Недорогой Wodolei.ru
When he was ten years of age his father began to take him sea fishing. The dangerous life of a fisherman forced him to observe the natural phenomena more closely. During the long winter nights young Lomonosov studied his letters
,
grammar and arithmetic diligently. Being the son of a peasant, he was refused admission to the local school. After some years, through concealing his peasant origin, he gained admission to the Slavonic-Greek-Latin Academy and for five years lived a hand-
t
o-mouth existence on three kopecks a day. The noblemen's sons studying with him made fun of the twenty-year-old giant who, in spite of the jeers and his own poverty, made rapid progress. After five years came the chance of entering the Academy of Sciences
,
as there were not enough noble-born students to fill the quota. His ability and diligence attracted the attention of the professors and as one of three best students he was sent abroad. He spent all the time there studying the works of leading European s
c
ientists in chemistry, metallurgy, mining and mathematics. On his return to Russia in 1745 he was made a professor and was the first Russian scientist to become a member of the Academy of Sciences. For versatility Lomonosov has no equal in Russian science
.
Many of his ideas and discoveries only won recognition in the nineteenth century. He was the first to discover the vegetable origin of coal, for instance, and as a poet and scientist he played a great role in the formation of Russian literary language, e
liminating distortions and unnecessary foreign words. He died in 1765. His living memorial is the Moscow University, which he founded in 1755.
Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837) Александр
Пушкин
Alexander Pushkin is one of the most outstanding Russians. He was the greatest Russian poet and writer.
Pushkin
devoted his life to writing poems. The young Alexander's first poems appeared when he was fifteen, and by the time he left school he was regarded as a rival by the literary leaders of that time.
Pushkin was the first poet who touched problems that were important for Russia and its people. Because of that he was sent to exile a few times.
Pushkin wrote a lot of poems and novels. Among his famous ones are: Eugenij Onegin, Ruslan and Lyudmila and others. Children
like to read his fairy tales and watch wonderful cartoons based on them. When I was a child I read all the fairy tales by this talented poet. First my grandmother read them for me, but then when 1 learnt to read, I read his tales myself. Most of
Pushkin's best works are studied at school. There is a statue to Pushkin
in Moscow at Pushkin
Square Young and old people gather by the statue, read poems and just meet friends.
Pushkin is respected not only in Russia, but all over the world. His novels and poe
ms have been translated into many languages and arc enjoyed by foreigners.
Yuri Gagarin (1934-1968) Юрий Гагарин
Yuri Gagarin was the first spaceman in the world. Born in 1934, young Gagarin
was a very curious and clever boy. Since childhood Yuri was interested in planes and made toy planes himself.
After the War the Gagarins
moved to another city and Yuri entered a vocational school in a small town near Moscow. He attended an aero club and started flying. After finishing a school for pilots Gagarin
joined the first group of spacemen. On the 12-th of April, 1961, Yuri Gagarin
flew into space and spend more than one hour there. He was the first man in the world who flew into space on board a spaceship. After the successful landing Yuri Gagarin
became a national hero. He died in 1968, but people all over the world still remember the first Russian spaceman.
Evgenij Pluschenko Евгений Плю
щенко
Pluschenko was sent to the ice-rink by his mother at the age of four. His mother liked figure skating and ha
d some friends at the rink. When Evgenij was 11, his ice-rink in Volgograd closed, and the boy left his home and moved alone to St. Petersburg to train. His mother came to Petersburg later, while his father and elder sister stayed in Volgograd.
Pluschenko
is one of the few male skaters to perform great spins and jumps. At the age of 16, Evgenij was the youngest male skater to receive the perfect score of 6.0. Pluschenko's
parents never watch him compete live, even when competitions took place at home. Pluschenko
withdrew from the 2005 World Championship after the short program because of injury. He underwent surgery in Munich, Germany in spring 2005.
On June 18, 2005, Pluschenko
married Maria Yermak. His wife studies sociology at the University of St. Petersburg. They met in 2004 when Pluschenko
, driving in St. Petersburg, noticed her in a convertible and decided to follow her.
At the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy, Pluschenko
skated two brilliant programs, and became the Olympic champion. Looking to the future Pluschenko
will be doing some skating tours, including Champions on Ice.
4. Англоговорящие с
траны
Great Britain
(1)
I would like to tell you about Great Britain .
The official name of the country is The United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland. The country H situated in the north-west of Europe and consists of two large islands, Great Britain
and the Isle of Ireland, and about five thousand small islands. There are four regions in the U К : England, Wales, Scotland an
d Northern Ireland. The country is washed by the North Sea in the north, the Irish Sea in the west and the English Channel in the south. The English Channel separates Great Britain from France.
