Exercise 8. Read and translate the text.

CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS OF GREAT BRITAIN

National traditions are considered to be a part of a nation's culture and should be regarded inseparably from it. Culture of any nation demonstrates its state of intellectual development, it reflects its spirit, its life - past and present - its hopes for the future. Culture means literary and musical heritage of a country, its famous artists, writers, poets, composers and so on.

The best illustration of British long-living traditions can be found in their literature, which presents a great diversity and is well known all over the world thanks to such names as William Shakespeare, Oscar Wild, Ethel Lillian Voynich, George Bernard Shaw, Jonathan Swift, John Kits and many others. Scotland is the birthplace of many famous men of literature and Robert Burns is probably the greatest poet of all. Whenever we speak about Scotland, the name of Robert Burns is always here as the ever-living and never-dying symbol of this country. The 25 of January, his birthday, is celebrated annually by lovers of poetry in many countries of the world and especially in Scotland.

A huge part of British cultural wealth is concentrated in its numerous museums which present a paradise for museum-lovers. In London, for instance the art galleries and museums contain collections of objects of archaeological, scientific, historical and general interest. They are the British Museum, the Science Museum, the national Gallery, the Tate gallery, the National Portrait Gallery and many others. The British Museum contains the most important collections and is absolutely worth visiting. The Waxworks Museum of madam Tussaud has the most famous exhibition of waxwork models of famous and notorious people in the world. Here one can see models of the Royal family, Agatha Christie, the Beatles and others.

In Great Britain drama is so popular with people of all ages that there are several thousand amateur dramatic societies. Now Britain has about 300 professional theatres. Regular seasons of opera and ballet are given at the Royal Opera House, Convent Garden in London. The National Theatre stages modern and classic plays, the Royal Shakespeare company produces plays mainly by Shakespeare and his contemporaries when it performs in Stratford-on-Avon. London as well as other British cities is full of cinemas and cinema clubs. Cinema-going is a regular habit for a considerable number of people.

Though classical music is a minority interest in Great Britain, London is said to be a very musical capital. The Royal Opera House is internationally known for its opera and ballet productions as well as for its dancers and singers. There are three concert halls near the National Theatre in London: the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Royal Festival Hall and the Purcell Room. In summer there are sometimes one or two open-air rock concerts in Hyde Park. Every summer, from July to September, concerts are held in Royal Albeit Hall, including famous Promenade concerts where serious music-lovers stand in the arena or in the top gallery.

Rock and pop music is extremely popular, especially among young people. In the 60s, 70s and later groups such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, Eurhythmies, Black Sabbath and others became very popular and succeeded. In the 60s British musicians had a great influence on the development of music. They were responsible for several innovations which were then adopted by popular musicians in the USA and the rest of the world. Since that time pop music in Britain has been an enormous and profitable industry. It is also worth mentioning the name of Andrew Lloyd Weber, the author of some operas and musicals, the masterpieces of the contemporary rock and pop: "Jesus Christ Super Star", "The Phantom of the Opera", "Cats", etc.

It is a matter of a common knowledge that the English, the Scottish, the Welsh and the Irish have their own traditions which they have been keeping for many centuries so far. They have been very serious about cultivating them and this fact seems to be one of the most convincing features which demonstrate the conservatism of these nations. In fact, the British don't like anything new: they prefer to keep doing things the way they have been doing them for centuries. English countryside with tidy houses and immaculately arranged gardens is vivid illustration of these nations' great love for gardening. Milkmen delivering milk in the morning, five-o'clock tea, the Changing of the Guard in front of Buckingham palace and other colourful ceremonies are the manifestation of this country's importance and solemnity. By of all its traditions the Queen is definitely the most meaningful.

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