America
TheUnited States of America is one of the greatest countries in theworld. Itis situated on the North America continent and is washed by twooceans: the Pacific and the Atlantic. The USA boarders only twocountries —Canada and Mexico.
This great country has a lot of mountains, rivers,lakes. Themain mountains are the Appalachi and the Cordilierra. The longestrivers are the Mississippi and the Missouri. The climate of thecountry is very changeable. In the southern part it is subtropical while the northern parthas a very cold weather in winter.
America has fifty states and one Federal district ofColumbia where the capital of the country is situated. The capital ofthe USA is Washington. Itstands on the Potomac river in the eastern part of the country.The main cities are located at the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. New-York, the largest city of thecountry, is situated on Manhattan island. Other large cities areSan-Francisco, Los-Angeles, Detroit, Chicago, Phoenix andDallas..
TheUSA is a country of highly developed industry and agriculture. Themain industrial centres are Chicago and Detroit, with their greatestautomobile company "General Motors". There are many farms with variousagricultural products. Grains, fruit and vegetables are grown onnumerous fields especially in the South.
TheUSA is a country with great holidays, customs and traditions. It isone of the most beautiful and interesting countries in the world.
BOOKSIN OUR LIFE
«Books and friendsshould be few but good», says an English proverb. «Excepta living man there is nothing more wonderful than a book! The book iscertainly one of the greatest inventions of man. It is a friend and ateacher. We learn many things by reading books. Books teach people tolive. The book is a faithful friend. They form our values and ourcharacters. It gives us an opportunity to imagine the future, to lookinto the past. One can learn a lot by reading books.
Thereare a lot of libraries in our country, where we can choose any bookwe need. Everyone has the right to use public libraries. Thelibrarian is always ready to help you to find a book on any subject.
Talks,exhibitions and other events take place in libraries. Exceptreading special and scientific literature it is a great pleasure toread belles-lettres.
Differentpeople like to read different kinds of it. It depends on one's tasteand character. Some people prefer detectives or science fiction.Others like historical books. Girls and women prefer love stories.Children like comics very much.
As for me, I prefer to read science fiction. It is veryinteresting and exciting for me as my hobby is computing. I read thatsome scientists think that without the computer the 21stcentury would be impossible. Computers are penetrating all spheres ofhuman activity. In many of them they become indispensable. Theycalculate orbits, guide spaceships and planes, play chess, teachpupils, house wives to choose a menu. We often her that theincreasing flood of information will be one of the problems of the21st century. Acomputer may help to solve it too. It’s hard enumerate all theuses the computer may be put too. To my mind any books are our bestfriends. We must treat them with care and they will give us a lot ofpleasure.
LEARNING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Foreignlanguages are absolutely necessary for us nowadays because ofour growing international contacts with all the countries of theworld.
Thereare many reasons why we begin to study foreign language. One of themis to be able to communicate with other people who use thislanguage. We may be planning to travel in one or two countries wherethe language is spoken. If we know the language of a foreigncountry, we can talk to its people and understand what they aresaying to us. If we are working in any branch of science, wenaturally wish to read scientific books and magazines in otherlanguages. Making business nowadays also means knowing foreignlanguages because of the growing international businesscontacts. Knowing foreign languages helps people of differentcountries to develop mutual friendship and understanding. We can alsomake our intellectual and cultural horizons wider through contactswith people of another culture. It is also very interesting toread foreign literature in the original. We can also read foreignnewspapers and magazines and to understand films in foreignlanguages without any help.
Learningforeign languages is compulsory in all the secondary and higherschools in our country. English is a very popular language. Peopleuse it in many parts of the world and there is a lot of businesscorrespondence and literature in English.
Ithink, it is very important to know at least one foreignlanguage — English, German, French, Spanish or any other one.
Myfuture profession.
Finishing school is thebeginning of the independent life for millions of school leavers.Many roads are open before them: technicalschools, institutes and universities. Butit is not easy thing to choose a profession out of more than 2,000existing in the world. Some pupils follow the advice of theirparents, others can't decide even after leaving school.
As for me I have mademy choice long ago. I want to become a computer programmer. My choiceof this occupation didn't come as a sudden flash. During all schoolyears computing was my favourite subject. I have read a lot of booksabout computers. Since seven years I began to play computer games. Ithink computer makes us to think tings properly, it widens anddevelops our mind and imagination. Computer is really one of thegreatest invention of the 20th century. Nowadays we use itin every sphere of our life and we can’t exist withoutcomputer. In the future it will be one of the important profession.It is very interesting occupation but specific and difficult job. Butit seems to me love for computer combined with knowledge enough tosucceed in my work. I’m sure my dream will come true sooner orlater.
My parents are alsoteachers and I know that teaching is a very specific and difficultjob. Teachers do not only teach their subjects. They developtheir pupils' intellect, form their views and characters, theirattitudes to life and to other people. It's a great responsibility.It's not as easy as it may seem at first. But I think that love forchildren combined with the knowledge I'll get at the Institutewould be quite enough to succeed in my work. 17.1'm applying to thePhilological Department and I am sure my dream will come truesooner or later.
TV
Itis difficult to imagine our life without TV,radio, cinema and theatre.
TVis a great force in the world. It enriches1our intellect, gives us opportunities to see the best actors andperformances, to hear the latest news, to listen to politicaldiscussions. TVgives wonderful possibilities for education and helps us to relaxafter a day's work. There is a considerable variety of programs, andwe can choose what we want to see. TVbrings the world into our living room. We can learn more of othercountries, customs, occupations, opinions, problems — you cansee a programme which enjoy you most: current events,documentaries, sport and educational programmes, films, plays, thearts, news, variety shows, etc. You always decide which programme isthe most exciting, valuable, informative or amusing and is worthseeing. Some people think that it is a waste of time watching TV.Besides, it leads, as they say, to poor health through rushed meals,lack of sleep, eyestrain. People begin to forget the art ofconversation. They sit glued to the TVscreen instead of visiting.
As for me I prefer watching action movies in Nakhodka TVand on holidays I enjoy all Russiancanals. My family prefers the news canals and serials. I often likelistening music and watching clips on TV.My hobby is computing I think «ComputerWorld program»is valuable for me. I try to know the latest models of moderncomputers in the world. To my mind it is very exiting. TVis the greatest invention of man.