Learning foreign languages. Somebody said:
"English is a language that came from nowhere to conquer the
world…" These words are really true and I will prove it. Foreign
languages are absolutely necessary for us nowadays because of our growing
international contacts with all the countries of the world.
There are many reasons why we begin the study of a foreign language. One of
them is to be able to communicate with other people who use this language. We
may be planning to travel in one or two countries where the language is
spoken. If we know the language of a foreign country, we can talk to its
people and understand what they are saying to us. If we are working in any
branch of science, we naturally wish to read scientific books and magazines
in other languages. Making business nowadays also means knowing foreign
languages because of the growing international business contacts. Knowing
foreign languages helps people of different countries to develop mutual
friendship and understanding. We can also make our intellectual and cultural
horizons wider through contacts with people of another culture. It is also
very interesting to read foreign literature in the original. We can also read
foreign newspapers and magazines and to understand films in foreign languages
without any help.
Learning foreign languages is compulsory in all the secondary and higher
schools in our country. English is a very popular language. People use it in
many parts of the world and there is a lot of business correspondence and
literature in English.
I think, it is very important to know at least one foreign language —
English, German, French, Spanish or any other one. In conclusion I would
like to say that now there are more than 60 countries that speak English as
the dominant or official language. My purpose is to show you why the English
is a world language. The present day world status of English is the result of
two factors: the expansion of British colonial power, which peaked towards
the end of the 19th century, and the emergence of the US as the leading economic power of the 20th century. English is the chief language of
international business and academic conferences, and the leading language of
international tourism. English is the main language of popular music,
advertising, home computers and video games. Most of the scientific,
technological and academic information in the world is expressed in English.
Reading plays a very
important role in the life of people. It educates a person, enriches his
intellect. Books help to mould a person's character, from his moral values.
Besides, books bring pleasure and delight. It's a wonderful way of spending
spare time. Sometimes we read the same book again and again. Thanks to books
we learn to express our thoughts and feelings more exactly. The book is
faithful and understanding friend. It can be put aside and taken up again at
any moment. There are books which have been our favorites since childhood.
People are fond of reading different kinds of books. Some people enjoy
reading detective stories, adventure stories, novels, biographies, other
prefer classics. Fairy tales are enjoyed and read by children, books about
adventures and journeys are enjoyed by those who are fond of traveling.
Legends and myths are read by those who are fond of history. Some people
developed much time to reading books and reading becomes their free time
occupation, their passion. Through out the centuries books had an enormous
influence on the minds and hearts of people. Books bind together ages,
personalities. Thanks to books we can talk to people who lived in different
countries and ages. Through reading books we hear their voices, thoughts and
feelings. The book is the surest way to bring nations together. It helps
people achieve understanding, trust, cooperation and friendship. Books awaken
the young reader's imagination. They develop literary taste, arouse interest
and curiosity, the reader's laugher as well as his tears. They teach the
readers to be truthful, friendly, honest decisive, conscientious, frank,
firm, fair and serious.
People reflect their life in art. Real,
live art appeals to the heart and mind of man, to his feelings and ideals and
it proclaims life. Art is truthful only when it serves life, only when the
artist hopes to arouse a warm response in the heart of man. Art belongs to
the people. The history of art from the Renaissance to our days confirms
this. There are nearly a thousand museums in Russia, many of them being world
famous. The largest collection of Russian art is the Tretyakov Art Gallery in Moscow. It is a real treasury of canvases by prominent Russian painters. It
contains priceless collections of icons, 17-20th centuries paintings and
sculptures and contemporary Russian painting and sculpture. One of the
largest and most remarkable museums of the world is the Hermitage, more than
three hundred halls housing its exhibitions of articles of the greatest
artistic value. The museum's collections now comprise work of various periods
in the development of art, from ancient times up to the present day. Famous
painters from different countries are represented there. The Russian Museum in St. Petersburg is another picture gallery which contains the richest
collection of Russian paintings of 18-19th centuries and the best collection
of Russian sculpture. In the Pushkin Museum of the Fine Arts in Moscow the art of the Ancient East and Western Europe is represented. This museum
possesses a unique collection of copies of the finest sculptures of the old
time. It is in this museum that many famous foreign expositions of the Fine
Arts are displayed almost every year. Music plays an
important role in our life. It was born together with people. It reflects the
world around us by means of combination of tones, rhythm and melody. Music
can help to relax and to have a rest; it provokes our deepest emotions and
fills our hearts with kindness, joy and happiness. First musicians used
primitive instruments: whistles, pipes, and drums. Then harps, bagpipes,
