The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
The United Kingdom is situated in the north-west coast of Europe
between the Atlantic Ocean on the north and north-west and the North Sea on
the east. The U.K. includes Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Great
Britain, the largest island in Europe, contains England, Scotland and
Wales. The U.K. has an area of 94,249 square miles. The capital of the
country is London. English is the official language. The population of the
U.K. is nearly 60 million people. The population lives mostly in towns and
cities and their suburbs. Four out of every five people live in towns. Over
46 million people live in England. Over 3 million – in Wales. A little over
5 million – in Scotland. About 1,5 million - in the Northern Ireland.
London’s population is over 7 million people. The British nation consists
of the English, Scots, the Welsh and the Irish. There are many people of
all colours and races in the U.K. the climate of Great Britain is mild. It
is not too hot in summers or too cold in winter. It often rains in England.
Rain falls in the summer and in the winter, in autumn and in spring. Snow
falls only in the north and west of country. The surface of England and
Ireland is flat, but Scotland and Wales are mountainous. Many parts of the
country have beautiful villages. There are many rivers in Great Britain.
The main river is the Thames. Many ships and barges go up and down the
river. The longest river is Severn. It is 350 kilometres long. There are
many universities, colleges, libraries, museums and theatres in the
country. The most universities are Cambridge University, Oxford University
and Glasgow University. The U.K. is a parliamentary monarchy. The British
Parliament consists of two Houses: the House of Lords and the House of
Commons. The Prime Minister is the head of the government. The main
political parties of Great Britain are the Labour Party, the Liberal Party
and the Conservative Party. The Communist Party of Great Britain was
founded in 1920. It is a party of the working people. The U.K. has few
mineral resources. Coal and oil are the most important of them. The U.K. is
one of the world’s most industrialized countries. The main industrial
centres are Sheffield, Birmingham and Manchester. The largest cities of the
country are London, Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester, Glasgow, Belfast and
Dublin. Agriculture takes an important sector economy of the country. The
British people grow wheat, fruit, vegetable and oats.
Sports in our life
Sport is very important in our life. It is popular among young and old
people. 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 sport games
and listen to the sport news. They prefer reading interesting stories about
sportsmen. But they don’t go in for sports. Physical training is an
important subject. Students of our college have physical training lessons
twice a week. They play volleyball and basketball at the lessons. There is
a sportsground near our college and students go in for spots in the open
air. A lot of different competitions are held at the college, a great
number of students take part in them. Sport helps people to keep in good
health. 2002 is the year of health in our country. Nowadays most of the
teenagers smoke, dink alcohol, and take drags. I’m against of it. On the
contrary I advice them to give up smoking and cut down. If you go in for
sports, you have good health and don’t catch cold. Everybody must take care
of their health and do morning exercises regularly. The are some popular
kinds of sports in our country: football, volley-ball, hockey, gymnastics,
skiing, skating and boxing. Everybody may choose the sport for himself.
There are summer and winter sports. My favourite sport is swimming. I go to
the swimming-pool twice a week. Everybody must remember that the first
wealth is health.
I want to be a programmer
I want to become a computer programmer. It is interesting and useful
profession. I’m interested in computers. It is a whole new world. Many
people continue careers or there parents but it is not the case with me my
mother is a teacher and my father is a doctor. But I don’t want to be
neither a teacher nor a doctor. My favourite subjects in school are math,
physics and of course computer science. I’m not interested in such subjects
as geography, biology or chemistry. My hobby is computer games and computer
programming. I have computer at home and I can spend hours working at it.
It is much easier to do things on computer, for example to write a
composition. You can change the text, as many times as you want and you
don’t need to rewrite everything if you changed something. I think that the
profession of programmer can give many opportunities. Computers are the
most rapidly changing sphere of modern technology. We are living in the age
of information. And I think that the future is just filled with computers.
Today, in England or in USA people can work, go shopping or even go on
dates sitting at their computers. In our country, computers have been used
just for a short time. So after I finish college I want to enter the
university and study computer science. I know that knowledge is power. I
want to be high classified and educated person.
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan is independent Republic. Kazakhstan is 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 the Russia. Kazakhstan has 14 regions, 84 cities. More than 17
million people of over hundred nationalities ethnic groups live in the
republic. The head of Kazakhstan is a president his name is Nursultan
Nazarbayev. 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 divided in two parts. One of them is deputation of Senate
and the other is deputation of Mazhilis. The Kazakhstan is rich in mineral
resources. Coal, oil, timber and gas are the most important of them. I’m
proud of my country.
