The pollution of the air and of the world’s oceans and the thinning of the ozone layer nowadays are the main problems arising from man’s careless attitude to ecology.
In Russia and the former Soviet republics there are some areas where the environment is in a poor state. The Aral Sea, Lake Baikal, the Kuzbass, Semipalatinsk and Chernobyl are such problematic regions.
For decades nuclear weapons were tested near Semipalatinsk, and the ground is contaminated with radiation there.
More than 20 years ago a pulp-and-paper factory was built on the shore of Lake Baikal. As a result of the pollution, more than 50 % of the world’s purest water has been ruined. The whole ecological system of the lake has change greatly.
After the exploision (взрыв) on the atomic power station
( атомнаяэлектростанция) all people who lived near that place were evacuated due to a very high level of radiation. Some of them died and some have become invalids. And even today the Chernobyl region remains deserted (покинутый), as its very harmful to be there for any living creature.
Ecological catastrophes do a lot of harm to Nature, and, consequently (следовательно), they threaten the future exhistence of mankind.
What everyone must do is to try to do his best in order not to pollute atmosphere, water and soil (почва) – not to leave rubbish in forests and on the shores of lakes and rivers, not use pesticides (пестициды ) and the others harmful soil fertilisers (удобрения), prevent forest fires ...
12. Every country has its national holidays, but there are also holidays that are common for many countries – for example, New Year’s Day that is the first holiday of each new year. In Russia it is the most popular holiday, but in the West people traditionally pay more attention to Christmas.
The celebration of the New Year begins on New Year’s Eve, that is, on the 31st of December. This day people light colored lamps on their decorated New Year’s Trees and have a late dinner that consists of various delicious courses ( блюда) – salats, fried feesh and meet, cakes, and, of cause, champagne. Some people prefer to stay at home just watch TV-programs and concerts. The others like to go to their friends or to different parties and restaurants. But when the clock strikes 12 at night (часыбьют), everybody congratulate each other and gives and gets presents. Sometimes they also go out for a late walk and to make and to watch fireworks..
In Russia we also have holidays commemorating some important events in our history, for example, Victory Day ( on the 9th of May) , Constitution Day ( on the 12 of December) , the Day of the Sovereignty of the Russian Federation ( on the 12th of June). There are also holidays like May Day and Women’s Day ( on the 8th of March). The most important religious holidays are Christmas and Easter. In Russia Christmas is celebrated on January 7, and in Europe and in the USA, on December 25.
In Great Britain there are also many holidays. Banking Holidays happen four times a year: Easter Monday, Whit Monday, the first Monday in August and December 26th. Day. They are very interesting holydays for all the banks and the other official establishments (государственныеучреждения) are closed and people give to their employees (служащим) presents ( thats why they re also called Boxing Days).
The other public holidays celebrated in the Western countries are: Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, Good Friday and May Day. On these days all bank and all places of business are also closed and nearly everyone takes a holyday.
But British traditional national holidays like Pancake Day, Guy Fawkes’ Night, St. Valentine’s Day, April Fool’s Day, Mother’s Day are ordinary working days. ( подробнее про английские праздники)
There are also many holidays in the USA.
The main holiday in the USA is Independence Day, celebrated on the fourth of July. On that day in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted.
Another traditional American holiday is Thanksgiving Day which falls on the fourth Thursday of November. It has been celebrated since the 17th century, when the English colonists decided to celebrate the end of their first year in America and to give thanks to God.
There are the other holydays in the USA besides Christmas, New Year and Easter, which are popular all over the world. For instance, Columbus Day celebrated on October 12.
There are many special holydays, for example, Day of Martin Luther King, Presidents Day, St. Patrick’s Day, and of cause Halloween, which celebrated on October 31.
13. I know many American and English holidays but I want to tell you about Russian ones.
There are plenty holidays in Russia, but my favorite one is New Year’s Day. The celebration of the holiday begins at 12 o’clock AM on 31st of December.
First of all, I like it because it is celebrated during winter vacations and when I think of this holiday, I always remember all the things that I^ve done during this time. I have a lot time to sleep and to walk with my friends. There are a lot of interesting and funny programs, famous comedies and concerts on TV on the New Year’s Eve.
We always begin to celebrate New Year’s Day in a very good mood. First of all, we light colored lamps on our decorated New Year’s Tree and have a late dinner that usially consists of very delicious courses like salats, fried fish or meed, cakes, and, of cause, champagne.