flutes, and horns appeared. Nowadays modern musicians use various
instruments: violin, guitars, saxophones, trumpets and pianos. Some people
are fond of classical music, waltz, marches, country-dance, organ, folk,
spiritual music. Others are interested in modern music: jazz, blues, rock,
hard rock, and rap, rave. I like rap music. I admire it. It enriches me. I
hate hard rock. I think it is annoying. I don't understand it. I find it
noisy and dreadful. I am impressed by classical music. When I am in bad mood
I listen to classical music. When I have free time I like to listen to
romantic music. My friends share my tastes in music. I like having background
music while I'm working. I often go to concerts, buy records, cassettes and
CD's. People are fond of traveling. They
spend their holidays traveling. They travel to see other countries and
continents, to learn a lot about people's traditions, to enjoy picturesque
places. It is interesting for them to discover new things, different ways of
life, to meet different people, to try different food. Those who live in the
country like to find themselves in large cities with their shops, cinemas,
crowds of people. City-dwellers usually like a quiet holiday by the sea or in
the mountains with nothing to do but walking and bathing, laying in the sun.
Most travelers and holiday makers take a camera with them and take pictures
of everything that interests them - beautiful views of waterfalls, forests,
unusual plants and animals. These photos will remind them of the happy time
of holiday. These are many ways of traveling - by train, by plain, by ship,
on foot. Everyone chooses his favourite one. My favourite way is traveling by
plain. And not because it is very comfortable. It is exciting. I also like
traveling by train. I've traveled this way a lot. When you are in the train you
can see the beauty of nature. I envy the tourists because I think that they
study geography traveling and visiting different parts of the world. They can
tell you many things which you didn't know before. They are interesting
people from whom you can learn much new for yourself. Any kind of travel
helps you to understand many things that you can never see or learn at home.
As for me I'd like to have a coach tour to some foreign country. Coach tours
are planned and I'll have a chance to do a lot of sightseeings and have a
good rest at the same time.
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My future profession. The end of school is the start of our independent life
and the beginning of the most serious examination we have passed. In order to
do well at this examination it is necessary to choose the right road in life
which will help us to do our best and to work for the benefit of our country.
Many roads will open before us: technical schools, institutes and
universities. Everybody will have a chance to develop and use knowledge and
education received during the school years. There are a lot of different
trades and professions, and each one must choose the occupation in which he
or she can best develop one's own talent and abilities. Our society needs
well-educated people. Nowadays the profession of an economist has become one
the most useful, modern and interesting. That is because our country is
moving towards market economy and different forms of property are being
established. There is a place for an economist at every plant and factory. An
economist exercises different functions. He or she can determine the
structure of an enterprise and calculate costs as well as probable profits.
An economist analyses the condition of the market and prospects for its
development in the future. His or her practical use of electronic computers
is a must. The activities of an economist at an enterprise range from
bookkeeper control the financial state of an enterprise and perform a lot of
useful calculations. A manager is an actual administrator. Having a good command
of the economic situation in the region and the demands of the market a
person with an economist's diploma may establish his own business, or he may
become a partner of a joint venture. It is very important for an economist to
know a foreign language, especially English. That is because contracts
between our country and many countries of the world are becoming wider with
every coming day. Every economist has a chance to go abroad or to deal with
foreign businessmen coming to our country. But to become a good economist one
must work hard and get not only theoretical knowledge but also great
practical skills.
My school. I had
just left school and I would like to tell you a few words about it. I went to
school in 1988. This school I studied in is a three stored building. When you
enter the school yard you can see poplar trees and beautiful flowers. To the
right of the school building there is a big playground. When the weather was
fine we had our classes in physical training there. When you enter the school
you come in to a large hall and a cloak-room, there we left our coats,
rain-coats and jackets. On the ground floor where is also a school library
and a gym. The class rooms, the assembly hall, the teachers room and the
canteen are on the upper floors. On the walls of the corridors you can see
the portraits of famous writers, poets, scientists and our school wall
newspaper. It is done by the pupils of our school and has a lot of
interesting things to read. I learned different subjects at school: Russian,
English, math, physics, chemistry, geography, history and some others. My
favorite subjects were Russian and English. I also liked literature. I was
good at these subjects and usually got good marks in them. I worked hard at
English lessons: read and translated texts, made up dialogues, did a lot of
ex, but best of all I liked different tests, I was fond of grammar. But I was
poor in chemistry. I always failed to learn formulas and terms properly. I
liked my class, everybody was so friendly easy to get along with. I was on
good terms with my class maids and we often spend our free time together.
