ANGLIČTINA

25. Traffic Accident, Breakdown on the Road (Dopravní nehoda, porucha na silnici)

2010-11-16T02:49:00.000-08:00

If speaking about traffic accidents we must say it is much better to avoid them. There are hundreds of dead people on our roads every year and the number of them is permanently increasing. We should drive safe, be careful about maximum speed, traffic signs, don’t drive under the influence of drink or drugs.

When the car accident happens, we have to find out if somebody is hurt and to report the accident as soon as possible. We have to put a warning triangle on the hard shoulder. There are important telephone numbers we have to know: rescue or the ambulance, fire-brigade and the Police. In our country it is 150, 155 and 158 (112). In UK we call 999, in the USA 911. On the motorway we find the nearest emergency telephone box. If somebody is injured we get the doctor quickly. Before doctor’s coming we have to afford first aid to seriously injured people. There is a first-aid kit (box) in every car. First of all we have to stop bleeding if there is some, to restore breathe and do anti-shocking arrangement. We have to get help quickly.

After Police coming all persons involved in accident and witnesses must describe it. The maps showing the situation are drawn. The drivers have to give some personal information (address, phone number, number of the insurance).

In case of breakdown on the road, we have to push the car to the side of the road (onto the shoulder).
There are several solutions of this situation:
We ask another driver if he can give us a lift to the nearest service station
We can ask another driver if he can take our car in tow
We can call a breakdown vehicle
We can ask another driver if he can help us repair our car (change tyres), or if he can give us the jump start

We can ask another driver if he can lend us some useful instruments: spanner (klíč), plug spanner (klíč na svíčky), screwdriver (šroubovák), pair of pliers (kleště), four-way rim wrench (klíč na kola), lever-jack (zvedák), inflation pump (hustilka).

24. At the Filling Station(U čerpací stanice)From the History of Motor Vehicles (Z historie motorových vozidel)

2010-11-16T02:47:00.001-08:00

At the situation when we drive long distance journey for a long time, there switches out the fuel level display control on the dashboard. It shows that we have run out of fuel. We need a service (filling) station. First we look at the map or ask passers-by: ”Excuse me, could you tell me where is the nearest petrol station?”

In case when the car doesn’t work because of the lack of petrol we have to push the car to the side of the road (into the shoulder).
There are several solutions in this situation:
• We ask another driver if he can give us a lift to the nearest petrol station.
• We can ask another driver if he has a can of petrol.
• We can ask another driver if he can take our car in a tow.
• We can call a breakdown vehicle.

At the petrol station we ask fuel suitable for out type of car according a grade of petrol. We see a billboard with offer and prices. Which grade of petrol do you need for your car? It is usually 90 – 97 octane value. We may also use unleaded or unleaded super. Some drivers buy autogas. In Britain some filling stations count fuel in gallons, not in litres. One gallon is 4,5 litres. How many gallons is your full tank if it is about 45 litres? The attendant at the filling station can offer some other service as: wash the car, clean the windscreen, pump up the tyres, fill up the radiator with water, check the battery, change the oil and others. At the filling station we can buy things useful for our car: coolant, antifreeze, brake fluid, distilled water, road maps, water for the windscreen washer and others. Nearly at each petrol station we can buy some food, coffee, sweets there are toilets, or we even can have a shower there.

The name automobile goes to a 14th century Italian painter and engineer named Martini. Martini never built an automobile but he did draw plans for a man-powered carriage with four wheels. Martini thought up the name automobile from the Greek word “auto” (meaning self) and the Latin word “mobils” (meaning moving). The history of the automobile is very rich and dates back to the 15th century when Leonardo da Vinci was creating designs and models for transport vehicles. There were many different types of automobiles – steam, electric and gasoline.

Gottlieb Daimler, Karl Benz: they both invented highly successful and practical gasoline-powered vehicles. They invented cars that looked and worked like the cars we use today.
Benz designed and built the word’s first practical automobile to be powered by an internal-combustion engine (1885). In 1891 he started a company that became the world’s largest manufacture of automobiles by 1900.

The first car manufactures in the world were French: Panhard and Levassor (1889) and Peugeot (1891).
Daimler founded the Daimler Motoren-Gesellschaft in 1890 to manufacture his design. Eleven years later, Wilhelm Maybach designed the Mercedes automobile.

Henry Ford, the American car manufacturer, invented and improved assembly line in his car factory. The assembly line reduced costs for cars by reducing assembly time. Ford’s famous Model T was assembled in ninety-three minutes. Ford for the first time started the mass production of cars, which has continued until now by millions of cars produced each year.

23. Car defect, car repair (Závada, oprava auta)

2010-11-16T02:46:00.001-08:00

In case when the car doesn’t work and we can’t go on our journey we have to push the car to the side of the road. There are several solutions of this situation.
• We ask another drive if he can give us a lift to the nearest service station
• We can ask another drive if he can take our car in tow
• We can call a breakdown vehicle
• We can ask another driver if he can help us repair our car (change tyres), or if he can give us the jump start
• We can ask another driver if he can lend us some useful instruments.
Spanner (klíč), plug spanner (klíč na svíčky), screwdriver (šroubovák), pair of pliers (kleště), jack (zvedák), inflation pump (hustilka)

Each driver should be able to: change wheel, check pressure of tyres, check the level of coolant, fill up antifreeze, fill up water to windscreen washer bottle. Only mechanic should repair other defects. Defective brakes and engine defects are very dangerous!

There can be several defects of engine:
The engine is only hitting on three cylinders (jde jen na tři válce)
Is overheating ( je přehřátý)
Is flooded ( je přesycený )
Knocks (klepe)
Stalls suddenly (se zastavuje)
Misses (vynechává)

Defective brakes:
The brakes are not adjusted correctly (nejsou správně seřízené)
Need relining (potřebují nové obložení)
Squeal (skřípají)

Wheel defects:
The wheels are out of balance (nejsou vyvážená)
Are buckled (jsou deformovaná)
The wheel alignment is incorrect (geometrie kol je nesprávně nastavena)
A tyre is damaged (pneumatika je poškozena)

Electrical system:
Battery needs charging (potřebuje nabít)
It is a fuse failure (závada pojistky)
It is a relay failure (závada relé)
The contact points are not closing (kontakty nespínají)

Other defects:
The windscreen has been broken
The fuel runs out
The heating isn’t working
The door lock jams (nejde otevřít)
A bumper has broken off (se ulomil)
The rear-view mirror is missing

22. Road / Land Transport (Silniční / pozemní doprava)

2010-11-16T02:41:00.000-08:00

The first indications of constructed roads are from about 4000 BC. Those were made mainly of stones. The road builders around 1800 used stone, gravel (štěrk) and sand for construction. John Metcalfe, a Scot born in 1717, built about 180 miles of roads in Yorkshire, England, even though he was blind. His roads were built with three layers: large stones, excavated (vykopaný) road material and a layer of gravel. Today, 96 % of all paved (dlážděný) roads and streets are surfaced with asphalt. Almost all paving asphalt used today is made by processing crude oils (surová nafta).

If speaking about road / land transport / travelling we mean transport by cars, buses, motorcycles, trains, trams, trolleys, bicycles, ……. Let’s have a look at the advantages and disadvantages of the most spread of them.

car
Advantages:
• Speed
• Travelling is quick
• Comfortable
• You can go anywhere and whenever you need to
• You aren’t dependent on public transport
• There is sufficient space for luggage
• You can stop where you want
• You can change your journey plan if necessary

Disadvantages:
• Expensive
• High expenses on fuel repair service
• Dangerous traffic during peak-hours
• Environmental –unfriendly

bus
Advantages:
• For many people it is the only way to get to work
• Bus services link all major towns, cities and villages
• On many routes cut-price fares are provided for students, pensioners and the disabled
• Modern buses and coaches are very comfortable

Disadvantages:
• Bus fares are increasingly more expensive
• Old buses are very slow, uncomfortable, and sometimes, especially in winter, not punctual and very crowded. They don’t even look very reliable.

train
Advantages:
• It is relatively cheap
• There is enough space if it is not crowded
• You can rest while travelling
• You can have a meal in a restaurant car
• You can sleep in a sleeper car
• Thanks to new technology, trains are becoming faster, more punctual, more comfortable, cleaner, and more reliable

Disadvantages:
• Less comfortable than flying or travelling by cars
• Sometimes you must change or wait for a connection
• Trains in the Czech Republic are often late, dirty, and shabby
• There is often almost no difference between first and second class

21. Highway Code (Pravidla silničního provozu)

2010-11-16T02:39:00.000-08:00

It is a set of rules for drivers, pedestrians and other users of roads (cyclists, motorcyclists, horseriders and others).

There are many traffic signs on every road. They may be divided into:
Warning (výstražné): crossroads, wild animals, bend, double bend – first to the left, road narrows on both sides, roundabout, traffic signs, pedestrians (chodci), railway, ……
Prohibitory (zákazové): no waiting (zákaz stání), no stopping (Clearway) (zákaz zastavení), no entry, no overtaking (zákaz předjíždění), no turn right / left, no motor vehicles, ……
Mandatory (příkazové): stop, give way (dej přednost) …..
Signs with blue circles but no red border mostly give positive instruction
There are many other road markings often used: pedestrians crossings, traffic lights, lines just on roads, ………………

The documents the driver must have are: valid Driving License, Vehicle Registration Document and Insurance Policy (pojištění)

Before setting off the driver has to check: fuel level, mirror (adjustment), pressure in tyres, good visibility (clean windscreen)

In his car the driver has to have: first aid kit, warning triangle, spare bulbs for headlamps, spare fuse (pojistka), spare wheel

It’s useful when he has: a tow rope, inflation pump, fire extinguisher and some tools

There are some differences from European Highway Code in Great Britain. GB, Australia, New Zealand and other several countries in the world drive on the left side of the road. So there can be some difficulties for European drivers. There can be some problems with passing (objíždění), turning and overtaking (předjíždění). But there is a possibility to buy and put on the rear window the sticker CONTINENTAL DRIVER.

There are also some rules for using switched headlamps: when it gets dark, at night, in daylight – when it’s low visibility (raining, snowing, fog).

National speed limit (GB): In urban /built up area – 30 miles / hour ( 48 km / hod)
Carriageway – 60 miles / hour (96 km / hod)
Double carriageway – 70 miles / hour (112 km / hod)
Motorway

20. The car (Auto)

2010-11-16T02:38:00.000-08:00

The outside of the car: windscreen, windscreen wiper, bonnet, roof, boot / trunk, wheel, tyre, bumper, door, door handle, door lock, headlight, turn signal light, rearview mirror / wing mirror, wing, window, windscreen wiper, sunroof, engine

The interior of the car: steering wheel, brake pedal, gear lever, gas pedal, handbrake lever, horn, clutch pedal, driver’s seat, passenger seat, rear seat, seat belt, airbag, heating controls, light switch, coolant temperature gauge, fuel gauge, odometer, windscreen wiper switch, cruise control, dashboard, speedometer

Other useful things:
jack lever, fuse, tow cable, first-aid box / kit, spare bulb, warning triangle,
spanner, plug spanner, screwdriver, pair of pliers, inflation pump

Kinds of fuel: oil, petrol, power gas, alternative fuels

Some famous …..
Gottlieb Daimler, Karl Benz: they both invented highly successful and practical gasoline-powered vehicles. They invented cars that looked and worked like the cars we use today.
Benz designed and built the word’s first practical automobile to be powered by an internal-combustion engine (1885). In 1891 he started a company that became the world’s largest manufacture of automobiles by 1900.

Daimler founded the Daimler Motoren-Gesellschaft in 1890 to manufacture his design. Eleven years later, Wilhelm Maybach designed the Mercedes automobile.
Henry Ford, the American car manufacturer, invented and improved assembly line in his car factory. The assembly line reduced costs for cars by reducing assembly time. Ford’s famous Model T was assembled in ninety-three minutes. Ford for the first time started the mass production of cars, which has continued until now by millions of cars produced each year.

Nowadays …..

My relation to cars:

19. Travelling (Cestování)

2010-11-16T02:37:00.000-08:00

These days people travel much more than they did in the past. There are new means of transport, cars and planes have become faster and although the prices of tickets have been raising due to the prices of oil more and more people travel to faraway places. People used to think of travelling as something special but times have changed. It is quite natural to hear something like that: “ I’ve just been to Florida for a two-week trip, and in winter we are going on a skiing holiday to the Alps.” In other words, even the most distant places of the world have come closer.

There are many ways of travelling. Let’s start with the most primitive one and maybe the cheapest one – you can travel on foot. As for the distance, you will hardly get faraway, but you can get almost everywhere. For shorter distances the bicycle is a good means of transport as it is relatively quick, economical and environmental-friendly. You can travel by motorbike which is convenient only in the summer. People travel by car, bus or coach, train, plane or boat. In cities, transport is provided by different means such as buses, trolleybuses, trams, taxis and even underground or city trains. Travelling by bus and by train can sometimes be rather discomfortable but it has constantly been improving. Fast trains express, IC (Inter City), EC (Euro City), Pendolino are very quick and very comfortable. In better trains there are dining and sleeping carriages.

The car is by far the most popular mean of transport. Travelling by car is fast and comfortable, and we get to our destination without waiting for hours. There are a number of new roads, motorways and bridges. As roads have improved, the number of cars has also risen, and this has led to more road accidents. Roads are often crowded with cars and lorries and – on minor roads – bikers. Every person involved in transport must observe special rules called the Highway Code. The advantages: fast, comfortable. The disadvantages: environmental-unfriendly, more and more expensive (as the price of oil is increasing)

On oceans and seas, there are various ocean liners, luxurious steamers and tankers transporting oil, corn and other goods. Going on a voyage can be a great adventure. Ports are often used by smaller fishing boats but also by huge ships. The advantages: cheap, environmental-friendly. The disadvantage: long terms

Hitchhiking is a very specific way of travelling. It is mainly used by the young who do not need so much comfort, do not have so much money and are not afraid of taking risks. Hitchhiking can take you even to the most distant countries. Young people travel in order to learn new things, improve their language skills and to have some fun and adventure. They are seen on motorways waiting for drivers who are willing to give them a lift.

Travellers can stay in bed and breakfast, mountain cottages or in hotels. Hotels normally have single or double rooms, or even rooms with more beds. These days almost all hotel rooms have a bath-room and toilet, radio, TV set, telephone and sometimes even fridge or the Internet. In the hotel, there is also restaurant where morning, midday and evening meals are served. Hotel guests normally pay for half or full board. Hotels often have a café and a night bar. In addition, modern hotels have a fitness centre, sauna with solarium, massage centre and a swimming pool. Attached to the hotel are tennis courts or sports grounds. Any modern hotel must necessarily have a parking space or garage for guests.

18. Canada, Australia, New Zealand (Kanada, Austrálie, Nový Zéland)

2010-11-16T02:36:00.002-08:00

Canada
Is the second largest country in the world after Russia, Its capital is Ottawa. The country has a sea shore on the Arctic Ocean, giving the longest coastline of any country. In the south, Canada borders with the United States. Most of the population live within 300 km of the country’s southern border, where are mild springs, hot summers and pleasant autumns.

There are some 2 million lakes in Canada. It shares (sdílí) four of the Great Lakes with the USA: Lake Superior, Huron, Erie and Ontario. Niagara Falls lies on the border with the USA, and the Canadian part is called Horseshoe Fall. The longest river is Mackenzie. Canada has 38 national parks. Typical Canadian animals include: bison, prairie dogs (psoun prérijní), rattle-snakes (chřestýš), moose (losi), bears, …. Today Canada is a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations and so its official head is the Queen represented by the Governor-General (generální guvernér). The seat of the democratic Parliament is Ottawa. The typical is the national flag with a red maple leaf (Canada is a big producer of maple syrup). The largest cities are Toronto and Montreal which is also the second largest French-speaking city in the world and a major inland seaport. The official language is English and French. Canadians like to play ice hockey as it was invented there, lacrosse and curling.

Australia
Is the smallest continent in the world. It is situated between the Pacific and the Indian Oceans in the southern hemisphere. The island was discovered by Captain James Cook in 1770. There are mostly plains in Australia and a great part of the surface is desert. The climate may seem strange – Australian seasons are the opposite of the northern hemisphere. Summer starts in December, autumn in March, winter in June and spring in September. As the island is separate from the rest of the world, Australia has a lot of unique animals like kangaroo, koala, emu, kiwi, dingo, ….There are about 18 million inhabitants in the country. The majority are of British origin and most of them live on the eastern coast where the density is the highest. In total Australia has the lowest density in the world – only 2 people to a square kilometre. There are big distances between farms so they mostly communicate through radio and internet. Even the schools work like that. A helicopter is an important means of transport there. The Australians like playing rugby, and Australian football. Cricket is another popular game. Australia is a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations. It is a dominion with the Queen as the head of the country. The capital is Canberra. The largest and the oldest city is Sidney which is typical with its Opera House looking like sailing boats. The second largest city is Melbourne.

New Zealand
Is situated southeast of Australia and it consists of two large islands. The country is hilly and picturesque with rocks, volcanoes, hot springs, …. The characteristics of the New Zealand are evergreen forest and warm climate. In NZ we can find unique kinds of plants and animals, which do not grow and do not live anywhere in the world. The typical animals are kiwis, mountains parrots and brown emu. The islands were discovered by a Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in 1642. So it was a Dutch colony at first and later Captain James Cook claimed the country for Great Britain. Film makers often use the countryside for making films, the Oscar winning film Lord of the Rings was shot there. The capital is Wellington in North Island. Auckland is another major city. NZ is a modern county with a well developed economy.

17. The United States of America (Spojené státy americké)

2010-11-16T02:36:00.001-08:00

The USA is a federation of 50 states. The country spreads on the whole of North America from the Atlantic coast on the east to the Pacific coast on the west. It neighbours on Canada in the north and on Mexico in the south (the Rio Grande forms the border with Mexico). The USA also includes Alaska on the very north of the continent and the Hawaii Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The USA has a varied landscape. The biggest mountain ranges are on the west (Sierra Nevada, Cordilleras, Rocky Mountains Great Canyon). The highest peak is Mt Mc Kinley (6,194m). The longest river is Mississippi (the Mississippi Lowland), other known are the Colorado, the Missouri, the Ohio, the Columbia, ….. and the Niagara with the famous Niagara Falls on the border with Canada. The Great Lakes are situated here, too. In the north, the climate is mild, though because of the Labrador Current it is much colder than what we know in our country. The southern part of the US lies in the subtropical zone. Florida, the Gulf of Mexico and the Hawaii are located in the tropical zone. Alaska is naturally the coldest area as it lies in the arctic zone. There are many well-known national parks in the US: Death Valley Desert (it is the hottest and driest place in the USA – the temperature measured in the shadow was 57oC), Yellowstone, Grand Canyon,…. The number of inhabitants is almost 300 million, with about 80 per cent living in towns and cities, especially those in the North-East. Official language of the US is English. The National flag has 50 white stars symbolizing 50 states and 13 stripes (6 white and 7 red) symbolizing the original 13 colonies. The US has one of the strongest economies in the world. The American dollar is used for trade in countries across the globe. The USA is very rich in mineral resources. There are deposits of gold, silver, platinum and petroleum mainly in Alaska. Petroleum and natural gas is produced in huge amounts in Texas, Oklahoma and in the Gulf of Mexico. The head of American democracy is the President. He is elected for four years and may only be elected twice. His power is relatively great. The Congress consists of two houses: the Senate and the House or Representatives. Washington D.C. is the capital of the US and seat of the federal government. Washington is not a state, it is a federal district. In the centre of the city there is the Capitol where the Congress meets. The president works and lives nearby in the White House.

Washington D.C. is the capital city of the United States. It’s named after the first president, George Washington. It is the first city in the world especially planned and built as a capital. The capital is not a part of any of the 50 states. It lies on the Potomac River on the eastern coast of the USA. In the centre – on Capitol Hill – is the Capitol, seat of the Congress, the House of Representatives and the Senate. Nearby is the White House. Important buildings include Pentagon – the centre of military forces.

New York is situated on the eastern coast of the USA. It is the biggest city in the USA, an important seaport, and financial, business and cultural centre. There are four airports and it has the largest subway system of the world. The most important part of NY is Manhattan. Broadway runs across the streets and avenues. Times Square is the centre of entertainment. Wall Street is the financial centre of the world. Harlem is a black quarter with many poor and unemployed people. The Statue of Liberty is a cooper statue given to the USA by France. The statue stands on Liberty Island near the port. It is the symbol of NY and it has become the symbol of hope and freedom.

San Francisco (California) – a picturesque city with steep streets and cable cars. The Golden Gate Bridge (1,280 m long) is said to be the most photographed bridge in the world. The prison Alcatraz where Al Capone and other dangerous criminals were imprisoned is nearby.
Los Angeles is the capital of the film world (Hollywood). It is the second largest city in the USA.

16. Great Britain (Velká Británie)

2010-11-16T02:34:00.000-08:00

The British Isles are formed the two major islands of Great Britain and Ireland and more than 5,000 small ones. The isles are washed off by the North Sea in the north and east, by the Irish Sea and Atlantic Ocean in the West. On the south, England and France are divided by the La Manche Channel. England, Scotland and Wales (Great Britain) together with Northern Ireland form the country officially known as „The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland“ or simply the United Kingdom (UK). The original inhabitants were the Celts. Nowadays there are the English, the Welsh, the Scots and the Irish. The official language is English.
The climate in the U.K. is influenced by the Gulf Stream, so it is quite warm in England but it rains fairly often.

Great Britain is a constitutional monarchy with the Queen Elizabeth II as the head of the state. The British Parliament is one of the oldest in the world.

The most famous places:
Oxford and Cambridge: the oldest universities (12th – 13th centuries). Those two universities are big rivals and every year they organize rowing competitions. (veslování).
In Canterbury there is the famous cathedral with the grave of the archbishop Thomas Beckett who was murdered in 1170. Thanks to this event, the cathedral was a popular destination for pilgrims from all over Europe.

Salisbury Plains are famous for a place called Stonehenge. These are giant stones in a circle. They are assumed to be 3,000 years old. It could have been an observatory, a calendar or a place for ceremonies. Nobody knows for sure but the greatest question is how the huge stones could have been transported from the remote parts of Wales.
Liverpool, apart from being an industrial town, became famous as the birthplace of Beatles.
Stratford-upon-Avon is the birthplace of William Shakespeare.

Wales: is sometimes called a land of castles, the capital is Cardiff
Scotland: the biggest city is Glasgow but the capital is the historical town of Edinburgh. The typical instrument is the pipe and a typical Scot is dressed in a kilt.
Ireland is divided into the Northern Ireland, or Ulster (the capital is Belfast) and the Republic of Ireland (the capital Dublin).

London
The capital of the U.K., is situated on the Thames in the southern part of England. The city was probably founded 2,000 years ago. London is a cosmopolitan city, there are people of many nationalities. Today a population is about 7 million inhabitants.
The Tower of London stands on the north bank of the Thames.
The Tower Bridge is a great symbol of London. The bridge opens in the middle and goes up when huge ships want to pass through.
St. Paul’s Cathedral is one of the largest in the world. It is the residence of the bishop of London.
The Houses of Parliament: there is the Clock Tower with famous Big Ben
Buckingham Palace: the home of the queen. The changing of the Guards is one of the biggest London’s spectacles and it takes place every day at 11 a.m.
Downing Street number 10 has been the home of British Prime Minister since 1732.
Trafalgar Square: has a statue of Admiral Nelson
Piccadilly Circus: is the talk (zábavní centrum) of the town. Five major roads cross there and in the close surroundings there are many London theatres, cinemas, restaurants and shops.
Westminster Abbey (opatství): was founded in 11th century.

15. News and Media (Mediální prostředky)

2010-11-16T02:32:00.000-08:00

In the Middle Age the only source of information were merchants going from place to place and inhabitants of towns and villages waited for the news they brought. Books belonged to a very small group of educated people (nobility and clergy-men).

After Guttenberg’s invention of printing, distribution of new information became easier, books (mostly Bible) appeared in common homes. Newspapers became the only one source of information until the invention of telegraph, cinema and telephone.

Later, in the 20s of the 20th century, when radio broadcasting started, people were able to receive new information more quickly than before. Radio is a powerful thing, and although it has no screen like television does, it may broadcast 24 hours a day. Most people are too busy to watch TV during the day but they can turn on their radios when working, cooking, even in night....There is a number of radio stations so everyone can choose the one that he likes best.

In the early 50s television broadcasting started. Watching TV became the only evening activity in several families. TV brings not only fresh news, but several kinds of entertainment. Every day you can watch many programmes as: live sports programmes, interviews with politicians, chat shows, game shows, films, soap operas, documentaries, ..... There are also lots of advertisements that use attractive people or funny situation to sell products like cars, perfumes, beer, etc. The Czech Republic has two public service stations – ČT 1 and ČT 2 and two commercial stations – Nova and Prima. There is much less advertisements on public stations than there is on the commercial ones. ČT 2 is target at more demanding viewers, showing subtitled films, documentaries, musical programmes, drama and concerts, whereas commercial channels are less serious, the news are sensational, exciting and full of action. The most known in Great Britain is BBC channel (the British Broadcasting Corporation).

In the later 80s and the start of 90s Internet boom became. It brings the most quickly way of changing dates and information. It gives possibility to communicate to people on the other side of the Earth, you can find thousands and thousands information from any area you choose. As the technology improves, Internet becomes quicker and quicker. Most people stopped posting classical letters and send only e-mails. A lot of business are based only on the Internet.

Another modern media of communication are mobile phones. Especially in our country nearly everyone has the mobile phone, included teenagers and some younger children.

The communication technology improves, and every day it becomes more and more perfect. However, lots of people buy the newspaper every morning and like to spend their time to coffee with a piece of paper. The daily press informs about the latest news in political, cultural and economic life. There are interviews with famous people, important sport results. Supplements are pages put inside the main newspaper. The most frequent papers in Britain are: The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and The Independent. Magazines provide entertainment or information. Some brings offers of various goods. Women prefer clothes whereas men are interested in technical devices. Magazines are published not daily but weekly, fortnightly, monthly, .....This is the main reason why they can’t give fresh daily news. So the contents make magazines a lot different from newspapers.

14. Environmental protection (Ochrana přírody)

2010-11-16T02:31:00.000-08:00

Civilization has brought people many advantages but its products also damage the environment in which we live. Pollution affects air, water, land, forest, people, animals and plants.

