高中英语 Module 6 The World’s Cultural Heritage-Section 1 Background Readings素材 外研版选修7.docVIP

Module 6 The World’s Cultural Heritage Part Two Teaching Resources Section 1 Background Readings for Module 6 The World’s Cultural Heritage 1. Conkers: （英国的）康克戏（一种儿童游戏，双方各用绳子系住一个七叶树果，以击破对方的七叶树果为胜） Playing conkers is a British game which is centuries old. In the autumn, boys collect the fallen nuts of the Horse Chestnut tree, which are large, round and brown and commonly known as conkers. They make a hole in the middle of each nut from top to bottom and thread a piece of string through it, knotting it underneath. They then find a partner who has a conker and play the game like this: Boy A takes his conker string at the top and holds it at arm’s length, so that the conker dangles down free at the other end of the string; Boy B then tried to hit this conker with his, with the arm of breaking it. When B has had his turn, he holds his conker out and Boy A tries to hit his conker. This continues until one of the conkers is broken. The first time a new conker breaks another conker it becomes a “oner”, and if it goes on to break others it becomes a “twoer”, a “threer” and so on. Children are very proud of conkers that break many others. The conker “season” is from the end of September on into October, when the horse chestnuts fall from the trees. School playgrounds are often covered with broken conkers, as many pairs of boys play the game. Playing conkers is an important part of British intangible cultural heritage which has been passed down orally from generation to generation. 2. Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic(盖尔语) is one of the languages in the Celtic branch of Indo-European family. It was introduced into Scotland from Ireland around 500AD. By the 11th Century, it was the dominant language throughout Scotland, but since then has been declining, due to the influence of England and the English. In the 2001 Census, the population of Scotland was 5,062,011; of these 4,968,729 people said they had no knowledge of Gaelic, and only 31,235 said they could speak, read and write