Much was done by people to reach the
present state of human development. It is necessary to say that great
contribution to the development of the world science and culture, literature,
music and painting was made by the Russian people. The names of Russian
scientists and writers, poets, composers and painters are
world-famous-Pushkin, Lermontov, Chehov, Levitan. This chain can be endless.
It is almost impossible to name a branch of science in the development of
which the Russian scientists haven't played the greatest role. Lomonosov, the
founder of the Moscow University was an outstanding innovator both in the
humanities and sciences. Mendeleev's greatest discovery was the Periodic
System of Elements. Popov invented radio. Sechenov and Pavlov were the
world's greatest physiologists. Russia is rightly called the mother of
aviation and cosmounatics. Names of Tsiolkovsky, Korolov and Gagarin are
symbols of new space era. People in many countries admire paintings,
portraits and landscapes Surikov, Levitan, Repin works of our Russian writes
and poets are translated into many languages. I want to tell about one of the
greatest Russians. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, an outstanding Russian composer,
was born in Votkinsk in 1840. He was fond of music since his early childhood.
His mother sang him beautiful songs and taught him to play the piano. He
graduated from the Petersburg Conservatoire only in 1866 because of his poor
living conditions. He was the best pupil of Anton Rubinstein. Wen the Moscow
Conservatoire was founded Pyotr Ilyich became a professor there. He created
wonderful music: 10 operas, 3 ballets, 6 symphonies, 7 large symphonic poems
and many other musical pieces. , a new type of opera, was a great success all
over the world. Margaret Thatcher was the longest
Prime Minister of the 20th century. Her style and her views appealed to mane
British people who had lost confidence in the welfare state and in the
direction the nation had taken. In some ways she was the first genuine leader
the nation had had since Churchill. Margaret Thatcher began her career in
politics, when she became a Conservative Member of Parliament. in 1979 she
was elected as Britain's first woman Prime Minister. From the start, her
autocratic style earned her the nickname of "The Iron Lady". Her
abrasive manner has attracted some criticism. During the Falklands War of
1982, however, Margaret Thatcher's militant patriotism found her many supporters,
and she became something of a popular hero-figure, much as Winston Churchill
had been in the Second World War. Margaret Thatcher was re-elected Prime
Minister in the general elections of 1983 and 1987. Andrew Wyet is one
of the prominent living American painters. He was born in 1917. The son of
illustrator – Andrew is the leading member of the dynasty of painters that
includes his sisters, their husbands and his own two sons. He won fame at the
age of 12 for his illustrations of "Robin Hood". He was 20 when he
first exhibited his paintings. Andrew studied with his father and was
strongly influenced by him. His father's style of illustration expresses
sentimentality. But very early the young artist gravitated a way from his
teacher. Wyet's style is both precise and minute in detail, he is a realist
influenced by photography. He painted portraits, landscapes, seascapes and
domestic scenery. His favorite media are tempera and water colors. His works
are easily recognized by dimly lit and deserted landscapes in tones of grey
and brown which convey the feeling of loveliness and solitude. His most
famous works are "Christina's world" and "Inland shell".
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Problems of Youth. The age
between 14 & 17 is considered to be one of the best periods in people’s
life. Grown-ups remind it with excitement & tenderness. But most teens
wouldn’t agree with this opinion if they were asked. Youth is the time when a
person is trying to find his place in the world. And during this search he or
she comes across different problems which are as important as those of the
adults. The youth of the 21st century face almost the same problems which
were acute to their parents when they were young. These problems are quite
serious & they can’t be considered trifles.
One of
them is a generation gap. Every generation is unique in its experience. It
has its own ideals and a system of values concerning every aspect of human
life. Adults always complain that the young people do not blindly accept the
ideals of their parents. Different generations take different directions.