Air pollution is the biggest problem in large cities and in areas with concentrated industrial production. Substances such as sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NO) cause changes in environment which can lead to climate changes. These substances mix with water in the atmosphere and sunlight turns them into poisoned oxidants which fall in the form of rain (acid rain) or snow on trees and gradually kill them. Everybody knows that trees are important for our life because they are the lungs of our planet. They absorb carbon dioxide from the air and give out oxygen in return. In some parts of the world trees are not threatened by pollution but by people. The great rain forests are being destroyed for firewood and building materials. Amazon rain forest covers an area large as the whole Europe and contains one third of the world’s trees but scientists believe that it provides 50 % of the world’s annual production of oxygen. If we lose tropical forests, it will become more difficult, perhaps even impossible, to breathe. With more carbon dioxid in the air, the temperature will rise, the icebergs at the North and South Poles will melt, and the sea level will rise. The result will be the flooding of many coastal cities.

What is the “greenhouse effect”? An overproduction of greenhouse gases (nitrogen oxid) prevents the heat of the Earth to escape. The result is a rise of the Earth’s temperature, the melting of arctic ice, …. There are many animals and plants that are not able to adapt to new conditions and die-out.

Smoke from coal fires also represents a big problem in large cities and threatens life.
How can the problems of air pollution be solved? First or all, people should try to use alternative sources of energy, such as solar, water, wind, geothermal … energies, or at least to burn smokeless fuels and to use energies more effectively.

There are more ways to reduce air pollution caused by road traffic. First it is possible to switch the transport of goods from roads to railways and to support public transportation. Also, people should drive at the speed limit in order to use fuel more effectively. Another way is to encourage tree planting, because trees absorb carbon dioxide. All new petrol-driven cars will have to be fitted with catalytic convertors, we should encourage the use of unleaded petrol.
Water pollution is getting better nowadays. If we want to have cleaner waterways, the water from industrial process should be controlled. We should also find technologies for saving water and reduce chemicals that may threaten life in the water.

Another problem to solve is domestic rubbish. How do we reduce the waste which seems to grow more and more? Much domestic rubbish is disposed of in landfills. But many of them can be avoided by recycling. Plastic containers, paper containers, bottle bin containers, can containers, ……should be installed everywhere and they can reduce the amount of landfills.

It is very important to protect not only human beings but also all animals and plants on the Earth because the balance of species is necessary. National Parks and nature reserves provide protection to endangered species.

13. Science and Technology (Věda a technologie)

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From the beginning of their existence people have used tools, various types of energy and materials to get food and shelter. In early human history the only power available was muscle power. The first working steam engine was developed and improved in the 18th century by James Watt. The steam engine and other technical advances changed traditional agrarian economy to manufactures (the Industrial Revolution). Michael Faraday’s demonstration of the dynamo in 1831 was the beginning of electrical motors. Electricity was commercially available from the early 1880s and was used for electric motors and for lighting (the invention of the first electric bulb by Thomas Alva Edison). Electricity is the most useful form of energy, easily convertible into heat and light. It is generated in power stations and distributed through wires. The invention of combustion engine (1876) enabled two Germans, Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz to create the first petrol-driven motocar (1885).This invention made transport faster and more comfortable. In 1945 people saw the explosion of the first atomic bomb and the nuclear energy started to be used. Today it is one of current sources of energy, as well as natural gas, water power, oil and coal energy.

The earliest materials used by humans were wood, bone, horn, shell and stone. Metals were difficult to get, although forms of bronze and iron were used in 6 000 B.C. and
1000 B.C. In the Industrial Revolution new materials were introduced, such as rubber, glass, leather, paper, bricks and porcelain and later (in the end of the 19th century) new synthetic materials appeared. This process still continues (genetic engineering).

Plenty of inventions and discoveries have influenced and changed human life, such as aircraft, radio, television, telephone, X-ray machines, radar, electrics welding, photographs, birth-control methods, test-tube babies, penicillin, ........ Undoubtedly the transistor, integrated circuit (silicon chip) and laser were the three inventions that have had the greatest impact on modern-day life. Electronic and microelectronic industries, space research and genetic engineering probably represent the branches where progress will continue most rapidly.

Space flights. The first satellites were launched into orbit around the Earth in 1957 by the Russians and soon the first man-operated spacecraft was put into orbit. In 1961 Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space aboard the spacecraft Vostok 1. In a few years people achieved the Moon. The first people to step onto the Moon’s surface on 20th July 1969 were Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin. At present artificial satellites are used for science, communications, weather forecasting and military purposes.

Since 1960 we have spoken about the scientific-technical revolution because at present both science and technology can help to solve the problems of people on the Earth: to find other alternative energy sources, to reduce pollution of all kinds and to protect the environment, to find ways how to feed the constantly increasing number of people and to discover medicine against such diseases as cancer, AIDS or the Ebola virus which threaten the
contemporary world.

Not all inventions and discoveries, however, have brought people improvement and innovation. Powerful laser weapons, nuclear and H-bombs and pollution of the environment are only a few examples of how good ideas may be abused. Technology is dependent upon how people use it.

12. Weather, Seasons of the Year (Počasí, roční období)

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The planet Earth moves around the Sun and that has an influence on the weather on the globe and on the seasons of the year. Our country is located in a mild climatic zone. Winters are not too cold, summers not too hot. There are four seasons of the year: spring, summer, autumn (fall in American English) and winter. Each of the seasons lasts about three months and brings us something nice as well as something unpleasant.

It is usually still quite cold in the beginning of the spring. The snow melts, so floods may set in. Trees and grass turn green. Birds are heard singing. Some have just returned from the south. Field works start at this time.

On June 21, the summer begins and lasts up to September 23.This means two months of holiday for children, whereas farmers have their harvest time. The sun shines hot, the highest day temperatures are rising. On hot summer days, there are often storms. What we seeded and planted in the spring in the garden, is harvested in summer. People go mushrooming in the woods.
With the beginning of school in September the real summer comes to the end, although the autumn begins on September 23. In autumn, the sun rises later and sets earlier. During the day, the weather may be nice and sunny – this time is known as Indian summer.

Autumn is popular with many people because of its nice colours. Fruit trees have yellow pears and red apples on them. Grass turns yellow and gets dry. Leaves change colour and birds leave for the south. Days become colder and colder. The air is cold. The wind is often strong. No wonder people often catch a cold or come down with the flu.

After autumn comes winter. According to the calendar, it begins on December 21, but in reality, it comes a lot earlier. December 21 is the winter solstice, which is the shortest day of the year. Nature relaxes. It freezes, the countryside is covered with snow. The thermometer shows several degrees below zero, and lakes and rivers freeze over. Winter brings us the most beautiful festival of the year – Christmas. But everything comes to an end. It freezes less and less, the spring comes soon and everything makes a fresh start again….

The weather in Britain is very changeable. It is influenced by the warm Gulf Stream. The summers are not very hot and winters are not very cold. The Czech Republic, which is situated in the central Europe, is an inland state with moderate climate. Fortunately in our country there are not many natural disasters - no earthquakes, no tidal waves, no hurricanes. Every spring some areas are flooded but it’s very rarely a serious danger. In other parts of the world there are many disasters: in the USA frequent tornadoes and earthquakes, near the Indian Ocean the huge tidal waves …….

The weather forecast: In the past, there were no weather forecasts, so farmers had to rely on their experience and observations. Today we have weather forecasts – they notice about strong winds, extremely high or low temperatures, bad snow conditions, …… I listen to weather forecast especially if I go on holiday or for a trip. It’s surprising how wrong they often are. There is no guarantee.

11. Food and Meals (Jídlo a stravování)

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The first meal of the day is breakfast. It is often bread, rolls, butter, ham, salami, cheese, marmelade or honey. Sometimes we can have scrambled eggs, omelettes or pudding. Those who prefer a more healthy diet will eat yoghurt, cereals with milk, porridge or fresh fruits. Popular drinks are tea, coffee, cocoa or fruit juice. At around ten a.m. it is time for a little snack. It is good to have something small, easily digestible, such as fruits, vegetables or yoghurt. The main meal of the day – lunch – comes between noon and 1 p.m. Most people have lunch at school or company canteens or in restaurants, others prefer to eat at home. There is usually a soup, a starter, a main course and a dessert for lunch. The next meal of the day is an afternoon snack at about 4 p.m. The last meal of the day is dinner which comes between six and seven o’clock. In most families, something warm is eaten, such as dumplings with sauce. During the day, it is necessary to drink enough liquids. It is recommended about two litres a day. Most of people like to eat but always remember the old saying: „ Eat to live, do not live to eat.“

The British usually start work and school later in the morning than we do so they have a lot of time to enjoy their morning meal. A traditional English breakfast is quite big. It may be porridge, fried bacon and eggs, fried sausages and tomatoes or ham and eggs, buttered toast and marmelade. They usually have a cup of tea with milk or coffee and a glass of orange juice. The modern breakfast is much lighter, healthier and quicker. They have just cornflakes or other cereals with milk and sugar or toast and, as for drinks, a glass of juice. English lunch is much smaller than the Czech one It’s just a quick sandwich. A typical Sunday lunch is much more similar to ours: it can be a steak or roast lamb with broccoli and other vegetables. As a dessert they have hot apple pie with ice cream or fruit salad. The national English food is definitely steak. Another popular dish is fish and chips wrapped in paper and eaten in the street.

Czechs, in general, like fatty meals. Our typical dish is roast pork, sauerkraut and dumplings, goulash with dumplings, or roast sirloin of beef in cream sauce again with dumplings. Czechs often eat meat loaf and many kinds of smoked-meat products. Sweets and cakes are typical of Czech cuisine as well. And what about popular Czech drinks? Some of the beer is world-famous, but also red and white wine planted in Moravia, Carlsbad Becher Liquer or Moravian Slivovitz must be recommended.

As for me, ……..

Soups: Beef Bouillon, Noodles, Vegetable Soup, Fish Soup, Tomato Soup
Meat Dishes: Roast Beef, Roast Pork, Roast Veal, Roast Chicken
Side Dishes: Boiled Potatoes, Roasted Potatoes, Potato Salad, French Fries, Rice, Dumplings

10. Traditions, Holidays, Feastdays (Zvyky, svátky, významné dny)

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British holidays
Easter: is celebrated on the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon in spring. It is an ancient pagan celebration of spring and new life. Children believe that while sleeping the Easter Bunny has hidden eggs in the house and go searching for them.

Christmas: starts on 24th December – on Christmas Eve when families decorate their houses and the Christmas tree. On the mantelpiece there are Christmas cards wishing Merry Christmas and happy New Year. Children hope that at night Santa Claus or Father Christmas will come down the chimney and bring some presents for them. Children get up very early in the morning to open the presents and play with new toys. They also watch TV and sing Christmas carols. On Christmas Day they have Christmas dinner usually at noon ort h the evening. They have roast turkey, potatoes and vegetable followed by Christmas pudding. Boxing Day is the 26th of December – and it is the second Christmas holidays, name after the tradition of giving dustmen, newspaper boys, milkmen, postmen, etc. small sums of money in boxes. On New Year’s Eve people go to parties, they stay up till midnight to see the old year out and drink a toast to the New Year , they gather in squares and sing „Auld Lang Syne“ – a popular Scottish song. The Scottish call Christmas Hogmanay.

American holidays
Independence Day: is celebrated on 4th July. On this day Americans remember the victory over British in the American Civil War in 1776.It’s the day of picnics, parades and flying the flag, parties, barbecues, concerts and fireworks.

Thanksgiving Day: is celebrated on the last Thursday of November and it’s the second most important holiday of the year after Christmas. When Pilgrim Fathers settled in America in 1620 they suffered a lot during the first winter and half of them died. The next year the Native Americans taught them how to plant corn and other crops (pumpkins, barley, beans) so in the autumn of 1621 they celebrated their Thanksgiving Day for the first time. They also invited local Indians to the celebration. Nowadays, the Americans eat roast turkey and pumpkin pie.

International holidays
St. Valentine’s Day: is a lovers‘ feast. On February, 14th, people give presents to the people they love, they send funny greeting cards also to friends. The cards are anonymous, often
signed „Your Valentine“.

Halloween: starts on 31st October. It is associated with an old Celtic custom of celebrating the end of the season of the sun. In the evening children fight pumpkin lanterns called „jack-o-lanterns“, they dress up as saints, angels, devils, witches and ghosts. They knock on the door and say: „Trick or treat“ and if they are not given candies, popcorn or cookies, they will play a trick. On that day people give parties, decorate their houses with paper moons, witches, bats, ghosts, black cats, etc.

9. Personal Description (Popis osoby)

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How old is he? – he is young / old / very old / about 25 ……………
How tall is he? – he is tall / small / tiny / about 170 cm / about average height …..
What colour are his eyes? – They are brown, blue, black …….
What about his hair? – He has got black / blond / dyed hair
Straight / wavy / curly / long / short
Is he fat / slim / an average weight?
Has he got a beard? – No, he is clean-shaven.
The man is handsome, the girl is pretty /beautiful
He wears glasses.
How does he dress? – He usually looks very elegant / natural / pretty / serious
The feelings: ever-smiling, serious, in a good mood, relaxed, nervous, impatient, bored, angry, surprised, ……
The family relations: brothers and sisters, other relatives (cousins, husband / wife, children), friends or neighbours
How does he spend his free time? – What are his hobbies?
I have known him / her for…….
We met ………………
I remember (a story)……………

8. Arts - Music and Fine Arts, Cultural Life in our Town (Hudba a umění, kulturní život v našem městě)

2010-11-16T02:16:00.001-08:00

Music, the fine arts and architecture are parts of our everyday lives as they bring us beauty and joy. It is arts that help us better understand the history and meaning of life. Many people think arts help heal the mental state of their body and therefore take part in various therapies involving music, dance, drama and arts.

Music is around us for all our lives. Mothers sing lullabies to their babies. Music and singing are taught in kindergartens and schools, and a lot of children play some musical instrument in music schools. (piano, flute, trumpet, clarinet, oboe, drums, guitarre, violen, keybord ). People listen to music on various radio stations or buy CDs, young people prefer to download songs from the Internet. In great towns there are concert halls or musical clubs. Village parties (discos) with local band playing have been still popular.

There are many kinds of music – classical music, folk music and country music, many pop genres, rock music, ............... I usually listen ......................

Theatres aren’t so popular nowadays – they have been replaced by TV programmes and CD/ DVD films. There are various theatre genres such as puppet shows, tragedies, comedies, musicals or historical drama or such a special genres as ballet, operas, operettas or musicals.

Cinemas – On the one hand, it seems fewer people go to the cinema these days as many tickets are expensive. Others watch films on TV, satellites or cable television with lots of programmes, or for someone it is more comfortable to hire a cassete or DVD with their favourite film (it is much cheaper and they can watch it in their homes). On the other hand, cinema has its special atmosphere for many people. The sound features are much better, so is the quality of film, and watching film on large screens people enjoy the show more intensively. There are many kinds of films, e.g. action films, comedies, horrors, westerns, war films, spy films, adventurous films, sci-fi, intellectual films, historical films, cartoons, soap operas,..... As to me I prefer .................................. , because ..................................... .

The best film, actor, actress, director, etc. are awarded by Oscar prize every March – it is the most prestigious award of the international film industry. Some Czech films won this prize, too. (Kolja by Zdeněk Svěrák, Ostře sledované vlaky by Jiří Menzel, .... ). Every July , The International Film Festival is held in Karlovy Vary. This festival has become very popular an is attended by many international celebrities every year.

Works of fine arts can be seen in galleries – the best known are in Saint-Petersburg (Ermitáž), Paris (Louvre) or London (Tate Gallery). We have many famous painters – e.g. Picasso, van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Rembrandt, Rubens ........ Jan Zrzavý, Mikoláš Aleš, Josef Mánes ...... Alfons Mucha is very famous even abroad. Everyone knows his calendars with typical pictures or round women usually in the countryside.

7. Choosing a career (volba povolání)

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Now I am in my last year of grammar school, so I have to study a lot. In May (just now) I am taking my school-leaving exam. This exam is oral and very (not very) difficult. I have (had) between 20 – 30 topics to study for each subject and then at the finals I picked one of them. I have a quarter of an hour to get prepared and another quarter of an hour to talk and answer the teacher’s questions. I hope I will pass the exam.

It is difficult to make plans for life now – at the age of nineteen. Some of my schoolmates are going to try to study at the university (and so I am?). Another possibility is to try to get a job and begin to make money. Or – I could spend some time by travelling doing different jobs. Many young people do this. They see some interesting countries, learn the language, meet many interesting people….. When they get back, they usually settle down, get married and have children.

Nowadays young people face quite a big problem finding a good job. It is not usually difficult to find a job, but if you want to work in your field and take advantage of your school- knowledge, then it is difficult. In different times different jobs are “in”. Some times ago there were so few doctors and lawyers that everybody wanted to be one. Now it isn’t quite easy to find a job as a lawyer because there are lots of them and you have to be really good to catch on. If young people cannot find a job, they have to go and register at the job centre and they have to wait till a suitable job appears. It is a good idea to take up a PC or a driving course as it sounds more interesting to your possible employer.

If I saw an interesting advertisement, I would prepare a CV with all the relevant information (personal details, information on my education, the courses taken, the languages spoken, skills like PC or driving licence, hobbies and interests, …..). The first impression always counts. For a job interview men should wear a suit and a tie, and women a suit or a formal dress. You should look confident (sebejistě).

Some people like being on their own and running their own businesses. They may sleep till late in the morning, they may take a holiday whenever they want and are not harassed by a boss. But at the same time they have to be very responsible (zodpovědní) and organized (disciplinovaní), they must solve problems when they come and start to work whenever it is necessary. So very often they work much longer and have no holiday. On the other hand, employed people don’t have to worry if they are ill, they can go on holiday as planned and they know exactly what their working hours are. Some people like to have fixed working hours. I think it’s good because you can plan your day and week and if you have some hobbies you know that you can do them. On the other hand, working flexi-time is good because you feel free and your day is not monotonous. There are days when you feel very well. You work hard and do a lot of work, then there are days when you would rather go shopping or to the swimming pool.

In my opinion it is always better to try different jobs before you decide definitely on what you would like to do for the rest of your life. We are probably different from the Japanese who usually spend their work life with one company. An ideal combination is of course as follows: a job that I love and that brings me a lot of money. But that is rarely the case.

6. Health, diseases (Zdraví, nemoci)

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Good health is the most valuable thing in our life. To be fit it is necessary to do some active sport (at least once a week). We should eat a healthy diet - to consume lean meat ( poultry and fish), lots of fruits and vegetables, to prefer whole-wheat foods, to cut down sweets, fatty meals and foods rich in calories, to drink much mineral water and herbal tea. To be non-smoker and in a good mood is also very important.

In our climate zone there are two seasons, when we are in bigger risk of falling ill – spring and autumn. Most common diseases are flu and a cold. The symptoms of these diseases are: temperature, headache, sore throat and sometimes cough. Flu is different of cold by that we feel awful and our body aches, we can’t stop sneezing and our nose is runny. Another similar disease is tonsillitis when our glands are swollen and it hurts when we swallow. Typical summer disease is food poisoning and diarrhoea. Sometimes it happens that we eat some meat that is not properly cooked, for example at a barbecue, or bad mushrooms. Or we drink some bad water on our travel abroad. The symptoms of these diseases are: keeping going to the toilet and sometimes keeping being sick. Sometimes we have an accident (doing sports) when our leg or arm is broken, or our finger or ankle is twisted. We feel a pain in it. When we have toothache, we have to go to the dentist.

Having all these problems we have to see a doctor. First of all we phone the doctor’s surgery and make an appointment. Then we go to the surgery and see the doctor. He takes our temperature and examines us. He asks what hurts. We explain what is wrong and then the doctor gives us a prescription. We go to the chemist’s, pay for the prescription, and get some cure (pills or drops, antibiotics). At home we have to stay (lie) in bed and take the pills twice or three times a day. After a few days we start to feel better.

Human body:
heart – srdce
brain – mozek
lungs – plíce
stomach – žaludek
glands – mandle
liver – játra
kidneys – ledviny
colon – střevo
blood –krev
neck – krk
shoulder – rameno
arm - paže
leg – noha
ankle – kotník
knee – koleno
elbow – loket
writs – zápěstí
brain – mozek
backbone (spinal column) – páteř

sense organs: eyes, ears, nose, tongue

5. Sports and Games (Sport a hry)

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Sports and movement in general are given more and more attentions these days. A lot of us move less than people did in the past. This is the result of a busy and comfortable life full of modern inventions (cars, lifts, telephones, sitting in front of TV or PCs). In fact, sports have positive effect on both the body and soul as well as our self-confidence. Fortunately, sports are becoming more and more popular. Why is that? Well, they help you stay healthy, relax, train your muscles, keep fit, increase your immunity, …. in other words , you feel better and better every day.

People do sports in a passive or active way at the top level. Doing sports passively means watching favourite sports usually on TV. Doing sports actively means regular exercising, jogging, going to the fitness-centres. Sports centres are popular, too, and they usually include solariums, saunas, gyms, swimming pools.

Kinds of sports.
Water sports: swimming, rowing (veslování), sailing, rafting, yachting, surfing, water polo, beach volleyball, . …..

Winter sports: skiing, cross country skiing, ski jump, snowboarding, ice skating, figure-skating, ice-hockey, ….

Light athletics: short-distance run, long-distance run, marathon, hurdling (překážkový běh), high jump, long jump, pole vault (skok o tyči), decathlon (desetiboj),…..

Other athletics sports: throwing discuss, throwing javelin (oštěp), throwing the hammer (kladivo), putting the shot (koule)

Ball games: football, volleyball, florball, basketball, handball, tennis, table tennis, squash, badminton, ….

Outdoor sports: hiking (turistika), cycling, in-line skating, run, fishing, shooting, mountain-climbing, horse-riding, ….

Combat sports (bojové): boxing, judo, karate, sumo, rugby, wrestling (zápas), fencing (šerm), …….

The Olympic Games
….were for the first held in 776 before Christ, and then every four years. They took place in the Greek town of Olympia. It was the meeting of the best sportsmen from across the country. There also was no fighting during the Olympic Games. The first Games in modern history were held in Athens in 1896.They were proposed by a French historian, Pierre de Coubertin. Summer Games have been held every four years since (except war years). As for the Winter Olympics, the first were held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. These days, the Olympics are held every two years, the Summer and Winter Games alternating. The symbols include the Olympic flag and the Olympic fire. The flag is white with five circles (yellow, red, green, blue and black), each standing for one of the continents. The fire is lit on the Olymp, which is the official start of the Games.

4. My Native Town (Moje rodné město), The House I live in (Dům, ve kterém žiji)

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Hradec Králové
Is the capital of East Bohemia. At present about 100,000 people live there. HK is one of the largest towns of the Czech Republic. With its two rivers, architectural treasures and parks is one of the most beautiful towns in the country.

There are many places to visit in Hradec Králové. In the historical centre there is the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, The White Tower or Town hall. The town also has attractive shops and beautiful parks and banks (embankment) of Labe and Orlice. All these can be easily reached by foot or by trolleybus. There are a great number of elementary schools, secondary schools (grammar, commercial, technical) and a university with several faculties. As for museums and theatres – we can name The Museum of East Bohemia, the concert hall of Hradec Králové Philharmonic, the Klicpera Theatre, the famous Drak Theatre, ….. There are also many cinemas including the multi-cinema Futurum and the summer (open air ) cinema. HK is also definitely a town of sports. The winter stadium, football stadium, the athletics stadium, and the Aqua Centre are only some of the many sport facilities in the town. Hradec is an important commercial, manufacturing, and transporting centre. Products include musical instruments, chemicals and machinery. As for the agriculture, wheat, sugar beet, potatoes, rye, vegetables and other crops are grown on farms near the town. HK is the starting point for many trips to interesting places in the region. Most attractive are Krkonoše (Giant Mountains) and Orlické hory (Eagle Mountains). There are also five bicycle routes in HK, which are between 12 and 61 km long.

Four room flat, housing estate (sídliště), family house, garage
Living room (sofa, balcony, armchairs, coffee table, TV set, a desk with a computer, carpet, pictures, …)
Bedroom (wardrobes, bed-side tables)
Kitchen (dining table and chairs, kitchen unit – kuchyňská linka, fridge, pantry – spíž, freezer, stove – sporák)
Bathroom (bathtub, basin), toilet
Cellar (sklep), garret (půda)
Garden, swimming pool, barbecue parties, mow the lawn (sekat trávu), keep pets
Do the cleaning – dust the furniture (utřít prach), water the plants, hoover the carpet (vyluxovat koberec), do the washing (prát prádlo), mop the floor ( vytřít podlahu), do the stairs (uklidit schody), clean the windows, wash the curtains (prát záclony)

3. Leisure activities (Volný čas)

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Leisure or free time is when you do not have to be at school or work, have no duties and can do what brings you relaxation and pleasure. People are mostly free at weekends, on feast days, or during holidays.

There are quite a lot of possibilities how to have a nice time according to what people like and how much money they have. Going to the cinema or theatre, disco or clubs, or staying at home listening to the radio or watching TV, or even reading books if you are not dead tired. Cultural events which people can go and see in their free time include various concerts, dancing balls, exhibitions, lectures, fashion show, … People also like photography, making films, playing chess, keeping fish in home aquariums, keeping exotic animals, cooking and baking. Also, watching television is becoming more and more popular as the only thing you do is relax, have some small refreshments and forget all your worries.

Typical teenagers, like my friends and I, love both playing sports and watching them on TV, playing computer games, chatting on the Internet, watching films, going out with friends, dancing at discos, ….

Going to the cinema is another free-time activity. People do not go and watch movies too often. Perhaps they are extremely busy or another reason may be that very few good films are on these days. Some people find cinema tickets too expensive, others like to stay at home watching TV or films they borrow and play on their video or DVD players.

Music is a nice hobby, too. People like listening to it or playing a musical instrument. A lot of children attend a music school. Later, when they are grown, they mostly play for fun or for their families or friends. Playing a musical instrument or singing brings pleasure and fun.
Another popular way of spending leisure time is collecting things. Most people collect cheaper things like napkins, labels, beer cans, postcards, beer mats, chocolate and chewing gum wrappers. Others collect autographs of famous personalities, posters, dolls or bus or train tickets. People might collect insects, especially butterflies or spiders. More wealthy people like collecting more expensive things such as paintings, post stamps, antiquities, and old coins.
Sports are a nice, healthy and effective way of spending free time. Many of people do sports for fun, to keep fit and slim. Jogging, swimming or doing exercises are good examples. In winter, skiing, sledging or ice-skating are popular activities.

