My Family 1. Family is the most precious thing for me, because this is where I find love & understanding, & support. 2. Our family is quite large by modern standards. 3. It consists of four people - my parents, my younger sister & me. 4. My parents are quite young, about 35, & my sister is four years younger then me. 5. My father is a civil navigator. 6. He spends most of his time at work, so the time when he is home in the evening is something special for my sister & me. 7. My mother is a teacher, & she has more time to spare than my father. 8. We share our problems & secrets with them, & they often give very good advice. 9. ThereтАЩ s often a lot to do about the house, but we are always willing to help with the chores, & everything is done quickly & efficiently. 10. Most of all I like our late dinners or early suppers, when we all gather round the table, & the light of the kitchen lamp creates a relaxed & cosy atmosphere. 11. We talk, & joke, & have fun, because we are all friends. 12. Sundays are also very nice. 13. If the weather is fine, we go skiing in the forest in winter, or to our тАШdachaтАЩ in summer. 14. In fact, itтАЩs just a small cottage on a small plot of land, but we like it a lot, & like to work in the garden, planting, digging, gathering strawberries & tomatoes. 15. But, if I were asked about our family hobby, I would name reading. 16. Reading is a perfect combination of business & pleasure, of intellectual work & entertainment. 17. ThatтАЩs about all. IтАЩm lucky to have such a loving & friendly family, & when I have a family of my own, I will try to make it work on the same lines. Me & My plans for the future. 1. Finishing school is the beginning of the independent life for millions of schools leavers. 2. Many roads are opened before us: vocational & technical school, institutes & universities. 3. But, itтАЩs not an easy thing to choose a profession out of more than 2,000 existing in the world. 4. Some pupils follow the advice of their parents or friends, others canтАЩt decide even after leaving the school. 5. As for me I made my choice long ago. 6. I specialize in the humanities. 7. Social Sciences & English have always been my favorites, but my chief interest is law. 8. My dream has always been to become a lawyer. 9. My choice of this occupation didnтАЩt come as a sudden flash. 10. As a child, I listened to my aunt & uncle discussing professional matters. 11. Little by little, I got interested in the subject & began thinking of law as my prospective occupation. 12. For me, choosing a career is not only a matter of future prestige & wealth. 13. In my opinion, a job should be interesting & socially important. 14. That is the reason why I have chosen the profession of a lawyer, which gives plenty of opportunities to help people in trouble. 15. In addition I should say, whatever profession I choose to follow, the greatest pleasure will surely come from feeling that I am useful to my country. Country that I want to visit. 1. I havenтАЩt been to Great Britain yet, & IтАЩd like to visit this country very much, because I like the English language, & IтАЩ m curious to learn about everyday life of the people who speak this beautiful language, & just see the sights. 2. HereтАЩs what I know about this country so far. 3. The full official name of the country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland. 4. It is a constitutional monarchy - the nominal head of state is Queen Elizabeth the Second, but the real law-making body is the Parliament, consisting of two Chambers, the House of Commons & the House of Lords. 5. The royal family is preserved as a kind of a tourist attraction. 6. The country is situated on the British Isles, which lie off the north-west of Europe. 7. They are separated from the continent by the English Channel, better known by its French name - La Manche. 8. Now, there is a tunnel under the Channel, efficiently binding Great Britain & the continent. 9. The climate is rather mild, influenced by the Gulf Stream, & famous English lawns & gardens are of some special shade of green. 10. The UK is a very highly developed industrial country, with such branches of industry as ship-building, manufacturing of textiles, machinery, electrical & electronic equipment, & many others. 11. The population of the UK is about 55 million people . 12. There are two major political parties in the UK, Labour & Conservative. 13. The Conservative are in office now. 14. I know a lot more about the UK, but this information has been taken from books & mass media. 15. IтАЩd like to visit the country & see everything for myself. My hobby 1. People get a kick out of doing most extraordinary things. 2. The most widespread hobby is collecting. 3. I canтАЩt say that IтАЩm really mad about this or that kind of leisure activity. 4. I tried collecting stamps, they are so nice & informative. 5. But gradually my interest just faded away, & I gave my collection to my friend for his birthday. 6. Then I moved on to collecting recordings of the pop groups I liked, but after a while it seemed pointless because music radio stations play old & new hits all the time. 7. I go on doing it, but I wouldnтАЩt call it a hobby. 8. I like dancing at some club or disco, but itтАЩs just a way of spending time, not a hobby really. 