The climate of the country is humid and oceanic because of
the small size, of the country and the surrounding water. The English weather changes very often. It is not very cold in winters and not very hot in summers.
Great Britain has a lot of rivers and lakes. The most important river is the Thames which flows
into the North Sea. The longest river is the Severn. The Lake District in the west is the most beautiful region on the British Isles. Famous British poets wrote their poems about the Lake District because of its beauty. The most famous lake is the Loch N
ess. There is a legend that Nessie, the Loch Ness monster, lives in it.
The United Kingdom has a lot of industrial cities like Manchester and Birmingham and educational cities like Cambridge and Oxford. The two world famous universities, Cambridge Unive
rsity and Oxford University, are situated there.
Every region of Great Britain has its own administrative centre and the symbol.
England is the biggest region in the country. The symbol of England is the Red Rose. London is the capital of England and Great Britain
. London is one of the biggest and most expensive cities in the world situated on the river Thames.
The symbol of Scotland is the thistle. Edinburgh is the administrative centre of the region. Scotland is a mountainous area. Ben Nevis, the highest peak of
Great Britain
, is situated there. The administrative centre of Wales is Cardiff and the symbol of the region is the daffodil. Belfast it the capital of Northern Ireland and the shamrock is its symbol.
The flag of Great Britain is called
the Union Jack, ft has three crosses on the dark blue background. The currency of the country is the pound which consists of a hundred pence.
Great Britain is a constitutional monarchy with the Queen as the Head of the state.
The legislative body of
the country is British Parliament consisting of two houses: The House of Lords and the House of Commons. The head of the government is Prime Minister. The two main political parties of English Parliament are: the Labour Party (which is the leading democr
atic party) and the Tory (the conservative party).
Great Britain
is famous for its great poets and writes such as William Shakespeare, Walter Scott, Arthur Conan Doyle and others. The Beatles rock group was born in England.
English people are famous for their love for gardening. Many of them live in small houses surrounded by beautiful green gardens.
English food does not vary much. The only dish that can be called traditional is fish and chips (fried fish with French fries). English people like goi
ng to pubs where they can have a snack and drink a pint of beer.
Great Britain is wonderful country. I would love to go there one day.
===================================
Great Britain (2)
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland wi
th an area of some 244,000 square miles is situated on the British Isles, which are separated from the European continent by the North Sea, the Strait of Dover and the English Channel. Britain's population is over 57 million. Four out of every five people
live in towns. The UK is a constitutional monarchy: the head of the state is a king or a queen. In practice, the Sovereign reins, but doesn't rule: the UK is governed by the Government Ч
a board of Ministers who are the leading members of the political party in power and who are responsible to Parliament. The territory of Great Britain
is small. At the same time the coun-try has a wide variety of scenery. England is the heart of Britain. It is the richest, the most fertile and most populated in the country.
The north and the west of the England are mountainous, but all the rest territory is a vast plain. In Northwest England there are many beautiful lakes with wooded or grassy shores and grey mountains all around. It is called Lake District. The national sy
m
bol of England is the red rose. Wales is the smallest land of the UK, but has a considerable variety, from the picturesque mountains of the north to the mining and industrial areas of the south. The capital of Wales is Cardiff, an important industrial cen
t
re and port. Most people in Wales live in the coastal plains. The national symbol of Wales is a leek. Scotland is a land of mountains, narrow valleys and plains, famous lakes and no end of large and small islands off the coast. The Highlands of Scotland a
re among oldest mountains in the world. The highest of them is Ben Nevis. The lakes in Scotland are called «lochs»
. The beautiful Loch Lomond with its thirty islands is the largest. One-third of the people in Scotland live in or near its capital, Edinburgh,
and its great industrial centre, Glasgow. The national symbol of Scotland is a thistle. Northern Ireland was a part of Ireland as a whole before the early 20-th century and developed in the middle ages as the Kingdom of Ulster, later the Province of Ulst
er. The territory is small. It is a land of lakes, rivers and a varied seacoast. Some places are known for their wild beauty, the Glen of Antrim among of them. The capital city is Belfast. The capital of
Great Britain , London, stands on the Thames, which flows into the North Sea. The Thames is the busiest and the most important river in
Great Britain , but it is not very long. The Severn, which flows into the Irish Sea, is the longest British river. The climate of
Great Britain is mild. The Atlantic Ocean and
the warm waters of the Gulf Stream affect the weather of the British Isles. The summer is usually cool and rainy. There is much rain and fog in autumn and in winter. Great Britain
is a very damp country.
