IV. Additional task

III. Follow-up activities

Role-play the following situation. You are a teacher of history that participates in a panel discussion dedicated to the ethical principles of treating historic facts. Decide what opinion you are going to fashion and express your point, delivering a persuasive speech. You have to stick to a time limit of two minutes, thus it is advisable to make use of various emphatic constructions (similar to the ones given in Ex. 4) to highlight the main points of your speech.

Make up a detailed plan of the text and ask your group-mates two questions based on each part of the text.

4. Comment on the meaning and functions of the following emphatic constructions. What idea is emphasized in each case?

1. We might well call America a Columbian mosaic because it was the Italian admiral who effectively bound together all of the world’s continents with the shipping lanes of one continuous ocean set.

2. The great majority were young men; only in the late 16th century did the proportion of women reach one-third.

5. What is the author’s attitude to the influx of white people in America? Does he give any value judgments or does he try to be impartial? Prove your point by providing evidence from the text.

1. (a) You are a historian. Write an article about the history of America’s population. Try to present the facts in an objective manner. (b) You are a journalist. Write an article about the history of America’s population. Give your personal view of the issue.

2. You are a teacher of history. Explain to your students why America’s population is called a “lopsided mosaic” and how it has been formed.

Task 1. Read the following jokes and retell them a) presenting the information as historic facts; b) presenting the information as your own subjective opinion.

The Fate of Discoverers

Christopher Columbus did not know where he was sailing. When he landed he did not know where he was. When he got back to Spain he did not know where he had been.

Is it easy to be original?

Soon after Columbus discovered America, he was in company with Mendoza, the Grand Cardinal of Spain; and, as he was then the hero of the day, it was natural that the greatest honours were assigned to him.

A shallow courtier present felt indignant that a foreigner was loaded with so many honours and abruptly asked Columbus whether he thought the Indies would have never discovered, if he had not had the good fortune to find them.

To this Columbus made no reply, but, taking an egg, invited the company to make it stand on one end. Everyone attempted it, but in vain.

Then he took the egg, struck it upon the table so as to break the end, and left it standing on the broken part.

“Everyone might do that,” exclaimed the courtier. “There’s nothing in that.”

“Quite right,” replied Columbus, “but the only difference between me and everyone is, I did what others might have done.”

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