5.Занятие – Беседа
COWBOY:
MYTH OR REALITY.
The daring bank robberies, the exciting chases on
horseback with guns blazing, the handsome guitar-strumming cowboys sitting
around bonfires and the lovely saloon ladies all made exciting viewing. This is
the world of cowboy in thousands of westerns, starring John Wayne or Gary
Copper. These films show the cowboy who plays cards all night, drinks a lot of
whisky and is always ready to join in a fight and use his gun. But the
realities of the Old West were quite different from the illusions created by
Cowboys were often very young illiterate and unskilled
labourers. Some were peasants straight off the boat
from
The man of the West wore a very distinctive uniform.
Every part of his costume had a function: the broad-brimmed hat to keep the sun
and rain off his head, the spurs on the back of his heels to make the horse run
faster, the bandanna around his neck to give protection against the dust if
tied across his nose and mouth or as a tourniquet in case of rattlesnake bite,
the trousers tight on the waist and hip to be comfortable on a long ride.
The cowboy's job was to look after cattle either on
the ranch or while driving them thousands of miles across the country to the
cattle markets. The most important tools of the trade to a cowboy were the
horse and the rope or lariat. Contrary to his movie image, the cowboy seldom
had to defend his honour or demonstrate his manhood
with a six- shooter. Surprisingly, he has a reputation of being cruel to his
horses and cattle. He had to drive the cattle
Упражнения для контроля.
I Answer the
questions:
1. How is
cowboy shown in popular Americans westerns?
2. Who were 19th
century cowboys?
3. What was the
main j ob of cowboys?
4. What
hardships did cowboys endure while driving the cattle to the market?
5. What were
the distinctive features of a cowboy's costume?
6. Why are cowboys considered to be folk heroes.
II Talking it over
Cowboys and long-distance truckers are popular figures
of the American scene. What do they have in common? What makes the truckers
feel like cowboys? Would you like to be a trucker?