Jefferson also drew up the constitution for his state

1776. Jefferson also drew up the constitution for his state,

Virginia, and served as its governor. He was sent to France as

the foreign minister of the United States of America and

afterwards was President's Washington secretary of state. A few

years later he became the country's third president, serving in

this position for 2 terms. The author of the Declaration of

Independence did another important thing for the American people.

He worked out a plan for a university where the students and

teachers could live and work together in a village build for

them. It was one of the first schools to teach science. Today, it

is the university of Virginia. This well known man was also a

self-tought architect. He introduced the simple classical design

to America when he designed the Virginia State Capital Building.

He also designed his own home, he remained the most influencial

architect of his time. Thomas Jefferson did many useful things

during his life time and he always thought of how to help

ordinary people. He was a practical and theoretical scientist

too. Jefferson's best traditions have been kept up by American

prograssive people in their struggle for peace and democracy.

"Pets"

The English people like animals very much. Pet: dogs, cats,

horses, ducks, canaries, chickens and other friends of men have a

much better life in Britain, than anywhere else. In Britain they

have special dog shops, selling food, clothes and other things

for dogs. There are dog hair-dressing saloons and dog cemetries.

The English arrange dogs' shows and organize dogs' supper parties

for winners of dogs' competitions. They do all they can to make

animals feel well in their home and outside their homes too.

There were photographs in English newspapres of a mother duck and

her young family, crossing slowly the road from Hyde Park to

Kensington Garden. All traffic around was stopped to let Mamma

Duck and her little ones walked quitly from one park to another.

In recent years the English began to show love for more exotic

animals such as crocodiles, elephants, tigers, cobras, camels.

You won't be surprised, we think, when we tell you that London

Airport has a special "animal hotel". Every year thousands of

animals arrive at London Airport, some stay the night there;

others stay several weeks. In one month, for example, "the hotel"

looked after 47000 creatures: birds, insects, fish, elephants,

mpnkey and other animals. There are about 4000000 dogs, 6000000

cats, 8000000 caged birds and lots of other animals in Britain.

The English people belive that they are the only nation on the

Earth that is really kind to its animals.

"Washington, DC"

The city of Washington, the capital of the United States of

America is located in the District of Columbia (DC for short)

Many people consider Washington DC to be one of the most beatiful

cities in the world. It is filled with many parks, wide streets

and impressive buildings. In the centre of the city, in Capitol

Park, visitors' eyes focus on the Capitol, where Congress

convence to inect laws. Many visitors come to Washington DC to

see the White House. It is the greatest attraction for many of

them. The White House, the official residence of the President,

is situated at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. The largest room in

this building of over the hundreds room is the East Room, scene

of many state receptions, balls and musicals. Other famous rooms

are: the Green Room, the Blue Room, the Red Room, which are used

for afternoon teas and for receptions held before state dinners.

The Blue Room, the most formal of these "colors" room is an

oval-shaped room connecting the Green and the Red Rooms. On the

second floor, the floor with the family quarters and quests

rooms, is the Lincoln Room, which one served as an office for

president Lincoln but today serves as an honor guest room. In

this room Lincoln signed the emansipation proclamation of 1863.

Other landmarks in Washington DC include memorials to three

Presidents: The Washington Memorial, The Lincoln Memorial and The

Jefferson Memorial; The Library of Congress, The National Gallary

of Art, The John F. Kennedy center for the Perfoming Arts. The

Capitol is in the very center of Washington. It is located on the

Capitol Hill, the highest point in the city. The Capitol is the

highest building in Washington. There is a law in Washington not

to build buildings higher than the Capitol. The conrer stone of

the Capitol was laid by George Washington on Sep 18th, 1793. The

Capitol is the seat of the goverment of the United States of

America.

BRITISH THEATRES

Until reccently the history of the english theatre has been build around actors rather then companies. It has been hard to find any London theatre that even had a consistent policy. There are no permanent staff in British theatres. Apply is rehearsed for a few weeks by a company of actors working together mostly for the first time and it is allowed to run as long as it draws the odious and pays it's way.

Another peculiarity of the theatres in Great Britain is an follows: there are two kinds of seats, which can be booked an advanced (bookable), and unbookable once have no numbers and the spectators occupy them on the principal: first come - first served. And ancient times plays were acted inside churches and later on the market places.

