576_the mistery of wales

8/6/2019 576_The Mistery of Wales

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To the west of England, lies

a small, almost secret

country called Wales. It is a

land of green and grey:

green fields, valleys; grey

mountains and sky, and grey

stone castles.


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A. The story of the Welsh

people is one of the

determined resistance to

invaders the Romans, the

Saxons, the Vikings, the

Normans and finally theEnglish.


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After the fall of the Roman

Empire in 410 AD, BarbarianAngels and Saxons invaded

Britain.


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Legendary kings and princes, like

King Arthur, won important victories

against the Saxons, but graduallytheses original Britons were

pushed west into the hills and

mountains of Wales.


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Welsh princes fought hard against

the English, but Wales was finally

conquered. In 1301 Edward I gavehis son the title of Prince of Wales

and in 1536 Wales was invited with

England.


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1. Match the words in English with

their Ukrainian equivalents. west

castle

resistance ,

empire

fall

to invade

gradually

to conquer

to fight hard


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B. Despite the conquest, thissmall nation of three million

people has maintained itsunique culture and strong

national identity, particularlythrough its language.


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Welsh, a Celtic language verydifferent from English, is one of the

oldest languages in Europe.

However, in in the nineteenth

century and the first half of the

twentieth century, the Welshlanguage declined.


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The British government madeEnglish the official language

and English was the only

language allowed at schools.

The number of Welsh speakers

went down from 80% to under20% of the population.


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Since the 1960s, though, therehas been a revival. Welsh,

along with English, is an officiallanguage and is spoken in the

Welsh Assembly, Wales own

regional parliament and thereis a Welsh TVchannal.


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Unscramble these words.

Ulcetru---

Ntstgo---

Encytru--- Encahln---

Iroingea----


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Complete the definitions with the

appropriate words from the text

above.

It describes something that is the only of its

kind.

To be weaker, less important, smaller.

To give someone permission.

The situation or fact when something becomesbetter, more profitable.

To keep something at the same standard or

quality as before.


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C. A tradition of storytelling,

poetry and singing began in

the castles of the Welsh

princes in the Middle Ages

and continues today. Every

year, eisteddfods are held

around the country.


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An eisteddfod is a meeting of

poets and singers, who takepart in competitions. As well

as literature in Welshlanguage, Welsh has

produced poets in Englishsuch as Dylan Thomas and

R.S.Thomas.


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Famous actors include Richard

Burton, Anthony Hopkins andCatherine Zeta-Jones. Wales is a

musical nation and choirs are

important. Nowadays, when the

national rugby team plays in the

capital, Cardiff, 80,000 voices canbe heard singing the Welsh hymn,

Bread of Heaven.


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D. The Flag of Wales, wit its redragon, is one of the oldest in the

world. It was brought to Britain by

the Romans. The patron saint of

Wales is St David, who converted

Wales to Christianity andestablished the Welsh church.


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The leek, a vegetable, isanother national symbol. St

David ordered his soldiers towear them on their helmets

before the Welsh went intobattle against the Saxons.


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Make a project about your

countrys history and its culture.

Include the following areas:

early history

difficult times;

language;

traditions;

national symbols.

576_the mistery of wales

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