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Songs (песни) |
| Песня написана под впечатлением одного из рассказов, повествующего об истории солдата, подорвавшегося на мине, но тем не менее выжившего и сохранившем способность мыслить. Перед слушателем предстают мысленные кошмарные картины и ощущения человека, ставшего ещё одним из множества бессмысленных жертв войны. В клипе использованы вставки из американского фильма 1971 года "Johnny Got His Gun" («Джонни взял ружьё»), взявшего в том же году гран-при Каннского кинофестиваля. Песня написана в 1987 году. Клип создан в 1989. Слабонервным слушать и просматривать клип не рекомендуется. |
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History of Britain (история Британии) |
The development of England into a united nation, with a strong central government headed by the king, had received a setback (движение назад) in the chaotic reign of the previous king, Stephen. But the setback was not so severe as it looked to people like the monks who wrote the chronicles of the time. The system had not been destroyed. During the reign of Henry II, law and government in England were restored and strengthened.
Monarchs are always interesting people - because they are monarchs. Historians have been fascinated by the character of Queen Victoria, but if she had been the daughter of a banker or a fishmonger no one would have noticed her. In the Middle Ages, when monarchs were far more powerful than they were in the 19th century, their personalities and talents were more important. England today might be a different place if Henry II had not reigned from 1154 to 1189.Henry was about medium height, heavily built, with slight bow legs from spending so much time on horseback. He had reddish hair and a big freckled face, with grey eyes that grew bloodshot and glowed when he was in a rage. Like all his family, he had a fierce temper, and would roll on the floor, biting the rushes that covered it. But normally he was a kind, even humble man, and less cruel than most men of his time. His favourite sport was hunting, and vigorous exercise helped prevent him growing fat.
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Sketches (зарисовки) |
Ниже приведены короткие стишки, которые позволяют запомнить английские слова ball, artist, boat, press. Пожалуйста в комментариях добавляйте свои варианты для других слов. |
Library (библиотека) |
В библиотеку добавлены пять сказок. Книги расположены в порядке возрастания сложности. Первые четыре знакомы русскоязычному читателю, и это делает их легче для понимания. Последняя дана в несколько упрощенном варианте, но всё же является хорошим примером английской народной сказки, с особой стилистикой и колоритом.
Rapunzel, by the Brothers Grimm The Steadfast Tin Soldier, by Hans Christian Andersen Cinderella, by Charles Perrault The Tinderbox, by Hans Christian Andersen Mossycoat, English folk tale |
History of Britain (история Британии) |
(+ русский перевод)
In 1100 the population of England was less than 1.5 million -
about the size of the present population of Birmingham and Coventry.
Only about 100,000 of them lived in towns, and few places were
large enough to match our idea of what a town should be. (The
word 'town' originally meant a homestead - just one house.) London
was, as always, an exception. When William I began to build his
White Tower overlooking the Thames, about 20,000 people lived
there, all of them inside the walls of the old Roman city. York,
Norwich and Lincoln were the next largest, though probably none
had more than 5,000 people.
Towns were nevertheless growing fast under the Normans, and
they went on growing until the early 14th century. Landowners
soon noticed that towns were profitable places, and they were
eager to start one, or, more often, to increase the size of
a town that already existed. This was something that only rich
landlords could do, as it did require some expense to get a
town going, though nothing like the expense of building new
towns today.
Landlords were not concerned with 'town planning'. New parishes
were added on higgledy-piggledy: you have only to look at a
city like Norwich, where there are twenty medieval parish churches
within five minutes' walk of one spot (not counting the cathedral,
which alone might held the whole population) to see the chaos
- but attractive chaos - of the growth of a medieval town.
Nine out of ten people in England lived in the country, the
majority in small villages. There were isolated farms in some
parts, where people lived a pioneer life far from the nearest
neighbours, like farms on the frontier of the American West
in the 19th century. But Norman England was mostly a country
of small villages.