9. Best of all I like reading. 10. ItтАЩs a very quiet occupation, & it does not require any particular skill or ability. 11. But thatтАЩs what gives me the greatest pleasure. 12. I enjoy reading all kinds of books - historical novels, travelogues, biographies, novels, science fiction, detective stories, poetry, etc. 13. Someone said that reading to the mind is what exercise is to the body. 14. Books canтАЩt be replaced by all the mass media in the world. 15. Reading is a perfect combination of business & pleasure, of intellectual work & entertainment. 16. So, frankly speaking reading is my hobby. Ekaterinburg 1. E is one of most wonderful & interesting cities in Russia. 2. ItтАЩs the capital of Urals, & it is dear to the hearts of our citizens. 3. It had a rich history, & when you walk along the quiet streets of old E 4. You can feel the past everywhere. 5. The sights of E are countless, so I will mention only my favourites ones. 6. I like to walk window-shopping down Main Avenue, glittering & full of hurrying passers-by. 7. I like to sit on a bench near the monument to Popov - I like the monument itself, but even more I like to watch the people passing by, & people that are waiting for their dates. 8. E is a cultural centre. 9. There are many theatres, picture galleries, film & sound recording studios. 10. Most interesting cultural events, shows, exhibitions take place in E. 11. E, of course, is an educational, scientific & industrial centre. 12. There are a lot of enterprises producing a wide range of goods, such as machines mechanizms & so on. 13. What I like most about E is the pulse of life, of change, of movement. 14. E is the place where things are happening in all spheres of human activity - itтАЩs the heart of Urals, full of energy. 15. I just love this city. My school. 1. There are many different types of school in our country now- specialised school, gumnasiums, lucees, colleges, private school. 2. They offer different curricula, & you can choose the subjects you need. 3. Our school is secondary school, & it is quite good. 4. All in all, it is quite comfortable for studying. 5. The classrooms are well-equipped, there are chemistry & physics labs, a language lab with tape recorders, headphones & mikes. 6. The teachers are very knowledgeable, & the lessons were always interesting. 7. So we have everything at our disposal, we only have to study. 8. And we study hard, especially in the senior forms. 9. IтАЩm interesting both in natural sciences & the humanities, as I believe a person should have a broad general education. 10. Beside the school building there is a stadium. 11. We have football matches & all kinds of competitions there. 12. Naturally, it isnтАЩt just all work & no fun. 13. We have a rock band, & often organise dancing parties with flashing lights & everything. 14. We have different contests, including the one between teams of witty persons. 15. Some of the jokes are quite funny. 16. There is an amateur drama company, & they often stage short sketches by humorist writers. 17. So, our school life is rather eventful & active, leaving no time for bedroom. 18. I like my school & I тАШm going to miss my classmates, the easygoing atmosphere, & all the fun we have. My Working Day. 1. A personтАЩs schedule depends on his or her type of activity, & is organised accordingly. 2. It is rather flexible, & can be change any time, if necessary. 3. I will try to give you a snapshot of a typical day in my life as a school student. 4. The shrill ringing of an alarm-clock wakes me up at half past six. 5. I do not jump out of bed, but daydream for about 5 minutes more. 6. Then I do jump out, & keep jumping, pushing up, sitting up, & generally warming up for about 20 minutes. 7. Then a quick shower, & a very light breakfast - I just canтАЩt make myself eat much in the morning. 8. So, itтАЩs a soft-boiled egg, a toast, & a cup of tea or coffee. 9. Then off to school. 10. ItтАЩs the usual routine of classes & breaks, a longer break at 11 a. m. for lunch, & school is over at 1 or 2 p. m., depending on the number of classes. 11. Sometimes I stay at school till 3 p. m. for some optional class or something extra-curriculum. 12. Then IтАЩm home, & itтАЩs dinner, if I may call it so. 13. My folks are both at work, so left to my own devices I have what I manage to find in the fridge. 14. Then I fool around for an hour or so browsing in some magazine or a book, or listening to some quiet music. 15. After that IтАЩm ready for the most important part of my day, my work actually. 16. I study, I dig up information, I solve tasks, find answers to question - do my homework. 17. By 8 p. m. I feel tired. 18. Fortunately, by that time folks have arrived, & we eat. 19. That is the only proper meal of the day for me, & the only time to talk with my parents. 20. Then an hour or more of study, some TV, & by 12 p. m. IтАЩm in bed. 21. Sometimes I have to stay up late, if I have some difficult task to solve. 22. So this is it, in a nutshell. 23. Not very eventful, but itтАЩs a working day, isnтАЩt it? Russia. 1. We are living in a rapidly changing, multinational & multicultural world. 2. Barriers keep falling, people & cultures mix, but one thing remains basic & dear to my heart - my homeland, Russia. 