 5. Fill in each blank with a suitable preposition: 1. History can be a tremendous story, filled ____ great personalities and tales ____ turmoil and triumph. 2. History also teaches us ______ example. 3. Each passing generation adds its own chapters _____ our history. 4. It helps us to understand the way things are and ways that we might approach _____the future. 5. _____ understanding where we have come from, we can better understand who we are. 6. History offers hints about how we can organize and manage our societies ____ the benefit and betterment. 6. Match words 1-6 with words a-f to form collocations, then make sentences using the completed phrases.
7. Translate into English: 1. Трудно понять, как обстоят дела. 2. Многие главы истории человечества уже написаны. 3. Понимая историю страны, мы можем обустроить наше будущее. 4. История – это изучение и переосмысление событий, культур, народов и личностей прошлого. 5. История как наука помогает осознать нашу принадлежность к конкретной исторической ситуации или месту. 8. Answer the questions: 1. What is History? 2. What does History study? 3. What does History teach? 4. Who adds its own chapters to the history? 5. How can we better understand who we are? 6. What methods does History teach us? 7. What way does History help us to be human? READING I Complete the Text with the suitable words or phrases from the box.
‘History’ and ‘the past’ Those starting out in history often believe history and the past to be the same thing. This is not the case. The past refers to an _____ time, the people and societies who _____ it and the events that took place there. History is our attempts to ____, study and ____ the past. This is a subtle difference but an important one. What happened in the past is ____ in time and cannot be changed. History, in contrast, changes regularly. The past is a factual certainty while history is an ongoing conversation about the past and its meaning. The word “history” and the English word “____” both originate from the Latin historia, meaning a narrative or _____ of past events. History is itself a collection of thousands of stories about the past, told by many different people. Because there are so many of these stories, they are often variable, contradictory and conflicting. This means history is subject to constant revision and _____. Each _____ looks at the past through its own eyes. It applies different standards, priorities and ____ and reaches different conclusions about the past. The study of how history differs and has changed over time is called _____. Like historical narratives themselves, our understanding of what history is and the shape it should take is flexible and open to debate. For as long as people have studied history, _____ have presented different ideas about how the past should be studied, constructed, written and ______. As a consequence, historians may approach history in different ways, using different ideas and methods and focusing on prioritizing different aspects. Active Vocabulary 1. over time 2. generation 3. attempts to investigate 4. ongoing conversation 5. variable, contradictory and conflicting. 6. explain 7. historiography 8. to look at the past through its own eyes 9. a narrative or account of past events 10. differ 11. to be fixed in time 12. refer to 2. Translate into English: 1. История и прошлое – это не одно и то же. 2. Прошлое относится к людям, культурам и событиям, жившим и имевшим место раньше. 3. А История – это попытка узнать, изучить и объяснить прошлое. 4. Историография – это наука о том, как история развивалась с течением времени. 5. Все, что было в прошлом нельзя изменить, История же, наоборот, постоянно меняется. 6. История – это наука, которая постоянно пересматривается и интерпретируется по-иному. 7. С тех пор как люди стали изучать Историю, историки предлагали множество вариантов того, как следует ее изучать, реконструировать, описывать и объяснять. II Why Do Attilas and Tamerlanes Appear in History? 1. The year 1820 was a good one for historians in Russia. 1820 saw the birth of Sergei Solovyov, a historian, who wrote a great work “A History of Russia from Ancient Times”, consists of 29 volumes. For his Masters’s Degree he wrote “Novgorod’s Relationship with the Grand Princes” in 1845, and for PhD, “History of Relations between the Princes of the House of Ryuruk”, in 1847. In 1855 S. Solovyov became dean of the History and Philology Department and in 1870, university president. 2. Solovyov’s understanding of History fell within the bounds of the state school, the exact opposite of anarchism. The transition from the tribal system to state was regarded as the most important progressive development for the Russian nation. In terms of natural environment, Solovyov linked Russia’s ancient history to the enormous Russian plains, which were open to attack from Asia. He didn’t endorse the Norman theory of the origin of the Russian state, although he did not deny the presence in Russia of the Varangians (Vikings). Nor did Solovyov attach exclusive importance to the Tatar (Mongol) conquest of Russia, since the Tatars did not colonize Russia and left its religion untouched. 