Text 68. Public holidays

There are eight public holidays a year in Great Britain, that is days on which people need not go in to work. They are: Christmas Day¹, Boxing Day², New Year’s Day, Good Friday³, Easter⁴ Monday, May Day, Spring Bank Holiday and Late Summer Bank Holi­day⁵. In Scotland, the 2nd of January is also a public holiday. Most of these holidays are of religious origin, though it would be right to say that for the greater part of the population they have long lost their religious significance and are simply days on which people relax, eat, drink and make merry. All the pub­lic holidays, except Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day are movable, that is they do not fall on the same day each year.

Good Friday and Easter Monday depend on Easter Sunday, which falls on the first Sunday after a full moon on or after March 21st. The Spring Bank Holiday falls on the last Monday of May or on the first Monday of June, while the late Summer Bank Holiday comes on the last Monday in August or on the first Monday in Sep­tember, depending on which of the Mondays is nearer to June 1st and September 1st respectively.

Besides public holidays, there are other festivals, anniver­saries and simply days, for example, Pancake Day⁶ and Bonfire Night⁷, on which certain traditions are observed, but unless they fall on a Sunday, they are ordinary days.

Notes:

1. Christmas Day – Рождество;

2. Boxing Day – день на Святках, когда слуги, посыльные получают подарки;

3. Good Friday – страстная пятница;

4. Easter – Пасха;

5. Spring Bank Holiday and Late Summer Bank Holiday – установленные или дополнительные неприсутственные дни для английских служа­щих;

6. Pancake Day – блинный день;

7. Bonfire Night – ночь костров.

Answer the following questions:

1. How many public holidays are there in Britain?

2. What are they?

3. What holidays are movable?