Номер 4, страница 119 - гдз по английскому языку 11 класс учебник Вербицкая, Каминс Карр

Dialogue of Cultures two.

Things you've always wanted to know.

Track three.

One.

About a quarter of the world drives on the left, and except for Japan, the countries that do are mostly old British colonies such as Australia and Bermuda. This often puzzles the rest of the world, but there is a perfectly logical explanation. From Roman times right up until the late seventeen hundreds, people usually traveled on the left side of the road because it was the sensible choice for mostly right-handed people. For example, jousting knights with their lances under their right arm, naturally passed on each other's right. During Napoleonic times, however, this custom changed in Europe. It may have been because Napoleon was left-handed, or that as a military genius, he made his armies march on the right to surprise his enemies.

The custom then spread to the newly independent United States of America. Subsequently, most of the cars produced in the US were for driving on the right, so the countries that bought them were forced to change. However, it would now be impossible for Britain to do the same as the cost would be prohibitive.

Two.

Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind? Should old acquaintance be forgot and old lang syne? For old lang syne, my dear, for old lang syne. We'll take a cup of kindness yet, for old lang syne.

Hogmanay is the Scottish word for the last day of the year, and is synonymous with a celebration of the New Year in true Scottish manner. Officially, Hogmanay is on December the thirty-first, but this is normally only the start of a celebration, which lasts through the night until the morning of the first of January, or even longer.

There are several explanations for the origin of the term Hogmanay, and many of them relate back to words in Gaelic, the old Scottish language. The most popular explanation is that it comes from a Gaelic phrase, meaning "new morning". The singing of the old traditional Hogmanay song "Old Lang Syne", meaning for times gone by, has now become common in many countries at New Year.

Three.

Boxing Day is celebrated on December the twenty-sixth in Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. However, its name has nothing to do with boxing. Some say it began with the opening of arms boxes in churches during the Christmas season. Churchgoers would put small donations in the boxes during the year, and this money was then distributed to the poor on the day after Christmas. It was also the day when the head of the household would distribute the traditional Christmas box, which was a present or gift of money to the servants. Nowadays, Boxing Day in Britain is better known for the start of the big sales in shops and department stores everywhere. Many people take advantage of this to return unwanted Christmas presents and buy things they want more cheaply.

Four.

Cockney rhyming slang is a significant and colorful part of British, as well as Australian English. It originated among dock builders in London's East End about two hundred years ago. It then developed as the secret language of the London underworld from the eighteen fifties, when criminals used it to confuse police and eavesdroppers. It typically uses substitute words as a code for another word. The final word of the substitute phrase rhymes with the word it replaces. As only the first word of the replacement phrase is used, the meaning is difficult to guess. For example, the rhyming slang for the word money is bread and honey, as honey rhymes with money. So, we can ask our friends, "Can you lend me some bread?" if we're broke.

Five.

Many visitors to Britain are puzzled and amazed by the fact that people still have separate hot and cold taps in their bathrooms and kitchens, instead of mixer taps. "Why on Earth do they do this?" they ask, "When your hands either burn from the hot water or freeze with the cold. Why not have a mixer tap so you can wash in clean running water at the temperature you want?" The answer seems to lie in the plumbing. In the past, most British houses got their cold water from the public main supply, but the hot water came from a water tank under the roof. The cold water had a much higher pressure and it was difficult to regulate both the pressure and the temperature of the water, hence the separate taps.