Question

:) Task 10. Read and translate the dialogue, express your own ideas
about history and its significance and make your own dialogues using the
texts and questions to the texts, as well as the dialogue and expressions that
follow.
Commentator: Hello, everybody, and welcome to my programme
The Importance of Learning History! I am Bill Smith. And I am not alone
in my studio; my guest today is John Black, a professor of Contemporary
History at Reading University. Now we are going to speak about history
and its present-day significance. So, you are welcome Mr. Black...
John Black: Good morning, listeners. And first I’d like to thank you,
Mr. Smith, for inviting me to say a few words on such important and interesting issues. Well, as you know, history is the analysis and interpretation
of the human past that enables us to study continuity and change over time.
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It is an act of both investigation and imagination that seeks to explain how
people have changed over time.
Commentator: So, history is an interpretation of the past. But people live in the present. They plan for and worry about the future. History,
however, is the study of the past. Given all the demands that press in from
living in the present and anticipating what is yet to come, why bother with
what has been? What do you think about it?
John Black: All right, of course historians do not perform heart
transplants, improve highway design, or arrest criminals. In a society that
quite correctly expects education to serve useful purposes, the functions of
history can seem more difficult to define than those of engineering or medicine. But history is in fact very useful, actually indispensable.
Commentator: Well, frankly speaking some people criticize history
because it is based on the personal interpretation of sources. George Santayana, a Spanish philosopher and historian, rightfully mentioned that “history is a pack of lies about events that never happened told by people who
weren't there”. So it is dead and should be buried.
John Black: I’m afraid that you are mistaken. Far from being a
‘dead’ subject, history connects things through time and encourages its
students to
take the long view of such connections. And what’s more, all people
and peoples are living histories. To take a few obvious examples: communities speak languages that are inherited from the past. They live in societies with complex cultures, traditions and religions that have not been created on the spur of the moment. People use technologies that they have not
themselves invented. So understanding the links between past and present
is absolutely basic for a good understanding of the condition of being human. That, in short, is why History matters. It is not just 'useful', it is essential.
Commentator: And what could you tell about history as a part of
university and college education? They say that the study of history is the
foundation of the humanities study curriculum. It is a central part of a wellrounded college education regardless of whether you plan to become a
journalist, teacher, lawyer, politician, or other professional.
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The Importance of Learning History programme and me, Bill Smith, its author.
Notes:
take the long view of – рассматривать что-либо в перспективе,
milieu [′mIljW] – окружение; среда; обстановка,
prerequisite [prI′rekwizit] – предпосылка, необходимое условие.
Expressions to be used in the dialogues
Видите ли… Well...
Дело в том, что... Well, the thing is...
Откровенно говоря... Frankly speaking...
Желаю Вам всего хорошего
Всего доброго/всего наилучшего/
счастья/успехов/удачи
My best wishes /All the best
(I wish you) good luck/I wish you
every success!
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Не могли бы Вы сказать...
Можно обратиться /спросить?
Скажи(те ...
Что Вы об этом думаете?
Could you tell me (us)...
May I (we) ask?
Tell me, please...
What do you think about it?
А как это понимать?
Теперь понятно?
А потом?
Да, а почему?
Ну, и...?
Объясни .
Простите, не понял(а).
Что ты имеешь в виду?
And what does it mean?
Is it clear now?
And after that? /And then?
Yes, but why?
Well, and...?
Please, explain it.
Sorry, I didn't quite catch it.
What do you mean?
Понятно.
Я тебя (Вас) хорошо понимаю,
продолжай(те).
It's clear.
I follow you, go on.
Да, с удовольствием!
Да, а почему бы и нет?
Разумеется! Конечно!
Yes, with pleasure.
Yes, why not?
Sure! Certainly!
Вероятно. Возможно.
Вполне возможно.
Probably. Possibly.
Quite possible.
Я сейчас не готов(а) говорить на
эту тему.
Дайте подумать.
I'm not ready to speak on this
subject just now.