===================================
Great Britain (3)
The official name of the country the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is situated on British Isles off the northwest coast of Europe. The British Isles consist of two large islands: Great Britain and Ireland and about five
thousand small islands. Their total area over 244.000 square kilometres. They are separated from continent by the English Channel and the Straits of Dover. The west coast of the country is washed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea; the east coast is
washed by the North Sea.
The United Kingdom is made up of four countries: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Their capitals are Lon¬
don, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast respectively. The population of the country is over 57 million people; about 80 per cent of them live in cities and towns.
Many centuries ago the islands were inhabited by Celts. Their tribes were developing into kingdoms when Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 B.C. The Roman invasion began in AD 43. The Romans withdrew in 4
07. The tribes of Angles and Saxons crossed the Channel and overran all England except Cornwall and Wales. Christianity was introduced in the 6th century by missiona¬ries from Rome.
The surface of the British Isles varies very much. The north of Scotlan
d is mountainous and is called the Highlands, while the south, which has beautiful valleys and plains, is called the Lowlands. The north and the west of England are mountainous, but all the rest Ч east, centre and south-east Ч
is a vast plain. The mountains are not very high. Ben Nevis in Scotland is the highest mountain (1343 m).
There are a lot of rivers in Great Britain, but they are not very long. The Severn is the longest river, while the Thames is the deepest and the most important one.
The mountains, the Atlantic Ocean and the warm waters of Gulf Stream influence the climate of the British Isles. It is mild the whole year round.
But the climate is not the same in all parts of England. The western part of England is warmer than the east and i
t also has more rain. There is much humidity in the air of England. It is well known as a foggy country. The United Kingdom is a monarchy. The Queen is the official head of state. In practice the country is ruled by an elected parliament. The British Parl
i
ament has two chambers: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. There are three main political parties: the Labour, the Conservative and the Liberal. In 2001 a general election was held. The Labour party achieved a majority in the House of Commons, a
nd the leader of the party Tony Blair was appointed Prime Minister by the Queen.
The United Kingdom is a highly developed industrial country. It is known as one of the world's largest producers and exporters of machinery, electronics, textile, aircraft
and navigation equipment.
Oxford
No one knows Oxford's
age. The city was first mentioned in 912. The city is famous for the university. Oxford
University is over 800 years old. Today it consists of 35 independent colleges and 5 halls. It also has central libraries and laboratories.
There are some museums and art galleries in Oxford
, too. For example, the Ashmolean Museum which is the oldest museum in Britain. It has a good collection of antiques, European paintings, sculptures and silver. In the Chri
st Picture Gallery you can see works of Italian painters from the 14-th to the 18-th century.
The Museum of the History of Science is the home to many scientific instruments of the 16-th century, collections of ancient chemical machines, watches and clocks and medical instruments.
Oxford
is a very beautiful town with narrow streets, small shops and markets. Every year it attracts tourists from all over the world. They visit the famous university and get to know about studentsТ life in
Oxford . I would love to go there one day to feel the atmosphere of this old educational centre of England.
Stratford-upon-Avon ( Стратфорд на
Эйвон )
The town is called Stratford-upon-Avon
because it stands on the river Avon. This town is very much popular with tourists
. This is because William Shakespeare, the greatest English dramatist and writer, was born and brought up there. Stratford is small, but it has a lot of places of interest. Among them is the house where Shakespeare was born. Nowadays this is a museum whic
h has a big exhibition illustrating Shakespeare's life and work.
New Place is the house where William Shakespeare spent his last years and died. Ann Hathaway's Cottage attracts tourists too, because this is the house of Shakespeare's wife. The Holy Trini
ty Church is the place where the Shakespeares are buried.
The Butterfly Farm is a wonderful place with ponds, streams and waterfalls. Different exotic flowers grow up there. The Insect City has a large collection of spiders and other insects that are ke
pt in glass cages.
The Teddy Bear Museum houses a great collection of bears from all over the world.
British Holidays and Traditions
(Праздники и
традиции Великобритании)
Great Britain is an old country and it has a lot of holidays and interesting traditions. Holidays in the country are historic and public. Most public holidays are called bank holidays because banks, companies and mo
st shops do not work on these days. Such holidays include New Year's Day, Easter Monday and others.
At Easter, the British give each other chocolate eggs, which they eat on Easter Sunday.
Christmas is on the 25-th of December. Families spend this da
y together. For many people this is the most important holiday of the year. Family members wrap up their presents and put them under the Christmas tree. Children hang colourful socks at the end of their beds for presents. They believe that Father Frost pu
ts presents inside the socks.
New Year's Day is not as important in Britain as it is in Russia. People usually make promises to themselves such as to give up smoking, to change their lifestyle and others.
