There are a lot of wonderful works of literature-Famous writers and poets created a b
ig variety of poems, stories and novels that are read over the world. Russian poets and writers like Pushkin, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky are famous all over the world. Their works are translated into many languages.

Theatre is a popular kind of arts , too. T
here are a lot of theatres in Russia, but most of them are situated in Moscow. The Bolshoi Theatre and the Maly Theatre are world famous. If you like opera you should go to the Bolshoi Theatre. The tickets are rather expensive though. The Maly Theatre sta
ges dramas and plays based on classical novels.

I am a theatre-goer. I prefer going to drama theatres. I do not like opera and ballet. Not long ago I saw Uncle's Dream by Dostoevsky in the Vakhtangov Theatre I liked the play a lot. The decorations were
rich and the famous actors played very well. There was a storm of applause after the performance.
Nowadays theatres are becoming less and less popular, and cinema has got big popularity instead. There are a lot of cinemas in Moscow: modern and old-fash
ioned, cheap and expensive. Modern films are full of audio and computer special effects and people go to the cinema to enjoy them. The so-called home cinemas have appeared lately. More and more people buy modern TV-sets with large flat screens and special
sound equipment and watch films at home.

My favourite art is painting. I enjoy going to art galleries to look at paintings. I think that this type of art will exist forever. Artists express their feelings and emotions in their paintings. There are a lot
of art galleries in Moscow, but the most famous one is me Tretyakov Gallery. It has large collections of paintings by Russian and foreign painters. My favourite painting is landscape. I think that Russian landscapists are the best in the world. I love go
ing to this gallery when I have free time. One of my friends draws very well She is going to enter the University of Arts
to become a professional artist. But I think that amateurs are the best artists.
Unfortunately I do not have any talent for this or that art
. I used to sing in childhood, but then I gave it up. I think that arts are not for me.


Music ( Музыка)

Music plays a big role in our life. Can you think of a day without it? We hear music
everywhere: in the street in shops, in parks and at home. Music
follows us from childhood and we can't live without it. We listen to music when we are happy or sad, we dance to it and we learn to play
music , too. Music
is not a combination of sounds, it is art. There are a lot of kinds of music : classical music, jazz, popular music or pop-
music , rock and club music
. They are all different, but still people listen to them and enjoy. Music reflects our life, our feelings and emotions.
I prefer Russian pop- music . I have no favourite pop group. I just liste
n to the songs and melodies I like. My brother loves rock music . His favourite rock groups are Aria and Rammstein. Sometimes he turns the
music up and enjoys it.
My father likes classical music
. His favourite composer is Mozart. Sometimes he listens to Vivaldi or Tchaikovsky. When I am in a bad mood I can listen to classical music
, too. It calms me and I start feeling better.
As for my mother, she is fond of Elvis Presley. She can listen to his songs all day. She says that be is great and his voice m
akes her forget about everyday problems. I like to go to clubs and discos. Most of them play club music : trance or techno.

I like to dance to sue music
, but I can't listen to it alone. The beats and sounds are too aggressive sometimes and I usually have a headache later.
My friend studies in a musical college. She likes folk music
. Students of this college usually sing and dance to it. I have been to the concerts where they performed and I enjoyed it a lot.
Nobody knows when music appeared, but I think that if there were no
music , our life would be very boring and sad.


Museums and Art Galleries
(Музеи и ху
дожественные галереи)

Every country has museums and art galleries. Some of them are world famous. A museum is a place where various col
lections of works of art are displayed. There are different kinds of museums: history museums, museums of art, archaeological museums, science museums and others. I would like to tell you about some of the most famous museums in the world.

I live in Mos
cow, the capital of Russia and there are a lot of large museums in the city. One of the biggest museums is the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts which houses one of the world's largest collections of the ancient, oriental and classical art. You can see sculptur
es, paintings and other works of art by world-famous artists. The museum holds one of the biggest collections of Ancient Egyptian Art.
The Tretyakov Gallery is one of the biggest art galleries in the world. It was founded by a Russian merchant, Tretyakov
, who gave his private collection of paintings to Moscow. The Gallery has a great collection of works by Russian famous painters. It consists of seven departments. You can see portraits, seascapes, landscapes and other genres of painting there.