3. No one can deny that it is a great country in all senses of the world, with its area of 17,1 million square kilometres, & the population of 150 million people. 4. It spans two parts of the world, Europe & Asia, serving as a bridge between them. 5. It is washed by the seas of the Arctic & Pacific Oceans. 6. The variety of climatic zones it the north down to the subtropics in the south. 7. It has immense natural resources, such as coal, oil & gas, all kinds of mineral deposits, great forests & rivers, it has everything. 8. There are many branches of industry in Russia - machine-building, steel production, chemical & electronic industries, & numerous others. 9. Unfortunately, agriculture is in a rather poor state, & we have to import foodstuffs, & even wheat. 10. The potential of Russia & its people is great, & with reasonable economic mechanisms & laws the country will overcome the present difficulties, & will occupy the place it deserves in the world community. 11. The cultural heritage of Russia is rich & varied/ 12. The names of Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Tchaikovsky are known all over the world/ 13. RussiaтАЩs history, like that of any other great country, is full of glory & blood. 14. Russia twice saved Europe from the Dark Age - stopping the Tartars, & crushing the German fascists. 15. IтАЩm proud of my country, I love Russia, my motherland, & will do the best I can to improve its economic & political situation. An Outstanding Person of Russia. 1. Russia gave birth to many wonderful people, who made great contributions to all fields of human activity, such as science, art, various discoveries, & so on. 2. The world knows our composers, ballet dancers, writers. 3. As for me, I think one of the greatest men, who influenced Russian & world culture, was Alexander Pushkin. 4. I believe that in his prose & poetry he actually created the modern Russian language, the language we use today. 5. He was born a nobelman & lived a life of a nobelman. 6. He studied at an exclusive school, lycee. 7. He visited all those balls, & parties, & receptions at court. 8. But he managed to feel & know the souls of ordinary Russian people of all walks of life. 9. His power of observation was so great, that in his works he drew a comprehensive picture of life in Russia at that time. 10. ItтАЩs a strange phenomenon that poets do not live long. 11. I think that is because the candle burns so brightly & so fast. 12. Pushkin was killed at the age of 37 at a duel that was a result of intrigue & scandal connected with the name of his wife. 13. But poets do not die. 14. If you asked Russian people who their favourite poets is, most would answer ВлPushkinВ». 15. Small kids learn to read using his fairy tales, & this admiration of his poetry just stays on. 16. His works are read & enjoyed by all those who love the Russian language & Russia. Sport. 1. Sport is, or rather should be, an important part of everyoneтАЩs life. 2. Here we should distinguish between big-time sport & just keeping fit. 3. We canтАЩt all be professional athletes, but we should pay attention to out bodies. 4. Our body needs exercise just as it needs food. 5. Everyone chooses physical according to oneтАЩs tastes. 6. Some people just jog. 7. Others prefer more active kind of exercise, such as football, basketball, volleyball, martial arts. 8. Tennis has become very popular, & it really is a good workout for all groups of muscles. 9. Fitness centres, body building & shaping gyms are full of pumping iron. 10. There are some specific British & American sports that are rather interesting - golf, cricket, baseball, American football. 11. Tastes differ, but one thing is for sure - if you want to be healthy & fit, you canтАЩt do without sport. 12. I start every day with a half hour of exercise - push ups, sit ups, chin ups, warming up all my muscles. 13. Then a quick shower, & I feel as fit as a fiddle. 14. Twice a week I have a two-hour workout in a gum on various training devices & just lifting weights. 15. Once a week I visit a swimming pool . 16. ItтАЩs enough for me to feel fit. 17. Of course I would like to take up Alpine skiing or para-gliding, but I have neither time nor equipment for that. Holidays. 1. Every family has its own holidays, connected with some great events in its history. 2. For ordinary people holidays are mostly the chance to relax & have a good time. 3. There are some almost universal holidays, such as Christmas & New Year. 4. WeтАЩve got 2 favourite holidays New Year & Easter. 5. The New Year is noisy & festive. 6. Christmas trees are decorated with tinsel, toys, & strings of colored light bulbs. 7. Children put stockings under the trees for Santa Claus to fill them up with gifts. 8. ItтАЩs a family occasion - the whole family usually gathers, gifts are exchanged. 9. There are parties, dancing, champagne drinking, fireworks & firecrackers. 10. At midnight everyone at a party stops whatever they are doing to greet the New Year. 11. ItтАЩs the most colorful & merry of all holidays. 12. I canтАЩt help mentioning Easter, which is connected with the idea of spring & revival of nature. 13. We exchange painted eggs, special cakes, & generally make merry. 