Темы по английскому языку (English topics)
1. I was born in
Russia and I’m proud of this.
I can say that I truly
love my motherland. But nowadays a lot of people leave our country and move to
the other ones: America, United Kingdom, Israel e.t.c.
I don’t think that they are right. I think that no
matter how difficult is the situation in our country at present, every citizen
of Russia must remember about the gloriuos history, wonderfull culture and
traditions of it.
A lot of the world-famous scientists – Lomonosov,
Mendeleev, Timiryasev, Sechenov etc. -were born in Russia. The first sputnik
and space ship started from Russia. A lot of discoveries and inventions in
chemistry, geography, physics, biology and medicine were made by russian
scientists.
The greatest poets, writers
and composers known all over the world were also born in our country - Pushkin,
Lermontov, Tolstoy, Gogol, Dostoevski, Griboedov, Tchaikovski, Rashmaninov and
many others.
Russia won many
biggest wars in History. Although we lost 29 millions people in Second World
War, Russian soldiers conquered Berlin and saved the world from Fascism.
We must know our history and remember our ancestors. I
believe that Russia will become the strongest and richest country in sprite of
all the problems.
2. I am going to tell
you about Moscow.
Moscow, the capital of Russia, is one of the largest the
most beautiful cities in the world. The total area of the city is about 900
square kilometers. About 10 million people live in the city. Moscow was founded
in 1147 by prince Yuri Dolgoruky.
Nowadays it is a
political, commercial and cultural center of our country. It is also an
industrial center with highly developed engineering, electric, light and
chemical industries.
The heart of Moscow, the
central and one of the most beautiful places is the Red Square. Here one can
see the Cathedral of St. Basil, the monument to Minin and Pozharsky, the
Kremlin, the History museum and take a walk in the Alexandrovsky garden.
Some skyscrapers decorate
Moscow, including the Moscow State University, the oldest university in Russia
that was founded in 18th century by Lomonosov. I can be said that
Moscow is a city of students. There are over 80 higher educational institutes
in it.
The are more then 80
museums in Moscow. The largest and the most famous ones are the Pushkin museum
of Fine Arts and the State Tretyakov art Gallery.
Moscow is also famous
for it’s theaters. The best-known of them is the Bolshoi thetre, the Moscow
drama thetre ( MHAT), Sovremennik and Lenkom.
There are many parks and
gardens in Moscow, that’s why its citizen like to spend their free time out
home. The most beautiful and the lagest ones are the Gorky Park and the
Poklonnaya Gora.
Moscow is a scientific
center of our country. The Academy of scientists of Russia, the oldest
university, many scientific institutes are located in Moscow.
3. There is a a lot
of english-speaking countries in the world, for example: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,
the United States of America, Australia and New Zealand. English is used as one
of the official languages in Canada, the Republic of South Africa and the Irish
Republic. It’s also spoken as a second language by people in many parts of Asia
and Africa.
But I would like to tell you
about the USA.
The United
States of America is located in the North America continent. It is one of the
largest countries in the world. The population of the USA is about 250 million
people. The administrative units of the USA are called states. There are 50
of them and the largest of the America’s states is Alaska. The capital of the
country is Washington DC ( the District of Columbia). It was chosen as a
permanent site for the nation’s capital in December 1800 by George Washington.
The largest and the most imporatnt cities of the USA are New York, Chicago,
San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boston. There are many tall buildings in them
that really scrape the sky, that’s why they are called skyscrapers.
Among the most famous
sites of interest are the Great Lakes, Niagara falls, the Golden Gate bridge in
San Francisco and other. There are many beautiful National parks and protected
areas of wilderness in America.
The USA is a highly developed
country. It is rich in such natural resourses as coal, oil, iron and natural
gas. On the other hand, it exports a lot of raw materials, industrials and
agricultural products.
By constitutional regime the
United States of America is a federal republic. The American parliament ( called
Congress ) has two chambers : the House of Representative and the Senate. The
head of the State is the president, who is elected for four years and whose
powers are limited by the Constitution. Now the President of the USA is George
Bush Junior.
The flag of the country has 13 red and white stripes
representing the original 13 states and 50 stars - for each of the state at
present.