St. Pet
ersburg, which once was the capital of Russia, is famous for its museums, too. The Hermitage is one of the biggest museums in the world. A lot of permanent and temporary exhibitions are displayed there. The museum consists of six buildings. The most famou
s are: Winter Palace and the Hermitage. You can see portraits of Russian tsars, Roman statues, works of Western European Art, Egyptian Art and Oriental Art there.
If you go to Great Britain you should definitely visit the British Museum in London. The mu
seum is very big and you can see works of art in glass, stone, gold and also a few collections on natural history there.
The Tower of London is another big museum in London. It used to be a treasury, a prison, an observatory and even a zoo. The Tower of London hosts a big collection of arms and jewels.


The United States of America is famous for its museums and galleries, too. There is the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. It consists of several museums and art galleries that are free and op
en to the public. The National Portrait Gallery has a big collection of those who played an important role in the history and culture of the USA. The National Museum of Natural History is popular with children. The museum contains one of the world's large
st scientific collection: exhibits on human culture, evolution, dinosaurs, birds, animals, sea life, meteorites, plants, rocks and minerals.
Another famous museum is the National Air and Space Museum. It houses the world's most expensive collection of ai
rcrafts and spacecrafts. Visitors can see exhibits on the history of air crafting and watch documentaries in the IMAX movie theatre that is situated inside the building. The National Museum of American History explores America's scientific, cultural and p
olitical history. It also houses the first American flag.
All museums are very interesting to visit. Museums and art galleries give us an opportunity to learn facts about art, history and culture of different peoples and countries.



Books ( Книги
)


I think it is impossible to live without reading. Books
I appeared long time ago in ancient times. It became easier to publish books when the printing was invented.
Books can be divided into two large groups: fiction and non-fiction books
. Fiction books are most popular with readers. Such
books include stories, novels and poetry. As for non-fiction books
, they are dictionaries, biographies, historical books , encyclopedias and others.

When I was a child, my parents read different books 1 to me
. I learned a lot from them. When I learnt to read, 1 I liked reading fairy tales and adventure stories. I loved novels about pirates and brave knights. I like reading books
a lot. I read non-fiction books when I prepare for my studies. But in general I li
ke fiction books . My favourite genres of books
are fantasy and horror; I think it is very popular with young people nowadays. My favourite author of fantasy books
is J. Rowling. I like her books
about Harry Potter. I reread them and watched j films, too. My favourite author of horror stories is Stephen King. Actually I do not like books
about monsters and ghosts a lot. I prefer King's psychological novels. My favourite novel is Dolores Claiborne. This is a story about a woman who had a hard life. My family likes to read, too. We have a big library full of
books of different genres.
My brother is interested in science-fiction. He likes reading novels about aliens and future. As for my father, he reads detective stories. I think that this genre of
books is really very popular with older people. His favourite authors are Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie and Boris Akunin.

My mother likes historical novels and love stories. Her favourite author is Sidney Sheldon. She also reads classical novels by Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and Chekhov.

I can say that reading is my hobby. When I have time I prefer reading to watching TV Sometimes a book is so interesting that I cannot stop reading it.

I think that books help us solve some problems, too. Every person can find a
book which will accompany him or her for the whole life. I have such a book
, too. It is The Catcher in the Rye by J. Salinger. It reminds me of my own life somehow and it really helped me with some problems.
Nowadays we have television and the In
ternet; so many people prefer getting information from these sources. Some people think that in the world of information we do not need books at all. But I think that we should not forget about them.
Books contain a lot of useful information and give pleasure.


Youth Problems ( Проблемы молодежи)


