1.18. Role-play with a partner. Call the operator and ask for the number of

one of the people on the list below. (All of them live in Toronto.)

Write down the number s/he gives you. Then reverse roles. Now you

are the operator and your partner calls you. Use the conversation

below as a model.

Operator: Directory Assistance. What city, please?

Caller: Toronto. I’d like the number of Ms. Amanda Rhodes.

Operator: How do you spell the last name, please?

Caller: It’s R-H-O-D-E-S

Operator: Thank you. And could I have the address?

Caller: It’s 418 Kingston Road.

Operator: The number is 987-0248

Caller: 987-0248. Thank you very much.

Operator: You are welcome.

Caller Operator

Look at this side only!!! Look at this side only!!!

Name: Debbie Abel Abel, David, 724 Eastern Ave .....867-5304

Address: 9 Woodgate Road. Abel, Debbie, 9 Woodgate Rd ….455-4433

Name: Kate Bingham Bingham, Kate 784 Kingston Rd..767-1690

Address: 784 Kingston Road Bingam, Sue, 621 Landmark Dr..321-5090

Name: Carolyn Bryans Bryans, Carolyn, 12 Lakeside Place…896-3427

Address: 12 Lakeside Place Moore, Alex, 845 Cherry St. …. . 211-3952

Name: Carl Watson Watson, Carl, 1989 River St. …...227-5486

Address: 1989 River St. Watson, Robert, 18 Palmgrove Blvd…..

987-2718

1.19. A) Sometimes we read to answer a question. In this case the title is a

question. Before you read, think about what you already know

regarding this question. That way you prepare your mind to receive new

facts. Look at the common North American names below. What do you

think they mean? Make a guess about each name. Then read the essay

to see if you are right.

MacDonald Robertson Long Baker

O’Bryan Clark Cooper Hill

b) After reading the text, think of the Russian names of the origins

similar to those mentioned in the text. Discuss them in class.

What is the Meaning of North American Last Names?

By B.Dominski

Everyone in the United Stated and Canada has a last name. There are over one and a half million last names just in the United States. Where do these names come from? A large number of last names come from Great Britain. They are of English, Scottish, Welsh, or Irish origin. Many derive from the occupations of ancestors, like Carpenter, Cook, Clark (clerk or scholar), and Fletcher (maker of arrows). The most common surname in North America is Smith. Smith derives from ‘blacksmith”, the worker who used to make iron shoes for horses. Smiths also made swards for soldiers, and metal implements. Cooper means “barrel maker”, important work in olden (=old) times when wooden barrels were means of packaging.

Some family names derive from the custom of naming a man by referring to his father. Johnson and Peterson mean “son of John”, “son of Peter”, Mac and Fitz also mean ‘son of” as in Fitzgerald or MacDonald. The O’ in many Irish surnames, like O’Hara or O’Grady, means ‘grandson of.”

Some last names refer to a place or object connected with an ancestor’s home, such as Hill, Field, Church, or Street. Others derive from nicknames describing personal appearance or qualities, such as Short, Big, Smart, Strong, or Longfellow.

Long ago there were no surnames. People used to talk about their neighbours. Sometimes they were confused. “Do you mean David from the river?” “No, I mean David, the strong one.” “Oh, David, Erick’s son.” “No, not David, Erick’s son. David, John’s son!” With time the descriptions became last names: River, Strong, Erickson, Johnson.

The United States and Canada are countries of immigrants, so many last names are not British. Their origins are Arabic, Chinese, Filipino, French, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, Israeli, Japanese, Polish, Serbian, Spanish, and Swiss, to name just a few. Many of these surnames also have meanings, like the Spanish Rodriguez (‘son of Rodrigo’) and the French Dupont (‘from the bridge’).

The ancestors of most Black Americans were brought from Africa and forced to work as slaves. They lost their African names. American slaves became free in 1865. Many chose their new names, like Jones or Lincoln. Some took African names such as Cudjo for a boy or Juba for a girl, both meaning “born on Tuesday.”

Often people do not know the meaning of their names. Sometimes immigrants came from Canada and the United States, and the officials at the border could not understand their names. So they had to invent new names to put on the documents. Nowadays this seems wrong. In North America today there is more respect for the diversity of cultures.