4. I was born in
Buryatia that is situated in the Eastern part of Siberia and I can say that
my native region is very beautiful.
There are a lot of large beautiful forests there, where
one can see many kinds of different plants and animals. Cedar, larch,
firtree, birch, pine and many other trees grow in our woods, as well as various
kinds of berries, like cranberry, great bilberry, raspberry and the most
popular one - foxberry. In august people begin to pick berries for selling and
for eating.
We have such kinds of
animals like bear, dear, elk, fox, wolf, and, of course, sable, that has
very reach and beautiful fur, that’s why poachers kill it. Nowadays poaching is
encreasing and it is one of the biggest problem for our region.
The most popular sight in
Buryatia is lake Baikal, that attracts tourists from all the parts of the
world. Baikal is the biggest freshwater lake on the planet and the deepest one.
There are a lot of fish in the lake, the most popular of which are pike,
grayling, whitefish and sturgeon. Only in Baikal one can see such kind of fish
as omoul and such specie of animal as nerpa.
Every year a lot of tourists from different foreign
countries come to Buryatia. People come to see all these reaches of nature and
to enjoy this perfect fresh air, but we don’t understand what treasures
possess and don^t spare them. Some people often leave rubbish in forests and on
the coast-line of Baikal in summer and throw empty bottles in its watter, and
make fires. If we don^t change our behaviour, very soon we can loose our
wonderful nature forever.
5. When I was a
child I didn^t have much problems, and the ones that I had were very
lunimportant and stupid.
As I became more adult I
understood that my life consists of different kinds of problems – personal and
global.
The first personal
problem for me now is to choose the way of my future life, that is, to realise
what I want to be and what profession I want to have. Thats why I should
consider in what institute I will get my education after graduating from the
school. What my future life will be depends on the answer to this question.
Sometimes I don^t have
enough time and energy to do all my home work. It is a big problem too, as it
doesn^t let me study better.
Every time I hear from TV
bad news about our country. It is getting on my nerves. Altough it isn^t my
personal problem, it’s very unpleasant to hear such things about your home
country that you love.
The biggest problem
nowadays is drugs. There are very many teenagers now, who sell it and buy it.
They leave school and drop heir studies and degrade and become thieves and
bandits.
( Many times they told me to
give them money. I was compelled to fight with them. But they are weak and each
time they loose the battle and run away.)
Drugs endanger the future of
our country and our town. It is a very big menace for all the people.
So, as every teenager I do
have problems, but I don^t let myself give in / surrender ( сдаться
) and always try to fight them.
6. Now I want to tell
you a few words about my family. My family is not very large, there are 5
members – my parents, my sister, grandmother and me
First of all I’d like to
speak of my parents. My mother is a speech therapist by profession, but now
she helps my father in his work. My father is a director of a restaurant and
the brewery in our town.
My parents are
hard-working people. My mother keeps house and takes care of us. She is very
good at cooking and she^s got golden hands. We try to help her with the
housework; for example we wash the dishes, go shopping and tide our flat.
My grandmother is a very
old woman. She is 79 years old. She doesn^t live with us, but we come tosee
her every day to take care of her. We love our granny very much.
My sister Yana is 21. She
studies in Moscow. This year she is graduating from the University. She will
be a lawyer but she can also work as a translator from English and French
languages because she knows them quite well.
We all like to spend our
time together. Sometimes we stay at home and watch TV or just talk, and on
weekends we go out of town to Baikal or to visit our friends. We also like tom
invite people to us and I can say that every guest who comes to us, goes back
smily and in a good mood, because my parents are very hospitable and nice
people.
7. When one finishes school one
understands that its the time to choose a future profession and the way his
life will be. It’s not easy to make a right choice of a job. It’s very
important question for me - what I want to be when I leave school . A
few years ago it was to make up my mind and choose one of the hundreds jobs.
As a child I wanted to become an inventor or a scientist to invent different
things to make peoples life better and more comfortable.
Then
I decided to become an officer of FSS (ФСБ in Russian) , then a mariner.
