Read the texts; translate them in written form, paying attention to the verbs in the past simple tense forms.

A. How english names began

Most names of people in the English-speaking world had the beginning long ago in the British Isles.

About a thousand years ago there were very few people living in the British Isles. Towns and villages were tiny. And in the country-side the small number of people lived very far apart.

Because there were so few people, almost everyone had only one name. A name such as John, David or Mary was all that was needed. As time went on some way had to be discovered to distinguish one John by name from another. The answer was eventually found by adding a family name to the already existing first names.

When John’s son was made into one word “Johnson”, it was used as a family name. There are many examples of “son’ names, such as Davidson, Wilson, Peterson, Dickson, Williamson.

The Scottish «Mac» also meant «the son of» hence Macadam, «Son of Adam». The same can be said about the Irish «0» – O’Neil meant «the son of Neil»

After the Norman Conquest it became common in England to use, the Norman way of showing who a person’s father was: they added «fitz» to make Fitzwilliam, Fitzpatric and so on.

B. Family names from occupations

Later still it became common to call a person according to his work. Many family names first began when people were described as John the Smith, John the Farmer, John the Miller, John the Baker or more simply John Baker; Fisher; Singer, are all occupational names. Some other names of this kind are Barber, Cook, Thatcher and so on.

C. Family names from places

One way to distinguish between one person and another was to say where they lived. In this way places also became family names.

For example, John lived near the water, he was called «John at water» or simply «John Atwater». Another John who perhaps lived by the brook could be described as «John Brook», and John Fields was not the same John as the one who lived by the bridge. Other names of this kind are Hill, Rivers, Waters and so on.

In many towns and villages in Britain today you can see how many of English family names began. Even the word «Town» is a well-known family name, as well as «Hampton», which means «village».

D. Family names from nicknames

Yet another way to distinguish between one «John» and another was to give them descriptive nicknames. Nicknames are very personal. They describe physical or other characteristics and served in the past to distinguish one man; and then his family from another.

«Strong», «Short» and «Long» are only a few of the many names which came from nicknames.

3.Exercises

3.1. Present in written form and learn by heart the four forms of the following verbs. Make sure that you know their meaning.

Be, become, begin, come, go, have, make, mean, say, speak, travel, tell, find, show, take, understand, wake, meet.

3.2. Give examples from the text of the verbs in The Past Simple Tense Form.

For example:

had – the past simple of «have».

3.3. Find in the text the English for:

Англо-говорящий, в стороне (отдельно), такие как, открыть (обнаружить), различать, называть, соответственно, мост, другой путь, прозвище.

3.4. Fill in the blanks with «to be»:

1. I … from London.

2. These … my students.

3. She … like a walking dictionary.

4. It … a very noble profession.

5. I … fond of singing.

6. They … great friends.

7. She … a shy fish.

8. Lily … full of joy and energy.

3.5. Fill in the blanks with «to have»:

1. I … many questions to ask you.

2. She … an excellent taste in everything.

3. I … neither sisters nor brothers.

4. She … not a large family.

5. I … many relatives.

6. He … many friends in the United State.

7. You … an English dictionary.

3.6. Use the pronouns instead of the nouns.

1. Irene Green reads much.

2. Her brother is interested in sciences.

3. Julia Johnson is going to be a journalist.

4. Julia and Laura can talk well about everything.

5. My friend likes sport very much.

6. Betty is good at painting.

7. Sheila Shelton does not talk much.

3.7. Use the singular of the nouns.

1. These are my fellow-students.

2. Both his sisters are doctors.

3. My group-mates are happy to be students.

4. His favourite writers are R. Kipling and E. Hemingway.

5. The children have a lot of books.

6. My friends have a rich private collection of paintings.

7. Those women have much work to do about the house. They have their hands full the whole day.

3.8. Compose the questions to the underlined words:

1. My name is Jane.

2. I come from London.

3. You are a first-year student.

4. You are going to be an engineer.

5. Laura talks well about the weather and music.

6. In my dreams I travel to the United States and Canada.

7. I would like to meet people from different countries.

Unit 2