Travelling is popular with some people. They either walk or use some means of transport. Travellers often love historic sights as well as nature. But travellers should also speak at least one foreign language. „You live a new life for every new language you speak,“ a well-known Czech proverb goes.

Girls and ladies like needlework , such as sewing, knitting, ….. Men prefer to have their workshop or garage to do various little jobs or repair things. People living in their own house often keep pets or domestic animals.

As for me……..

2. The Czech Republic (Česká republika)

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The Czech Republic, which is situated in central Europe, is an inland state with moderate climate. Here we can find valleys, lowlands, high grounds (The Bohemian – Moravian Highland, The Central Bohemian Highland) and mountain ranges. It is a country with nice nature, rich culture and history which makes it very popular for tourists.

There are three historical parts of the country: Bohemia in the west, Moravia in the east and the smallest Silesia in the northern part of Moravia. There are differences between these regions in dialects and folk traditions. Politically the Czech Republic is divided into 14 districts.

Some basic facts:
Covering an area: 78,864 km2

Border countries: Poland in the north, Germany in the west, Austria in the south, Slovakia in the east.

Population: 10,3 million inhabitants

Minorities: Slovaks, Poles, Germans, Russians, Romanies, ….others

The highest mountain is Sněžka in the Giant Mountains near the Polish border. The longest river is Vltava, which springs in the Šumava and flows into the Labe river. Other important rivers are Labe, Odra, Morava, ….

Agricultural production: sugar beet, maize, hop, sunflower, fruit, vegetable, wheat, oats (the Labe River Lowland, the river Morava valleys); barley, rye (in the higher parts of the country), potatoes in the highlands.

Industries: metallurgy (Ostrava), chemical industries (Ústí nad Labem, Neratovice, Kralupy nad Vltavou, Pardubice), textile – clothes and leather industry (Northeast Bohemia, Liberec, Prostějov, Prague …), food industries (all big cities), breweries (Plzeň, Prague, České Budějovice, ….), glass, jewelleries, porcelaine (Karlovy Vary, Jablonec nad Nisou, Nový Bor), wood and paper industries, …
There are deposits of brown, black coal and iron ore.

Some of the most often visited places:
West Bohemian Triangle of spa towns – Karlovy Vary, Mariánské Lázně, Františkovy Lázně. The most famous of these – Karlovy Vary, was founded in the 14th century by the Emperor Charles IV and has remained a popular place for patients from all over the world, especially those suffering from stomach, gallbladder and liver disorders. Mariánské Lázně with its numerous parks and flower beds which make it one of the most attractive Czech spa towns, is popular for patients suffering from kidney disorders, asthma, or nervous diseases. Located in the middle of woods and parks, Františkovy Lázně is a famous spa for patients with women and heart diseases.

The south of Bohemia belongs to the most beautiful regions of Europe. The Šumava Mountains which are – even today – covered with charming woods and swamps, are a summer and winter holiday region, with nice trips as well as sporting opportunities such as cycling or skiing.

South Moravia has a beautiful place called the Moravian Karst with underground caves. The cave labyrinth can be seen from boats floating on the underground river called the Punkva.
In the north of the country, the Krkonoše Mountains are the highest mountain range with Sněžka as its highest peak (1602 m). Krkonoše Mountains together with Orlické Mountains and Jizerské Mountains are very popular destinations for winter holidays. Unfortunately, air pollution has led to huge damage to the forests in the past decades

1.English and American literature (anglická a americká literatura)

2010-11-15T05:14:00.001-08:00

Although there were many writers and books before, the first world-known English writer is William Shakespeare ( 1564 – 1616). He is one of the world’s well-known playwrights, he wrote historical plays, comedies and tragedies, his sonnets are well-known as well. His earlier plays include histories (for example Richard III, Julius Ceasar,....), comedies (Comedy of Errors, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, ....) and tragedies (Romeo and Juliet). Later his best tragedies came (Hamlet, Othello, Mackbeth).
Daniel Defoe (1660 – 1731) – was a journalist who became famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe – the story about a castaway on a deserted island.
Jonathan Swift (1667 – 1745) – was especially popular with children for his Gulliver Travels. In part one, the hero comes to the Land of Lilliput where only very tiny people live, next tells about his life among giants.
Charles Dickens (1812 – 1870) – was a representative of critical realism. In his novels he depicted the life of the poor in 19th century (Oliver Twist).
George Bernard Shaw (1856 – 1950) - his most famous play is Pygmalion – it tells about how two different social classes meet and shows the change of the two main characters. Later, a film musical was made based on the play, called My Fair Lady, starring Audrey Hepburn.
George Orwell (1903 – 1950) – born in India, he was educated in England, and lived even in the poorest parts of London and Paris, which gave him inspiration for his own works. Animal Farm – it satirizes the political situation of the Soviet Union.
Agatha Christie – known as the Queen of Detective Fiction. She wrote about 100 detective stories, novels and plays. She gave life to marvellous detectives – Ms Jane Marple, a woman of intuition who knows well both people and the habits of a small town, and Hercule Poirot, a Belgian-born detective.

From American literature of the 19th century we can mention Hermann Melville (Moby Dick – a famous symbolic novel about chasing a whale and fight between a man and an animal) and Mark Twain (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer – it describes Huck’s adventures on the Mississippi river).
Ernest Hemingway (1898 – 1962) – one of the most famous 20th century writers, he belongs to the Lost Generation writers. His story The Old Man and the Sea is a symbolic parallel between an old fisherman – Santiago – struggling for days with a huge marlin, and suffering
Christ.
John Steinbeck (1902 – 1968) – famous for Travels with Charley and The Grapes of Wrath (the story of an Oklahoma farm family working as fruit pickers).

25. Australia and New Zealand

2010-10-01T05:37:00.000-07:00

25. Australia and New Zealand

Nouns and plural

location of Australia and the capital city
location of New Zealand
geographic facts about New Zealand
capital of New Zealand
Look at the picture bellow. You can see some marine mammals that live in the sea around New Zealand. Can you named them?

What is the nature like in New Zealand?

Nouns and plural
regular plurals - e.g. cat, table
irregular plurals - e.g. glass, dish, peach, box
nouns in -y / e.g. country, fly
nouns in -f / e.g. knife, wife
write the plural form of these words: a man, a child, a mouse

Read and translate the article, please.
On any New Zealand menu you will find locally harvested seafood, dairy products, lamb, beef, grain, fruit and vegetables of the highest standard. Many food producers are also certified organic growers – a result of New Zealand’s clean green image.
New Zealand wine is also unrivalled internationally. Varying soil and climatic conditions ensure a full range of varieties flourish in New Zealand – from Rieslings and Sauvignon Blancs to Merlots and Cabernets.
In recent years New Zealand has emerged as a truly cosmopolitan nation. Our cafes, bars and restaurants provide dining experiences to rival the best in the world!

Not only will your visit be punctuated by superb dining experiences but there are many opportunities to visit specialist producers of wine, olive oils, market gardens and farms.
The joy of many of these experiences is not only the produce itself but the people who deliver the goods. Often you meet the producer/winemaker or their close relatives and you take away a true understanding of their passion for their industry and what they do.

24. Canada

2010-10-01T05:36:00.000-07:00

24. Canada

Countable and uncountable nouns, expressions of quantity

Where is Canada situated?
What is the climate in Canada like?
What is the ethnic structure of the Canadian population?
Who is the formal head oh Canada?
Read and translate the text bellow.

When To Go to Canada
Spring, summer and autumn are all ideal for touring, though if you want to ski you'll naturally have to come in winter or early spring. For campers and those who want to visit the far north, the summer months of July and August are best. Summer is also when many of the country's festivals take place. Note that the peak tourist season is between Victoria Day (late May) and Labour Day (early September). Although spring and autumn have fewer crowds, lower prices and a more relaxed pace than the summer months, some visitor-oriented facilities and attractions may be closed during these shoulder seasons.

Countable and uncountable nouns, expressions of quantity
Can you explain what does it mean "countable and uncountable nouns"?
Can you give us some examples, please?

a few or a little?

Does your tooth hurt?
Were there many people at the party?
Is there any food left?
Do you have any books on French literature?

make questions with how much or how many
We've got some eggs.
We need some flour.
She has a lot of children
Can you buy some butter?
Some people are coming for a meal on Sunday.

23. The United States of America

2010-10-01T05:35:00.002-07:00

23. The United States of America

Imperative and infinitive

How many states does the USA consist of?
What is the geographic location of the USA?
What you can say about history?
Which important cities in the USA do you know?
Do you know any of the national park?

Infinitive and imperative
the infinitive form of the verbs
How we can make imperative in English?

Translate:
Posaďte se.
Pojďme plavat.
Buďte zticha, prosím.

Read the text and try to find the imperative forms of the verbs:
Discover Dubrovnik
The historic city of Dubrovnik is on Croatia's magnificent Adriatic coast. Go sightseeing around the old city walls and look at the five castles. Walk through the wonderful streets and squares of the Old Town and visit the museums. Enjoy a delicious fish meal or just sit and relax in street café.

22. Great Britain

2010-10-01T05:35:00.001-07:00

22. Great Britain

Prepositions

What is the official name of Great Britain?
Specify the location of Great Britain. Which parts does it consist of?
What large British rivers and lakes do you know?
Can you tell us anything about the pictures bellow?

Prepositions
Complete the sentences with the right prepositions
1. 1.What's .... TV tonight.
2. The movie starts ....... 5 o'clock.
3. Do you come to school ..... bus?
4. I live ...... the second floor.
5. Why does Jane look so happy? Because she is ..... love.

Complete the prepositions of the place:

21. Southern Moravia

2010-10-01T05:34:00.001-07:00

21. Southern Moravia

Have to

Where is Southern Moravia situated?
Which bigger cities can we find there?
Which agriculture plant is grown in Southern Moravia?

Look at the pictures. You can see there a very famous castle, the whole area is even written in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Do you know what is it?

Have to
form
use

Complete the sentences with have to, has to, or had to and a suitable verb.
1. I ....... glasses because my eyes aren't very good.
2. Remember! When you drive in England you .... on the left!
3. I don=t like my job. Sometimes I .... till midnight.

Put the words in the correct order to make questions.
1. job/ wear/ have/ in/ uniform/ you/ your/ to/ do/ a ?
2. States/ visa/ get/ to/ to/ go/ you/ do/ have/ a/ the/ to?
3. John/ does/ pills/ take/ often/ his/ how/ have/ to?

20. Prague

2010-10-01T05:32:00.000-07:00

20. Prague

Infinitive of purpose (účelový infinitiv)

Where is Prague situated?
Can you named any important monuments ?
Which places would you recommend to visit to your friends from foreign country?

Infinitive of purpose

Change these sentences using the infinitive of purpose
I want to go to Holland because I want to see tulips.
They went to the park because they wanted relax.
She went to the kitchen because she wanted to prepare some sandwiches.

19. The Czech Republic

2010-10-01T05:29:00.000-07:00

19. The Czech Republic

Present continuous (přítomný čas průběhový)

Where is our country situated?
Which large cities in the Czech Republic do you know?
Where and which agricultural plants are mostly grown by us?
Which places would you recommend to visit to a foreign tourist?

Read and translate the article about Brün written by a tourist from England:
Brno / Brünn is the birthplace of my father and I have been there already in Communist times and then again recently. Some people expect a simple industrial town, BUT Brno has also a great castle - Spielberk and a lot of places of interest in the old town: The old town hall is a must for every tourist and it is easy to get there, as you may see the high tower from almost any place in Brno. You may climb up the tower and have a perfect panorama-view and also the interior of the old town hall is worth a visit! A big crocodile is hanging down from the ceiling of the arcade of the old town hall of Brno / Brünn. It was a donation by emperor Mathias Corvinus to the city of Brünn in 1608. The Mahen theatre was built 1881-1882 and was the first theatre to get electric light. The cathedral of St.Peter and Paul my be seen already from a big distance, as it was built on top of Petrov hill. The church dates back to the 12th century and was renovated several times. Today it looks gothic outside and has mainly a baroque interior. My favorite place in Brno was the catacombes of the capucines / Kapuzinergruft The catacombes of the capucines are devided into several rooms of different sizes, and most of them are closed by a glass-wall or an iron-fence, so you may see everything without beeing able to touch anything or take a really close look. Only the coffin of Freiherr von der Trenck is an exception - you may get close to it and look into his mumified face.

Present continuous
form
use

Complete the sentences with a suitable verb using either the simple present or the present continuous tense. More than one answer may be correct.
listen, watch, see, look, believe, think, hear
1. ........ you ....... in ghosts?
2. What ...... you ..... about at the moment?
3. Why ...... Tom ...... so sad?
4. Why ..... you ..... at me like that?
5. What ...... the police ..... for in that old building?
6. What ..... are the children ........ on TV at the moment?
7. What ....... Paul ......... to on the radio?

18. The American literature and E. Hemingway

2010-10-01T05:28:00.000-07:00

18. The American literature and E. Hemingway

Numerals (číslovky základní a řadové, vyjadřování času, datum, telefon)

Beginning of the American literature
Lost generation - E. Hemingway
Beat generation - J. Kerouack, A. Ginsberg
Contemporary writers

Read and translate the text one of the most famous recent American authors:
John Irving
John Irving was born in New Hampshire. He studied at universities in America and Europe and published his first novel SETTING FREE THE BEARS, at the age of twenty-six. THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP, published in 1978 to phenomenal acclaim, firmly established him as one of the most inventive and talented novelists in America.

During the 1980s John Irving wrote a series of absorbing and celebrated books: THE HOTEL NEW HAMPSHIRE, THE CIDER HOUSE RULES and A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY. In these novels his originality and striking vision came brilliantly to the fore, along with his trademark subjects --- as wide-ranging as feminism, religion, wrestling, sex and New England life.

More recent novels include the complex bestseller A SON OF THE CIRCUS, the dark and funny novel A WIDOW FOR ONE YEAR and THE FOURTH HAND, a black comedy that was another popular success.

Several of John Irving's novels have been made into films, and in 2000 he was awarded an Oscar for the screenplay for THE CIDER HOUSE RULES. He described the difficult, decade-long journey from page to screen in MY MOVIE BUSINESS. He is also the author of TRYING TO SAVE PIGGY SNEED and THE IMAGINARY GIRLFRIEND, memoirs of writing and wrestling.

In 1992, John Irving was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 2001, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives in Vermont and Toronto. UNTIL I FIND YOU is John Irving's eleventh novel.

Numerals
Can you tell us:
when were you born?
your phone number?
what's the date today?
what's the time now?

Read the dates:
1/4/02, 15/6/77, 25/2/02

17. The British literature and W. Shakespeare

2010-10-01T05:27:00.000-07:00

17. The British literature and W. Shakespeare

Pronouns

What is the oldest written work in English literature?
William Shakespeare
Do you know any contemporary English writers?
Have you seen any movies based on books written by English authors?

Read and translate the text bellow:
The Globe Theatre
Going to the theatre has been a popular pastime for centuries. One of the most famous theatres in history was the Globe Theatre in London, opened during the reign of Elizabeth I.
Wealthy people sat in the "two -penny" galleries. These were not really the best place to be because in those days people wore hats, often with huge feathers, which blocked the view of those sitting behind them.
Members of the royal court sat in the best 12 pence seats showing off their expensive clothes and smoking tobacco.
Before entering the theatre, people used to pay to get in by putting money into a box, which was held by one of the theatre staff.
As the actors were coming onto the stage, a trumpet sounded. A flag was raised in the tower to show that the performance was starting and it remained in position until the performance ended.

Pronouns
Find all pronouns in the text:
My boyfriend Steve and I never go out on our own .He always brings his best friend with him, when we have a date. He says that he feels guilty if he doesn't invite his friend. But what about me?

Which other pronouns do you know?

16. My native town

2010-10-01T05:20:00.000-07:00

16. My native town

The Articles

What is your native city / village like?
Do you know anything about Moravian Karst?
Are you going to remain in your native town / village or do you intend to remove sometime in the future and if so, why?

Read the text:
The name of the abyss has its origin from a legend:
In the village of Vilemovice once lived a widower with his son. He married a second time and his little son got a stepmother.
In time, the woman gave birth to her own child and wanted to get rid of the stepson. She asked him to join her in collecting the fruits of the forest. As they came close to the very edge of the abyss, the woman threw her stepson down into the depth.
However, the boy was spared from death by being caught on extending tree branches. Woodcutters, working nearby, heard the desperate cries, and saved the boy. Upon hearing the tales of the woodcutters, the village people of Vilemovice threw the stepmother over the abyss.
Since that day the abyss has been called Macocha, the Czech word for stepmother.

Local 17th century legend.

Articles
rules and examples
Read the text and find examples of the definite article and the indefinite article:

My uncle is a shopkeeper. He has a shop in an old village by the river Thames near Oxford. The shop sells a lot of things - bread, milk, fruit, vegetables, newspapers - almost everything! It is also the village post office. The children in the village always stop to spend a few pence on sweets or ice cream on their way home from school.
My uncle doesn't often leave the village. He hasn't got a car, so once a month he goes by bus to Oxford and has lunch at the Grand Hotel with some friends. He is one of the happiest men I know.

15. The Media

2010-10-01T05:17:00.001-07:00

15. The Media

Some, any, no, every and indefinite pronouns

What kind of media do you know?
Which one do you use most often?
What is your favourite TV program?
Can you use the Internet?
Do you know any addresses if you want to look for jobs?
Do you know any addresses for learning English?

Some, any, no, every
When is some and when is any used?

Complete the sentences with some or any:
Have you got ...... brothers or sisters?
We don't need ....... olive oil.
Here are ...... letters for you.
Is there ...... petrol in the car?

Complete the sentences with the correct vord.
some
any + thing
every one / body
no where

1. Did you meet...... nice at the party? Yes, I met.... who knows you!
2. Ouch! There is .... in my eye! Let me look. No, I can't see .......
3. Let's go ..... hot for our holidays. But we can't go ...... that's too expensive.
4. I'm so unhappy. ...... loves me. I know ..... who loves you. Me.
5. I lost my glasses. I looked ....., but I couldn't find them.
6. Did you buy .... at the shops? No, ..... I didn't have any money.
7. I'm bored. I want .... interesting to read, or .... .. interesting to talk.
8. It was a great party. .... loved it.

14. The computers

2010-10-01T05:16:00.001-07:00

14. The computers

Word order and structure there is / there are

the main parts of computer
computers in everyday live
using a word processor
computer games

Read and translate the article:
Can you hear or feel pictures? Can you move something without touching it? Dan Jellinek went to Los Angeles and found out that you can do all these things …..and more.
Computers have started to change the lives of some disabled people. They can help them to communicate and to live more independently. The 14th international conference on computers and disabled people showed some exciting examples.
vOICe is a program that changes pictures into sounds. different colours and shapes have different sounds. With practice blind people can listen to the sounds and "see" them by using their ears.
The program MouseCat changes pictures anto vibrations on the screen. Blind people can touch the screen and feel the images. they can also use this program to spaek / theywrite words and the computers says them.

Word order
specify word order of English sentences
when a how is used the structure there is / there are
Find this structure in the text:

Things to do in Edinburgh
What old buildings are there?
Edinburgh castle and Holyroodhouse Palace are very famous. The palace is closed when the queen comes to Edinburgh.

Is there a good gallery in Edinburgh?
Yes, there is. The National Gallery of Scotland has got paintings by El Greco, Botticelli, Cezanne. There is also the National Gallery of Modern Art.

Is there a science museum?
No, there isn't. But there is an interesting "Science zone" in the Royal Museum.

How many football teams are there?
There are two football teams, Heart and Hibs, but there aren't any world-famous teams. The two famous teams, Celtic and Rangers, are from Glasgow.

What is the nightlife like?
Fantastic! Visit Rocking Horse or Liquid Room for brilliant music and dancing. And there is the famous "Edinburgh Festival", the cultural event of the year. In August, Edinburgh is one big party with great music, theatre and films!

13. Studying foreign languages

2010-10-01T05:15:00.001-07:00

13. Studying foreign languages

Questions and question words

Which language is the most spoken in the world?
Do you know any English spoken countries?
What are the main reasons for studying foreign languages?
Do you think you will need English for your job?

Read the article
My best teacher was my French teacher Derek Swift. What stuck out (zaujmout) instantly was that he was unconventional - the type of teacher you didn't expected to see in a school like ours in the south. He was a Northerner with a strong northern accent. One of his responsibilities was looking after the school library. I read such things as Pushkin's love poems and it was inspiring stuff. He taught us Russian in his spare time. He was a genius at languages / he spoke about 10 or 12. Mr Swift was also different from every others teacher. There was always a twinkle (veselý, šelmovský záblesk) in his eye and he had a sense of humour. He used to put his feet on the desk and covered the blackboard with words during his lessons. You can tell how good he was because there were 24 in our class and in the French exam 21 got top grades.

Are you going to learn any others languages?

Question, question words
Complete the questions with some of these words:
where, which, why, how, who, what, when

1. ------ often do you go to the cinema. About once a week.
2. ------- time does the programme start? At nine o'clock.
3. ------- did you close the window? Because I'm cold.
4. ------- colour is Angela's new car? Red.
5. ------- did you go to town with? Jim and Lucy.
6. ------- newspaper do you want - the Italian one or the English one?
7. ------ is Edinburg? It's in Csotland.
8. ------ are you going to clean you room? When this film has finished.
9. ------ is your favourite season< I like summer best.
10. ------ tall is your sister?

Make questions about the missing information:
1. He speaks ....... languages. {two? three?}
2. We are coming to see you ..... {today? tomorrow? next week?}
3. I'm reading .......... at this moment. {book? newspaper?}
4. I've know him for ......... { one yar? two weeks?}
5. We spent our holiday ...... last year. {in Spain? in France? }

12. Shopping and clothes

2010-10-01T05:14:00.001-07:00

12. Shopping and clothes

Past continuous (minulý čas průběhový)

Do you like shopping?
Which shops do you visit most often?
Describe the various departments of a supermarket.
Do you prefer shopping in brand-name supermarkets or at stands?
Are you interested in fashion?

Read the text and try to translate it to Czech:
Secrets of style
When people meet for the first time, they search for all sorts of clue to make judgments about you, but the most important of these are given by your clothes. So if you want to appear more exciting and to create a good impression, it helps to know about the secrets of style.
Avoid wearing clothes with two different designs - for example, striped trousers and a check shirt.
Choose clothes in a colour that suits your hair and skin type. As general rule, people with blonde hair and fair skin look best in pale colours such as light blue, pale green or pink. If you have light brown hair, light eyes and fair skin, you should choose medium shades such as mid-grey, blue, green or raspberry red. People with dark hair and olive or dark skin can wear the brightest colours such as orange, yellow or lime green.
Accessories such as watches, necklaces and earrings can help to give a finish touch.

Past continuous
form
use
When we use the simple past and when the past continuous?

Read the text and find examples of verbs in past simple and past continuous forms:
The other day I was standing in a queue to buy some theatre ticket when a small group of musicians suddenly appeared on the pavement. They were wearing brightly coloured clothes and were playing jazz. After a while, one member of the group begun to walk up and down the queue. I noticed that he was collecting money in a hat. It was a cold, windy day and, just as he reached my part of the queue, a sudden gust of wind blew the hat out of the musician's hand. The money fell out all over the pavement. Can you guess what happened next?

11. The course of the year (nature, weather etc.)

2010-10-01T05:13:00.001-07:00

11. The course of the year (nature, weather etc.)

Expressing the future (vyjadřování budoucnosti)

What can you say about each season?
What kind of weather and which season do you like the best?
What's the weather like today?

Expressing future

Read the text bellow:
Steve Barnes wants to be a chef. His favourite room in the house is the kitchen, here he spends most of the day." I love cooking, especially for lots of people. I have over a hundred cook books." He's going to work in restaurant in Paris, where he hopes to learn how to prepare sauces. One day I'd like to have my own restaurant.

find the verb forms in the text that express plans and ambitions
what's the difference between going to and will to express a future intention?

Decide which is the correct verb form:

My suitcase is so heavy!
Give it to me. I'll / I'm going to carry it for you.

I bought some warm boots because I'll go / I'm going to skiing.

Tony is back from holiday.
Is he? I'll give / I'm going to give him a ring.

Where will you go /are you going on holiday this year<
Turkey. What about you<
We don't know yet. Maybe we will go / we are going to Spain.

You can tell me your secret. I won't tell / I'm not going to tell anyone else.

10. Health and the human body

2010-10-01T05:04:00.000-07:00

10. Health and the human body

Adjectives, comparison

Which parts does the human body consist of? List the important human organs.

What are the most frequent today´ s human illnesses? Do you know some of them, which are incurable? incurable=nevyléčitelný

Adjectives, comparison
Read the text and try to find adjectives:
Looking good
You want to look good, so here are our fashion tips:

Don't be in a hurry. Have a good look in the shops before you buy clothes. Compare prices / some shops are cheaper than others but they often have more fashionable clothes than expensive shops. Talk to your friends and ask their opinions. Then go shopping.

Think about your body and your personality. For example, for mini/skirt you need really good legs. And don't wear long jackets if you aren't very tall! Outgoing people don't usually wear dark clothes; they prefer brighter colours. Shy people often like darker colours.

This year red, black and green are in. And generally clothes are more casual and less formal than last year.

For boys, shirts and ties are out. Jeans, trainers and leather jackets are in. Jeans are wider than last year's jeans and black denim is definitely in. Earrings are bad, and tattoos are even worse!

Tell the rules about comparison of adjectives and give some examples.

Do you know any irregular adjectives?

9. Food, cooking, recipes

2010-10-01T05:03:00.002-07:00

9. Food, cooking, recipes

Present simple (Přítomný čas prostý)

What importance do you pay to healthy eating? Do you think that you eat in a healthy way?
Do you know any typical Czech and English meals?
What is your favourite food?
Describe and compare the pictures bellow.

Present simple
Form
Use

Read the text and try to translate it, please:
Margaretha / Norway
In Britain, Margaretha Simons can be a full time housewife, at home with her four children. This, she says, is unusual in her native Norway because almost all Norwegian women go out to work, partly because there are more crèches. It is also unusual in Norway to have more than two children.
Margaretha, who is 43, met her British husband, Noel, a university professor, while she was learning English in Cambridge.
"I find British people friendly," she says." New neighbours invite you for coffee, introduce their children, and take you to the shops. The men are more romantic than Norwegian men."

