1. OUR FLAT
We have a flat in a new house. Our flat is on the third floor. It is not very large but rather comfortable, we've got central heating and all modern conveniences there.
We have three rooms: a sitting-room, a bedroom and a study. Besides, we have a kitchen, a bathroom and a toilet.
Our sitting-room is very cosy. There isn't much furniture in it. There are nice light-brown curtains on the window, a big carpet in the middle of the room, a table and some chairs. There a sofa opposite the window and two armchairs near it There art some pictures on the walls. We have a TV-set in the corner. We all like to watch TV in the evening.
The bedroom is not large, but it is nice and comfortable. There are not many things in it. There are only two beds, a mirror, a dressing-table and a wardrobe there.
Our study-room faces the garden. It is light and spacious. There are a lot of books in the book-cases and on the book-shelves. There is also a computer on the desk. There are some hairs as well.
Our kitchen is big and comfortable. The furniture in it is not dark. new refrigerator stands near the window. We have a gas cooker and a microwave oven, which makes it easier to prepare food. We usually have breakfast and supper in the kitchen.
The bathroom is small but we have all necessary things there including a washing-machine. We take a bath and a shower in the bathroom and we wash cur clothes there.
The corridor of our flat is long end narrow. There is a telephone in it.
We like our flat.
2. HOBBY
What is a hobby? It is what you can and like to do, when you have free time. We choose a hobby according to our character and taste. When we have a hobby our life becomes more interesting.
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. They collect records. Others like to read and collect books. People living in cities and towns like to be closer to nature, and they spend their free time in the country.
Some of us go on hikes, some like to work in their gardens, take photographs, knit or sew.
For example, gardening and growing roses is the most common hobby among Englishmen.
Many children and grown-ups are very fond of collecting. Some collect coins, others collect postcards. As for me, my hobby is collecting stamps. I like to sit at a table in the evening and arrange new stamps in the albums, or write in the names of the countries, or just look through the stamps.
Each stamp has a story to tell about distant countries and strange people. I see pictures of men and women, birds and animals which I have never seen. Kings and presidents pass before my eyes and I can follow the history of whole nations. My hobby is not only wonderful but very useful, too.
3. SPORTS IN OUR LIFE
Sport is very important in our life. Thousands of people go in for sports, because sports help people to keep in good health. Many people do morning exercises, jog in the morning and train themselves in clubs in different sections and take part in sport competitions. Other people like sports too, but they only watch sports games, listen to sports news. They prefer reading interesting stories about sportsmen. But they don't go in for sports.
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The most popular sports in our country are: football, volleyball, basketball, hockey, gymnastics, skiing, skating, field-and-track athletics. Everybody may choose the sport he (or she) is interested in.
There are winter and summer sports. In winter we spend much time outdoors, skating and skiing. Boys like to play hockey. In summer we like to swim most of all, because swimming makes a man healthy and strong.
My favourite sport is swimming. I go to the swimming-pool twice a week. I prefer to rest by the lake or the river and swim there. My friend Kostya goes in for boxing. He is a good boxer and he is a brave and courageous boy. His hobby helps him in his everyday life.
4. 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.
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.
Now I like to read books on science. You can learn a lot of things from books. I am sure, that books play a very important role in my life.
Now there are many books on sale in the shops, there are a lot of books in our flats. Our family has got many books too. All the members of my family buy books and read them. But it is difficult to buy all the books which we want to read. Thats why we get books in public libraries. You can find there millions of books by the greatest writers and poets, well-known all over the world.
There are many public libraries in our city, where you can take the books you need for your work and study. You can take novels, poems, plays, books on history, geography and arts Adventure books are very popular among readers too.
Sometimes it is difficult to solve some problems of life. I think that books can help us. Books must be our friends during all our life.
5. MUSIC IN OUR LIFE
It is difficult to live without music. We hear music everywhere: in the streets, at home, over the radio and on TV, in the shops, in the parks and in the concert halls. We like to listen to music, we enjoy to dance to music, we play musical instruments.
Some people are interested in music very much. Children can learn at music schools if they are capable and fond of music. They study there for seven years.
Music is a combination of many sounds. They are short and long, weak and strong. Music reflects people's mood and emotions.
Some people are fond of folk music. There are numerous folk groups in our country. It is interesting to listen to their music and songs.
Many people are fond of classical music, but younger generation Prefers modern music as usual. If you want to listen to modern music you can attend the music halls and the concerts of popular groups and singers.
6. MY FAVOURITE HOLIDAY
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There are many holidays in our country. They are: New Year's Day, Christmas, Women's Day, Victory Day, May Day and others.
I like Mew Year's Day, it is my favourite holiday. The 1st of January is a winter holiday and now it is the first day of the New Year.
Peter the First changed the Russian calendar in 1699. He made the 31st of December, 1699 the last day of the year. The first of January 1700 became New Year's Day.
The 1st of January is in the middle of winter. The weather is usually fine and there is a lot of snow everywhere. As the 1st of January is a holiday we do not have studies and nobody goes to work.
Our family prepares for this holiday beforehand. My father buys and brings home a beautiful New Year's tree at the end of December. Our family has a tradition to buy it. I like to decorate the New Year's tree with toys, little coloured lights, sweets and a beautiful star on the top.
My mother and grandmother prepare our holiday supper and lay the table. I make a cake.
All the members of our family clear the before this nice holiday and then each of us try to dress well.
We like to see the New Year in at home with our relatives. They come to see us at 11 o'clock in the evening.
