Перевод текста that tattoo pounds across our bedroom floor
That Tattoo Pounds Across Our Bedroom Floor
«What a marvellous view. How romantic!» said our friends enviously when we moved into our top flat. The flat overlooks practically the whole of Edinburgh, especially the Esplanade and the Castle. «And,» they added, «you will be able to see the Tattoo free of charge.» Frankly, military displays have never appealed to me, but I comforted myself by saying: «After all, it’s only for three weeks of the year.»
What really happens is that some time in mid-July the workmen start putting up the stands. They hammer solidly day after day, from early morning to late at night, with an extra banging on Sundays, playing delicately upon our nerves and completely obscuring our marvellous view.
Then about a fortnight before the Festival the Tattoo rehearsals start. Pipe bands have, I daresay, their part in Scottish life, but at 7.30 in the morning I defy even the most sentimental expatriated Scot to respond with appropriate fervour. The house now reverberates to the thud of the drums and the whine of the pipes. What isxmore, if I look out of the window I can see various regiments, colourfully apparelled, weaving out and in to the commands barked by the noisy sergeant-majors.
Then there are the special items. Last year there was James Bond’s car scorching round the Esplanade with shrieking brakes and the handsome brown Fijians cavorting to their special drum rhythms. This year I have seen acrobats bounding about, trampoline performers and what sounds like 150 motor bikes but which I am told are really only 20. And there are the Pakistanis doing a military folk dance with gleaming sabres to their special drum beat.
Then the Tattoo proper begins. To see it once is mildly entertaining. But to hear it twice nightly is murderous. We lie in bed trying to shut our ears against the relentless throbbing of pipes and drums and the mellow gentlemanly tones of the brigadier who conducts the proceedings, longing to hear the Last Retreat * and God Save the Queen ** so that we can go to sleep. In the early evening we hang out of the window praying for rain.
But the Tattoo raises uncomfortable intellectual questions too. We talk about the difficulty of getting audiences for the live theatre and blame high prices, bad weather, uncomfortable seats, the lack of bars and restaurants and there in front of our eyes we see mile-long queues. And they are queueing to see not Shakespeare or Euripides or O’Casey * or John Arden ** or Harold Pinter, *** but an entertainment which no theatre audience would put up with for ten minutes, under conditions which no theatre audience would put up with for five.
There is a moral somewhere. I am not quite sure what it is, but I am fairly sure I shouldn’t like it.
Примеры ответов IELTS General Writing Task 2 (Эссе)
Задание IELTS General Writing Task 2 выглядит вот так (меняется только тема жирным шрифтом).
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Write about the following topic:
Some people think that the teenage years are the happiest times of most people’s lives. Others think that adult life brings more happiness, in spite of greater responsibilities.
Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
В этом задании необходимо:
What’s the happiest time in people’s lives: youth or old age; school, career or retirement? All of these have been suggested, but teenage years and adulthood both have many supporters.
Those who believe teenagers are the happiest people cite their lack of responsibilities as a significant factor. They are supported financially and emotionally by their parents, and although they may be included in family decisions, they’re not ultimately responsible. However, adolescents are on the threshold of adult life: they’re old enough to get a part-time job, so they can enjoy their first taste of financial independence, and their future study and career lie ahead.
Away from these serious concerns, young people have an active social life with their friends, often simply by hanging out with them. And of course, there’s the excitement of first love and first heartbreak. With all this to experience, teenagers see their parents’ lives as boring and stressful.
However, the reverse is also true. Adults see anxious, self-dramatising adolescents, and appreciate the joys of maturity. These may include a contented family life, long-lasting friendships and a career. Long-term relationships may not have the fireworks of adolescence, but are stronger for it, because of the wealth of shared experience. At work, many of us are challenged and stimulated by the increasing, professional skills we acquire, which ensures that our jobs remain interesting.
The greatest benefit, though, is that maturity gives you greater confidence in your own judgement, in all areas of life. You’re not afraid to express your opinion when others disagree and, unlike a teenager, you know when to let things go.
Both these periods can be happy times, but I look back at my own teenage years, with no desire to go back. Adult life may be less dramatic, but fireworks don’t keep you warm
In cities and towns all over the world the high volume of traffic is a problem.
What are the causes of this and what actions can be taken to solve this problem?
