Топики по Английскому языку для англ.шк.

Topic 1 The United Kingdom is the administrated title and it includes Great Britain and Northern Ireland. And Great Britain it self includes Wales, Scotland, NI and England. They are 4 different parts of UK with their own culture, history, traditions even language The differences are in the climate, in their politic, in their mineral resources, in their religious,

in the industries, which are promoted in different parts, people s occupations. Landscape is varied. Yes that s true mountainous North of Wales, highlands lowlands in Scotland, miles of rocky cliffs on the coast of the south of England. But climate in England is more gentle than in other parts of UK. Great Britain is situated on one of the largest

British island and the landscape and climate very greatly, from cold in North to warm in the South. At first I want to talk about England. England can be divided into three main parts, which varies one from another greatly. In the south there are lots of sea costs, which vary from the flat, sandy or stony beaches to the rocky cliffs. The climate there is mild. The midlands region is mostly the farming land and the north has

a hilly landscape. In the midlands and in the north the climate is colder than in the south. Wales as England can be divided into several parts the south and the north. The country varies from the picturesque mountains of the north to the valleys of the south. Scotland considered having the most beautiful landscape of hills, valleys and unspoiled beaches. The climate is considerably colder than in any other parts of

Great Britain, but however there is no month has an average temperature below freezing. The last part of UK I wont to mention is Northern Ireland. The landscape there is gentle. The climate is not stable. Rain showers quickly changed by sunshine. As we can see all parts of the UK are different. They have their own landscapes and climate but as a hole they all form highly developed

industrial country. But besides climate and landscape all parts of the UK has their own traditions, culture, and way of living and even language. For example in Wales apart from English people speak on the Welsh language and in Scotland people speak The Scottish Gaelic. Topic 2 Britain has many places of interest which have historic associations.

London is one of the cities each reflected the past. Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the Sovereign the daily ceremony of the Changing of the Guards takes place in its courtyard. The palace was built by the Duke of Buckingham. Stonehenge a prehistoric complex regarded as one of the most important monuments

of its kind in Europe and very popular with visitors. The great circle of standing stones is believed to have had some religious purpose. Windsor is a town on the Thames not far from London. Its castle has been a royal residence for 9centuries. Seen from a distance it s beautiful beyond imagination.

Windsor Castle has a long and fascinating history. Canterbury an ancient city in Kent with a majestic cathedral which dominates it. Canterbury is a religious capital of England. It became a place of pilgrimage in medieval. Stratfort-on-Avon is an attractive town world famous as the birthplace of William Shakespeare. It holds a priceless collection of

Shakespeare relics. In Wales we can visit times Coventry. It s now known for its magnificent cathedral, decorated by the best artists and craftsmen in Britain. It was built near the ruins of the old cathedral destroyed during the Second World War in the memory of those who died in the bombings. Cardiff Castle has colorful and lavish interiors continually suprise and delight visitors who enter

a grim fighting castle to find themselves surrounded by exquisite wood carving and sculpture. Cenarfon is an ancient town with a magnificent preserved castle which dominates it. Places to visit in Scotland. Edinburgh Castle stands high on the massive Grey Castle rock. In the Castle are the Honours of Scotland the Scottish Crown scepter and the sword of state the oldest royal regalia in

Europe is an areas. The Burns Country where Scotland national poet wrote many of the world s most tender love songs. The thatched cottage where Robert Burns was born is the starting point together 40places associated with the poet. Places to visit in Northen Ireland. The Giant s Causeway is a mass of stone columns standing very near together. The tops of the rocks from stepping stones leading from the cliff foot and disappearing under the sea.

This strange geological feature is believed to have been the result of volcanic action. It s sometimes called the 8th wonder of the world. Topic 3 In the UK represents four nations, which are distinct from each other in almost every aspect of live. They have their own dialects, economics, social and legal systems. All of them have got their own stereotypes. The Irish for example are supposed to be good talkers when

the Scots are supposed to have a reputation for being careful with money. The Welsh are famous for their singing abilities and English are individualists. The first nation I m going to speak about is the English. The English are mainly Anglo-Saxon in origin. Since 12-th century the English people have developed their own character and personality.

They managed to save their traditions of dance, food and music from mixing with other origins. English people are generally tolerant of new ideas and influences. Traditionally, the English are thought to be reserved, shy of strangers, suspicious of change and slow to accept new ideas. The Scots have a strong sense of national identity, of their own distinct values, and traditions. This is partly due to history. Scotland s history is a history of endless battles against

the English for independence, and Scots have many national heroes who fought in these battles. Scotland is a country with an intense national tradition, with its own songs, its poetry, its own national food and drinks, sports and manners. To many foreigners, the image of Scotland looks a little bit childish. Kilts, tartans, bagpipes, and tweed play an important role in it. Although the part of the UK, Scotland has it s own laws, which in some are really very different

from English ones and Scotland even has got its own pound coin. The Welsh are proud of themselves and they believe to be the true Britons. Nowadays only twenty per cent of them speak Welsh, the oldest language in Europe. Wales was inhabited from ancient times. From the 6-th century the Welsh fiercely resisted the attacks of the

Anglo-Saxons into their land. Also the Welsh fought for many years against the English to win their freedom but they were defeated in 1282. The Welsh are proud of their culture, traditions, and their language. They are really gifted in the art of self-expression in words, they are not afraid of being poetic in speech, of using bright and pictorial descriptions of men and events in ordinary conversations.

