BELARUS

CHEESE ROLLING

MAYPOLES AND PARADES (MAY, 1)

In many countries, the first of May is May Day – a day to welcome spring. People gather flowers and dance, often around a Maypole.

May Day came to the United States from England – but it was brought to England by the ancient Romans. In Rome, there was a day in spring when the young men paraded through the city, carrying a pine tree. There was also a festival to honor Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers. When the Romans conquered England, the pine tree became a Maypole.

On May Day in England, the pole was set up on the village green and decorated with flowers and ribbons. A May Queen was picked and crowned with flowers. Villagers danced around the Maypole, holding the ends of ribbons that hung from the pole. As they danced, they wove the ribbons in and out.

In time, some people thought the merrymakers worshiped the Maypole. For a while, the Maypole was forbidden by law. Bui it reappeared later. To this day, children in parts of England and elsewhere still sing and dance around the Maypole on May Day.

Of all Britain's famous customs and traditions, cheese rolling is probably the strangest – and certainly the most spectacular.

Every year, large crowds of people gather at Cooper’s Hill in Gloucestershire to watch the Cheese Rolling Championship.

A group of brave (and crazy) people roll a large cheese down the hill, and then run down after it. In theory, competitors must catch the cheese, but as it can reach speeds up to 70 miles an hour, this rarely happens.

Cheese Rolling is one of the old­est customs in Great Britain. It's been going on for hundreds of years and nobody knows for sure when it first started.

The master of the ceremonies must wear a white coat, ribbons and a top hat. He starts the event with the traditional signal: 'One to be ready, two to be steady, three to prepare – and FOUR to be off.'

In the past the cheese-rolling day also included a fair that took place at the top of the hill.

Four races are held on the day: three for men and one for women. There are also uphill races for children.

Cheese Rolling is a dangerous sport. There is usually an ambu­lance at the event – to treat people with sprained ankles, black eyes and sometimes more serious injuries.

Oh, and what's the prize for win­ning in this 'extreme' sport? You get to keep the cheese!

"KALYADY" HAS COME

I. Pay attention to these words. Pick out sentences with these words from the text and read them out:

Kalyady – Каляды;

Christmas – Рождество;

Epiphany [i'pifsni] – Крещение;

Svyatki – Святки;

Kalyadnaya Kuttzya –Калядная кутья;

Bethlehem –г. Вифлеем (библ.);

Christ [kraist] – Христос

II. Read out these phrasal verbs and expressions several times till you remember them:

to get rid of – избавляться от чего-л.;

to see the New Year in – встречать Новый год;

treat to – угощать чём-л.;

they say – говорят;

to play the accordion – играть на аккордеоне;

to act out – представлять, разыгрывать.

III. Match the English words and their Russian equivalents:

eternity ярмарка

fair бессмертие

mysterious вечность

vagrant избавляться от

smart предки

to get rid of бродячий

forefathers веселый

merry таинственный

immortality переодеваться

to disguise нарядный

IV. Combine the words with the help of the preposition of: