22 Habits, Holidays, Traditions

THE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND IN TOPIC NUMBER 2 (OVERLAPING) + PLEASE SEE ALSO THE INFORMATION FOLLOWING ABOUT SOME OTHER SPECIAL DAYS.

The UK:

Saint Patrick's Day or the Feast of Saint Patrick (Irish: Lá Fhéile Pádraig, "the Day of the Festival of Patrick") is a cultural and religious holiday celebrated on 17 March. It commemorates Saint Patrick (c. AD 387–461), the most commonly recognised of the patron saints of Ireland, and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. Remembrance Day – 11th November, people who were killed in both world wars are remembered.

The USA:

Martin Luther King´s Day – 3rd Monday in January, a black clergyman who fought for the rights of his people, he was assassinated (spáchán atentát) in 1968. President´s Day – 3rd Monday in February, all American presidents are remembered. Columbus Day – 2nd Monday in October, Columbus landing in the New World is celebrated (1492). Veteran´s Day – 11th November, those who served in World War 1 are remebered.

25 Environment

INTRODUCTION

The environment (životní prostředí) is all around us. It consists (skládá se z) of the flora, fauna, the water, the air and the earth. We can live on this planet thanks to these basic components, which are necessary (nezbytné) for human existence. But the paradox is that we are polluting (znečišťujeme) these most important things, humans do not always care for the environment as they should. People prefer their own comfort (pohodlí) and luxury over a healthy natural environment. The environment has got worse since (od) the industry revolution 19th century. People want more cars, bigger houses, the latest computer technology, many factories and packaged food etc. to make their life more comfortable. All of this growth (růst) pollutes (znečišťuje) nature and the environment. Good relations between man and nature are important not only for us but even for animals, plants and future generation. 

The biggest environmental issues (otázky) are: 

• population growth, 
• global warming (oteplování)
• the ozone hole (ozónová díra)
• deforestation (ubývání lesů)
• air pollution (znečištění ovzduší)
• water pollution and endangered species (ohrožení existence některých druhů živočichů a rostlin)

ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

• Population growth - The number of the people increases ( se zvyšuje) and because of it more pollution is generated (vytvořeno), more area is destroyed, and more natural resources (přírodních zdrojů) are used up (spotřebováno). In 1950 the world’s population was 2.5 billion people and now it is 6 billions.  But if we continue as today, we will soon have no copper (meď), natural gas (zemní plyn) and oil (ropa) by the ear 2050. Problems are also with the waste (odpad). We must control the population growth. If women have fewer (méně) than 2 children each, the world population will decline (klesne) after the year 2050. The other restriction (omezení) has China when the family with more than 2 children is disadvantaged (znevýhodněná)

• Global warming - The earth has a thin atmosphere (atmosféra - plynová vrstva nad zemí) that is like a transparent blanket (průhledná pokrývka) that keeps us warm. In a process called the greenhouse effect  (skleníkový efekt) the high energy radiation from the solar system is trapped (chycená do pasti) by gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2). This heat energy keeps Earth temperatures too high to support life (volně: Tato energie udržuje příliš vysokou teplotu na zemi, jenž nepodporuje dobré životní podmínky).

16 Restaurants

A restaurant  is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money, either paid before the meal, after the meal. Meals are generally served and eaten right inside the place, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services.

 Modern restaurants are dedicated to the serving of food, where specific dishes are ordered by guests and are prepared to their request. The modern restaurant originated in 18th century in France. A restaurant owner is called a restaurateur, the word is from French. Professional artisans of cooking are called  chefs, while preparation staff and line cooks prepare food items in a more systematic and less artistic fashion.

History:

In Ancient Rome existed a special place called thermopolium. It was small restaurant-bar which offered food and drinks to the customer.

Types of Restaurants:

Restaurants  can range from fastfood or street stalls which serve simple food in simple settings at low prices, to expensive and luxurious restaurants like CAFE IMPERIAL in Prague serving refined (uhlazený/kultivovaný) food and wines in a formal setting. To some of the restaurants the formal clothes are needed.

