4.4.1. Explain the meanings of the words below in which they occur in the text (use the Explanatory Dictionary for this purpose).
tend preoccupation
national evolution
self-confidence informal
intolerance relaxed
(outsiders domestic
ostentatious feeling
property inventor
appearance explorer
illustrate determine
urge decisive
wander insularity
4.4.2. Explain the meaning of the following elements of the text (use Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English and Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary for this purpose):
intolerance of outsiders;
ostentatious wealth;
social mobility;
a microcosm of the world;
the rise of spectator sports;
competition was less important than enjoyment;
the cultural moat.
4.4.3. Comment on the following elements of the text (use Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture, the Encyclopedia Britannica, "Великобритания: страноведческий словарь" for this purpose):
the Reformation;
the Empire;
the growth of a navy at the expense of an army;
the 'insularity' of English art and English music.
4.4.4. Test yourself:
— Read the following and guess what English word is explained in this way (the explanations come from Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English and Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English):
1) 'belief in one's own ability: that you can do things well, that people like you, that you are attractive etc, and not shy or nervous in social situations'.
2) 'to supply a book (an article or a lecture) with pictures, figures etc. that help to describe (or make clear) the subject matter'; 'to make the meaning of something clearer by giving examples'.
3) 'a persistent desire; a conviction that is necessary to follow some particular course of action'.
4) 'relaxed and friendly without being restricted by rules of correct behavior', 'without ceremony'.
5) 'to be the fact that decides something, to be the course of something', to have a strong influence or effect on something'.
6) Having 'a powerful effect on the final result of something'.
7) 'a general attitude among a group of people about something' — such as, for example, 'sympathy, tenderness etc.'.
8) 'common to a whole nation', 'relaxed to a nation as opposed to other nations'.
9) 'a strong interest in something, usually because you are worried about it, with the result that you do not pay attention to other things', 'a state of mind in which you are paying close attention to the matter in hand (often to the exclusion of other things)'.
10) 'possessions, belongings'; 'ownership of land, goods, etc.'.