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Министерство образования и науки Республики Казахстан
Методическая разработка по дисциплине
«Английский язык»
Составитель Нурмаханова Жанар Мырзабековна
Значение иностранного языка как составной части подготовки специалиста возросла в связи с конкретными требованиями, предъявляемыми обществом к уровню иноязычного образования.
Цель обучения иностранному языку в колледжах заключается в формировании коммуникативной и профессиональной компетенции.
Задача курса иностранного языка в колледже – удовлетворить потребности будущего специалиста в приобретении необходимых знаний, самостоятельного углубления и совершенствования полученных умений для дальнейшей профессиональной деятельности.
Учитывая возросшую практическую необходимость в знании английского языка и повышенный интерес к анализу и контролю уровня усвоения лексического и грамматического материала, составитель предлагает пособие для подготовки учащихся I курса неязыковых специальностей .
Основной целью учебно-методического пособия по английскому языку является оказание помощи учащимся в восстановлении и закреплении знаний по английскому языку и подготовке к зачетам по данному предмету.
Содержание заданий соответствует действующей типовой учебной программе по иностранным языкам для неязыковых колледжей (английский язык).
Составитель выражает надежду, что предлагаемое пособие поможет учащимся самостоятельно определить уровень своих знаний по английскому языку и подготовиться к зачетам.
Kazakhstan: general information.
I. Прочтите текст и ответьте на вопросы на русском языке.
1. Каково население Казахстана?
2. Опишите географическое положение страны.
3. Какие отрасли промышленности развиты в Казахстане?
4. Что символизирует флаг государства?
II. Найдите в тексте предложение, в котором говорится о южной столице Казахстана, выпишите его и переведите на русский язык.
III. Составьте предложения, сопоставив информацию в двух колонках.
1. Kazakh
a. was elected on December, 1 in 1991.
2. "Medeo"
b. were gained on December, 16 in 1991.
3. Shanrak
c. is the official language of Kazakhstan.
4.Full sovereignty
d. is the most famous sport complex in Kazakhstan.
5. The first President
e. the cupola of national dwelling means home.
IV. Выпишите из третьего абзаца слова с окончанием «s» и определите их функции:
а) показатель 3-го лица единственного числа глагола в Present Indefinite;
б) признак множественного числа имени существительного;
в) показатель притяжательного падежа имени существительного.
V. Выпишите из второго абзаца:
а) прилагательное в превосходной степени, напишите степени сравнения, переведите;
б) напишите сравнительную и превосходную степени следующих прилагательных, переведите:
old - … ...; wide - … …; beautiful - ... ....
VI. Перепишите следующие предложения, определите в них видовременные формы глаголов, укажите их начальную форму, переведите на русский язык.
1. It is situated in the center of the Eurasian continent.
2. The landscape of Kazakhstan is diverse.
3. Astana is becoming the international, business and cultural center of the Eurasian continent.
4. In 1998 the city got a new symbolic name - Astana.
5. Kazakhstan has different climatic regions.
6. In addition Kazakhstan produces and exports agricultural products - grain, wool, meat.
VII. Перепишите предложения, подчеркните в каждом глагол-сказуемое и определите его видовременную форму и залог.
1. We'll have arrived the country bу 5 o'clock tomorrow.
2. Kazakhstan's economic structures are based on its vast deposits of natural resources.
3. This time on Friday I will be flying to Astana.
4. Не said that the experiment had been completed bу end of last month.
5. The present constitution was adopted on August, 30 in 1995.
6. There will be the president election in Kazakhstan this year.
I. Что вы знаете о регионах Казахстана? Заполните таблицу, руководствуясь картой Казахстана
Regional center
1. Pavlodar
in the north-east of Kazakhstan
2. Petropavlovsk
in the south of Kazakhstan
4. Kokshetau
5. Almaty
7. Atyrau
West Kazakhstan
9. Taraz
10. Uralsk
in the center of Kazakhstan
12. Kostanai
13. Kyzyl-Оrda
II. Вставьте слова и выражения в нижеприведенную таблицу по темам.
Tien Shan
Caspian Sea
phosphorus ore
Mineral recourses
III. Прочтите текст о южной столице Казахстана и определите верными (T-true) или ложными (F-false) являются предложения после текста.
The Saks were the first settlements on the present Almaty area.
The original name of the city was Verny.
Almaty became the capital since nineteen twenty-one.
It is the center of international tourism.
It borders on Kyrgyzstan.Today's Almaty, an early Silk Road oasis, reflects some of its trading roots. As a modern city seen as a crossroads between East and West, it bustles with trading consortiums and businesses seeking to bridge the continental gap.
What do you know about our country?
1. When was the capital of the country transferred to Astana?
a) nineteen ninety eight b) nineteen ninety seven c) nineteen ninety six
2. Name the center of East Kazakhstan.
a) Kokshetau b) Semipalatinsk c) Ust-Kamenogorsk
3. What do we celebrate on December, 16?
a) the Republic Day b) the Independence Day c) the Constitution Day
4. What is the status of the country?
a) republic b) presidential republic c) federal republic
5. Name the center of coal industry in the country
a) Ekibastuz b) Almaty c) Pavlodar
6. How many regions are there in Kazakhstan?
a) thirteen b) fourteen c) fifteen
7. When do we celebrate Republic Day?
a) on the 16th of December b) on the 25th of October c) on the 22nd of March
8. Name the great philosopher who was called in the East 'the Second Teacher' after Aristotle.
a) Al-Farabi b) Mahmud Kashgari c) Akhmet Jassawi
9. What countries does KZ border on? a) China b) Mongolia c) Turkey
10. Who is the author of national anthem?
a) Abai Kunanbaev b) Sultanmahmut Toraigyrov c) Shamshi Kaldayakov
Astana: the new capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan
On December 10, 1997 the city of Akmola was declared the capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Akmola was formally renamed as Astana in May 1998. On June 10 1998 the international presentation of Astana took place.
Akmolinsk was founded in 1830 as a military fortress. In 1862 it became a city because of its increasing importance as part of the trade route between Tashkent and the Urals. During the October Socialist Revolution in 1917 Akmolinsk was a revolutionary centre. The famous Kazakh writer and poet Saken Seifullin lived and worked here.
For a long time Akmolinsk was thought of as a small provincial town. It was not until the period of the Virgin Lands development that Akmolinsk became known all over the world. After the Soviet Union had helped to build Akmolinsk it was renamed Tselinograd. From 1962 to 1965 Tselinograd was the administrative center of the Tselinnyi region which consisted of 5 northern provinces.
Many different industries such as machine manufacture, construction and building materials, food and consumer goods are well established and developing further. Wheat production and cattle breeding are also well established. There are 5 institutes in the city, among them the State – Asian University named after L. Gumilev. There are 2 theatres – the Stanislavsky Russian drama theatre and the Kazakh Music theatre.
Astana is the northern center of roads, railroad and air transport. It connects central Kazakhstan with the southern and western regions, with Siberia, the Urals and the Volga. Astana is on the bank of the Ishim river and has a population of about 500, 000 people.
In 1997 and 1998 Government House, Parliament House and the Palace of Congress were reconstructed in Astana. The President's residence and many social buildings and dwellings were (and still are being) built here, too. The Government started moving to the new capital in 1997. Astana is 1, 200 km away from Almaty. At the moment Astana is a big construction site but soon it will become one of the biggest and most beautiful cities of the 21st century.
Pavlodar is a regional center situated in the north-east of Kazakhstan. Its geographical coordinates are 52 grades of northern latitude and 77 grades of eastern longitude. It is located on the high bank of the Irtish river in the place of the river crossing with the Southern Siberian railway and highways linking Kazakhstan to Russia.
This area of Kazakhstan is famous for its remarkable Bayanaul National Park, one of the most picturesque places of the country. It is set within a hundred kilometers from Ekibastuz, a city with developed industry. This National Park features four types of vegetation: forest, shrubby, steppe and meadow.
At the northwest outskirts of Pavlodar City, on the right bank of the Irtish, there is one of the world's unique places the natural memorial called the Geese Passage. Paleontologists have discovered here bone remains of giraffe, rhinoceros, hyena-like animals that lived 7 to 10 million years ago. Pavlodar develops and grows prettier every day including the embankment of the Irtish and the Geese Passage.
Modern Pavlodar is a large industrial and cultural center of Kazakhstan, its population is about 310 thousand people. It has highly developed industry. There are some industrial enterprises in it: Aluminum, oil-refining, tractor-building plants, enterprises of power engineering, light and food processing industries.
The grandparent of Pavlodar, Koryakovsky outpost, arose on the bank of the Irtish in far 1720. In 1838 the outpost was transformed into stanitsa of the same name, and in 1861 into the city of Pavlodar.
On the whole Pavlodar is not very big, but it's a quiet and nice place. The cultural life of the city is varied and interesting; there are several museums, cinemas, theatres, a number of clubs and libraries, all these are our city on the Irtysh. Pavlodar is also known as a city of science and students. The citizens are proud of their town. It is beautiful at any time of the year.
I. Прочтите текст и ответьте на вопросы на русском языке.
Опишите географическое положение города.
Что вы узнали о палеонтологических раскопках в окрестностях города?
Какими видами промышленности известен Павлодар?
Что вам стало известно из истории названия города?
II. Найдите в тексте предложение, в котором говорится о Баянаульском Национальном Парке, выпишите его и переведите на русский язык.
III. Выберите правильный ответ и переведите предложения.
1. The northwest outskirts of Pavlodar have a unique place called …
a) Geese Passage b) Aluminium plant c) Bayanaul National Park
2. The population of Pavlodar is … people.
a) thirty thousand b) less than three hundred c) more than three hundred thousand
Pavlodar is situated on the bank of the … .
a) river b) lake c) sea
IV. Выпишите из третьего абзаца слова с окончанием «s» и определите их функции:
а) показатель 3-го лица единственного числа глагола в Present Indefinite;
б) признак множественного числа имени существительного;
в) показатель притяжательного падежа имени существительного.
V. Выпишите из второго абзаца:
а) прилагательное в превосходной степени, напишите степени сравнения, переведите;
б) напишите сравнительную и превосходную степени следующих прилагательных, переведите: far - …; pretty - …; comfortable - …
VI. Перепишите следующие предложения, определите в них видовременные формы глаголов, укажите их начальную форму, переведите на русский язык.
1. All these are our city on the Irtish.
2. Pavlodar develops and grows prettier every day including the embankment of the Irtish and the Geesse Passage.
3. There are some industrial enterprises in it: Aluminum, oil-refining, tractor-building plants, enterprises of power engineering, light and food processing industries.