There are a lot of problems in our world that people have to face and try to cope with. But I would like to talk about youth problems.
Adults think that it is very easy to be a teenager but this is not true. Nowadays there are a lo
t of different things that young people want to try. They are alcohol, drugs, cigarettes and it is not easy to manage them especially for teenagers. Most teenagers try such things because their friends do and if they do not, they are not considered to be
cool. Some young people take drugs or drink alcohol because they are bored and they have nothing to do. Some of them do such things because their life is hard.
One of the biggest problems among teenagers is the poor relationship with parents. My parents
always tell me which clothes to wear, which music to listen and who I should spend my free time with. Parents call me a naughty child and do not give me pocket money if I do not listen to their advice. They always ask me to pay more attention to my studie
s
and they do not allow me to go to night clubs and discos. But at the same time we should understand that all they want is to have their child safe and sound. And I appreciate that. However, the only thing that I do not like about them is that they still
consider me their child, but I am a young adult already and they should try to understand that.
Another problem is friendship. It is really hard to find a true friend now. Most of young people have friends because they are rich or clever. Some teenagers
like showing off and children from poor families uncomfortable in their presence.
One of the problems is school. Teachers usually think that all we have to do is study hard. But sometimes it is so dull! We have a lot of homework and we do not have enou
gh time to go for a walk or to spend time with our friends. But I know that education is very important for young people and this is another problem that I want to discuss.
Every teenager wants to have a good future, to get a good education and a good j
ob afterwards. Everybody wants to lead a good life and have a lot of money. But you are not bright or you do not have enough money to pay for your entrance exams you won't enter a good university. That is why some of my friends had to give up trying to pa
ss entrance exams and they got a profession which they were not interested in.
Nowadays a lot of teenagers are looking for a job to get some money. They sell newspapers, wash cars and work as mail couriers. These people think about their future already a
nd do not just sit at home or spend a Jot of time outside with hooligans.
We are all teenagers and we should start thinking about our future. There are a lot of youth problems nowadays, but we need to do everything possible all impossible to solve them.



Shopping (1) (Поход по магаз
инам)

Shopping means going to some place to buy things. For some people this is a hobby. They go
shopping in their free time. Some people go shopping on weekdays to buy food.

My family and I do the shopping at week
ends. My family is not very big, but my parents work hard and they have no time to go to buy things during a week. On Sunday we usually go to a large supermarket and buy food for the whole week. I don't like going there, because there are usually many peo
p
le. This supermarket has a lot of departments: a food department, a grocer's, a butcher's, a fishmonger's and even a chemist's department. Sometimes my mother goes to the cosmetics department while my father and my brother go to the pet shop, which is sit
uated there.

There are a lot of shops in Moscow, Some of them are expensive, others are cheap and you have a choice. I don't understand those people who go to some specialized shops to buy things of a certain brand. Such things are rather expensive. I p
refer going to a market and buy clothes there.
I prefer doing the shopping
alone when I need clothes or books. My favourite bookshop is in the centre of Moscow. I can spend hours there looking at different books and choosing the most interesting ones to read. My brother hates
shopping . Our parents buy clothes for him and he is not against it. I also like to go
shopping when I need to buy presents for my family or friends. Sometimes my friend helps me choose presents. She is a very nice girl with a good
taste and she knows what things are good. Sometimes I have to go to the baker's to buy bread and to a dairy shop to buy milk or sour cream.
In my childhood I liked to do the shopping
because I felt grown-up, but now I see that this process is quite boring. And I don't like shopping without any need.


Shops and Shopping (2)

Shopping is a part of everyday life and is a chore that needs to be done. So it's not very inter¬esting or a pleasure. As my par¬ents are very busy I do my best to help them about th
e house. One of my duties is to do shopping. When our family runs out of food products, I'm asked to buy what is necessary. Most shops specialize in certain goods. It should be noted that most of them in our city are pretty well stocked, often with import
e
d and domestic food. Bread (brown and white) is sold at the bakery where we can also buy rusks and roll. Usually I can't miss the confectionary where I buy candies or chocolate bar, biscuits or cakes etc. I'm a regular customer of the greengrocery, which
o
ffer a wide choice of vegetables and fruits: potatoes, carrots, cabbage, cucumbers, radish and onions, green pea, etc. But it is much cheaper to buy all these things at a market where people from nearby villages or those who have dachas sell potatoes and
c
arrots, apples and pears and other things. You'll often and dried fruit, cheese, nuts, honey, meat and other food in markets too. It's better to go to the market in the morning for me liveliness scene and best selection. You can usual bargain a bit over p
r
ices. My mother usually goes there on Sundays. At the fruit counter I buy apples and pears, oranges and grapes, dried, bottled and tined fruits, bananas and so on. I'm also a great lover of fruit juices. At the butcher's (meat shop) they sell meat such as

beef, pork, mutton, veal, mixed meat and poultry. Supermarkets are brightly lit and well laid out. The goods are tidy arranged on trays and long shelves on which the prices are clear marked. There's plenty of room for the customers to walk. In the superma
r
ket most of the goods are sold ready, ready packed and wrapped. You can find wide selection of everything there from shoe polish to eggs. Customers go round the supermarket with baskets or trolleys. They get the food from the shelves. Having filled your b
asket you go to the cash desk, pay money to the cashier and she gives you back the change. There are departments, known as «bargain sales»
, where they sell goods at the reduced prices. It is important for housewife because the prices are going up constantly.

