based on p.23-24, ex.B Read the text and mark the sentences below as True or False If you say that something is a white elephant, you mean to say it's a burden to those who possess it. The story of the origin of this expression is distant and unusual. Back in the days when Thailand was known as Siam, white elephants were highly prized animals. Whenever one was found, it was automatically given to the king. What is more, it was considered a serious crime to neglect or mistreat a white elephant, in fact, even riding it was an offense. As a result, keeping these rare animals became extremely expensive, especially as they didn't do any kind of work. Eventually, some clever king had an idea of how he could get rid of a useless animal and at the same time punish a courtier he disliked: he simply gave him a white elephant as a special royal gift. The courtier could not refuse the present and the care of the animal easily ruined its new owner financially. The idiom was brought from Siam to colonial England. Nowadays it is often used to describe expensive but impractical public buildings. Siam was the country to the north of Thailand. The idiom white elephant is used to describe people's most valuable possessions. In the past, white elephants were valued and protected. In the past, riding a white elephant was a crime. The king gave a white elephant to the courtier because he wanted to praise him. Nowadays the idiom white elephant refers to expensive but impractical buildings.

Задание

basedonp.23-24, ex.B

ReadthetextandmarkthesentencesbelowasTrueorFalse

Ifyousaythatsomethingisawhiteelephant, youmeantosayit'saburdentothosewhopossessit. Thestoryoftheoriginofthisexpressionisdistantandunusual.BackinthedayswhenThailandwasknownasSiam, whiteelephantswerehighlyprizedanimals.Wheneveronewasfound, itwasautomaticallygiventotheking.Whatismore, itwasconsideredaseriouscrimetoneglectormistreatawhiteelephant, infact, evenridingitwasanoffense.Asaresult, keepingtheserareanimalsbecameextremelyexpensive, especiallyastheydidn'tdoanykindofwork.

Eventually, somecleverkinghadanideaofhowhecouldgetridofauselessanimalandatthesametimepunishacourtierhedisliked: hesimplygavehimawhiteelephantasaspecialroyalgift.Thecourtiercouldnotrefusethepresentandthecareoftheanimaleasilyruineditsnewownerfinancially.TheidiomwasbroughtfromSiamtocolonialEngland.Nowadaysitisoftenusedtodescribeexpensivebutimpracticalpublicbuildings.

Siamwasthecountrytothenorthof Thailand.[True|False]
Theidiomwhiteelephantisusedtodescribepeople'smostvaluablepossessions.[True|False]
Inthepast, whiteelephantswerevaluedandprotected.[True|False]
Inthepast, ridingawhiteelephantwasacrime.[True|False]
Thekinggaveawhiteelephanttothecourtierbecausehewantedtopraisehim.[True|False]
Nowadaystheidiomwhiteelephantreferstoexpensivebutimpractical buildings.[True|False]

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