The article considers the examples of possible exercises, aimed for the development of a secondary language personality of students in the process of studying of a foreign language. The notion «secondary language personality», based on the notion «language personality», formulated by Y. N. Karaulov, is one of the key-notions of modern lingodidactics. One of the factors of the developing of a secondary language personality is acquiring of students' background knowledge. The author of the article proposes possible exercises, linked to precedent texts, eponyms, and idiomatic expressions of the English language.