УРОК 3. Introduction

1. The present dictionary is something of a pioneer work whose evolution has been complex and, at times, by no means straightforward. Yet there can be little doubt that in such a country as Russia, where there has always been a keen interest in English as the primary foreign language to be taught in schools and studied in colleges and universities, such a dictionary will be welcomed. Indeed, the dictionary is intended not only for use of students or teachers of English, but for translators, philologists and all those who read or are interested in English, whether for pleasure or for a specific academic or scientific purpose. In short, the dictionary is aimed at the widest possible readership and in its scope sets out to be as comprehensive as possible within the limits, which must necessarily be imposed in a work of this nature.

2. It will be asked, how does the dictionary differ from other English-Russian dictionaries? At first sight the work may seem to be an uneasy combination of a dictionary and an encyclopedia, since it contains both the definitions and derivations that one expects to find in a dictionary and the facts and figures that one looks for in an encyclopedia or work of reference. The answer lies in the choice of entries. Many of these, it is true, can be found in standard dictionaries and reference works – although many, equally, cannot. But the entries contained in the present work are those, which, for an Englishman, contain certain overtones or connotations – as often as not social, political or historical – which may not be detected by a non-English speaker. Such words and phrases as are included in the dictionary are those which are regularly met in all kinds of writing – from literature to the press – and which are heard in everyday speech at all levels and ages of society. Even in England itself there are areas where the speech or writing of one element of society may be poorly comprehended by the members of another. Such a disparity in communication is evident, for example, in the difference between the language of the so-called `popular press` and that of the `heavies`, or by the failure of many young people to communicate fully with their parents.

3. … Great Britain, as a country, has had a complex evolution over the centuries, and much that is seemingly archaic or merely picturesque today is deeply rooted in history and tradition. Much of the British way of life is a closed book even to the Englishman himself: one needs to be a cricketer to understand the rules and terminology of this complicated and typically ‘English’ sport, and to be a pedagogue to work out the intricate organization of the British educational system, with its jealously guarded – by those who support them – public schools.

4. If such difficulties exist for the Englishman, who may be an expert in his own field but ignorant of the other worlds and their nomenclature that exist and flourish around him in his own country, how much more difficult must it be for the foreign student of English. However good his command of grammatical and idiomatic English may be, there are certain to be words and phrases that he will encounter in his studies – many of which, as we have seen, will be proper names – whose full significance will be lost on him. It is for such a student of English that the present dictionary is intended.

5. The overall intention of the work is to reflect modern English, to give all the entries a full sense of either ‘historicity’ or ‘contemporaneity’. Where a word or term is now dated or archaic, this is appropriately indicated. A major task in the compilation of the dictionary has been to ‘update’ all entries to a point in time as near as possible to that of its publication. Even so, absolute up-to-dateness cannot be guaranteed, as is the case with all works of this kind.

6. It was naturally felt that a mere translation or transcription of the English term – the usual treatment given to a word or phrase by a standard bilingual dictionary – was not enough, since this would nullify the whole point of the work: to indicate the special connotation of the given term. This meant that the majority of entries would contain an explanation of its significance to Englishmen, notably in cases where this is not apparent from the translation of the term itself. In addition, many terms have an interesting etymology or origin, frequently of a historical nature, and where it was felt that to give such an etymology would be useful to the reader, this has been done.

(Room A. R. W. Introduction // Dictionary of Great Britain. М., 1999. P. 12–15)

Задания и упражнения

1.Прочитайте текст. Выпишите все незнакомые слова и ключевые термины и переведите их.

2.Ответьте на вопросы:

a. Why is the British educational system called intricate?

b. What is a public school?

c. Who may be called a student?

d. Are the following words synonyms: overtones or connotations, dated or archaic,
etymology or origin?

e. What British traditions might seem archaic or picturesque today?

3.Кратко изложите основное содержание текста.

4.Найдите в оригинальном тексте соответствия следующим вариантам перевода:

· в определенном смысле новаторская работа

· будет встречено с одобрением

· рассчитан на самый широкий круг читателей

· по возможности всеобъемлющим

· непривычное сочетание словаря и энциклопедии

· определения и элементы этимологии

· обертональные значения или коннотации

· устная или письменная речь одних групп населения

· о трудности общения может свидетельствовать

· разобраться в запутанной организации

· бдительно охраняемый

· мало что знает о других областях с их особой терминологией

· вся полнота и глубина смысла которых так и не будет им понята

· отразить слова и словосочетания современного английского языка

· дается соответствующая помета

· обеспечить полную современность

· оно свело бы на нет основной смысл работы

· когда из перевода он не вытекает.

5.Выпишите словарные значения следующих английских слов и объясните, в чем может состоять трудность их перевода: pioneer, evolution, specific, academic, figure, reference, overtone, element, nomenclature, term, standard, idiomatic.

6.Переведите на русский язык следующие предложения:

I

a. Early pioneers built some log cabins near the river.

b. He was a pioneer of heart transplant operations.

c. In the course of evolution some birds have lost the power of flight.

d. Language is in the process of constant evolution.

e. She gave us very specific instructions.

f. There is a specific tool for each job.

g. The book was written specifically for children.

h. It is not a specifically Christian idea but is found in many religions.

i. A combination of high interest rates and falling demand forced the company to close.

j. They are asking a high figure for their house.

k. We will need to have references from your former employers.

l. The list of references is at the end of the article.

m. With reference to your recent letter I am instructed to inform you…

n. His words were polite, but there were overtones of anger in his voice.

o. The darkness and fog gave the attackers the element of surprise.

p. There’s a rowdy element in this class that seems determined to spoil things for the rest.

q. This problem is outside the committee’s terms of reference.

r. It’s one of the standard books on the subject.

s. That Frenchman speaks very idiomatic English.

II

a. Six Japanese academics convened in Tokyo and warned reporters not to believe one word in my book.

b. The institute took me, already a middle aged man devoid of academic credentials, substantially on faith, gambling on the existence of scholarly capacities that remained to be demonstrated.

c. That injected a new and highly politicized dimension into what so far had seemed an academic debate.

7.Найдите в словарях все возможные словосочетания со словом academic. Выпишите и переведите их.

8.Покажите, что в слове apparent содержатся противоположные значения.

9.Переведите текст.