Saratov
I live in Saratov, which is one of the biggest and most beautiful cities in the Volga region. Saratov is over 500 years old. Its population is over 840 000 people.
When tourists are coming to Saratov by ship or by plane, they enjoy the sights of its main landmarks. The first one is the magnificent bridge across the Volga, which is the longest in Europe. The second sight is the monument “Cranes” on Sokolovaya hill which commemorates those who perished in the Great Patriotic war. The third landmark is the Embankment named after cosmonauts. Citizens of Saratov like walking, cycling and skateboarding there in spring and summer. Now it is going to be prolonged up to the City Park. It is famous for its old oak-trees and nice ponds where everyone can do rowing a boat.
Besides, we are proud of Kirov avenue which is a traffic-free zone in the center of the city. It begins with the square where one can see the church “Assuage My Sorrow”, the monument to N.G. Chernyshevsky and the famous building of the Conservatory in the Gothic style. Many inhabitants and guests of Saratov like shopping its various shops for a useful purchase. Kirov avenue reaches one more square with a circus, a fountain and a huge market built before the revolution.
Saratov is not only nice to walk in, but it is also a city of students. I hope I will enter a university here after I finish Gymnasia №1.
As for winter we often go to the theatres, for example, Opera and Ballet or Youth Theatre. We visit different museums and art galleries, among them there is the Art Museum named after Radishcev which houses a rich collection of pictures.
I am never bored or tired of my city in any season.
MASS MEDIA
Modern world is full of information. Mass media serve to inform people about current events. Media consist of press, radio, television and the Internet.
The press includes newspapers and magazines. My parents buy a weekly local paper to have a TV programme. As for magazines, I prefer magazines for children with crosswords, puzzles and riddles. We do not read newspapers for news, we learn it from TV and the Internet.
The Internet is the newest kind of mass media. It has become the most popular one. I use the Internet every day. I chat with my friends, read the news and find information for my school tasks. I also like social networks, for example, Facebook or Vkontakte.
I can’t imagine my life without mass media.
BOOKS
There is such a Russian proverb: “ Tell me who is your friend and I will tell you what you are”. I think it can be referred to books as well. In my opinion, the choice of works of literature can tell a lot about a person.
I am a teenager now, but books appeared in my life in my childhood, when my parents/granny/sister read me fairy-tales for children. Every nation has its folk-tales teaching young boys and girls patterns of behavior and ways of thinking. My favourite character was Cinderella/…...
At … years old I learnt to read myself and discovered the world of fiction. I enjoyed reading about adventures of Petr Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Mary Poppins. Now I can’t stop reading detectives with catching plots, especially short stories about Sherlock Holmes. Besides, I am interested in mythology, legends and historical novels. I am fond of reading biographies of great people. They are very inspiring and usually they teach to overcome difficulties.
As for other literary genres, dramas are not my cup of tea. I prefer watching performances at the theatre to reading plays. However, poetry can bring pleasure creating special mood, my favourite poet is Pushkin. Unfortunately, I don’t know much by heart.
Besides, I can’t imagine my studying without reference- books and encyclopedias. So I think it is easy to understand what I am if I say that my favourite books are “Scarlet Sails” by A. Green, ”The Little Prince” by A. Sent-Exupery an poetry about nature.
Computers in Our Life.
Recent surveys shows that the 21-st century is the age of high-tech devices. We cannot imagine our life without computers.
It has various functions. Firstly, it stores a great amount of information. It lets us find the material necessary for our school assignments. With the help of the Internet, we make reports and presentations. We can look up unknown words in the electronic dictionaries.
Secondly, the computers make distance communications possible. People use e-mail and social nets to text messages and talk on-line.
Thirdly, the computer can simulate reality in video games. They not only provide us with entertainment but also develop quick reaction and concentration of attention and imagination.
To sum up, computers make our life easier. I’m looking forward to further development of high-tech devices.
Useful words and expressions:
Recent surveys – последниеисследования
High-techdevices – высоко-технологичные устройства
Variousfunctions – различные функции
Storeagreatamountofinformation – хранить большое количество информации
Schoolassignments – школьные задания
Lookupunknownwords – искать незнакомые слова
Totextmessage – текстовое сообщение
Tosimulatereality – копировать действительность
provide with entertainment – обеспечитьразвлечение
to look forward to – ждатьснетерпением
My Favourite Film
There is no person in our modern world indifferent to the cinema. Nowadays it is the most popular type of leisure. There is variety of films: comedy fantasy, animation, thriller, science fiction, adventure, romance and so on. Here you can find something that suits your taste.
Very popular genre among teenagers is fantasy. The vivid example is “The Lord of the Ring”. This film is full of suspense and action. According to the critics it’s got the most stunning action scenes.
As for me I’m a big fan of historical films. My favourite film is “Braveheart” directed by and starring Mel Gibson. This film tells us about struggle of Scotland against the king of England Edward I. It is an epic medieval war drama full of action scenes. It’s got powerful music in the background that creates particular moods and feelings.
Words and expressions
Indifferent - безразличный
To suit your taste – удовлетворитьтвойвкус
Vivid - яркий
Fullofsuspenseandaction – полоннапряженияидействия
Themoststunningactionscenes – самыевыдающиесябатальныесцены
I’mabigfanof – я- большой поклонник
Amazingspecialeffects – изумительные спецэффекты
Powerfulmusicinthebackground – мощная музыка на заднем плане
To create particular moods and feelings - создаватьособыенастроенияичувства
Struggle - борьба
Anepicmedievalwardrama – эпическаясредневековаявоеннаядрама
Ecological problems
For many years, man has been using the Earth for his needs. We cut forests, kill animals and birds and don’t think about future. As a result, human activity causes serious problems.
The main problem is pollution. Cars burn petrol, factories and power stations burn coal and emit toxic fumes. So, air we breathe becomes polluted. It causes acid rains. Pollution destroys natural habitats and many unique species of plants and animals become endangered.
Unless it’s too late we must stop the pollution. People should plant more trees and flowers, build nesting boxes, recycle cans. Natural resources are not unlimited. We should try to save them. We may use public transport instead of cars, use solar power to our homes, try not to waste electricity and water.
If we all do small actions, we’ll do a big change.
Doing Sport and Keeping Fit
Keeping Fit and going in for sport is very important today. Sport is popular with the young and the old. Many people do sport exercises, go jogging and train at gyms. In winter they ski, skate and snowboard and in summer they play football, cycle and rollerblade.
Sport is a good way to keep fit. And keeping fit is important because a healthy person can work much easier and live a happy life. Physical Education, or PE, has become important school subject in Russia. Schoolchildren have PE three times a week. They play sports games, such as volleyball, and basketball, do various exercises, and take part in school competitions. In Russia the most popular kinds of sport are football, hockey, skating and skiing. As for me… My favourite sport is….
Keeping fit deals with the right way of eating. We should eat fruit and vegetables. A lot of people spend time watching TV or working on computers. This is not healthy at all.Some people have bad habits, such as smoking. Everyone should do something to stay healthy and feel happy.