At 12 o'clock we are sitting at the table and we are glad to see the New Year in. We say: "Best wishes for the New Year!"
I always hope that the next year will be better than the last one. It is connected with our new hopes and dreams.
It is a pleasant moment to get presents on the New Year's Eve. I usually get many nice useful things from my parents and relatives. They put their presents under the New Year's tree.
We don't go to bed till morning, we watch TV, dance, eat tasty things and make jokes.
I enjoy this holiday very much.
7. TRAVELLING
Almost all people like to travel. When you have got holidays you can travel by car, by train, by plane, by sea or you can have long walks in the country. Such walks are called hikes. If we want to see the country-side, we spend a part of our summer holidays on hikes. It is useful for all members of our family. We take rucksacks, we don't think about tickets, we don't hurry up and we walk a lot. During such hikes we see a lot of interesting places, sometimes we meet interesting people.
I like to travel by car. It is interesting too, because you can see many things in a short time. When we go by car, we do't take tickets too, we put all things we need in a car.
It is comfortable to travel by train and by plane. When I travel by plane, I don't spend a lot of time going from one place to another. I like to fly. If I travel by train or by plane my friends see me""off at the railway station or in the airport.
I like to travel by sea best of all. Some years ago we took a cruise along the Black Sea coast on board the liner "Russia". We came to Sochi by train. Then we went to the seaport and saw ship. It was big. We liked it very much. I remember the ship and our cabin. It had two berths, a table, two chairs and one wide window and the warm wind was blowing through it. There was fresh air in our cabin during all voyage. When it was time to have meals we went to the restaurant.
The weather was fine. After breakfast we spent a lot of time on the deck sitting in deck chairs or stranding at the rail, watching.the ships, passing not far from our ship. It was pleasant to watch the waves too.
I remember the sunrise and the sunset well. It was unforgettable. This trip to the South impressed me for all my life.
I think that travelling is a very useful thing tor us and I enjoy all kinds of travelling very much.
8. AT THE CINEMA
I like to go to the cinema. When I have free time I always go to see some new film. There is a cinema not far from my house. It is quite a modern building with a very large hall. In the foyer you can see photos of filmstars and posters for the will be shown soon.
There are different kinds of films: black-and-white and colour films, sound and route films, newsreels, cartoons, documentaries, foreign films dubbed into Russian and others.
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One of the first cinema films was made by Edison, a great American engineer. He made also a machine to show films. The first real film show took place in Paris in 1895. A group of 33 people saw a short film about a train coming to a railway station.
During the early stages the film makers concentrated on documentaries, as the most operative and important genre. Then came feature films. Though they were not perfect they had a strong influence on the audience. "The Battleship Potemkin" produced by Sergei Einstein was the real triumph. In 1930 we began to produce sound films. The postwar period brought us many new achievements. Very many good films were shot then, such as "The Fate of a Man", "Ballad of a Soldier" and others. Nowadays many Russian and foreign producers shoot hundreds of films every year.
Some prefer to shoot documentaries, others make comedy-films or love-stories. Everybody can find a film to his taste. The art of cinematography helps us to see and understand our life, our drawbacks and to study the problems which occupy the modern cinemagoer.
9. EDUCATION IN RUSSIA
Everyone in our country has the right to education. It is said so in our Constitution. But it is not only a right, it is a duty/ too. Every boy and every girl in Russia must go to school, that is they must get a full secondary education. So, when they are 6 or 7 years old they begin to go to school. There are thousands of schools in Russia. There are schools of general education, where the pupils study Russian (or native language), Literature, Mathematics, History, Biology, Music, Arts, Foreign Languages. There is also a number of specialized schools, where the pupils get profound knowledge of foreign languages, or Maths, or Physics.
After finishing 9 classes of secondary school the young people can continue their education at different kinds of vocational or technical schools, colleges. They not only learn general subjects, but receive a speciality there.
Having finished a secondary school, or a vocational, or a technical school, the young people can start working, or they may enter an institute or a university. By the way, some people think, that professional training makes it easier to get a higher education. As for higher schools, there are a lot of them in our ^ country. Some of them train teachers, others - doctors, engineers, architects, actors and so on. Many institutes have evening and extra-mural departments. That gives the students an opportunity to study at an institute without leaving their jobs at plants or factories.
10. WE MUST PROTECT OUR ENVIRONMENT
Our country. Our environment. There are many big and small rivers, green forests, high mountains, lakes and seas in Russia.
Our Earth is our home. I think people must take care of our Motherland.
There are some laws and decisions on this important question. We have state organizations which pay attention to this problem.
The international conventions pay much attention to the control of pollution too.
There are a lot of industrial enterprises in our country that's why we can't ignore the problem of the protection of our environment. We have got the main aim of the protection. Our environment must be clean. What must we do for it? We have to control atmospheric and water pollution, to study the man's influence on the climate. The pollution of the environment influence the life of animals, plants and our human life. If we don't use chemicals in a proper way well pollute our environment.
Our plants and factories put their waste materials into water and atmosphere and pollute the environment. Besides, there are many kinds of transport in our big Cities. That's why all of us must think and find the ways of protection of our nature and the health of the people.
Radiation. Nov it has become one of the main problems. It is not good for health people. Many people died from radiation some years ago in Chernobol. It was a tragedy. The other problem is an earthquake. We know some terrible earthquakes in Armenia and other parts of the globe. Our scientists try to forecast earthquakes, but it is not always possible.
The people all over the world do everything to protect their nature, to make their country richer, to make their life happier.
