РАЗГОВОРНЫЕ ТЕМЫ
Sport means health
They say, "Health is above wealth". Thousands of people consider sports to be very helpful in gaining good health. That's why every country pays much attention to developing sports. It is sport that helps to bring up physically strong, strong-willed, courageous and energetic people.
Unfortunately, it is very difficult to find time forgoing in for sports regularly. People have become too busy nowadays. There are quite a number of people who prefer watching sporting events rather than taking part in them. They are so-called sport fans. They pack stadiums during sport matches and competitions, they sit glued to the TV, and they are ready to give every moral support to their favourite sportsmen or teams.
In the meantime thousands of people devote their spare time to going in for sports. They play indoor and outdoor games: volleyball, basketball, table-tennis, hockey, law-tennis. The number of participants and spectators show that the most popular games are basketball, hockey and, of course, football. A lot of people go in for track-and-field athletics, cycling, boxing, wrestling, gymnastics and so on.
Hockey, figure skating, skiing and skating are among the most popular winter sports. In summer swimming is enjoyed by millions of people. There are also many indoor swimming pools, which make swimming possible all the year round. Cycling is useful exercise, too, because it takes you out into the fresh air and gives much work to all the muscles. So if you arrange your day correctly you can find an opportunity for sports.
Physical training is an essential part of young people's development. All pupils and students have regular training at PT lessons. These classes are enjoyed by everybody as they give a lot of energy, develop muscles, make pupils strong, quick and healthy. From time to time different kinds of competitions are organized at school or between schools. The most popular sports at school are basketball, football and volleyball. Besides, pupils and students attend a lot of sports clubs and sports sections after classes, where they take up their favourite kind of sport. So if you think that physical fitness and health are important you are to go in for sports.
My hobby
Hobby is a favourite occupation which people like to do when they have some free time. We choose a hobby according to our character and taste. Very often our hobby helps us to choose our future profession because we learn a lot of new things.
Many people are interested in music. Others like reading or going on hikes, taking photographs or knitting. People living in cities and towns like to be closer to nature. They get away from the tiresome and dusty cities to enjoy the countryside. For example, gardening and growing flowers is the most common hobby among Englishmen.
All the members of our family have their own hobbies. My mother enjoys knitting, and my father is fond of collecting stamps. My brother's favourite occupation is playing different computer games, and my sister's hobby is cooking.
As for me, I am keen on music and whenever I have some free time I go to the Concert Hall. I like to go to the concerts. I take a special liking to the concerts. I take a special liking to the music of the Russian composers and I try not to miss solo concerts or symphonic orchestras by our famous conductors. I like piano concerts, especially Chopin's waltzes. I like the violin too. My friend has a good ear for music, she goes to school for violin lessons. She accompanies me all the time when I go to the concert hall. We enjoy music very much.
Достижения России в искусстве. Лермонтов
There are many great poets and writers in Russia. But my favourite poet is Lermontov.
He was born in Moscow in a noble family, the poet spent his youth at Tarkany, his grandmother's estate in the province of Penza.
In 1830 Lermontov entered Moscow University, but very soon he had to leave it. Then he entered St. Petersburg school of Cavalry Cadets. He finished it in 1834 and was given a commission in the Hussar Regiment of the Imperial Guard.
In 1837 the poet was exiled to the Caucasus for his poem on Pushkin's death in which Lermontov put the blame for it on the ruling circles of Russia under Nicholas I. In 1841 Lermontc was sent into exile to the Caucasus for the second time. As a result of intrigues by the officers he was provoked into a personal quarrel with an old schoolfellow, which led to the dual. On July 15, 1841 the poet was killed. He was not even twenty seven years old.
Lermontov began writing when he was very young. One of his first writings to be publisher in 1835 was his tale verse 'Hadji Abrek'. But Lermontov became famous after his poem on the death of Pushkin. Whether Lermontov chose to write poetry, prose or drama, the stamp of his genius was always to be found on it.