Grown-ups always teach the young how to live. But the latter want to live
their own life. And it generates the conflict of the generations.
Drinking
& taking drugs have become the most actual problems of the modern
society. As for drinking , teenagers don’t realize the harm it does to their
health , they just don’t want it to the privilege of grown-ups but unlike
grown-ups they are notable to drink responsibly . They really believe that
certain drinks will make them look like they’re accepted. So, we can say that
the low level of self-appraisal is the main reason of drinking & drug
problem.
In fact,
teenagers have got a lot of work. They’re busy with their studies, household
chores, some of them have a paid job. But there’s no time for fun & they
want to be entertained at least sometimes. This excessive work leads to an
inner conflict which’s usually expressed in the form of an open, direct
protest against the world of grown-ups.
Our age –
is time of making a choice what we will be in future, what we want to do and
how. So we have to choose the university to have better education and future
profession. If you have a good education you’ll be always perfect at you
profession and of course you’ll earn much money, make your life better. And the
best way to prepare is to study better at school. The school ages are also
very difficult. We do a lot of homework and even have no time to go for a
walk or do whatever we want.
And of
course, communication can be one of the most important problems of all young
people of today. If you don’t like noisy clubs and other places of
entertainment, you can make friends without leaving your apartment. The
Internet gives such an opportunity. But the problem is that people can sit at
the displays for 24 hours without eating, sleeping, having a rest, working or
learning properly. I am sure, that it’s a great problem of the present and
future.
So as
you see it’s very difficult to be young nowadays as indeed it always was. But
you only can be young ones and some wonderful things can happen to you only
when you’re young. So it’s better to enjoy youth while it lasts.
Holidays. Every
nation and every country has its own customs and traditions. But there are
also international holidays which are celebrated in all countries world-wide.
They are: Christmas, New Year, Easter and St. Valentine's day. Christmas
comes but once a year. Christmas is a traditional family reunion day. On this
day, many people attend a church service, open their presents and eat a
Christmas dinner. In Britain, Christmas is the most important public holiday
of the year. It combines the custom of giving gifts with the tradition of
spending this day with the family. Every year a huge Christmas tree, the gift
of the Norwegian people, graces Trafalgar square. In Russia Christmas is
celebrated on the 7th of January. On this day people celebrate the birthday
of Jesus Christ. New Year is a public holiday but it is not marked with any
particular custom in Britain and America, yet it has a joyful celebration in Russia. People stay awake until after midnight on December 31st to watch the Old Year out
and the New Year in. Many parties are given on this night. Theatres, night
clubs and streets are crowded. Easter is one of the most important Christian
holiday. It is traditionally associated with Easter eggs and with the coming
of spring, and most churches are specially decorated with flowers for the
service held on Easter Day. There are also some special holidays which are
usually celebrated in a particular country. Let's start with the traditional
British holiday Pancake day. But people don't only eat pancakes on this day,
they run with them. In many towns in England pancake races are held every
year. These races are run by housewives. The most American holiday is
Thanksgiving day. It was first celebrated in early colonial times by Pilgrim
Fathers after their first good harvest. Thanksgiving is a day when the family
eats a large traditional dinner, usually with turkey and pumpkin pie. In Russia we celebrate Women's day on the 8th of March. On this day men are supposed to do
everything about the house and cook all the meals. I think it is very
important to follow special traditions, because they untie people. n Britain traditions play more important part in the life of the people than in some other
countries. English are proud of their traditions and carefully keep them up.
There is a big difference of people between America and Britain. An Englishman in America is respected, Americans love his accent and his country.
An American in England is thought to be a little strange because of his
behavior and his language. To the English their private lives are important,
their holidays are important, their garden are important, their animals are
important. For American the work is the most important thing in life. And in England you can hear the most extraordinary excuse not to go to work, for example "My
dog's got a cold". In English houses the fire-place has always been the
centre of interest in a room. For many months of the year people like to sit
round the fire and watch the dancing flames. Above the fire there is usually
a shelf with a clock and some photos. The English are a nation of
stay-at-homes. There is no place like home. The Englishman is never tired to
say "My house is my castle". The Americans are different. I think
they are more open, they speak their minds, so if they don't like something,
they actually tell it directly. Not like the British, who might think one
thing and say another. Americans start conversations with people in the
street, in the subway; they are more enthusiastic. American customs underline
independence and freedom of the nation. Russia is the country of the dramatic
beauty. To my mind, the main traits of the real Russia character are
hospitality, "open heart", "golden hands", wise Russian
fairytales reflect their wisdom. The Russians are a very talented nation. Russia gave the world beautiful names of Pushkin and Lermontov, Tchaikovsky and Repin,
thousands of names of world famous poets, writers, composers, scientists.
