Тексты по английскому языку на формирование социокультурной компетенции

Тексты на формирование социокультурной компетенции.

A Model Millionaire

Hugh Erskine was a charming young man, with brown hair and a clear-cut profile. After his father’s death, he inherited only an old cavalry sword and fifteen war books. To earn his living, Hugh had tried selling tea, then working at the stock exchange, but hadn’t succeeded. He had to live on the little money he managed to earn. It was no more than a few hundred pounds.

To make matters worse he fell in love with Laura Merton. Hugh won Laura’s affection and they were the nicest couple in London. Laura’s father was very fond of Hugh, however, he said he could only let his daughter marry Hugh when the young man got ten thousand pounds. It was an enormous sum for Hugh.

One morning, on his way to Laura’s house, Hugh dropped in to see a great friend of his, Alan Trevor. Alan was a brilliant artist: a real master. His paintings were wonderful and sold very successfully.

When Hugh came in, he found Trevor finishing a life-size picture of a beggar-man. The beggar himself was standing on a platform in the corner of the studio. He was an elderly person, with a miserable expression on his face and poor, torn clothes over his body. He was an amazing model, absolutely different from Alan’s other models!

Trevor told Hugh that he paid the model a shilling an hour. Hugh said that the pay was unfair because the painter would get at least a thousand pounds for the picture. Hugh was sure that the model should be paid more for standing all day long in the studio. But Alan only smiled back. When Trevor went out for a moment, Hugh gave the beggar the only sovereign he had in his pocket. The old man smiled mysteriously and thanked Hugh.

The next day Hugh met Alan Trevor in the club. Trevor confessed that the beggar was Baron Hausberg, the richest man in London, and Trevor’s great friend. He bought many of his pictures and that day he had asked to paint him in beggar’s clothes. Trevor also said that he had told Baron about Hugh’s love and money problems.

“And I gave him a sovereign!” Hugh cried out, red with shame. Trevor continued laughing loudly. He added that Baron Hausberg was in high spirits after Hugh had left and was rubbing his hands together. Nevertheless, Hugh was so unhappy that he asked Trevor not to tell the story to anyone else and left the club.

The next morning the servant brought Hugh a visiting card. The visitor, an old man in golden spectacles, was from Baron Hausberg. As he came into the room, Hugh expressed sincere apologies to the Baron. Instead the man handed Hugh an envelope. On the outside it was written, ‘A wedding present to Hugh Erskine and Laura Merton, from an old beggar’.

Hugh opened the envelope. Inside, there was a cheque for ten thousand pounds.

Look at the underlined words and choose the correct definition for each on them:

cavalry sword	a talented person who paints pictures
stock exchange	a card English people give when they come to somebody’s house so that they know who has come
ten thousand pounds	a cutting weapon that has a long metal blade
a brilliant artist	a poor man who asks for money in the streets
a beggar-man	something you give to people who start a family
a shilling an hour	financial market for shares
the only sovereign	a paper that represents a sum of money
visiting card	one coin of the UK equal to 12 pence every hour
wedding present	a big sum of British money, about 730000 rubles
cheque	the one gold coin someone has

The White House

For more than 200 years, the White House has been known as the symbol of the President's administration, and of the United States.

The history of the White House began when President George Washington signed an Act of Congress in December of 1790 which declared that the federal government would live in a district "not exceeding ten miles square on the river Potomac." The creation of the new American capital began. Later it was named Washington after the first American President.

George Washington, together with the city planner Pierre L'Enfant, chose the place for the new president’s home.  A competition was held to find an architect to design the President's House. Nine proposals were handed in, and architect James Hoban won the competition. He proposed to build an impressive three-storey house.

The construction began in October of 1792. Although President Washington watched over the construction of the house, he never lived in it. Originally the White House was grey and was called the Presidential Palace. In 1800, when it was nearly completed, its first residents, President John Adams and his wife moved in. Ever since, each President of the United States has lived in this residence.

The Presidential Palace was seriously damaged in the great fire of 1814. The British invaded Washington and burned many buildings. After the war James Hoban, the original architect, partially rebuilt the President’s home. To cover the marks of the fire, the building was painted white. At various times in history, the building has been known as the President's Palace, the President's House, and the Executive Mansion. President Theodore Roosevelt officially gave it the name of the White House in 1901.

The White House is the president's private home and each president has made his own changes and additions in it. At first the president's office was located in the living area, on the second floor of the White House. When Theodore Roosevelt brought his large family to the White House in 1901, he felt that his office and his home should be completely separated. Two wings were added to the first floor of the building: the East Wing and the West Wing. The President's Office was moved into the West Wing and was called the Oval Office.

In 1805 President Thomas Jefferson opened the house for public tours. However, since September 11, 2001 the public tours have been prohibited.

There are 132 rooms in the residence now. For recreation, the White House has a variety of facilities available to its residents, including a tennis court, a jogging track, a swimming pool, a movie theatre, and a bowling alley.

The garden around the White House was first planted by John Adams, the first resident of the White house. Later it was redesigned by many presidents and their first ladies. The part of the garden outside the Oval Office is used now as a place for official ceremonies.

Look at the underlined words and choose the correct definition for each on them:

White House	the people who start living in a place where nobody lived before
Act of Congress	opportunities for people to visit a place
federal government	the building where the USA administration is
first residents	events held by some famous or important people
president's private home	the office of the President of the United States
Oval Office	a law created by the USA main legislative body
public tours	the place where the president and his family live
official ceremonies	people responsible for managing the country

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It was a cold January day in York, Pennsylvania. Dr. James turned on the television to check on the weather. The weatherman said that it was going to stay cold for several days. According to him, the roads _________BE_________ very dangerous because of the snow and ice and he strongly recommended staying at home if at all possible. Dr. James _________NOT/CAN_________ stay at home. He worked in a hospital and there were patients waiting for him there. He put on a sweater, jacket, gloves, boots and a hat, and opened his front door. Everything ________COVER__________ with snow. A cold wind blew inside. “Wow,” Dr. James said. “The weatherman was right! I wish I ________HAVE__________ a reindeer instead of my old car.” When Dr. James ________DRIVE__________ slowly to work, he saw an accident. He stopped and ________RUN__________ to the damaged car. There was a man and two ________CHILD__________ inside. “Is everyone okay?” Dr. James asked. “Yes, yes, we are fine,” answered the man. “I ________CALL__________ 911 already. They are coming to help ________WE__________. It looks like we won’t get to school today.”

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The city of St Davids is situated on the south-west coast of Wales. If you're looking for an _________USUAL_________ place to go, this is your destination. It was granted city status by Queen Elizabeth II but in reality St Davids looks like an ________ATTRACT__________ small village. It is actually the smallest city in Britain with a _________POPULATE_________ of just over 1,600. St Davids has a _________BEAUTY_________ medieval cathedral which dates back to the 12th century. Today it is a _________CHARM_________ place with narrow streets filled with cafes, hotels and art galleries – but only one pub! St Davids is famous for its sandy beaches and clear water. Whitesands Bay is a regular _________WIN_________ of the prestigious European Blue Flag award.