Typically, customers sit at tables, their orders are taken by a waiter, who brings the food when it is ready, and the customers pay the bill before leaving. In finer restaurants there will be a host or hostess to welcome customers and to seat them. Other staff waiting on customers includes busboy (pomocný číšník) and sommelier (sklepník/odborník na víno).

Restaurants often specialize in certain types of food, for example there are seafood restaurants, vegetarian restaurants or ethnic restaurants. Generally speaking, restaurants selling food characteristic of the local culture are simply called restaurants, while restaurants selling food of foreign cultural origin are called ethnic restaurants: Chinese, Italian, Indian etc. We can also have very special types of restaurants: railway restaurant cars which are, in effect, travelling restaurants.

Restriction: 

Depending on local customs and the establishment, restaurants may or may not serve  alcohol. Restaurants are often prohibited from selling alcohol without a meal by alcohol sale laws.

Restaurants Guides:

Restaurants guides rewiev restaurants for food and other things like handicap accessibility. The most known guide in Europe is guide called MICHELIN (from one to three stars).

18 My future career

My Future Career. My Plans for the Future.

When I was a child I never seriously thought (nepřemýšlel) about my future career.

I wanted to be a ....... / As a small child I dreamt of being a .......

[I always knew I wanted to become a .........vždy jsem věděl, že se chci stát......]

Then I started to attend (navštěvovat) Basic School and all my dreams changed. I was interested in (zajímal jsem se o) many things like ........., I was practising sports, I was quite good at (byl jsem docela dobrý v)........ My plans for my future career changed from day to day.

Later I went to Secondary School. During my studies I began to think about my future career more seriously / I began to think what I would really like to do when I was .......years old.

My plans: First of all, I want to finish secondary school. At the moment I am taking the final graduation exam in four different subjects: Czech language, Economics, English  , ...........  I hope I´ll pass (Doufám, že projdu). I have been working hard for this exam.

After the final exam I would like to study at ................................

I have applied to (podal jsem si přihlášku) ..........University, College, Faculty .......

I like / I enjoy.......... , so I´d like to become / to get into a profession such as ...............

(Mám rád......, rád bych se stal/dostal práci jako........)

I am afraid / I fear it is difficult to get into ....... (Obávám se/ Mám strach, že je těžké dostat.....)

What is a good job/interesting job for me?

For me a good job should / be well paid /be useful(užitečný) /not be boring/ allow me to be my own boss (dovolí mi být svým vlastním pánem) ...

I am sure I never want to work as a .......   
I am still unsure (nejistý) what to do in my life because ........
It´s not easy to decide what I´d like to do because........

Salary is of secondary importance in choosing a job (Peníze jsou až na druhém místě). Of more value to me is ..........

Family

I would like / I don´t want to get married because .....

My future partner should be ........ He also should have .......

I have a boy/girlfriend now but I am only ............., I don´t need to start thinking about marriage

To have a good marriage, the partner should ........

What are your plans ?

What job did you want to do when you were a child ?

Did your parents share your opinion or did they try to change your mind ?

How old were you  when you began to think seriously abou your future carrer ?

How important is the salary in choosing a job ? What is more important to you- to dislike your job and earn a lot of money or, on the contrary,  enjoy your work and earn less money ?

Did the school prepare you well for the future studies / job ?

How are you going to celebrate your passing the graduation exam ?

What are your plans for this year holiday ? Have you got any part-time job for summer ?

Would you like to get married one day ? What qualities should your future partner have ?

Would you like to have children? If so, how many? If you could choose the sex of your children, whar would you prefer ? Why ?

If you couldn´t have your own children, could you adopt any ?

Have you got any high aims(vysoké cíle)? ( to live to be 100 years old, to become Miss Universe, to marry a millionaire, to be born again, to travel in time, to be awarded Nobel prize, to be famous, ...)

15 Gastronomy in Great Britain and the USA

Gastronomy is a term which means the art of food eating. Gastronomy includes the preparation of meals, dining, eating customs and everything related to food and drinks. Gastronomy – eating and drinking are some of the most important things that influence our health.

