Holidays in the uk

In the UK, Australia and Canada the word “holiday” means time away from normal employmentor education. The meaning is further subdivided into two major sub-categories: 1.Public holiday, a day decreed by government as a day when the bulk of the population is not normally expected to be at work, such as Bank HolidayorChristmas Day. 2. A non-working trip or stay away from one’s normal home. This is similar to what is described elsewhere as avacation, but that word is rarely used in Australia or the UK.

Days referred to as holidays in other places but which do not involve formally decreed time away from work especially for that day, such as St. Valentine’s DayandMother’s Day, are not described as holidays in Australia or the UK.

The main British public holidays are: Christmas Day (on the 25^th of December, when families decorate their houses with brightly coloured paper or holly, and usually have a Christmas tree), Boxing Day (26^th of December, when people visit friends and relatives or watch one of the many sporting events), Good Friday (the Friday before Easter Sunday, when bakers sell hot cross buns, which are toasted and eaten with butter), Easter (the first Sunday following the full Moon after 21 March), Halloween (on 31 October, when people dress up in strange costumes and pretend they are witches, cut horrible faces in pumpkins and put a candle inside).

As for the professional holiday of Customs Officer, the British celebrate international day while the Russians have three special days. Customs organisations worldwide celebrate International Customs Day (ICD) each year on 26 January. This marks the day of the first official meeting of the Customs Co-operation Council, now known as the World Customs Organization. This day every year the Customs administrations of Member States of the World Customs Organisation (WCO) organize various national events to celebrate the first session of the Customs Co-operation Council. On its part, the WCO Secretariat chooses a topic for International Customs Day. It was e.g. “Knowledge, a catalyst for Customs excellence”, “Customs and the environment: Protecting natural heritage”, “Customs-Business Partnership”.

It has become a well-established tradition for the British Customs Administration to celebrate International Customs Day, too. As usual, each year the Customs administration will mark the event giving due consideration to the utmost importance of the celebrations topic chosen by the international Customs community. As part of the initiatives to celebrate Customs Day, WCO certificates of merit, signed by the Secretary General of the Organisation will be awarded. Each year certificates of merit are awarded to some officials who, by their exceptional professionalism, have contributed to the achievements of the customs administration in various fields.

Exercise 7. Match each definition with the correct word. Translate the words into Russian and learn them by heart.

1. to decorate	a) to call on socially;
2. a holiday	b) something that takes place; an occurrence;
3. to visit	c) the act of accomplishing or finishing.
4. a relative	d) a day free from work that one may spend at leisure;
5. to pretend	e) the power or ability to begin or to follow through energetically with a plan or task; enterprise and determination;
6. utmost	f) to give a false appearance of; feign;
7. an event	g) to furnish, provide, or adorn with something ornamental; embellish;
8. an initiative	h) superior quality or worth; excellence;
9. a merit	i) one related by kinship, common origin, or marriage;
10. an achievement	j) of the highest or greatest degree, amount, or intensity; most extreme.

Exercise 8. Choose the right answer.

1. How many meanings does the word “holiday” have?

a) 2; b) 3; c) 4; d) more than 6.

2. When does the Good Friday take place?

a) the first Friday following the full Moon in each year;

b) on 31^st of October;

c) the Friday before Easter Sunday;

d) the first Friday after 26^th of December.

3. How do people celebrate Halloween?

a) people celebrate this holiday at home with the family;

b) people dress up in strange costumes;

c) people try to make a trip;

d) people cook the pumpkins.

4. When is International Customs Day celebrated?

a) on 1 January; b) on 26 January; c) on 31 October; d) on 8 March.

5. How often do we celebrate the holidays?

a) each year; b) twice a week; c) three times in each year; d) as often as we want.

6. What does the WCO Secretariat choose for International Customs Day?

a) the WCO Secretariat chooses the best suitable song;

b) the WCO Secretariat chooses the totem;

c) the WCO Secretariat chooses the King and the Queen of the party;

d) the WCO Secretariat chooses a topic.

7. Why was the day of 26^th October chosen as International Customs Day?

a) the first session of the Customs Co-operation Council was this day;

b) it was the only day without any remarkable event;

c) the first smuggler was arrested;

d) it was a random choice.

8. Which type of holidays are Easter and Christmas?

a) public holiday; b) international holiday;

c) religious holiday; d) unofficial holiday.