St. Valentine's Day is celebrated on the 14-
th of February. This is the traditional day for those who are in love. Young people give flowers and greeting cards to their Valentines and celebrate this day together.
Halloween is a holiday loved by all children. It takes place on the 31-th of October
. There are a lot of parties and people dress up in costumes of witches and ghosts and make lanterns of pumpkins with a candle inside. People also play different games and have fun. Children usually go from one house to another with empty baskets or bags,
knock on doors and say: Trick or treat. People should give them something, or they will play a trick on them.
Among historic holidays, Guy Fawkes Night can be mentioned. In the 15-th century, a group of people with Guy Fawkes as their leader decided to
blow up the Houses of Parliament. They did not manage to do this and Guy Fawkes was caught and hanged. Since then the British celebrate this day burning a doll made of straw and dressed in old clothes on a bonfire. Children dress in old clothes and beg in
the street saying: A penny for the Guy.
There are a lot of customs in Great Britain. One of the most famous is gardening. Most of the English keep small gardens full of flowers behind their houses or around them. In spring, there are a lot of flower-sho
ws and vegetable-shows with prizes for the best exhibitions.
In Northern Ireland there is a holiday called St. Patrick's Day. It is celebrated on the 17-th of March. On this day people wear green clothes and drink Irish beer. There are carnivals and bar
beques all over the country.
Education in Britain ( Образование в Великобритании)
Schools in Britain are of two types: free state schools and public schools, which are for money. There are four kinds of state schools: county schools, voluntary schools, special schools and self-governing schools.
Abou
t 93 per cent of pupils in Great Britain get free education while the others go to public schools. Compulsory education begins at the age of five in Britain and at the age of four in Northern Ireland, when children go to infant schools. At the age of seve
n many children go to junior schools. Some pupils attend comprehensive schools or grammar schools, to which they are sent after exams at the age of eleven.
About 7 per cent of schoolchildren attend independent schools. Independent schools range from smal
l kindergartens to large day and hoarding schools. I Preparatory schools prepare children for going to senior school. Some independent schools are religious.
The National Curriculum consists of major subject, which are compulsory for 5 to 16-year-olds.
In England the major subjects of the Curriculum are English, mathematics and science, and the basic subjects are technology (design, technology and information technology), history, geography, music, art, physical education and, for secondary school pupil
s, a foreign language.
About 67 per cent of pupils continue to study after the age of 16. Education after 16 is divided into further and higher education. After the state exams pupils can slay at school or study in a further education college. Most post-
school education is provided at universities, polytechnics, colleges of further or higher education, adult education centres or specialized colleges.
There are about 90 universities in Britain, of which one, Buckingham, is private, and one, the Open Uni
versity (OU) is open to students of any age. Most of them are employed people who study in their free time. They get education through radio and television, in classes at local centres and at summer schools.
The biggest universities are Cambridge, Oxfor
d and London University. British universities are rather small; the approximate number of students is about 7-8 thousand people, London and Oxford universities are international: people front all over the world come to study there. A number of well known
scientists and writers, such as Newton, Darvin, Byron studied in Cambridge.
British Sports ( Спорт в Великобритании)
Sport plays a very important role for the British. Many of them spend their leisure time playing outdoor and indoor games, cycling, mounta
in climbing, boxing, etc. The national sports of Great Britain are: football, golf, lawn tennis, table tennis, racing and darts.
There are two kinds of football in Britain. They are soccer and rugby. Soccer is the traditional football, which is played
in many other countries in the world. Rugby appeared in 1895 at Rugby School. It differs from soccer. For example, rugby players may carry the oval ball during the match. It is played in teams of 15 men.
Golf, which is one of the most popular kinds of s
port in Britain, originated in Scotland. Golf is mostly played by well-off people, which is different from cricket. This game is played in schools, universities and colleges. Nobody knows exactly how old this game is, but some form of cricket was played i
n England in the 13 century.
Wimbledon Championship in lawn tennis is world famous. It takes place in the town of Wimbledon in summer. People come to the stadium to watch the game and many of them watch it on television.
The British are fond of racing
and its different kinds. Horse racing, dog racing, boat racing and motor racing are among the most popular kinds of sport in Britain. The most famous boat race takes place in England and it is between Oxford and Cambridge Universities.
There are also
very exotic kinds of sport for the rich, such as fox-hunting or just hunting. But many people are against them now because these kinds of sport mean killing animals. This sport was very popular with English Kings.
All people in Great Britain are fond of sports and go in for sport regularly.
American Holidays and Traditions
(Праздники и традиции Америки)
I would like to tell you about holidays and traditions in the United States of America. The so-called legal holidays include Christmas, New Year's Da
y, Martin Luther King Day, President's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving and others.