And the last nation I m going to speak about is the Irish. The Irish are mainly Celtic people. They have maintained their ancient Gaelic language but English is spoken everywhere. To understand the present situation in Northern Ireland it is necessary to know something about the island s long and violent history. Before the early 20th century, Northern Ireland was a part of

Ireland as a whole. After many English and Scots people had settled there in the 16th century, Northern Ireland became mainly Protestant, unlike the rest of Ireland which remained, as before, mainly Roman Catholic. By the terms of an Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, Northern Ireland was granted its own parliament in which the protestant government was formed.

And also Britain has a lot of immigrants who left their countries because of the political or religious persecution or some other problems. In the UK they form different societies in which they follow their native traditions. Topic 4 Today English is a major language spoken in the world. In every part of the world English is spoken with different pronunciations, but the original and right pronunciations can be heard only in England and it s called

The King s or Queen s English. The King s or Queen s English is a good correct English, as it should be spoken. The standard form of English used in England is called the RP Received Pronunciation and it is also called the BBC English as it is used be the BBC. RP or BBC English is the accent of the

South-east of England. It has been associated with power and high social class since the 14th century. At the time of the King, the Royal court and the government settled in London, and the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, both settled in the Southeast, provided higher education for the whole country. People who wanted to be part of that powerful world had to use the same language and accent.

In the 19th century RP was used in public schools and universities, the government and the army to form small groups who would run the empire. It was even impossible to get any kind of high position if you did not speak the right way. The best advise to those who wish to become proficient in English was given in 1906 by the Fowler brothers in the famous book the king s English. It is still sound advice for any student of

English, whether English is his mother tongue or whether it is foreign language prefer the familiar word to the far-fetched, Prefer the concrete word to the abstract, Prefer the short word to the long, Prefer the Saxon word to the Romance. Above I ve mentioned accent and now I want to explain the right meaning and the role of it in England. Accent is the sound of a person s pronunciation of the

English language. It is very important in Britain. It shows where the person comes from and, to an extent, what class he or she belongs to. And I also want to mention that in London you can meet another way of speaking English, which is called Cockney. Cockney is typical among people who live in the eastern area of London and it also known as London dialect. Cockney has some differences.

For example in cockney TH is pronounced as f and didn t become didn. And nowadays English is considered to be the major language in the world. To my mind English language has reached such a great popularity thanks to the expansion of British colonial power and the emergence of the US as the leading economic power of the 20th century. English is the language of the international air traffic control, policing and emergency services.

It is also used as the language of international business and academic conferences and the leading language of international tourism. A lot of video games, broadcasting and computers use English language. World famous computer net, I mean Internet is based on English language. So from my point of view English language is the major language and its really great to learn and to know this language as gives

you opportunities to travel abroad, to learn more, to get a better job. Topic 5 England as every country has its own kinds of houses that can be rarely seen in any other countries. In England there are know three main types of houses that people live in. They are detached houses, semi-detached houses and terraced houses. They all differ from each another by size, price and conveniences in living.

A detached house is the most expensive one among those that I mentioned. This house usually stands on its own land and its not attached to any other buildings. Such houses have privacy from neighbors, and they are ideal for keen gardeners who can devote plenty of time to work in their garden. The next house, which is less expensive than a detached one is a semi-detached. A shared wall joins a semi-detached house to the house next door but it still offers a good

standard of privacy and comfort. It usually has a small garden in the front and a larger one at the back. A terraced house is usually two or three- storeys high. It is one of the continuous rows of similar houses, joined together by their sidewalls. Many rows of terraced houses were originally built for workers in nearby factories or coalmines. A terraced house usually costs less than a semi-detached or detached house of similar size.

There are miles of terraced houses in most towns. Over a quarter of British families live in them. But apart from these houses there are some other types that are popular with English people. They are bungalows, apartment blocks and country cottages. Bungalows are one-storey houses, which are particularly popular with older people. Apartment blocks are high-rise blocks of flats, which provide accommodation for a lot of city dwellers.