14. There are also our birthdays parties- we celebrate him or her with birthday, singing Happy birthday to you, present our gifts & have our family dinner. 15. All holidays are nice, because people forget their worries for a while, & enjoy themselves. London. 1. I havenтАЩt been to London yet, & IтАЩd like to visit this city very much, because I like the English language, & IтАЩm curious to learn about everyday life of the people who speak this beautiful language, & just see sights. 2. HereтАЩs what I know about this city so far. 3. L is one of the greatest, most colourful & interesting cities of the world, & it tops the list of the cities IтАЩd like to visit. 4. I know a lot about it- I have studied its map, seen a lot of postcard, talked to people who have been there. 5. Sometimes I close my eyes & imagine I walk down Piccadilly, Regent or Oxford street, cross the Thames by London or Tower bridge, or knock on the door of #10 Downing street, just to say ВлHiВ» to the Prime Minister. 6. The city is really large- more than 8 million people live in the so- called Greater L- that is, L & its suburbs. 7. The oldest pert of L is the City, the financial & business centre of the country. 8. The finest part of L is the West End with long streets of fine shops, theatres, picture galleries, restaurants, beautiful parks. 9. St. James Park, Green Park, Kensington Gardens, & Hyde Park with its SpeakerтАЩs Corner where you can go up on a platform, & speak freely on the topic that you find vital. 10. The East End is something quite different. 11. It is the industrial part of L, there are factories & docks there, & blocks of flats where working people live. 12. Naturally, L is a cultural, scientific, & industrial centre of the country, & it means that a lot of interesting things are taking place there all the time. 13. It is rather pointless trying to describe all the beauties & sights of L. 14. As they say, itтАЩs better to see something once than to hear about it a thousand times. TV. 1. Watching TV is certainly the most popular adult leisure activity everywhere 2. 83% of our citizens asked in the survey say they watch TV at least once a month. 3. Most people regard TV as a form of recreation, they just want to relax & get some thrills. 4. And the best thing for this is home. 5. TV offers a very diverse stream of information & entertainment- news, documentaries, cartoons, movies, sports, games. 6. Some people spend hours watching everything that is shown. 7. I am not a TV addict, I prefer radio, because you can do something & listen to it at the same time. 8. Mostly itтАЩs music, which helps up to keep a good spirits, the latest news & some useful information. 9. But what I like best is a good intelligent book. 10. Someone said that reading to the mind is what exercise is to the body. 11. Books cannot be replaced by all the mass media in the world. 12. Reading is a perfect combination of business & pleasure, of intellectual work & entertainment. 13. So, I switch off TV & open a book. Cinema. 1. Cinema is the favourite & most widespread form of entertainment both for children & adults. 2. Everyone finds smth that satisfies oneтАЩs tastes. 3. The viewers are transported to the screen, & take part in the action, performing the most extraordinary deeds that they would never do in real life. 4. People.identify themselves with the characters, & they worship the movie stars , whom they want to imitate. 5. There are films that are real works of art. 6. They require some thoughtful viewing. 7. When I want to go to the cinema I usually see the programme what films are on. 8. Then I phone my friends & we discuss what films to see. 9. I prefer feature films but also enjoy cartoons & popular science films. 10. To see a good love story, musical or detective film is a very pleasant way of spending free time. 11. The last film I saw was the screen version of the novel Gone with the wind- by M.Mitchel. 12. ItтАЩs an old film, but still it enjoys great popularity. 13. The cast is led by great actress Vivien Leugh. 14. I was deeply impressed by acting & the film itself. 15. It hasnтАЩt lost its visual splender by the passage of time. Books 1. People get a kick out of doing most extraordinary things. 2. I canтАЩt say that I am really mad about this or that kind of leisure activity. 3. But if I were asked about my or our family hobby I would name reading. 4. In modern society books became overshadowed by cinema, TV, video as entertainment ,& by computers as a source of information. 5. Of course, computers offer a much more perfect & economical way jf storing & retrieving data. 6. But the artistic value of books is undeniable. 7. Only by reading can a person learn to think, to feel, to behave as a human being. 8. I enjoy reading all kinds of books- historical novels, travelogues, biographies, novels, science fiction, detective stories, poetry, etc. 9. If I were to name my favourite genre or writer, it would be hard for me to do, but in American literature I would single out M.Mitchel. 10. Her novel Gone with the wind- is so human, so touching, informative, touching & poetic. 11. In fact, itтАЩs one of the greatest books about love. 12. Someone said that reading to the mind is what exercise to the body. 13. Books cantтАЩt be replaced by all the mass media in the world. 