Christmas is a religious holiday celebrated on the 25-th of December. On this day Americans celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and sing Christmas caro
ls.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
,
grammar and arithmetic diligently. Being the son of a peasant, he was refused admission to the local school. After some years, through concealing his peasant origin, he gained admission to the Slavonic-Greek-Latin Academy and for five years lived a hand-
t
o-mouth existence on three kopecks a day. The noblemen's sons studying with him made fun of the twenty-year-old giant who, in spite of the jeers and his own poverty, made rapid progress. After five years came the chance of entering the Academy of Sciences
,
as there were not enough noble-born students to fill the quota. His ability and diligence attracted the attention of the professors and as one of three best students he was sent abroad. He spent all the time there studying the works of leading European s
c
ientists in chemistry, metallurgy, mining and mathematics. On his return to Russia in 1745 he was made a professor and was the first Russian scientist to become a member of the Academy of Sciences. For versatility Lomonosov has no equal in Russian science
.
Many of his ideas and discoveries only won recognition in the nineteenth century. He was the first to discover the vegetable origin of coal, for instance, and as a poet and scientist he played a great role in the formation of Russian literary language, e
liminating distortions and unnecessary foreign words. He died in 1765. His living memorial is the Moscow University, which he founded in 1755.
Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837) Александр
Пушкин
Alexander Pushkin is one of the most outstanding Russians. He was the greatest Russian poet and writer.
Pushkin
devoted his life to writing poems. The young Alexander's first poems appeared when he was fifteen, and by the time he left school he was regarded as a rival by the literary leaders of that time.
Pushkin was the first poet who touched problems that were important for Russia and its people. Because of that he was sent to exile a few times.
Pushkin wrote a lot of poems and novels. Among his famous ones are: Eugenij Onegin, Ruslan and Lyudmila and others. Children
like to read his fairy tales and watch wonderful cartoons based on them. When I was a child I read all the fairy tales by this talented poet. First my grandmother read them for me, but then when 1 learnt to read, I read his tales myself. Most of
Pushkin's best works are studied at school. There is a statue to Pushkin
in Moscow at Pushkin
Square Young and old people gather by the statue, read poems and just meet friends.
Pushkin is respected not only in Russia, but all over the world. His novels and poe
ms have been translated into many languages and arc enjoyed by foreigners.
Yuri Gagarin (1934-1968) Юрий Гагарин
Yuri Gagarin was the first spaceman in the world. Born in 1934, young Gagarin
was a very curious and clever boy. Since childhood Yuri was interested in planes and made toy planes himself.
After the War the Gagarins
moved to another city and Yuri entered a vocational school in a small town near Moscow. He attended an aero club and started flying. After finishing a school for pilots Gagarin
joined the first group of spacemen. On the 12-th of April, 1961, Yuri Gagarin
flew into space and spend more than one hour there. He was the first man in the world who flew into space on board a spaceship. After the successful landing Yuri Gagarin
became a national hero. He died in 1968, but people all over the world still remember the first Russian spaceman.
Evgenij Pluschenko Евгений Плю
щенко
Pluschenko was sent to the ice-rink by his mother at the age of four. His mother liked figure skating and ha
d some friends at the rink. When Evgenij was 11, his ice-rink in Volgograd closed, and the boy left his home and moved alone to St. Petersburg to train. His mother came to Petersburg later, while his father and elder sister stayed in Volgograd.
Pluschenko
is one of the few male skaters to perform great spins and jumps. At the age of 16, Evgenij was the youngest male skater to receive the perfect score of 6.0. Pluschenko's
parents never watch him compete live, even when competitions took place at home. Pluschenko
withdrew from the 2005 World Championship after the short program because of injury. He underwent surgery in Munich, Germany in spring 2005.
On June 18, 2005, Pluschenko
married Maria Yermak. His wife studies sociology at the University of St. Petersburg. They met in 2004 when Pluschenko
, driving in St. Petersburg, noticed her in a convertible and decided to follow her.
At the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy, Pluschenko
skated two brilliant programs, and became the Olympic champion. Looking to the future Pluschenko
will be doing some skating tours, including Champions on Ice.
4. Англоговорящие с
траны
Great Britain
(1)
I would like to tell you about Great Britain .
The official name of the country is The United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland. The country H situated in the north-west of Europe and consists of two large islands, Great Britain
and the Isle of Ireland, and about five thousand small islands. There are four regions in the U К : England, Wales, Scotland an
d Northern Ireland. The country is washed by the North Sea in the north, the Irish Sea in the west and the English Channel in the south. The English Channel separates Great Britain from France.
The climate of the country is humid and oceanic because of
the small size, of the country and the surrounding water. The English weather changes very often. It is not very cold in winters and not very hot in summers.