Every country is also known for its food. England is noted for its pudding,
bacon, marmalade, porridge and five-o'clock-tea. America is the country of
Coca-Cola, hamburgers and chewing gum. Traditional Russian cooking is worldfamous
for such dishes as okroshka,…
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Sports. Sport is probably as old as the
humanity itself. It has been developing with the development and growth of
the mankind people all over the world. If you want to feel fit you'd better
go in for one kind of sport or another. I should admit that everyone must do
all he can to be healthy. Good health is better than the best medicine, as
the old Latin proverb says. All kinds of physical exercises are very useful
to make our bodies strong and to keep ourselves fit and healthy.
Sport not
only helps people to become strong and to develop physically but also makes
them more organized and better disciplined in their daily activities. It
makes for a healthy mind in a healthy body sport helps people to keep in good
health. We all need to exercise. Even if you don’t plan to make a career in
sport you still have to practice. Regular exercises give you more energy.
That is why many people who suffer from general tiredness should take more
exercise than more rest. Exercise makes you feel and look better. The best
exercise is one, which is involved, in repeated movements: walking, jogging,
and swimming. Bending and stretching will add flexibility and feeling of
lightness.
As for me
I try to take all these things into consideration and as a result of it I go
in dancing studio, play badminton and sometimes volleyball, ride bicycle and
swim. I think that dancing is better than sport if you just want to keep
feet, but not make a sport career. Because sometimes sport is dangerous if
you don’t know how to do exercises properly. For example, if you run too much
your calves can become too big or you even can get injury. So you better go
to a sport clubs where experienced instructor will help you to achieve good
results.
I like to dance very
much and I think it’s a best way to be healthy and to keep feet for girls.
Because dancing develops all groups of muscles and helps to keep good
deportment. Besides it makes one feel confident and helps to overcome
shyness. So I am in good form and hope to be in future.
My favourite
holiday. Many
great holidays and anniversaries are celebrated in our country. On the 1st of
May there is May Day — the holiday of spring and labour. On the 8th of March
there is Women's Day — the holiday of all women and girls. We celebrate Day
of Independence of Russia on the 12th June and Day of Russian Constitution on
the 12th of December. Now people celebrate some religious holidays such as
Christmas and Easter. But my favourite holiday is New Year's Day, of course.
It is a really wonderful holiday. People get ready for this holiday long
before it. They buy New Year trees and decorate them. Every year a fairy-tale
comes to every house and every family on New Year's Eve. Children and even
grown-ups wait for this day because they believe that all their wishes and
desires come true and different wonderful miracles happen on that day.
On New Year’s Eve people get together to see “the old year out and the new
year in”. They eat tasty food, drink champagne, dance and have a good time
together. They wish each other happiness and good luck in the new year and
put the presents under the New Year tree. Children like this holiday very
much. They wait for New Year presents, which, they believe, Father Frost
brings to them. Everybody is merry on that day and wishes the next year to be
good and happy and all one's troubles and disappointments to remain in the
past.
Great Britain is
situated on the British Isles. It consists of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and is one thirtieth the size of Europe. Great Britain is surrounded by seas on all sides and is separated from the continent by the
North Sea and the English Channel.
There are many rivers in Britain. They are not long but some of them are
deep. The longest river is the Severn. There are many mountains in the north
of England and in Scotland but they are not very high. The highest mountain
in Great Britain is Ben Nevis. There are many lakes in Scotland. The most beautiful is Loch Lomond.
Great Britain has a very good position as it lies on the crossways of the
sea routes from Europe to the other parts of the world. There are many
countries which are connected with Great Britain by sea. Thanks to Gulf Stream the climate of Great Britain is mild. It is often foggy and rainy. The summer
is not very hot and the winter is not very cold.