The first theatre in England "The Blackfries" build in 1576, and "The Globe" build in 1599, which is closely connected with William Shakespeare. Speaking about our times we should first of all mention "The English National theatre","The Royal Shakespeare company" and "Covent Garden".

"Covent Garden" used to be a fashionable promenade - it was, before then, a convent garden - but when it became overrun with flower-sellers, orange-vendors and vegetable-growers, the people moved to more exclusive surroundings farther west, such as "St. Jame's Square".

The first "Covent Garden theatre" was build in 1732. It was burnt down in 1808 and rebuild exactly a year after. It opened in September 1809, with Shakespeare's "Macbeth". Since the middle of the last century "Covent Garden" became exclusively devoted to opera.

Now "Covent Garden" in busier than ever, it is one of the few well-known opera houses open for 11 months of the year and it employs over 600 people both of the Opera company and the Royal Ballet.

THE NATIONAL THEATRE

It took over the hundred years to establish a national theatre company. It's first director from 1962 was Lawrence Olivier. This is the first state theatre Britain has ever had. A special building for it was opened in 1976. It has three theatres in one: "The Oliver theatre", the biggest is for the main classical repertoire; "The Lyttilton", a bit smaller is for new writing and for visiting foreigh countries and "The Cottesloe theatre", the smallest is used for experimental writing and productions. "The Royal Shakespeare company" are devided between the country and the capital and it's produces plays mainly by Shakespeare and his contempraries when it performs is "Stratford -on-Avon", and modern plays in it's two auditoria in the Cities, Barbican centre.

AUSTRALIA.

1. The Commonweaith of Austrelia is a self govering federal state. It is situated in the south-west of the Pasific ocean, ocuping the continent of Australia and a great number of islands of which Tasmania is the most important. Australia is a continent-island washed by the Indian and the Pasific Oceans.

2. The country consists of 6 (six) states and 2 (two) territories. 16 million people live in Australia. The capital is Canberra. The offical language is English.

3. Australia has a Parlament has two chambers, the house of Representatives and the Senate. the governmant of the country is headed by the Prime Minister.

4. Australia is not only far from the rest of the world, it has a bad climet, too. The climet is better in the east and south-east, where most big cities have grown-up. But the northen coast has too much rain, and the westen coast is too dry.

5. The highest part of Australia, and almost all the mountains are near the coast. The whole central part of the country is dry; it never rains, there are no large rivers and no water there. So there is no very rich plant life in Australia, except in the east and south-east.

6. Australia is an important producer and exporter of primary products: wool, meat, sugar, fruit, black, coal, iron, copper, lead, gold and so on.

7. Most of the factories are situated near big cities. There are 5 (five) big cities in Australia: Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and bris bane. These cities are also the country's main ports.

8. Canberra was specially planned as a capital. It is a quriet city. All the gover-

ment buildings are situated there. There no industrial plants in the city. About 300000

people live in Canberra.

9. Sydney is the oldest and largest city in Australia. It was founded in 1788. Sydney

is a big industrial centre. About 3 million people now live in the city.

THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF GREAT BRITAIN.

The educational system of G.B. is extreamely complex and bewilder- ing.It is very difficult to generalise about particular types of schools as schools differ from one to the other. The departament of education and science is responsible for national educational policy,but it doesnOt employe teacher or prescribe corricular or text books. Each school has itOs own board of governers consisting of teachers, parents, local politicians, members of local community, businessmen and sometimes pupils. According to the law only one subject is compulsary. Such as religious instruction. Schooling for children is compulsary from 5 to 16, though some provision is made for children under 5 and some pupils remain at school after 16 to prepare for higher education. The state school system is usually devided into 2 stages (secondary and primary). The majority of primary schools are mixed.They are subdevided into infant schools(ages 5 to 7),and junior schools(ages 7 to11). In junior schools pupils were often placed in A,B,C or D-streams, according to their abilities. Under the pressue of progressive parents and teachers the 11+ examination has now been abolished in most parts of the country. There are some types of schools in G.B.Grammar schools provided an academical cause for selected pupils from the age of 11 to 18. Only those children who have the best results are admitted to these schools. They give pupils a high level of academic education wich can lead to the university. Technical Schools offer a general education with a techni- cal bias and serve those pupils who are more mecanically minded. The corricular includes more science and mathematics. Secondary modern schools were formed to provide a non-academic education for children of lesser attainment. The corricular includes more practical subjects. The comprehensive schools brings about a general improvement in the system of secondary education.