Driving through the English countryside today, the villages
seem very close together, but 800 years ago they seemed much
farther apart. There were no roads then, only muddy tracks,
and a journey of only a kilometre or two could be difficult
in winter. In any case, people did not travel. Most of them
probably did not want to, they would very seldom have had the
opportunity. The English peasant was born, lived and died in
the same place. ... |
Songs (песни) |
 | Довольно интересный эксперимент совместного исполнения песни на двух языках - английском и русском. Песня очень даже ничего, и достойна размещения в нашей коллекции. Как обычно есть английский текст, но его дословного перевода нет, потому что параллельно идет русский авторский текст. |
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Songs (песни) |
 | Что бросается в глаза тому, кто начинает знакомиться с творчеством этой группы, - в основном внятные названия альбомов и композиций. Даже не сильно искушенный в английском языке человек понимает, как переводятся "Without You I'm Nothing", "Black Market Music", "Sleeping With Ghosts", "Battle for the Sun", "Running Up That Hill", "Boys Don’t Cry". Считается, что жанр их музыки относится к альтернативному року, но все эти разделения в значительной степени условны. Взять, например, предлагаемую вашему вниманию композицию "Battle for the Sun". Что в ней "альтернативного", понять трудно. И музыка и текст вполне в рамках современного массового искусства. |
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Sketches (зарисовки) |
Орфография английского языка считается одной из самых трудных для изучения среди индоевропейских. Отражая сравнительно верно английскую речь периода Возрождения, она совершенно не соответствует современной устной речи британцев, американцев, австралийцев и других носителей языка. Большое количество слов в письменном виде включает буквы, не произносящиеся при чтении, и, наоборот, многие произносимые звуки не имеют графических эквивалентов. Так называемые «правила чтения» ограничены таким высоким процентом исключений, что теряют всякий практический смысл. Учащемуся приходится изучать написание или чтение почти каждого нового слова, в связи с чем в словарях принято указывать транскрипцию каждого слова. Известный лингвист Макс Мюллер назвал английскую орфографию «национальным бедствием».
Источник: «Википедия» |
History of Britain (история Британии) |
The
late 11th and 12th centuries in Europe were a time of good order,
prosperity and progress. An age when war was treated almost
as a sport, as something all upper-class men were expected to
practise, was not always peaceful. But increasing trade, growing
towns and safer travel were signs of better times. The Norman
rulers of England were not responsible for these improvements,
but they did something to make them possible.
Kings of England enjoyed one great advantage over other rulers.
England was a united kingdom, accustomed to royal government.
This was the achievement of Alfred and his successors. In more
recent times, with the rise of the great earls, the kingdom
had shown signs of breaking up into smaller pieces, but that
development was prevented by the Norman Conquest.
William the Conqueror did not have to invent centralized government.
The system already existed, and a very thorough system it was,
right down to the courts of justice in every shire and hundred
(a hundred was a division of a shire). The English people were
used to regular taxation - one good result of Danegeld
(«Датские деньги», поземельный налог для
уплаты датским викингам) - and together with the huge
estates that William kept as royal property, the Norman monarchy
could count itself rich.
All that was needed was a strong man at the top. William was
such a man, and so were his sons, the rough, red-faced William
Rufus (shot in a hunting accident at the age of forty) and the
cool, clever Henry I.
William the Conqueror was, above all, a military leader. His
army had gained the kingdom for him, and his army had to keep
it. The first essential was to make sure of the loyalty of his
chief followers, which he did by rewarding them for their service
with land. William had about 200 tenants-in-chief (крупных
землевладельцев), or barons as they were later called,
to whom he gave large estates. He made sure that their estates
were scattered in different parts of the country, as he did
not want to run the risk of creating dangerous centres of power
for some future rebel. ...
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Songs (песни) |
| Одной из главных проблем при восприятии на слух текста англоязычной песни является быстрота его произнесения. Быстрый темп не позволяет начинающим учить язык выделять и понимать не то что фразы, но и даже отдельные слова. В предлагаемой песне этот недостаток сведен к минимуму. Темп медленный, грамматика простая, слова, не считая первый куплет, также просты. Даны два ролика: первый - собственно исполнение песни в живую, второй - с караоке. Исполнительница - Дана Уиннер - сравнительно мало известна в России. Желающие могут найти информацию о ней в Википедии (англ.яз.). Музыка была написана в 1992 году как саундтрек к фильму "1492: Завоевание рая". |
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