Lermontov's poems 'The Demon', 'Mtsyri' and the 'Lay of the Merchant Kalashnikov', his innumerable lyrics, his novel 'A Hero of Our 'time' and his play 'Masquerade' are masterpieces oi Russian literature. Lermontov was tremendously influenced in his writings by the ideas of the Decembrists. Lermontov's poems are the profession of faith of an independent and free man.
As a poet and a thinker Lermontov exerted an immense influence on all the literature that followed.
День Святого Валентина
Valentine's Day is celebrated on February 14th as a festival of romance and affection. People send greeting cards called "valentines" to their sweethearts, friends, and members of their families.
Many valentines have romantic poems; others are humorous. But almost all valentines ask "Be My Valentine." This may mean be my friend or be my love or be my companion. Valentines often show a cupid with an arrow. Cupid, also called Eros, was the ancient Roman god of love.
Valentine's Day in not a legal holiday; schools and banks are open as usual. Merchants sell valentines and decorations for Valentine's Day parties and dances. AH the decorations are bright red, and the most popular ones are heart shaped.
School children decorate their classrooms with bright red paper hearts and celebrate the day in their classroom. They also make valentine cards for their friends and parents. Red is the color most often used in valentines because it is a symbol of warmth and feelings. This is the reason that red roses have long been a symbol of love. Pink is a mixture of red and white and is quite commonly used also. White is the symbol of purity and is a color often used in valentines. It is believed that the bridal veil may have inspired the use of lace on valentines.
Stores advertise heavily for this holiday since it is traditional for sweethearts, spouses, and members of the family to exchange gifts on Valentine's Day. Heart shaped boxes of candy, jewelry and flowers are some of the popular gifts given on this day.
Many newspapers carry advertisements or messages placed by people in love. Both men and women want to let their sweethearts know how much they love them. On Valentine's Day, many radio stations play romantic music all day long. One very famous song is called "My Funny Valentine".
Valentine's Day is a day to share loving feelings with friends and family. It has become traditional for many couples to become engaged on this day. Also, famous couples are remembered. Some of them are Romeo and Juliet, Caesar and Cleopatra, among others. This is a happy day because it is specially dedicated to celebrate love, affection and friendship.
Leisure time hobby
What is a hobby? It is a favourite occupation of a person in his free time. There are hundreds of personal interests and ways of spending one's free time.
Some people are very interested in dancing. They attend classes of classical or modern ballet, or they like folk dancing. So they devote their leisure time to this kind of occupation.
Quite a lot of people are great cinema- or theatre-goers. It's their hobby not to miss a film or a play, which they consider to be worth seeking.
Thousands of people are passionate readers. They think it is a very useful occupation as it gives them a lot of information, broadens their mind and enriches their life experience.
Young people are mostly fond of pop- or rock-music. They collect records or tape recordings of their favourite groups or singers. They go to concerts, to discotheques, they can listen to the music from morning till night. Many boys and girls take musical classes where they learn to sing or to play different musical instruments.
Young girls and lots of women spend much time knitting or sewing. They want to look nice and attractive. Some women and men take up cooking, gardening or growing flowers.
But perhaps one of the most popular ways of spending time of leisure is collecting things. People collect various things: stamps, coins, postcards, stones, shells, dolls, badges and so on and so forth. Philately is definitely the most popular hobby. Some people take it up very passionately. They spend long hours sitting at a table and arranging new stamps in the albums, or just looking their collection through. Indeed, each stamp has a story to tell about distant countries and strange people. Stamps have pictures of animals and birds living in jungles or on far-away islands. Kings and presidents pass before your eyes and you can follow the history of whole nations. So a stamp collection is not only a good textbook of history and geography, it is also a source of information on many other subjects.
Ecological problem
About two hundred years ago man lived in greater harmony with his environment because industry was not much developed. Today the situation is quite different. People all over the world are worried about what is happening to the environment. Newspapers and magazines write about water pollution, air pollution and land pollution. Fish dies in the lakes, rivers and seas, forest trees die too. Much of this dangerous waste goes into the air and is carried by winds for great distances. The Earth is our home. We must take care of it, for ourselves and for the next generations. This means keeping our environment clean. Each of us must do everything possible to keep the land, air and water clean.