Are there used any others verb tenses in the article?

8. Festival and traditions /UK, CZ, USA/

2010-10-01T05:03:00.001-07:00

8. Festival and traditions /UK, CZ, USA/

Negatives

Do you know any English, American and Czech festivals?
When and how do people celebrate Christmas in Great Britain, the USA and the Czech Republic?
What is Christmas like at your home?
What do you think about the picture bellow?

Negatives
Read the text and change verbs to negatives:

Who are the British?
British people live in the UK. They are people who live in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. British people can also either be English, Scottish, Welsh or Irish.
The British are said to be reserved in manners, dress and speech. They are famous for their politeness, self-discipline and especially for their sense of humour. British people have a strong sense of humour that sometimes can be hard for foreigners to understand.
Britain is a country of mixed cultures. London has the largest non-white population of any European city and over 250 languages are spoken there. Therefore not all British people are White or Christians.

7. Travelling, means of transport

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7. Travelling, means of transport

Past simple (minulý čas prostý)

Do you like travelling? Do you prefer to go abroad or do you prefer our country?
Specify individual kinds of transport means and choose the one you like to travel with. Do you prefer travel agencies to travelling "on your own"?
What must you never forget when you go abroad?
What countries have you already visited?
Which country would you like to visit?
Can you describe pictures bellow, please?

Past simple
form
use
When we use the simple past and when the past continuous?

Read the text and find examples of verbs in past simple and past continuous forms:
Post office robbery
Yesterday afternoon thieves stole 500 pounds from a post office in Preston, Lancashire. Police do not have a good description of the men, because they were wearing masks. But they know that they escaped in a red Ford Cortina. This information came from an 11-year-old boy, Charlie Carrack who was coming home from school at the time.

6. Sports

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6. Sports

First conditional (první kondicionál)

Do you like sports, why is sport so important for human being?
Do you practice individual sports or do you prefer collective sports?
What kind of sport do you like the best and why?
What are the most popular sports in your country?
Look at the picture and read the text:

Have you ever tried any high-adrenalin sports?

What do you think about them?

First conditional
form
use

Second conditional
form
use

Put the verbs in the correct form:
If I [be] rich, I [travel] round the world. First I [go] to Canada, then I [go] to New York.
If he [work] harder, he [have] more money.
I [go] to work, if I [feel] better, but I feel terrible.
If I [ca] speak perfect English, I [not be] in this classroom.
What ...... you ........ [if] a stranger [give] you 1 million pounds?

5. Leisure time activities

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5. Leisure time activities

Verb patterns (slovesné vzory)

Have you got a lot of free time?
Which hobbies are useful for your future job?
Which are the most common hobbies?

Verb patterns

Are these verbs followed by the infinitive or -ing form?
enjoy, like, try, want, decide, start, begin, manage

Read the text and try to find some verbs following by infinitives or -ing forms:
Don't look down
I have always enjoyed walking. When I was a boy, I used to go walking at weekends with my father. We went camping and climbing together. I try to visit a new place every year. Last year I decided to walk a path in Spain called El Camino del Rey, which means the King's Way. It is one of the most highest and most dangerous footpaths in Europe. It used to be very safe, but now it is falling down.
I took a train to the village of El Chorro and started to walk towards the mountains. I was very excited. Then the adventure began.
The path was about three feet wide and there were holes in it. It used to have a handrail, but not any more. I didn't know what to do / should I go on my hands and knees, or stand up? I decided to stand up and walk slowly.

4. Curriculum Vitae and my future career

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4. Curriculum Vitae and my future career

Passive voice ( trpný rod)

Personal data:
Born
Nationality
Marital status

Education:
Examination:

Work experience:

Additional skills and personal interests:

Can you describe your future plans?

Passive voice
form

Read the text and find all verbs in passive voice. Identify time of these verbs.

3. My daily programme

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3. My daily programme

Time clauses (Časové věty)

How does your daily program look on a normal day?
What do you do at weekends?
What are your duties and hobbies?

Time clauses
Choose the correct form of the verb:
Bye! I phone you / I will phone you when I get / I will get home.
I am going to bed when this TV program ends / will end.
I´ m sorry you´ re leaving. I am glad / I´ ll be glad when you are back / you will be back.
The doctor will be ready in ten minutes. Take a seat while you will wait / you are waiting.

Choose the time expression, which best completes the sentences. Sometimes two are possible.
If / As soon as / Until I win a lot of money, I will buy you a Ferrari.
Please turn out the lights after / before / when you go to bed.
I like to relax as soon as / while / before I am on holiday.
When / If / While you are the first person up in the morning, make me a cup of tea.

Read and translate the text:
I am one of those people who suffer from a lack of free time. Most of my days turn out about as follows: After my alarm clock rings, I get up and walk my dog. Then I have breakfast and go to school. When the school is over, I go and have lunch at the school canteen then come back home. That´ s usually around three o´ clock in the afternoon.

2. My house, my flat

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2. My house, my flat

Modal verbs

Do you live in village or in a city? Do you live in a block of flats or do you have your own house?
Describe to us the house or apartment you live in.
Which of these would be your ideal place to live and why?

Modal verbs
What do you know about modal verbs?

Try to find modal verbs in these sentences:
I´ m amazed that you can speak six languages fluently.
I could meet you tomorrow afternoon if you´ re free.
You must be at the airport two hours before take-off.
You may leave the room if you want to.

Read these sentences carefully:

I must buy a new diary.
I really should phone my sister.
I have to be at meeting at 6.30.
I have to write a composition by tomorrow.

Which of the words in italic suggest that:
you have no choice?
you may or may not do this?

1. My family

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1. My family

Present Perfect

Describe members of your family - external description, also pay attention to character attributes, hobbies and current occupation.

Briefly name to us your other relatives. Choose one of them whom you know best and try to describe him or her in as such much detail as possible.

Present perfect
Form
Use

Read the text and try to find the verbs in present perfect:
My grandfather is 96 years old, and he has had a long and interesting life. He has travelled a lot, especially in the Far East. He has seen the Taj Mahal in India, and the Pyramids in Egypt. He has hunted lions in Africa, and has ridden a camel across the Sahara Desert. He says that the most beautiful place he has been to is Kathmandu in Nepal. He has met the Queen on several occasions. In 1959 he was a soldier in New Zealand when she came to visit, and in 1972 he went to a garden party at Buckingham Palace.

Make sentences about these people:
Alice is a journalist. Meet / a lot of famous people
Robert Swan is an explorer. Be / North Pole
Bill and Sophie are unemployed. Not have / a job for six month

25, Problems of the Present World

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25, Problems of the Present World

a) social
b) ecological

SOCIAL
1, discrimination – because of race, gender and religion
2, illiteracy – especially in Africa and in developing countries
3, hunger - especially in Africa and in developing countries
4, human rights – e.g. islamic countries – problems with women´s rights
5, diseases – AIDS, TB, cancer...
6, drugs – which threaten especially young people
7, international terorism – acts are realized by people who believe that they defend their
religion (September 2001 – WTC)

ECOLOGICAL
☺ are connected with high level of technology – air pollution, water pllution
1, natural disasters – huricans, tornados, floods (it´s caused be weather changes), earthquake
2, global warmin – becames huge problem
3, ozon layer
4, greenhouse effect
5, rain forests

Účelové věty s nestejným podmětem

spojky: so that, in order that

1, hlavní věta v přítomném čase – can, may
I´m telling you it now so that you can think it over.
2, hlavní věta v minulém čase – could, might
He came to help us so that we could finish it in time.
3, záporné větě v minulosti – should
They came soon so that we shouldn´t wait.

24, English speaking countries

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24, English speaking countries

The term is used for countries where the majority of the population speaks English as their mother tongue – the U.K., the U.S.A, Canada, Australia and New Zeland.
Besides there are large areas where English is spoken as the second language – e.g. India, Pakistan, the republic of South Africa and other African countries – generally said English is spoken in the Commonwealth countries.
British Commonwealth of Nations is a voluntary association (dobrovolná asociace) of Great Britain and 47 former (bývalých) British colonies. In the 17 of them the Queen Elisabeth II. is the head of the state.
There are 5 types of English: Britain, Amrican, Australian, Indian and African.
It´s the most widespread (rozšířený) language in the world.
It´s used in politics, economics, diplomacy, business, science and technology, culture and sports.

+ povídání o jednotlivých zemích

Zvolací a přací věty

1, zvolací: What a nice day !
How beatiful !
2, přací: in olny, i wish = „kéž“

☺ posun času: I wish he would come. – Kéž přijde. (budoucnost je vyjádřena podmiňovacím způsobem)
☺ I wish you were here. – Kéž tu teď jsi. (přítomnost je vyjádřena minulým časem)
☺ I wish he hadn´t told that. – Kéž to neřekl. (minulost je vyjádřena předminulým časem)

23, Australia and New Zeland

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23, Australia and New Zeland

AUSTRALIA

Is located in the southern hemisphere between the Pacific and the Indian oceans.
The official name is the Commonwealth of Australia.
Is consists of 6 states (New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania) and 2 territories.
The capital city – Camberra (but the largest city is Sydney).
The area is about 8 million square km and the population is about 16 million.
It´s the British dominion (the former colony) – the official head of the state is Queen Elisabeth II. respresented by the Govermor-General (She has no real political influence, and her position is essentially symbolic).
There are many exotic animals – cangaroo, emu, coala bear, dingo....
Is the one of the top exports of lamb and beef, wheat, wine and fruit.
Australia hosted the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne and the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

NEW ZELAND

Consists of 2 large islands.
The area is about 270.000 square km.
The population is about 3,5 million people.
The capital city is Wellington.
The official head of the state is Queen Elisabeth II. respresented by the Govermor-General.
There is beatiful nature e.g. – Lord of the Rings was shot there.
Unofficial national sport is rugby.

Vazba „have (get) something done“

= dát (nechat) si něco udělat
☺ velmi důležitý je slovosled: předmět – have (v přítomném tvaru) – předmět – trpné příčestí významového slovesa
☺ např.: I have my coat cleaned. Dávám si vyčistit kabát.
☺ POZOR ! když slovosled zaměníme – I have cleaned my coat. (předpřítomný čas) – Právě jsem si vyčistil kabát.

Slovesa změny stavu

☺ get, become
☺ He´s getting old. – Stárne. (pozvolná změna)
☺ He became angry. – Rozzlobil se. (náhlá změna)

22, Canada

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22, Canada

The second largest country in the world (after Russia)
Consist of 10 provincies (Quebec – the largest, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, British Columbia) and 2 territories (the Yukon terrtory and the Northwest territory).
The capital city is Ottawa.
The area is about 10 million square km and the population is about 30 million.
Two official language – English and French.
A member of the British Commonwealth of Nations and the official head of the state is Queen Elizabeth II. represented by the Governon-General.
Borders with the U.S.A (in the south) and the Arctic Ocean (in the north) - the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west.
A very beautiful nature and landscape – many lakes (Great Lakes Region) and forests (cover 44% of land area).
There is the Niagara Falls – on the border with U.S.A.
It´s economy is based on natural resources (coal, gas, oil, silver, gold...) and agriculture – the 2 nd largest exporter of wheat.
Canada´s main trading partner is the U.S.A.
It´s often called „cradle of ice-hoceky“.
Canada´s symbol is maple loaf (javorový list).
Royal anthem: "God Save the Queen"

Přípustkové věty

☺ vedlejší věty, které jsou uvozeny spojkami
spojky: although (ačkoli)
though (třebaže)
even though (přestože)
even if (i když)
in spite of the fact (ať, než, navzdory faktu)
☺ např.: Although it was raining we went out = Ačkoli přšelo, šli jsme ven.
☺ lze použít i vazbu „no matter + zájmeno či příslovce“
☺ např.: No matter what he says we will go there = Ať říká cokoliv, my tam stejně půjdeme.
☺ nebo složenina s „ever“ – Whatever he says we will go there. = Ať říká cokoliv, my tam stejně půjdeme.

21, Ernest Hemingway

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21, Ernest Hemingway

He was bron i 1898 in Chicago as the son of a physician.
He was member og so called „Lost Generation“ (here were also: Francis S. Fitzgerald, Thomas Wolfe, John Dos Passos and they were deeply affected by the horrors of the war).
During World War II. he worked as a war reporter.
During his last years he suffered from strong depression which lead to his suicide (he shot himself to death).

WORK:
He started his career with short stories – „In our days“ (written in Paris).
He was a great lover of travelling, hunting and fishing „Green Hills of Africa“,
„The death in the afternoon“
A world famous novel is „Farewell to Arms“ – an epic description of World War I. and a protest againts any war
„For whom the bell tolls“ – a psychological picture of war
„To have or not to have“ – a desription of the impact of great economic crisis
The most famous – „The old man and the sea“ – a great poem about the sea and about eternal fight between nature and man. Aworded Nobel Prize in 1954

Participles and Gerund

PARTICIPLE (příčestí)

a) přítomné: -ing, vyjadřuje současné děje. Going home I met my friend.
b) minulé: -ed (asked) nebo 2.tvar (bought)
c) trpné: having + ed nebo 2.tvar, vyjadřuje děj, který předchází ději věty hlavní.
Having finished my work I went home.

GERUND

☺ má slovesné (čas, rod) i jmenné (může být určeno přivlastňovacím zájmenem) rysy.
☺ jmenný rys: They Insisted on my staying there. (Trvali na tom, abych tady zůstal.) VV
☺ Learning English is importatnt.
1, překlad podstatným jménem slovesným: Učení AJ je důležité.
2, překlad infinitivem: Je důležité učit se AJ.

20, William Shakespeare

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William is consideret to be the greatest dramatist all over the world.
He was born in Stratford upon Avon in 1564 as a son of a glove-maker.
He attended local grammar school.
At the age of 18 he married Ann Hathaway who was 8 years older (they have 2 daughters and one son who died when he was 11).
Later he went to London and joined a group of actors.
First he wrote and adapted older plays, after he started to write his own plays and he was very succesful.
Finally he bought the Globe Theatre in London.
After his son´s death he came back to Stratford.
He died on the same day (23 rd of April) as he was born in 1616.

WORK: 37 plays and number of sonnets

commedies: „As You Like Itt, „Much Ado About Nothing“,“ The Merry Wives of Windsor“, „The Merchant of Venice“, „The Two Gentlemen of Verona“,“ The Winter's Tale“, „The Taming of the Shrew“
tragedies: „Romeo and Juliet“, „Macbeth“, „Hamlet“, „King Lear“, „Othello“
history plays: „Henry V“, „Richard III“, „Julius Caesar“

Modal verbs with Past infinitive

☺ vyjadřují pravděpodobnost, jistotu, výčitek, pochybnost

He can´t have done it. – To nemohl udělat. (pochybnost)
Who could have done it. – Kdo to mohl udělat. (pochybnost menší)
He may have done it. – Asi to udělal. (možná)
He might have done it. – Mohl to udělat (ale neudělal – výčitka)
He must have done it. Určitě to udělal. (jistota)
He needn´t have done it. – Nemusel to udělat (ale udělal – zbytečnost)

(He didn´t have done it. – Nemusel to udělat – tudíž to neudělal)

Další zdroje o tomto tématu naleznete zde:
William Shakespeare
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564-1616)
William Shakespeare
Články na hledaný výraz "William Shakespeare" naleznete na bezuceni.cz

19, Holiday in the U.S.A.

2010-08-06T02:49:00.000-07:00

19, Holiday in the U.S.A.

New Year´s celebration – big celebration, drink alcohol, meet with friends and relatives
the 3 rd Monday in January - Martin Luther King´s Day – he was a black clergyman
(duchovní) who fought for cival rigihts of black people. He was
killed in 1968.
the 3 rd Monday in February – Presidents´ Day – all former American presidents are
remember
Easter – Christians celebrate Christ´s death and his return to life (resurrection – zmrtvýchvstání)
2 nd Sunday in May – Mother´s Day – children give their mother small gifts or card
the 4 th Monday in May – Memorial Day – all people killed in all wars are remebered
the 4 th July – Independence Day – birthday of the USA (1776)
the 12 th October – Columbus Day – his arrival in Maerika (1492) is remembered
the 31 th October – Halloween – watching horror movies; people hanging sceleton, cadavers a
ghosts into the window and they expose pumpkin with candle
the 4 th Thursday in November – Thanksgiving Day – the first settler (Pilgrim Fathers – otcové
poutníci) are remembered (1620). A family holiday with roat
turkey and aplle or pumpkin pie
the 25 th December - Christmas – they decorated tree, baked sweet, gave gifts, hanging stocking
and lights (punčochy). Santa Claus is a popular mythological figure often
associated with bringing gifts at Christmas for children.
New Year´s Eve

Časové věty (Temporal Clauses)

☺ vedlejší věty uvozené časovými spojkami: when, after, before, as soon as
☺ budoucnost se po nich vyjadřuje přítomným časem: As soon as he comes I will call you (v hlavní větě budoucí čas zůstává)
☺ till, until – dokud ne (záporná spojka) – následující sloveso bude kladné
☺ např.: I will stay here till he comes. – Zůstanu tady dokud nepřijde.

18, The U.S.A. – History

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18, The U.S.A. – History

About 1000 - first settlers were Vikings.
Till 1400 – the only inhabitants (jediní obyvatelé) native Indians (domorodí Indiáni).
12. October 1492 – Christopher Columbus arrived in America.
1607 – the first British colony – Jamestown (now Virginia).
1620 – first oversea settler – „Pilgrim Fathers“ came on the ship Mayflower.
During the 17 th century – a lof of colonies originated – Dutch, French, British....
4 th July 1776 – Declaration of Independence (most important day – birthday of the U.S.A.) – written mainly by Thomas Jefferson.
Civil War between the North and the South followed – it lasts about 60 years (boj o otroky).
1863 – Abraham Lincoln declared „Emancipation Resolution“ = slavery was abolished (otroctví bylo zrušeno).
After the Civil war – a great technological progress – the U.S.A. became the most powerfull state in the world. (They changed Great Britain).
24. October 1929 – stock market crash; „Great Depression“ followed
After the WW II. a long period of „Cold War“ with the Soviet Union started.
2 nd half of the 20 th century – marked with war conflicts – Corea, Vietnam, Irague etc.

Presidents: for example
1, George Washington – the first president of the U.S.A.; he was the president two times
3, Thomas Jefferson – he was the main author of Declaration of Independence
16, Abraham Lincoln – he was the president two times, he was killed in the theatre
26, Theodore Roosevelt – he is still the youngest president of the U.S.A.
35, John Fitzgerald Kennedy - very popular president, he was shot in 1963
40, Ronald Regan
43, George Walker Bush -
44, Barack Obama - he is the first African American to hold the office, before he was Senator
from Illinois

Věty podmínkové – If clauses

☺ vedlejší věty uvozené podmínkovými spojkami: if, providing a supposing (za předpokladu) in case that (v případě že), on condition that (za podmínky že)

3 typy podmínkového souvětí:
a) if = jestliže
☺ po if – budoucnost vyjádřená přítomným časem, v hlavní větě budoucí čas
☺ If I have time I will call you. – Jestliže budu mít čas, zavolám ti.

b) if = kdyby
☺ po if – minulý čas, v hlavní větě přítomný kondicionál
☺ If I had time I would call you. – Kdybych měl čas, zavolal bych ti.

c) neskutečná podmínka
☺ po if – předminulý čas, v hlavní větě minulý kondicionál
☺ If I had had time I would have called you. – Kdybych býval měl čas, býval bych ti zavolal.

17, London

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17, London

The capitol of the United Kingdom.
The 9 th largest city in the world – more than 12 million people („Great London“)
Situated on the river Thames in south-east England.
Originally it was a Roman Settlement (osada).
In the 19 th century it was the largest city in the world and the most important economic and political centre.
London has hosted the Summer Olympics twice, in 1908 and 1948. In July 2005 London was chosen to host the Games in 2012, which will make it the first city in the world to host the Summer Olympics three times.

NOW
Economic, political and culture centre of Great Britain
3 airports (Heathrow is the busiest airport in the world for international traffic)
The London underground is the oldest in the world ( it has 11 lines, is 418 km long) and most expansive metro system in the world, dating from 1863.

PLACE OF INTEREST:

The most famous London churches – St. Paul´s Cathedral (barocue), and Westminster Cathedral (gothic).
A great number of parks in London – Hyde Park, St. James´ Park, Green Park.
Most famous shopping centres is Oxford Street and Picadilly Circus.

THE TOWER – was built in the 11th century, it was a royal palace, after prison and now it´s a
museum
TOWER BRIDGE – one of the most famous symbols of London, it opens in the middle for
chips to go throw
THE BRITISH MUSEUM – the largest museum in the world
BUCKINGHAM PALACE – the residence of the Queen
THE HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT – neogothic style
WHITEHALL – the street with govermental offices
DOWNING STREET No. 10 – the official residence of the Prime Minister

Vazba předmětu s infinitivem

☺ po slovesech vyjadřující přání, rozkaz... – He ordered us to come.
☺ po slovesech smyslového vnímání (see, hear...) a let + make (ve významu přimět, přinutit), po nich se píše infinitiv bez „to“ – I saw him come. a He made us do it.

Vazba podmětu s infinitivem

☺ zejména po slovesech „seen“ a „appear“ – It seems that he is ill He seems to be ill.
☺ ve spojeních: it is said – říká se, it is known – ví se
He is said to be rich. a They are known to live in Prague.

16, Holidays in the UK

2010-08-06T02:45:00.001-07:00

16, Holidays in the UK

New Year´s celebration - big celebration, drink alcohol, meet with friends and relatives
14th February - St. Valentine - people in love send each other Valentine cards and small gifts
Easter - we decorated eggs, Christains celebrate Christ´s death and his return to life (ressurection).
2nd Sunday in May - Mother´s Day - children give their mother small gifts or cards
In June – official celebrations of Queen´s birthday (she was born in April but because of bad spring weather it´s celebrated later).
31st of October - Halloween – the eve of all saints day, the night of fun and games, children wear funny or strange costumes, knock at neighbour´s doors, say „Trick or Treat“ and get some sweets or small money.
11th of November - Remembrance Day – those who were Miller in wars are remembered
25th December - Christmas Day (the main day) – in the morning children open their presents, at noon have family traditional dinner (roast turkey and Christmas pudding).
26 th December – Boxing Day – in the past people give thein servants gifts or money in boxes
New Year´s Eve - big celebration, drink alcohol...

Nepravidelná slovesa – Irregular Verbs

☺ slovesa, která netvoří minulý čas a trpné příčestí, ale mají své vlastní tvary
3 typy:
a) 3 různé tvary: write – wrote – written
b) 2 různé tvary: come – came – come
c) stejný tvar: put – put - put

15, Political System in the United Kingdom

2010-08-02T01:31:00.000-07:00

15, Political System in the United Kingdom

The constitutional monarchy.
The official head of the state is king or queen (now Elisabeth II. – she can act only on the advice of her minister).
The executive head of the state is Prime Minister (now Gordon Brawn).
The main law - makng body is Parliament.
Goverment is formed by the political party which has majority in the parliament.
Main political parties: conservatice party, labour party, liberal party and social democratic party.
General elections take part every 5 years, voting is from 18 and candidats must be 21+.
Queen appoints the leader of the largest party as the Prime Minister (appoints about 20 ministers – „Cabinet“).
The second largest party forms the official opposition – „Shadow Cabinet“.
The national authem – „God save the Queen“.

Present Perfect (pre-present)

☺ vyjadřuje děj, který v minulosti nastal nebo se uskutečnil a nějak se dotýká přítomnosti
SIMPLE: have/has + trpné příčestí (-ed nebo 3.tvar u nepravidelných sloves)
a) děj má platnost dosud – I´ve never been to America.
b) výsledek minulého děje v přítomnosti – He has bought a new car
c) děj skončil bezprostředně před přítomným okamžikem – They have just come.
CONTINUOUS: have/has + been + ing
a) děj, který v minulosti začal, trvá dosud a bude asi pokračovat – I´ve been living there.
(since 1990 or for 20 years)

14, History of the United Kingdom

2010-08-02T01:30:00.000-07:00

14, History of the United Kingdom

In 43 AD – Britain was added to roman Empire.
In the 5 th century – the tribes of Angles, Saxons´ and Jutes came from Scandinavien islands.
Till the 11 th century – Britain was a part of the Scandinavian Empire.
In 1066 – the battle of Hastings (William Conqeror – Dobyvatel defeated the Saxon king Harold).
Hundred Years´ War (1338 – 1445) – England wanted large part of France but was defeated.
2 nd half of the 15 th century – War of Roses (the House of Lancaster – their emblem was white rose against House of York – their emblem was red rose).
In 1603 – Scotland was united with England.
2 nd half of the 17 th century – Civil War – a struggle between the Parliament and the Stuart kings; Oliver Cromwell estabilished the Republic.
In 1660 – the monarchy was restored.
18 th – 19 th century – Industrial Revolution – Britain became the leading world power; during the reign of Queen Victoria England obtained large areas in Africa and Asia.
Durinf the WW I. and II. – Britain suffered great economic loss and lost it´s leading position (was replaced by the USA).

Účelový infinitiv ( Infinitive of Purpose)

☺ slouží ke zkracování účelového souvětí se stejnými podměty
☺ může být uvozen spojkou „SO THAT“ nebo „IN ORDER THAT“
I got up early (so that) to catch the bus.

13. The United Kingdom, geography

2010-08-02T01:28:00.000-07:00

13. The United Kingdom, geography

The official name – the U.K. of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
A constitutional monarchy = the official head of the state is Queen Elizabeth II. present prime minister = Gordon Braun.
It liess between th Artic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
The area is about 2. 500. 000 square km and population is more than 60 milion.
It consists of four parts: England (capital London), Scotland (Edinbourgh), Wales (Cardiff), Northen Ireland (Belfast).
Its neighbours France (in the north-east), Ireland (in the west).
The highest mountains: the Highlands of Scotland, the highest peak = Ben Nevis (1342m). The longest rivers: the Severn, th Thames,.. Country is divided into countries.

Interesting places and regions:
Beautiful lake areas (in Cumbria and Highlands of Scotland).
Oxford and Cambridge – old university cities.
Winchester and Canterbury – old cathedral cities.
Stonehange – in the Salisbury Plains, a historic monument with gian stone ardes older than 3500 years.
Birningham – lies at the geographical heart of England, the second largest city in Britain.