It is undoubtedly the case that urban areas around the world increasingly suffer from congestion. In this essay, I examine the reasons for this trend and suggest some practical policies the authorities could implement to reduce the level of traffic in our cities.
The first step is to understand why traffic has increased in towns and cities. Broadly speaking, there are three main reasons for this. One is that cars have become more affordable for the average consumer and they are no longer a luxury item, but something that most families expect to own. A second reason is that public transport has become increasingly unreliable in recent years, not least because many bus and train services have been reduced because of the difficulty in funding them. The third reason is that society has in general become more mobile and this means more people are prepared to commute to work by car than they were before.
There is almost certainly no one solution to this problem given the complexity of its causes. However, one option has to be to improve the reliability of public transport to encourage people to take the bus or the train rather than get in the car. It would also be possible to discourage people from driving to work by introducing special tariffs for using the roads, especially during peak periods. A successful example of this is the congestion charge scheme in London which has certainly reduced the level of trafficin inner-city areas.
In conclusion, there are a variety of different factors that have led to rising levels of traffic in urban areas. While it may not be possible to find a complete solution, any action should probably involve encouraging greater use of public transport and making it more expensive for the motorist to drive in urban areas.
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Write about the following topic:
Some people believe that children should be allowed to stay at home and play until they are six or seven years old. Others believe that it is important for young children to go to school as soon as possible.
What do you think are the advantages of attending school from a young age?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Здесь пишем о преимуществах.
Помните: 1 преимущество = 1 параграф.
In many places today, children start primary school at around the age of six or seven. However, because it is more likely now that both parents work, there is little opportunity for children to stay in their own home up to that age. Instead, they will probably go to a nursery school when they are much younger.
While some people think this may be damaging to a child’s development, or to a child’s relationship with his or her parents, in fact there are many advantages to having school experience at a young age.
Firstly, a child will learn to interact with a lot of different people and some children learn to communicate very early because of this. They are generally more confident and independent than children who stay at home with their parents and who are not used to strangers or new situations. Such children find their first day at school at the age of six very frightening and this may have a negative effect on how they learn.
Another advantage of going to school at an early age is that children develop faster socially. They make friends and learn how to get on with other children of a similar age. This is often not possible at home because they are the only child, or because their brothers or sisters are older or younger.
So overall, I believe that, attending school from a young age is good for most children. They still spend plenty of time at home with their parents, so they can benefit from both environments.
10 цитат на Английском. Развиваем эрудицию
Всем нам иногда сложно оставаться позитивными, ведь жизнь — сложная штука. Эти 10 цитат на английском помогут вам увидеть жизнь с лучшей стороны, открыть потрясающие возможности и улучшить своё настроение!
1. «Success is the child of audacity». (Benjamin Disraeli)
«Успех — дитя смелости». (Бенджамин Дизраэли)
2. «We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light». (Plato)
«Можно с лёгкостью простить ребёнка, который боится темноты. Настоящая трагедия жизни — когда взрослые люди боятся света». (Платон)
3. «It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change». (Charles Darwin)
«Выживает не самый сильный и не самый умный, а тот, кто лучше всех приспосабливается к изменениям». (Чарльз Дарвин)
4. «I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions». (Stephen Covey)
Я не продукт моих обстоятельств. Я продукт моих решений. (Стивен Кови)
5. «You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough». (Mae West)
«Мы живём один раз, но если правильно распорядиться жизнью, то и одного раза достаточно». (Мэй Уэст)
6. «The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why». (Mark Twain)
Два самых важных дня в вашей жизни: день, когда вы родились, и день когда поняли зачем. (Марк Твен)
7. «Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened». (Dr. Seuss)
«Не плачь, потому что это закончилось, улыбнись, потому что это было». (Доктор Сьюз)
8. «There are no shortcuts to any place worth going». (Helen Keller)
«К достойной цели нет коротких путей». (Хелен Келлер)
9. «Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm». (Winston Churchill)
«Успех — это умение двигаться от неудачи к неудаче, не теряя энтузиазма». (Уинстон Черчилль)
10. «Never make fun of someone who speaks broken English. It means they know another language». (H. Jackson Brown, Jr.)
«Никогда не смейтесь над человеком, который говорит на ломаном английском. Это значит, что он знает и другой язык». (Х. Джексон Браун — младший)
Следите за новостями, подписывайтесь на канал и изучайте английский язык с удовольствием!