4. It is beautiful at any time of the year.
5. This National Park has four types of vegetation: forest, shrubby, steppe and meadow.
6. Paleontologists have discovered bone remains of animals that lived here millions of years ago.
VII. Сопоставьте информацию двух колонок.
What's a…?
It's a place, where you …
1. drugstore
a) have a meal
2. library
b) get stamps and mail letters
3. post office
c) buy medicine
4. restaurant
d) borrow books and read newspapers
5. supermarket
e) see movie or play
6. theater
f) buy groceries
hair-dressing saloon theatre
post office
concert hall
art gallery
health center
shopping center
sport center
police office
movie theater
VIII. Вставьте слова и выражения в нижеприведенную таблицу по темам.
What do you know about the cities of Kazakhstan?
1. When was Pavlodar founded?
a) 1720 b) 1820 c) 1861
2. What is the largest city of Kazakhstan?
a) Karaganda b) Astana c) Almaty
3. Name the Kazakhstani caviar capital.
a) Balhash b) Aktau c) Atyrau
4. It is the nuclear zone.
a) Semey b) Jambyl c) Taraz
5. What is the fishing center of the country?
a) Kostanai b) Pavlodar c) Balhash
6. Name the center of power engineering.
a) Actobe b) Ekibastuz c) Aksu
7. It is the "City of apples".
a) Shymkent b) Almaty c) Astana
8. The word Irtysh means...
a) running away b) digging the round c) jumping over
9. Name the jewel of the Caspian Sea.
a) Uralck b) Atyrau c) Kostanai
10. It is the space center of the country.
a) Astana b) Taldy-Korgan c) Baykonur
Geography and nature of Kazakhstan
The territory of Kazakhstan stretches 3000 km. from West to East and 1000 km. from North to South. In the West and North Kazakhstan borders on Russian Federation, in the South – Turkmenia, Uzbekistan, Kirgiziya, in the East – on China. The total length of state borders is over 15000 km. it is the ninth biggest country in the world with the territory 2,7 million square km.
The relief of the country varies very much. If you look at Kazakhstan from the space, you will see high ice-covered mountains, hills and highlands. Vast plains and lowlands stretch like green lines. The country spreads from Western-Siberian plain in the north to the Tian Shan Mountains in the south and from the Lower Volga in the west to the Altai in the east.
There is Precaspian lowland and the Mangistau peninsula in the west. The southern parts of the Urals and the Mugodzhar lie in the north-west. To the north-east of the Mugodzhar we can find the vast Turgai plateau, turning into the Turan Lowland with the Kyzylkum desert in the south.
The central part of the country is the Kazakh low hills (Saryarka), with not very big mountains. The southern chains of the Altai Mountains are in the east and southeast. The south is covered with the Betpakdala and Moiynkum deserts.
There are quite a lot of rivers and lakes in Kazakhstan. The main rivers are the Irtysh, the Ural, the Chu, and the Syrdarya. The main lakes are Balkhash, partly Aral and the Caspian Sea. There are few rivers in the deserts, mostly they can be found in the north and in the mountainous regions. All in all there is a great number of rivers in Kazakhstan but only 228 of them are more than 100 km. long. There are also very many lakes, but most of them are situated in the flood-lands and deltas of the rivers. Only 21 lakes have area more than 100 sq. km. besides mentioned above lakes there is Lake Zaisan, Tengiz, Kushmurun and others.
Climate. The country is situated far from the oceans. The climate is sharply continental and zone like due to vast territory. In the north winters are cold and long. As a result of arctic air frosts can reach 40-45 C below zero. There is a little snow but there can be severe snowstorms.
The average winter temperature in the north is about -20 C. In the central parts winters are not so cold, but in the south they are mild and warm.
Summer is dry: in south it is hot. In the mountains it is short. The summer temperature in the north is about +20 C; in the central parts it is +30 C. In the south it can reach +45 C.
It usually rains in the steppes in summer and in the deserts in spring. There is a lot of precipitation in the mountains. It is very windy in all parts of Kazakhstan.
Fauna. The wildlife of Kazakhstan is varied too. There are about 155 species of mammal. Most of them are rodents: gophers and hamsters in the steppes, sanderlings in the deserts, water rats near the water. Field vole, jerboa, hare can be found everywhere. There are a lot of hoofed animals: saiga, dzheiran in the deserts, maral, musk deer in the lowlands. In the mountains wild boar, roe can be met. There are predators in Kazakhstan: wolf, fox, and weasel. In the forests of Altai and Tian Shan brown bear, snow leopard, squirrel dwell.
There are 480 species of birds in Kazakhstan. Many of them are water-fowl: grey goose, wild duck. Lake Tengiz is famous for its flamingo; bittern and heron are in the reeds. Cormorant, pelican, crane are also here. Eagles search for their prey in the steppes, larks and little bustards fly.
One can find great variety of vegetation in Kazakhstan. The country can be divided into 3 zones: steppes, semi-desert and desert. The steppes of the North Kazakhstan are characterized by feather grass. In the north there are birch and pine forests, especially on the sands near the Irtysh river and the Tobol river. The semi-deserts are characterized by different types of wormwood, the deserts – by grass, subshrub and saxaul. The lakes are usually surrounded by reed. At the foothills bushes grow (dogrose, honeysuckle, barberry). In the mountains of Zailisky Alatau we can find wild apple tree and hawthorn. In the centre there are coniferous forests.
Length – длина, highlands – возвышенности, plains – равнины, lowlands – низменности, Lower Volga - Низовья Волги, Precaspian – Прикаспийская, peninsula – полуостров, plateau – плато, All in all - всего ... насчитывается, flood-lands and deltas - в поймах и дельтах, sharply – резко, precipitation – осадки, mammals – млекопитающие, rodents – грызуны, gophers – суслики, sander lings – песчанки, Field vole – полевки, jerboa –
Тушканчики, hoofed – копытные, musk deer – кабарга, boar – кабан, roe – косуля, predators – хищники, weasel – ласка, dwell – обитают, water-fowl – водоплавающие, bittern – выпь,
Heron – цапля, reeds – тростники, search – высматривают, prey – добыча, larks – жаворонки, bustards – стрепеты, commorant – баклан, semi-desert – полупустынная, desert -
Пустынная, feather grass - разнотравно-злаковая (ковыль, типчак), wormwood – полынь, subshrub – полукустарники, surrounded – попадается, foothills - предгорные районы, honeysuckle – жимолость, barberry – барбарис, hawthorn – боярышник, coniferous – хвойные.
Final test on Kazakhstan
Variant 1
1. Kazakh language … spoken in Kazakhstan.
a) am b) will c) has been d) was been e)has had
2. Kazakhstan is rich … a lot of mineral resources.
a) in b) with c) about d) for e) on
3. State Emblems of Kazakhstan … since 1992.
a) are existing b) were exist c) to exist d) have existed e)were existing
4. The … of our country is sharply continental.
a) population b) capital c) climate d) location e) landscape
5. The present constitution was … on August, 30 in 1995.
a) adopted b) bordered c) washed d) developed e) celebrated
6. The national … of Kazakhstan is tenge.
a) symbol b) object c) sign d) bank e)currency
7. The Parliament of Kazakhstan is divided into Majilis and … .
a) the House of Representatives b) the House of Lords c) Senate d) Maslikhat e) akimat
8. Kazakhstan is a large country. Its … is about 2.7 mln. square km.
a) population b) area c) landscape d) borders e) length
9. Kazakhstan borders … five countries.
a) of b) on c) at d) with e)in
10. President of Kazakhstan is elected for … years.
a) 4 b) 6 c) 8 d) 7 e) 10
11. Astana …the capital of Kazakhstan when I visited it.
a) had already become b) becoming c) was become d) would become e) becomes
12. From the … Kazakhstan is washed by the Caspian and Aral seas.
a) east b) north c) south d) north – east e) west
13. Many industrial products are … in Kazakhstan.
a) manufactured b) grown c) eaten d) situated e) written.
14. The largest rivers of Kazakhstan are:
a) the Irtysh and the Syrdarya b) the Tool and the Ob c) the Irtysh and the Ili d) the Aral and the Amudarya e) the Aral and the Caspian
15. Cattle breeding industry … for many years in Kazakhstan.
a) was develop b) developing c) has been developed d) is been developed e) to develop
16. Kazakhstan … one of the 50 leading countries of the world by 2030.
a) will have been b) will have c) have been d) has had e) will been
17. ... is the leader of Asar party.
a) A. Peruashev b) I. Tasmagambetov c) D.Nazarbayeva d) N. Nazarbayev e) K. Tokayev
18.Kazakhstan is situated in … .
a) East Asia b) North of Europe c) Central Asia d) South of Asia e) West of europe
19 Kazakhstan / language / what / the / is / of / state
a)5317246 b)1725364 c) 4617253 d) 3146275 e) 3547261
20 Naurys / when / celebrated / is?
a) 3124 b) 1234 c) 2413 d) 3142 e) 2134
Variant 2
1.Independence day … marked on December, 16 since 1990.
a) am b) will have been c) had been d) has been e) have been
2. Kazakhstan is rich … oil.
a) of b) on c) at d) with e) of
3. Kazakhstan … its new anthem since 2005.
a) would b) has had c) is having d) was had e) have
4. Nine-tenth of the country is … .
a) plain b) rivers c) steppe d) lakes e) mountains.
5. President Nazarbayev was … in 1991.
a) adopted b) governed c) marked d) written e) elected
6. The national … of Kazakhstan is eagle.
a) currency b) symbol c) object d) bank e) sign
7. The Parliament is divided into … .
a) Senate and the House of Lords b) Majilis and Maslikhat c) Akimat and Majilis d) Senate and Maslikhat e) Senate and Majilis.