The cinema
Cinematography has rather a long story. Owing to the work of the great American engineer Thomas Alva Edison, thousands of people got an opportunity of enjoying this kind of art. It was he who created a machine to show films and made one of the first cinema films. The first real film show took place a hundred years ago in Paris, 1895, when a group of 33 people saw a short film about a train coming to a railway station. Since then many thousands of films have been shot in different countries.
The majority of all the films are made with great professional skill. And it's far from being easy to shoot a good film. The film that we see at the cinema is the product of joint efforts of many people. First, a good screenplay should be written or chosen. Camera work should be superb. The designer should properly think over the setting. Besides, acting should be excellent. And, of course, everything and everybody is directed by the film producer who is responsible for the artistic side of the film.
A great number of various films are released every year. They differ in artistic value as well as in genre. There are films based on novels or plays (so-called "screen versions") and films which deal with historical events. In such films you can see the familiar characters and you feel satisfied if they look exactly as you have pictured them. Epics (such as "War and Peace") are films depicting heroic events of the past on a grand scale, often with vast crowd scenes. Musicals, the successors of musical comedy, are films with songs and dances. Thrillers are films describing some thrilling events usually connected with crime, especially murder. Horror films are films with mysterious and supernatural happenings, ghosts and monsters. Westerns are films with fast action, uncomplicated heroes, and clear cut conflicts between good and evil. Science fiction films offer the viewer flying saucers, extraterrestrial living beings, space battles and explosions of planets.
Many films nowadays raise urgent problems facing contemporary society: ecology, ethnic conflicts, politics and moral, rise in crime and others. Cinema films help us to study these problems, to see our drawbacks and understand our life better.
Достижения в искусстве страны изучаемого языка. William Shakespeare
British literature is very rich. You can always find a city connected with a famous writer. I would like to tell about William Shakespeare.
William Shakespeare was one of the greatest and famous writers of the world. Many people know and like his works, but many facts of Shakespeare's life are still unknown.
William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-on Avon, a small English town. He studied at local grammar school because his father wanted his son to be an educated person. While studying at school, William didn't have much free time but he liked to go to the forest and river Avon.
Young William liked to watch actors and actresses who visited Stratford-on Avon. He was fond of actor's profession and decided to become an actor. With this purpose he went to London. There he played and wrote plays as well. In his works he described the events of England contemporary life. His plays that were staged in many theatres and which were then translated into many languages made Shakespeare a very popular person.
In all Shakespeare wrote thirty seven plays. He cooperated wish the best English theatres during twenty five years. His best and the most famous plays are "Othello", "King Lear", "Hamlet", "Romeo and Juliet".
Besides plays Shakespeare wrote a lot of poetry, which is translated into many languages and is well-known through-out the world.
William Shakespeare died in 1616. But his creations are still popular now and millions of people still admire them.
The media in the life of society
The mass media plays an important role in our everyday life. In fact it is an essential part of modern society. Press, radio and TV keep people informed on the latest and most sensational events.
Millions of copies of newspapers are printed in our country every day. All the most important questions of social, economic, scientific and cultural life, moral and ecological problems are published hi the press and discussed on TV. Opinions clash, officials and political parties are subjected to criticism whatever their position may by. The mass media is constantly trying to stimulate interest in every aspect of life of the country.
Newspapers, magazines and TV programmes for youth reflect the young people's hopes and wishes, their leisure and education, their attitudes and opinions. Of course such programmes, magazines and newspapers mostly deal with leisure, especially music and the cinema. But TV programmes like «Up to 16 and beyond» and newspapers like el am young» also offer young people advice of a college or a job and help them to choose the right course in solving their problems.
Not only young people, but all categories of readers often write to their favourite programmes or publications, offering their opinions or asking for advice. In this way constant contact between the media and the public exists and develops.
Another kind of link between the public and the media which appeared recently is advertising. (The mass media helps us with information about new goods and services. But some people are tired of advertisements and don't like to see their favourite films or programmes interrupted by them. I hope some way will be found to solve this problem. For example, in Great Britain, there; are two organizations providing TV and radio services. The BBC is state-funded and there is absolutely no advertising in BBC programmes, and in the programmes of the Independent Television, the advertising is also restricted.