But these buildings are not very popular. About 20 of the population lives in flats. There are more flats in cities than in rural areas. Most people in Britain traditionally like to live in houses. To my mind English people prefer to live in detaches, semi-detached or terraced houses because of they habits, I mean that they are keen on gardening. To buy a house is an expensive thing and to help people

to do it there are building societies and mortgage system in Britain. From building societies people can get loans to buy a house, and then in a period of 25 years you ought to return them money back. And Mortgage system works the next way When you buy a house you pay only a half of its price and then during the limited period of time you have to pay the rest of the house s price by parts.

The only disadvantage is that you have to pay percent. About one third of the population now lives in council houses. Local authority councils such as town councils, usually at a low rent, provide these houses. Since 1980 it has become possible for council house tenants to buy their houses at favorable rates after they have lived in them for at least two years.

Topic 6 Britain is a country there sport and leisure life are taken seriously. TV has helped to generate interests in a wide variety of sports. Millions of people all over the Britain take part in sport exercises and competions. Football and Rugby football. The British invented the rules of many sport and games played all over the world. The rugby football or rugger is another popular

British sport. The story is told that in 1823 Boys at Rugby school in England were playing football in the normal way When suddenly one boy picked the ball up and run with it. So a new game was born. Cricket is sometimes called the English national game Having been played from 1550s.

It s usually played by a men and boys. Players traditionally wear white clothes. Bowls it is another outdoor summer game. It was played since 13 centure. It s played an a specially prepared green The players roll large bowls towards a small ball and try to bring them as near as possible. Mountaineering and rock climbing. There are more than 330 mountaineering clubs in Britain.

The most popular areas in Britain are the sea cliffs of Devon and Cornwall, the peak district, the lake district, Snowdonia in North Wales and some others. British climbers often go abroad to climb mountain, such as Alp s. Horse racing and Horse riding. Horse racing sometimes called a sport of kings Because it is very expensive to own a racehorse. There are two kings of h.r. flat racing wo jumps and

steeplechasing with jumps. Horse Riding is very popular too. Riding a horse used to be means of transport. Sailing. About 3 million British people go sailing in a small boats every year. The number of small boats owners has increased 1000 in last 10 years. If you live in Britain you are never more then 100 miles from the sea and you have a lot of opportunities

for sailing. In Britain all the year round there are different competitions. In March April the have got The international boat race, Oxford and Cambridge boat race, The London marathon, The grand national and so on all the year round. The Oxford Cambridge Boat race is a traditional annual rowing race between teams from

Oxford and Cambridge universities. The Grand National is the most exciting steeplechase in Britain, held annually in spring. And as I started to speak about important sporting events I must mention the Wimbledon, the most important event in lawn tennis. Wimbledon tournament draws huge amount of spectators from all over the world. And so at the end I would like to say that English people really fond of different kinds sports.

But they do not only watch it on TV or on stadiums, but they also take part in it, they form different clubs and compete with each other. All the schools have their own soccer or cricket teams and even such well-known universities as Oxford and Cambridge have their own rowing team. Topic N 7 UK is a country where holidays are celebrated with great enthusiasm. In England people have some different public holidays and besides them there are other festivals, anniversaries

and simply days, on which certain traditions are observed, but unless they fall on a Sunday, they are ordinary working days. Here are some examples. From December to February people in England have such holidays as Christmas day, boxing day, new year, burns night, St valentine s day and Cruft s dog show. Christmas is a traditional family reunion day.

On this day many people attend a church service, open their presents, eat Christmas dinner and watch the sovereign s annual Christmas broadcast on TV. Preparations for Christmas are always pleasant Buying gifts, sending Christmas cards and decorating the Christmas tree with small, brightly-colored lights and small colored glass ornaments.

In Britain, Christmas is the most important public holiday of the year. It combines the custom of giving gifts with the tradition of spending this day with the family. 26th of December is a boxing day, which comes right after Christmas and is celebrated as a bank holiday in Britain. It was formerly the custom to give Christmas boxes, or gifts or money to servants and tradesmen on

this day. The custom gave a name to the holiday. January 1st, New Year s Day is now a public holiday in England. I think that this holiday does not need any explanation, as it s well known all over the world. 25 January is Burns night. This celebration is held on the 25th of January, the anniversary of the birth of Robert burns,

Scotland s greatest national poet. It usually takes the form of a supper at which the traditional Scottish dishes are eaten, including haggis, and during which a Scottish pipe plays, wearing traditional Highland dress. 14th of February is called St Valentine s Day or the day for lovers and it also becoming an international one. On this day, boys and girls, sweethearts and lovers, husbands and wives, friends and neighbors,

and even office staff exchange greeting cards with the hearts on them. Britain is a nation of animal lovers. No wonders that dog shows always attract a lot of enthusiasts. Cruft s Dog Show at East Court, London, is internationally known. Dog breeders from all over the world bring their dogs to take part in it and the winner is broadcasted on TV. From March to May in England are known such holidays as

St David s and St Patrick s days, Pancake day, April fool s Day and many others. Pancake day is the popular name for Shrove Tuesday, the day before lent. People traditionally eat pancakes on Pancake Day, which are made from eggs, flour and milk, fried on both sides in fat on a pan and eaten with lemon juice and sugar. In many towns pancake races are held on

Shrove Tuesday in which women run with pancakes. Each runner has a pancake in a pan and while running have to toss the pancake up and over in the air and catches it again in the pan. The 1st of April is the funniest day of the year. On this day people usually play jokes on other people. Easter is the most important Christmas religious festival.