Sometimes we just watch TV till the clock strikes 12, and then we go out for a walk to visit our friends and relatives and to watch beatiful fireworks in the centre of our town.
On New Year everybody gives and gets presents, and like this tradition very much. People become very kind and friendly on this day, because it is a great holiday. Everything outside seems very nice, every home, every shop and building becomes beautiful because, people want to make their home and place of work more bright. At home we all stay up until midnight and much later.
On the next day after the celebraton of New Year people can sleep very long, because they don^t need to go to work.
It is very important to celebrate New Year very well and funny because it is believed that you will pass a new year in the same way as you have met it.
14. I have studied a lot about different famous Americans and British, so I would like to tell you about some of them.
A lot of famous writers and poets were born in America. For example, Jack London, a writer well- known all over the world. He is best known for his book « The Call of the Wild», the story about adventures of a dog in frozen north.
Mark Twain was born in Missouri and he is famous forsuch his masterpieces as «The Adventure of Tom Sawyer» and «The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn».
My favorite science-fiction writers are Ray Bradbury and Robert Shaklee. Ray Bradbury wrote «the Marsian Chronicles». And Robert Shaklee is known for his very interesting short stories about aliens and space adventures.
American animators and illustrators are aslo world-famous. For example, Walt Disney who created such cartoon-heroes as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Pluto. He is the founder of the Disney Park. Chuck Jones is also a popular American animator famous for his Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote.
Many american inventors became famous all over the world for their inventions. Wright brothers are known for their invention, building and flying the first airplane. Henry Ford is known like father of automobile powered by a gasoline engine. Alexander Bell created the first telephone.
I also know some famous architects who lived in America. For example, Thomas Jefferson who is best known as the first president of the USA and the author of Declaration of Independence. But he was also a self-taught architect who designed the Virginia State Capitol Building.
As for actors, directors and singers, America and the Great Britain stand on the first place. Elvis Presley, the king of rock’ n ’roll, was born and lived in America, but the most popular group for all the times and nations, the Beatles, began their career in Britain. Movie- Actors like Al Pachino, Robert De Nero, Tom Cruise, Arnold Schwarzneger and many others live in USA and play in Hollywood blockbasters. The most successful Hollywood film-directors today are Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and James Cameron. Their films are very popular all over the world and in our country as well.
And of cause I can say something about famous politicians who lived in English-speaking countries. Sir Winston Churchill was the prime minister of the United Kingdom in a very difficult period – during the World War II, but he managed to make England a strong country.
George Washington, who was the first president of the United States,
is probably the most famous man in America. There were also such great presidnts as Abraham Lincoln, Teodor Roosewelt and Franclin Roosewelt that did their best to make the USA a leading world-power ( ведущаямироваядержава).
15.TV has good and bad sides. First of all it keeps people informed, we can learn a lot of information watching TV. We can choose from a lot of channels, and TV offers programs for all the interests and tastes. Sometimes we can relax and entertain ourselves by watching TV when we are tired. TV advertisement gives us information about different products and it makes it easier to make a choice as to what things to buy. When we watch TV we learn about the world, famous people and recent global or our home-country news.
But watcing TV also has a lot of disadvantages.
First of all, it’s quite bad for our health, especially for eyes.
Violence on TV has become a vital problem. Some programs and films with violence and murders make people cruel and affects their psych (психику).
Often there is too much advertisement on TV that encourage us to buy things we don’t need at all.
Watching TV occupies all the leisure time of the majority of people. We just watch it, not concentrate, and waste time.
So, to sum up, it can be said that it can be useful and interesting to watch TV, but in reasonable limits.
16. When I don’t need to study at school I have a lot of free time.
Every time my opinion is different and I change my mind many times, before I think up what to do and where can I go. It is quite difficult for me to make a choice.
Sometimes I would like to seat at home and just watch TV or listen to music. Then I don’t want to see anybody, I just want to be alone. Usually it happens when the weather is not good or when I^m in a bad mood. When I am tired, I like to read or to lay and watch something on TV. It is the best time-passing for me, because my eyes and my brain can work, but my body can rest.
The way I pass my time depends on what is the season: in winter I’m less active but in all other seasons I don’t like to seat at home.
On autumn and spring vacations I go to the disco with my friends. There I can relax and meet new people, but my parents don’t like when I go there, because they worry when I come to home very late.
On summer I prefer to do sports every day. I think that summer is the best time for sport, because the weather outside is worm and you don’t get tired at school, so you have a lot of powers and you can do anything you like.