But all of these ambitions are in the past now. I have considered this
question for a long time and decided that the profession that siuts me most is
a manager. It is very popular and demanded
(
требуемая ) nowadays, just like a profession of lawyer or
economist. I think that management coresponds my personal qualities because I
like to communicate with people and to be a leader if its necessary.
I also want to say that the profession should be chosen
according to the character and preferencies of a person. Children must
choose their profession themselves because they must love the things they do,
believe that people need them and their job brings them peasure, not just
money.
8. People all over the world like doing sports because
it makes them healthier, keeps them fit and it is just a great passing of
time.
Every sports makes the one
who is doing it you stronger, harder improves his reaction and qiuckness. What
is more, some sports help to develope special physical skills and train
particular groups of muscles. For example: skies, swimming and jogging helps
to strengthen make legs and hands and trains one^s breath. Peole going in for
bodybuilding can lift up large weights and their bodies become beautiful and
relief. Team games like football, basketball, volleyball and hockey make you
well- coordinated, quick and dexterious ( проворный) and
teach how to cooperate wth the other players in order to win a game. Fighting
sports, especially Eastern ones, like carate, aikido, oushou, help to develope
all aspects of fitness – strength, quick reaction, dexterity, and spirit as well,
because each of them based on philosophy. To my mind, fighting arts are the
best sports.
For me sports is a hobby.
I do some exercises every day, because it keeps me in a good form and makes me
stronger. When you begin to go in for sports you can give up it after some
weeks, because it is not easy to do hard exercises every day. But you must make
yourself doing it, or you will not have any results. For example, if one wants
to make his muscles grow he must keep on working very hard and consistently
(последовательно ), from day to day to get some results.
As a child I went to
many sport clubs and gave up it after half a year, but I^ve always done
something to keep fit. Since last summer I do weight-lifting and push-up
exercises to develope my muscles 5 times a week. Sometimes I go jogging with
my father. I like it because it makes me strong and more active.
The ancient Greeks said there is a healthy spirit in a
healthy body. I think thats true and every man, who respects himself must go
in for sports. It is the way for healthy and long life.
9. More and more
people realize that every educated person should know at least one foreign
language.
The most popular and
wide-spread ( распространенный ) language in the world now is English.
Spanish,
French, German languages are also popular, but as much as English, because it
is more difficult to learn them – because of their grammar and lexiks. They are
spoken mostly in Europe and in the former colonies of France and Spain in Latin
America and Africa.
English is spoken by more
than 350 million people .It’s the
language of aprogressive science and technology, trade and cultural relations,
commerce and business. It’s the universal language of international aviation,
shipping and sports. It is also the major language of diplomacy.
Hundreds and hundreds of books, magazines and newspapers are printed in English
and all over the world. 75% of the world’s mail and 60% of the world’s
telephone calls are made in English. Half of the world’s scientific literature
is written in English too.
In
Russia English is very popular : it is studied at schools, colleges,
universities, and sometimes even at nursery schools. All the qualified specialists
nowadays must know English.
Learning a foreign language is not an easy thing. It is a long and slow process
that takes a lot of time and patience. But to know languages today is
absolutely necessary for everyone.
I^ve
studied English for about 2 years by now and I^m very glad to do this
because I have always been interested in foreign countries, their culture and
traditions.
10. Nowadays a lot of
people in the world like to travel. The level of the technical deveplopment
allows to voyage practically to any country of the world in the shortest
time.
People travel by different means of conveyance, even on
foot. But everybody likes to go to different places and see various sites of
interest.
Some Russian tourists prefer
to trip to foreign countries. I understand them, because it’s always
interesting to visit a place where you have never been and to learn something
new about the other nations, their culture and traditions, to see architectural
monuments and famous masterpieces with your own eyes.
Every place on the
Earth has its own sights, flaura and fauna and climate, which makes visiting
it yet more interesting. So one of the main reasons for travaling is to get
new experience and impressions.
To my mind, our country has
a lot of places that are worth seeing. Although the climate of Russia
sometimes is not very favourable, our forests are the largest in the world and
there are lots of rare species animals and plants there. The lakes, rivers
and seas in our contry are also very beautiful and picturesque ( живописный
), for example our lake Baikal, the deepest and the most pure lake in the
world and the only place on the planet where you can find such a fish as
Omoul.
