Реферат: Темы по английскому языку (English topics)
I was born in Russia and I’m proud of this.
I can say thatI truly love my motherland. But nowadays a lot of people leave our country andmove to the other ones: America, United Kingdom, Israel e.t.c.
I don’t think that they are right. Ithink that no matter how difficult is the situation in our country at present,every citizen of Russia must remember about the gloriuos history, wonderfullculture and traditions of it.
A lot of the world-famous scientists –Lomonosov, Mendeleev, Timiryasev, Sechenov etc. -were born in Russia. The firstsputnik and space ship started from Russia. A lot of discoveries and inventionsin chemistry, geography, physics, biology and medicine were made by russianscientists.
The greatestpoets, writers and composers known all over the world were also born in ourcountry — Pushkin, Lermontov, Tolstoy, Gogol, Dostoevski, Griboedov,Tchaikovski, Rashmaninov and many others.
Russiawon many biggest wars in History. Although we lost 29 millions people in SecondWorld War, Russian soldiers conquered Berlin and saved the world fromFascism.
We must know our history and rememberour ancestors. I believe that Russia will become the strongest and richestcountry in sprite of all the problems.
2. I am going to tell you about Moscow.
Moscow, the capital of Russia, is one ofthe largest the most beautiful cities in the world. The total area of the cityis about 900 square kilometers. About 10 million people live in the city.Moscow was founded in 1147 by prince Yuri Dolgoruky.
Nowadays it isa political, commercial and cultural center of our country. It is also anindustrial center with highly developed engineering, electric, light andchemical industries.
The heart ofMoscow, 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 andPozharsky, the Kremlin, the History museum and take a walk in the Alexandrovskygarden.
Some skyscrapersdecorate Moscow, including the Moscow State University, the oldest universityin Russia that was founded in 18th century by Lomonosov. I can besaid that Moscow is a city of students. There are over 80 higher educationalinstitutes in it.
The are morethen 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 isalso famous for it’s theaters. The best-known of them is the Bolshoi thetre,the Moscow drama thetre ( MHAT), Sovremennik and Lenkom.
There are manyparks and gardens in Moscow, that’s why its citizen like to spend their freetime out home. The most beautiful and the lagest ones are the Gorky Park andthe Poklonnaya Gora.
Moscow is ascientific center of our country. The Academy of scientists of Russia, theoldest university, many scientific institutes are located in Moscow.
3. There is a a lot of english-speakingcountries in the world, for example: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United Statesof America, Australia and New Zealand. English is used as one of the officiallanguages in Canada, the Republic of South Africa and the Irish Republic. It’salso spoken as a second language by people in many parts of Asia and Africa.
But I would liketo tell you about the USA.
The United States of America is located in the North America continent. It isone of the largest countries in the world. The population of the USA is about250 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. Thecapital of the country is Washington DC ( the District of Columbia). It waschosen as a permanent site for the nation’s capital in December 1800 by GeorgeWashington. The largest and the most imporatnt cities of the USA are New York,Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boston. There are many tall buildingsin them that really scrape the sky, that’s why they are called skyscrapers.
Among themost famous sites of interest are the Great Lakes, Niagara falls, the GoldenGate bridge in San Francisco and other. There are many beautiful National parks and protected areas of wilderness in America.
The USA is ahighly 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 constitutionalregime the United States of America is a federal republic. The Americanparliament ( called Congress ) has two chambers: the House of Representativeand the Senate. The head of the State is the president, who is elected forfour years and whose powers are limited by the Constitution. Now the Presidentof the USA is George Bush Junior.
The flag of the country has 13 red andwhite stripes representing the original 13 states and 50 stars — for each ofthe 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 beautifulforests 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, aswell as various kinds of berries, like cranberry, great bilberry, raspberryand the most popular one - foxberry. In august people begin to pick berriesfor selling and for eating.
We have suchkinds 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. Nowadayspoaching is encreasing and it is one of the biggest problem for our region.
The most popularsight in Buryatia is lake Baikal, that attracts tourists from all the parts ofthe world. Baikal is the biggest freshwater lake on the planet and the deepestone. 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 fishas omoul and such specie of animal as nerpa.