Travelling
I like to travel. First of all, the numbers of our family usually have
long walks in the country. Such walks are called hikes. If we want to see
the countryside, have to spend a part of our summer holidays on hikes. It
is useful for our family. We take our bags, 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 don’t take tickets, we put all things we need
in a car. We don’t carry them. 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. Sometimes we
go to the seaside for a few days. As usual the weather is fine. If it is
warm, we can swim. It is pleasure to watch white ships. I think that
travelling is very useful thing for us.
Seasons and weather
There are four seasons in the year: winter, spring, summer and autumn.
Each of them lasts three month. In Kazakhstan winter is usually a cold
season. It often snows. The most unpleasant thing about winter is that the
sun sets early and rises late – especially in December and January. The
days are short, the sky is often grey, nature is slipping and sometimes it
gets rather boring. But at the and of March the weather gets gradually
milder. The sun shines more brightly. The days become longer. The snow
begins melting. Spring comes and nature awakes after a long sleep of
winter. All kinds of plants and flowers come out. The birds return from the
South and build their nests. The farmers begin the sowing campaign.
Everything around is full of life and joy. Spring is followed by summer.
The weather gets still warmer and some times it is very hot. The sky is
blue and cloudless. But sometimes there are storms with thunder and
lightning. The gardens are gay with flowers all summer months. In summer
people spend much time in the open air. Autumn comes in September. Early
autumn is still the harvest time, the time when the fruits and vegetables
become ripe. It is also a very beautiful time in the year, when the weather
is still warm and the leaves change their colour for green to yellow. But
towards the end of October the weather gets colder and colder. There is
much rain and fog. Leaves fall from trees and cover the ground. Birds fly
away to the warm countries. Low and heavy clouds hang in the sky. Nature
slowly falls asleep for winter. In fact every season has its fine days and
is pleasant in its own way. And it is not difficult to see this beauty.
Shopping
There are many shops and supermarkets in our city. They are Zangar,
Ardager, Ramstor, Smat, Resey, Astana etc. My family has a shopping day. It
is Saturday. We get up early in this day. Early to rise and early to bed
makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. My father and I usually go to
Ramstor because it is near our house. In the morning we ask our mother what
we need. We take bags and go to the shop. First of all we go to the
butcher’s store. We buy sausage, meat, fish, and eggs there. In the baker’s
store we buy sweets, cakes, rolls and buns. In the greengrocer’s store we
buy fresh vegetables and fruits such as carrots, tomatoes, potatoes,
onions, cucumbers, apples, lemons. An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
Last week we had our mother’s birthday. We usually prepare for this
holiday: we bought food and a present for her. We wanted to make her happy.
She is the woman of taste, so we bought a perfume. She was so pleased and
thanked for our shopping.
Leisure
When we have time for leisure, we usually need something that can amuse
and interest us. There are several ways to do this. People use radio or
television. They switch on the radio set or TV set and choose the program
they like best. Some people like music. They listen to various concerts of
modern and old music, new and old songs, and see dances. Everybody likes to
see skating and dancing on the ice. Radio and television extend our
knowledge about the world in which we live. Television helps us to “visit”
different lands, see new plants, animals, unusual birds, fish and insects,
mountains and valleys, lakes, rivers and seas. We are shown different
countries, cities and towns and people who live there. This is what we can
do at home. If we want to go out, there are a lot of cinemas, theaters, and
museums. In our city it is often difficult to decide where to go in the
evening. Newspapers tell us what is on at cinemas and theaters. If you are
a theatergoer, you will choose a play you want to see. If you are a film
fan, you will go to the cinema. The cinema has really become the most
popular kind of art. Young and old people like to see films very much.
There are many sections in Almaty. Those who like to dance join a dancing
section. Those who are interested in music join a musical section where
they are taught to play different musical instruments. People who are fond
of sports can join sport sections, such as football, skiing, chess and
others.
The happiest day in my life
The happiest day in my life is my birthday. I have my birthday on the
27th of December. Birthday is a very remarkable day for me. In the morning
my parents come to my place and say, “Happy birthday!” They give me
presents. I enjoy to get them. I usually have my birthday party at home. My
parents and I prepare for this day. We invite my friends and relatives to
the party. I usually celebrate my birthday on Sunday. I get up early in the
morning. My father and I go to the shop and to the market to buy something
we need for the party. My mother stays at home. She cleans the flat, makes
cakes, lays the table and waits for the guests. I like this day. At four
o’clock my relatives and friends come to congratulate me and I’m glad to
see them. They bring flowers, books and sweets as birthday presents. I
thank my friends. We have got a good holiday dinner on this day. Mother
brings us a cake with candles on it. My friends sing the song: “Happy
birthday to you” and I blow all the candles out. During our gay party we
sing songs, play guitar, dance, make jokes, play games and speak our life
and future. After having tea we dance, watch TV and tell stories and funny
jokes. I enjoy my birthday party. My friends like this day too.