A FEW WORDS ABOUT MY FRIEND AND HIS FAMILY
Let me introduce my friend to you. His name is Nicolai, Nick for short. His full name is Nicolai Barsov. He is nearly seventeen – next Wednesday is his birthday. He’s just out of school. Now Nick lives in Naberezhnye Chelny. His parents live in the village.
Today he is a first-year student. He studies at the Institute, at the philological faculty. Nick is fond of Russian and Literature, that’s why he studies there.
Nicolai goes to the Institute every day. Classes at his Institute begin at half past eight in the morning. Nick works hard and he is very attentive in class.
Nicolai and all students in his group learn English. They have two English classes a week. It is interesting to learn a foreign language. Nick is fond of English. He wants to master it. He is busy with English with great pleasure. He always prepares his homework, learns new words, does a lot of exercises, reads, writes and speaks English. He speaks also on various topics good enough. Nick’s dream is to become a good teacher and to work at school.
His parents have two more children besides him. Thus Nicolai has got an older brother and a younger sister. His sister Olga is 14, she is a schoolgirl. Olga is very fond of music and her dream is to become a pianist.
Nicolai’s brother Alec is 30 years old. Alec is a builder. He is married and has a family of his own. Alec has a wife and two children – a son and a daughter. They are twins. His wife’s name is Nina; she is a doctor by profession, Nina is a surgeon. They live in Kazan.
Nicolai’s parents are not old at all. Father is 54, and Mother is 50. Both are teachers and work at school. They are full of life and energy and fond of their children very much.
EXERCISES
I. Practice the pronunciation of the following words and word-combinations:
Introduce, nearly, birthday, parents, first-year student, pedagogical, Russian and Literature, attentive, learn, busy, pleasure, a lot of exercises, various, enough, schoolgirl, pianist, builder, daughter, surgeon, full of life, full of energy
II. Read the following inserting the words in brackets and translate them:
nearly …(20 лет, в 8 часов, с домом, вечером, двух лет)
attentive … (студент, родители, учитель, ученики и ученицы, человек, на уроке)
philological … (факультет, подготовка, предметы, университет, науки)
busy, to be busy with … (человек, студенты, ученицы, профессор, учитель, английским, иностранным языком)
various … (темы, топики, книги, фильмы, интересы, мнения, точка зрения, люди)
hard … (труд, предмет, взгляд, работа, времена, постель, человек, дождь)
old(er) … (брат, сестра, жена, друг, возраст, муж, подружки, книга, картина, фото)
young(er) … (учитель, сестра, жена, муж, родители, брат, годы, студенты, хирург)
III. Find the synonyms to the following words:
First-year student
a) surgeon; b) builder; c) freshman; d) fisherman
Family name
a) first name; b) patronymic; c) surname; d) Christian name
Profession
a) work; b) job; c) dream; d) occupation
enough [i'nᴧf]
a) that is why; b) that will do; c) thus; d) at all
To introduce
a) to master; b) to become; c) to meet; d) to prepare
IV. Find the antonyms to the following words:
To begin
а)to get; b) to come back; c) to graduate from; d) to finish
To be fond of
a) to dislike; b) to take; c) to be busy with; d) to keep
Hard
a) small; b) large; c) old; d) easy
Always
a) seldom; b) never; c) sometimes; d) often
Interesting
a) exciting; b) boring; c) beautiful; d) various
V. Continue the sentences, using proper variants from the right-hand column:
1. Next Monday is … a) at 8 o’clock in the morning
2. Oleg is fond of … b) speaks English
3. He does a lot of exercises and … c) on various topics
4. Both are teachers and … d) full of life and energy
5. Always Oleg is busy with English … e) twins
6. Nick’s son and daughter are … f) a good teacher
7. Oleg’s dream is to become … g) English, Russian and Literature
8. Nina’s parents are young and … h) his birthday
9. He speaks also … i) work at school
10. Classes at the Institute begin … g) with great pleasure
VI. Make up sentences, arranging the following groups of words in their proper order:
1. His, years, seventeen, is, nearly, old, sister.
2. English, fond of, and, I, want, to master, am, it.
3. At the Institute, are, first-year, we, students.
4. All students, busy, with English, great pleasure, are, in our group, with.
5. To work, dream, our, to become, and, good teachers, is, at school.
6. Markov, his, first name, is, his, Oleg, is, surname, and, his, is patronymic, Ivanovich.
7. We, our homework, always, and, do, new words, prepare, a lot of exercises, learn.
VII. Translate the following sentences:
1. Я обожаю английский язык и хочу совершенствовать его.
2. Наши дедушка с бабушкой полны жизни и энергии.
3. На уроке мы читаем, пишем, выполняем много упражнений и говорим по-английски.
4. Их подружки только что окончили школу.
5. Сейчас они студентки-первокурсницы и учатся в институте.
6. Дома он тоже с удовольствием занимается английским языком.
7. Моя мечта стать хорошим учителем и работать в школе.
8. Интересно изучать иностранный язык, учить слова и разговаривать на разные темы.
VIII. Answer the following questions:
1. What is his full name? How old is he? When is his birthday?
2. He’s just out of school, isn’t he?
3. Who is a first-year student? Where does he study?
4. What is he fond of?
5. When do his classes at the Institute begin?
6. What language do all students learn?
7. Is he busy with English always with pleasure? Why?
8. What is his dream?
9. What do you know about his parents? Has he got a brother and a sister?
10. Is he fond of his family?
IX. Read the text once more and retell it in detail.