Every year a lot of tourists fromdifferent foreign countries come to Buryatia. People come to see all thesereaches of nature and to enjoy this perfect fresh air, but we don’tunderstand what treasures possess and don^t spare them. Some people often leaverubbish 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, verysoon 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 moreadult I understood that my life consists of different kinds of problems –personal and global.
The firstpersonal 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 Ishould consider in what institute I will get my education after graduating fromthe school. What my future life will be depends on the answer to this question.
Sometimes Idon^t have enough time and energy to do all my home work. It is a big problemtoo, as it doesn^t let me study better.
Every time Ihear from TV bad news about our country. It is getting on my nerves. Altough itisn^t my personal problem, it’s very unpleasant to hear such things aboutyour home country that you love.
The biggestproblem nowadays is drugs. There are very many teenagers now, who sell it andbuy it. They leave school and drop heir studies and degrade and become thievesand bandits.
( Many times theytold me to give them money. I was compelled to fight with them. But they areweak and each time they loose the battle and run away.)
Drugs endanger thefuture of our country and our town. It is a very big menace for all thepeople.
So, as everyteenager 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 allI’d like to speak of my parents. My mother is a speech therapist byprofession, but now she helps my father in his work. My father is a directorof a restaurant and the brewery in our town.
My parents arehard-working people. My mother keeps house and takes care of us. She is verygood at cooking and she^s got golden hands. We try to help her with thehousework; for example we wash the dishes, go shopping and tide our flat.
My grandmotheris a very old woman. She is 79 years old. She doesn^t live with us, but wecome tosee her every day to take care of her. We love our granny very much.
My sister Yanais 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 fromEnglish and French languages because she knows them quite well.
We all like tospend 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 alsolike 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 andnice people.
7. When one finishes school one understands that itsthe time to choose a future profession and the way his life will be. It’snot easy to make a right choice of a job. It’s very important question forme — 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 tobecome an inventor or a scientist to invent different things to make peopleslife better and more comfortable.
Then I decided to become an officer of FSS (ФСБin Russian), then a mariner.
But all of these ambitions are in the past now. Ihave considered this question for a long time and decided that the professionthat 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 qualitiesbecause I like to communicate with people and to be a leader if its necessary.
I also want to say that the professionshould be chosen according to the character and preferencies of a person.Children must choose their profession themselves because they must love thethings they do, believe that people need them and their job brings thempeasure, not just money.
8. Peopleall over the world like doing sports because it makes them healthier, keepsthem fit and it is just a great passing of time.
Every sportsmakes the one who is doing it you stronger, harder improves his reaction andqiuckness. What is more, some sports help to develope special physical skillsand train particular groups of muscles. For example: skies, swimming andjogging helps to strengthen make legs and hands and trains one^s breath. Peolegoing in for bodybuilding can lift up large weights and their bodies becomebeautiful and relief. Team games like football, basketball, volleyball andhockey make you well- coordinated, quick and dexterious ( проворный) and teach how to cooperate wth the other players in order to win agame. 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 sportsis a hobby. I do some exercises every day, because it keeps me in a good formand makes me stronger. When you begin to go in for sports you can give up itafter some weeks, because it is not easy to do hard exercises every day. Butyou 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 hardand consistently (последовательно ), from day to day to get some results.
As a child Iwent to many sport clubs and gave up it after half a year, but I^ve alwaysdone something to keep fit. Since last summer I do weight-lifting and push-upexercises to develope my muscles 5 times a week. Sometimes I go jogging withmy father. I like it because it makes me strong and more active.
The ancient Greeks said there is ahealthy spirit in a healthy body. I think thats true and every man, whorespects himself must go in for sports. It is the way for healthy and longlife.
9. More and more people realize that everyeducated person should know at least one foreign language.
The most popularand 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 oftheir grammar and lexiks. They are spoken mostly in Europe and in the formercolonies of France and Spain in Latin America and Africa.
English isspoken by more than 350 million people .It’s the language of aprogressive science andtechnology, trade and cultural relations, commerce and business. It’s theuniversal language of international aviation, shipping and sports. Itis also the major language of diplomacy.