14. So, I switch off TV, radio, my computer & open a book. Outstanding Scientist. 1. Russia gave birth to many wonderful people, who made great contributions to all fields of human activity. 2. As for me, I think one of the greatest man, scientist- was A. Sakharov. 3. He could teach & inspire. 4. His influence was consisting & increasing at the time of his untimely death. 5. Sakharov received the honour & glory of his country for his outstanding work in physics which led to the Soviet hydrogen bomb. 6. When he saw abuse of power he fought the authorities who had recently honoured him. 7. He was treated with unbelievable indignity & cruelty. 8. A.Sakharov set a standard for the modern hero. 9. Few will achieve his level, but many will fight injustice because of his example. 10. He risked not only his career but physical harm by speaking out when too many others were silent. 11. His life was a feat, his death, a soldierтАЩs death, was symbolic. 12. So, I consider him one of the best representatives of humankind. Protection of environment. 1. People have been polluting their environment since time immemorial. 2. Toxic chemical waste, nuclear waste, deforestation, greenhouse effect, thoughtless exploitation of natural resources- all this has brought mankind to the age of abyss. 3. The Earth can be saved only by united efforts of major industrial powers. 4. A lot has been done & is being done in this respect. 5. You can see the mark Ozone- friendly on most aerosol cans. 6. But the hole in the ozone layer keeps on growing. 7. The whales are still being killed in spite of the protest actions of Greenpeace. 8. I personally think that solution is in safety precautions. 9. Such as installing hi- tech purification systems & waste free production methods. 10. On the other hand the most of Western countries are overproducing. 11. Production & consumption should be balanced. 12. That is my point of view. 13. Besides, people should be conscious of their environment. 14. Just donтАЩt litter, & that already will be a step towards protecting the environment. My friend. 1. IтАЩve got a lot of friends, but my best friend is Paul. 2. He is 18, he has an oval face, straight nose, blue eyes & attractive smile. 3. So people find him good- looking. 4. Paul is particularly known for his warm & friendly character. 5. Whenever a friend is in trouble he never fails to help. 6. He is always open- minded &interested in other people. 7. The only thing I donтАЩt like about P is that he smokes. 8. But he is a person of a strong character & IтАЩm sure he will get rid of this bad habit. 9. In general my friend is an interesting person. 10. He is well- read, he is fond of music, he plays basketball & football well. 11. Paul has a great sense of humour & I like to spend time with him. 12. ItтАЩs impossible to be depressed with him around. My pets. 1. People get a kick out of doing most extraordinary things. 2. IтАЩm lucky to have a cat called Duysya. 3. ItтАЩs a he- cat. 4. He is 2 years old, but is as playful & energetic as a kitten. 5. He takes part in our family activities & is good to have around, generally. 6. On Sundays our family takes 30 minutes drive to our dacha in the country. 7. In fact, itтАЩs just a small cottage on a small plot of land, but there is my friend- dog Romka. 8. He is a big Caucas dog. 9. He guards the house from the burglars. 10. I forgot to mention that my grandparents live there. 11. They are on pension now & live in the country the whole year. 12. They keep a lot of animals- a cow, a calf, one sheep, 2 lambs, & a dozen of hens with the cock. 13. I like them all, like to watch for their behavior- they are very funny. 14. The only thing that troubles me is the fact that we need to collect hay for them. 15. ItтАЩs not an easy thing, itтАЩs a very hard work. 16. But if you visit Banya in the evening you will feel as fit as a fiddle. 17. So IтАЩm looking forward for summer, for holidays. Russia. Moscow. 1. We are lining in a rapidly changing, multinational & multicultural world. 2. But one thing remains basic & dear to my heart - my homeland, Russia. 3. No one can deny that it is a great country with its area of about 17 million square km, & population of 150 million people. 4. It is washed by the seas of Arctic & Pacific Oceans. 5. It has a lot of natural resources, such as coal, gas, great forests, rivers, it has everything. 6. There are many branches of industry in Russia- machine- building, steel production, chemical & electronic industries & others. 7. Unfortunately, is in a rather poor state, we have to import food stuffs, even wheat. 8. The cultural heritage is rich & varied. 9. The names of Tolstoy, Dostoeyevsky, Tchaikovsky are known all over the world. 10. The capital of Russia is Moscow. 11. It is dear to the hearts of all our citizens. 12. It is rather pointless trying to describe all the beauties & sights of Moscow. 13. But what I like most about this city is the pulse of life, of change, of movement. 14. Moscow is the place where thing are happening in all spheres of human activity- itтАЩs the heard of Russia, full of energy. 15. IтАЩm proud of my country, I love Russia my Motherland, & will do the best I can to improve its economic & political situation. 16. , |