Wars and Peace ( Войны
и мир
)


Our planet Earth is our home. People have lived on it for centuries. A lot of things have changed and a lot of generations have replaced each other, but there has always been a big global problem - wars. People have been fighting since the
beginning of the world. It is very difficult to explain why.
When we watch TV shows, films and documentaries, we often see blood and people being killed. We also hear such words as: I will kill you, You're dead!, Die! and so on. Children watch televisio
n and they think that killing is quite a normal thing. A lot of computer games are based on killing monsters and people. I think this is all wrong.
In the 20-th century a lot of wars broke out: World War I, World War II, Cold War, Iraqi War and others.
Millions of people died in those wars, but this didn't stop anybody. Our country suffered from the war in Chechnya. Nowadays a lot of countries are very powerful. Maybe because of this there are so many wars?

I think it is silly to have wars today. Ma
ny states have nuclear weapons, so it is enough to push the button to make the world disappear. The Americans dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese cities. Many citizens were killed because of this terrible act.

Another proble
m is terrorism. More and more countries are suffering from this problem. It is difficult to catch terrorists and prevent their acts to kill people. The most terrible terrorist act was committed in the USA on the 11-th of September, 2001. World Trade Centr
e
, the pride of all Americans and one of the symbols of New York City was destroyed and thousands of people died. This act shocked everybody and most countries decided to fight against terrorists. However, new acts have been committed. Russia has suffered
from them, too. Many innocent people were killed and nobody can stop terrorists now. They promise more blood and murders.
I wonder why people can't live in peace. I can't understand why we should kill each other, fight with each other when life is so bea
utiful. I think that the peoples of the world must try to stop wars and save our children.

Sport in Our Life (
Спорт в наш
ей жизни )

Modern life becomes more and more technological. People walk little. They prefer to drive cars. They donТ t climb up the stairs. ItТ
s much more convenient to use an elevator. Moreover our life is full of stresses that make us weak and nervous. ItТ s evident that sport is a necessity for the entire society nowadays.
First of all, it gives us health. Jogging in the morning helps significantly to avoid the risk of heart attack.
For the second, it makes us slim and beautiful. For the most of young people it is even more important to correspond to the fashion trends of beauty than to be healthy.

For the third, it gives us pleasure. I believe that every man in the world can find for himself the kind of sport which gives to him an in
credible pleasure. For somebody it will be wind-surfing, for the other football, and it can also be chess for the other one.
Sport is an important part of just about every society, every country, and every part of our planet

Learning Languages
(Почему мы учим иностранные языки)


The problem of learning languages is very important today. Foreign languages are socially demanded especially at the present time when the progress in science and technology has led to an explosion of knowledge and has contrib
uted to an overflow of information. The total knowledge of mankind is known to double every seven years. Foreign languages are needed as the main and most efficient means of information exchange of the people of our planet. Today English is the language o
f
the world. Over 350 million people speak it as a mother tongue. The native speakers of English live in Great Britain, the United States of America, Australia and New Zealand. English is one of the official languages in the Irish Republic, Canada, and the

South African Republic. As a second language it is used in the former British and US colonies. It is the major international language for communication in such areas as science, technology, business and mass entertainment. English is one of the official l
a
nguages of the United Nations Organization and other political organizations. It is the language of the literature, education, modern music, and international tourism. Russia is integrating into the world community and the problem of learning English for
t
he purpose of communication is especially urgent today. Learning a foreign language is not an easy thing. It is a long and slow process that takes a lot of time and patience. But to know English is absolutely necessary for every educated person, for every

good specialist. It is well known that reading books in the original, listening to the BBC news, communicating with the English-speaking people will help a lot. When learning a foreign language you learn the culture and history of the native speakers. One
must work hard to learn any foreign language.


