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Материалы к воскресному English Speaking Club

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Открыта: 13-11-2010

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Материалы к воскресному English Speaking Club 06.03.2011


+7 (812) 605-34-05
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"Infinitive" - курсы английского Петербург (СПб)




В зависимости от уровня владения английским выберите подходящий Вам клуб:

English Speaking Club I
Time: 15.00-16.30
Levels: Elementary - Pre-Intermediate
Перейти =>

English Speaking Club II
Time: 17.00-18.30
Levels: Intermediate - Advanced
Перейти =>

English Speaking Club I

Students of Elementary Level:


13 February, Sunday
15.00-16.30
Leader: Andre
Topic: A nice neighbourhood

Vocabulary


nearby – рядом, близко, близлежащий
disagreement – несогласие
integral part – неотъемлемая часть
bothering – надоедливый
inconsiderate – невнимательный к другим
complaint – жалоба
apology – извинение
excuse – оправдание
a cause of friction – причина трений
long-running disputes – длительные споры
barking dogs – лай собак
parking space – место для парковки автомобиля
mutual use – взаимное использование
solution – решение
heavy drinker – пьющий


NEIGHBOURS


Neighbours play a very important role in our life. Our everyday life is always connected in some way or another with the life of our neighbours. Some people have good relations with those living next door or nearby. Some don't care much about their neighbours. There are even such people, whose disagreements may end in violence. In particular cases some are ready to move because of those who live next door. But in general, now it's really difficult to imagine life without neighbours.


Neighbours make an integral part of our life, that's why we continue to remember them having moved to another place. But it's not only good that remains in our memory. Some neighbours are unfriendly and unhelpful. Certainly it must be bothering for people living nearby, but, in my opinion, the worst thing is when neighbours are inconsiderate. This may even become a cause of friction.


Furthermore, such people do not care much, if they bother their neighbours and don't try to find any agreement, which both they and their neighbours can agree to. The result is long-running disputes among neighbours.


However, when neighbours become friends they often help each other, but the survey showed that most of neighbours never shared a meal and some had never even offered each other a cup of coffee. The major cause of friction is noise. The walls of our flats are still not equipped to handle 60-watt stereos or the noise of household appliances.


Barking dogs and other pets also cause much trouble, as well as young children, who are not controlled by adults and do everything they want. Another disagreement may be the result of the argument about the parking space (for divided houses) of place in the apartments for mutual use (in the case of multi- storey buildings).


In conclusion, I'd like to say that if a person wants his neighbours to be considerate and thoughtful, he should first of all look at himself. Nobody is perfect. Perhaps he also isn't. Providing he tries to find out what his neighbour dislikes in his way of life and change something, the situation would probably become better. One more solution to long-running disputes is to get the neighbours into a room with mediators who talk the problem through, and if necessary, negotiate a formal agreement, which both sides agree to. (Unfortunately it's practiced nowadays in Europe and America but not, as far as I know, yet in Russia). Certainly there are some people (for example heavy drinkers) whom it's really impossible to find an agreement with, but I really hope that such people do not live in every second flat.


Questions for Discussion



Do you like your neighborhood? Why or why not?
What do you like most? What do you dislike?
Is your neighborhood urban, or rural? Is your neighborhood noisy at night?
Is your neighborhood convenient?
Is there a karaoke shop? a convenience store? a candy store?
What other shops are there? Are there any good restaurants?
Do you do any of your shopping in your neighborhood?
Is there a park in your neighborhood? Have you gone there recently?
Are there any good places for children to play? to climb trees?
Is there some place where you can set off fireworks?
Are there any fields in your neighborhood? rice paddies?
Do you like gardening?
Do you live close to a beach? a mountain?
Are there any nice places to take a walk? any mountains to climb?
What are the most popular places in the neighborhood?
Did you go to any schools in your neighborhood?
Is there a library in your neighborhood? a hospital? a movie theater? a
Are there any sightseeing spots in your neighborhood?
Are there any good date spots?
Is there a highway or a bus stop near your house?
How is the parking in your neighborhood?
How many cars can park at your house?
Where do other people park when they visit you?
How has your neighborhood changed?
Do you have many friends in your neighborhood? How many?
Do your neighbors have children? Do they have pets?
What dialect of Japanese is spoken in your neighborhood?
Are there any childhood friends among your neighbors?

Вверх

English Speaking Club II

Students of Intermediate-Advanced Level:


13 February,Sunday
17.00-18.30
Leader: Ksenia
Topic: "Our belief"

That which characterizes "superstitious" behavior can be found in a variety of contexts — not just typical "superstition" but also religion, paranormal beliefs, and so forth. If superstition can be found in a variety of contexts as well as across both cultures and time, we should seriously wonder whether there are deeper, fundamental forces a work. I don't mean supernatural forces, of course, but rather evolutionary forces: have superstitious attitudes and behaviors evolved in humans for some reason? If so, then they will prove very hard to reduce, and perhaps impossible to eliminate.


I suspect that superstitious behavior is the result of evolutionary adaptation even though it seems counterproductive now. Consider an animal which has either a positive or negative experience (finds food or encounters predator). Without the logical machinery to analyze how its actions lead to the result (or if they did) the simplest potentially beneficial behavior modification mechanism would be to either avoid or repeat whatever it was doing at the time of the event.


It may be completely unrelated, but with limited analytical potential it nonetheless increases the animal's survival advantage. In humans, this instinct still exists. Our intellectual brain may recognize that wearing a particular item will not repeat the situation that happened last time, but our animal brain still goes by this paradigm and tries to push us in that direction. Like many of our evolutionarily old behavior patterns, this appears to us to be an intuitive drive.


Do you agree that what we today call "superstitious" behavior is basically just the expression of ancient instincts that, for many animals in the past and even today, has probably had positive survival value? If superstition is a product of evolutionary needs, then how likely are we to overcome it?


Some Superstitious


Good Luck



Lucky to meet a black cat. Black Cats are featured on many good luck greetings cards and birthday cards in England.
Lucky to touch wood. We touch; knock on wood, to make something come true.
Lucky to find a clover plant with four leaves.
White heather is lucky.
A horseshoe over the door brings good luck. But the horseshoe needs to be the right way up. The luck runs out of the horseshoe if it is upside down.
Horseshoes are generally a sign of good luck and feature on many good luck cards.
On the first day of the month it is lucky to say "white rabbits, white rabbits white rabbits," before uttering your first word of the day.
Catch falling leaves in Autumn and you will have good luck. Every leaf means a lucky month next year.
Cut your hair when the moon is waxing and you will have good luck.
Putting money in the pocket of new clothes brings good luck.

Bad Luck


Unlucky to walk underneath a ladder.
Seven years bad luck to break a mirror. The superstition is supposed to have originated in ancient times, when mirrors were considered to be tools of the gods.
Unlucky to see one magpie, lucky to see two, etc..
Unlucky to spill salt. If you do, you must throw it over your shoulder to counteract the bad luck.
Unlucky to open an umbrella in doors.
The number thirteen is unlucky. Friday the thirteenth is a very unlucky day. Friday is considered to be an unlucky day because Jesus was crucified on a Friday.
Unlucky to put new shoes on the table.
Unlucky to pass someone on the stairs.

Вверх
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