8. Kazakhstan is a large country. The total … of its borders is more than 15000 km.
a) population b) area c) landscape d) borders e) length
9. Kazakhstan consists … 14 provinces.
a) of b) on c) at d) with e)in
10. President of Kazakhstan has been elected … times.
a) 1 b) 2 c) 3 d) 4 e) 5
11. Nazarbayev … since 1991.
a) govern b) governed c) has governed d) had govern e) government
12. From the … Kazakhstan borders on Russia.
a) east b) north c) south d) north – east e) west
13. Parliament … the laws and bills.
a) inaugurates b) elects c) makes d) governs e) divides
14.The largest lake in Kazakhstan is … .
a) the Caspian b) Baikal c) Zhasybay d) Baltic e) the Tobol
15.Parliament of Kazakhstan … many laws to protect the environment.
a) has accepted b) accept c) will accepted d) have accepted e) is accepted
16.Electrolize processing factory … by 2009
a) constructed b) construct c) constructs d) has been constructed e) had been constructed
17. The Head of the government is … .
a) N. Nazarbayev b) K Tokayev c) I. Tasmagambetov d) D. Akhmetov e) K. Masimov
18. Kazakhstan is situated in … .
a) East Asia b) North of Europe c) Central Asia d) South of Asia e) West of Europe
19. of / language / intercultural / the / Russian / is / communication.
a) 3214567 b) 7362514 c) 4561237 d) 6431257 e) 5642137
20. the / celebrated / December / Independence / on / 16th / of / day/ is /
a) 976431258 b) 139742658 c) 321456987 d) 489251673 e ) 635241987
Тренировочные тесты
1. Kazakh language … spoken in Kazakhstan.
a) am b) will c) were d) is e) are
Kazakhstan is rich … a lot of mineral resources.
a) of b) on c) at d) with e) in
3. State Emblems were accepted … June in 1992.
a) in b) at c) on d) with e) of
4. The … of our country is sharply continental.
a) population b) capital c) climate d) location e) landscape
5. Pavlodar … founded in 1720.
a) was b) are c) am d) will be e) has
6. Excuse me! Can I help you?
a) No, they don't have. b) No, I'm not. c) Yes, how can I get to the station.
d) Yes, at 5 o'clock. e)Yes, there are
7. I was asked about the accident.
a) Я был свидетелем происшедшего. б) Я спросил о происшедшем
c) Я рассказал о происшедшем. d) Меня спросили о происшедшем.
e) Мне рассказали о происшедшем.
The national … of Kazakhstan is tenge.
a) currency b) symbol c) object d) bank e) sign
Many industrial products are … in Kazakhstan.
a) manufactured b) grown c) eaten d) situated e) written
Kazakhstan is a large country. Its … is about 2.7 mln square kilometers.
a) population b) area c) landscape d) borders e) length
11. The present constitution … on August, 30 in 1995.
a) was adopted b) is adopted c) am adopted d) will be adopted e) has adopted
12. … you bring me the menu, please.
a) must b) would c) have d) should e) may
13. Pavlodar is rich … mineral resources.
a) in b) of c) with d) on e) from
14. There are some … in Pavlodar, like Aluminum, Oil processing, etc.
a) orchards b) plants c) institutes d) sightseeing e) streets
15. She said, "I saw him yesterday".
a) She said 1 saw him yesterday. b) She said she saw him yesterday.
c) She said that she had seen him the day before.
d) She said that she seen him the day before. e) She said she saw him the next day.
16. He asked us "Where do you live?"
a) He asked us if we live. b) He asked us where do we live.
c) He asked whether we live. d) He asked us where we live.
e) He asked us where we lived.
17. B прямой речи - yesterday. B косвенной - … .
a) yesterday b) the day before c) the next day
d) before e) that day
18. He … the street now.
a) is crossing b) crossing c) is crossed
d) to be crossing e) are crossing
19. He разговаривайте! Я слушаю лекцию!
a) I listened to the lecture. b) I hearing the lecture. c) I'm listening to the lecture.
d) I was listening to the lecture. e) I'm listen to the lecture.
20. … is a person who serves a menu in a cafe or a restaurant.
a) pilot b) shop-assistant c) policeman d) fireman e) waiter
21. How can I get to Pavlodar University?
a) take bus 27 and get off at Tolstoy stop. b) I'm fine and you?
c) Take my order, please. d) Don't worry.
e) Put me through with the director, please.
22. What's your hometown like?
a) I'm all right b) It's fine c) they are nice d) we have it e) must
23. … you take my order, please?
a) may b) should c) have d) would e) must
24. The capital of Kazakhstan … to Astana in 1998.
a) was transferred b) is transferred c) will be transferred
d) transferred e) have been transferred
25. What … you like to order? I'd like a cabbage soup, please
a) would b) have c) were d) does e) was
1. Pavlodar … in the north of Kazakhstan.
a) is situated b) to be situated c) are situated d) is situating e) is situate
2. Pavlodar … founded in 1720. a) was b) are c) am d) will be e) has
3. благоприятный a) favourable b) favour c) favourite d) unfavourite e) favor
4. He says to me "I'm very busy".
a) He tells me that he is very busy. b) He told that he is busy.
c) He says me that he is very busy. d) He tell me that he is very busy.
e) He tell he was very busy.
5. … is a person who sells goods or food in a shop.
a) waitress b) fireman c) policeman d) shop-assistant e) clerk
6. В прямой речи - tomorrow. B косвенной -
a) then b) tomorrow c) the day before d) the next day e) next
7. She … around the square.
a) walking b) walking c) is walking d) to be walking e) is walked
8. I think, he … now.
a) is sleeping b) sleep c) slept d) was sleeping e) sleeps
9. The … in Pavlodar is less than in Almaty. It's about 300,000 people.
a) area b) population c) schools d) plants and factories e) streets
10. They asked me, "Do you live in Pavlodar?"
a) They asked me do you live in Pavlodar. c) They asked me you live in Pavlodar.
b) They asked me if I live in Pavlodar. d) They asked me that I lived in Pavlodar.
e)They asked me if I lived in Pavlodar.
11. Kazakhstan borders … five countries. a) of b) on c) at d) with e) in
12. President … elected for four years. a) is b) are c) am d) will be e) has
13. From the west Kazakhstan … washed by the Caspian and Aral seas.
a) has b) are c) am d) were e) is
14. capital 1/ of 2/ is 3 / the 4 / what 5 / Kazakhstan 6?
a) 531246 b) 125364 c) 461523 d) 534126 e) 526134
15. Kazakhstan is situated … the north of Central Asia.
a) in b) at c) on d) with e) of
16. основной a) basis b) base c) basic d) basically e) basement
17. Kazakhstan … a highly developed country.
a) is b) are c) was d) will be e) has
18. Full sovereignty and independence in Kazakhstan … gained on December,16 in 1991.
a) has b) are c) were d) will be e) is
19. бесполезный
a) useful b) use c) user d) useless e) usage
20. Nauryz 1 / when 2 / celebrated 3 / is 4 ?
a) 3124 b) 1234 c) 2413 d) 3142 e) 2134
21. Today metallurgical and chemical industries … in Kazakhstan.
a) are developed b) is developed c) was developed d) be developed
e) been developed
Kazakhstan is situated almost … the center … the Eurasian continent.
a) on, in b) in, of c) of, in d) in, at e) at, in
23. He said: " I have written the letter."
a) He said that he had written the letter. b) He said that he have written the letter.
c) He said that he wrote the letter. d) He said if he had written the letter.
e) He said that he has written the letter.
24. Where … I find a drugstore? You … go straight on and then turn righ
a) can, should b) should, should c) can, can d) ought to, have to
e) have to, ought to
25. You look very bad! You … have a rest.
a)can to b) has to c) ought d) might to e) should
Variant 3
1. First, Pavlodar … Koryakovka
a) is named b) to be named c) are named d) is name e) was named
2. Pavlodar is situated … the bank of the river Irtish.
a) in b) on c) to d ) with e) from
3. Nine- tenth of the territory of Kazakhstan is … .
a) plain b) rivers c) steppe d) lakes e) mountains
4. The national … of Kazakhstan is eagle
a) currency b) symbol c) object d) bank e) sign
5. How can I get to Pavlodar University ?
a) Take bus 27 and get off at Tolstoy stop. b) I am fine and you?
c) Take my order, please. d) Don't worry e) Put me through with the director, please.
6. What is your hometown like?
a) I am all right b) Oh, It is great. c) They are nice d) We have it
е) I like it very much
7. … you … for a place to have a snack? No, I … … for a drugstore
a) are, looking ; am looking b) do, look, looks c) did look, looked,
d ) will look, will look e)have looked; had looked.
8. He asked us "Where do you live?"
a) He asked us if we live b) He asked us where do we live
c) He asked us where we lived d) He asked us where we live.
c) He asked us where did we live.
9. You look very bad! You … visit a doctor.
a) can b) has to c) ought d) might to e) should
10. Kazakhstan 1/ language 2/ what 3 / the 4 / is 5/ of 6/ state 7 ?
a)5317246 b)1725364 c)4617523 d) 3146275 e) 3547261
11 When my mother came home , I … reading.
a) is b) were c) was d) to be e) are
12. в прямой речи – today. В косвенной речи- …
a) yesterday b) the day before yesterday c) the next day d) before e) that day
13. .... you take my order, please?
a) may b) should c) have d)would e) must
14. Pavlodar is situated in the ... of Kazakhstan.
a) south- east b) west c) east d) center e) north- east
15.Kazakhstan ... by president.
a)was governed b) is governed c) am governed d) be governed e)has governed
16. Kazakhstan ... 2000 km. from the Volga to Mongolia.
a) comprises b) stretches c) takes area d) is e) has
17. Central Kazakhstan is famous for … .
a) hard coal deposits b) oil c) chemical industry d) construction industry
e) non-ferrous industry
18. Most ... the territory of Kazakhstan is occupied ... lowlands
a) of , by b) of, with c) at, for d) in, of e) at, with
19. Several outstanding monuments of the ancient times (сохранились) through the years in the form of mausoleums and bural mounds.
a) have survived b)has survived c) survive d) survives e)has been survived
20.Ann asked, "Can I borrow your pen, please,Robert?
a)Ann asked Robert if she could borrow his pen
b)Ann asked Robert if she can borrow his pen
c) Ann asked Robert could she borrow his pen
d) Ann asked can she borrow his pen
e) Ann asked Robert that she could borrow his pen
21. The Independence day in Kazakhstan … marked on December ,16
a) am b) will c) were d) is e) are
22. Kazakhstan is rich … oil. a) of b) on c) at d) with e) in
23. There are some … in Pavlodar, like Aluminum, Oil processing, etc.
a) orchards b) plants c) institutes d) sightseeing e) streets
24. основной a) basis b) base c) basic d) basically e) basement
25. He said " I saw my friend yesterday" .
a) He said that he had seen his friend the day before yesterday.
b) He said that he saw his friend yesterday.
c) He said that he has seen his friend today
d) He said that he have seen his friend before.
e) He said if he had seen his friend.
