I. decide whether the statements are true ( + ) or false ( – ):
1. in the 15th сentury a major civil war took place, known as the wars of the roses,
as the two sides, the house of lancaster and the house of lords were
symbolized by a red rose and a white rose respectively.
2. after the death of canute an anglo-saxon king came to the throne (1042) and
the line of danish kings came to an end.
3. during the period from the 6th to the 8th century a.d. a people called the celts
spread all over the world from the east to the west.
4. in 1087 william, the duke of normandy, began to gather an army to invade
britain.
5. in 1649, king charles i was executed as an enemy of his country, and england
was proclaimed a republic with oliver cromwell at its head.
6. the prime minister lives in buckingham palace, but there are other royal
palaces in london too.
7. on st. david’s day many patriotic welshmen wear a leek or a daffodil in their
buttonholes as a celebration.
8. although britain is a densely populated, industrialized country, agriculture is
one of its most important industries.
9. the pennines run down the centre of england from scotland to south yorkshire
and they are known as the “backbone of great britain”.
10. domesday book is an extremely comprehensive survey and inventory made
by the normans after they took control of england.

Halloween is a festival that takes place on October 31. In the United States children wear costumes and masks and go trick-or-treating. Many of them carve jack-o'-lantens out of pumpkins. Fortunetelling and storytelling about ghosts and witches are popular activities.

Halloween developed from new year festivals and festivals of the dead. Christian church established a festival on November 1 called All Saints' Day so that people could continue to celebrate their festivals.

The Mass said on All Saints' Day was called Allhallowmass. The day before All Saints' Day was known all hallows' Eve or All Hallow e'en.

The main Halloween activity for children is trick-or-treating. Children dress in costumes and masks and go from door to door saying "trick or treat". The neighbours give children such treats as candy, fruit and pennies so that children do not play tricks on them.

Jack-o'-lanterns are hallowed-out pumpkins with face carved into one side. Most jack-o'-lanterns contain a candle inside. An Irish legend says that jack-o'-lanterns are named after the man called Jack.

He could not enter heaven because he was a miser, and he could not enter hell because he had played jokes on devil. As a result, Jack has to walk on the earth with his lantern until Judgment Day.

Fortunetelling is an important part of Halloween. For example, a coin, a ring, and a thimble were baked into a cake. It was believed that the person who found the coin would become wealthy. The one who found the ring would marry soon. And the person who found the thimble would never get married. Today people practice cardreading or palmistry.

People once believed that there were many ghosts and witches on the Earth and that they met on October 31 to worship the devil. Today, people do not believe in ghosts and witches but they like to tell stories about them on Halloween. 

I.

1. glasses

2. A species

3. shorts

4. a means

5. means

6. scissors

7. a series

8. series

9. species

II.

1. does

2. don't

3. want

4. was

5. aren't

6. wasn't

7. is

8. isn't

9. they are

10. are very friendly

11. do

12. is

III.

1. The government wants to increase taxes.  

2. Jenny is wearing _ black jeans today.  

3. Russia is playing with England in a football match next week.

4. I like Joe and Nora. They’re very nice people.

5. I need more than ten pounds. Ten pounds isn’t enough.  

6. I’m going to buy _ new pajamas.

7. The committee hasn’t made a decision yet.  

8. There was a policeman directing traffic in the street.  

9. What are the police going to do?  

10. These scissors aren’t very sharp.