Great Britain is a highly developed industrial country. It lives by
manufacture and trade. Its agriculture provides only half the food it needs,
the other half of its food has to be imported. Britain is one of the most
highly industrialised countries in the world: for every person employed in
agriculture, eleven are employed in mining, manufacturing and building. The
main branches of British economy are engineering, mining, ship-building,
motor vehicle manufacturing, textile, chemistry, electronics, fishing and
food processing. The industrial centres of Great Britain are London, Manchester, Eirmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield and others.
The United States of America is another important English-speaking country. It consists of fifty different
states and the District of Columbia joined together under one government.
The USA covers an area of almost 9400000 square kilometres and is twice as
large as all the countries of Europe combined. It is placed in the middle of
the North American continent and is washed by the Atlantic Ocean in the east
and the Pacific Ocean in the west. Placed between two oceans, the USA has a free access to the trade routes of the world.
On the whole the USA has a continental climate. It is at the same time one
of the coldest and one of the hottest countries, one of the wettest and one
on the driest.
The flag of the United States is called “Stars and Stripes”. The 50 stars
represent the 50 states and the 13 stripes represent 13 original English
colonies, which in 1776 became free and independent of England.
The USA is governed by Congress and by the President. Congress consists of
the Senate (100 senators — 2 from each state) and the House of Representatives
(435 Congressmen). The President, who is also the head of the government and
the commander-in-chief of all the armed forces, is elected every four years.
The capital of the United States is Washington. It is situated on the Potomac River not far from the Atlantic coast. Washington is not a very large city. Such
cities as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, Philadelphia, Detroit, New Orleans and some others are larger.
The USA is one of the most developed countries in the world. It is a country
of great contrasts. There are a lot of unsolved problems in the country such
as unemployment and inflation, but nevertheless it is one of the greatest
countries in the world.
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Protection of Environment. It is a small world we live in, and it is high time for
all of us to realize it. Since ancient times people have been trying to
produce more and more to increase human wealth. Nobody noticed that we were
destroying Nature by using it as the source of raw materials, and as the garbage
can for our waste. Nature seemed to be boundless and endless... Far from it
as it turned out. Millions of cars and smoky factories pollute and spoil the
air we breathe in. Pollution is hanging over big cities like an ugly brown
cloud. It is hurting our lungs as well as the life of animals, birds and
plants. People need wood and paper, so we cut down our forests. We don't know
what to do with waste materials of our industry, so we pour them into water,
bury them into soil, and shoot them into atmosphere. We pollute the water we
drink, and the land we live in. People build nuclear power stations and carry
out nuclear tests. As a result, radiation represents one of the main problems
nowadays. The rapid growth of population in the world may turn into another
grave problem very soon. The speed, with which we are using up our
non-renewable resources like oil and gas, is appalling. With the development
of our civilization we have become dangerous to the planet and to ourselves.
What must we do not to find ourselves in a dirty desert in the near future?
This question cannot be ignored. Some scientists are pessimistic about our
problems. They suppose that we have already reached the point of no return.
Others are more optimistic and believe that our ecological problems are
solvable because more and more people begin to understand how dangerous they
are. There is increasing awareness of people of the real state of the planet.
In many countries environmental protection agencies and research centers are
set up. Such organizations as "Green Peace" and "Friends of
the Earth" try to put pressure upon those governments that do not care
for ecology in their countries. The humankind will be able to survive only if
we all understand that environmental protection is our universal concern.
Mass media. The
most popular sources of entertainment and information are the press, radio,
tv, and movies. The press plays an important part in the life of society.
Millions of Americans in their free time read newspapers. The English word
‘newspaper’ does not really describe everything that you can read in this
kind of publication. Newspapers include not only stories about recent events
(news), but opinions, advertising, and other non-news items. The first
American newspaper was called Public Occurrences Both Foreign and Domestic.
This paper was first published in Boston in 1690. Now there are about 2,600
newspapers published in the USA. The New York Times, the Washington Post, and
the Los Angeles Times are three of the most important daily papers that
describe foreign and domestic news. The radio does not interfere with your
activities. You can listen to the radio while doing some work about the
house, reading a book or driving a car. On the radio one can hear music,
plays, news, and different commentary and discussions called ‘forums’. At a
forum several authorities exchange views on social, economic and political
problems. A peculiar feature of the American radio is soap opera. It is a
sentimental serial drama that describes domestic problems and which is for
housewives. Soap opera is usually broadcast every day. Most people find soap
opera boring. There ate a lot of games on the radio. They are called ‘panel
games’. Radio brings also cultural and educational programs. Many programs
are made up of classical music. Television is a ‘chewing gum for ears and
eyes’. There are many serials on TV in the USA. They appeared in the 1950s.