Zájmena osobní, s předložkami, přivlastňovací a zvratná - Pronouns

Personal – I, You, He, She, It, We, You, They
S předložkami: Me, You, Him, Her, It, Us, You, Them (tzv. nepřímý pád)
Possesive –
1, samostatná: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs
2, nesamostatná: my, your, his, her, its, our, your, thein
Reflexive – self/ selves
☺ myself, yourself
☺ vyjadřují zvratnost nebo zdůrazňují
☺ stojí za podmětem nebo na konci věty
☺ I will do it myself. I myself will do it. – Já sám to udělám.

12, Education in the Czech Republic

2010-08-02T01:26:00.000-07:00

12, Education in the Czech Republic

School attendance is compultory from the age of 6 to 15.
A school year starts on the 1st of September (university students start later) and finishes on the 30th June and is divided into 2 parts.
Pupils and students get schools reports, university students pass cradits and exams.

We have 3 types of school:
a) state schools (most children)
b) private schools
c) church schools

4 stages of education:
a) PRE-SCHOOL education – creches (up to 3 years)
- kindergarten (nursery schools – up to 6 years)

b) PRIMARY education – basic/elementary schools (up to 15 years)

c) SECONDARY education – takes usually 4 years and it´s finished with school-leaving exams
☺ grammar schools (gympl)
☺ special schools (business, art, agricultural...)
☺ technical schools
☺ apprentice schools (účnák)

d) UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES – take 5 or 6 years and they are finished with state exams
☺ university degrees: bachelor (after 3 years), master (after 5 years)
☺ for example: Charles university

Subject:
Czech and foreign languages, history, geography, biology, mathematics, physics, chemistry, physical education, civic education. (basic)
Economics, Accounting, management, international business, finance and banking, manager psychology, law, communication technology, statistics. (special)

Numers and Expression if Quantity

1, cardinal (základní) – 1,2,3...
2, ordinal (řadové) – 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th....před ně píšeme THE
3, multiple – once, twice, 3 times...
- závisí na kategorii počitatelnosti – počitatelná (many, few, a few books) či nepočitatelná (much, little, a little water)
- u obou těchto kategorií můžeme požít a lot of nebo plenty of
STUPNOVÁNÍ: many/much – more – most
few – fewer – fewest
little – less – least

11, Health

2010-08-02T01:24:00.000-07:00

11, Health

Everybody in this country has the right to choose a doctor.
2 types of medical facilities: state and private.
Medical care is provided from birth to death (health insurance) even prenatal care.
Just after birth they gave us vaccination againts TB, polis, tetanus and diphtend.
Each child is under medical supervision – a lot of preventive and dental checks.
If we feel unwell we go to see a physician (general practicional) in his working hours.
G.P. checks us up: takes our temperature, measures our blood pressure, listents to our heart
and lings...after he states the diagnosis and the therapy and prescribe some
medicines (we take it at the chemist´s)
Sometimes we are sent to a laboratory for tests.
In more serious cases we have to go to the hospital – we are examinate, X-rayed or even operated.
After we can go to health resorts or spas for rehabilitations – various procedurs are massages, baths, physical, training...
Common diseases: cold, flu, bronchitis...
Fatal diseases: cancer, AIDS...
Civilization diseases: stress, depression, high-blood presure, allergies, drug addiction...
Children diseases: otitis, measles, scarlet, rubeola, small pox, mumps...

Tvorba příslovcí a jejich stupňování

1, Krátká přídavná jména - která se skládají z jedné, max. dvou slabik (pomocí koncovky -er, -est)
big – bigger – biggest
funny – funnier – funniest
tall – taller – tallest

2, Dlouhá přídavná jména - mají dvě a více slabik (přidáním slůvek more a most před slovo)
intersting – more interesting – most interesting
useful – more useful – most useful

3, Nepravidelná přídavná jména
good – better – best
bad – worse – worst
far – farther – farthest (používá se pro vzdálenost - vzdálenější, nejvzdálenější)
far - further – furthest (používá se pro pořadí - další, poslední / dále, nejdále)

10, Season of the Year, Weather

2010-07-26T01:07:00.001-07:00

We have 4 seasons – spring, summer, autumn, winter (all take about 3 months)

SPRING
Begins in the 21th of March – time of Easter.
Nights are shorter and days longer, more sunshine, first flowers and green grass appear, trees come into blossom.
Weather changes a lot and it often rains.

SUMMER
Begins on the 21th of June – time of harvest in the field.
Summer holidays begin for pupils and students, people take their vacation, sky is clear and bright, it´s sunny.
Temperature rises up to 30 degrees and summer storms occur quite often .

AUTUMN
Begins on the 23rd of September – time of harvest in the garden.
School year begins, temperature falls down, trees became bare.
It often rains and sky is often cloudy.

WINTER
Begins on the 21th of December – time of Christmas and New Year celebrations.
People take their winter vacation and go to the mountains to practise winter sports (skiing, ice-skating, built snowman, sledging ...)
Temperature falls down below zero, it snows, there´s hard frost.

Adjectives – Přídavná jména a jejich stupňování

☺ mají jediný tvar – pro všechny rody a obě čísla
☺ stejné jako u stupňování příslovcí, akorát ve třetím tvaru se dává předložka THE

Další zdroje o tomto tématu naleznete zde:
Weather and seasons of the year
Weather and seasons of the year
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9, Invitation to the Czech Republic

2010-07-26T01:05:00.000-07:00

9, Invitation to the Czech Republic

Many various types of restaurants:
1, luxury restaurants
2, pubs
3, alehouses (pivnice)
4, wine-rooms and wine-cellars
5, tea-rooms, cafés
6, pizzerias
7, cafeterias
8, fast – foods

A typical Czech restaurant: offers pork, cabbage and dumplings with beer; beef sirloine with cream sauce and dumplings, wiener schnitzel with potatoe salad etc.
National restaurants – offer national cuisines, very popular in our days is e.g. Chinese, Italián, Greek, Indian etc.
Fast-foods – McDonald´s – they offer many types of burger e.g. cheesburger, hamburger, chickenburger etc. , KFC, Burger King ….popular especially with zouny people
We can order melas – á lá carte
- according the daily Orfee
- according menu
We begin with warm or cold starter then soap follows (vegetable, chicken, potato, mushroom, cabbage…). Then we can order main course with side-dish and desert plus coffee.
Beverages: 1, non-alcoholic – mineral water, juice, soda…
2, alcoholic – beer, wine, spirits
When we come to a restaurant – a waiter show us our table and takes our orders, then he serves us. At the end we pay our bill including a tip.

Conditional – Podmiňovací způsob

1, PRESENT
should (v 1.osobě) / would (v celém časování) + infinitiv bez „to“
- I should/would go there. You would go there.
should v 2. a 3.osobě = „měl bys“
- You should go there. Měl bys tam jít.

2, PAST
should / would + minulý infinitiv bez „to“
- You would have gone there. = Býval bys tam šel.
- You should have gone there. = Býval bys tam měl jít.

8, Holidays in the Czech Republic

2010-07-26T01:02:00.000-07:00

8, Holidays in the Czech Republic

Traditional holidays:
1, Christmas – Christmas Eve is the most important , we decorated tree, fried carp with potato
salad, we gave gifts, baked sweet...
2, Easter – We decorated eggs, Christains celebrate Christ´s death and his return to life
(ressurection)
3, New Year´s Eve – big celebration, drink alcohol...

Holiday during the year which we remember/celebrate:
14th February – St. Valentine´s Day – people in love send each other Valentine cards and
small gifts

5th May – Prague Uprising (povstání)

8th May – the end of World War II. in Europe

2nd Sunday in May – Mother´s Day – children give their mother small gifts or cards

5th July – Jan Hus – a preacher in the Bethlem Capel and o professor of Prague University, he was condemned to death as a heretic and burnt in 1415.

6th July – Apostles of Sloves – Cyril and Methodins – they came to Great Moravia to spread
Christianity, involved Slovanic alphabet

28th October – 1918 – Czechoslovakia came into existence as an independent state

1968 – Cz. became a federation of 2 equal states

17th November – 1939 – anti-naci demonstrations – Czech universities and collages were closed

1989 – Velvet Revolutions

Minulé časy: Prostý, Průběhový a Opakování děje v minulosti

☺ minulý čas vždy vyjadřuje ukončenou minulost

SIMPLE: konstatování minulé skutečnosti (otázka a zápor pomocí DID)
a) –ed (pravidelná slovesa) – I aksed him. Did you ask him?
b) 2 tvar (nepravidelná slovesa) – He bought it. Did he buy it? He didn´t buy it.
CONTINUOUS: was/were + ing – He was playing. They were reading.
a) vyjadřuje děj, který proběhl v určitém okamžiku nebo od-do
Yesterday I was playing tennis from 5 to 6.
b) 2 nebo více dějů probíhalo současně (when, while)
While I was sleeping he was reading a book.
c) 1 děj probíhal, jiný minulý děj do něj zasáhl.
When I was walking in the park I met my friend
OPAKOVANÝ DĚJ V MINULOSTI: used to – I used to go there every week.

7, Prague

2010-07-26T00:59:00.000-07:00

7, Prague

The largest and the oldest city in the Czech republic.
The capital city of the Czech republic.
The seat of the President, the Parliament and the Goverment.
About 1,2 million inhabitants.
Skreads on the both banks of the Vltava river.
Prague is divided into a number of discricts.
The oldest part: The Old Town, The Lesser Town, Hradčany, Josefov, Vyšehrad.
Prague is economics and business centre – a lot of banks, offices, institutions...
Prague is centre of education and science – many schools, colleges, libraries etc. (Charles
university – 1348, founded by Charles IV.)
Prague is centre of sports – stadions, swimming pools, sport clubs...
Prague is centre of culture – theatres (the National theatre, the Estate theatre, the Open House,
Small-form theatres), cinemas, concert halls (The House of Artists, The
Smeatana´s halls), music clubs, exhibition halls, galleries, museums (The
National museum, The Technical museum).
Many culture events – e.g. Prague Spring Festival – a lot of artists all over the world,
International TV Festival „Golden Prague“ etc.
Prague is especially rich in sights and monuments – Prague Castle, St. Vitus Cathedral,
Basilique of St. George, Golden Line...

VYŠEHRAD – the first seat of Czech Kings
OLD TOWN SQUARE – the city hall with astronomical clocks (marching apostles),
monument of Jan Hus
CHARLES BRIDGE – founded by Charles IV., decorated with baroque status by Matyáš
Braun and Jan Brokoff
CHURCHES: St. Nicholas Church in the Old Town Square and in the Lesser Town Square
MODERN ARCHITECTURE: Dancing House, Congres Centre

World Order – Pořádek slov ve větě

☺ je pevný a nelze ho měnit – je významotvorný
Oznamovací věta: (PUČ) – podmět – přísudek – předmět – příslovečné určení (Z,M,Č) – (PUČ)
(Every day) I buy coffee in this book shop (every day).
Otázka: pomocné sloveso – Do you buy coffee in this shop every day ?
tázací výraz – Where do you buy coffee every day ?
kladná podmět. otázka – bez pomocného slovesa – Who buys coffee ?
Frekvenční příslovce: ta, která vyjadřují jak často se děj odehrává – always, sometimes, never,
usually, often, seldom (zřídkakdy)
I am always at home. I have never seen it. – za „to be“ pomocné sloveso
I never come late. – před významové sloveso

6, The Czech Republic

2010-07-26T00:57:00.000-07:00

6, The Czech Republic

Consists of 3 parts: Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia.
Borders with Germany, Poland, Slovakia and Austria.

Area: about 800 000 square km

Population: more than 10 millions inhabitants

Capital city: Prague (more than 1 million people)

Other big cities: Brno, Plzeň, Ostrava...
Major nationalities are the Czech and the Moriavians.

Menority groups: the Slovaks, the Poles, the Roms, the Ukrainians, the Russias...
The highest mountain is Sněžka (in the Giant mountains).
Bohemia and Moravia are quite rich in mineral springs – there is lot of spas (Františkovi
Lázně, Karlovy Vary, Mariánské Lázně) – many tourists from all over the
world visit them every year.

Political system: republic, the head of the state is President, Parliament (the Senate and the
House of Representatives), head of goverment is Prime Minister.

Main political parties: Civic Democratic Party and Social Democratic Party.

Economy: main part of industry – engineering (cars, tractors, agricultural machines), glass
industry (cut glass as well as china), chemical industry, main products of
agriculture are wheat, fruit, hips (famous Czech beer)

Culture: a long cultural tradition – music (Smetana, Dvořák), literature (J. Seifert – Nobel
Prize Winner), film (Forman, Svěrák – Oscar Winners).

Festivals: Prague Spring, Golden Prague, International Film Festival in Karl´s Bad

Sport: hockey, football, javeline throw, shooting...

A member state of the European Union (we came in in May 2004).
The temperature difference between summers and winters is relatively high (hot summers and
cold, cloudy winters, usually with snow).

Question Tags – Tázací dovětky

☺ je-li výchozí věta kladná, dovětek je záporný a naopak:
1, He´s at home, insn´t he ?
2, He insn´t at home, is he ?
Příklady: He has got much work, hasn´t he ?
They will come, won´t they ?
She must do it, mustn´t she ?
Významové sloveso “to do” – He lives in Prague, doesn´t he ?
They came in time, didn´t they ?
She doesn´t know him, does she ?
I am late, aren´t I ?

5, Holidays and Travelling

2010-07-19T00:37:00.000-07:00

Holidays
Time when we need not to go to school or work.
People have various ideas about their holidays – to go to the seaside, swim and sunbathe, to visit foreign countries and go sightseeing, to go to the cottage and work in the garden, to stay at home and simply relax, to practise sports and hobbies …
Usually conected with summer – pupils and students have 2 month holidays.
But also during school year – Christmas, winter and spring holidays – people usually go to the mountains and practise winter sports – down-hill and cross-country skiing, sledging, snowboarding, skating…

Means of transport:
1, bus – quite chlap but not very comfortable, especially for long distances
2, train – more comfortable but more expensive
3, plane – the fastest and the most comfortable way of travelling
4, car – has many adventiges: you can direct your journey – to stop when and where you
want, to have a rest where you need

Accomodation
A lot of various types: hotels, motels, botels, caravans, tents, boarding houses, cottage, bungallows, private accomodation.

Travel documents
When you travel abroad: passport, valid visa (if it necessary), vaccination card – especially for ecotic countries, international driving licence, travel insurance

Journey, trips
1, private
2, organized by a travel agency – it arranges for you everything

Future – Budoucí čas

1, SIMPLE
☺ konstatuje budoucí čas
☺ „shall“ v 1.osobě a „will“ v celém časování – infinitiv bez „to“
I shall/will do it. – You will do it.
☺ „shall“ v 2.a 3.osobě = máš
You shall do it. – Máš to udělat.
☺ „will“ v 2.osobě v otázce = zdvořilá žádost
Will you bring the book? – Přines prosím tu knihu.

2, CONTINUOUS
☺ děj bude probíhat od-do nebo po nějakou dobu nebo v určitý okamžik
☺ shall/will be + ing
I will be watching TV all evening.

3, OPISNÉ VAZBY
a) „going to“ – úmysl – I am gong to buy a new car.
- děj určitě nastane – It is going to rain.
b) přítomný čas průběhový – blízká budoucnost – He is leaving tonight.

Další zdroje o tomto tématu naleznete zde:
Holidays - You can spent holidays in many ways.
Travelling, going on holiday, transport
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4, Shopping

2010-07-19T00:36:00.000-07:00

For most women it´s an everyday duty – have to buy necessary food.
Usually once a week they do bigger purchase for the weekend.
From time it´s necessary to buy other things – e.g. clothes, shoes, household, equipment, books etc.
Men usually hate doing shopping but women like it very much.
I like to buy clothes and cosmetics very much.

Types of shops:
a) small specialized shops with more familiar atmosphere (food grocer´s, green grocers´s, butcher´s, baker´s, dairy, compectionary, tobaconist´t, florist´s, chemist´s, toyshop, bookshop…).

b) department stores and supermarkets - there you can buy almost everything – from food to furniture
☺ usually operate on the „serve – yourself“ system – you go in, take a basket or trolley, walk round the shop and chaose what you want
☺ at the exit there´s a cashdesk where you pay for all goods together – in cash or with credit card

c) open air markets – especially with fruits and vegetable

d) stalls in the streets and squares – they sell fast food, souvenirs, flowers, cigarettes and newspaper etc.

e) second-hand shop – with used foods, mainly clothes and books

f) highly specialized shop – e.g. jewelery, electrical, appliences, various, boutiques, sportwear etc.

Vyjádření záporu

☺ v anglické větě smí být pouze jeden zápor !
☺ a) jmenný zápor (=záporné zájmeno nebo příslovce) – I met nobody there.
☺ b) slovesný zápor (=zápor „not“ u slovesa) – I didn´t meet anybody.

Další zdroje o tomto tématu naleznete zde:
Shopping
SHOPPING
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3, My daily Programme, my Hobbies

2010-07-19T00:34:00.000-07:00

On working days

I get up at 6 o´clock and I do my morning hygiene – I clean my teeth, have a shower, do hair and make-up my face.
Then I have breakfast – mostly it´s something sweet like cookies or cornflakes.
After I go to school by bus and underground. My journey to school takes 40 minutes.
The lesson starts at 8 o´clock and finish every day otherwise. Our subjects are for example ekonomy, czech language and international business.
I have lunch at the school canteen and then I go home or somewhere with my friends.
In the afternoon I help my mum at home, walk with my dog and sometimes I study for the next day. On Monday and Wednesday I have training – I do fitbox.
In the evening I have dinner, watch TV, play on computer or read.
I go to bed at 10 o´clock.

At the weekend

I get up at 11 o´clock and again I do my morning hygiene – I clean my teeth, have a shower, do hair and make-up my face.
Then I have large breakfast – bread with cheese and ham and something sweet.
After I do something on computer and then we have good family lunch.
At the weekend I have more time for hobbies and my friends. My hobbies are sport – especially tennis, squash and bowling, reading novel and short stories, going to the cinema and so on.
On saturday I go to the pub or disko with my friends. We chatting, drinking and enojing it.
Sometimes I spend my weekend at the cottage in Orlík with my family and grandma. We go to the woods, pick up mushrooms and the we cook.
Sometimes in winter I spend my weekend in the mountains and I skiing and sledge.

Tvoření otázek, otázky přímé a nepřímé, podmětné otázky

☺ pomocí slovesa „to be“ nebo pomocí modálního slovesa – změna slovosledu
He´s at home. – Is he at home ?
They will come late. – Will they come late ?
He must do it. – Must he do it ?
☺ významové sloveso – přidáním pomocného slovesa „to do“ v příslušném tvaru
☺ přímé otázky: He goes to school. – Does he go to school ?
They come late. – Did they come late ?
☺ nepřímé otázky: He asked where I lived. (slovosled oznamovací věty)
☺ podmětné otázky: tvoří se bez pomocného slovesa – Who lives there ?

Další zdroje o tomto tématu naleznete zde:
MY DAILY PROGRAMME
My daily program
Články na hledaný výraz "My Daily Programme" naleznete na bezuceni.cz

Článek podporuje:
inline hokej, nordic skating, helmy levně

2, My Plans for future

2010-07-19T00:33:00.000-07:00

PERSONAL

☺ to find a good partner for life
☺ to have family, children
☺ to build a house with garden
☺ to travel as much as possible
☺ to have enough time for friends and hobbies

My opinion is that the most important for my future is have a loving family with 2 or 3 children.
I want to have a nice house with big garde nand swimming pool for my children.
Very important for me is have a good work and be successful in my field.
I want to travel as much as possible too because I love getting to know new culture and place. Every country has something groove what be worth to see it.
And of course I want to have a good friends in my future because without friends it won´t do.

PROFESSIONAL

☺ the first and the most important –to pass school-leaving exams
☺ to continue studies at the university
☺ to find a good and well-paid job
☺ to improve language knowledge, to knot more foreign language because now it´s very important
☺ to become skilled and sucessful at work

Modal Verbs

☺ v každé osobě stejný tvar

Sloveso Přítomný čas Opisný infinitiv Přít. čas Min. čas Bud. čas
CAN (moci) I cannot, can´t to be able to I am (not) able to I was able to I will be able to
MUST(muset) I need not, needn´t to have to I have to (I don´t have to) I had to I will have to
MAY (smět) I must not, mustn´t to be allowed to I am (not) allowed to I was allowed to I will be allowed to

Další zdroje o tomto tématu naleznete zde:
Future plans and career choices 1.
Future plans and career choices 2.
Články na hledaný výraz "Studies, Job, My Future Career" naleznete na bezuceni.cz

1, My CV, Family, Friends, Pets

2010-07-19T00:31:00.000-07:00

1, My CV, Family, Friends, Pets

My name is Simona Valentová.
I was born on the 18th of December 1989 in Prague.
I study at the business academy and now I try to pass my schoul-leaving exams.
After I want to continue my studies at the economic university.
My mother´s name is Jana Valentová. She´s 44 years old and she works as a nanny because she loves babies. Her hobbies are sport and reading.
My father´s name is Roman Valenta. He´s 45 years old and he works as a businessman – he collects stamps. His hobbies are his job, tennis and friends.
I have one sister called Martina. She studied at this school too and now she studies at university. She´s 20 years old and she lives with her boyfriend.
I have two grandma called Eva and Marcela and they are pensioner. Unfortunately I don´t have any grandpa.
My mum´s has one sister – my aunt Marcela. And that´t all because my father is the only child.
I live with my parents in a family house. We have got big garden with swimming pool and many flower and trees. That´s great in summer. I love it. We have many rooms there and I have my own room.
We have got a cottage in Orlík. I go there for holiday with my grandma. We often go to the forest and pick up mushrooms and then we cook many foods. I spent childhood there and it was the best times for me.
We have got great neighbours too – they are our close friends. We celebrate birthday with them.
We have got three pets too: dog – yorkshire terrier called Kenny. He´s 6 years old and I very
like go to walk with him and I very love him.
parrot – called Honzík – he´s 12 years old but he can´t speak.
and rat called Beanny.
I have got a lot of friends and I really love them. We meet at discos or pubs. We go together to the cinema, clubs and trips. I really enjoy it with them.

Přítomný čas – rozdíl mezi použitím prostého a průběhového času

1, simple – konstatování skutečnosti, opakovaný děj; 3 os.č.j. – S
☺ otázka a zápor – pomocné sloveso „do“ („does“)
He goes to school everyday.
Does h ego to school everyday ?
He doesn´t go to school everyday.

2, continuous – děj probíhá v tomto okamžiku – I am watching TV now.
- blízká budoucnost – He´s leasing tonight.
☺ „to be“ v příslušném tvaru + ingové příčestí
Otázka: změna slovosledu – Are you watching TV now ?
Zápor „not“: They are not watching TV now.

Varieties of English

2010-07-14T06:43:00.000-07:00

Varieties of English

• English Language is the chief medium of communication of people in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and numerous other countries, among the biggest and probably most important is India (it was a British colony until 1949). It is the official language of many nations in the Commonwealth of Nations and is widely understood and used in all of them. It is spoken in more parts of the world than any other language and by more people (420 million speak it all over the world) than any other tongue except Chinese.

• English as a first language is the one that children learn as their first and is also the official in the country; second language know most of the people in the country and is official too (English as a second language is learned in many countries to understand foreigners, when the first language is not very spread among foreign people); and English as a foreign language is the one we learn to know an international language, is not official in the state and it depends to each country how many people learn it

• we know 5 types of English - British, Indian, African, American and Australian

• English that is learned in schools is called Standard English (SE), but people on the top of the social scale (about 3%) speak with Received Pronounciation (RP)

• The most distinguishing differences between American English and British English are in pronunciation and vocabulary. There are slighter differences in spelling, pitch, and stress as well. It is often difficult to determine whether a work was written in England, the United States, or any other part of the English-speaking world.