Books in Our Life ( Книги
в нашей
жизни )

It's no doubt that books are an essential and necessary part of mankind's civilization. It gives us an opportunity to link up with authors who lived hundreds and
thousands years ago. Through reading books we can understand their thoughts, feelings and emotions better. A book is the surest way to bring people together. I think it is faithful and undemanding friend: it can be put away and taken up at any moment. We
m
ust admit that we can't do without books. As for me I became keen on literature early in life. Probably it happened so because we had a very good and many-sided library at home. Since my childhood Pushkin's tales and Krilov's fables enchanted me. Gogol wa
s
one of the greatest authorities to me. Later Fet and Blok won my heart. Pasternak's and Vysotsky's poetry filled my heart with expectation of joy and happiness. Luckily, our country is rich in such remarkable authors. And as for the classical authors I s
tudy rather than read their books. For example after reading William Shakespeare's tragedy «Hamlet»
I came to a conclusion that this rich work demands great erudition on the part of a reader. One must know the Middle English History and the peculiarities of
relationships between people then. I'm sure that Shakespeare was a highly educated person and it is hard for me to keep up with him. To tell the truth I give my preference to the science fiction. It is hard to choose a favorite book. Lately I have read a
wonderful book entitled «The Martian Chronicles». It was written by Ray Bradbury Ч
famous American science fiction writer. His stories have a special charm that lies in its interesting plot, exciting situations and at the same time 5 conveys deep thoughts,
keen observations and sharpness of characterization. This book tells us 3 about the fantastic events, which took place on Mars. I think this book has got everything: actions, many interesting ideas to think over, witty j characters and, surely, a great d
e
al of dialogs, Ray Bradbury is a master of, With the help of vivid descriptions the author carries the reader j into the wonderful world of his imagination. The story is so beautifully told that it is hard not to believe it. This book stirs my imagination

j and expends the boundaries of the familiar world. Normally I read a book once but this book I read again and j again, discovering something new for me. No matter how many times you read it, as it again and again gives you the same feeling of freshness a
nd exciting that you experienced on the first reading. Though Ray Bradbury has written many science fiction books this one is definitely the best.


Newspapers and Magazines ( Газеты
и журналы
)



I think we can't do without means of mass media today. Newspapers and magazines, radio and television are the most effective way of keeping people well informed. They give the full coverage of the latest events, draw our attention to
different aspects of life and help us to understand the events correctly. Nowadays there is a great amount of newspapers and magazines, radio stations and TV channels that we have to be selective and to give our preference to some of them. This year our
family subscribed to the newspaper «Poslednie novosti»
. Our family likes the way the newspaper presents the information. The editorial board pays much attention to different spheres of life. The newspaper offers its readers a wide range of topics. It gives
full attention to international and home affairs and raises vital problems of political, social and cultural life. It also informs the readers about the latest achievements and researches in many branches of science. As a rule on the front page of the new
s
paper there is a photograph with a short article on the most important occasion of the day. Among the traditional sections of the newspaper there are: serious editorials, news reports, interview with famous people, features and surveys. Catchy headlines a
ttract people's attention at once. The newspaper has a weekly supplement for women and for businessmen, which makes the readership of the newspaper wider. «Poslednie novosti»
is issued both: in Russian and English. It comes outfthree times a week. This weekly newspaper is for those whose reading preferences are wide and varied. No wonder its circulation is high. I think the newspaper is worth read¬ing and subscribing to. I
Т d like to recommend it to everyone who tries to get in touch with the world.


Television ( Телевидение)



It is my firm belief that television
is a great achievement of the present day's life. It provides us a great amount of information on the latest news, research in different branches of science. Television
enriches our intellect,
gives us opportunities to see the best actors, performances, famous people and events, which will become history. Besides television is a powerful medium. Some TV programs gather big audiences. Apart from their educational and entertainment value they giv
e us many useful topics to discuss. But on the other hand television has many disadvantages. The first and, probably, the main one is that
television affects our health through rushed meals and lack of sleep. More than that it prevents us from reading books
, going to different sport clubs and other active kinds of spending our leisure time. Nowadays there is a great variety of TV programs such as news reports, sports, variety shows, and so you have to be selective and to give preference to some of them. My
f
avorite programs are documentary ones. They deal with different materials about the wild life, the history of the country and its present day's life. Some of them are concerned with different art events such as exhibitions, festivals, variety shows and so

on. I think interviews with famous people make these programs more interesting. But I'm sure that there is no good TV pro-gram without good talk show host. The success of the program much depends upon the host's personality. My favorite TV host is V. Posn
e
r. He is distinguished by his ability to understand people though we can easily recognize his own attitude to the problem. I think Posner is rather intelligent. Posner is speaking in a friendly, likable manner without any hint of insincerity. To my mind V
ladimir Posner has all the qualities the real talk show host ought to have. He announces a great number of programs but I like his program «We»
best of all.
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