Eileen (Great Britain):
I got up at half past seven. I put on my dressing gown, went into the bathroom and turned on the bath taps. After my bath I had breakfast with my parents on the terrace. Our flat's on the fifteenth floor, so the view's terrific. At eight o'clock my mum and I took the lift to the car park under our block of flats. First we stopped for petrol, then she drove me to school. The motorway was really busy — cars everywhere. When I got to school it was raining.
School was OK, except that we had a maths exam before break. I think I failed it. Anyway, after school I took a bus to the city centre to meet my sister, Susan. She became a primary school teacher after she left university last year. We went out for dinner to a Chinese restaurant. Personally I don't like rice, so I ordered chips instead. Susan disapproved. After sweet and coffee we paid the bill and left. It had stopped raining but the pavements were still wet. Susan gave me a lift home, then I did some history homework for the next day, watched a film on the TV and went to bed at about half past eleven. I was really tired!
The Queen's English and the President's English
The American vocabulary during the 19th century began to be exported abroad, and by the 20th century, with its economic, political and technological prominence in the world, America and its language became one of the greatest forces for change and the expansion of English. American infiltration of the British word stock began before talking films, radio, and television were ever thought of, although they have certainly hastened the process.
In recent years many Americanisms have been introduced into British usage: "cafeteria, cocktail, egghead, electrocute, fan". American "radio" has replaced British "wireless". The ubiquitous OK seems to occur more frequently nowadays in England than in the land of its birth and may be found in quite formal situations, such as on legal documents to indicate the correctness of details. These and other Americanisms have slipped into British English in the most unobtrusive way, so that their American origin is hardly regarded at all; since they are used by the English, they are "English", and that is all there is to it.
We can cite as firmly established in Standard British English "DJ", "natural" (something very suitable), "show business", "star" (popular performer) — all originally from the usage of the world of entertainment, enormously important in Modern America. Most words and usages are frequently borrowed from American English quite unconsciously. Even when they are consciously borrowed, the fact that they are of transatlantic origin is soon forgotten. To recognize American coinages sometimes means to get a taste of American history and character: abolitionist, automobile, baby-sit, basketball, chewing gum, credit card, electric chair, home-made, know-how and so on and on.
Many of the new American words added to the English vocabulary are based on old processes, such as compounding existing words, as in "boyfriend, bookstore, and brainstorm". American English also tends to coin and use more freely nouns compounded from a verb and a preposition, such as "blowout, checkup, fallout, feedback", etc. New words are frequently created by shifting the function of an existing word. Nouns are used as verbs: to park, to package, to program, to vacation; adjectives can become nouns: briefs, comics, reds.
The convenient use of noun as verb in "to contact", meaning "to see, call, meet, get in touch with", seems to have originated in America, though it might just as well have done so in England, since there is nothing un-English about such a functional change. But this one word "contact" carries high symbolic importance — there will be no American language, for the simple reason that the Queen's English and the President's English grow together.
20th Century Music Styles
The 20-th century is by all means considered to be the most influential period of time in the development of music. In the 20-th century there were more practising musicians than in all previous centuries taken together. In the 20-th century there was no mainstream but various styles in music. It is not an easy task to describe these music styles. They reflect the world that was constantly changing. Desires and fears of the people of the 20-th century found their outlet in music. The 20-th century opened a new era in the history of mankind, and the new epoch was to be described in new musical forms. The rules were left in the past. In the 20-th century everybody could choose the music that he would enjoy. It was exciting in its adventurous freedom.
In the 1920s in New Orleans beautiful music filled the streets and cafes. The black and poor singers sang about their hard lives. Their music - jazz, ragtime and blues - soon traveled to Europe. It was the time when the black music entered the whites' culture changing the lifestyle of the people all over the world. Ever since the 1930s music was not just a way to relax. From that time on music began to reflect and determine the people's way of life.
Many sub-cultures developed as a result of the fusion of black and white music cultures. Black music evolved in the Caribbean and in the United States, later it moved to Britain. Such styles as reggae, rap, hip-hop to say nothing of the blues were created by the black community. Today many white musicians either perform the black music or use the black melodies in creating their own songs.
In the 1940s and 1950s new styles of music emerged. Swing, rock'n'roll and singers like Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry destroyed the laws of morality that were imposed on the people by the Church for centuries. In the 1950s Elvis Presley became the king of rock 'n' roll in the United States of America. The new music traveled to Europe soon. It was especially popular among the teenagers. The parents were really shocked by "Devil's music" that their children adored. The young people disagreed with their parents, wore their jeans and danced to their rock 'n' roll records.
In the 1960s in Great Britain, in Liverpool a new band was created. It was soon to be known world-wide as the "Beatles". John Lennon and Paul McCartney were writing simple songs and performing them so brilliantly that they gave a new impulse for the development of the musical community. Other members of the famous group were George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Such songs as "Yesterday", "Let It Be", "Love Me Do", and "Yellow Submarine" made them the most popular band not only in England, but throughout the world as well.
From the British Isles their music quickly traveled to Europe, America and other continents. Early in 1964 what soon came to be called "Beatlemania" struck the United States. For the first time British pop music was important abroad. Such U.S. performers as Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley admired the music of the "Beatles".
The long hair and tastes in dress of the musicians became popular in different countries. The freshness and excitement of the earliest days of rock 'n' roll and simple but engaging lyrics of John Lennon and Paul McCartney kept the group at the top of popularity charts for several years. They won recognition from the music industry in the form of awards for performances and songs. Soon they became not only popular, but rich as well. With the money they earned they could experiment with new musical forms and arrangements. The result was a variety of songs ranging from ballads to complex rhythm tunes and songs of social comment. Their music inspired hundreds to create new music.
In 1969 at Woodstock, near New York a great rock festival attracted nearly half a million young people. Most of them were hippies, who shocked the world with their beards, long hair, old jeans and their calls for peace and love. They came to listen to such new stars as Jimmy Hendrix and Joe Cocker. They sang about the war in Vietnam and about violence in the world. The music performed at Woodstock had a tremendous influence on the development of the culture of the youth. The young people rose in protest against the mercantile society. The ideals of the hippies are still living in many hearts. In the middle of the 1990s the Woodstock festivals were revived. But today Woodstock is no longer a great party it used to be in 1969. Young people who come to Woodstock today simply want to see the violent youth of their parents.