Improve your English with Downton Abbey Characters. Season 1. Episode 1.

Сериал "Аббатство Даунтон" - это увлекательный сюжет, прекрасная игра актеров и великолепный английский язык. Предлагаю вам серию заданий к сериалу, которая поможет увеличить словарный запас и разговорные навыки при просмотре любимого фильма.

Your English level needs to be, at least, Upper-Intermediate to do the tasks.

You need to know the word 'entail' to understand this episode. If an estate is 'entailed', only sons of the owner can inherit it , not daughters. If the owner has no sons, the closest male relative inherits it.

1. Match the servants’ jobs with the definitions :

Butler a person who carries things, waits at table and does other ‘male jobs’

Housemaid a female servant who takes care of a lady’s wardrobe, helps her with

getting dressed, doing her hair, etc

Lady’s maid a male servant who ‘takes care’ of a gentleman

Valet the person in charge of all the servants in the house

Footman a servant who mainly does cleaning jobs

Now match the jobs to the names of the servants in Downton Abbey (you will need to use some jobs twice):

Anna, Mr Carson, Thomas, Bates, O’Brian, William, Gwen.

2. Comprehension:

1) Why is the tragedy of the Titanic not just a tragedy, but a complication (as O’Brian puts it) for the Crawley family?

2) What is the Earl’s attitude to the entail? What are his intentions? What are the women’s intentions?

3) Who is the heir of Downton now? Why is his social status an embarrassment to the family?

4) Why do the servants think that Bates in unfit for his job? What is special about Bates’ relationship with the Earl of Grantham? Why is Thomas particularly bitter about the new valet?

What are the family’s hopes for the Duke?

3. Which of these words would you use to describe each of these people?

Haughty and superior (or stuck-up in less formal language), well-mannered, arrogant, snobbish, cynical, irritable, jealous, reserved, overbearing, witty, conservative, conceited, narrow-minded, a troublemaker.

Robert Crawley (the Earl of Grantham)

Cora Crawley

The Duchess of Grantham, Robert’s mother

Lady Mary

Lady Edith

Lady Sybil

Thomas

Carson

4. Discussion:

1) How would your life be different if you had a lot of servants?

2) If you were a servant, what would you find the most difficult about being one?

3) Do you sometimes wish you could have a servant or two? What kind of servant would you like to have?

5. A piece of wisdom from the Dowager Duchess:

Cora: Are we to be friends then?

Duchess: We are allies, my dear. Which could be a good deal more effective.

Do you agree that being allies might be more effective than friends? In what way? Do you think it works in politics? Have you ever had an ally who you would not have as a friend? How did you feel about that? Do you think Cora and her mother-in-law alliance will last long?

The answers will be coming with the next task. Meanwhile, continue to watch the show and enjoy it.