Hundreds and hundreds of books, magazines andnewspapers are printed in English and all over the world. 75% of the world’smail and 60% of the world’s telephone calls are made in English. Half of theworld’s scientific literature is written in English too.
In Russia English is very popular: it is studied atschools, colleges, universities, and sometimes even at nursery schools. Allthe qualified specialists nowadays must know English.
Learning a foreign language is not an easy thing. Itis a long and slow process that takes a lot of time and patience. But to knowlanguages today is absolutely necessary for everyone.
I^ve studied English for about 2 years by now and I^mvery glad to do this because I have always been interested in foreigncountries, 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 anycountry of the world in the shortest time.
People travel by different means ofconveyance, even on foot. But everybody likes to go to different places andsee various sites of interest.
Some Russiantourists prefer to trip to foreign countries. I understand them, because it’salways interesting to visit a place where you have never been and to learnsomething new about the other nations, their culture and traditions, to seearchitectural monuments and famous masterpieces with your own eyes.
Every placeon the Earth has its own sights, flaura and fauna and climate, which makesvisiting it yet more interesting. So one of the main reasons for travaling isto get new experience and impressions.
To my mind, ourcountry has a lot of places that are worth seeing. Although the climate ofRussia sometimes is not very favourable, our forests are the largest in theworld 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 themost pure lake in the world and the only place on the planet where you canfind such a fish as Omoul.
Theterritory of our country is big enough and our historical and cltural heritageis rich enough to satisfy all the tastes and wishes of travellers. That iswhy the majority of the Russian tourists prefer to travel in our country. Someof them travel only for hunting and fishing, the others change places simplyto spend their free time.
As for meI 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 thenature 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 thereis always plenty of fruits in summer.
11. The word «Ecology» is very popular word today. Butwhat does it mean?
Ecology is ascience which studies relationships between all forms of life on our planetand the environment. This word came from the Greek «oikos» which means «home».This idea of home includes our whole planet and its population, nature,animals, birds, fish, insects and all other living beings, as well as theatmosphere around our planet.
Ecology has becomesuch an imporatnt science because with the progress of civilisation and technicaldevelpment the environment on the Earth gets more and more poluted and thenatural resourses – like drinking water, fossils ( полезные ископаемые), forests etc. get exhausted ( истощаются).
For example, everyyear the atmosphere is polluted by 100 tons of industrial dust and otherharmful substances.
Big cities sufferfrom smog from large factories. Cars with their engines have become the mainsource of pollution in industrial countries. The forests Africa, South Americaand Asia are cut down for the needs of industries in Europe and the USA. As aresult some species of animals, birds, fish and plants have disappeared andkeep disappearing. Rivers and lakes dry up. One of the most known examples isthe Aral Sea, which has become much smaller due to men’s activity.
The pollution ofthe air and of the world’s oceans and the thinning of the ozone layer nowadaysare the main problems arising from man’s careless attitude to ecology.
In Russia and theformer Soviet republics there are some areas where the environment is in a poorstate. The Aral Sea, Lake Baikal, the Kuzbass, Semipalatinsk and Chernobyl aresuch problematic regions.
For decadesnuclear weapons were tested near Semipalatinsk, and the ground is contaminatedwith radiation there.
More than 20 yearsago a pulp-and-paper factory was built on the shore of Lake Baikal. As a resultof 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 theexploision (взрыв) on the atomic power station
( атомная электростанция) all people who lived near that place were evacuateddue to a very high level of radiation. Some of them died and some have becomeinvalids. And even today the Chernobyl region remains deserted (покинутый), as its very harmful to be there for any living creature.
Ecologicalcatastrophes do a lot of harm to Nature, and, consequently (следовательно), they threaten the future exhistence of mankind.
What everyone mustdo 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 shoresof 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 arealso holidays that are common for many countries – for example, New Year’s Daythat is the first holiday of each new year. In Russia it is the most popularholiday, but in the West people traditionally pay more attention to Christmas.