3. The need to protect the country from external enemies was the decisive factor in the shaping of Russian society, in Solovyov’s view. It was necessary to constantly maintain the combat worthiness of the country’s military organization. The gentry formed the basis of the military force. In exchange for military service, the gentry received land (which was abundant in Russia) and serfs. Thus, military power led to the “enserfment” of all estates in society. The gentry members were subordinated to the ruler, serfs worked for their owners, town dwellers were forced to work and pay taxes. Since Russia had vast expanses, especially in the East, flight was always an option, and in this sense, Solovyov believed that Cossacks, free fighting horsemen who lived on the outskirts of the Russian state, were a major threat to the Russian state (ironically they would later become the last mainstay of the Czarist Empire). 4. Hegel’s dialectics were an important part of Solovyov’s theory of History. Russian history, in his view, involved the struggle between opposites, tribe and state, forest and steppe (settled and nomadic peoples), European and Asian civilization, the high ideals of Christianity and the restricted possibilities of peoples in absorbing them. At the same time, Solovyov fell prey to Hegel’s chief failing, his idealization of the state (in Hegel’s case, it was his contemporary Prussian state, in Solovyov’s the Moscovy state which united Russia). 5. He explained Russia’s Time of Troubles by the fall in society’s moral standards. He wrote: “We know when Attilas, Tamerlanes and other rockers of the universe appear, when external or domestic breachers of the social system and civilization appear: it happens when society ignores spiritual life, spiritual interests, spiritual strengths, when it indulges in sensuality, material gains, when it builds an altar to Moloch and Golden Calf…” These words certainly have a prophetic ring to them, and today, once again, we turn a deaf ear to the warning of one of Russia’s greatest historians. Tasks for the text 1. Read the text and choose the right title (a-e) to each passage (1-5): a. Theory the Russian History based on. b. Solovyov’s idea of Russian state development. c. The path of the scientist. d. The main elements in the forming of Russian state. e. Solovyov’s view on the crisis of civilizations. 2. Give Russian equivalents to the words and word-combinations: 1. tribal system 2. external enemies 3. decisive factor 4. the combat worthiness 5. gentry 6. serf 7. town dwellers 8. nomadic peoples 9. restricted 10. indulge 11. material gains 12. prophetic 3. Find the following English expressions in the text: - предупреждение великих историков - городские жители - переход от родоплеменного строя - он не одобрял теорию - он не отрицал присутствие - важность Татаро-Монгольского завоевания - с точки зрения природных условий - знать была основой военной мощи - защищать страну от внешних врагов - оседлые и кочевые племена - внешние и внутренние влияния (на уклад страны) - пренебрегать духовным и предаваться страстям и наживе III A) Ancient Structures 1. Read through these two paragraphs about two very famous structures in China and Egypt. When you have finished reading, answer the comprehension questions. There is also a vocabulary exercise for you to try. The Great Wall of China The Great Wall of China was built across northern China to protect the population from foreign invaders. Before 3rd century BC, there were lots of smaller walls and they were joined together to make one long, defensive wall. The work was done by enormous numbers of forced labourers and many of them died during the process. The wall is over 20,000 km long, and on average is 7m high, and 5m wide. It is made of earth covered stone. The Egyptian Pyramids The Egyptian Pyramids are a famous symbol of ancient Egypt. The stone structures were usually tombs for pharaohs. The pyramids have square bases with sloping sides which meet at an apex. The first Pyramid was built in about 2600 BC and is over 140m high. One of the biggest Pyramids is made of enormous stone blocks which weigh up to 200 tons each. It is estimated that around 25,000 people worked for 20 years to build each Pyramid. 2. Comprehension Questions 1. Why was the Great Wall of China built? 2. Who built the Great Wall of China? 3. How long is the Great Wall of China? 4. Which structure is older, the Great Wall of China, or the Pyramids in Egypt? 5. What was the purpose of the Pyramids in Egypt? 6. What are pharaohs? 7. When was the first pyramid built? 8. How long did it take to build one Pyramid 9. Where was the Great Wall of China built? 10. What is a famous symbol of ancient Egypt? 3. Choose the word that is closest in meaning to the underlined words. All these words come from today's comprehension: 1. "to protect the population from foreign INVADERS": a. doubters b. police c. forcers d. attackers 2. "The work was done by ENORMOUS numbers of forced labourers": insignificant b. historic c. heavy d. huge 3. "The Egyptian Pyramids are a famous SYMBOL of ancient Egypt": representation b. beauty c. kingdom d. place 4. "The stone structures were usually TOMBS for pharaohs": palaces b. churches c. rooms d. graves 5. "The pyramids have square bases with sloping sides which meet at an APEX": hole b. river c. top d. angle 6. "It is ESTIMATED that around 25,000 people worked for 20 years": thought b. used c. shocking d. helped B) Taj Mahal 1. Read an encyclopedia entry on the Taj Mahal to practice and improve your reading skills. Before reading: Do the preparation task first. Then read the text and do the exercises. Match the definitions (a–f) with the vocabulary (1–6).
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