It is traditionally associated with Easter eggs and with the coming of spring. In many towns there are funfairs with roundabouts, coconut shies, switchbacks and other amusements. 23rd of April is the Shakespeare s Birthday Celebration. This Celebration is always held in Stratford, where a long procession of flower-carriers walks from the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, through the streets to the churched where

Shakespeare is supposed to be born. The 1st of May is traditionally celebration of the coming spring. On this day the most beautiful girl is chosen as a May Queen. A lot of people sale good on open air. From June to august there are such holidays as Trooping the color, summer sales, the Proms, Notting hill carnivals and others. Trooping the color takes place each

June as part of a 200-year-old ceremony to mark the official birth of the monarch. Trooping the color is an impressive military display held at horse Guard Parade, a huge open space behind the Whitehall where the various royal units troop their regimental flags to the tune of the marching music and thundering drums. Troops march past the Queen dipping their Colors in salute.

The ceremony ends with the monarch returning to the B.P. at the heart of her Guards. Notting Hill carnival is held over the August Bank holiday since 1966. It mostly involves black people and is known for it s colorful costumes and the steel band music. It s the largest street carnival in Europe. Remembrance daypoppy day is observed throughout

Britain on the Sunday nearest to the 11 of November, Armistice day. Fallen in both world wars are remembered in special church services civic ceremonies. Poppies are sold in the streets people traditionally wear them in memory of those who fell in the wars. Self-honesty. Telling you the truth using emotional positive actions. Self-honesty means telling myself the truth. It means knowing myself and choosing positive actions

that are right for me. I know my strengths and weaknesses. I admit my mistakes. I don t blame others. I resist peer pressure. It will help us to 1. Learn about and like us. 2. Know our strengths and weaknesses. 3. Admit mistakes and accept responsibility for our own actions. 4. Avoid blaming others and making excuses. 5. Behave in a way that is honest with what we think and

feel. 6. Keep our word and do what we say we ll do. Sometimes things happened to us, make us feel sorry for ourselves. Nobody can go through life with the world on a string without anything bad ever happening. It s pretty natural to feel sorry for ourselves, at least for a little while. But if we keep feeling self-pity we won t find the way out of our problems.

And we sure can t turn a bad thing into something good if we are lost in self-pity. Being honest with yourself and admitting what is good about you as well as those things about you that aren t so good your strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes a weaknesslike eating too much candy can be changed, but in some cases a weakness is just a weakness and there s not too much we can do about it. In fact, recognizing both kinds of weakness in ourselves helps to find out who we really are.

Being able to look at yourself closely and honesty and recognize what things you do best are positive actions. It is important to know what you are strong in when choosing a career or trying out for sports or play it can help you to make the right selection. Everyone has some strength in a particular area. Your strength might be an ability to get along with others, a good memory, or an ability to think quickly.

Have you ever heard anyone say Oh, he s always making excuses do you ever get tired of people who never do what they ve promised and only give you an excuse why they didn t do it We come across such situations quite often at school, when a pupil hasn t his homework and makes up some excuse not to be given a bad mark Often people make up excuses out of habit. They haven t yet learned the positive action of taken responsibility of their actions.

Instead, they look for a quick way out of the problem not caring much if they are honest or not. Sometimes we need to be honest about our needs instead of making excuses. Actions can be either honest or dishonest. Sometimes we apologize just in order not to be punished. Sometimes we say we are busy just because we don t want someone to come over and play. Sometimes we misbehave to get attention. Throughout all our life we will have to make decisions.

It will never stop. We might as well begin now being truly honest with ourselves about what is right for us. As we get older, we ll have fewer and fewer people helping us make decisions. The choices are ours to make. Some of lives choices are easier to make than others. Some students of our age have to make choices about drugs and other things that may not be good for their bodies. Do you have some needs right now Do you feel like an outcast and need friends

Do you wish you could like yourself more Are you pulled in 2 different directions Have you ever experienced peer pressure Pressure is force applied to something. If you ve ever had a toothache you have felt pressure on that tooth. But we can feel not only physical pressure. One of them is peer pressure. Our peers are classmates and friends, people that are equal to us.