TV games- attract a large audience, too. During TV quiz programs TV viewers
answer different questions. There is a lot of education on television. For
example, you can take a TV course in history, political economy, management,
banking and in many other subjects, or learn a foreign language by TV.
Educational TV films and programs are shown in schools and colleges as a part
of the curriculum.
Moscow is the
capital of Russia. It is one of the biggest and most beautiful cities in the
world. Moscow is a modern city now. The population of the city is about 9.8
million people. Moscow is a political centre, where the government of our
country works. Moscow was founded in 1147 by Yuri Dolgoruky. The total area
of Moscow is about nine hundred square kilometres. We say that Moscow is a
port of five seas, as the Moscow—Volga Canal links Moscow with the Baltic,
White, Caspian and Black seas and the Sea of Azov. Moscow is an industrial
centre too. There are many factories and plants in it. One of the best-known
plants produces many lorries, and the other one produces cars. The Bolshoi
Theatre is one of the famous theatres all over the world. If you are fond of
painting you can go to the Tretyakov Art Gallery or to the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum and see a lot of interesting portraits and landscapes there. We say
that the Tretyakov Art Gallery is a treasure-house of Russian art. Young
people like to visit the Central Military Museum. There are many tanks, guns
and war documents there. One can see the Kremlin and Red Square in the city.
There are many fine buildings, wide streets, green parks, large squares,
churches and monuments in Moscow. It is necessary to mention such famous
monuments as monuments to the great Russian writer Alexander Pushkin and to
the first Russian printer Ivan Fedorov. Visiting the capital a lot of
foreigners from all over the world come to see these monuments. One of the
highest buildings in Moscow is the State Moscow University. It was founded in
1755 by the great scientist Mikhail Lomonosov. Transport. Moscow is a very
big city, and its transport must be comfortable and fast. One can see a lot
of cars, buses, trolley-buses, trams in the streets of our city. The Moscow metro began its work on the 15th of May, 1935. There were 13 stations at that time.
Now it has 190 stations. Our metro is a beautiful and convenient one. There
are nine railway stations in Moscow and five airports around the city. There
are many stadiums in Moscow. The Central Stadium is in Luzhniki. Many
competitions and football matches are held there. The Olympic village was
built for the 22nd Olympic Games in Moscow in 1980. It is a big complex for
sport games. I live in Moscow and I am proud of this city.
The vast territory of Russia lies in the Eastern part of Europe and in the northern
part of Asia. In area, it is one of the largest countries in the world.
Airlines service many cities throughout the country. A flight from Moscow to Magadan takes eight hours. Russia is washed by twelwe seas and three oceans. The
oceans are: tha Atlantic, the Arctic, the Pacific. The northern and eastern
coasts of Russia are washed by the White Sea, the Barents Sea and by the Okhotsk Sea. The land of Russia waries a lot from heavy forests to barren deserts, from
high peaked mountains to deep valleys. Russia is located on two plains. They
are: the Great Russian Plain and the West Siberian Plain. There are three main
mountain chains in Russia. The Urals, the longest mountain chain, separates Europe from Asia. There are various types of climate on the territory of Russia. But the temperate zone with four distinct seasons prevails. Russia is a land of long
rivers and deep lakes. The broad Volga River system has a great historic,
economic and cultural importance to Russia. It became the cradle of such
ancient towns as Vladimir, Tver, Yaroslavl, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod. Numerous
canals join all the rivers in the European part of Russia, making it the
largest inland water transportation route in Europe. The Volga River runs into the Caspian Sea, which is in reality, the largest lake in the world. The
Baikal is the deepest lake in the world. The European part of Russia is densely populated. There are a lot of cities, towns and villages there. Russia is rich in natural resources. It has deposits of coal, oil, natural gas, iron ore,
gold, nickel, etc. Russia borders on fourteen countries, including the former
Republics of the USSR, which are now independent states. The history of Russia dates back to the year 862. Now Russia is a Presidental Republic. Russia has always played an important role in the world. It is one of its leading Powers.
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