9. How do we call the holiday when British people usually have a Christmas tree?

a) Boxing day; b) Christmas Day; c) Good Friday; d) Easter.

10. How are especial Customs Officers signed by the Secretary General of the Organisation?

a) they are awarded; b) they are punished;

c) they are retired; d) they are employed.

Exercise 9. Fill in the table. Add two more categories for comparison.

Foundation	Russian Federation	United Kingdom
Types
Unofficial holidays
Professional holidays

Exercise 10. Fill in the gaps using the words given below, and translate the sentences into Russian.

merits elsewhere decree mean recognize

award achievement events initiative organize

1. Teachers judge students on their own … and not on how rich their parents are. 2. The … that led to the war were complex and numerous. 3. I didn’t ask her to do this; she did it on her own … . 4. It is very honourable to receive a … from the President. 5. We were shocked by the governmental … banning all public meetings. 6. I can speak with you here as well as … . 7. The dictionary tries to tell you what words … . 8. It was a great … that a month later a global agreement was reached. 9. I had to … he was right. 10. This day every year the World Customs Organisation … various national events to celebrate the International Customs Day.

Exercise 11. Replace the underlined words with the synonym.

1. In such circumstances they must overhaul the decision.

a) abolish; b) adopt; c) review; d) discuss.

2. The Russian Federation always solemnize the Victory Day.

a) celebrate; b) mark; c) emphasize; d) spend.

3. This bill is very significant.

a) meaningful; b) important; c) original; d) special.

4. Many Russian people try to spend their holidays in the country.

a) working hours; b) free time; c) week end; d) vacations.

5. When I was a child my parents decorated the New Years tree every year.

a) stood; b) beautified; c) brought; d) did.

6. Have you already chosen the topic of your research work?

a) composition; b) approach; c) point of view; d) theme.

7. Don’t trust him, he pretends.

a) is upset; b) looks; c) seems; d) feigns.

8. They go to the bath-house every year to celebrate the New Year.

a) yearly; b) annually; c) twice a year; d) often.

9. The term “holiday” means in different countries similar to what is described elsewhere as a vacation.

a) signifies; b) tells; c) offers; d) allows.

10. The judges awarded her the prize.

a) took; b) gave; c) sold; d) showed.

Exercise 12. Match the verbs on the left with the nouns on the right. Make up sentences with the phrases you have got.

1. to visit 2. to decorate 3. to dress up in 4. to pay 5. to mark 6. to subdivide into 7. to base on 8. to celebrate as 9. to choose 10. to overhaul

a) strange costumes; b) a professional holiday; c) friends and relatives; d) a topic; e) the significance; f) sub-categories; g) with brightly coloured paper or holly; h) historical events of significance; i) the customs-administration system; j) a reward.

Exercise 13. Choose the most suitable word in each sentence.

1. He pretended/promised that he was sick. 2. This historical occurrence/event isn’t broadly known. 3. Small English kids believe that the Santa Claus leaves the gifts under New Year’s/Christmas tree. 4. We often spend our holidays with relatives/alliance 5. Winter in the Northern Hemisphere/Hemifield features many holidays. 6. In any classification you can find sub-categories/sub-company. 7. Government decrees public holidayto give people the dayoff/on. 8. It is a good tradition when schoolchildren graduate/congratulate veterans on Victory Day. 9. Do you know when British people mark/celebrate Good Friday? 10. Have you already seen Mark? He is in festive/holiday mood today.

WRITING AND COMMUNICATION

Exercise 14. Write an essay on one of the given topics.

1. Russian Holidays.

2. British Holidays.

Exercise 15. Translate the following sentences from Russian into English.

1. Государство не устанавливает неофициальные праздники. 2. Праздники – это отличный повод, чтобы посетить друзей. 3. Сэм не любит праздники, так как он тратит много денег на подарки для родственников. 4. И Россия, и Англия богаты традициями, в истории каждой страны много важных событий. 5. Чтобы отметить важность этой профессии, ВТО установила дату Международного Дня работников таможни. 6. Ты пойдешь со мной на вечеринку? – Нет, у меня много дел. 7. Если Вы хотите быстрее решить эту проблему, Вы должны взять инициативу в свои руки. 8. Мэри и Джек встречаются уже два года и каждый год дарят друг другу милые сувениры на День святого Валентина. 9. Не нужно меня благодарить, это не моя заслуга. 10. Наконец, он признал, что не подходит на должность таможенника.