Variant 4
I don't understand this sentence. What . . . ?
a) does mean this word b) does this word mean c) means this word
d) this word means e) this word does mean
Tom . . . his hand when he was cooking the dinner.
a) burnt b) was burning c) were burning d) burns e) is burning
We are good friends. We . . . each other for a long time.
a) know b) knew c) have known d) has known e) have been knowing
Sally . . . here for two months.
a) works b) is working c) worked d) have been working
e) has been working
We are late. The film . . . by the time we get to the cinema.
a) will start b) will be started c) start d) starting e) will have been started
"How . . . ?" – "Nobody knows"
a) happened the accident b) did happen the accident c) did the accident happened d) the accident happened e) was the accident happened
The police officer stopped us and asked where . . . .
a) were we going b) are we going c) we are going d) we going
e) we were going
I don't like stories . . . have unhappy ending.
a) that b) who c) what d) ____ e) it
I heard that Kate . . . a new position with this company.
a) has accepted b) have accepted c) is accepting d) will accept e) have accepted
Is it still rainig? No, it . . . already .
a) was stopped b) has stopped c) is stopped d) have stopped
e) has been stopped
Steve . . . English since he was five years old.
learns b) learned c) has been learning d) is learning e) has learned
I suddenly remembered that I . . . my purse.
a) have forgotten b) forget c) had forgotten d) forgot e) was forgotten
Are you getting . . . at the next stop?
a) in b) out c) off d) by e) for
A film about Pavlodar . . . in room 5 now.
a) is being shown b) is shown c) had been shown d) is showing e) was shown
We must go now. Would you mind asking the waiter for . . . ?
a) account b) bill c) charge d) price e) cost
If you use pictures and slides your report will be much . . . .
a) interesting b) more interesting c) most interesting d) the most interesting
e) the least interesting
I don't take . . . with my coffee, I prefer it black.
a) sugar b) milk c) tea d) bread e) water
The meeting is . . . held on the first of Monday of the month. It never changes.
a) sometimes b) always c) often d) usually e) never
There are four lakes in this place, . . . ?
a) is it b) aren't they c) are there d) aren't there e) isn't it
Our new mosque is a fine example of modern . . . .
a) painting b) music c) handwork d) architecture e) drawing
"I am going to a film this evening". He said he . . . to a film that evening.
a) is going b) was going c) will be watching d) will go e) did go
"Will you spend your vacation in Bayanaul?"
a) I asked if she spends her vacation in Bayanaul.
b) I asked she spent her vacation in Bayanaul.
c) I asked if she would spend her vacation in Bayanaul.
d) I asked that she would spend her vacation in Bayanaul.
e) I asked if she spent her in Bayanaul.
"Don't cross the street under the red light".
The police officer told children . . . the street under the red light .
a) don't cross b) not to cross c) didn't cross d) no cross e) won't cross
"Why did your team lose the game?"
The reporter asked the coach why his team . . . the game.
a) lose b) did lose c) had lost d) was lost e) losing
Wheat, barley, oats and maize are the main types of . . . grown in Kazakstan.
a) crops b) livestock c) farms d) pasture e) agriculture
Variant 5
Last week Justin said 'I'll do it tomorrow'. He said he would do it . . . .
a) the next day b) the previous day c) tomorrow d) yesterday
e) the day before yesterday
I don't know why Nancy didn't go to the meeting. She . . . definitely going.
a) be b) was c) is d) would e) will
The librarian asked us . . . so much noise.
a) don't make b) not make c) not making d) not to make e) didn't make
He has been living . . . ten years.
a) ago b) since c) for d) during e) by
The train . . . when we arrived at the station.
a) has left b) left c) is leaving d) had left e) was left
I have not looked throught the documents . . . .
a) just b) ever c) already d) yet e) still
This time tomorrow I . . .an exam on History of Kazakstan.
a) will take b) will be taking c) would take d) took e) is taking
He . . . for three hours when I met him.
a) is walking b) has walked c) has been walking d) had been walking e) will walk
My house . . . at the moment.
a) is being repaired b) is repaired c) repaired d) was repaired e) is repairing
'Don't write on this page'. He told me . . . write on it .
a) not b) don't c) not to d) to not e) didn't
The thief . . . by the time Mr and Mrs Smith returned from holiday.
a) was arrested b) is arrested c) had arrested d) arrested e) had been arrested
Do you like art? There is a nice art . . . near here.
a) cafe b) library c) gallery d) department store e) cinema
I need to buy a dictionary. Is there a good . . . around here?
a) theatre b) museum c) cinema d) library e) bookstore
Prices are very high in New York City. Everything is pretty . . . there.
a) cheap b) expensive c) huge d) beautiful e) crowded
Some parts of the city are fairly dangerous. They are not very . . . late at night.
a) safe b) noisy c) quiet d) crowded e) clean
In a restaurant, customers usually leave . . . for the waiter or waitress.
a) menu b) order c) service d) tips e) checks
Where . . . these photographs . . .? In London?
a) is taking b) did take c) were taken d) are taken e) was taken
Tim is away at the moment. He is . . . holiday. a) on b) at c) in d) for e) by
'How did you get there? . . . the bus?' – 'No, . . . car'.
a) on / on b) __ / __ c) by / on d) in / in e) by / by
We went . . . the theatre last night. We had seats . . . front row.
a) to / in b) in / to c) at / at d) __ / __ e) in / in
How . . . now? Better than before?
a) you are feeling b) are you feeling c) do you feel d) did you feel
e) were you feeling
We . . . by a loud noise during the night. a) woke up b) are woken up c) were woken up d) were waking up e) are waking up
' How long . . . English?' – ' For six months' a) do you learn b) are you learning c) you are learning d) have been learning e) have you learned
Thank you for giving me the guide book. It was full . . . useful information.
a) of b) in c) on d) by e) for
Brian has been doing the same job . . .five years. a) since b) for c) in d) from e)__
Ключи к тренировочным тестам
Kazakh national cuisine
Hospitality has always been a main character trait of Kazakh people. Even if you have just a minute to pop in to a Kazakh house, an owner will still ask you to sit down and offer a fragrant tea with sweets. Respectful attitude to the guests contributed to the fact that traditional Kazakh feast took a shape of a ceremony, noninferior, in its philosophical and allegorical content, to world famous Chinese tea ceremony.
Hospitable owner would offer his guest a seat at a place of honor. Traditionally, meal is served at a low round table, called dastarkhan. First and foremost, in order to quench thirst of the guest a hostess would treat him with a bowl of yogurt drink. This can be "kumys" - a drink based on fermented mare's milk - or shubat the main ingredient of which is camel milk. Then, table will be filled with baursaks - balls of dough, pre-fried in boiling oil (Asian analogue of donuts), samsa - triangular pastries with meat,kausyrma - a kind of thin pastries or fried doughs filled with meat and onions, raisins,kurt (small, salted cheese balls) and, of course, tea. Here, to be objective, we should say that tea never grew on the territory of Kazakhstan, it was introduced to the Steppe of Kazakhstan from the outside, but despite this, tea quickly gained popularity among the local population. And today, in fact, it is one of the main drinks in Kazakh society.
After a long-drawn tea ceremony, assortment of dishes on the festive table will be complemented by meat dishes: kazi, shuzhuk, zhal, zhaya, karta, kabyrga. The above dishes are traditionally prepared from horse meat or lamb. The main dish of Kazakh cuisine, with which owners welcome their guests is besbarmak. Name of this dish is translated from Kazakh as "five fingers" because of a manner to eat the dish by hand. Besbarmak's main ingredients are: meat (lamb or horse meat), pasta (it is cut into small squares), as well as herbs (dill , parsley, cilantro, etc.).
The procedure of cutting meat cooked for besbarmak is a separate special ritual. Typically, this mission is laid on the owner or a highly respected guest. According to traditions, each part of meat has its own meaning and is served in a special way. Thus, meat from the pelvic bone and tibia is given to senior honored guests. Son or daughter-law gets pruning from a sternum. Cervical vertebra is usually served for unmarried girls. Sheep's head is cooked in a special way and is served separately. The right to cut this element of besbarmak is usually given to a guest of the highest rank.
According to the European classification, all these dishes belong to a group of second dishes and snacks. As for traditional Kazakh first course, sorpa – rich broth completed by seasoned vegetables, spices and herbs - occupies a special place. Sorpa, unlike other first courses, is for drinking, so it is served in bowls.
Tea ceremony completes the meal.
Interesting facts about Kazakh cuisine:
- Main ingredients in traditional Kazakh cuisine are meat, flour and milk products, though nowadays many other ingredients are common in the cuisine.
- Kazakhs are believed to be among the top countries in tea consumption, almost every meal is followed by tea in Kazakh families.
- Kazakh cuisine is usually not spicy.
- There are many high calorie dishes in the traditional Kazakh cuisine.
Of the hoary antiquity to the present day came Kazakh folk legend about the supernatural, the supernatural origin of music, singing. She says that soaring high in the sky, the divine song, flying over the great Kazakh steppe nomads, sank very low, so people hear it, by nature endowed with great musical gift and abilities. And the saying: "God has placed in the heart of each particle Kazakh kyuya since his birth." It is no accident, perhaps, the people came, "outsider" who witnessed the life and lifestyle of the Kazakhs in the 18-19 centuries, not without surprise and admiration the very striking ability of people to create, rapid musical and poetic improvisation, broad involvement in the sphere music making the whole population - from infants to elders deep.
The children had fun playing on clay wind instruments - saz syrnae, tastauke, uskirike that "at hand" the master or the child acquired the strange shapes of animals, birds, fish, horses, multihead, brightly painted and covered with shiny glaze. In response to children's songs and musical games, mother's lullaby and songs of teaching adult men (osiet deer) kids learned about the world around us and become full members of their socio-cultural community.
Further independent life gave new artistic knowledge and experience through participation in youth games and entertainment with the mandatory participation of music - kayym-aytysah, tartysah, dialogical singing songs Kara domestic deer. The repertoire of "young age" enriched by the love lyrics and a variety of songs and rituals multi Kazakh wedding with mournful parting laments brides and cheerful youth fire-zharami, signaling a battle shock - dabyla, dauylpaza or shyndauyla to hunt the beast, or during the military campaign. In this regard, the "maturity", which carries poise and experience, was designed for the accomplishment of big government and public affairs, to protect the interests of intergeneric kind of song and poetry competitions - aytysah and the administration of folk ritual celebrations and ceremonies as - Zharshy - an organizer and performer of the ritual. And "old age" and "wisdom" accompanied by music and poetry mentoring young people, singing songs, philosophical reflections on the meaning of life and irrevocably bygone youth, about the sweet and so quickly time has passed you when your age - only twenty-five (zhiyrma demon). This was the age-old musical life-cycle of a Kazakh nomad, constantly reproduced from year to year, from generation to generation, ensuring the full functioning of various folk musical traditions and gave rise to well-known lines of the great Abay:
"... The doors opened to the world of song for you.
The song accompanies the land of ashes, groaning.
Song - the eternal companion of the joys of earth
So hearken to her sensitive and Prices, loving! "
All the spiritual heritage of the nation developed until the early twentieth century in the form of unwritten and transmitted "from mouth to mouth" from father to son, from a teacher - a student from the past - in the future. Nomadic and semi-nomadic type of economy predetermined characteristic folk instruments and musical traditions, and their "built into" the life and the life of the Kazakh society and is inseparable from other forms of artistic creation - the verbal and poetic.
