Task 14. The word Ides comes from an old Roman term meaning “to divide.” For the Romans, it marked the middle of the month and was often associated with the full moon. The Roman year originally had only ten months and began in March, and so the Ides of March was the first full moon of the new year. But over time, one particular date became unforgettable: the Ides of March in 44 BC. On that day, Julius Caesar—one of the most powerful leaders in Roman history—was killed in the Senate. According to the ancient historians Suetonius and Plutarch, Caesar had been told by a fortune teller that something bad would happen to him on the Ides of March. William Shakespeare later made this moment famous in his play Julius Caesar, popularizing the phrase “Beware the Ides of March!” and turning the date into a symbol of fate, betrayal and looming danger. Shakespeare based much of his play on Plutarch’s Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, which was translated into English by Thomas North in 1579. So, there is a reason why the phrase “the Ides of March” sounds mysterious. We are not just talking about a date. We are remembering a sad moment in ancient history, and, at the back of our minds, thinking of Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare and the ancient historians Suetonius and Plutarch. Can you think of a modern English word which sounds like / is connected with one of the ancient Roman words used for marking days of the month? Write one word in the box without any articles or punctuation marks.

Перевод задания: Какое современное английское слово похоже по звучанию или связано с одним из древнеримских слов, использовавшихся для обозначения дней месяца?

The word is calendar (слово — calendar, «календарь»). It is connected with the Roman Kalends, the first day of the month.

Ответ: calendar