Peer pressure is a term we may not have heard before but we ve experienced it, we all have Peer pressure occurs when others try to influence you in your thoughts and actions. Often friends try to persuade us to do something or to think a certain way that we know is not right for us. We must be honest with ourselves If we do something that is not within our personal Code of Conduct, we won t feel satisfied with ourselves.

Peer pressure is real and powerful. We are all influenced by it at some time. But we should always remember to be honest with ourselves, to do what s right for us. We must always remember be true to that important person you live with everyday yourself Positive action. Your self-concept is how you see yourself. It is what you think about the person you call Me.

It is not only what you see in the mirror. It includes feelings, emotions, opinions, and attitudes to others. Ability to manage ones life successfully and other aspects of yourself. Self-concept means the way you feel about yourself, friends and families influence your self-concept. Negative choices and negative actions create a negative self-concept. Positive choices and positive actions make us feel good about yourself.

The positive circle shows positive feelings, leading to positive thoughts and positive actions. If you want to be a happy positive person, say Yes to life. Use positive actions and you will be as happy as you can be. You know, an action is something you do. A positive action is something you do that makes life good for you and the people around you a negative is just the opposite.

It is easy to learn about positive actions. It is hard to use positive actions. Positive action is a course that helps to feel good about themselves. The way you think about yourself controls how happy, healthy and successful you be. You can learn simple ways to be your own good friend and to make your life happy. You say to yourself I want to enjoy my life, to do interesting things and be as happy as

I can be. I am a happy and positive person. But I can expand on who and what I am. I want to learn more about myself and to like myself, to be a good friend and to tell myself the truth. Self-concept helps me to think about myself, to picture myself in my mind. This self-concept is very important. Because it has a great influence on how happy I am and what I achieve. When I help others, if I am independent and loved,

I feel good about myself. Most people are disappointed with themselves at times, but they wish they were different in some way. And naming some negative feelings, people often have about themselves, they mean that these negative words represent a challenge for improvement. Developing a strong self-concept it is important to set yourself up to succeed. You must discover what is important to your self-esteem and then do those things well.

Everyone needs a positive self-concept. No one can be 100 positive all the time. We all get a little angry with ourselves at times. This can be very valuable if we keep things in perspective and use our disappointment to motivate us towards improvement and gives way to despair. We must accept our weaknesses as challenges and we must take satisfaction in the abilities we have. The person who takes a positive self-view much more often

than not is the one who will be happy, healthy and successful. Take o look at yourself and identify your strong points and built on them positive self-concept. No matter what kind of self-concept you have now , you can make stronger. Each of us can develop a skill, a talent or a personal quality, to bring us pleasure and the appreciation of family, friends and others. You can develop your good qualities and make even better.

These qualities will give you confidence and happiness. Do you sing or play an instrument Are you a good friend Do you read well or write stories or poems Are you fun to be with Can you organize and get things done Do you know a lot about some subject Do you have a sport you play well Are you clever And do you sometimes make people laugh

These things can give your enjoyment and are reasons for you to feel good about yourself. When people are happy and well liked, they sometimes fail to realize that they still have room for improvement. It is an excuse to say I have to be myself or That is just the way I am. We should want to be our best selves. Now ask yourself Is there some area that I am still weak in

Is there something about myself that I could improve Once you have chosen a quality you would like to improve, write it down and then write your plan for improvement. Then thoughts-actions-feelings cycle can be a positive force for you. Every day we are faced all kinds of situations that require us to make choices. When faced such situation we some thought about it.

This thought leads to an action and that action leads to a feeling. Let us take an example a teacher asks you to do some homework. You have a thought homework makes me feel responsible get knowledge. That is a positive thought and it leads to an action you do a good job on the assignment. This leads to a positive feeling satisfaction and pride in your work.

But when you begin with a negative thought such as, I hate homework, negative feelings and actions might follow. So positive or negative thought do not simply stop with feelings. Good or bad feelings cause us to have further thoughts and those influence further actions and further feelings. The circle of behavior and emotions follow and continues on and on.

Some things happen in life that are unpleasant . We can not pretend that they are not. These can be a serious as divorce. Certainly, we should not excepted to be pleasant with everything that happens to us, but our thoughts about difficult situations still control our ability to handle them in a positive way. Give examples of difficulties you have overcome by using positive thoughts. A self-concept is not an accident. Behind the way you feel about yourself are many influences.

Important pictures we have about ourselves come from the people who are most important to us friends, teachers, and especially our families. By showing you that you are loved, interesting and important to your family and your friends also build you self-esteems. We all need to know that others think well of us. When we are discourage and having and having negative thoughts sometimes we need to go to a friend or

a family member to find positive thoughts we need. Parents will almost give us that kind of help, then they know we need it. Sometimes however a friend or a family member may be a very one giving us the negative thoughts of ourselves. At times like that we need to look inside ourselves for positive thoughts and look to other friends or relatives who see what we need at that time.

