A tradition of poetry, страница 134 - гдз по английскому языку 6 класс учебник Goldstein, Jones

A tradition of poetry

Do you like poetry? Who are your favourite poets?

Do you ever write poetry yourself?

The people of Kazakhstan have always enjoyed poems and stories. However, in the past the Kazakh language wasn't written down - there weren't any books. So people didn't read poems, they listened to them. They were often performed with music. Poets sang their poems while musicians played traditional Kazakh instruments, such as the dombra. These poems were sometimes thousands of lines long, and the poets had to remember everything by heart! The poems were passed from generation to generation. If that didn't happen, the poems were sometimes lost forever.

Many of these poems were about nature or about love. Others were about fierce battles and heroic warriors. A lot of the poems were composed in the 15th and 16th centuries, when the Kazakhs had to fight other tribes and invaders. One of the poems was more than 6,500 lines long! It was about the famous warrior Koblandy (often called 'The Lion'). The poem tells us that he defended his people from 40,000 warriors with just one hand! Although a lot of the stories in the poems aren't true, they give us important information about historical events and the way of life of the Kazakh people in the past.

In the 19th century, people like Chokan Valikhanov wrote down many of the traditional Kazakh poems and stories, so now we have a record of them. Other people began to write their own poems. One of the most famous poets was Abay Kunanbaev, who was born in 1845. He wrote about the seasons and nature as well as about horses. He's most famous, however, for his poetry about love.

Today, it's common to hear Kazakh poetry at weddings, funerals and national celebrations. There are traditional poems and songs for particular events. For example, Toi Bastar is sung at the beginning of a wedding, and Synsu is sung when the bride leaves the place where she grew up.

Task

Read the text, then answer these questions.

1 Why didn't people read poetry in the 15th and 16th centuries?

2 What happened at poetry performances?

3 What were the old poems about?

4 Why are the old poems important?

5 What happened in the 19th century?

6 What did Abay Kunanbaev write about?

7 Where is Kazakh poetry heard nowadays?

ABOUT CHOKAN VALIKHANOV

Chokan Valikhanov was born in 1835. In the 1850s, he travelled to many places in Kazakhstan, and wrote down the poetry and stories he heard. He also travelled to Kyrgyzstan and other parts of central Asia.

Прочитайте текст, а затем ответьте на эти вопросы.

1 Почему люди не читали стихи в 15-м и 16-м веках?

2 Что происходило на поэтических выступлениях?

3 О чем были старые стихи?

4 Почему старые стихи важны?

5 Что произошло в 19-м веке?

6 О чем писал Абай Кунанбаев?

7 Где в наши дни можно услышать казахскую поэзию?

Ответ:

1 Because the Kazakh language wasn't written down and there weren't any books. / Потому что у казахского языка не было письменности и не было книг.

2 Poets sang their poems while musicians played traditional Kazakh instruments, such as the dombra. / Поэты пели свои стихи, пока музыканты играли на традиционных казахских инструментах, таких как домбра.

3 They were about nature, love, fierce battles, and heroic warriors. / Они были о природе, любви, ожесточенных битвах и героических воинах.

4 They give important information about historical events and the way of life of the Kazakh people in the past. / Они дают важную информацию об исторических событиях и образе жизни казахского народа в прошлом.

5 People like Chokan Valikhanov wrote down traditional Kazakh poems and stories, and other people began to write their own poems. / Люди, такие как Чокан Валиханов, записывали традиционные казахские стихи и рассказы, а другие люди начали писать свои собственные стихи.

6 He wrote about the seasons, nature, horses, and love. / Он писал о временах года, природе, лошадях и любви.

7 It is heard at weddings, funerals, and national celebrations. / Ее можно услышать на свадьбах, похоронах и национальных праздниках.