Read and translate the text; retell it:
My Family
Let me introduce myself. I am … . I am from … . I was born in … . I have been living in this town since my childhood.
Now I am going to tell you about my family. We are a family of five. We are friendly and getting all right.
My father is 45.He works as a surgeon in the hospital. He is neither old nor young, a good looking man, handsome, rather thin with dark hair just beginning to gray. He is a very sociable person. What I don’t like about him is that he is always busy. He works overtime, because he is the only bread-maker in our family. He is keen on tennis and moreover he is fond of going to the country and to deal with our country-cottage.
My mother is three years younger than he. She works as a teacher in the nursery school. My mother is rather slim and pretty, she is always elegant and smart. In short, she is a pleasant-looking woman of about 40. Paying attention to the fact of her being a teacher, she has got a great deal of work to do at home and at school. Sometimes it seems to me that it’s an endless business! Shopping and cooking is nearly half a day’s work for her. But my granny and I are in a habit of giving her a helping hand about the house.
Boris is my older brother. He is 6 years elder than to me. So he is 22 already. He has graduated from the University. He is an economist. He is married and his wife is a journalist. They are three in the family. They have got a child – my nephew. He is a small boy with golden hair and dark brown eyes and a spirit that is always bright and happy, but he is a little bit naughty.
And finally just a few words concerning my granny. To tell the truth she is my best friend. She always listens to my endless stories about friends and school life. She is on pension now. I must admit, she is really an understanding person.
It’s a custom for our family to discuss things during the meals. I must say that all of us are not alike in tastes, manners and characters. But as a matter of fact we get along well with each other. We usually show our interest in what others think and do. We share each other’s joy and sorrow. We never remain indifferent to what happens to others. We exchange our impressions on films or plays we have seen. We are attentive and sincere to each other and all these things unite a family. But we like humor and joking so we argue and tease each other. It does not prevent us from being on friendly terms. Everybody is grateful to our mother, because she keeps the house, she takes care of everybody, she is kind and generous. We try our best to treat mother most kindly.
ABOUT MYSELF
Hello, friends. Let me first introduce myself. My name is Ann or Anya for my friends. My surname or last name is Sokolova. I was born on the 2nd of October in Sochi, KrasnodarskyKrai. This is the most beautiful city in Russia situated on the Black Sea coast. Now I am a first-year student at the Technical Academy. In five years I'll be an engineer.
Now let me describe my appearance. I am tall and slim and have fair hair and blue eyes. My friends say that I am pretty. I think I am just good-looking. I love sports and music. I was very serious about a career in gymnastics when I was in the 5th form. But then I broke my arm and doctors didn't let me go in for gymnastics. I love to listen to modern music and dance. I dance a lot and I hope I am good at it. I also love swimming. I always swim in the Black sea when I visit my parents, my dear family.
I would like to tell you about my family. There are five people in our family. My father's name is Vladimir Stepanovich. He is a mathematician by education and businessman by profession. My mother's name is Tatyana Petrovna. She is a housewife. She has much work about the house because I have a younger sister. She is a pupil. My sister Natasha is in the fifth form. My grandmother, my mother's mother, lives with us. She is very kind and helps us a lot.
Our family is very friendly, we have many friends. In summer many relatives come to visit us. And, of course, they use a chance to spend several weeks in beautiful Sochi.
In May I have finished school No 5 in Sochi. I did well in all the subjects but my favourite subjects at school were Physics and Computer Science. I also enjoyed English lessons.
I am very interested in learning English because I always wanted to become a programmer or maybe a businesswoman. I also think that the knowledge of foreign languages helps in everyday life and career.
Two years ago I travelled much around Europe. I have visited France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. There the knowledge of English helped me a lot.
As you see,' my biography isn't very long yet. But we'll meet again in the next lesson and I'll tell you more about myself. See you later...
Vocabulary:
introduce — представлять, знакомить
Black Sea coast — побережьеЧерногоморя
a first-year student — студент(ка) первогокурса
region— область
appearance— внешность
slim — стройная
career— карьера
gymnastics— гимнастика
mathematician— математик
housewife — домохозяйка
several— несколько
to do well — зд. успевать
chance— случай, шанс
kind — добрый
a lot — много
the Netherlands — Нидерланды
the United Kingdom — СоединенноеКоролевство (Великобритания)
ADD TO YOUR ACTIVE VOCABULARY
(ПОПОЛНИСВОЙАКТИВНЫЙСЛОВАРЬ):
tall — высокий
short—маленькогороста
stout — приземистый, коренастый
slim — стройный
fat — толстый
plumpy — полный
fairhair — светлые волосы
blonde — блондин(ка)
brunette — брюнет(ка)
grayhair — седыеволосы
bold headed — лысый
short sighted — близорукий
smart, clever, bright — умный (я)
stupid— тупой, глупый
boring — скучный
fun to be with — веселыйчеловек
easy to go along — легкийвобщении
quiet — спокойный
impulsive — порывистый, импульсивный
aggressive — агрессивный
rude — невежливый, грубый
shy, confused — застенчивый
active — активный
talkative — разговорчивый
enthusiastic — энтузиаст, затейник
Text B: “MY BIOGRAPHY”
after Mark Twain
I was born on the 30-th of November 1835 in the village of Florida, Missouri. My father was John Marshal Clemens.