Great Britain has a lot of rivers and lakes. The most important river is the Thames which flows
into the North Sea. The longest river is the Severn. The Lake District in the west is the most beautiful region on the British Isles. Famous British poets wrote their poems about the Lake District because of its beauty. The most famous lake is the Loch N
ess. There is a legend that Nessie, the Loch Ness monster, lives in it.
The United Kingdom has a lot of industrial cities like Manchester and Birmingham and educational cities like Cambridge and Oxford. The two world famous universities, Cambridge Unive
rsity and Oxford University, are situated there.
Every region of Great Britain has its own administrative centre and the symbol.
England is the biggest region in the country. The symbol of England is the Red Rose. London is the capital of England and Great Britain
. London is one of the biggest and most expensive cities in the world situated on the river Thames.
The symbol of Scotland is the thistle. Edinburgh is the administrative centre of the region. Scotland is a mountainous area. Ben Nevis, the highest peak of
Great Britain
, is situated there. The administrative centre of Wales is Cardiff and the symbol of the region is the daffodil. Belfast it the capital of Northern Ireland and the shamrock is its symbol.
The flag of Great Britain is called
the Union Jack, ft has three crosses on the dark blue background. The currency of the country is the pound which consists of a hundred pence.
Great Britain is a constitutional monarchy with the Queen as the Head of the state.
The legislative body of
the country is British Parliament consisting of two houses: The House of Lords and the House of Commons. The head of the government is Prime Minister. The two main political parties of English Parliament are: the Labour Party (which is the leading democr
atic party) and the Tory (the conservative party).
Great Britain
is famous for its great poets and writes such as William Shakespeare, Walter Scott, Arthur Conan Doyle and others. The Beatles rock group was born in England.
English people are famous for their love for gardening. Many of them live in small houses surrounded by beautiful green gardens.
English food does not vary much. The only dish that can be called traditional is fish and chips (fried fish with French fries). English people like goi
ng to pubs where they can have a snack and drink a pint of beer.
Great Britain is wonderful country. I would love to go there one day.
===================================
Great Britain (2)
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland wi
th an area of some 244,000 square miles is situated on the British Isles, which are separated from the European continent by the North Sea, the Strait of Dover and the English Channel. Britain's population is over 57 million. Four out of every five people
live in towns. The UK is a constitutional monarchy: the head of the state is a king or a queen. In practice, the Sovereign reins, but doesn't rule: the UK is governed by the Government Ч
a board of Ministers who are the leading members of the political party in power and who are responsible to Parliament. The territory of Great Britain
is small. At the same time the coun-try has a wide variety of scenery. England is the heart of Britain. It is the richest, the most fertile and most populated in the country.
The north and the west of the England are mountainous, but all the rest territory is a vast plain. In Northwest England there are many beautiful lakes with wooded or grassy shores and grey mountains all around. It is called Lake District. The national sy
m
bol of England is the red rose. Wales is the smallest land of the UK, but has a considerable variety, from the picturesque mountains of the north to the mining and industrial areas of the south. The capital of Wales is Cardiff, an important industrial cen
t
re and port. Most people in Wales live in the coastal plains. The national symbol of Wales is a leek. Scotland is a land of mountains, narrow valleys and plains, famous lakes and no end of large and small islands off the coast. The Highlands of Scotland a
re among oldest mountains in the world. The highest of them is Ben Nevis. The lakes in Scotland are called «lochs»
. The beautiful Loch Lomond with its thirty islands is the largest. One-third of the people in Scotland live in or near its capital, Edinburgh,
and its great industrial centre, Glasgow. The national symbol of Scotland is a thistle. Northern Ireland was a part of Ireland as a whole before the early 20-th century and developed in the middle ages as the Kingdom of Ulster, later the Province of Ulst
er. The territory is small. It is a land of lakes, rivers and a varied seacoast. Some places are known for their wild beauty, the Glen of Antrim among of them. The capital city is Belfast. The capital of
Great Britain , London, stands on the Thames, which flows into the North Sea. The Thames is the busiest and the most important river in
Great Britain , but it is not very long. The Severn, which flows into the Irish Sea, is the longest British river. The climate of
Great Britain is mild. The Atlantic Ocean and
the warm waters of the Gulf Stream affect the weather of the British Isles. The summer is usually cool and rainy. There is much rain and fog in autumn and in winter. Great Britain
is a very damp country.
===================================
Great Britain (3)
The official name of the country the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is situated on British Isles off the northwest coast of Europe. The British Isles consist of two large islands: Great Britain and Ireland and about five
thousand small islands. Their total area over 244.000 square kilometres. They are separated from continent by the English Channel and the Straits of Dover. The west coast of the country is washed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea; the east coast is
washed by the North Sea.