At the early stage of development of the music was completely subordinated to utility service needs of an ancient nomadic society and was accompanied by a major religious and personal ceremony. Difficulties during the formation of the Kazakh ethnic group major epics-zhyr, performed zhyrau (native epic traditions), and were originally connected with the administration of military rituals of magic and the cult of ancestors. In the folk memory survived more than a hundred tales, each of them - thousands of lines of poetry, performed to the accompaniment kyl-Kobyzev - bow musical instrument with two strings of horsehair or pinch tool - dombra. As one of the most beloved genres of folk arts, heroic and lyrical everyday epics "Koblandy", "Alpamys", "Er Targyn", "Kambar", "Kiz Zhibek", "Kozy-Korpesh and Bayan-Sulu," Enlik and Köbök "and many others for bringing this to the descendants of the legendary, mythological formerealnye dokazahskoy historical events and actual Kazakh history.
Hatched later archaic samples of instrumental music people - Cui - also served at the stage of its emergence magical function. The origin of the two traditions - the epic and instrumental linked in the popular mind and tradition with the name of a legendary saint - Korkyt - the first bard and shaman, "his father kyuev" and creator of a musical instrument - kyl-Kobyzev. However Kobyzev, structure and names of the parts which embodied the characteristic of shamanic concepts of 3-tiered model of the universe (upper, middle and lower worlds), Cork's great legacy left to posterity - kobyzovye Cui - "peel", "Zhelmaya" (The name of the sacred camel " ), "Targ tana" ( "spotted calf"), "Elimay" ( "O, my homeland"), "Ushardyn uluy" ( "Howl Ushar"), etc. Some of them had the onomatopoeic nature and transmit voice wildlife part - is a philosophical meditation on the meaning of existence, life and death. But in all the works easily perceptible to the ear kyuya passing from one to another and repetitive musical motives - though come to life in the sounds Kobyzev words of the ancient prayers, commands, spells, addressed to God, spirits, supernatural forces.
In ancient times goes and the history of Dabrowa and sybyzgovoy instrumental traditions. Evidence of ancient origin Dabrowa music became archaeological discovery: the excavations at the ancient city of Khorezm were found terracotta figurines musicians playing plucked dvuhstrunkah. Scientists note that Horezmian dvuhstrunki, come about at least two thousand years ago, are typological similarity with the Kazakh dombra and was one of the common tools of the early nomads who lived on the territory of Kazakhstan.
The most archaic examples of Dabrowa and sybyzgovoy music include Cui-legend with the names of birds and animals - "Akku" ( "The Swan"), "Kaz" (Gus), "Nar" ( "Camel"), Cui of lame and unfortunate creatures hunting - "Aksak kiz" ( "lame girl"), "Aksak wild ass" ( "lame wild ass"), Cui, laments about the drowning child and the baby animals - "Jorge ayu" ( "Bear-pacer"), "Zarlau" ( "Lament"), "Zhetym kiz" ( "Orphan Girl"), etc. All of them are preserved remnants of ancient forms of religion, cults and representations of the totem of the people and still carry the living history silently gone millennia.
Only by 19 century Kazakh music is released from the chains shackling of religion and ritual, and begins to develop as self-sufficient artistic creativity. This period was a truly spiritual renaissance of the nation, who gave the flowering major musical traditions of the people - the instrumental, song, akynskoy. On the vast territory of Kazakhstan formed various local professional musicians and performing schools, with each region offers a kind of "specialization" in the development of specific traditions. Thus, the territory of western Kazakhstan has been a central area in the development of Dabrowa kyuya tokpe and Sarah arch area (Central Kazakhstan) - the epicenter of the vocational tracks, the south-western region (Karmakchinsky district) to keep and develop the rich tradition of epic skazitelstva and Zhetysu - traditions aytysa - adversarial Art akyns-improvisers. Names Kurmangazy Dauletkereya, Tattimbeta Kazangap, Dina, Biržai, Achan, Zhayau Musa, Estaya, Ibraya, sledges, Madi, Mukhit, Abaya, Kenena Azerbaev went down in history not only Kazakh, but also the world's musical culture. Their work, distinguished by a bright personality style, characteristic of imagery and terms of music and expressive means of pride, classics of Kazakh musical culture. By creating high art and an introduction to ordinary people "divine mystery" - the music, they enjoy life with great love and respect in the society and have always been at the center of attention and attraction. The best of the best people are appropriating the high rank - Salov and sulfur. Creative activity of professional musicians in the 19 th century, as a rule, not confined to performing or composing a sphere, but includes all variety of artistic forms - poetic improvisation, elocution, polished vocal technique, masterful possession of a musical instrument, the elements of theater and circus activities, which in many of the Kazakh steppe brought together artists from medieval musicians in Western Europe - jugglers, troubadours, trouveres, Meister and minnizingerami.
In the 20 century Kazakh musical culture is enriched by new forms and genres of music-making. For a small scale in the history of the length of time polyphony and the whole genre repertoire of classical European music - opera, symphony, ballet, instrumental concertos, a cantata, oratorio, ensemble, orchestral and choral performance, professional musicians has created a new school, based on the writing style of creativity . Based on the organic synthesis of national and European forms of content in 30-40-s of the 20 century the classics of Kazakh opera - "Kiz Zhibek" E. Brusilovsky, "Abai A. Zhubanov L. Hamidi," Birzhan and Sara M. Tulebaev. Their dramatic and musical foundation became the inexhaustible riches of Kazakh folklore and oral professional music. Staging opera became an arena where before the eyes of a modern audience turns old wedding and incendiary aytys akyns between the 19 th century Birzhanom and Sarah, where you can hear the full song hero's inner passions of the people's liberation revolt 19 th century poet and kuishi Makhambet and sad funereal and memorial song-cry zhoktau.
In the 60's and 70's. in the country reaches a peak, one of the most difficult genres of European instrumental music - a symphony in which the songs are as close in shape to lassicheskim - Symphony G. Zhubanova, K. Kuzhamyarova and AET has arisen a new genre synthesis - Symphony kyui. Big love from the national audience got the orchestral and choral interpretation of Kazakh monodicheskoy music. Especially won wide popularity of folklore-ethnographic Orchestra Otrar saz ", which consisted of old, gone from the practice of everyday existence Kazakh musical instruments, restored scientist and folklorist B. Sarybaev. In the orchestral sound Cui capture listeners gigantic power embodied Herculean images rapidity horse racing-bayga, captivating sound pictures boundless steppes and jubilation mass popular festivities. Unique face the team that created the leader and conductor, composer and dombrist N. Tlendiev.
At the present stage of development in Kazakhstan formed a branched structure of musical culture. Here everyone can find something that he liked. Along with performance and composer creation in European styles in the country continue to develop traditional forms of music making, operates the world a massive rock music and pop music, jazz) and the religious music of the world of concessions, folklore and oral traditions of peoples living in Kazakhstan - the Uighurs, Koreans, Germans, Dungan , Russian, Tatar. In the Republic performing collectives of various artistic profile - State Symphony Orchestra, the Kazakh folk instruments.
Kurmangazy, choir, folk dance ensemble, State Quartet, pop ensembles, brass and jazz bands. Kazakhstan - home to many outstanding performers of classical music worldwide - E. Serkebaeva, B. Tulegenova, G. Esimova, A. Dnishev, G. Kadyrbekov, J. Aubakirova, A Musakhodzhaeva and the cradle of stars uzykalnoy Kazakh diaspora abroad - M. Bisengalieva, E. Kurmangaliev sisters Nakipbekovyh. Today in the republic is actively operating specialized children's music school named. K. Baiseitova and A. Zhubanov, Almaty State Conservatory. Kurmangazy, National Academy of Music in Astana, the State Opera and Ballet. Abay Kazakh State Philharmonic. Djambula Kazakhconcert, Institute of Literature and Art. M. Auezov and other musical and educational, scientific and cultural institutions. Every year, our sovereign republic gathers talented youth at the festival "Days of New Music", "Zhiger", "Altyn Alma", International contest "Voice of Asia", and folk musicians - at the International festival of traditional music. Day after day, year after year, as before, the music sounds, and combines different eras and generations, linking past, present and future.
Kazakh traditions
Kazakhs have always revered and highly valued their national customs and traditions. It is almost impossible to describe all the traditions followed by Kazakh people in one article, thus a brief introduction to Kazakh beliefs and customs is given below.
The main tradition of Kazakhs, which eventually transformed into a feature of national character, is hospitality. In the Kazakh society, there is an unofficial law voiced in ancient times, which says "Meet a guest as the God's messenger".
Hospitality is considered a sacred duty in the Kazakh society. At all times, the steppe inhabitants did their best to please their guest. Therefore, each traveller knew that he or she would be welcomed anywhere in the Kazakh land.
Respect for the elderly is another positive feature of Kazakhs. Traditionally, a child from early childhood is taught to be moderate and honest when dealing with older, wiser and life experienced people.
However, the above mentioned national identities that served as a basis for the occurrence of generalized rules and principles of public relations (tradition), fortunately, are confined not only to representatives of the Kazakh people. Therefore, we offer to your attention a list of basic and authentic customs, which are widespread in the Kazakh society.
A. Traditions and customs associated with the guest reception
Travellers in Kazakhstan are most likely to be encountered with the traditions, associated with guest reception. Here are some examples of them:
Konakasy - a custom associated with treating of a guest. As mentioned above, Kazakh people since ancient times have been famous for their hospitality. Kazakhs always reserve the tastiest food for guests. Guests are divided into three types: "arnayy konak" is a specially invited guest, "kudayy konak" - a random stranger (uninvited), "kydyrma konak" - an unexpected guest. All these guests, despite of their type are offered a rich table – Konakasy.
Konakkade - a tradition under which a host has a right to ask a guest to sing a song or play a musical instrument (of course, as long as a guest is known for his or her talent), thus ensuring some fun and joy during the feast.
Erulik - if new settlers came to a village erulik was arranged in their honour, i.e. a small celebration that allowed newcomers to quickly adapt to the new location. Also, the custom erulik includes assistance in settling of the newcomers, when neighbours provide them with firewood, drinking water, etc. for the time being.
Toy dastarkhan - a special form of celebration, organized for holiday or during it. Sports competitions, music, singing competitions (aitys) and horse riding competitions are organised in addition to the gatherings during Toy dastarkhan. Very often, dishes of Kazakh national cuisine are served during such occasions.