The celebration ofthe New Year begins on New Year’s Eve, that is, on the 31st ofDecember. This day people light colored lamps on their decorated New Year’sTrees and have a late dinner that consists of various delicious courses ( блюда)– salats, fried feesh and meet, cakes, and, of cause, champagne. Some peopleprefer to stay at home just watch TV-programs and concerts. The others like togo to their friends or to different parties and restaurants. But when the clockstrikes 12 at night (часы бьют), everybody congratulate each other andgives and gets presents. Sometimes they also go out for a late walk and tomake and to watch fireworks..
In Russia we alsohave 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 12thof June). There are also holidays like May Day and Women’s Day ( on the 8thof March). The most important religious holidays are Christmas and Easter. InRussia Christmas is celebrated on January 7, and in Europe and in the USA, onDecember 25.
In Great Britainthere 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 otherofficial establishments (государственные учреждения) are closed and people give to theiremployees (служащим) presents ( thats why they re also calledBoxing Days).
The other publicholidays celebrated in the Western countries are: Christmas Day, New Year’sDay, Good Friday and May Day. On these days all bank and all places ofbusiness 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 holidayin the USA is Independence Day, celebrated on the fourth of July. On that dayin 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted.
Anothertraditional American holiday is Thanksgiving Day which falls on the fourthThursday of November. It has been celebrated since the 17thcentury, when the English colonists decided to celebrate the end of their firstyear in America and to give thanks to God.
There are theother holydays in the USA besides Christmas, New Year and Easter, which arepopular all over the world. For instance, Columbus Day celebrated on October12.
There are many special holydays, forexample, Day of Martin Luther King, Presidents Day, St. Patrick’s Day, and ofcause Halloween, which celebrated on October 31.
13. Iknow many American and English holidays but I want to tell you about Russianones.
There are plentyholidays in Russia, but my favorite one is New Year’s Day. The celebration ofthe holiday begins at 12 o’clock AM on 31st of December.
First of all, Ilike 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 thistime. I have a lot time to sleep and to walk with my friends. There are a lotof interesting and funny programs, famous comedies and concerts on TV on theNew Year’s Eve.
We always begin to celebrate New Year’sDay in a very good mood. First of all, we light colored lamps on our decoratedNew Year’s Tree and have a late dinner that usially consists of very deliciouscourses like salats, fried fish or meed, cakes, and, of cause, champagne.
Sometimes wejust watch TV till the clock strikes 12, and then we go out for a walk tovisit our friends and relatives and to watch beatiful fireworks in the centreof our town.
On New Yeareverybody gives and gets presents, and like this tradition very much. Peoplebecome very kind and friendly on this day, because it is a great holiday.Everything outside seems very nice, every home, every shop and buildingbecomes beautiful because, people want to make their home and place of workmore bright. At home we all stay up until midnight and much later.
On the next dayafter the celebraton of New Year people can sleep very long, because theydon^t need to go to work.
It is veryimportant to celebrate New Year very well and funny because it is believedthat you will pass a new year in the same way as you have met it.
14. I have studied a lot about different famous Americansand British, so I would like to tell you about some of them.
A lot of famouswriters and poets were born in America. For example, Jack London, a writerwell- known all over the world. He is best known for his book « The Call of theWild», the story about adventures of a dog in frozen north.
Mark Twain wasborn in Missouri and he is famous forsuch his masterpieces as «The Adventureof Tom Sawyer» and «The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn».
My favoritescience-fiction writers are Ray Bradbury and Robert Shaklee. Ray Bradbury wrote«the Marsian Chronicles». And Robert Shaklee is known for his very interestingshort stories about aliens and space adventures.
American animators and illustrators are aslo world-famous. For example, Walt Disneywho created such cartoon-heroes as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Pluto. He isthe founder of the Disney Park. Chuck Jones is also a popular American animatorfamous for his Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote.
Many american inventors became famous all over the world for their inventions. Wrightbrothers are known for their invention, building and flying the first airplane.Henry Ford is known like father of automobile powered by a gasoline engine. AlexanderBell created the first telephone.
I alsoknow some famous architects who lived in America. For example, Thomas Jeffersonwho is best known as the first president of the USA and the author ofDeclaration of Independence. But he was also a self-taught architect whodesigned 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, butthe most popular group for all the times and nations, the Beatles, began theircareer in Britain. Movie- Actors like Al Pachino, Robert De Nero, Tom Cruise,Arnold Schwarzneger and many others live in USA and play in Hollywoodblockbasters. The most successful Hollywood film-directors today are StevenSpielberg, George Lucas and James Cameron. Their films are very popular allover the world and in our country as well.