According to tradition some of my great-great parents were pirates and slave traders — a respectable trade in the 16-th century. In my time I wished to be a pirate myself.
Florida contained a hundred people and when I was born I increased the population by one per cent. It had two streets and a lot of lanes. Both the streets and the lanes were paved (мостить) with the same material — black mud in wet times, deep dust in dry. Most of the houses were of wood — there were none of brick and none of stone. Everywhere around were fields and woods.
My uncle was a farmer. I have never met a better man than he was. He was a middle-aged man whose head was clear and whose heart was honest and simple. I stayed at his house for three months every year till I was thirteen years old. Nowhere else was I happier than at his house. He had eight children and owned about fourteen Negro slaves whom he had bought from other farmers. My uncle and everyone on the farm treated the slaves kindly. All the Negroes on the farm were friends of ours and with those of our own age we were playmates. Since my childhood I have learned to like the black race and admire some of its fine qualities. In my school days nobody told me that it was wrong to sell and buy people. It is only much later that I realized all the horror of slavery.
The country school was three miles from my uncle's farm. It stood in a forest and could take in about twenty five boys and girls. We attended school once or twice a week. I was a sickly (хилый) child and lived mainly on medicine the first seven years of my life.
When I was twelve years old my father died. After my father's death our family was left penniless. I was taken from school at once and placed in the office of a local newspaper as printer's apprentice (подмастерье) where I could receive board and clothes but no money.
For ten years I worked in printshops of various cities. I started my journalistic life as a reporter on a newspaper in San-Francisco. It was then that I began to sign my publications by my penname Mark Twain.
General understanding:
1. In what state was Samuel Clemens born?
2. What were the great-great parents of Mark Twain?
3. What did Mark Twain want to be?
4. What were the streets and lanes of Florida paved with?
5. How does the author describe his uncle?
6. How many slaves did Mark Twain's uncle own?
7. What was the author's attitude toward slavery?
8. Was Mark Twain a healthy boy?
9. When did the author start his career of a writer?
Hobbies
People live a very busy life nowadays, so they have little time to spare. Still they try their best to make use of those rare hours of leisure. A hobby is a favorite pastime of a person.
Hobbies differ like tastes. People choose their hobbies according to their taste and character. Someone likes simply to watch TV, lying on a sofa, when someone climbs to the mountains.
If you have chosen a hobby to your liking, lucky you are: you have made your life more interesting. But many people have nothing to do during their spare time, though there are many different hobbies: reading, collecting, going in for sports, traveling and others.
If a person collects something, he does it according to his financial abilities: someone collects cars or pictures of world-known painters, while another one collects beer cans or stamps. But no matter what they collect, it gives them pleasure. Many collections started in a small way with one or two items. Some private collections are really valuable.
No matter what kind of hobby a person has, he always has an opportunity of learning from it.
Some young people find it a pleasure to go to the theatre. The theatre is one of the most ancient kinds of art. For centuries people have come to the theatre for the different aims: to relax, to be amazed or entertained, to have a good laugh, to enjoy the acting of their favorite actors and actresses.
Modern life is impossible without traveling. Many people travel by rail, by air, by sea or by road for pleasure.
I don’t like to read very much, but I think, that it’s the most useful pastime.
If a person likes to read, he can take many useful information and life experience from the books. By reading about the things, a hobbyist is interested in, he is adding to what he knows.
A relatively new hobby is watching TV. But I don’t think that television is a hobby at all. As for me, it’s the way of getting information. There are two viewpoints on television. Some people think that TV 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 are used to have hobbies, to go outside for amusements, to the theatres, cinemas, sporting events. They are used to read books and listen to music. But TV gives wonderful possibilities for getting information, for education. TV brings world in our rooms.
Computers are a new hobby too. Many young people all over the world like to sit glued to the monitor all day long, playing their favorite computer games.
As for me, the first hobby, I had in childhood, when I was 5 or 6 years old, was collecting pictures from the bubble gums. Later, when I was 8, I collected beer cans. Afterwards, my grandma had thrown them away, ‘cause they occupied a lot of space.
And now I’m interested in cars. I always read all available magazines about the cars, ‘cause I want to know everything about their construction and production.
Also I like to listen to music, especially heavy metal. Some people think that it is impossible to listen such music and they call metal fans "headbangers” or "metalheads”, but I don’t care.
And, of course, like all teenagers, I like to work with computer, watch video and to go in for sports.
So as you can see there are a lot of things to do during your free time.