The territory of our
country is big enough and our historical and cltural heritage is rich enough
to satisfy all the tastes and wishes of travellers. That is why the majority
of the Russian tourists prefer to travel in our country. Some of them travel
only for hunting and fishing, the others change places simply to spend their
free time.
As for me I like to
travel throughout Russia, to learn more about my motherland.
My favorite place for having rest are the surroundings (
окрестности ) of our freshwater lake Baikal, where the nature is so beautiful
and calm and the air is so fresh. I also like to travel to the Black Sea where
the climate is so warm and mild and where there is always plenty of fruits in
summer.
11. The word
«Ecology» is very popular word today. But what does it mean?
Ecology has become such an
imporatnt science because with the progress of civilisation and technical
develpment the environment on the Earth gets more and more poluted and the
natural resourses – like drinking water, fossils ( полезные
ископаемые), forests etc. get exhausted ( истощаются).
For example, every year the
atmosphere is polluted by 100 tons of industrial dust and other harmful
substances.
Big cities suffer from smog
from large factories. Cars with their engines have become the main source of
pollution in industrial countries. The forests Africa, South America and Asia
are cut down for the needs of industries in Europe and the USA. As a result
some species of animals, birds, fish and plants have disappeared and keep
disappearing. Rivers and lakes dry up. One of the most known examples is the
Aral Sea, which has become much smaller due to men’s activity.
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
( атомная электростанция) 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 (часы бьют), 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 (государственные учреждения) 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 ( ведущая мировая держава).
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.
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.
Saint Petersburg is often
called « the cultural capital of Russia». Many of Russia’s finest museums are
situated here. The Hermitage, for example, is one of the world’s greatest and
most famous museums. It houses over 2,5 million works of art. The best works of
art from Russia and Europe are situated in the five buildings and over 350
rooms that make up the Hermitage. The main building of the Hermitage is the
Winter Palace on Palace Square with the main entrance facing the Neva.
The state Tretyakov Gallery is one of the
best-known picture galleries in the world. It takes its name from its founder
Pavel Tretyakov, a Moscow merchant and collector of pictures. Today the
Tretyakov gallery is not only Russia’s biggest and most important museums of
Russian art, it is also a research, cultural and educational center.
20. I know a lot of
American, British and Russian writers, but some of them I like to read most.
To my mind, the greatest
Russian writers and poets are Pushkin and Lermontov. My favorite Pushkin’s
masterpiece is the novel «Evgeny Onegin». I like it because it is written in
a very beautiful language that is not used nowadays. There are many popular
expressions there, which became famous in Russia, and what is most peculiar (особенное)
about this novel, that Pushkin invented a special Onegin strophe in which the
whole world is written.
Lermontov is
also a very talented poet.. He wrote a lot of very popular poems and novels,
for example, «The hero of our time» and «Мцыри». I think that he stands at
one place with Pushkin, though his style of writing is not such light and
optimistic as Poushkins. But all the masterpieces of Lermontov are very
profound ( глубокий ) and intellectual.
I prefer to read American
science-fiction and I have my favorite writers there.
I think that the best writer
of the genre is Ray Bradbury. I like him for his very interesting and
fascinating short stories. The most popular novels of this author are «The
Martian Chronicles» and «451 degrees on Fahrenheit». His novel «Ice and flame»
is the best, I think. The novel is about surviving of the man in very hard
conditions of the Mercury. His short stories are also very interesting, they
arise such everlasting problems as war, love, bravery and honor. The novels
and stories ob Bradbury are unlike all the others, they all are not ordinary.
Another my favorite writer is Robert Shaklee. He wrote
only three novels, but they became very popular in the world of science-fiction.
There are: «Corporation Immortality», «Exchange of the minds» and «Variants of
a Choice». He also wrote more than 90 short stories, which are, too, very
interesting.
I think that
literature helps one to develop his knowledge of life and his personal
intellect. And the books written by great talented people remain up-to date
even through centuries ( lets take the masterpieces of Shakespear ), because
they consider eternal problems. That’s
why they are called classics.