In Russia nowadays, there are many national daily and weekly newspapers. There are also local newspapers in all parts of Russia, and one can find newspapers and magazines for sports fans, music fans and, so on. Our family subscribes to Izuestiya (Trud, Sevodnia etc.) and Vecherny Peterburg (Smena etc.) because they are informative, interesting and objective. My father is interested in sport, so he sometimes buys «Sport-express» at the newsstands. I'm not very interested in politics and economics, so I sometimes buy newspapers and magazines about music and the cinema.
Television
Television nowadays has become one of the most important mass media. It informs, educates and entertains people. It influences the way people look at the world and makes them change their views. In other words, mass media, and especially television, mould public opinion.
Millions of people like to watch TV in their spare time. The TV set now is not just a piece of furniture. It is someone who is one of the families. There are two viewpoints on television. Some people think that television is doing a lot of harm. People begin to forget how to occupy their free time. It prevents them from communicating with each other, from visiting friends, or relatives. And indeed, people used to have hobbies, they used to go outside for amusements to the theatres, cinemas, sporting events. They used to read books and listen to music. Now all free time is given to television.
But there are a lot of people who consider TV to be helpful because it gives us a lot of information. We become better informed by watching documentaries, science programs and by learning the most important economic, social and political issues of the day. We can see famous people, great events that will pass into history. Television gives wonderful possibilities for education: you can take a TV course in history, economy, in learning foreign languages and in many other subjects. Television brings the world in your living-rooms. We see people in our country and in other lands, and learn their customs, occupations, and problems. TV gives us opportunities to see the best actors and performances, to hear the latest news, to listen to political discussions. To crown it all, TV simply helps us to relax after a hard day's work, giving a great variety of entertaining and musical programs. Still, it's not a good thing for children to be glued to the TV screen all day long. It's very harmful for their health and for developing personalities, because children prefer low-standard hits, horror films or banal serials. All this by no means contributes to what we call making a personality.
The press
Together with television and radio, the press is a very important means of mass media. The main aim of the press is keeping people informed on all topical issues of the day. There is practically no family that doesn't subscribe to one or two newspapers or magazines. Besides, you can always buy the latest issue of the newspaper you need at any news-stall. Most newspapers appear daily, some of them come out weekly. As for the magazines, they are monthly as a rule.
All newspapers cover the main topics of our life. They publish material about politics and different viewpoints on it. You can read interesting articles about economy and get acquainted with a lot of ideas of what people are to do if they want to live better. Some papers carry articles on science, engineering, medicine, and education.
Many newspapers have publications about international events, about the life of the people in all parts of the world. They also keep you informed on the events in so-called "hot points". Sometimes you can read some extraordinary and sensational articles. Sportsmen and sports fans can find comments on the most exciting sporting events and matches. TV viewers and radio listeners can get information about TV- and radio-programs. The last pages of any newspaper are given, as a rule, to those readers who need some practical advice in gardening, cooking, growing flowers, etc. You can also find here some funny stories, puzzles, crosswords and all that sort of thing that may entertain you. It is not an easy thing to issue a newspaper. The editor-in-chief is at the head of every newspaper. He governs the editional board, every member of which is responsible for his own section in the paper. The editional board usually writes editorials for the newspaper that deals with the topical issues of the day. As for the articles of other columns they are written by the reporters or by the special correspondents who work for this newspaper. Their reports give full coverage of the most important international and domestic events and news items.
Достижения в науке и технике Великобритании. Michael Faraday
Wonderful inventions have been made in science and technology. These advances are changing the lifestyle of people all over the world. And one of the invention was made by M. Faraday.
Michael Faraday was born in London in a poor family. He did not learn much and spent a lot of time playing in the streets when he was a small boy.
When he was fourteen he got some work in a bookseller's shop. It was important that he worked for a bookseller. He read as many books as he could.
Some talks about science were given at that time in London. Faraday wanted to go to these talks, but he had no money to pay. So his brother who was a working man helped him with the money.
One day Michael went to a talk by Humphry Davy, England's greatest scientist of the time. He liked it so much that he tried to „ get work in Davy's laboratory, but there was no work for him.