• in American English there are series of spelling reforms (-er instead of British -re, -or to replace-our, check instead of cheque) and sometimes Americans use different words for the same thing that British (bug, to mean insects in general rather than bedbug in Great Britain, corn, to designate what the British call maize, elevator X lift, truck X lorry, windshield X windscreen, sidewalk X pavment, commercial X advertisment)

• English is the main language of science (especially computer science, medicine) and after the WWII. English became the main language of diplomacy

History of the English language
• about 5000 B.C. a tribe called the Indo-Europeans lived in central Europe, they had their own language, and when they discovered the wheel around 3000 B.C., they were able to travel; some went on east, some on west and those, who came to Britain, were the Celts

• today the Celts live still in Scotland, Western Ireland, Wales, Cornwall and Brittany (northern France)

• after more than 2000 years the Celts were the only people living in Britain; than the Romans arrived and Julius Caesar with his army brought there new language - Latin; but Romans lived only in England, so only very few words entered the Celtic language

• the Romans left in 410 A.D., but 40 years later the Anglo-Saxon invaded the Britain - they came from Holland, Denmark and Germany (England means ‘land of the Angels’); their language was Old English and many of their words are still in dictionaries (sheep, earth, dog, work, field; the, is, you)

• in 597 A.D. Saint Augistine brought Christianity to Britain and hundreds of Latin and Greek words entered Old English

• another words (get, wrong, leg, want, skin, same and low) have their roots in Norse - a language of Vikings, who lived in Scandinavia and invaded Britain between the years 750 and 1050

• 1066 - Norman duke William beat the English king Harold at the battle of Hastings and French words became an important part of English

• in next 200 years, English with Latin, Norse and French changed into Middle English; in this period the first great English writer Geoffrey Chaucer wrote the Canterbury Tales

• around 1480 the printing press was invented, which played an important role because it fixed the English grammar and spelling

• since William Shakespeare’s times (16th - 17th century) we call the English modern

• when the Normans invaded Britain, the official languages used for government, law, learning or the army were Latin and French (words like judge, military, professor, legal come from these two languages); the daily used language among people was Old English

• from 14th century, many English words were invented or borrowed from other languages, e.g. Ancient Greek (earth + writing > geography, soul + word > psychology), other common Greek words are phone, photo, philo, sophy, mono, poly

• words from Latin : multi, super, sub, mare ...
some words came from outside Europe - alcohol, algebra - Arabic, jungle - India

The influence of TV on a regular viewer

2010-07-14T06:42:00.000-07:00

The influence of TV on a regular viewer

• there are 2 types of viewers - the 1st one is addict to TV, they watch it many hours a day and they don’t care much what the program is (they often do something different while watching), and the 2nd one, who watch TV rarely and not periodically - they choose certain programs

• the 1st group is highly influenced by TV, they take many opinions from TV, the 2nd group have their own opinions, they watch TV to get more information (not to create their opinions)

• people with higher education watch usually news, educational programs or some documents, but most people watch movies, series (especially action) and several types of popular TV competitions (quizzes, lotteries ...), house-wives soap operas and children fairy tales

• the main types of TV represent in CR TV Nova and CT1;
news on TV Nova - they are more sensational, emotional, aim on celebrities and people, they start usually with domestic affairs, political and serious world news are at the end, talking to people connected with some sensation (relatives to victims...), jokes of reporters
news on CT 1 - the first in order are political and world news, analysis, exact information, graphs and charts, repetition of important news
TV Nova - for less educated people, action and American films and series, soap operas, competitions
CT 1 - independent and valuable films, documentaries, educational programs, many news
UK - BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) - BBC1 and BBC 2, money from licence fees (all must pay), educ. progs., subject to government directives
- IBA (Independent Broadcasting Authority) - ITV, funded by commercials, educ. progs., subject to government directives
commercials - at breaks and within programs, political, religious and for tabacco forbidden
130 cable TV networks, several satellite TV channels

Do journalists influence public opinion
• many people read the newspapers every day and although the newspapers shouldn’t advance any political party or publicise e.g. racial opinions, journalists sometimes do (they have their opinions and they rather write in accord with them than against them)

• all people can’t be educated in all areas what journalist write about so some themes or problems know the readers only from newspaper articles (e.g. the Temelin - only few people know enough about the problem, so there are 2 groups - one say that it is dangerous and one say that it doesn’t spoil the nature and it is safe and effective

• sometimes the journalists say what they shouldn’t, which is a conflict between freedom of opinions and one’s privacy and ethic (e.g. shooting our president in an hospital room when he didn’t know about it, or the book 7 dni ... - the author is telling sometimes lies and sometimes a little changed true, but when the readers connect it all together, the result is, that Havel and Dagmar are stupid, senile and they have all bad qualities - what the author did was that he violated their privacy, collected their mistakes (that everyone sometimes does) and wrote a whole book about it)

• the biggest mistake that journalists do is that they take one part (usually sensational) from one’s speech, they rip it out from the context (don’t let the author explain what he wanted to say) and than the thing alone sounds like sensation - that’s why many people don’t like to talk to journalists

Television destroys man’s imagination and activity
• people who watch TV many hours a day (who are kind of addict) usually don’t make sports and are sometimes fat, because they rather watch all activities in TV - they can see all kinds of sports and of course action movies (with runs, jumps, fights ...) so TV is for them sort of substitute for these actions, and better, because they can see actions that they couldn’t do in real (shooting, killing people, car chase ...)

• the spreading and development of TVs and videos breaks the communications and relationships between people - the family sit together, they watch a program and are silent (rarely make a comment about the program); in past they talked to each other, played games (cards, chess ...) and the communication was more natural

• I’m not against watching TV, but not all the evening (especially while eating) and choose what I’m interested in, not to switch it on anytime; and I prefer doing something together and communicate (e. g. playing scrabble or any game with children)

• when I have children I won’t let them watch TV more than 2 or 3 hours a day, I will try to persuade them to go out with friends, to draw or whatever, and I’ll abolish them to watch action and bloody movies - it destroys their perception of the world and they can think that the real world is about killing and violence (it can even end with killing someone like in USA - Arkansas)

Different types of massmedia

2010-07-14T06:39:00.000-07:00

Different types of massmedia

• the main types of massmedia are four : TV, newspapers, radio stations and Internet

TV : no doubt that the TV is the most spread massmedia and has the biggest influence
people are offerd an unreal world with adventure, romance, luck or whatever and when they can’t have it, they at least watch it

news : people get the information without effort, the reporters are witty and nice and they can see pictures and videos from several places;

newspapers : there are several types of newspapers from the serious ones (broadsheets) to the shocking ones (tabloids) so all people can choose ther cup of tea
the advantage of newspaper is that they have permanent group of readers so they can full their pages with information that would be in TV for many people boring > the depth of information

radio stations : most widely spread are music radio stations, but some have very serious news with analysis or some interviews > everybody can choose his favourite station

Internet : is developing with unbeliavable speed, people can do shopping through it, booking tickets, ordering, studying ...
the vast amount of information can’t influence someone’s opinion because he chooses what he wants to know
the problem is that the information are not limited or controled so even small children can see what they aren’t allowed to

CR : 2 channels public TV - serious information, programs of all interests, documents
2 channels commercial TV - shocking news, action movies, soap operas, sitcoms, cheap series
radio stations - music, foreign st. - BBC
newspapers - both types, tabloids (Blesk, Hrom, Vecerni Praha) are more expensive, aimed to people with lower education; broadsheets (Dnes, Lidove noviny) have political informations, deeper, analysis

Newspapers in UK/USA

Tabloids Broadsheets
Articles : Are shocking, emotional, aimed Serious inf., national news, world news,
on people, celebrites, disasters, sports background inf., in-depth features

Composition : Short, easy to understand, huge headlines, Long, elaborate, difficult words, complex and plays on words, quotations, exclamations interesting articles

Photos : Many, often colour, especially people 2-3 on every page, places and people, black
and white

Cost : 25p 35p.

Size : 40 cm /28 cm 60 cm / 40 cm

Circulation : 13 million in UK 3 million in UK

Titles : The Sun, The Daily Star, The Daily The Guardian, The Times, The Independent,
Mirror, The Daily Mail, The Daily The Daily Telegraph and The Financial Times
Express and Today

USA - School system

2010-07-14T06:36:00.000-07:00

USA - School system

• elementary and secondary education involves 12 years of schooling, the successful completion of which leads to a high school diploma

• the first possible school children can attend is a Kindergarten (actually nursing school), than elementary school and high school

Elementary schools :
• the first elementary school was established in 1630 in Masachussets, because the Puritans wanted to read the Bible

• basic subjects are : math, language, geography, history, arts, science ...

• about 85% are public schools and 15% privat schools - they are sometimes religious

High schools :
• 90% of students go to public schools, they can't choose which school they want to attend
• sport plays an important role in schools as well as the spirit (which is big in small cities)

Colleges :
• the first college founded in America was Harvard and was founded in Massachusets in 1636

• in 1944 the GI Bill of Rights was issued, which helped veterans from the WWII to get higher education (government paid their scholarships) and in 1960's the Affirmative Action Program was introduced - certain numbers of minotity students had to be admited on colleges

• every students takes an SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) from math and English on which bases they are admited to college or not

• the trend of 1970's and 1980's was to be educated in technical subjects

• there is not any difference in quality of education between public and privat schools, the privat ones require much higher fees; all schools are funded from student fees, donations and government funding

• colleges are based on a credit system, science program and research makes the university of a high or low prestige

Prague

2010-07-14T06:34:00.000-07:00

Prague

• Prague is a city in west central Czech Republic, the capital of the country; it is located in the central Bohemia region, situated on both sides of the Vltava River; its population is about 1.3 million

History :
• the settlement of Prague dates from the 9th century, when it was the site of several Bohemian castles

• the city began to grow in the 13th century with the establishment of German communities by Wenceslas I, king of Bohemia; the German colonists developed the city rapidly, building the Old Town as a trading centre in 1232 and, expanding to the southeast, establishing the New Town a century later; the key personality for expansion of Prague was the King Charles IV, who let build the Charles University in 1348 as the first in middle Europe

• Prague prospered as the capital of the powerful province of Bohemia and during the 14th century became the largest European city after Paris, in 1442 it was conquered by the Hussites and continued to grow in wealth and power

• it was much damaged during several wars, notably in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), in 1744 the city surrendered to Frederick II, king of Prussia, who, during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), defeated the Austrian forces at Prague

• in 1848, Prague was bombarded by Austrian troops to quell a Czech revolution, and in 1866 the city surrendered to Prussian forces during the Seven Weeks' War

• upon the establishment of the republic of Czechoslovakia in 1918, Prague became its capital; During World War II the city was occupied by German forces from March 1939 until May 1945 but escaped major damage

• the city was again the scene of turmoil when, in August 1968, Soviet troops invaded Prague and massive demonstrations ensued and also was the site of massive nonviolent demonstrations that led to the downfall of Czechoslovakia's Communist regime in 1989

• when the country divided into two republics on January 1, 1993, the city became capital of the independent Czech Republic

Cultural life

• the cultural life in Prague is wide and one can chose from several activities he would like to do - from going to opera or National Theatre to seeing a hockey or football match

• if you feel like to see some theatre performance of a high value, I recommend you to go to the National Theatre, situated on the right bank of Vltava; the interior is painted by famous Czech painters, e.g. Mikolas Ales, and you can see the best Czech actors casting in the most famous Czech and foreign plays; or if you would like to see some more informal performance, there are many possibilities where to go, but if you visit the Archa theatre, you will be satisfied; because many performances are in English, or even Czech ones are with English subtitle; and don’t worry to wear jeans, nobody gets mad

• if you would like to see some paintings or sculptures, you can visit the National Gallery in Prague, e.g. the collection of ancient art in Sternbersky palac on Hradcanske square 15

• from Prague museums I recommend the National museum on Venceslas square, where you can find paleontological, mineral or zoological collections, ancient history of Czech, Moravia and Silezia and scelets of many animals, including ancient man

• and if you admire classical music, there is not more prestigeous and honor place than the Rudolphinom on Alsovo sqare, on the bank of Vltava

• probably the most famous festival that is held every year is the classical music festival Prague spring, that begins every year on May 12th and ends on June 2nd; concerts can be seen in more concert halls in Prague, but it always begins with Dvorak’s Ma vlast in Rudolphinom; siniliar to this is Prague autumn, but is younger and not so famous

• I would recommend to everybody to see some performance on Krizikova fountain; this fountain is a little miracle of technology and it is wonderful that it was build so long ago; at recent days spectators can see spectacular performances full of colours, playing in warm summer nights on music by Queen, Vangelis or songs from world-reknown musicals

Municipal House of the Capital of Prague and Powder gate

• Municipal House was built on the place of former King’s court in 1905 to 1911 as a representative palace of the town in the style of Prague Art nouveau; the group of halls around the central Smetana Hall is decoratedby the works of the foremost artists of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries; the Municipal House was the place of declaration of independent Czechoslovak stateon October 28th in 1918 and also the scene of negotiations of the representatives of Civic Forum , who after November 17th 1989 undertook the political powers

• the Powder Gate was constructed as a representative entry into the Old Town at King’s court by Matyas Rejsek in the 2nd half of 15th century in the Lately Gothic style; in the end of 19th century was renovated in the Neo-Gothic style by J. Mocker; the gate is 65m high and is decorated by stoneworks and sculptures

Vyšehrad
• the second seat of the Bohemian princes and kings of the Premyslides dynasty was founded in the 10th century; the original castle figured in romantic legends about the beginning of Prague and the Bohemian state; it contains Rotunda of St Martin, Chapter church of St Peter and Paul, the chapels of St Ludmila and of Virgin Mary in Walls, remnants of Gothic fortifications, a baroque fortress of the 17th century, a park with so called “devil’s Column and four statues depicting figures of Bohemian mythology by J. V. Myslbek; you can find there also Vysehrad Museum and a cemetery, where since the 19th century important personalities of the Czech nation have been buried

Old Town Hall
• was built probably in 1299 at the Big square (market place) as the seat of self-government of the Prague Old Town; the oldest part of the Town Hall complex was built in the High Gothic style and contains the tower, oriel chapel and rich coat of arms decorations; the astronomical clock was made before 1410 by Nicholas of Kadan and completed in the end of 15th century; the calendar sheet and new statues of Apostles were were placed in 19th and 20th centuries

New Zealand

2010-07-14T06:32:00.001-07:00

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country lying in the Pacific Ocean; it consists of Northern and Southen island, separated by the Cook Strait , and small Stewart Island

• its area is 270,000 square kilometres, population 3,7 million and consists of 90% British and 10% Maori aborigines; the religions are about 50% Christianity, some sects (Mormons) and Maori religions

• Northern island - rather flat land, variet, low mts., plains, volcanos and geizirs
Southern island - high mts. - Southern Alps with the highest peak Mt. Cook (3740m)
Rivers - short; Waganui and Waikato

• New Zealand is a Parliamentary democracy, where the Head of State is a Governor-general, representing the monarch of Great Britain; Head of Government is a Prime minister; it has an Unicameral legislature - only ane chamber of the parliament, which is the House of Representatives (99 members)

• the capital is Wellington and other important cities are Auckland, Queenstown, Dunedin and Christchurch

• the languages spoken in NZ are English (similiar to British English) and Maori; some famous personalities are Hillary, Rutherford, Snell ...

• NZ is a rich agriculture country with important industry; the main agriculture products are wheat, vegetable, wool, meat, butter, milk and cheese and NZ is a big exporter of many kinds of food products

• the first people to settle NZ were the Polynesian tribes - the Maoris - in the 8th century
NZ was discovered by James Cook in 1769
Colonization began in the 19th century after the treaty of Waitagno, when the Maori chiefs acknowledged the sovereignity of the British Crown in return for the protection of their lands
However there were disputes between Maoris and British settlers over land ownership which led to war; it lasted about 10 years and by 1871 all Maori resistance was crushed

In 1907 NZ was granted the status of dominion
• Maoris are good in carving and making personal ornaments, e.g. necklesses, earings and amulets

Canada

2010-07-14T06:30:00.000-07:00

Canada is a federated country in the northern part of North America, member of the Commonwealth of nations

• its area is 9.9 million square kilometres, which makes it the 2nd largest country in the world, the population is 28 million and consists of 45% British, 25% French, German, , Italy and Ukraine origins; the aborigines are Indians and Eskymos

• 46% of population are Roman catholics and 41% Protestants; the official languages are French and English

• Canada is a federal parliamentary democracy with the Governor-general, representing the British monarch, as a head of the state; the Head of Government is a Prime minister; Canada has a Bicameral legislature which consists of House of Commons (295 members) and Senate(112 senators)

• Canada is washed by the Arctic ocen from the north, North Atlantic ocean from the east and North Pacific ocean from the west; among the islands in the north the biggest are Baffin Island, Queen Elizabeth Islands and Victoria island; there are two main bays - Hudson and Baffin

• the country is divided into ten provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan) and two territories (Northwest Territories, Yukon Territory); there are big lakes - Great Bear Lake, Great Slave Lake, Lake Winnipeg and portions of the Great Lakes under Canadian jurisdiction; the highest peak Mt Logan lies in the Rocky mts

• the climate is mostly continental with rain and snow falls, typical animals are bears, seals and grizzlys

• Canada was discovered in 1497 by John Cabot; in 1763 French were defeated by British and it became an English colony; in 1867 Canada became the 1st British dominion

• Canada belongs to the richest countries of the world, its main products are wheat, wood, petrolium, iron ore, oil and gold, main industrial products are motor vehicles and paper

The Republic of Ireland lies on the island west from UK in the Atlantic ocean

• its area is 70,000 square kilometres, the population is 3,5 million (from which 96% are Irish) and the religions are Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism and Jewish; the capital is Dublin

• the Republic of Ireland is a parliamentary democracy and the head of the state is the president, voted directly for 7 years

• the relief could be described as a lowland (the highest mts. reach only about 1,000 metres), the biggest river is the Shannon river; the lakes are of glacier origin

• the original inhabitants were Celts
432 - Christianity was brought to Ireland by St Patrick
12th century - the English first invaded Ireland
17th century - Cromwell gave the land in Ireland to Protestant settlers from England
1690 - in the battle of Boyne Ireland became an English colony
half of 19th century - 5 million people emigrated because of the great famine;
1905 - Shinn Fein, the nationalist party was founded and during the failed Easter rebellion the leaders were executed
1921 - the 26 nationalist counties in the southern Ireland became the Irish Free State
1949 - was the proclamation of the Republic of Ireland in Dublin

• Ireland consists of 4 historical provinces - Leinster, Munster, Connacht and Ulster; the provinces are divided into 32 counties and 6 of them in Ulster are administred by UK

• the typical Irish music instrument is a Celtic harp; some famous Irish authors are J. Swift, J. B. Yeats, O. Wilde, J. Joyce, S. Becket

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New York - history, boroughs, immigration

2010-07-14T06:26:00.000-07:00

¨NY history, boroughs, immigration

History :
• the New York Bay area had been inhabited for centuries by Native Americans; the first European to visit the area was an Italian navigator in the service of France, who landed there in 1524; Henry Hudson, whose expedition sailed under the Dutch flag, explored the Hudson River in 1609; the Dutch bought the island and called it New Amsterdam; later a wall against the Indians was biuld there, at a place of recent Wall street

• during the mid-17th century, further colonization of Manhattan Island took place, and other settlements were begun in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island; in 1664 the colony was surrendered to the English and renamed to New York

• during the War of Independence New York was for four years the capital of the country, the American Congress met in New York and George Washington was inaugurated as the first United States president here in 1789

• between 1820 and 1840, the immigrants, particularly Irish, German, Jewish, and Italian, began to arrive in large numbers; the city's population more than doubled and by 1850 it had doubled again

• by the late 19th century the population was swelled by immigrants from southern and eastern Europe as well as from China; the Ellis Island, in upper New York Bay near Manhattan, is best known for the immigration centre located there between 1892 and 1954; an estimated 20 million immigrants passed through this island

• In 1904 construction of the complex underground transport system linking the boroughs was begun and integrated the boroughs into the pattern recognizable today; in the period during and after World War II, the city received numerous black immigrants, largely from the southern states; immigration from Puerto Rico and from other parts of the Caribbean and Latin America followed in the 1950s

City of NY :
• New York is subdivided into five boroughs; in descending order of area, the boroughs are Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, the Bronx, and Manhattan; almost all of the Bronx is situated on the mainland, but the other boroughs are situated on, or comprise, islands; in all, New York comprises some 50 islands

• when looking on the city plan, streets lay horizontally and avenues vertically; the exception is Broadway, which predates the plan and lays irregularly

Boroughs :
Queens - there are two international airports - La Guardia and John F. Kennedy, both are major air-cargo terminals

Bronx - famousfor the International Wildlife Conservation Park (commonly known as the Bronx Zoo), one of the world's largest, and an Yankee Stadium, home of the New York Yankees professional baseball team

Brooklyn - the most populous borough of New York City

Neighbourhoods :
Harlem - home to a predominantly black and Puerto Rican population, during the 1920s, black culture exploded on to the scene with the Harlem Renaissance movement in literature and with jazz

Greenwich Village - began to attract artists, writers, actors, and political theorists from all parts of America and Europe, and continues to provide a focus for café life
Chinatown - where Chinese immigrants began to settle in the 1850s
SoHo - a former warehouse and factory district

Sights in NY
The statue of liberty - was donated to the American people by France in 1886 as a symbol of French-American friendship and their alliance during the American revolution; it is located on Liberty Island

The financial district of Lower Manhattan - centred on Wall and Broad streets, includes the New York Stock Exchange, World Trade Center (one of the world's tallest structures) and a United States Federal Reserve bank as well as other prominent banking, brokerage, and financial institutions

Empire State Building (1931) - the2nd highest building in New York with 2 observations and a restaurant on the top

St. Patrick - one of the most beautiful churches in USA in Gothic style

Broadway - the original Indian path, now a famous theater center

UN HQ - 39 -storey monolith structure of glass and steel

Rockefeller Center - the group of 21 buildings, mostly scyscrapers in Manhattan; consists of skating ring, gardens, promenades, statues, shops, restaurants ...

Fifth and Madison avenues - in Manhattan, especially famous for their elegant shops

Skyscrapers dominate the skyline - the Flatiron Building, completed in 1902, was one of the first in the city; others include the Chrysler Building (1930), the Woolworth Building (1915), the Empire State Building (1931), the group of buildings that constitute (begun 1931), Rockefeller Center (begun 1931), and the World Trade Center (1977)

New York Public Library - with some 10 million volumes

Times Square - the hub of the city's theatre district with more than 30 theatres
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts - a large cluster of buildings that includes the Metropolitan Opera House

William Shakespeare

2010-07-14T06:23:00.000-07:00

• Shakespeare's day of birth is traditionally held to be April 23, it is known he was baptized on April 24 in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. He was probably educated at the local grammar school, was apprenticed to a butcher and than he became a schoolmaster. That Shakespeare was allowed considerable leisure time in his youth is suggested by the fact that his plays show more knowledge of hunting and hawking than do those of other contemporary dramatists. In 1582 he married Anne Hathaway, the daughter of a farmer and he is supposed to have left Stratford after he was caught poaching in the deer park. Shakespeare apparently arrived in London in about 1588 and by 1592 had attained success as an actor and a playwright. He established his reputation as a gifted and popular Renaissance poet with his erotic narrative poems and his Sonnets. He was a sharer in his playing company called The Chamberlain's Men, later The King's Men and owned also a part of the Globe Theatre. After 1608, Shakespeare's dramatic production lessened and it seems that he spent more time in Stratford. There he had established his family. He died on April 23, 1616, and was buried in the Stratford church. Shakespeare's modern reputation is based mainly on the 38 plays that he wrote, modified, or collaborated on.

• his dramatic career is generally divided into four periods:
(1) the period up to 1594,
(2) the years from 1594 to 1600,
(3) the years from 1600 to 1608, and
(4) the period after 1608.

1) Chronicle history plays were a popular genre of those times and he wrote e.g. Henry VI and Richard III , or a comedy of characters The Taming of the Shrew

2) Outstanding among the comedies of the second period is A Midsummer Night's Dream with its fantasy-filled insouciance, and a tragedy Romeo and Juliet , famous for its poetic treatment of the ecstasy of youthful love.

3) Shakespeare's third period includes his greatest tragedies and his so-called dark or bitter comedies :
Hamlet - his most famous play, Shakespeare goes far beyond other tragedies of revenge in picturing the mingled sordidness and glory of the human condition. The interpretation of Hamlet’s motivation and hesitation continues to be the subject of considerable controversy

Othello - portrays the growth of unjustified jealousy in the protagonist, Othello, a Moor serving as a general in the Venetian army. The innocent object of his jealousy is his wife, Desdemona. In this tragedy, Othello's evil lieutenant Iago draws him into mistaken jealousy in order to ruin him

Macbeth - Shakespeare depicts the tragedy of a great and basically good man who, led on by others and because of a defect in his own nature, succumbs to murderous ambition. In getting and retaining the Scottish throne, Macbeth dulls his humanity to the point where he becomes capable of any amoral act

4) In Cymbeline and The Winter's Tale characters suffer great loss and pain, but are reunited. Perhaps the most successful product of this particular vein of creativity may be Shakespeare's last complete play The Tempest

• from Shakespeare I’ve read only Hamlet and have seen Romeo and Juliet; if I should be honest, I must say that what I brought from Romeo and Juliet is only very strong story of love and in Hamlet, I was attracted by the description and depiction of one’s character - I think that Shakespeare managed to portray hesitating but also willing Hamlet perfectly

Další zdroje o tomto tématu naleznete zde:
20, William Shakespeare
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564-1616)
William Shakespeare
Články na hledaný výraz "William Shakespeare" naleznete na bezuceni.cz

History of Great Britain

2010-07-14T06:18:00.000-07:00

History of Great Britain

7th - 1st century BC - arrival of Celtic tribes

43 - 48 - Roman invasion of Britain, Britannia - the province - created

450 - 9th century - Raids on Britain by Angles, Saxons, and Jutes.

871 - Alfred, king of Wessex, halted the advance of Danes in England.

1066 - Norman conquest of England. The Saxon King Harold II was defeated at Hastings by William Duke of Normandy, who became William I (the Conqueror). William initiated the Domesday survey of property in England, which was completed in 1086.

1172 - Henry II began the English conquest of Ireland; effective English power was largely limited to the Irish Pale, around Dublin, until the 14th century.

1215 - King John conceded to the demands of powerful English barons and signed Magna Carta.

1338 - Beginning of Hundred Years’ War between England and France. Final defeat of English at the Battle of Castillon in 1453 saw the end of this conflict.

1455-1485 - The Wars of the Roses; the conflict between the Houses of Lancaster and York for the English throne. Edward IV became the first of the rulers of the House of York in 1461.

1485 - The Battle of Bosworth Field established Henry VII, the first of the Tudors, on the English throne. Henry VII began the process of establishing English supremacy over Ireland.

1534 - Henry VIII of England broke with Rome; by the Act of Supremacy he exerted control over the English Church. In 1541 he declared himself king of Ireland.

1558 - 1603 - Elizabeth I ascended to the English throne.

1588 - The invasion of Britain by Spain was thwarted by the defeat of the Spanish Armada.

1603 - Union of English and Scottish crowns. James VI of Scotland became James I of England, the first of the Stuart rulers.

1642 - Outbreak of English Civil War.

1649 - Charles I was beheaded, and a republic was declared. Oliver Cromwell’s ruthless supression of Irish rebellion culminated in the slaughter of an Irish garrison at Drogheda.

1653 - Oliver Cromwell dissolved Parliament and became Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, a position he retained until his death in 1659.

1660 - Restoration of the Stuart monarchy under Charles II.

1707 - Scotland was annexed to England > Great Britain

1801 - An Act of Union took effect which incorporated Ireland into Great Britain.

1837 - 1901 - the reign of Queen Victoria, 1876 - creation of India colony

1914-1918 - Great Britain and the other Allies fought the Central Powers during World War I. Although the Allies won, the war had shattering economic and social effects on the kingdom.

1921 - The Irish Free State was created. The British kingdom was renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

1940 - Victory in the air during the Battle of Britain prevented a German invasion.

1947 - The British colonies of India and Pakistan became independent nations. Many other British colonies became independent in the following years.

1982 - Great Britain defeated Argentine forces after Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands.

1979-1990 - Margaret Thatcher resigned as prime minister and was replaced by fellow Conservative John Major.

1991 - Large numbers of the armed forces took part in the Gulf War.