B. Traditions and customs associated with gift giving
Guests are very often have to receive or give presents; in addition, there are often times, when gifts should be given in some special occasions according to the traditions. Some examples are given below:
Suyіnshі - a custom according to which a traveller or any other person who brought home a good message (news) receives a valuable gift from the owners in gratitude. Sometimes before telling good news a person says 'Suyunshi' or 'what would you give me for a Suyinshi?', thus implying that he or she has something great to tell.
"At mingizip shapan zhabu" is a high honour. According to the tradition, a respected visitor, who may be a poet (akin), a hero, warrior (batir) or other very respected man receives a gift from local residents: a horse and a splendid shapan (robe of camel's hair with a cotton lining) in recognition of their merit.
Baygazy - a tradition of giving a gift to a person, who acquired a new valuable thing.
C. Traditions and customs associated with mutual aid
Helping each other has always been highly valued by Kazakhs and is very important in a Kazakh community. Therefore, there are a number of traditions, which are associated with mutual aid. Some of them are listed below:
Asar - a family, which has to perform an urgent and sometimes a hard work, has a right to ask relatives, friends and neighbours for assistance. At the end of the work, a rich table is laid as a gratitude for those, who helped.
Zhylu - a tradition associated with the provision of material, moral and financial assistance to people affected by natural disasters (fire, flood, etc.). All supporters, not only relatives are entitled to help the victims. Many things can be given as donations - livestock, building materials, clothing, money, etc.
Belkoterer - a tradition to treat the elderly. Delicious and most importantly - soft foods such as kazy, zhent, cottage cheese are cooked for the elderly. Typically, this responsibility rests on children or close relatives, the less likely neighbours. Belkoterer tradition is an example of caring for the elderly.
D. Traditions and customs associated with birth and upbringing of the child
Traditions, connected with the birth of children and their upbringing, apparently play a very important role in many cultures. Just a brief description of such rituals and traditions followed by Kazakh families, is given below. All of these rituals are usually followed by celebrations.
Shіldehana - a celebration that is associated with childbirth.
Besіkke salu, besik toy - a holiday, hosted when the newborn is put to a cradle - besik. As a rule, it is organized on the 3rd-5th day after dropout of umbilical cord of the kid.
Kyrkynan shygaru – a ritual performed on the fortieth day after birth that includes bathing baby in 40 tablespoons of water, and the first haircut and nail cut and other rituals.
Tusau kesu - a day when the baby took his first steps the oldest and most respected people is invited to perform a ceremony of Tusau keser. Then he or she should cut the special ropes, beset baby's legs, in order to ensure that in future the kid could walk nicely and run fast.
Sundetke otyrgyzu is a rite of circumcision. The ceremony is held when a boy is 5-7 years old. A big festival to which all the relatives and friends are invited is organized after this. On the occasion of Sundetke otyrgyzu guests usually make generous gifts to the hero of the occasion and his parents.
E. Traditions and customs related to marriage
One of unique Kazakh traditions related to marriages is that the marriage between relatives up to the seventh generation is prohibited. Such taboo helps to prevent blood mixing and, consequently, benefit to the health of future offspring.
Traditionally, sequence of the ceremonies and rituals related to a marriage is the following.
Any wedding ceremony in the Kazakh society is anticipated by kudalyk (matchmaking). Before the wedding, matchmakers come to bride's house. Their task is to agree with the closest relatives of a girl on her marriage. During courtship, father of the bride receives gifts from the guests that serve as a deposit.
If negotiations are successful, the father, in turn, presents a coat to the main matchmaker. This custom is called "Shege Sapa". Preparation of "kuyruk bauyr" - a delicious dish from the liver and broad tail fat also testifies to the successful completion of courtship.
The next stage of the ceremony is sendoff of the bride Kyz uzatu. In the evening before the Kyz uzatu matchmakers come to the bride's house again. Number of visitors should not be even (5-7). Early in the morning, the bride with matchmakers is sent to the groom's house.
Solemn ceremony of meeting the bride in the groom's house is called kelіn tusіru. The main element of kelіn tүsіru is a traditional performance of a song of instructions and wishes - Betashar.
In ancient times when the Kazakhs practiced a nomadic lifestyle, dwelling (yurt) of newlyweds was located behind the house of groom's parents. According to the tradition, the first threshold of the yurt was to be crossed by the bride, and be sure to do it with the right foot. Also during the wedding ceremony, the couple must drink together a bowl of water with dissolved sugar and salt. This ritual is considered as a guarantor of a happy family life.
F. The most ancient traditions of Kazakh people
Ashamayga mingizu is a ritual whereby a 6-7-years-old boy was supposed to be given a horse and whip. Such a ritual is a kind of "initiation", having proclaimed that the child is a jigit. On this day, elders blessed the young rider and parents organized a small celebration in honour of their son.
Bastangy is an ancient analog of contemporary youth parties. Traditionally, these celebrations are conducted immediately after departure of adults. During Bastangy, guests express only one wish that the travel of the adults would be accompanied by luck.
National Kazakh Wear
For centuries, Kazakh national clothes were simple and rational. It was characterized by common forms for all segments of the population, but with a certain social and age regulations. Elegance and beautiful elements to dresses were given by fur trim, embroidery, jewelry. Traditional materials for the clothes were leather, fur, thin felt, cloth, which was produced by the local population. Clothes sewn from imported materials - silk, brocade, velvet, were a kind of measure of wealthiness of their owners. Cotton was also widely used.
Kazakhs have always valued animal skins and furs as sewing material. Coats, or so called Tons, were sewed from animal skins, and fur coats, such as Shash were sewed from furred animals, which were perfectly suitable for weather conditions in Kazakh Steppes. Outerwear was prepared from skins and furs of wild and domestic animals, according to the names of which, clothes were called: Zhanat tone - a coat of raccoon fur, Kara tulki ton - of a black fox fur, Kamshat boryk - a beaver hat, Bota ton - a coat from camel skin, Zhargak tone - from a foal skin, etc. Many kinds of clothing were made from felt. Predominantly white coat was used for its production, and thin fur from sheep's neck was considered particularly valuable.
National clothes of Kazakh women
A Kazakh woman traditionally wore a dress with a waistcoat. Generally, outerwear of women was similar to that of men: similar jackets, waistcoats, gowns, wide leather belts, it differed from men's only in colours and some decoration details.
Headwear of Kazakh women, similar to many other nationalities, was also a kind of indicator of their marital status. Headwear of married women differed in different tribal groups, but girls' headwear was comparatively similar throughout the territory of Kazakhstan. Girls used to wear hats of two types: skull cap (Takiya) and a warm hat (Borik), decorated with otter, fox or beaver fur. A tuft of owl feather was often sewed to the top of takiya for decoration purposes, which also played a role of a talisman. Gimp, tassels, gold embroidery and even silver coins were also used for decoration.
Kazakh women's national bridal headwear Saukele, which is a high (70 cm) conical hat, is of particular importance (see pic. on the left). The most expensive of them were evaluated in a hundred selected horses. Saukele was a mandatory part of girl's dowry, and was prepared long before the girls reached the age of marriage, together with a wedding gown, which was often made of expensive fabric, usually red coloured. Bride was supposed to wear a saukele during the wedding ceremony, then it was worn on holidays for some time after the marriage.
Saukele is decorated by metal fishnet tops, tiara (sometimes made of gold with inlays of semiprecious stones or strings of pearls, corals, etc.), temple pendants and chin decorations. Saukele cone is covered with cloth, which was sewed by metal badges of different configurations, into bezels of which precious and semiprecious stones are inserted. A broad ribbon of expensive fabric, decorated with fringes of gold thread, was also attached to the back of saukele, which went down to cover a part of the back of a girl. Compulsory supplement to saukele is a long suspension, called zhaktau, which is attached to it from both sides, reaching the waist of a girl.
The most skilled craftsmen participated in saukele manufacturing: cutters, embroiderers, jewellers, who applied the moulding, embossing, stamping, etc. during the process of manufacturing. It took a year or even more to prepare one such saukele.
With the birth of the first child a woman put a headwear of a married woman on (see pic. on the right), which was worn until her old ages. The details of this vary a little depending on the age of woman and region she came from. This headwear consisted of two parts: the bottom - kimeshek worn on the head, and the top - in the form of a turban, wound over the bottom part of the headwear. Both parts were made from white fabric. These types of headwear are worn by older women even today.
National clothes of Kazakh men
Kazakh men used to wear different skullcaps (takiya), summer and winter hats. Summer hat - kalpak was sewed from thin felt, mostly white, and had a specific ancient cut. Borik and tymak were worn in winter. Tymak is a warm winter hat with earflaps and neck flaps made from fox, which is popular among Kazakh men even nowadays.Bashlyk is another national headwear, made of camel cloth, which was supposed to be worn on top of other hats, to protect from dust, sun, rain and snow.
Men's clothing consisted of the following components: Double under vest (zheyde), lower pants - made of light fabric and the upper - of cloth, suede, sheepskin or thick cotton fabric. From the early ages, when the Kazakhs used to go horseback riding, trousers were a necessary and important part of their clothing.
The main type of outer clothing was shapan, a kind of robe.
In old times men's and women's footwear were also similar, though girls' boots were often decorated with embroidery and appliqué work. Footwear differed according to seasons. For example, winter boots were tall, broad-shafted, worn over the felt stockings. Also there were differences between footwear of older and younger people. Young people often wore boots with high heels (up to 6 - 8 cm), older people – with low heels. Another common type of footwear among Kazakhs was light boots without heels, tight fitting on legs, called ichigi or masi. Leather kebis was worn over them, which was supposed to be put off at the entrance to the house.
A great variety of different decorations - great applications, patches were used on clothing, headwear, footwear. Carnelian, coral, pearl, pearl, coloured glass were used to decorate gold, silver, copper, bronze jewellery of women. Earrings, flat and wrought bracelets and rings were extremely beautiful. Rings depending on their traditional forms have specific names, such as a Bird's beak ring. Belts - a compulsory element of both male and female clothing - were decorated especially: it was ornamented with embroidery; silver badges were sewn on it.
Types of jewellery usually depended on age, social and marital status of those who wore them. Some of them were typical for certain territorial groups.
People's clothing is constantly being targeted by fashion designers, designers. Contemporary clothing, created using national motives, is always original and unique.
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subset: commoncrawl


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SIDE A: A Bunch of Everything
What we have today is a real grabbag before we get into the Nashkel Mines, our first dungeon. Sidequests, party shuffling, leveling up, etc. Since the areas I cover in this entry are so scattershot, I'm going to break up the blog into different sections. I like the idea of having a more flowing narrative but honestly, this play session was really about a lot of miscellaneous.