A few months later the great scientist remembered the young boy and Michael became Davy's laboratory assistant.
Working with Davy, Michael Faraday received an important education. Like Davy, he became interested in electricity.
In those days scientists knew little about electricity. Michael Faraday spent long weeks and months studying it. At last he saw that electricity could be made by a machine.
This was the beginning of all the great machines that make our electricity today. Without them we can have no electricity. We can have no telephones, no radio and no television. Each of these things is invention e made for man by the work of Faraday and others with electricity.
Faraday studied different sciences, not- only electricity. Do you know about it? We hope you do.
science [΄saiəns] — наука;
scientist [΄saiəntistl — ученый;
assistant [ə΄sistənt]
electricity [ılek΄trısıtı] — электричество;
study [΄stdı] — изучать, учиться;
invention [ın΄ven∫n] — изобретение
Books in our life
Books... I think, that we can't live without them.
I consider, that books are with us during all our life. When I was a child my parents read them to me. I was pleased to listen to the stories and tales. I learned a lot of interesting things from books. I remember, I liked thick books.
Later I could read myself. I like to read books about animals, nature, and children.
I like to get presents on my birthday. I am happy if it is a book. It doesn't matter what kind of book it is. I like to read almost all the books. If I have got time I like to spend it with my favourite book. When I was 15 I was fond of reading too. But I prefered to read books about travels. I travelled with the heroes of the stories. I saw many interesting places and learned a lot of important facts about other countries and people.
Now I like to read books on science. You can learn many things from books. I am sure, that books play a very important role in my life.
Our family has got many books. All the members of our family buy books and read them. My mother says that books help us in self-education. In ancient times books were written by hand. It was difficult to write a book with a pen. Then printing came into our life. Printing played an important role in the development of literature and culture.
Now there are a lot of books in the shops, there are many books in our flats. But it is difficult to buy all the books which we want to read. That's why we get books in public libraries.
Sometimes it is difficult to solve some problems of life. I think that books can help us. Last year I read a very interesting book "An American Tragedy" by Theodore Dreiser. This novel was published at the beginning of the 20th century. The novel describes the tragic fate of a boy and a girl, Clyde and Roberta by name. It is a sad story. This novel was written many years ago, but it is popular nowadays. Books must be our friends during all our life.
WORDS
1. ancient
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— древний
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2. printing
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— печатание, печать
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3. development
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— развитие
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4. human
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— человеческий
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5. solve
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— решать
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6. Theodor Dreiser (1871—1945)
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— Теодор Драйзер, американский писатель
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Достижения в науке и техники в России. Юрий Гагарин
One of the greatest achievement of the 20th century was the flights into space.
The first cosmonaut is Yuri Gagarin. His life and work are a great example to all young people.
Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin was born in the village of Klushino in the Smolensk region on March 9, 1934, into the family of a collective farmer.
In 1951 he graduated from a vocational school in the town of Lyubertsy, near Moscow, and at the same time he finished an evening school.
When he was a schoolboy, his favourite subjects were physics and mathematics. He read a lot of books.
Yuri Gagarin began to fly while he was a student of a technical secondary school in Saratov. He was a member of an aero-club.
In 1955 he entered a flying school. Two years later he became a pilot and soon he joined the first group of Soviet cosmonauts.
In the summer of 1960 Yuri Gagarin joined the Communist Party. That was the most important day of his life.
On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin flew into space for the first time in history. He spent 108 minutes there.
When he came back in his spaceship Vostok, he was made a Hero of the Soviet Union and awarded the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star Medal.
Yuri Gagarin visited many countries. Millions of people saw him and listened to him. They greeted him as a great patriot of the Soviet land.
Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin was commander e of the cosmonaut group; he prepared to fly in a new spaceship.
He did not go into space again, but the people will always remember him as the world's first space pilot, a Soviet hero.
cosmonaut [΄kozməno:t] vocational [vou΄kei∫ənl] school — ремесленное училище
technical [΄teknikal] secondary [΄sekəndərı] school — техникум
space — космос; gold — золото, золотой;
commander [kə'mα:ndə]
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