April Fool’s Day in Mass Media

1. April Fool’s Day in Mass Media • Are the origins of April Fool’s Day clear? • What place does the tradition come from? • In what ancient countries was the April Fool’s Day celebrated? • What was it closely related?

2. Look through some new words, try to remember them. • anxious – беспокойныйcarryout -осуществить • crop, harvest – урожайtremendous, огромный vast - impair – ухудшать bumper -обильный • flavour– вкусweevil - долгоносик • obtain – получить depredation – хищничество endeavor - усилия

3. The last two weeks in -----1(March) are an anxious time for the spaghetti-----2 (farmer). There’s always the----- 3(chance) of a late frost, which while not entirely ruining the----- 4(crop), generally impairs the flavour and makes it difficult for him to obtain top----- 5(prices) in world markets. But now these------6(dangers) are over and the harvest spaghetti goes forward.

4. Spaghetti cultivationhereinSwitzerlandisnot,ofcourse,-------7(carriedout)on anything like the tremendous scale of the Italian industry. • Many of you, I’m sure, will have seen -------8(pictures) of the vast spaghetti plantations in the Po Valley. For the Swiss, however, it tends to be more of a family ------9(affair). Another reason why this may be a bumper year lies in the virtual -----------10(disappearance) of the spaghetti weevil – the tiny--------11(creature) whose depredations have caused much concern in the past.

5. After picking, the spaghetti is ------12(laid out) to dry in the warm Alpine sun. • Many people are often ------13(puzzled) by the fact that spaghetti is produced at such -------14(uniform) length. But this is the ------15(result) of many years of patience and endeavor by plant breeders who have --------16(succeeded) in producing the perfect spaghetti.