Traveling is my favorite kind of spending free time. I like to go to different places, especially if I havent been there before, to watch the places of interests and to meet new people and make new friends.
I also like to collect different things. Now I collect corks from beer-bottles, but my collection is not very big. I have only 160 kinds of corks.
In my free time I like to sit in the Internet, because its always interesting to find new infomation or to learn something you would like ot know, or just to chat with people who are miles away.
17. Everybody knows that education helps to form personality and prepares one for life. That’s why all countries consider the system of education as a very important part of national politicy.
In Russia there is a nine-year compulsory education, but to enter a university one has to study two years more. Russian children go to School at the age of six. But most of them have learned letters in kindergarden, which is now part of primary school. Primary and secondary schools together comprise eleven years of study.
After finishing secondary school one can go to a lyceum or a gymnasium to get a higher education. All the applicants must take competitive examinations.
Americans also value education very much. Universal access to a high quality education has been one of the nation’s historic goals.
Children go to school at the time they reach six or seven years and study there until they are sixteen or seventeen.
Elementary and Secondary schools consist of twelve year –studing, that makes for about 10 months a year, five days a week and five hours a day. Almost in every elementary school such subjects as English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Music, Art and Physical Education are being taught.
After graduating from secondary schools a growing number of Americans go on studing to get to a higher education in colleges or universities, the most famous of which are the Harvard University, the Yiel and the Columbia university
The British system of education has a very long history.
Children go to school at the age of 5 years and continue to study until they are 16 years old. Boys and girls are taught together in the most schools. Around half of 3- and 4- years-olds in Britain receive nursery education and many children attend preschool play-groups. Compulsory primary education begins at the age of 5. Children usually start their school career in an infant school and move to a junior school or department at 7.
At 7 and 11 years in the primary school (and at 14 and 16 in the secondary school) teachers measure children’s progress in each subject against attainment targets. For each target there are 10 levels of attainment. So instead of 2, 3, 4and 5 marks in Russia puipls get A, B, C, D etc. scores.
The secondary level includes the children from 11 to 18. Here they enhance ( укреплять ) and specify the knowledge they have acquired at primary school. At the age of 16 they can get the General Certificate of Secondary Education qualifications on the basis of examinations and course work.
Puiples who got high examination scores hve chances to continue their education in collges and universities without pay. There are 79 universities in the UK , Oxford and Cambridge are the oldest of them.
18. Nowadays the theatre is less popular than the cinema. Due to the popularity of television and the since appearance of video, theatre has lost a great deal of its attraction. Besides, theatre tickets are very expensive, especially in good theatres. And one should always book ( бронировать ) and buy the tickets for good plays where famous actors star in advance. So we can say that a visit to a famous theatre has become a luxury.
Still, the theatre is an inseparable part of the intellectual life of any country. In every country theatre has its own history and traditions.
There are a lot of theatres in Russia and some of them are popular all over the world. In Moscow theatre-goers try not to miss the first nights at the Vachtangov, Sovremennik, or Khudozhestvenny theatres. St. Petersburg also has a variety of theatres, which meet all the tastes. Those who are fond of drama visit the Bolshoi Drama Theatre. Alexandrinsky Theatre, Open Theatre and many others. People loving classic music never miss a chance to visit the Philharmonic Society Hall.
I like the cinema too, even though it doesn’t create so festive atmosphere as the thetre does. There is one cinema in our town and it’s open very seldom. So every time when I have the opportunity to go to Moscow, I like to go to the cinema there. There are very many movie-theatres in Moscow, modern and old ones, where one can always see some new film. Moscow movie-theatres are large, comfortable and well-decorated. Before a film starts people can sit in a bar and drink something or eat pop-corn. Before a movie you can see the announcements of new films.
Nowadays video becomes more and more popular. I think that its popular depends on the comfort of viewing things on video. You can just buy a video-tape with your favorite film and watch it whenever you want and have time. So you can lay on a sofa when you are watching video, eat or drink anything you like and even talk on the phone Video is very comfortable and relatively unexpensive because you don’t need to pay money every time, when you are going to watch it).
Maybe when the technology developes enough and everyone will be rich enough to allow this, there will a «home movie-theatre» in every house and people would not need to the cinema to enjoy this art.
19. Millions people al over the world spend their holidays visiting museums and art galleries. They visit them to see new things, to know more about other countries, their traditions, about history and even future of the mankind. There are different type of museums : historical, military, nature and many others. The Tower of London is a historical museum. It is the oldest palace, fortress and prison in Europe. It’s also one of the most popular museums nowadays.