The first meal of the day is breakfast. Some say that a rich breakfast is the best way to start the day. Others prefer their breakfast to be healthy, light and easy to digest (trávit). The majority of people eat a breakfast that consists of bread, bread rolls and bagels, with butter, salami, ham, honey, cheese or jam. Instead of bread we can have something sweet – cakes, doughnuts or gingerbread (perník). Those who prefer a healthy breakfast might have yoghurt with fresh fruit, muesli with milk etc. Many people accompany their meal with tea, warm or hot milk, coffee, hot chocolate or glass of juice. 

At midday, it is lunchtime. Most people go to a school, office or factory canteen (jídelna), but some prefer going to a restaurant or having a fast lunch in a buffet or a snack bar or buying something at street stalls (pouliční stánky). Often lunch consists of soup a main course, something to drink and salad or a dessert. Soups are either vegetable soups (tomato, potato, pea, bean, carrot, mushrooms) or meat teas (beef, chicken, and hen). The main course is usually cooked meat, fish, poultry (drůbeží) with side dishes (přílohy) of potatoes or rice, Czech dumplings, pasta or bread. The dessert could be cake, ice cream, or fruit. 

The last meal of the day is dinner served between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m. In many families the menu usually consists of another warm meal. But another possibility is a cold dinner it may be cheese, salami, ham, vegetables and bread. 

Czech cuisine

Czechs, in general, like fatty meals, meat juices (vývary), creamy soups and meat, of course. 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, the same as Germans. Wiener schnitzel, which is a pork steak, coated in flour (obalená v mouce), egg and breadcrumbs and fried, is a popular dish as well. The typical Czech soup is tripe soup (držková polévka). Sweets and cakes are typical of Czech cuisine as well. (Other popular: fried cheese and chips,  potato soup, roasted goose/duck and sauerkraut and dumplings, potatocakes (bramboráky)).

British cuisine

The traditional perception of British cuisine (kuchyně) is of overcooked vegetables, tasteless (bez chuti) meat and a lot of fat, but British eating habits have changed over last thirty years.Many families now prefer to eat out at restaurants or cafes or to buy take-away Chinese or Indian meals to eat at home.

Traditional English breakfast (sometimes called full or cooked) is quite rich and hot. You start with orange juice, then you have cereal (e.g. cornflakes with milk and sugar), fried eggs and tomato, bacon or sausages. Then there is a crisp piece of toast with butter and marmalade (which is made from oranges), and tea with milk. . Sundays are reserved for their big cooked breakfast called BRUNCH - breakfast and lunch together.

Lunch is a midday meal. It is not the main meal of the day in the UK! It is very common to have something light - like sandwiches, pizza, hamburgers, salad or pies. School children do not usually have their lunches at the school canteen. They bring packed lunch from their homes in special lunch boxes. 

Tea is Britain's favourite drink. It is served at 5 pm. Dinner is a hot evening meal and it is more filling. It can be served from 6 to 8 p.m. It is usually eaten when the whole family is together. It usually includes meat, sauce and green vegetables cooked in hot water. It may be also cold - depending on the time of the year.  Later at night, after a theatre or cinema performance, you can have your supper (pozdní večeře) - something light like cheese and biscuits before you go to bed.

(Vocabulary: original fast food is ,,fish and chips". People Britain like chips with salt and vinegar. Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding - it is the traditional Sunday lunch from Yorkshire in the north of England.)

Cuisine of the USA

When most people think of American cuisine, the first meal that comes to mind is hamburgers, French fries, and Coca-Cola. Another typical feature of American lifestyle is popcorn. Original American food dates (se datují) to the pre-Columbian era when native(původní) people ate meals of corn, squash, pumpkin, and turkey.

The arrival of immigrants throughout the centuries has expanded American cuisine to include a wide array of international dishes and tastes: pizza (Italian), Tacos or burritos (Mexican), stir fry (Chinese).