Party Composition
I'm slowly approaching my final party for the game, though I still have some decisions to make. I drop Garrick off at the bar and take Kagain, despite his alignment. The game tells me he's Lawful Evil but he's much closer to Lawful Cranky, being interested in money and not wanting to talk. When you recruit him, he hires you to find a missing noble song among some lost caravans. Hilariously, because the quest is broken, as soon as you start looking he says, "I'm tired of looking fer the damn caravan. We'll never find it among all the other dead caravans we've been coming across. Let's just forget about it and keep to whatever you wanna do." So agreeable! And that's really it for interactions with Kagain. He'll leave if we get too reputable but none of the good aligned party members seem to mind him. (Adjantis will make a snarky remark about him not getting a chance to repent if he dies).
The reason I want him is because he's a powerhouse at 20 Constitution. As I play this go round of Baldur's Gate, I'm realizing the balancing factor for being evil is that, despite the fact that you get less money and pay higher prices, you get more powerful party members. Later in Nashkel, I pass up Edwin, the best mage in the game, and later on I won't be taking Viconia, the best cleric. It sort of stings to pass these guys up, especially since their party interactions are interesting, but my good aligned party members will have a problem with those two and I don't want any infighting.
That said, I ditch Khalid and Jaheria for Kivan and Branwen at this point. Jaheria is sort of a shitty cleric and Kivan is an absolute beast. If they weren't a bonded pair, I might have kept one of them, but as it is, so be it. The quest where you get Branwen is pretty interesting. She was betrayed by her group and turned to stone. Later, she was bought by a traveling carnival and a carnie attempts to sell you a scroll that will free her. "See the Warrior Maiden frozen in time!" etc. Pretty neat! Reminds me of this song. Branwen is an outcast from the northern isles who was reviled by her own people because she became a priest. Apparently, in Seawolf, only men are allowed to don the mace. This highlights a strong gender egalitarian streak in Baldur's Gate that I'll probably talk about for a B-Side at some point in the future. These games contain literal binders full of strong women.
Kivan has an interesting quest but I haven't done it yet. All he wants is to hunt some bandits and if I don't snap to it, he'll take off. I'm hoping he'll stick with me through the mines first.
Good Quests in The Big Empty
Something I'm realizing I love about Baldur's Gate is how big it feels. So many of these areas I'm exploring are totally optional, totally huge and mostly devoid of stuff to fight. Sure, a rando xvart might pop up from time to time but you can easily travel from one end of a map to the other enjoying the wildlife and ambient sounds. This seems like it'd be a drawback but it gives the world a sense of scale that isn't really matched in other RPGs, even your Oblivions and Skyrims. Part of this is how deadly encounters are when you run into it and how likely you are to be interrupted resting up. You really get this sense of what it means to travel with this level of technology, a sense of relief when you come to a safe harbor where you can buy arrows and rest. Think about how much time is spent traveling in the Lord of the Rings books. This game does a fabulous job emulating that feeling, something that is difficult to do even in the tabletop incarnation of DnD.
There is some stuff out there, however, and I want to highlight two. You come across an area called The High Hedge, home of Thalantyr, a powerful mage. His house looks like the thing that keeps metal out of Iron Man's heart and he has good stuff to sell, despite his Draconian security system of wandering flesh golems who attack on sight. Seriously, can you imagine the noises flesh golems must back walking around? Who could sleep with that incessant squishing? Anywho, he's just a store but if we go south, we run into Melicamp.
Melicamp is a talking chicken, formerly Thalantyr's apprentice, and he desperately wants to be restored to his human form. This is the first time Baldur's Gate is funny and I don't mean that I inherently think a talking chicken is funny. If I were to run into one, I'd probably run screaming. The humor comes from your character's reaction which is done up in exaggerated olde english (the speaking style, not the malt beverage). "Forsooth! Methinks you're no ordinary talking chicken!" Your character's entire reaction to this is event is pretty good, allowing you to characterize your silent protagonist as a smartass or as a zealot fearing dark magic afoot, or just as a nice dude. The reason I bring it up is that it comes up a bit later too. Anyway, if you bring Melicamp to Thalantyr (along with a skull) he can restore him. Or rather, have a 50% of doing so and a 50% chance of blowing him the fuck up with his "antichickenator" spell.
It's just interesting. In Baldur's Gate, more often than not, the things you're doing are full of small detail, you're getting interesting backstories from characters you meet. This is one of the things Bioware lost with Dragonage, I think, that I'm going to talk about in the B-Side.
We also run into Bassilus here, a mad cleric. I just stumbled upon him but you can go to a church where they'll tell you about him. Further, there are rumors about him in Beregost as well. Bassilus is a tragic figure who has gone mad from survivor's guilt, having failed to escape the Zhentarim (a cabal of evil priests and wizards) with his family intact. The way he's processing, which I think is the 4th stage of grief, is to animate a bunch of dead and pretend they're his family. He refuses to believe that he left them to die so he summoned up some corpses to play the part. What's interesting about this quest is that it presents degrees of difficulty. Unlike Marl the drunk, you can't talk your way out of this but by being clever, you can make the fight easier. You do this by pretending to be the mad cleric's father. You have to pay attention to what he was saying before you interrupted him to get a key detail right and carry on the charade. If you break his confidence before denouncing him, you can break his concentration and he'll fight you solo rather than with his "family." Pretty neat!
There are some neat quests in civilization as well. At the aforementioned carnival there is a wizard who summons an Ogre just to make him explode. If you have him do it three times, the ogre goes mad and attacks everyone, forcing you to put him down.
There are colorful NPCs in the wilderness too, including an old drunk who tries to mug you by claiming to be a lich and Pendelbendwarburton, a hermit who presents you with your first opportunity to break the 4th wall. You can react to his cryptic nonsense by saying, and I quote:
"OK, I've just about had my FILL of riddle-asking, quest-assigning, insult-throwing, pun-hurling, hostage-taking, iron-mongering, smart-arsed fools, freaks, and felons that continually test my will, mettle, strength, intelligence, and most of all, patience! If you've got a straight answer ANYWHERE in that bent little head of yours, I want to hear it pretty damn quick or I'm going to take a large blunt object roughly the size of Elminster AND his hat, and stuff it lengthwise into a crevice of your being so seldom seen that even the denizens of the nine hells themselves wouldn't touch it with a twenty-foot rusty halberd! Have I MADE myself perfectly CLEAR?!"
We're also running into more evidence of the iron shortage and how it's affecting the country side. Captain Brage, the subject of a quest we'll be doing a bit later, was driven mad by a cursed sword he only picked up because of the iron shortage. Things are dire, the people in Nashkel need a hero. And next entry, I'm going to hit up the mines and see what the fuck is going on.
Oh, and my party leveled up! Double hit points! Two more magic missiles! This is going to make a huge difference.
SIDE B: Successors Without Spirit
These last few months I found myself cram jamming both Dragon Age games after three attempts to get through the first one. I don't know what came over me or what changed. Perhaps it was just an insatiable lust for Darke Fantasie. So, after years, I was finally able to scratch these games off my quest log.
Prior to this, I had always had a pretty sour opinion of them (remember, I tried to play the first one three times before giving up). I think this is largely due to just how excited I was when the first one came out. I've always loved the Baldur's Gate games and the idea of a proper spiritual successor gave me a game boner as big as the Realms. I got Dragon Age on Christmas from my wife at the time and I was so excited to try it. But something was off...
It's hard to explain fully but the spark was missing. Interesting, funny companions were there, an immersive world, sure, but a lot of the personality was just gone. In the A-Side of this entry I've touched on a lot of what makes Baldur's Gate special. You're always doing interesting things, meeting interesting people. Your tasks are varied and bring you to the far corners of the land. Dragon Age ramped up the seriousness so quickly that there was little room for personality. The stakes are so high, the Blight is omnipresent, the villains are right there in the fore, all eye shadow and sniveling. It's just oppressive.
Instead of several smaller stories, the game is largely broken up into five or six big chunks, each with its attendant mammoth dungeon. And those dungeons are a serious problem. Each one is way too long. Each time prior to this that I quit was during the Dwarven leg of the adventure and that never ending slog. The forest dungeon is little better. Each of the branches you go down feature one huge, never ending string of battles. There's few people to talk to and when you do, they're dour. There are few situations you can talk your way out of. It's just so damn fighty.
When you do talk to people, there is less room for interesting weirdos and I blame voice acting. The trend towards full voice acting in games is a bad one, I'm on the record as saying, and these two games illustrate why. First off, it incentivizes less dialogue in your game. Dragon Age has tons of text, but almost all of it is in the form of stuffy codexes. The characters don't say a lot, other than your companions, because it'd be expensive to do so. That's why the random folk in villages so rarely have anything interesting to say. That's why so much of your sidequestery is delivering letters to nameless Blackstone Irregulars. There isn't enough space, focus wise or disc space, to give these people interesting things to be. Having text dialogue circumvents this problem and I'll be coming back to this again and again in this blog, I bet, especially when I get to Torment.
Further, the power curve is fixed which makes progression smoother but feel worse. When I level up in Baldur's Gate, I feel much more powerful. When I level up in Dragon Age, I feel incrementally better. This carries over to the equipment as well. I spent most of my time in inventory comparing slightly different weapons. Oh, this one does 7.22 nature damage and this one does 7.36 cold damage? Oh boy! It's fucking bullshit in the service of balance. I get it, that's what gamers want, but you lose a lot when you do this.
I think these rough edges come from being adapted from a table top work and that Baldur's Gate is more interesting because of it. It's easy to start thinking like an old man and say, "Gamers don't want interesting rough edges, they want polish." Because it's easy, I'm going to do it. Gamers don't want interesting rough edges. They prize polish over everything and it's a fucking tragedy.
Now, this may surprise you to hear, but in the end, I sort of liked Dragon Age as its own thing. It handled the war at the end very well, the Landsmeet was cool, the companions are cool, etc. Shit, I think Dragon Age: Awakening answers a lot of my issues with the first game just by scaling things down. Awakening has an interesting, smaller plot, smaller dungeons, more varied tasks. It's the best in the series.
I also played, and enjoyed, Dragon Age 2, despite its reputation. Both games have similar problems with pace and interest but fail in different ways. Where Dragon Age was comprised of five huge dungeons, DA2 is comprised of a hundred micro dungeons. You're doing more things but they're rarely that much more interesting and you're doing them quicker. In the end, I think the amount of non additive dungeon content is the same between the two games and I preferred playing DA2 but the story takes a huge shit at the end.