We should never feel ashamed of needing a little tender loving care. Friends can affect self-concept. Perhaps, a compliment brightened the way you felt about yourself. May be teasing hurt your feeling. We all need to look within ourselves for the assurance that we believe in ourselves. But we can not help being not influenced by the attitudes of our friends. Now turn the situation around. Just think a good friend you can be to someone else s self-concept.

It takes almost no effort to give a compliment and it also work in reverse. When you treat Managing yourself. Each person has eight gifts time, energy, possessions, money, talent, thoughts, feelings, actions. We need to use our gifts wisely. We need to learn positive actions that will help us to waste less energy, to create some order. When a person con not use self-discipline, usually someone else has to make choices for that person.

If you let your time go, your parents have to limit your playing time. When you make good choices and show self-control, you usually gain more chances to make, more choices, when you show immaturity by using no self-control, you often lose some of the freedom you have attained. Time is one of the resources we have in equal amount. Happy, healthy people manage their time wisely. This management is a positive action that helps people

feel good about themselves. Energy is like fuel. Our actions lose strength and efficiency when we fail to manage energy. These are things we can do to use our energy gift well. 1 stay healthy. If you are sick, rundown, tired or poorly nourished, you can not perform effectively. 2 stay mentally alert. You mind can stimulate your energy. 3 stay in control emotionally. People who are upset, sad or discouraged sometimes lose their physical

energy. Happiness and excitement, on the other hand stimulate energy. 4 use your time wisely. At certain times of the day your energy level is high. Study or hard work is rarely done well late at night when you are tired. Learn to manage possessions wisely. Owing things requires that we act responsibly. We may wish to share or even give our possessions as gifts but too means that we use proper management.

When we give proper care to the things we possess, we feel a sense of satisfaction. In many ways our possessions represent us people. If our rooms and the things we own in our rooms are kept in order and are looked after, we experience a sense of our own worth. And we show the same respect for other possessions. When you use positive actions to protect the valuable things you own you will respect yourself.

And these is greater possessions than your own sense of self-worth. Money. People say that money can not buy happiness. That is true many times. But money can certainly make people unhappy. When we fail to manage our money wisely, we often make our lives difficult and disappointing. Money is not the most important thing in the world, but when it is used wisely it gives you control

over your life. When it is used poorly, it controls you and your are unhappy. Now is the time to acquire the good money habits to make our life happy. Positive actions are also necessary for recognizing and developing talents. Some people seem to have lots of talents, others only have few. But talents do not mean much unless they are developed.

We should be thankful for the things we are good at and we should do our best to improve those skills. We have a lifetime to improve upon our abilities, and after all, that is one of the main joys in life seeing yourself get better at something. All people experience feelings and emotions. One of the most powerful human emotions is love. Managing the emotion of love means being a good friend. You may call it caring about people. That is another name for the same feeling.

A person who is in control of this emotion will expand his circle of friends and learn to be friendly to all people. And how to manage anger What does anger look like Does it have a shape Or edges Each of us experiences anger in a different way. We all get angry at times. But uncontrolled anger will destroy your chances of thinking and acting wisely. People who act in anger almost always regret it.

Wise persons learn to give themselves some time to consider before they act and to react in a positive way. Here are some ways to manage anger. 1 accept anger as a feeling we all experience. 2 never take your anger out on someone who is not to blame. 3 give yourself time to think of ways to deal with it. 4 try to get an explanation for what happened. It may help you handle your anger constructively.

5 react positively. Channel your emotional energy towards hard world or intense activity. Then you may be able to express your anger in a reasonable way. Problems with worry. How do you feel when you worry What happens to your body Does you stomach feel sick Does your heart hurt Do you feel like crying Everyone feels jealous at times.

Positive people, however, learn to control the feeling by sharing the joy that others experience. If you care about others, you should be happy with their good fortune. You expect your friends to be happy for you. The feeling of fear. Fear is certainly normal. It is something every single human being experienced. Fear can be useful. It keeps you from doing things that might harm you, such as leaning too far over

a high ledge or going into dangerous situations. But fear must be managed. Some fear are exaggerated and keep people from enjoying normal activities. If you are afraid of water, for instance, you may have a healthy fear. Water can be dangerous. But if that fear keeps you from swimming, it has taken over and is managing you. You must face your fear, enter the water carefully and conquer that negative feeling.

People should also conquer the feeling of discouragement. Discouragement is the feeling we have when we feel we can not stand up to the challenges we face. Discourage means to lose courage. But the positive action in such situation is not to give way to despair and to deal with feelings of discouragement. So if our goal life is to keep on leaning in all the ways we can we want to be well-rounded persons, we must meet the needs of bodiesphysical, mindsintellectual

and emotionalfeelings. You can choose positive over negative actions. We all have eight gifts we can manage wisely time, energy, money, possessions, talents, thoughts, feelings, actions. Everyone has feelings of anger, worry, jealousy, pride, fear, discourage and love. We should learn to manage these through positive actions. You are in control. When you choose positive actions you feel better about yourself.