And of cause Ican say something about famous politicians who lived in English-speakingcountries. 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 themost famous man in America. There were also such great presidnts as AbrahamLincoln, Teodor Roosewelt and Franclin Roosewelt that did their best to makethe USA a leading world-power ( ведущая мировая держава).
15. TV has good and bad sides. First of all itkeeps people informed, we can learn a lot of information watching TV. We canchoose from a lot of channels, and TV offers programs for all the interestsand tastes. Sometimes we can relax and entertain ourselves by watching TV whenwe are tired. TV advertisement gives us information about different productsand it makes it easier to make a choice as to what things to buy. When wewatch TV we learn about the world, famous people and recent global or ourhome-country news.
But watcing TValso has a lot of disadvantages.
First of all, it’s quite bad for our health, especially for eyes.
Violence on TV hasbecome a vital problem. Some programs and films with violence and murders makepeople cruel and affects their psych (психику).
Often there is toomuch advertisement on TV that encourage us to buy things we don’t need at all.
Watching TVoccupies 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 canbe useful and interesting to watch TV, but in reasonable limits.
16. When I don’t need to study at school I have a lot offree time.
Every time myopinion is different and I change my mind many times, before I think up what todo and where can I go. It is quite difficult for me to make a choice.
Sometimes I wouldlike to seat at home and just watch TV or listen to music. Then I don’t want tosee anybody, I just want to be alone. Usually it happens when the weather isnot good or when I^m in a bad mood. When I am tired, I like to read or to layand watch something on TV. It is the best time-passing for me, because my eyesand 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 otherseasons I don’t like to seat at home.
On autumn andspring vacations I go to the disco with my friends. There I can relax and meetnew people, but my parents don’t like when I go there, because they worry whenI come to home very late.
On summer Iprefer 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 youhave a lot of powers and you can do anything you like.
Traveling is myfavorite 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 andto meet new people and make new friends.
I alsolike to collect different things. Now I collect corks from beer-bottles, butmy collection is not very big. I have only 160 kinds of corks.
In my free time Ilike to sit in the Internet, because its always interesting to find new infomationor to learn something you would like ot know, or just to chat with people whoare miles away.
17. Everybody knows that education helps to formpersonality and prepares one for life. That’s why all countries consider thesystem of education as a very important part of national politicy.
InRussia there is a nine-year compulsory education, but to enter a university onehas 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 ofstudy.
After finishingsecondary school one can go to a lyceum or a gymnasium to get a highereducation. All the applicants must take competitive examinations.
Americans also value education very much. Universal access to a high qualityeducation has been one of the nation’s historic goals.
Children go toschool at the time they reach six or seven years and study there until theyare sixteen or seventeen.
Elementary andSecondary schools consist of twelve year –studing, that makes for about 10months a year, five days a week and five hours a day. Almost in everyelementary school such subjects as English, Mathematics, Science, SocialStudies, Music, Art and Physical Education are being taught.
After graduatingfrom secondary schools a growing number of Americans go on studing to get to ahigher education in colleges or universities, the most famous of which are theHarvard University, the Yiel and the Columbia university
The Britishsystem of education has a very long history.
Children go toschool at the age of 5 years and continue to study until they are 16 yearsold. 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 attendpreschool play-groups. Compulsory primary education begins at the age of 5.Children usually start their school career in an infant school and move to ajunior school or department at 7.
At 7 and 11 yearsin the primary school (and at 14 and 16 in the secondary school) teachersmeasure children’s progress in each subject against attainment targets. Foreach target there are 10 levels of attainment. So instead of 2, 3, 4and 5 marksin Russia puipls get A, B, C, D etc. scores.
The secondarylevel includes the children from 11 to 18. Here they enhance ( укреплять ) and specify the knowledge they have acquired at primary school. Atthe age of 16 they can get the General Certificate of Secondary Educationqualifications on the basis of examinations and course work.