Schools and I

2010-07-14T06:12:00.000-07:00

Schools and I

• first school I was attending was a nursery school and when I was 6 I moved to a basic school; the basic school had no specialisation and it even didn’t have extended language teaching, so I was learning only one language (English) and only for 4 years; I was the last class that didn’t have the compulsory 9th class and on the second term I passed the entrance exams to a secondary school, gymnasium; now I would like to enrol at a a university - CVUT, specialisation air traffic controller

• school system in CR :
Creche - is the first school, where babies are brought up until they are 3; it’s for mothers, who can’t stay on maternity leave with their children

Nursery school - from 3rd year of baby’s life the maternity leave for mothers finishes and they usually put their children in these school, where they can be until they are 6 or 7

Primary school - is compulsory for all children and the education is 9 years long

Secondary school - is voluntuary and children can choose from :
vocational schools - prepares for a job, emphasises handy work and practical training
technical schools - students are educated in specialised subjects
gymnasium - students are given general education

Supplementary schools - are usually 2 years long and educate students in specialised subjects

University - is the highest possible education; there are more types of them, e.g. technical and academical ones, academies of arts, millitary and police ...

School year in CR
• school year in CR starts on the 1st of September, ends on 31st of June and is divided into two 5-months-long terms; at the end of every term students receive reports

• the first holidays are autumn holidays in October (2 days), then Christas holidays (in an ideal case they are 2 weeks long), half-of-term holiday is held after students receive reports (one day), spring holidays are one week long and are held on different terms depending from which region the student is and after the year report 2 months holidays

• on secondary schools, students of the 4th grade have one week off called “Saint week” before the school-leaving exam, that every student of the secondary school has to take (except some vocational schools)

• during the school year, every school has its own days off (e.g. concerts, sports days, theatres and other actions)

• on basic schools, secondary schools and universities students go on week-long summer or winter courses, with their teachers, where they learn to ski or go swimming, biking and hiking in summer

• the main subjects that most of the schools teach are maths, Czech language, foreign language, geography, history, physics, chemistry, biology ..., but they differ on each secondary schools

Comparing schools in UK/USA and CR

• the biggest difference between our and British school system is, that pupils in CR after 9 years of compulsury education can enter the high school for 4 years and in UK after 11 years of compulsury education they take only 2 years of ‘A’ levels - I think that someone who wants to enrol at a university is much better prepared from the 4-years high school than from 2-years ‘A’ levels

• in CR the better and worse students are together only for 9 years and than they separate, but in UK they have to be mixed for 11 years - I think that the good students must suffer

• children in UK enter the school at the age or 5 and in CR at the age of 6 or 7; I think in this point our system is better, because when children are 5, they are still too young to pay attention and they get quickly tired - that’s why they don’t like going to schools

• the British system is better in the length of compulsory education - during 11 years the pupils learn more than during 9 years

• on the contrary to the USA, students in CR don’t take only written tests, but also oral exams - it is good for expressing; Czech students also learn more theory than make experiments; it has advantages and of course disadvantages too, but basicly I think we are better prepared for studies on the university

School system in the Czech Republic

2010-07-14T06:10:00.000-07:00

School system in the Czech Republic

In the CR, school attendance is compulsory from the age of 6 till 15 (or 16). It is free of charge and all children have the same possibilities for their future education.
This system includes 4 grades:
a) Pre - school education
In our country there are nursery schools for children from the age of 1 to 3 years. From the age of 3 to 6 children attend kindergarten. This pre-school education is not compulsory.

b) Primary education
From the age of 6 to 15 (or 16) children attend basic schools. There are 2 degrees there. The first degree is from the first to the fifth class. Children learn the 3 R's there: Reading, wRiting, aRithmetic. Second degree is from the 6th to the 9th class. They learn Czech language and literature, foreign language, Maths, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, History, Geography, Civics, P. E., Music and Art.

c) Secondary education
Boys and girls over the age 15 (or) 16 attend secondary schools such as Grammar school, Special School and Apprentice centres. At secondary school students are taught most of those subject as at basic school but they are expanded in their content. As for special subjects, they learn economics, typing, accounting, computers, and various kinds of laboratory work. Students finish their studies with the school-leaving examination

d) Tertiary education
Tertiary education refers to universities and Technical Universities. Successful students from secondary schools can enter any university.

THE CZECH REPUBLIC

2010-07-14T06:06:00.000-07:00

.:: THE CZECH REPUBLIC ::.

Over the map
The Czech Republic is situated in the centre of Europe and sometimes it is called the heart of Europe. It has a population of 10 million people and covers an area of about 80,000 sq. km.
The Czech borders are the oldest ones in the Europe. We border with Germany on the west with a nature border made by the Ore Mountains, the Czech Forest and Šumava range. The border with Poland is made by the Jizerské Mountains, the Giant Mountains the Eagle Mountains and the Jeseník Mountain range. The border with Austria is made by the Dyje river and the border with Slovakia is made by the Morava river and White Karpat hills.

The Czech Republic consists of three lands: Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. A natural border between Moravia and Bohemia is made by the Bohemian-Moravian Highland. The biggest mountain in the Czech Republic is Sněžka (1602m) in the Giant Mountains and the longest river is the Vltava. Other important rivers are the Labe, Jizera, Ohře, Svitava, Svratka, Dyje, Morava and Oder. In southern Moravia fertile lowlands can be found. The warmest areas are in Southern Moravia and the coldest areas are in the Giant Mountains.

There are many spots of natural beauty in the Czech Republic, as well as areas totally spoiled by industries. South Bohemia is particularly rich in ponds. The most beautiful natural places are the Czech Paradise, “rock town” in Prachov rocks, the Děčín walls, Czech Switzerland, the Boubín virgin forests, Macocha abyss and so on. We have also some protected areas, some of them are really very nice (for example one of the protected areas is the region near river Dyje) and National parks.

System of government
The head of the Czech Republic is the President. The present President is Václav Havel. He is elected for five years. Parliament and the government have the main power.
The government is composed of the premier, the vice-premier and the ministers. There are many ministries, headed by ministers, eg. Interior, Foreign Affairs, Defence, Justice, Industry, Commerce, Agriculture, Finance, Transport, Labour and Social Affairs, Education, Culture and Health.

The judicial power is divided into a system of courts. There is Constitutional court and the Supreme Court, which are at the highest level and they go down to region and district courts.
Our flag consists of three colours, red, blue and white. The red is at the bottom, the white is at the top and the blue makes a triangle at the left side.

Population and cities
The biggest city is the capital, Prague and it has about one million inhabitants. The other big cities are Brno, Ostrava, Plzeň, České Budějovice, Hradec Králové. The major nationalities living here are Czech and Moravian, but there are also minority groups such as the Romes, Poles, Germans, Ukrainians and Russians.

Idustry, main products, economy, agriculture
The most important part of our economy is engineering industry. Other important branches are metallurgical and chemical industries and tourism, textile and glass industries have a long tradition. One of our most significant raw materials is coal. Black coal and anthracite are to be found mainly in the Ostrava Coal Basin, but also in the area of Kladno and elsewhere. Because of intensive mining these regions are the most polluted ones in the Czech Republic. The supplies of brown coal or lignite can be found in the North Bohemia Coal Basin and in Western Bohemia in the Sokolov Basin. We also hove minor supplies of iron ore, uranium and oil. Our deposits of kaolin and clay are important for the ceramics and glass industries as well as limestone for the building industry.

Also agriculture in our republic is developed enough. The most fertile soil is in South Moravia. The main items grown there are wheat, sugar-beet, corn, grapes and fruits. In animal production the most important are cattle-breeding and pig-breeding. Fish-breeding, especially carp-breeding can be found in South Bohemia, in the region called Třeboňsko. Bohemia and Moravia are quite rich in mineral springs and spas (Karlovy Vary, Mariánské lázně, Františkovy lázně, Poděbrady, Luhačovice,…).

Main points from the history
Our territory has been inhabited by Slavonic tribes since 5th century. The first Slavonic state was Samo's empire which was found here in 623. Feudal Great Moravian Empire was formed in the 9th century. After its disintegration in the 9th century power was taken over by the Czech tribe headed by the Přemyslid dynasty.

When they had died out by the sword in 1306, the Czech throne went by way of dynastic wedding to the Luxembourg, and the Czech Kingdom became also the center of the Holy roman Empire mainly during the reign of Charles IV and his son Wenceslas IV. Prague grew into one of the largest European metropolises of that era and was center of education, architecure and arts. In 1348 Charles University was founded. It´s the oldest one in the Europe.

The first part of the 15th century is marked by the Hussite Movement.
After the reign of King Jiří z Poděbrad and after period of the rule of Jagielonian dynasty there came the period of the Hapsburgs dynasty. One of interesting emperors of this age was Rudolf II. He was famous for his interesting in chemistry and arts. During his rule Prague became center of arts in the empire.

The 20th century brought establishing of Czech state and two horrible world wars. After second world war Czech republic was under soviet influence. Turn came in 1989, after velvet revolution. In 1993 Czechoslovakia was divided into two states - Czech Republic and Slovakia. Now Czech republic is waiting for becoming a member of European Union.

There are also many places associated with our history. Among the most beautiful historic towns belong Prague, Kutná Hora, Tábor, Telč, Olomouc, Kroměříž,… Also many castles, ruins and chateaux can be found in our republic. To the most interesting ones belong Karlštejn, Křivoklát, Bezděz, Hluboká, Zvíkov, Loket, Kuks, Lednice and of course the Prague castle.

THE USA - National parks

2010-07-14T06:02:00.000-07:00

THE USA

National parks
• in USA there are many national parks protecting the wild nature and animals from human spreading and destroying everything that is unfit to him (in Yosemite there was allowed to build a dam at the beginning of this century, but after this it was claimed that no more interactions would be done into any NP); many other countries followed the US model of establishing their national parks

• NPs are recreational areas, you can’t travell there by car (it’s roadless)
Yellowstone - the oldest national park in USA, set up in 1872, known for its hotsprings, waterfalls and variety of wildlife (grizzlys, owes, buffalos ...)
Yosemite - there is the third highest waterfall in the world - Yosemite (739m)
Olympic - contains rainforest, the peaks are covered by glaciers
Everglades - formed by tropical swamps and morass, many species of birds
Carlsbad Caverns - great caves and underground chambers, stalagnits and stalaktits
Mammoth caves - the largest complex of caves in the world, they measure 530 km
Mesa Verde - ruins of prehistoric indian viilages and stone buildings from 11th - 14th century
Petrified forest - tree trunks million of years old, which have turned into stones

What makes the USA famous abroad

Personalities :
- on the first place I would name the US president - he is probably the most powerful man in the world and we could say (whether we like it or not) that America is under his reign a big example for many other countries around the world

- action actors - they are big heroes for little boys and girls who don’t know anything about the real world

- singers - USA leads (as many people think) the world pop-music and other genres; who wouldn’t know the king of pop Michael Jackson ?

- sportsmen - when Americans can’t be as good as their sport idols, they at least admire them like they were gods (e.g. Michael Jordan, Mark McGuire ...)

- and I can’t forget the first man on the moon Luis Armstrong
Culture : I think that every young boy of 13 or 14 must admire the life style of “big ones” in America - children can drive from 15, they usually have their owncars, they make parties with friends, they go shopping, to cinemas and to fast foods when they want ...; I think this is their culture - to be free and to do what they want

Historical events -1776 - Declaration of independence - the first state to become really democratic
1861-1865 - the war between North and South, Lincoln - abolishment of slavery
1870-1890 - struggles with native Americans > they were killed or put in reservations
1917-1918 - after WWI. USA became the world power
1941 - Japannese attack on Pearl Harbor > USA enters the WWII.
1950-1953 - Korean war
1965-1973 - Vietnam war
1972 - Watergate affair, R. Nixon - the 1st US president to resign
1991 - the war in Persian gulf

Achievements - they were first to create an atomicbomb, to build an electronical computer, to fly the supersonic and to step on the Moon
Products : the States are famous on the first place with their titanic action movies with uncredible special effects, than with wearclothes (clothes of trademarks like Nike, Adidas or Reebok are the latest fashion of young people) and all sorts of aircrafts (combat, transport or helicopters)

USA - religion

2010-07-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

USA - religion

• when Pilgrim fathers came to America from England in 1620, they brought with them roots of English Protestant church; they issued the Mayflower compact, which was actually the 1st constitution and it tried to unificate the church in America

• in 1636 the first amendment to the Mayflower compact was added; the government can't support any religion

• in the half or 18th century there was a Great Awakening - thousands of people became members of any church, they started to strongly believe in God and praying, Puritans became more educated

• the religious situation in 1950's was known as a three faith model - Protestants, Catholics and Jews made the biggest groups

• it can be seen that religion has a big influnce in USA today - the president oaths on a Bible, he says "... and so help me God", you don't have to be a soldier if your religion forbids it ...

Sects :
• a terrible thing happend in 1978 when Jim Jones let his believers drink the poisson; the result was 900 dead by suicide
Mormons - the largest sect in USA, they live in Utah and strongly keep the family solidarity
Jehova's witnesses - the sect was founded in 1870 in New York by Charles Russel
Scientologists - they try to increase their spititual activities
The Amish - they aim on agriculture, they don't often go to schools - they prepare themselves for good wives, mothers and farmers, they don't like modern civilisation and they disdain for it, can't make pictures and photos of people

Religions now :
56% Protestantism (including Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Mormon and others)
25% Roman Catholicism
2% Judaism
17% Other (including other Christian denominations, Islam, and Hinduism)
7 % have none

US political system + presidential election

2010-07-14T05:59:00.000-07:00

US political system + presidential election

• the supreme law of the land is the Constitution of the United States; the Constitution provides for a union of states, now numbering 50, each with its own constitution, republican form of government, and reserved powers, within a federal system; the national government is responsible for external affairs, and has concurrent powers with states, commonwealths, and self-governing territories over domestic matters

Executive :
• the American president typically has a greater range of functions than prime ministers in parliamentary governments because the president serves as ceremonial chief of state as well as head of government; article II of the Constitution provides for a president and vice president chosen by a majority of voters in the Electoral College, for a fixed term of four years, the 22nd Amendment (1951) limits presidents to two terms in office.

Presidential elections :
• the Electoral College nominally chooses the president and vice president of the United States; this group comprises the electors from the separate states who are selected by the voters in presidential elections. Each state is entitled to a number of electors equal to the total number of senators and representatives it sends to the US Congress, therefore at least three electors; than the House of Representatives votes state by state to choose the president, and the Senate votes as individuals to elect the vice president

Legislature :
• congress consists of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives; the Senate contains 100 senators, two representing each state, the 435 members of the House are elected by the different states on the basis of their population at the most recent US census; representatives serve two-year terms, and senators six-year terms, Every two years all 435 members of the House are elected, and one-third of the senators.

• the Senate tries all impeachments, with a two-thirds vote necessary to convict

Judiciary :
• the federal court system derives its powers from Article III of the Constitution, the system includes the Supreme Court, established by the Constitution and some more courts established by Congress

• the federal courts perform two constitutional functions : first, they interpret the meaning of laws, second, the courts determine whether any law passed by Congress or state legislatures violates the US Constitution

Political parties :
• two major political parties exist in the United States : The Democratic party founded in the 1790s and The Republican party founded in 1854

Ethnic groups in USA

2010-07-14T05:56:00.000-07:00

Ethnic groups in USA

• there are 106 minor groups in USA today, the biggest ones are Hispanics (people from Spain, they are considered the fastest growing group), Africans (came as slaves), Dutches, Chineese, French, Italian, Russians, Arabs ...

• USA are often called “melting pot” or “mosaic”; the “mosaic” refers to many nationalities, colours and cultures of people who immigrated and their variety makes a picture like mosaic; “melting pot” means that all these different cultures melt together and create one new culture

Indians :
• the native Americans were called Indians by Crystof Columbus, because he thought that he was in India; their lifestyle was to hunt, to fish, to move from place to place, but than came a white man and started to build cities, railways and extended his territories (one reason was the gold feavor)

• some living Indian tribes are Apachees, Comanches, Sioux and Cherokees, but some of them were forced to live in reservations (one hundred tousands Indians live in the biggest reservation in Arizona) and some of them adopted the lifestyle of white men (cars, whisky ...)

• in 1960’s there was a movement “Indian power” when Indians protested against closing them in reservations; the number of them is now increasing

Black Americans :
• first Africans were brought to America in 1619 as servants and soon some colonies strongly supported the idea of slavery; in the 18th century the slavery reached its peak and most of the slaves were forced to work hard on large plantantions

• the abolishment of slavery was a result of several actions and negotiations which took place during the North and South war and finally in 1865 the slavery ended and the president Lincoln was assasinated

• even later, the blacks were discriminated by white people and it sometimes led to segregation - separate schools, churches, swiming pools, bus stations ... for blacks

• in the first half of 20th century many Afro-Americans gained high positions in cultural life, it is called Harlem rennaissance (Armstrong, Elington ...)

• thanks to Civil Rights Movement and Martin Luther King in 1960’s the blacks gained equal positions with the white; they live side by side now but there are still many of them who are on the bottom of social scale
affirmative action program (positive discrimination) - universities and some employers are given certain number of Afro-Americans to be admited

Immigration :
• New York city (called Big apple) can be defined by its ethnic and cultural diversity; you can find there areas like Little Italy, Chinatown and several other ethnic areas with names of their countries

• the greatest waves of immigrants came in NY from 1840’s to 1920’s and their reasons were personal freedom and economic opportunity; they found there schools and jobs which helped them to integrate into the larger community, but the fathers often couldn’t find a job and the mothers felt isolated from friends; so they hoped their children would attend better schools and get better jobs (children were their only connection between the old and new world - they could write and speak English and soon they got better paid jobs than their parents)

• some 20 million of immigrants passed through Ellis Island between 1891 and 1954 (was closed), also known as Isle of Tears, because all immigrants feared that they couldn’t pass and after many weeks of exhausting voyage over the ocean they would have to return

THE USA

2010-07-14T05:50:00.000-07:00

THE USA

official name:
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (derived from Italian navigator Amerigo Vespuci)

over the map: western hemisphere of the Earth; North America
The USA is bounded by Canada on the North, on the East by the Atlantic Ocean, on the South by Gulf of Mexico and on the West by Pacific ocean. The nothern boundary is formed by the Great Lakes and the St.Lawrence River; the southern boundary by Rio Grande.

the highest mountain: Mount McKinley - 6199 m above sea level (in Alaska), Rocky Mountains,

valley: Death Valley - 86 m below sea level (in California)

rivers: Ohio, Tennessee, Illinois, Mississippi, Colorado, Rio Grande, Yukon (Alaska), Missouri, ...

lakes: 5 great lakes: Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario, Superior

famous national parks: Niagara falls (the falls are 50 meters high)
Yellowstone park - the oldest national park in the world, the biggest in The USA, the river Yellowstone floats through it.
Sepoya national park, Munument valley

capital: Washington D.C.

cities:
east coast: New York, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, Orlando, ...
west coast: San Francisco, Los Angeles, San José, Santa Cruz, ...

area: 9 809 155 km2

population: 263 437 000 (1995); in 1980-1990 highly mobile redistribution from Nothern Central and North-East States on the South and West. Population grew by 9,8% in decade from 80.-90.

ethnic groups: 80%white; 15% black; 3% Asian and Pacific Islanders; more than 1/5 blacks lives in the Southern States (Missourri, Alabama, South Carolina, ... )

religions:56% Protestantism; 25% Roman Catholicism; 2% Judaism; 17% Other (Islam, Hinduism, ... )

language: no official language; english is predominant; nearly 32 milion US residents aged 5 or older speak a language other than English at home. 54% can speak Spanish; other languages spoken in USA are: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French, Italian, German, Polish, Greek and native American languages.

form of goverment: democratic federal republic; 48 contiguous states + noncontiguous states of Alaska and Hawaii and outlaying areas including Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guana, Virgin Isles

head of state: president; four-year term

currency: american dollar; coins and paper money; penny= 1¢, nickel= 5¢, dime=10¢, quarter=25¢, half-dollar=50¢; dollar=100¢

climate: Washington D.C.: January 2°C = 36°F, July 27°C = 81°F
San Francisco: January 10°C = 50°F,July 15°C = 59°F

economy: Gross Domestic Product = US $ 6 738 400 000 000 (1994)

chief economical products:
agriculture: hay, potatoes, sugar beets, citrus fruit, tobacco, livestock, timber, corn, tomatoes, peanuts, apples, oranges(Florida)
farming (raising): pigs, broilers, chicken, turkey, sheep, lamb
industry: paper products, printing and publishing, plastics, textilies, clothing, furniture, leather goods, glass items, chemical products
mining: petroleum, natural gas, coal, copper, iron ore, silver, uranium

transport: 1st were waterways, then steam railways, after 1st World War - air transport
81% of passanger traffic are carrying cars, airlines are carrying more than 17% of passanger traffic, railways are carrying 0,6%

airports: 5100 public airports, 12 400 private airports, the largest and te bussiest is in Chicago - O´Hare, then JFK in New York

lifestyle:
In USA you can meet the most famous people, because Hollywood is there. Hollywood produces many films every year.
Fast food is a type of restaurant, where you can buy what you want wery quickly, you can eat it inside or you can take it with you. It´s fast and cheap. The most popular fast foods are: Mc Donalds, KFC, Burger King or Jack in the box, which is popular on the west coast and you can buy there a typical mexican food like "Tacos Ricos" or "Burito".
In general, the typical american inventions are: fast food, Hollywood, chewing gum and crocket.

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (worksheet :-) )

QUIZARD:
1. The biggest airport in USA is ...
a) J.F.K.
b) La Guardia
c) O´Hara

2. The oldest skyscraper in New York is ...
a) Empire State Building
b) Twins
c) Iron Building

3. How many blacks live in Southern states?
a) 1/2
b) 1/5
c) 1/7

4. Which is the most popular religion in USA?
a) Islam
b) Roman Catholicism
c) Protestantism

5. Which city isn´t on the west coast?
a) Dallas
b) San José
c) Seattle

6. When was Abraham Lincoln assasinated?
a) 1861
b) 1869
c) 1865

7. Which of the american national parks is the biggest?
a) Yellowstone
b) Sapoya
c) Niagara

Complete the words:
The official name UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is ......................... from name af italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci. The nothern ............................ is formed by the Great Lakes.
When you´ve got 10¢ you can say, that you have .....................
At "Jack in the box" you can eat ........................................... or ..............................

HISTORY
1565 Spain founded the first permanent European settlement in what is now the United States at Saint Augustine, Florida. However, Native Americans had lived on the continent for thousands of years.

1763 Britain gained control of eastern North America at the end of the Seven Years’ War, known in America as the French and Indian War.

1776 The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence at Philadelphia.

1781 American forces decisively defeated the British at the Siege of Yorktown. Two years later, Britain recognized American independence in the Treaty of Paris.

1787 The Constitutional Congress met in Philadelphia and wrote the Constitution of the United States. All 13 states ratified the Constitution by 1790.

1803 The United States nearly doubled in size after President Thomas Jefferson acquired the territory of Louisiana from France in a transaction known as the Louisiana Purchase.

1848 The United States gained large amounts of territory as a result of winning the Mexican War. The new land, coupled with the acquisition of the Oregon country in 1846, extended the western border of the United States to the Pacific Ocean.

1861 Several Southern slave states seceded in January and formed the Confederate States of America. The American Civil War broke out in April.

1865 The Confederacy surrendered, bringing an end to the Civil War. Slavery was abolished throughout the United States. President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.

1867 America purchased Alaska from Russia.

1870-1890 The last Native American tribes were defeated by government forces and pushed onto reservations.

1898 The United States won the Spanish-American War and gained territories in the Caribbean and the Pacific. Hawaii was annexed the same year.

1920 Women gained the right to vote. The manufacture and sale of alcohol was banned, ushering in the era of Prohibition.

1933 Franklin Roosevelt became president and introduced a series of economic and social reforms known as the New Deal. Prohibition was repealed.

1941 Japan attacked US forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, pulling America into World War II.

1965-1973 American forces fought in the Vietnam War, which started widespread protests in the United States.

1969 American astronauts became the first people to land on the moon.

1974 In the wake of the Watergate scandal, Richard M. Nixon became the first American president to resign from office.

True or False?
The territory of Luisiana was acquired from Spain in a transaction called the Luisiana Purchase. T x F
Prohibition was repealed by Richard Nixon. T x F
... It happened in 1933. T x F
Women gained the right to vote in same year as the Prohibition started. T x F
The Constitution of the United States was written in Philadelphia. T x F
The Declaration of Independence was adopted in Washington in 1776. T x F

VOCABULARY:
predominant - převládající
boundary - hranice
copper - měď
iron ore - železná ruda
hay - seno
timber - stavební dřevo
assasinated - zavražděn
invention - vynález
found - založit
gain - získat
adopt - převzít
defeat - porazit
siege - obležení
recognize - uznat
purchase - obchod
acquisition - získaná věc
surrender - vzdát se
abolish - zrušit
tribe - kmen, rod
ban - zakázat
ushering - vedoucí (k něčemu)
escalate - stupňovat

United kingdom - politics

2010-07-14T05:45:00.000-07:00

United kingdom - politics

• The United Kingdom is a parliamentary monarchy based on an unwritten constitution and is thus adaptable to changing political conditions

• Britain is today governed by her majesty’s Government in the name of the queen and with the approval of Parliament

The monarch :
• Queen Elizabeth II., succeeded to the throne on February 6, 1952, on the death of her father King George VI.; the heir to the throne is her oldest son, Charles, Prince of Wales;

• the Monarch formally appoints the prime minister and government and other important persons, she chairs meeting regularly with the prime minister, receives accounts of cabinet decisions, signs state papers and dissolves the parliament

The executive :
• prime minister chooses his ministers (usually from the Commons) who create the cabinet, which decides and implements policy and coordinates government departments; it normally numbers between 15 to 20

The Parliament :
The monarch
The House of Lords (1036 peers) - can’t cancel the law but can discuss it for 1 year at most; made up of the lords temporal and the lords spiritual - hereditary peers and life peers :
lords temporal - law lords (judicial duties)
- other life peers appointed in recognition for their service in politics ...
lords spiritual -archbishops and bishops
The house of Commons (651 members) - are elected from gographical constituences by majority system, the voting age was lowered in 1969 to 18 years, its life is 5 years, dissolved by the sovereign

Political parties :
• the majority party forms Her (or His) Majesty's Government, and the second party is officially recognized as Her (or His) Majesty's Own Loyal Opposition
- the Labour party, generally socialist until the 1990s when it moved towards the political centre, began a programme of nationalization of selected industries after an overwhelming election victory in May 1945
- the Conservative party has favoured private enterprise with less state regulation
- other parties in the early 1990s included the Scottish Nationalist party and Plaid Cymru (Welsh nationalist), and the Northern Irish parties: the Ulster Unionist party, the Democratic Unionist party, the Social Democratic and Labour party, and Sinn Fein; all but Sinn Fein have representatives in the House of Commons

British theatre

2010-07-14T05:40:00.000-07:00

British theatre I

I. British theatre up to 19th century
• before 16th century - sources - Religious plays - mystery plays (life of saints)
- miracle plays (Bible themes)
- Pagan and folk plays - everyday problems and events from people’s lives
- Greek and Latin drama - tragedy, revenge

• 16th century - first half of 17th century - Renaissance in British drama - famous playwrights :
SHAKESPEARE, MARLOW, JOHNSON, KID
1642 - closing of theatres
1660 - theatres reopened, but didn’t develop in the former fame until 20th century

• second half 17th - 19th century
Restoration drama - first actresses
Comedy of manners - the immoral manners of the society, no proper plot
WILLIAM CONGREVE - Love for Love
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN - The School for Scandal
Satirical drama - 18th century
JOHN GAY - The Beggar’s Opera
HENRY FIELDING - The Author’s Farce

II. Theatre at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries
• revival of British drama begins with OSCAR WILDE, until then prose and poetry dominate
OSCAR WILDE - conversational wit
An ideal husband, The importance of being Earnest
GEORGE BERNARD SHAW - interested in political life, education of the public, satire and wit
Saint Joan, Major Barbora, Pygmalion, The Devil’s Disciple

• 1898 - foundation of the Irish Literary Theatre (Abbey Theatre) by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS, J. M. SYNGE and others; it was aimed to perform Irish plays from Irish authors about Irish themes, but it expanded to perform English writers as well
J. M. SYNGE - The Playboy of the Western World
SEAN O’CASEY - The Plough and the Stars

Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) - Irish-born writer and wit, who was the chief proponent of the aesthetic movement, based on the principle of art for art's sake. Wilde was a novelist, playwright, poet, and critic.
He was born in Dublin and educated at Trinity College in Dublin. As a youngster he was exposed to the brilliant literary talk of the day at his mother's Dublin salon. Later, as a student at the University of Oxford, he excelled in classics, wrote poetry and incorporated the Bohemian life-style of his youth into a unique way of life.
He settled in London and in 1884 married a wealthy Irish woman with whom he had two sons. Thereafter he devoted himself exclusively to writing. With little dramatic training, he proved he had a natural talent for stagecraft and theatrical effects and a true gift for farce.