Topic 13 Beowulf an epic in Old English tells us of the times long before the Anglo-Saxons came to Britain. The poem was compiled in the 10th century by an unknown author. The manuscript is in the British Museum in London. The main events are the staying of the monster Grendel and Grendel s mother by the hero Beowulf of a brave and noble knight who is ready to sacrifice his life

for his country and his people. The Canterbury Tales is another masterpiece of the English literature. Geoffrey Chaucer who is acclaimed today as the father of English poetry wrote it in 1384. His most important contribution was the development of the resources of the English language for literary purposes. By using English instead of the more fashionable French spoken in court circles and by the aristocracy he added

tremendously to its prestige. The Canterbury Tales are a series of stories written in verse. The framework that serves to connect them is a pilgrimage to Canterbury is 60miles. To make the tiresome four-day trip more interesting the pilgrims decide to tell stories. Beside their intriguing and exciting plot they contain a moral which is valid for all times. The value of the work lies also in the brilliance of style.

Another work which exercised enormous influence on the development of the English language is The King James Bible. It was appointed to be read in churches throughout the Kingdom and in this way had a far-reaching influence on the population. The King James Bible remains the most widely accepted version of the Bible and a classic of the English language. There are many phrases in the

King James Bible which have entered the English idiomatic language some of them are eye for eye, a wolf in sheep s clothing and many others. An exceptional role in the English literature was played by William Shakespeare. He is the author of 37plays and some tragedies and sonnets. Shakespeare s genius lay not only in masterful narration but rather in his capacity for revealing the

greatness and imperfections of human life in its full richness and movement. In his masterpieces Shakespeare possesses some special merit for every generation. Shakespeare enriched the English language with plenty of phrases such as what is done can t be undone, to play fast and loose, to much of a good thing. Topic 14 WILLIAM SAROYAN. William Saroyan is an American writer of

American origin. He gained his popularity in the thirties as a short-story writer. The long list of Saroyan s collections of short stories opens with The Young man on a Flying Trapeze. He is also known as a talented dramatist, the best of his plays being The Time of Your Life. He is the author of a number of novels. His first novel, The Human Comedy, combined his talent of the storyteller with that of a dramatist.

Saroyan s works are highly democratic, they are marked by deep belief in human kindness and the power of humor. To him the kind heart and humor are instruments of helping people in overcoming hardships and in resisting evil. Saroyan s characters are mostly common people, poor, noble, and full of humor. His is at his best, however with characters of children and such grown-ups who remain children, preserving their sincerity and sensitivity. No wonder that his manner of writing is characterized by the sincerity

of intonation and. His language is both lucid and colorful. Saroyan makes the reader see the world through the eyes of his characters, keeping himself in the background, His humor is mostly mild, sometimes bitter, and more often than no eccentric. Realistic and democratic at bottom, Saroyan s works are not devoid of drawbacks and certain limitations. His firm belief in human kindness makes him resist the seamy side of life, its violence and cruelty.

Though being a realist, he can t help exposing it from time to time. But that is always accompanied by the soothing tone and reassuring smile suggesting that in spite of the hardships life will change for the better . Thus his kindness borders on sentimentality. The Human Comedy came out in 1943. It s a rare case of the adaptation of a move scenario into a novel. Both the movie and the novel were a great success.

It reminds us of Saroyan s short story collections, each chapter forming an episode which can be arranged into a story. The novel is set in California in a small provincial town of Ithaca during World War Second. The plot is centered round the Macauley family, whose eldest son is at war, the youngest, Ulysses, is only four, Homer is 14. Their mother is a widow of two years.

The novel is to some extent autobiographical Saroyan, as well as Homer Macauley, had to earn his living from an early age and had a lot of after school jobs, one of them that of a telegraph messenger. The job was not a casual choice of the writer. It linked Homer with a lot of people and with their fates, and constantly reminded was a war going on. The title of the novel is suggestive . It implies that in spite of war and evil, life is going on

and will finally win, for the world is full of clever, noble, stoical people, possessing the sense of humor, too. Topic 17 The problems of environment include a wide range of burning issues nature distraction, pollution, extermination of wildlife on global scale, endangering human health with industrial and nuclear wastes, shortage of natural resources and others. The problem of pollution has become one of the most serious ones during the last thirty years.

That is why man s interest in environmental protection has been stimulated by a great number of problems mankind ever faced. A lot of rainforests are disappearing fast on the planet. But we shouldn t forget that the green belts not only provide restful relaxation but they are regarded as important allies in the battle against air pollution. Many factories and plants pour their wastes into seas, rivers and lakes.

