Читай новости и учи английский – Thousands protest in Kyiv against Russian intervention

Dear friends, I wish we could watch a video about Oscar ceremony today, but it seems to be so far away and so unreal at the moment. Last week we could speak only about snipers, this week it’s time to speak about war but hope for peace. Let me introduce a video from CBS Evening news.

Background – names, organizations and events you should know about:

The Secretary of State heads the U.S. Department of State, principally concerned with foreign affairs and is considered to be the U.S. government's equivalent of a Minister for Foreign Affairs. The fourth most important position in US government (excluding the President).

John Forbes Kerry is the current United States Secretary of State. Kerry was the candidate of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election but lost to George W. Bush.

Peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland (Like the Crimean Peninsula)

In order to understand this video we’ll need to know the following words, all connected with war and military activity.

Милые друзья, хотелось бы мне, чтобы сегодня мы могли посмотреть видео о церемонии вручения Оскара, но она сейчас кажется столь далекой и нереальной. На прошлой неделе мы могли говорить только о снайперах, на этой неделе пора говорить о войне, но надеяться на мир. Разрешите представить вам видео вечернего выпуска новостей CBS.

Полезная информация – имена, организации и события, которые вам следует знать.

Государственный секретарь США возглавляет Государственный департамент США – ведомство внешней политики США – и считается постом аналогичным должности министра иностранных дел в большинстве других государств. Государственный секретарь является четвертым по важности (без учета президента) лицом.

Джон Форбс Кэрри – нынешний Госсекретарь США. Кэрри был кандидатом в президенты от Демократической партии в 2004 году, но проиграл Джорджу Бушу.

Peninsula – остров – часть суши, которая окружена с трех сторон водой и имеет связь с материком. (напр., Крымский полуостров)

Чтобы понять это видео, Вам необходимо знать следующие слова, все они связаны с войной или военной деятельностью.

declaration (of war)

an official or formal statement, especially about the plans of a government or an organization

оглашение (войны)

invasion

the act of an army entering another country by force in order to take control of it

вторжение

to make up

to form something

составлять

occupation

the holding and control of an area by a foreign military force; seizure

оккупация

to violate

to go against or refuse to obey a law, an agreement, etc

нарушать

on the brink of (disaster)

if you are on the brink of something, you are almost in a very new, dangerous or exciting situation

на грани катастрофы

intervention

to interfere usually by force or threat of force in another nation's internal affairs especially to compel or prevent an action

вторжение

threat

the possibility that something bad or harmful could happen

угроза

high alert

heightened state of readiness

повышенная готовность

reservist

a member of a military reserve

резервист

to rally

to arouse for action

митинговать

hands off!

keep off! forbear! no interference or meddling!

руки прочь

mourning 

toshow and feel sadness because somebody has died

траур

to bring down

to make somebody lose power or be defeated

свергнуть

And now replace the highlighted phrases in the following sentences by the ones we learnt. If you have difficulties with the task, try watching and inserting necessary phrases at the same time.

Today I want to pay your attention to this small detail. In one sentence we can see “it’s” and “its”. Does it look like a mistake to you? Well, it’s not. They both are very easily explained.
It’s – a contraction, short form of it is (in this case) in Present Simple or Present Continuous or it has in Present Perfect of Present Perfect Continuous
Its – a possessive pronoun which expresses the meaning that something belongs to it.

For example:

Сегодня я хочу обратить ваше внимание на эту небольшую деталь. В одном предложении мы видим слова "it's" и "its". Выглядит как ошибка? На самом деле, это не так. Оба случая очень легко объяснимы.

It’s – сокращение, краткая форма it is в Present Simple или Present Continuous (в этом случае) или it has в Present Perfect or Present Perfect Continuous

Its – присущее местоимение, означающее, что что-то принадлежит it (оно - то есть ему).

Например:

It’s a beautiful day, so let’s go outside. (it is)
It’s been a while since I saw you. (it has)
Do you remember the restaurant we went to last week? I forgot its name. (the name of the restaurant)
Pick up the puppy carefully: its leg is broken. (the leg of the puppy)

And Jeff, for all their patriotism they are well aware that Ukrainian forces don’t have the firepower or hardware to match the Russian military.

Do you remember: “One for all and all for one”? Well, it’s not about it =). What does this phrase actually mean? Oxford Dictionary says that for all is an idiom, which means despite.
So when we want to say that something happens even though it might have been prevented by one or other thing, we use the following synonymic phrases:

Помните "One for all and all for one" (Один за всех и все за одного). Что эта фраза означает? Оксфордский словарь говорит, что for all – это идиома, которая означает despite (несмотря на что-либо). Итак, если мы хотим сказать, что вот случается, хотя могло бы быть остановлено каким-то образом, мы используем следующие синонимические выражения:

                                                            For all
                                                            Despite + Noun
                                                            In Spite of

For all his luck, Tom didn’t win the game.(Tom is lucky, but… Несмотря на везение Тома...)
Despite the deep concern of the politicians, the dictator occupied neighboring country. (The politicians are deeply concerned but… Несмотря на глубокую обеспокоенность политиков...)
In spite of the protests, the government passes new taxation bill. (There were many protests but… Несмотря на протесты...)

Language Task

Сегодня Language Task будет более традиционным и не связанным с новостью. Итак, в следующих предложениях выберите правильный вариант.

1.    Have you seen my phone? – It’s / Its over there.
2.    Have you seen my phone? – It’s / its cover is in the bedroom, but I’m not sure it’s / its there.
3.    For all/ Spite of the simplicity of the language, the book is really hard to read.
4.    In spite / Despite the fact that I wasn’t hungry, my grandma made me each a three course dinner.
5.    It’s / Its been raining for days in London. For all / despite of the rain, we managed to see all the places of interest.
6.    Be careful with that cup, it’s/its contents are really hot. – If you mean coffee, just say so.
7.    It’s / Its really annoying to be interrupted all the time.
8.    For / In spite of the great reviews, the movie was boring.
9.    It’s / Its very hard to express my feelings in just 20 words.
10.    For all / In spite the explanations, I didn’t understand a thing.

Yesterday I found out that our teacher from Lviv Iryna Salo was interviewed by FOX news on the situation in Ukraine. So here’s bonus #2. If you still haven’t seen this interview on our social network pages, you have a chance to check it out here.