Category Archive: это интересно

Don’t blame the moon by Lev Sukharevsky, M.D.
A frantic mother brought her 10-year-old son to the children’s clinic. “There’s something wrong with the boy. He’s talking in his sleep. Sometimes he sits up in bed and even walks about the room. His eyes are open but he doesn’t see a thing.”
The boy had all the symptoms of somnambulism—a rather complicated disorder. Before describing the treatment the boy was given, I would like to say something about the disease itself.
Ilya Mechnikov, the Russian physiologist, demonstrated that the human body, while continuing to improve and develop, retains a number of vestigial organs and latent instincts—something inherited from the anthropoid ape, our remote ancestor. According to Mechnikov, sleepwalking—or in the scientific term, somnambulism—is one of these manifestations.
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1. A man removed the hands and the face. He cleaned and oiled them, then put them back in place. How is that possible? — Мужчина снял руки и лицо. Он очистил и смазал их, а затем поставил их на место. Как это возможно?

2. There were two spies escaping from the enemy over the Alps into neutral Switzerland during the war. As they began to feel safe, one spy starts to tell the other what he found out in enemy territory. The other tells him to speak quietly.
“Why?”, asks his friend a little perplexed. “There’s nobody around for miles. I could scream and not a soul would hear us up here!”
“Ah,” replied the other, “haven’t you heard? There are mountain ears!”
What mountain ears? What did he mean?
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Aaron’s rod — жезл Аарона; символ власти; страсть к обогащению
В культуре израильтян жезл был естественным символом власти, как инструмент использовался пастухом для управления и руководства своим стадом. Жезлы, как Моисея, так и Аарона, старшего брата Моисея и пророка Божьего, были наделены чудотворной силой во время эпидемий чумы в Египте. Во время Седьмого Исхода Бог посылает Моисея и Аарона к фараону, наставляя Аарона, что, когда фараон потребует чуда, он должен бросить свой жезл, и тот станет змеем. Когда он это сделал, колдуны фараона аналогичным образом бросили свои жезлы, которые также превратились в змей, но жезл-змей Аарона поглотил их всех. Уолт Уитмен (1819-1892), американский поэт, эссеист и журналист, говорит о нашем времени: «Змея мага в басне поглотила всех других змей, а зарабатывание денег – это наш магический змей, который остался единственным хозяином поля». Д. Х. Лоуренс (1885-1930), английский писатель, поэт, драматург, эссеист, литературовед и живописец, назвал свой роман «Жезл Аарона» (1922). Жезл Аарона так же является названием для различных цветущих растений.
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a baker’s dozen — чертова дюжина
a bed of roses — путь, устланный розами; безмятежная жизнь
a blessing in disguise — неприятность, оказавшаяся благом
a bolt from the blue — неожиданность, гром среди ясного неба
a bone of contention — яблоко раздора
a chink in someone’s armour — чье-либо слабое место
a far cry — большая разница, совсем не то
a feather in one’s cap — предмет гордости, достижение
a fly in the ointment — ложка дегтя в бочке меда
a happy medium — золотая середина
a jack of all trades — мастер на все руки
a load off someone’s mind — камень с души свалился, гора с плеч
a matter of life and death — вопрос жизни и смерти
a raw deal — несправедливое отношение, притеснение
a snake in the grass — змея подколодная
a stab in the back — нож в спину
a storm in a teacup — буря в стакане воды
a stumbling block — камень преткновения
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The Queen’s Working Day
When The Queen is in residence at Buckingham Palace, every day is a working day both for her and for the Duke of Edinburgh. They meet for a quick breakfast at half-past eight when they will discuss each other’s daily programme but, unless they have joint engagements, they frequently do not see each other again until late evening. By 9.30 am Her Majesty is at her desk ready to start the day’s routine.
A digest of the day’s newspapers will have been prepared for her by the Press Secretary with items of particular interest marked or cut out. When Parliament is sit-ting, a report on the previous day’s proceedings will have been delivered by the Vice-Chamberlain of the Household.
Throughout the working day a number of visitors will call ranging from incoming or outgoing diplomats to Her Majesty’s dressmakers, who may arrive to discuss the wardrobe for a forthcoming overseas tour.
Once a month a meeting of the Privy Council is held in order that the Royal Assent may be given to various items of government legislation.
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American Dream is an expression often used to describe the vital ideals of the US population in both the material and spiritual senses.
The American dream is the ideal of freedom and opportunity, the spiritual power of the nation. If the American system is a skeleton of US policy, the American dream is its soul.
The source of the phrase American Dream is considered to be The Epic of America (1931), historical treatise by James Adams written during the Great Depression. James Adams encouraged his compatriots and reminded them of the purpose of America and its achievements. He states: “The American Dream is “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous5 circumstances of birth or position.” (p.214-215)
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To have kittens — терять терпение, нервничать:
She nearly had kittens when she found out that her younger son had climbed out of his bedroom window onto the roof — Ее чуть удар не хватил, когда она узнала, что ее младший сын выбрался из окна спальни на крышу
Company’s coming and Ma’s been having kittens — Приезжают гости, и мать сама не своя
She’d have kittens if she knew how much I paid for this coat — У нее бы глаза на лоб полезли, если бы она узнала, сколько я заплатила за это пальто
She had kittens when she heard about the wedding — Когда ей сказали о свадьбе, она буквально онемела
I almost had kittens I was so mad — Я так разозлился, что готов был рвать и метать
When I heard the news I had kittens. I was hacked! — Когда я это услышал, я рассвирепел. Я был вне себя
She had kittens laughing about it — Она чуть со смеху не умерла
It was so funny I had kittens laughing — Было так смешно, что я думал, что кончусь
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