In 1895, at the peak of his career, Wilde became the central figure in one of the most sensational court trials of the century. Wilde, who had been a close friend of the young Lord Alfred Douglas, was accused by Douglas's father of sodomy. Sentenced to two years of hard labour in prison, he emerged financially bankrupt and spiritually downcast. He spent the rest of his life in Paris.
The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) can be characterised by adroitly contrived plots and remarkably witty dialogues. The plot is very elaborate and full of sudden changes of each one’s position and unexpected revelations. The main characters are Jack, Cecily, Lady Bracknell, Gwendolen, Algernon, Dr Chasuble and Miss Prism.

The Canterville Ghost is a witty play based on Wilde’s novel. A modern American family comes to England to buy a castle where an evil ghost is said to live. The Mum, Virginia and Washington represent the modern, elaborate and technically developed America, they are extremely proud of their history (which can be seen from the children’s names) and they make fun of all English “ancient” traditions. Duke, the owner of the castle, doesn’t want to sell it, because he is a little afraid of the ghost, his ancient origin. The ghost killed his wife and that’s why he can’t die now although he longs to. Finally the Duke decides to sell it and the Ghost tries to scare the “ridiculous” Americans. But they are not afraid at all and the Ghost gives up. The Duke falls in love with Virginia and Virginia becomes a friend of the Ghost. She manages to rescue him from the spell and the Ghost finally dies. In the happy end the Duke asks Virginia for her hand and when he asks her what actually happened in the chamber where she was with the Ghost, a loud laughing can be heard.

British theatre II

III. British theatre in the second half of the 20th century
• since the 50’s and 60’s a generation of brilliant playwrights occurred - it is often called Second renaissance in British drama

• Absurd drama - 50’s and 60’s; lost of ideals, destruction of communication, a man lost in huge, unknown and elaborate world, no purpose for living
SAMUEL BECKETT - Irish author, moved to Paris, his plays are minimalist with everything - scenery, actors ...
Waiting for Godot
HAROLD PINTER
The Birthday party, The Caretaker

• Angry young men - the 60’s; they don’t like upper class, disdain conventions and manners of the upper class as well as the hypocrisy, the playwrights also wanted to express the disappointment of political situation, social problems, hope in Labours
JOHN OSBORNE - Look Back in Anger
ARNOLD WHISKER - emphases social issues, reflection of bad economic situation
Kitchen, Chicken Soup with Barley, Chips with Everything

• Second wave - mid 60’s; dissatisfaction of the world-wide situation, feeling of a selfdestructiveness of man, people
EDWARD BOND - Lear, Bingo
JOE ORTON - Loot
TOM STOPPARD - Russia took often as his theme
Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

• Third wave - 70’s to 90’s; comedies but also serious plays
PETER SHAFFER - psychology
Amadeus, The Royal Hunt of the Sun, Equus
ALAN AYCKBOURN - comedies about middle class
Norman Conquest
DAVID HARE - doesn’t show Great Britain in positive light
The Map of the World
MICHAEL FRAYN - comedies, wit, conversational humour
Noises off
BRIAN FRIEL - Irish history, nature
Translations

Theatre of the absurd
• main representatives are Ionesco, Adamov, Pinter, Genet, Beckett, Stoppard

• when the Waiting for Godot was first performed, it was received with acclaim and enthusiasm by the public, but wasn’t appreciated by critics, because this style was something new, still developing and it wasn’t defined yet

• absurd originally means ‘out of harmony’ in a musical context, or ridiculous, illogical, unreasonable

• the attitude of the theatre of the absurd expresses absurdity of our lives, it says that the crucial and basic values in our lives were shaken through ages, that we can’t find answers on our questions in religion as we thought before, there are no things we could rely on

• when applied to the theatre, characters live without purpose, they are lonely, they are cut off their religion and roots, everything seems senseless, there is no story, no plot

• the main features that occur in the absurd plays are:
devaluation of language - people can’t communicate with each other, words often mean nothing, people can’t understand what anybody else wanted to say, big use of phrases, silence also plays an important role
importance of actions - there is often only a very modest scenery and few actors so it is important what they do, their gestures and behaviour
indefinable characters
uncertain time, fusing of more timelines

• we can see some examples of the inability of communication in the Harold Pinter’s Last to go : there are two men who are chatting, but actually no one of them is interested in the conversation and they don’t even listen to each other; they talk about things that have no value when knowing them but they don’t start any reasonable conversation, they still repeat the senseless things which they have already said

Tom Stoppard’s Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
• there are only 6 actors in this play plus the orchestra (which plays an important role in the play) and a very modest scenery; there are three rooms on the stage: the cell with two beds, the office with table and two chairs and the school with a school desk; the story is placed in Russia probably in late 60’s

• in the cell there are two patients - both are named Alexander Ivanov, but to differ them one is called Alexander and the second one Ivanov; Alexander is a political prisoner, who had been prisoned, but he was released and put to a psychiatric hospital (in the prison he went on hunger strike and if he had died, it would have been an impositive sign for the other about what was going on in Russia) and Ivanov, who is a real madman (he thinks that he has an orchestra in his head)

• in the school there is Sacha (a son of Alexander) and a Teacher and in the office there is the Doctor

• the Doctor’s duty is to make Alexander admit that he is mad and what he had done or said against the regime was caused by his madness; Alexander refuses and even when his son goes to persuade him, he doesn’t give up

• at the end of the play Colonel, probably not only a doctor but also a communist of a high post, enters the cell, he mistakes Alexander for Ivanov and the result is that they both are considered healthy

• the orchestra symbolises the society, where everybody has to play strictly in a harmony, anybody can’t differ; that’s what the Teacher told Sacha, she tried to tell him that everybody who does not support the orchestra is bad; the triangle symbolises dissidents, in the orchestra it is something unharmonical and disturbing; what dominates to the orchestra is an organ, which is very strong and powerful and it represents the communist leader, maybe also Colonel in the play

• at the end all go to the orchestra and they play with other people in harmony, which is also a symbol of resignation

Problems connected with sports nowdays

2010-06-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

Problems connected with sports nowdays
• I think that the main problem connected with sports nowdays is that the reason why people did sports a hundred years ago and why they do it now changed
In the past - people did sports for fun, they just wanted to move their bodies, they didn’t care whether they would get on Olympic games - they liked the sport for itself and the sport made them happy

Nowdays - in our present society, when the world is quickly developing and modernising, when everything becomes more difficult and elaborate, the standard for being the best in something moved up > only very few people can stand on the real peak of human race and sportsmen think that they can if they work very, very hard; so the reason is not the fun of the game or sport, but it is to be the best, to beat everybody and to show everybody I’m the best
• and what’s the result of this degeneration of the function of sports ? > people regardlessly try to win at any price, fair play is not important anymore and spotsmen start to take drugs (no matter they destroy their body, but they win and that’s what they want)

• another problem is commercialism of sports and Olympic games - sportsmen need proffesional and expensive equipment, so the companies support them and than everybody can see that the fastest man wears a Nike T-shirt; sometimes I think that the competers didn’t win for themselves but for the company; it’s not surprising anymore when you see a famous sportsman in a commercial or when he has a restaurant (e.g. Michael Jordan’s in Chicago)

Sports and me
• I think that the main and only function of any sport is to bring happiness and fun from moving; of course it is nice to win some competiton but the winner has to say : “OK, maybe I’m so good maybe it was just a luck, but I like this sport and I would be happy the same if I was the last”

• when I was young, I used to play tennis for about 3 years, but I must say I didn’t like it very much; I didn’t like going to trainings because there were too many people and I was the youngest and the worst of them; but what I liked was to play on weekends mornings with my father (I beated him twice)

• I did judo for approximately one year but I gave it up because I didn’t like it at all - I was kind of sensitive

• now I play frisbee and it’s the greatest game in the world; it originated in America in 1960’s and came to Europe in early 90’s, I started to do it 2 years ago and quickly learned the basic - throw the disc, now I’m not the worst; once a week we go running and another day we train in a hall or outdoor during the summer; I’ve been only on four ultimate cups and our team was always on last three positions; but it doesn’t matter, we are relatively young team and we all like it

• I would also mention that I do rollerblade skating, but mainly during the summer

• I don’t watch TV very much but if I had to choose a sport to watch, it would be hockey - it is quick, action and CR is good in it

Sports popular in our country and in the English-speaking world
CR - Czechs are traditionally good in hockey, football and athletics; I think that I don’t have to remind the Olympic games in Nagano, because everybody in Czech country knows our “Golden Team” or at least goalman Hasek or forward Jagr; we were good in football between two world wars and now it is still the traditional sport, but rather domestic; we have always been good in athletics and still are; I could name Zatopek, Fibingerova from 50’s and 60’s and Zelezny, Kasparkova and Dvorak from present days

USA - we could say that Americans created their own, very uncommon sports, which became more popular than anything else - baseball, basketball, American football and golf; 40 000 people visiting one match is not surptising, but many people go there not to see the match, but their heroes or to chat with friends; you can get 10 000$ if you catch the homerun from Mark McGuire

England - traditional sports would be here probably football and tennis; although the English tennis players haven’t been succesful since 1930’s, Wimbledon is the most famous of all lawn tennis centres; it is home of the “Lawn Tennis Championships on Grass”, the oldest and most prestigious of the tournaments; Wimbledon is situated in Church Road, in a residential district of southwest London; there are some 16 grass courts and 10 clay courts, the Centre Court and the No.1 are the two principal courts; the first championships were held by the All-England Club in 1877 at the original site in Worple Road, Wimbledon

Highland Games - series of organized sports events held in Scotland annually since the 19th century and in many places in Canada and the United States; one of the best known of the games is the Braemar Gathering, held in Aberdeenshire in Scotland in August; competition for prizes is held in the standard athletic events and in uniquely Scottish sports such as tossing the caber - a fir tree pole about 5 m long and weighing about 41kg and the weight - a 25-kg sphere; Scottish dancing, Gaelic recitations, and the playing of the bagpipes are also featured

Článek podporuje:
inline hokej, nordic skating, helmy levně

CZECH LIFESTYLE

2010-06-28T04:57:00.000-07:00

CZECH LIFESTYLE

The first thing to say is that czech lifestyle itself is not strictly czech. It is influenced by neighbouring countries,mainly by Germany and Austria. But in my opinion the country which influences czech lifestyle most is the USA which also changes lifestyle of the whole Europe. But of course we do have many typical czech habits and ways of doing things in our lives!

If we speak about place for living, the important thing to say is that so many people still live in blocks of flats. Here we can still see the influence of comunism. In this period blocks of flats were seen by the government as the best place for living and they were built in every town and also in many villages. These buldings often do not look very good, they are grey and high and usualy many of them are built on one place together. But in the past ten years people started to move to family houses. These are built in parts of the cities, which are far from centre and also in villages. For exaple in Prague have been built whole parts consisting of these houses.

Also the way of our grandmother´s cooking sometimes still remains comunism. Because these days meat was very expensive and the one who cooked it at home more than once or twice a week was seen as someone wealthier. And the others just envyed. It seems funny now. But nowadays there have been great changes. Our cousine has been influenced by the Western European coutries and also by American hamburgers and Coca - cola. People in Czech Republic started eating healthier and I think this is a good way.

In my opinion, the thing which hasn´t changed for past 50 years is number of children in an average family. It´s still one or two. Also almost all birthdays and anniversaries celebrates the whole family together. But these days we can see the influnce of the rest of Europe and USA - many women want to live alone, or want to have child but not man. They want to be more independent. Or both men and women live very often alone till they´re about 30 years old, because they want to make a career and money.

The next thing to be noticed is that the way of spending free time has changed a lot. And I think this is the part of czech lifestyle which has been influenced mostly by USA. Nowadays many people sit in front of the TV and eat there - in USA these people are called couch potatoes. Or eating pop-corn in cinema is, I think, a typical American habit and many czech people influenced by this do the same. Also TV and cinema are influenced America. But in Czech Republic I think you have many possibilities how to spend your free time - especially in bigger towns. There are usually many sport fascilities like swimming pools, tennis courts, sports centres ... and also many fascilities for entertainment like cinemas or music clubs.

Travelling and the way of spending holidays is the thing which has changed completely in past ten years. Now people can travel wherever they want. And they do so. Many families save money all the year to have a holiday abroad because this kind of holiday is still rather expensive.
And finnaly - attitude to work. In the Czech Republic people are still a little bit lazy. But these days I think more and more people realize that it´s not a good way how to earn money, which they want so much. So it´s getting better.

I think that Czech lifestyle is very interesting, because if we compare it with neighbouring countries, there still is a difference and I think we shouldn´t let our lifestyle be influenced by the others too much.

The Czech Republic

2010-06-28T04:55:00.000-07:00

The Czech Republic

Vocabulary
equal - rovný
interior - vnitřní
defence - obrana
labour - práce
supreme - najvyšší
contemporary - dnešní, soudobý
engineering - strojírenský
varied - rozmanitý
dean - děkan
in favour - ve prospěch
fertile - úrodný
clay - jíl, kaolín
establish - vytvořit

Over the map, industry, politics

Where is the Czech Republic situated?

What is its area and number of inhabitants?

What are the most important mountain ranges in our country?

What rivers can be found in our territory?

What are our natural resources and where are their deposits?

What kind of industry is developed here? Which are typical products for our country?

Which are the main agricultural areas in CR? What is grown there?

Name some famous castles, chateaux and ruins in Czech Republic.

Do you know any czech spas?

Which spots of natural beauty do you know?

What do you know about our system of govrnment?

What cultural heritage do we have?

History

What was the name of the first state on our territory and when was it founded?

What did the reign of Charles IV. bring to Czech lands?

What do you know about John Huss and the Hussite Movement?

How did the Hapsburg dynasty rule over our country? And what about the reign of Rudolf II.?

When was the independent Czechoslovak Republic established?

Who took over power in our republic in 1948 and how long were they in power?

When and how was the Czech Republic established?

Food and Meals, How to Keep Healthy

2010-06-28T04:53:00.001-07:00

In our country daily meals usually start with breakfast, which consists of something to drink such as tea with sugar and lemon, cold or warm milk or a cocoa. Most people breakfast on several slices of bread, rolls or buns and butter, processed or natural cheese, eggs, ham, salami, jam and so on. We can also have something sweet. Quite a lot of people eat cereal or cornflakes with ingredients like yoghurt, chocolate, stewed fruit, walnuts, hazelnuts and so on. We must always remember that breakfast must be healthy, light and easily digestible.

Around noon it is lunchtime. Most people take their meals at the school canteen, or local canteen, but some people prefer going to a restaurant or having fast food in a McDonalds. But I assume that these meals are neither healthy nor substantial. Soups may be either vegetable (potato, tomato, pea, bean, carrot, parsley, celery, mushrooms) or meat teas (beef tea, tripe, chicken, hen). The main dish can be either sweet such as fruit dumplings or pancakes with jam and cream. Or we can have some meat (beef, pork, veal, mutton, lamb) with some vegetables such as potatoes, chips, rice, Czech dumpling, pasta or bread. More healthy fish and poultry are slowly replacing beef and pork. It’s healthy to drink at least one glass of mineral water, juice, tea or beer, after each meal. Scientists recommend drinking at least two litres of water per a day.

At six or seven in the evening comes time for dinner. At this time the entire family is usually together. We often prepare warm dishes. On some occasions we even go out to restaurants. There we can choose from a menu of various dishes. Roast pork with sauerkraut and dumplings, chicken with rice, fried pork chops with mashed potatoes, filet of fish with potato salad, roasted sirloin beef in sour cream sauce and Czech dumplings. For variety we can order a vegetable salad prepared from tomatoes or cucumbers, stewed fruits or a dessert.
While cooking we may add various spices such as garlic, marjoram, pepper, ketchup, vinegar, mustard, onions, and so on.

Inappropriate food is the cause of quite a few diseases. More frequent now are disorders of the digestive track, stomach and small and large intestine. It is noteworthy but not surprising, that young people are now suffering from these diseases. It is because of fast food. So we should always keep in mind also our health and not just listen to our stomach and the fact that we are hungry.

When you want to be slimmer you can try to go on a diet, but I don’t believe in them, because when you eat something with more calories, then all the weight you lost will be back again. It is better to eat more vegetables and fruits, cereal, and other low caloric and healthy food. And it is also better to eat your last meal before seven PM. Finally, when you sit and do nothing, then all the calories are turned into fat, so I can recommend that you should be more active.

Další zdroje o tomto tématu naleznete zde:
Food, cooking, recipes
Food
Články na hledaný výraz "Food, Meals, at Restaurants" naleznete na bezuceni.cz

History of USA

2010-06-28T04:49:00.000-07:00

Cuban crisis
• major Cold War confrontation between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) over Soviet-supplied missile installations in Cuba, regarded by many as the world's closest approach to nuclear war
• after Castro’s revolution on Cuba, Eisenhower’s administrative anulled diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1960, because Cuba abused American soldiers on ambassys, took over American property and supported guerrilas in Latin America
• on April 17, 1962, a group of Cuban refugees, trained and equiped in USA, landed on the Cuban coast, in the Bay of Pigs; Castro’s soldiers were waiting for them and 2,000 Cuban refugees were captured or killed by 20,000 Castro’s army
• in October USA had leaerned that Soviet Union had begun missile shipment and spy planes overflying Cuba had photographed Soviet-managed construction work by August 29; and the first ballistic missile was spotted on October 14.
• after a week of secret consultation with his advisers, during which options of invasion, air strikes, blockade, or diplomacy were discussed, on October 22 US President John F. Kennedy announced his intention of placing a naval blockade around Cuba to prevent the arrival of more missiles.
• Kennedy demanded that the Soviet Union dismantle and remove the weapons, declaring that US naval forces would intercept and inspect ships bound for Cuba to determine whether they were carrying missiles.
• Soviet vessels en route for Cuba turned away to avoid the quarantined zone, while communication between Khrushchev and Kennedy was opened through diplomatic channels. After several days of negotiations during which nuclear war was feared by many to be a possibility, Khrushchev agreed, on October 28, to dismantle the missile sites and return the weapons to the Soviet Union, offering the United States on-site inspection in return for a guarantee not to invade Cuba
• Kennedy halted the blockade and also secretly promised to withdraw US missiles recently stationed in its NATO partner Turkey

JFK
• J.F. Kennedy comes from a 9-children family, his father was a politician and multimillionaire; he studied the best-known universities and during WWII was a soldier in US NAVY (he rescued his crew from Jappanneese); he begun his political career in congress as a strict anticommunist and supporter of working class; he was elected in the presidential office in November 1960
• he introduced some important social-political changes, e.g. Food stamp program (distribute food to poor people from state supplies), Area development act (unemployed people had an opportunity to build needed buildings and new industrial buildings) and Alliance for progress (USA would support the industrial growth in Latin America)
• JFK was assasinated on November 22 in 1963 in Dallas, Texas, by Lee Harvey Oswald

Vietnam war
• Vietnam war was actually the war between USA and Soviet Union - Soviet Union wanted to spread its communist power and USA was afraid of a “domino theory” (if Vietnam became communist, surrounding countries would become communist too)
• in 1949 South Vietnam was formed by French and a guerrila war between North and South begun; USA started to supply French, but only with non-military arsenal; in 1954 Vietcong under a leadership of communist Ho Chi Minh surrounded French in the South with a president N. D. Diem > negotiations in Geneva continued; in 60’s USA sent advisers in South Vietnam (Johnson and JFK were both fond of the war); the struggles begun in 1964 and continued until 1975
• the ground fights were unsuccesful for American soldiers because of the difficult landscape and that’s why USA decided to begin the night bomb raids with huge B-52s
• there were many demonstrations held in USA against the war (mainly in years 67-68) because it costed 25 billion $ a year and several lives
• finally Vietnam was divided by Geneva on 17th paralel

Watergate affair
• a major United States political scandal that began with the burglary and wiretapping of the Democratic party's campaign headquarters and that culminated in the first resignation of a US president
• the burglary was committed on June 17, 1972, by five men who were caught in the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate apartment and office complex in Washington, D.C.; their arrest uncovered a White House-sponsored plan of espionage against political opponents and a trail of complicity that led to many of the highest officials in the land
• on July 16, 1973, it was told the committee, on nationwide television, that Nixon had ordered a taping system to be installed in the White House to automatically record all conversations; Nixon refused to release the tapes, claiming they were vital to the national security, but US District Court Judge ruled that Nixon must give the tapes
• Nixon gave the tapes to the court, but some subpoenaed conversations were missing, and one tape had a mysterious gap of 18,5 minutes; experts determined that the gap was the result of five separate erasures; Nixon also released written transcripts of 42 more tapes; the conversations revealed an overwhelming concern with punishing political opponents
• rather than face almost certain impeachment, Nixon resigned on August 9, the first US president to do so

Korean war
• a military struggle fought on the Korean Peninsula from June 1950 to July 1953; it begun as a war between South Korea and North Korea but the conflict swiftly developed into a limited international war involving the United States and 19 other nations; from a general viewpoint, the Korean War was one of the by-products of the cold war
• North Korea apparently attacked South Korea without the knowledge of either the Soviet Union or the People's Republic of China; the war began on June 25 when the North Korean leader, Kim Il Sung, invaded the south of the 38th parallel, supported by the growing opposition to South Korea's president and thinking of reuniting the two Koreas; the United States immediately responded by sending supplies to Korea
• US President Harry S. Truman ordered combat forces stationed in Japan deployed to Korea; American forces, those of South Korea, and other nationalities forces were placed under a unified UN command headed by the US commander in chief in the Far East, General Douglas MacArthur
• at the beginning the American and other UN troops were pushed back to a small area in the south-east of South Korea, but McArthur made an excellent offensive and his troops soon reached the south borders of China; after some time they again had to retreat against well-supplied and fresh Chinnese army and McArthur changed his agressive plans only to prevent south Korea from invasion from the north
• the discussions for a ceasefire begun in July in 1951, between representatives of the UN and Communist commands; the truce negotiations continued intermittently for two years

McCarthyism
• the early 50’s in USA are often known as McCarthyism, a by-product of the cold war, when the people feared being attacked by nuclear weapons, spreading communism and this was also period of spies and secret agents
• General Joseph McCarthy commanded troops in the Korean war and was well-known for his strong hate of communists; because of his agressive military strategy he was relieved from the command
• he continued his career as a politician and was a chief of the US House of Representatives Committee of Un-American Activities; he became famous with his list of 200 communist in state department and he continued to blame hundreds of people of being member of the Communist party; he was accusing like he was mad and lost all of his popularity
• this persecution of former communists culminated when the Hollywood Ten (American writers who refused to answer whether they had been members of a communist party) were prisoning and later couldn’t be employed anywhere; between years 1947-1954 214 Hollywood workers were accused of membership in the C. party and they had to squeal on others

Civil rights movement
• until WWII there was a strong segregation of blacks, they couldn’t eat in the same restaurants, sit in the same places in buses and trains, go to swimming pools, vote and drink the same water; during the WWII, according to Truman’s orders, the blacks were given the same positions in the army as the white and in 1948 the army was desegregated
• in 1954 the segregation in schools was outlawed and the black children could attend the same schools as white pupils; in 1957 9 black students tried to enroll at a previously all-white high school, but were stopped by national guard; two days later, according to Eisenhower’s order, they were admitted under a protection of federal troops
• the landmark came in 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, when a black woman refused to give up her seat to a white passanger and was arrested; this encouraged thousands of blacks , led by Martin Luther King, to Montgomery bus boycott and other willing, but non-violent protests (such as sit-in, civil disobedience); the Supreme court declared segregation in public buses unconstitutional
• in 1963 the black marchers were attacked by dogs and cattles and 4 months later MLK led an assembly on Lincoln Memorial where he delivered “I have a dream ...” speech; when Lyndon B. Johnson overtook the presidential office, he aimed mainly on racial discriminations; the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed which had a powerful impact on equality in accomodation, employment and voting rights ...
• civil rights had been focused mainly in the south, in the north the blacks had worse opportunities in everything; in 1964 many towns in north were struck by riots; the black nationalist movement in the 60’s was very strong, some of the black leaders called for total segregation rather than integration; among them were the Black muslims led by Malcolm X
• in 1970’s the blacks decided that voting was the most effective way to gain equal rights and by 1985 10% of all American officials were blacks