Read about It. Рахимбергенова М.Х. - 32 стр.

begun 2,500 years ago, when the bones of the deceased Buddha were            to a supernatural cause. A constant feature of the religious tradi-
distributed as relics to tribal chieftains. Later they were collected and    tions of the world, they often function as signs which testify to the
enshrined in stupas across northern India. Today India is home to innu-      divine approval of the message which is being proclaimed.» Does it
merable shrines to assorted Hindu gods and goddesses who are also im-        have the same common features yours includes?
plored for miracles. In some Islamic countries, as in Catholic regions of
Europe, pilgrimages to shrines remain a popular form of piety. But only             2. The word «miracle» is the key word in this text. Below you
relatively recently have efforts been made to validate reported miracles.    are invited to complete the chart of using the term with different
        The Marian shrine at Lourdes in France – where the first miracu-     verbs. Translate the word-combinations and make up the sentences of
lous cure was accepted in 1858 – has had only 66 of 6,000 healing            your own.
claims authenticated by the shrine’s medical boards. The last was in
1987. In Iran, the Jamkaran mosque outside the holy city of Qom has                                            work
been a point of pilgrimage for a thousand years. But only in 1998 did
mosque officials begin investigating reported cures through its Registry
of Divine Acts of Mercy. So far, officials have validated six miracles
out of 270 claims. Miracles will always withhold their meaning from
doubters and the merely credulous alike. In any case, miracles alone are
never a substitute for faith. But as the United States becomes home to                                          mira
all the world’s religions, miracle stories have acquired a new and almost                                       cle
civic dimension. While they show that religions provide very different
visions of how the transcendent operates in the world, those differences                         cease                         pray
need not divide us: miracle stories also invite spiritual seekers to jour-                                                      for
ney into worlds other than their own. As Gandhi understood, religion is
itself an «experiment with truth.» But miracle stories can be interpreted
only by communities of understanding and memory – that is, traditions.
As an old Hasidic saying puts it, «He who believes all these tales is a
fool, but anyone who cannot believe them is a heretic.» For believer and
skeptic alike, that is the paradox inherent in any religious faith.
                                                                                      3. Look for the synonyms to the following words used in our ar-
                                     (With Patricia King in San Francisco,
                                                                             ticle.
                Sarah Downey in Chicago, Ana Figueroa in Los Angeles,
                                                                                      1. misfortune,
              Heather won Tesoriero and Michael Cronin in New York).
                                                                                      2. piety,
                                                                                      3. plead,
                                                                                      4. revival.
      1. On a separate piece of paper write your own explanation of
the word «miracle». Compare your version with a partner’s one. Is it
                                                                                   4. Give the English equivalents to the words in A and Russian
possible to find anything common in them? Read the definition by the
                                                                             equivalents to the words in B.
Wordsworth Dictionary of beliefs and religions: «Actions, happen-
                                                                                   A: заступничество, необъяснимый, исцелять, знак, сострада-
ings or events exceeding the known powers of nature and attributed
                                                                             ние, канонизация, грешный, почтенный, присущий;
                                   63                                                                            64