Dragon Age's story problem was it was too epic right from the beginning. DA2 sidesteps this by focusing on a city and a family, necessitating a smaller scale. This is almost always a good thing. In Baldur's Gate, we're dealing with a huge problem but it's not looming just yet. Right now we have clues, the iron shortage, the assassination attempts (up to a 650 bounty!) and our origins. But the world ending threat isn't on our radar yet. DA2's story problem is in its ending and its milquetoast centrism. I don't want to spoil it but when both sides of an argument are insane and stupid, that's no choice at all and invalidates many of my previous opinions leaning one way or another. You did so much work presenting these two sides of an argument and trying to get me to care. Don't throw it all away, Dragon Age 2.
I'll probably do more B-sides like this when I notice something that Baldur's Gate does so much better than its modern counterparts. So, look forward to cranky old Gary Curmudgeonfield riding again.


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Overall Overhaul
There's a new contractor banging around the JunkPlex, and JunkThief is just itchin' with desire. He was a bit miffed because the fellow, Angelo, wanted to come at 7:30 a.m. to avoid Carnaval parking issues. 7:30 on Saturday? Well, good thing JunkThief only had two gimlets at Bruno's last night.
The payoff, he decided was the chance to see a hot little Guatemalan guy crawling around with a tool belt and screwdriver. Well, it turns out Angelo is Italian, and just as cute as a button. He can't be more than 5'8" tall. (Insiders know that JunkThief, at 6'2", is a real push over for shorter -- but not too short -- men.) And to top it off he's wearing overalls and a cap, asking if he can work on JunkThief's circuit box with an accent that makes JunkThief feel like he has buttah pumping through his veins. JunkThief also has a weakness for tradesmen. Enough of the endless chatter about French existentialism and Borges. And there's not a chance the plumber or electrician will torture you by making you listen to Celine Dion or Madonna.
It would be really shameless to take or publish a photo of the real Angelo (though we'll see how the day plays out), but this shot is pretty close to what's banging around in JunkThief's basement. Height challenged men with accents and Mediterranean heritage are always more than welcome to strap on their tool belts and spend some time at the JunkPlex.
UPDATE: At 1:32 p.m. Angelo's been having trouble sorting out all the wires in the basement, and is still cheerful but frustrated. (If not obvious: frustrated Italian = need for sexual release.) This dude's got some hilarious lines, but the best, and most exciting, was after trying to locate the transformer in my flat he exited saying: "The next time I knock on your door it's gonna be show time!" Got the message, ready to raise the curtain, dispense with the overture and get down with act one.
UPDATE 2: Angelo the electrician completed his job and said, "We'll I think I'm about ready to button up" and then asked for a check for $1,400. Why is that scene familiar? Always quick on his feet and seeing a chance for a return performance, JunkThief asked him to give him a big for a couple of additional sockets in the master bedroom. You can never have too much power for things you may want to plug in in the bedroom.
Labels: Italians, the JunkPlex, The Mission


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"It was for freedom that Christ set us free . . ." (Galatians 5:1). As believers, though we've been set free in Christ, we can find ourselves in bondage once again in numerous ways. Video #3 in the series speaks to the need to free ourselves so that we can run unhindered.
May the Lord give us grace to run free!


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Following yesterday's post where I shared with the group just how completely neurotic I can be, I entered into conversation with two colleagues at work, Dr-D and Awesome-Ward Clerk-M.
(Awesome-Ward-Clerk-M has been shortened to AWCM)
Me: I wrote about more of my LOCDs again last night. (I then proceeded to tell them about my intricately planned out routine from work as highlighted here)
AWCM: (To Dr-D) Her OCDs are worse than yours.
Dr-D: My OCDs are just making sure my letters are formatted and saved correctly. Hers are definitely worse.
Me: I fail to see what is wrong with knowing what you like and sticking to it.
Dr-D: (Raises his eyebrows silently)
AWCM: Why do you call them LOCDs?
Me: Because they're only Lisa's version of OCDs as I'm afraid to go to my GP in case I really get given the diagnosis.
Dr-D: Too late.
Me: (looks at him as the colour drains from my face) Holy crap, you're a Psychiatrist aren't you?
Dr-D: That's what they tell me.
Me: ... Damn it.
It's not official until I'm sitting on a chair in a doctors office at an appointment I booked. Until then I'm still going to say I have LOCD's only.
Thursday, 1 September 2011
Tip: If you want to talk about your extreme neuroses without any consequence, it's best to check who you're talking to first.
Posted by Lisa Harries at 19:51
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This was a lousy media week for Hillary Clinton - or, at least, it could have been.
The Washington Post led Monday's newspaper with a tough look at her economic record as a U.S. senator from New York, finding that she failed to make good on a campaign promise to create 200,000 jobs upstate. The Post's Jerry Markon wrote that "despite Clinton's efforts, upstate job growth stagnated overall during her tenure, with manufacturing jobs plunging nearly 25 percent, according to jobs data."
A new batch of State Department emails indicated some Clinton Foundation donors received special access to the department while Clinton was secretary of state.
And as yet another week passed without a news conference, journalists continued to chide the Democratic presidential nominee for her lack of accessibility. Politico's Hadas Gold reported Friday on the Clinton campaign's unwillingness to allow what is known as a "protective press pool," which, as Gold explained, "would cover the candidate's every move and ride on the campaign plane in the same way the White House press pool does and which typically begins when the candidate becomes the party's official nominee." (The Trump campaign also has no such pool.)
But these Clinton stories were largely overshadowed by Donald Trump's latest antics - his assertion that President Obama is the "founder of ISIS" and his suggestion that if Clinton wins the election, "Second Amendment people" could "maybe" do something about her and her judicial appointments.
Trump boosters such as Rudy Giuliani see the media's heavy focus on the billionaire's rhetoric as evidence of bias. But even some Republicans seem to think the Trump is doing Clinton a favor - shielding her from scrutiny by making totally-bananas comments.
Politico reported Thursday that more than 70 Republicans signed a letter urging Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus to cut off funding for Trump and put those dollars behind down-ballot candidates. The signers were motivated partly by principle and partly by practical assessments of his self-inflicted damage.
"We believe that Donald Trump's divisiveness, recklessness, incompetence, and record-breaking unpopularity risk turning this election into a Democratic landslide, and only the immediate shift of all available RNC resources to vulnerable Senate and House races will prevent the GOP from drowning with a Trump-emblazoned anchor around its neck," they wrote. "This should not be a difficult decision, as Donald Trump's chances of being elected president are evaporating by the day."
Trump's behavior has been so erratic lately that publications including the Hill, Esquire, Gawker, the Week, Salon and the Indianapolis Star have published articles taking semi-seriously the idea that the real estate mogul could be sabotaging his campaign on purpose. Joe Scarborough, the former GOP congressman and "Morning Joe" host who was once considered too cozy with Trump, recently remarked that "it's as if he's trying to blow himself up."
David Axelrod, a Democrat but an admirer of Trump's political savvy early in the campaign, said last week on CNN that "if Donald Trump were trying to lose this election - and I'm not saying he is - but if he were, I'm not sure he'd behave any differently than he has in the last few days."
Trump is all about #winning - that's kinda his brand - so it seems unlikely that he really wants to throw the race. But what all these media commentaries reflect is a sense that Trump couldn't do a better job of drawing journalists' fire away from Clinton if he tried.
It's an exaggeration to say, as some Trump backers do, that Clinton is getting a free pass from the press. This week's headlines show once again that she is hardly immune to critical coverage. But it is true that she benefits from Trump's habit of taking the spotlight off her.
If he ever cleans up his act, Clinton could be in for a rude awakening.
• 06/06/16: Hillary makes her Second Amendment problem public
• 05/20/16: Lib pundits blame Deb Schultz, not Sanders, for Dems' division
• 05/05/16: Here's what we know about the big Donald Trump-Megyn Kelly interview
• 05/05/16: 12 of the most misguided media predictions about Donald Trump
• 04/28/16: Trump thinks it's time to label him the 'presumptive nominee.' Nope.
• 04/25/16: The 'nasty effect,' and why Donald Trump supporters mistrust the media
• 03/07/16: Even Trump's favorite TV hosts, Scarborough and Bill O', can't avoid feuding with him
• 03/04/16: Mitt Romney: Media darling?
• 03/02/16: Donald Trump: The King of the 'No Comment'
• 02/29/16: Why this new media narrative could actually, for once, hurt Donald Trump
• 02/26/16: Why haven't Trump's tax returns, Clinton's speech gotten the Romney treatment?
• 02/08/16: In media coverage of Chelsea Clinton, the kid gloves are still on
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What better way to start out the new year than by learning about Sigma Kappa's third value, loyalty? So, let's start out by describing what loyalty means and why it is important to Sigma Kappa.
Loyalty is being there for someone else or a group, no matter what. It means showing constant and firm support for those you are deeply connected to. It also means devotion. It could be devotion to a person, a cause, the company you work for, a group you belong to, or even the country you are from. One of my favorite definitions of loyalty comes from the quote, "Being loyal means staying committed to what you said you were going to do long after the mood you said it in has left you." It is a powerful message. This value means so much more than a simple commitment. It entails honesty, virtue, friendship, respect, and determination.
So why is this value so important to Sigma Kappa? Loyalty creates a bond between people that is not easily broken and stands in good times and in bad. Sigma Kappa creates a similar bond within its sisterhood. Not only are sisters loyal to one another in their respective chapters, but they are also loyal to their sisters spread across the nation and around the world. As a consultant, I was interested to see how others have experienced and witnessed loyalty being shown in their Sigma Kappa journey. This is what a few of my sisters said:
"Your sisters are your sisters even when things get stressful or times get tough. We may have disagreements, but I have never doubted the loyalty of my sisters. Not everyone agrees on everything and sometimes there will be conflict, but that is when loyalty to one another is most important." – Lambda Iota
"I feel that loyalty has been a part of my Sigma Kappa experience in that the organization has always pushed me to be true to myself and continue to grow and learn from mistakes. To me, loyalty means we hold each other accountable to always trying to be better." – Kappa Eta
"Being the president of an organization can be quite scary, but because of the loyalty I feel from my sisters, I have the confidence and the support I need to keep pushing myself and others to help make Sigma Kappa great." – Lambda Iota
"I have loved seeing advisors and other alumnae volunteers continue to be involved in Sigma Kappa. It is a great reminder that this is a life-long commitment with continuous opportunities. The bonds we make while in Sigma Kappa are truly unbreakable." – Theta Omicron
"Sigma Kappa is meant to challenge each of us and loyalty means sticking to our commitment and standing by each other when it's difficult." – Epsilon Mu
Being loyal to one another is key to building strong relationships, establishing trust, and creating lifelong friendships with your sisters. The loyalty we show to each other and to our sorority preserves these friendships no matter any disagreement or stressful scenario. At the end of the day, we are sisters.
Kirtley Hall