MY SPARE TIME
Nowadays everybody knows that people are very busy and don’t have much time to spare. Sometimes it’s only the weekend and I think that every day-off needs some special planning. The English say: "Who knows how to work, knows how to rest". I think it’s true. In my view rest is as important as work. So I try to treasure every hour and think of the ways of having a good time in the best way possible for me.
I prefer to spend my free time with the people whose company I always enjoy. I also like to spend my spare time alone, when I’m tired and haven’t got any desire to talk to anybody, very often I want to get away from noisy streets and go to the countryside and change the scenery. On the other hand I may go to different entertainment centers such as disco clubs, art centers including cinema, theatre, concerts halls, etc.
There are people who want to broaden and enrich their knowledge during their free time. I’m among them; I go to the library or reading-hall where I can find a lot of books written by my favourite writers and poets. I must add that I never have enough time to enjoy reading and more often read a book or a magazine late in the evening. Or I can go to the museums and picture galleries where I can see the works of well-known painters and sculptors of all times. I don’t forget the computer – my greatest helper in searching for knowledge.
If you want to be strong and healthy, go in for sports. There are many sports clubs, swimming-pools, gymnasiums and sport grounds for everybody who loves sports. Sport will make you not only healthier and stronger, but kinder, more sociable, cheerful and even wiser. Sport will give you its strength and energy and you’ll become a greater admirer of life with all its problems and wonders. (As for me I ...)
Moreover, there are a lot of people, who prefer less energetic activities, such as chess, cards, crosswords.
And don’t forget about hobbies. You should have at least one, it’ll help you to relax, dream and enjoy lifer. There are so many hobbies to choose: painting, computer programming, photography, fishing, gardening, cooking, walking, learning languages, collecting something and what not. It’s a pleasure to see lots of things made with your own hands, to look through a large collection of old and rare coins, books or stamps, to present your friends with the pictures and drawings created by yourself, to amuse everyone with your green winter garden at home. So, look around more carefully and you’ll find your own and the only one (or even more). Hobbies give people moments of pride and excitement but take a lot of time, energy and even money.
Tastes differ and if you have chosen a hobby according to your character and taste you are lucky. (So my hobby is ...)
Travelling is also a good way to spend my spare time. Visiting new places, seeing sights and meeting new people is a very exciting and useful relaxation. I can go hiking. In summer I like to be outdoors from morning till night, sunbathing, walking barefoot on the grass. My family or my friends are the very people to go with to the riverbank, to the forest or to the seashore. It's really wonderful to put up a tent, make a fire and spend time in a picturesque place.
People are dreamers, our dreams are different but each person chooses his own way of spending free time, either passive or active. In any case leisure should be refreshment and a source of inspiration. Reading in my life Reading plays a very important role in the life of people. It educates a person, enriches his intellect. Books help to mould a person's character, his moral values. Besides, books bring pleasure and delight. It's a wonderful way of spending spare time. Sometimes we read the same book again and again. Thanks to books we learn to express our thoughts and feelings more exactly. A book is a faithful and understanding friend. It can be put aside and taken up again any moment. There are books, which have been our favourite since childhood. People are fond of reading different kinds of books. Some people enjoy reading detective stories, adventure stories, novels, biographies, others prefer classics. Fairy tales are enjoyed and read by children, books about adventures and journeys are enjoyed by those who are fond of travelling. Legends and myths are read by those who are fond of history. Some people spend much time reading books and reading becomes their free time occupation, their passion.
Throughout the centuries books had enormous influence on the minds and hearts of people. Books bind together ages, personalities. Thanks to books we can talk to people who lived in different countries and ages. Through reading books we hear their voices, thoughts and feelings. The book is the surest way to bring nations together. It helps people achieve understanding, trust, cooperation and friendship. Books awaken the young reader's imagination. They develop literary taste; arouse interest and curiosity, reader's laugher as well as his tears. They teach the readers to be truthful, friendly, honest, frank, firm, fair and serious.
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan is an independent Republic. Kazakhstan is an ancient and hospitable land, which occupies a large part of Central Asia. On the eastern border of Kazakhstan lies China. To the south lies its fraternal Republics – Kyrgyzia, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, to the north and to the west lies Russia. Kazakhstan has 14 regions, 84 cities. More than 17 million people of over a hundred nationalities and ethnic groups live in the republic. The head of Kazakhstan is a president, his name is NursultanNazarbayev. Almaty is a former capital of Kazakhstan. In 1997, the president of sovereign Kazakhstan made a decision to transfer the capital from Almaty to Akmola. In 1998 the government of the country decided to change the name of the capital into Astana, what means “capital” in Kazakh language. In Kazakhstan people speak Russian or Kazakh languages. Kazakhstan has hundreds of nationalities that’s why all people speak their native language. There are many parties in Kazakhstan, for example: Azat, Otan, Alash, Azamat. The president is elected every seven years. The parliament can be divided into two parts. One of them is deputation of Senate and the other is deputation of Mazhilis. Kazakhstan is rich in mineral resources. Coal, oil, timber and gas are the most important of them. I’m proud of my country.