10 FREE TIME/LEISURE TIME ( British people video>>>)

FREE TIME

(OBECNÉ VYPRÁVĚNÍ)

Free time after work or study is called leisure time. It is the time for fun and entertainment. Going to the cinema, theatre, concerts, arts exhibitions (výstavy) are the most usual ways of spending free time. Some people especially younger people prefer going to parties, pubs, coffee bars, clubs and discos, others like to stay home watching TV, reading book ... Unfortunately, a lot of people haven't got enough time. We spend a lot of time for working, learning, family ... But we must find these free time for us and do not stay on line of facebook all day chating!

Many people spend their leisure time practising their hobbies. There are many types of hobbies. One of traditional passive hobbies is the collecting of objects. For example: stamps, postcards, flags, coins, models of cars ... The collecting becomes a life - long hobby for many people. It is an interesting and useful hobby................ A pet requires a good care and good knowledge of its habits and behaviour. British people love animals and almost every family has pet, usually a cat or dog.

........Practising dancing is an active hobby. Drama acting, folk dancing, modern dancing ... At present , more and more people of all ages are concerned with (se zabývá svým zdravým) their health and spend some of their leisure time doing exercises to keep themselves fit. For this season many sports and games are practised as hobbies. Hiking, cycling, rowing (veslování), playing golf and tennis is enjoyed by people all over the world. It is quiet common to see parties of hikers, cyclists or rowers spending their weekends outdoors. For those who prefer physical exercises indoors, body - building and fitness centres are opening up all over the world. They help people stay healthy and fit. Same result can be achieved by walking, jogging, swimming and aerobics which are also useful, effective and very popular ways of spending leisure time.

Teenagers have their own special leisure interests. Typical hobbies of teenagers are roller-skating and skate-boarding. Skate-boarding as sport first appeared in California. Skate-board parks are opening up in big cities for the safe practising of this hobby. Windsurfing, wavesurfing belongs to summer hobbies... snowboarding, skiing is on the other side a typical winter sport ...

I have a lot of hobbies. I am crazy about snowboarding. Every winter holiday we go to the High Tatras. In summer I play football, volleyball and handball. I am also fond of designing the Internet sites. I am interested in cars as well.
(modern special activities: geocaching, graffiti, parkour, paintball/air-soft, yo-yo...you can add your own ideas to comments)

FREE TIME ACTIVITIES

(PŘÍKLAD VÝPRÁVĚNÍ O VLASTNÍM TRÁVENÍ VOLNÉHO ČASU)

Since (protože) I'm a student, I go to school weekdays (všední dny) and so I don't have too much free time. I usually spend six or seven hours at school then I have lunch at the school cafeteria (školní jídelna). After that I either go downtown for some shopping or I go home and study. If I have some free time during the week I might also read a book or watch some TV. Lately my evenings have been spent preparing for my graduation examination which takes up a lot of time. (složitější jazyková konstrukce - poslední dobou byly mé večery tráveny přípravou na maturitu).

Even though (i když) I have a lot to do, I still have some free time for leisure activities. On the weekends during spring and autumn I like to go with my family to our cottage. I like taking long walks around the countryside and I like watching the seasons change. Also I am interested in rock collecting (sběr kamenů) and mineralogy so when I get some free time I like to look for interesting rocks to improve my collection. In the winter I enjoy sports like skiing, skating or playing ice hockey. I'm not very good at skating or hockey but I think I've become a pretty good skier.

I have the most free time during the summer months. One of my favorite activities is to go canoeing (sjíždění řek na kánoi) with my friends. It's really nice. We borrow a couple of canoes and choose a nice spot on the river to begin. We spend the day floating (plout) and paddling (pádlovat) down the river. Sometimes if it gets hot we jump in the water and go swimming. Of course we take breaks during the day, we stop along the river to prepare some food or to visit a local pub. In the evening we set up (postavíme) our tents (stany) and make a campfire. We spend the evening talking, singing songs, and enjoying nature. One of my favorite things to do is to cook some sausages over the campfire. We also like to wrap (zabalit) potatoes in foil then cook them in the hot ashes (popel). These wonderful trips, just like summer, always end too soon.