Puiples who got high examination scoreshve chances to continue their education in collges and universities withoutpay. There are 79 universities in the UK, Oxford and Cambridge are theoldest of them.
18. Nowadays the theatre is less popular than the cinema.Due to the popularity of television and the since appearance of video, theatrehas lost a great deal of its attraction. Besides, theatre tickets are veryexpensive, especially in good theatres. And one should always book ( бронировать ) and buy the tickets for good plays where famous actors star inadvance. So we can say that a visit to a famous theatre has become a luxury.
Still, the theatreis an inseparable part of the intellectual life of any country. In everycountry theatre has its own history and traditions.
There are a lot oftheatres in Russia and some of them are popular all over the world. In Moscowtheatre-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 DramaTheatre. Alexandrinsky Theatre, Open Theatre and many others. People lovingclassic music never miss a chance to visit the Philharmonic Society Hall.
I like thecinema too, even though it doesn’t create so festive atmosphere as the thetredoes. There is one cinema in our town and it’s open very seldom. So every timewhen 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 onecan 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 drinksomething or eat pop-corn. Before a movie you can see the announcements ofnew films.
Nowadaysvideo becomes more and more popular. I think that its popular depends on thecomfort of viewing things on video. You can just buy a video-tape with yourfavorite film and watch it whenever you want and have time. So you can lay ona sofa when you are watching video, eat or drink anything you like and even talkon the phone Video is very comfortable and relatively unexpensive because youdon’t need to pay money every time, when you are going to watch it).
Maybe when thetechnology 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. Millionspeople al over the world spend their holidays visiting museums and artgalleries. They visit them to see new things, to know more about other countries,their traditions, about history and even future of the mankind. There aredifferent type of museums: historical, military, nature and many others. TheTower of London is a historical museum. It is the oldest palace, fortress andprison in Europe. It’s also one of the most popular museums nowadays.
Saint Petersburgis often called « the cultural capital of Russia». Many of Russia’s finestmuseums are situated here. The Hermitage, for example, is one of the world’sgreatest and most famous museums. It houses over 2,5 million works of art. Thebest works of art from Russia and Europe are situated in the five buildings andover 350 rooms that make up the Hermitage. The main building of the Hermitageis the Winter Palace on Palace Square with the main entrance facing the Neva.
Thestate Tretyakov Gallery is one of the best-known picture galleries in theworld. It takes its name from its founder Pavel Tretyakov, a Moscow merchantand collector of pictures. Today the Tretyakov gallery is not only Russia’sbiggest 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 Russianwriters, but some of them I like to read most.
To my mind, thegreatest Russian writers and poets are Pushkin and Lermontov. My favorite Pushkin’s masterpiece is the novel «Evgeny Onegin». I like it because it iswritten in a very beautiful language that is not used nowadays. There aremany popular expressions there, which became famous in Russia, and what is mostpeculiar (особенное) about this novel, that Pushkin invented aspecial Onegin strophe in which the whole world is written.
Lermontov is also a very talented poet… He wrote a lot of very popular poemsand novels, for example, «The hero of our time» and «Мцыри».I think that he stands at one place with Pushkin, though his style of writingis not such light and optimistic as Poushkins. But all the masterpieces ofLermontov are very profound ( глубокий ) and intellectual.
I prefer to readAmerican science-fiction and I have my favorite writers there.
I think that thebest writer of the genre is Ray Bradbury. I like him for his very interestingand fascinating short stories. The most popular novels of this author are «TheMartian 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 hardconditions of the Mercury. His short stories are also very interesting, theyarise such everlasting problems as war, love, bravery and honor. The novelsand stories ob Bradbury are unlike all the others, they all are not ordinary.
Another my favorite writer is RobertShaklee. He wrote only three novels, but they became very popular in theworld of science-fiction. There are: «Corporation Immortality», «Exchange ofthe minds» and «Variants of a Choice». He also wrote more than 90 shortstories, which are, too, very interesting.
I think that literaturehelps one to develop his knowledge of life and his personal intellect. And thebooks written by great talented people remain up-to date even throughcenturies ( lets take the masterpieces of Shakespear ), because they considereternal problems. That’s why they are called classics.