The United Kingdom is made up of four countries: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Their capitals are Lon¬
don, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast respectively. The population of the country is over 57 million people; about 80 per cent of them live in cities and towns.
Many centuries ago the islands were inhabited by Celts. Their tribes were developing into kingdoms when Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 B.C. The Roman invasion began in AD 43. The Romans withdrew in 4
07. The tribes of Angles and Saxons crossed the Channel and overran all England except Cornwall and Wales. Christianity was introduced in the 6th century by missiona¬ries from Rome.
The surface of the British Isles varies very much. The north of Scotlan
d is mountainous and is called the Highlands, while the south, which has beautiful valleys and plains, is called the Lowlands. The north and the west of England are mountainous, but all the rest Ч east, centre and south-east Ч
is a vast plain. The mountains are not very high. Ben Nevis in Scotland is the highest mountain (1343 m).
There are a lot of rivers in Great Britain, but they are not very long. The Severn is the longest river, while the Thames is the deepest and the most important one.
The mountains, the Atlantic Ocean and the warm waters of Gulf Stream influence the climate of the British Isles. It is mild the whole year round.
But the climate is not the same in all parts of England. The western part of England is warmer than the east and i
t also has more rain. There is much humidity in the air of England. It is well known as a foggy country. The United Kingdom is a monarchy. The Queen is the official head of state. In practice the country is ruled by an elected parliament. The British Parl
i
ament has two chambers: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. There are three main political parties: the Labour, the Conservative and the Liberal. In 2001 a general election was held. The Labour party achieved a majority in the House of Commons, a
nd the leader of the party Tony Blair was appointed Prime Minister by the Queen.
The United Kingdom is a highly developed industrial country. It is known as one of the world's largest producers and exporters of machinery, electronics, textile, aircraft
and navigation equipment.
Oxford
No one knows Oxford's
age. The city was first mentioned in 912. The city is famous for the university. Oxford
University is over 800 years old. Today it consists of 35 independent colleges and 5 halls. It also has central libraries and laboratories.
There are some museums and art galleries in Oxford
, too. For example, the Ashmolean Museum which is the oldest museum in Britain. It has a good collection of antiques, European paintings, sculptures and silver. In the Chri
st Picture Gallery you can see works of Italian painters from the 14-th to the 18-th century.
The Museum of the History of Science is the home to many scientific instruments of the 16-th century, collections of ancient chemical machines, watches and clocks and medical instruments.
Oxford
is a very beautiful town with narrow streets, small shops and markets. Every year it attracts tourists from all over the world. They visit the famous university and get to know about studentsТ life in
Oxford . I would love to go there one day to feel the atmosphere of this old educational centre of England.
Stratford-upon-Avon ( Стратфорд на
Эйвон )
The town is called Stratford-upon-Avon
because it stands on the river Avon. This town is very much popular with tourists
. This is because William Shakespeare, the greatest English dramatist and writer, was born and brought up there. Stratford is small, but it has a lot of places of interest. Among them is the house where Shakespeare was born. Nowadays this is a museum whic
h has a big exhibition illustrating Shakespeare's life and work.
New Place is the house where William Shakespeare spent his last years and died. Ann Hathaway's Cottage attracts tourists too, because this is the house of Shakespeare's wife. The Holy Trini
ty Church is the place where the Shakespeares are buried.
The Butterfly Farm is a wonderful place with ponds, streams and waterfalls. Different exotic flowers grow up there. The Insect City has a large collection of spiders and other insects that are ke
pt in glass cages.
The Teddy Bear Museum houses a great collection of bears from all over the world.
British Holidays and Traditions
(Праздники и
традиции Великобритании)
Great Britain is an old country and it has a lot of holidays and interesting traditions. Holidays in the country are historic and public. Most public holidays are called bank holidays because banks, companies and mo
st shops do not work on these days. Such holidays include New Year's Day, Easter Monday and others.
At Easter, the British give each other chocolate eggs, which they eat on Easter Sunday.
Christmas is on the 25-th of December. Families spend this da
y together. For many people this is the most important holiday of the year. Family members wrap up their presents and put them under the Christmas tree. Children hang colourful socks at the end of their beds for presents. They believe that Father Frost pu
ts presents inside the socks.
New Year's Day is not as important in Britain as it is in Russia. People usually make promises to themselves such as to give up smoking, to change their lifestyle and others.
St. Valentine's Day is celebrated on the 14-
th of February. This is the traditional day for those who are in love. Young people give flowers and greeting cards to their Valentines and celebrate this day together.