That is why among the simple but far disappearing blessings is the small of clean fresh air and the good taste of pure water. Acid rains, holes in the ozone layer, global warming are caused by pollution. Now the problem of pollution is being tackled depends greatly on the Government and social initiative. All states ought to join their efforts to save the Earth from an ecological catestrophe. It s urgent to build such purifying systems which anable to avoid

the pollution of rivers and reduce the amount of harmful wastes in the air. Natural and energy resources should be used economically. As protecting forests is the key to our survival on the Earth that s why the greenary must be increased. Ecological education should be introduced in all schools since an early age because the should realise the importance of environmental protection.

We must save energy because production of electricity causes air pollution, acid rains, global warming. People should use ecologically harmless-salar power, wind power and water power. Recycling saves energy and raw materials and also reduces damage to the countryside. English meals. There are four meals a day in English home breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner. Breakfast is the first meal of the day. It is at about 8 o clock in the morning, and consists of porridge

with milk and salt or sugar, eggs boiled or fried, bread and butter with marmalade or jam. Some people like o drink tea, but ether prefer coffee. Instead of porridge they may have fruit juice, or they may prefer biscuits. The usual time for lunch is 1 o clock. This meal starts with soup or fruit juice. Then follows some meat or poultry with potatoes boiled or fried, carrots and beans.

Then a pudding comes. Instead of the pudding they may prefer cheese and biscuits. Last of all coffee black or white. Englishmen often drink something at lunch. Water is usually on the table. Some prefer juice or lemonade. Tea is the third meal of the day. It is between 4 or 5 o clock, the so -called 5 o clock tea. On the table there is tea, milk or cream, sugar, bread and butter, cakes and jam.

Friends and visitors are often present at tea. Dinner is the fourth meal a day. The usual time is about 7 o clock, and all the members of the family sit down together. Dinner usually consists of soup, fish or meat with vegetables potatoes, green beans, carrot and cabbage, sweet pudding, fruit salad, ice-cream or cheese and biscuits. Then after a talk they have black or white coffee.

This is the order of meals among English families, but the greater part of the people in the towns, and nearly all country-people, have dinner in the middle of the day instead of lunch. They have tea a little later between 5 or 6 o clock, and then in the evening, before going to bed, they have supper. So the four meals of the day are either breakfast, dinner, tea, supper or breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner. Topic 19 The choice of accommodation available in

Britain is vast. It includes hotels, inns, Bed and Breakfast, farmhouses and self-catering establishments. You may stay at a castle that has been converted into a hotel or at a historic country inn with low wood-beamed ceilings. Britain s large towns and city hotels offer every comfort you would expect-central heating, bedside radio, TV, coffee-making facilities and privet bathroom.

There will be a restaurant and bar on the premises. An increasing number of hotels have leisure facilities for their guests-swimming pools, tennis courts, small golf courses. Other have local arrangements for pony-trakking golf, fishing and sailing. For real value of money accommodation, a friendly welcome and the best chance to meet the British, try a BB. You will find BB in towns resorts and villages throughout

Britain. Some are private houses, other are country pubs or farmhouses. The main advantage about BB is that you don t need to book, just look for the sing saying BB and walk up and knock at the front door. Guesthouses found mainly in seaside towns and other tourist centers are slightly more expensive but have more bedrooms and bathrooms. Wherever you stay you ll be pleased with the quality, friendly service and value for money.

All kind of accommodation are to comply with the most stringent requirements of the visitors. They have convenient location with easy access and parking. They are set in tranquil picturesque surroundings and are sure to suit any taste. Topic 20 If i can choose a city to go, of course i ll choose London. I have been there 2 years ago. London draws people from all over the world.

Some come on business, some come to study, to work or on holidays. There is much in London which fascinates visitors and inspires the affection of Londoners. London shows examples of buildings that express all the different areas of its history. Buckingham palace is he official London residence of Sovereign. The daily ceremony of the Changing of the

Guards takes place in its courtyard. Piccadily Circus has become an important meeting point. At its hear is a bronze fountain topped by a figure of winged archer, known as Eros, god of love. This area is now famous for its theatres, clubs and shops. Whitehall is a street in central London running from Trafalgar Square to the Houses of Parliament. It contains many important buildings and government offices

Ministry of Defense, the treasury, Admiralty. Its name originates from former Palace of Whitehall which stood here until 18 century. London is always full of life. The streets are crowded with traffic. High double-decker buses rise above the smaller cars and vans. The City of London is commercial center, it has its own police and government.

The territory of City is over one square mile, includes several banks, many financial companies. The parks of London provide a welcome contrast of the great built-up areas. There are 4 main parks St. Jame s Park, Green Park, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, they all are linked together and forms the green heart of London.