Halloween is a holiday loved by all children. It takes place on the 31-th of October
. There are a lot of parties and people dress up in costumes of witches and ghosts and make lanterns of pumpkins with a candle inside. People also play different games and have fun. Children usually go from one house to another with empty baskets or bags,
knock on doors and say: Trick or treat. People should give them something, or they will play a trick on them.
Among historic holidays, Guy Fawkes Night can be mentioned. In the 15-th century, a group of people with Guy Fawkes as their leader decided to
blow up the Houses of Parliament. They did not manage to do this and Guy Fawkes was caught and hanged. Since then the British celebrate this day burning a doll made of straw and dressed in old clothes on a bonfire. Children dress in old clothes and beg in
the street saying: A penny for the Guy.
There are a lot of customs in Great Britain. One of the most famous is gardening. Most of the English keep small gardens full of flowers behind their houses or around them. In spring, there are a lot of flower-sho
ws and vegetable-shows with prizes for the best exhibitions.
In Northern Ireland there is a holiday called St. Patrick's Day. It is celebrated on the 17-th of March. On this day people wear green clothes and drink Irish beer. There are carnivals and bar
beques all over the country.
Education in Britain ( Образование в Великобритании)
Schools in Britain are of two types: free state schools and public schools, which are for money. There are four kinds of state schools: county schools, voluntary schools, special schools and self-governing schools.
Abou
t 93 per cent of pupils in Great Britain get free education while the others go to public schools. Compulsory education begins at the age of five in Britain and at the age of four in Northern Ireland, when children go to infant schools. At the age of seve
n many children go to junior schools. Some pupils attend comprehensive schools or grammar schools, to which they are sent after exams at the age of eleven.
About 7 per cent of schoolchildren attend independent schools. Independent schools range from smal
l kindergartens to large day and hoarding schools. I Preparatory schools prepare children for going to senior school. Some independent schools are religious.
The National Curriculum consists of major subject, which are compulsory for 5 to 16-year-olds.
In England the major subjects of the Curriculum are English, mathematics and science, and the basic subjects are technology (design, technology and information technology), history, geography, music, art, physical education and, for secondary school pupil
s, a foreign language.
About 67 per cent of pupils continue to study after the age of 16. Education after 16 is divided into further and higher education. After the state exams pupils can slay at school or study in a further education college. Most post-
school education is provided at universities, polytechnics, colleges of further or higher education, adult education centres or specialized colleges.
There are about 90 universities in Britain, of which one, Buckingham, is private, and one, the Open Uni
versity (OU) is open to students of any age. Most of them are employed people who study in their free time. They get education through radio and television, in classes at local centres and at summer schools.
The biggest universities are Cambridge, Oxfor
d and London University. British universities are rather small; the approximate number of students is about 7-8 thousand people, London and Oxford universities are international: people front all over the world come to study there. A number of well known
scientists and writers, such as Newton, Darvin, Byron studied in Cambridge.
British Sports ( Спорт в Великобритании)
Sport plays a very important role for the British. Many of them spend their leisure time playing outdoor and indoor games, cycling, mounta
in climbing, boxing, etc. The national sports of Great Britain are: football, golf, lawn tennis, table tennis, racing and darts.
There are two kinds of football in Britain. They are soccer and rugby. Soccer is the traditional football, which is played
in many other countries in the world. Rugby appeared in 1895 at Rugby School. It differs from soccer. For example, rugby players may carry the oval ball during the match. It is played in teams of 15 men.
Golf, which is one of the most popular kinds of s
port in Britain, originated in Scotland. Golf is mostly played by well-off people, which is different from cricket. This game is played in schools, universities and colleges. Nobody knows exactly how old this game is, but some form of cricket was played i
n England in the 13 century.
Wimbledon Championship in lawn tennis is world famous. It takes place in the town of Wimbledon in summer. People come to the stadium to watch the game and many of them watch it on television.
The British are fond of racing
and its different kinds. Horse racing, dog racing, boat racing and motor racing are among the most popular kinds of sport in Britain. The most famous boat race takes place in England and it is between Oxford and Cambridge Universities.
There are also
very exotic kinds of sport for the rich, such as fox-hunting or just hunting. But many people are against them now because these kinds of sport mean killing animals. This sport was very popular with English Kings.
All people in Great Britain are fond of sports and go in for sport regularly.
American Holidays and Traditions
(Праздники и традиции Америки)
I would like to tell you about holidays and traditions in the United States of America. The so-called legal holidays include Christmas, New Year's Da
y, Martin Luther King Day, President's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving and others.
Christmas is a religious holiday celebrated on the 25-th of December. On this day Americans celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and sing Christmas caro
ls.
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