BRITISH EDUCATION

British education emas us to develop fully the abilities of

individuals, for their own benefit and of society as a whole.

Compulsory schooling takes place between the agers of 5 and

16, but some pupils remain at shool for 2 years more, to prepare

for further higher education. Post shool education is organized

flaxebly, to provide a wide range of opportunities for academic

and vacational education and to continue studying through out

life.

Administration of state schools is decentralised. The

department of education and science is responsible for national

education policy, but it doesn't run any schools, if doesn't

employ teachers, or prescribe corricular or textbooks. All shools

are given a considerable amount of freedom. According to the law

only one subject is compulsary. That is religious instruction.

Children recieve preschool education under the age of 5 in

nursery schools or in infant's classes in primary schools.

Most pupils receive free education finenst from public fonds

and the small proportions attend schools wholy independent. Most

independent schools are single-sex, but the number of mixing

schools is growing.

Education within the mantained schools system usually

comprises two stages: primary and secondary education. Primary

schools are subdevided into infant schools (ages 5 - 7), and

junior schools (ages 7 - 11). Infant schools are informal and

children are encouraged to read, write and make use of numbers

and develop the creative abilities. Primary children do all their

work with the same class teacher exept for PT and music. The work

is beist upon the pupils interests as far as possible.

The junior stage extence over four years. Children have set

pirits of arithmetic, reading, composition, history, geography

nature study and others. At this stage of schooling pupils were

often placed in A, B, C and D streams according their abilities.

The most able children were put in the A stream, the list able in

the D stream. Till reccantly most junior shool children had to

seat for the eleven-plus examination. It usually consisted of an

arithmetic paper and an entelligent test.

According to the results of the exam children are sent to

Grammar, Technical or Secondary modern schools.

So called comprehansive schools began to appear after World

War 2. They are muchly mixed schools which can provide education

for over 1000 pupils. Ideally they provide all the courses given

in Grammar, Technical and Secondary modern schools.

By the law all children must receive full-time education

between the ages of 5 and 16. Formally each child can remain a

school for a further 2 or 3 years and continue his studies in the

sixth form up to the age of 18 or 19. The course is usually

subdevided into the lower 6 and the upper 6. The corricular is

narrowed to 5 subjects of which a pupil can choose 2 or 3.

The main examinations for secondary school pupils are

general certeficate of education (the GCE) exam and certificate

of secondary education (the CSE) exam. The GSE exam is held at

two levels: ordinary level (0 level) and advanced level (A

level).

Candidats set for 0 level papers at 15 - 16 years away. GCE

level is usually taken at the end on the sixth form. The CSE

level exam is taken after 5 years of secondary education by the

pupils who are of everage abilities of their age.

Exploration

Christopher Columbus

300-400 years ago a great deal of the world was undiscoveried. But now there seems little more to explore, the wild north was conquered, the jungle was conquered too. And it seems that all the pages of the great book called “The Earth” has been filled in, but exploration still goes on.

In the 15th century people knew only 3 continents: Europe, Asia and Africa. They knew nothing about America. The man who was thought to be the discoverier of America was born in 1451 in Italy. His name was Cristopher Columbus.

Knowing that the earth was round he desided to reach India by sailing to the west. It was very difficult for him to organize an expedition as nobody wanted to help him. At last the Spanish government gave him some money. In the 1492 he sailed with 3 small ships in to the Atlantic ocean. They had been sailing for more than 2 months and at last they saw land. Columbus was certain that the lands he discoveried were part of India and he called these islands “The West Indias”. He made 3 voyagers to America. His last voyage was made in 1502-1504. After that, seriously ill, he remained in Spain until his death. He died believing that Cuba was part of Asia. Colum-buse’s voyagers gave Europe first important knowledge of the new world. Many places have been named in his honour. America however was named after another explorer Amerigo Vespucci.

Americus Vespucius (or Amerigo Vespucci, as the name is spelled in Italian) was born in Florence, Italy, in 1454. He was in Spain at the time of Columbus' first and second voyages. In a letter, written in 1504 and printed in 1505, he claimed to have made four voyages, on the first of which, in 1497, he explored the South American coast. This would make him the first European to land on the American continent, for at that time Columbus had only reached the outlying islands. Most scholars reject Vespucius' version of this voyage. Vespucius perhaps did accompany a Spanish expedition that of Alonzo de Ojeda to South America in 1499, and in 1501 and 1503 he probably went with Portuguese expeditions. Probably he never commanded an expedition himself and, of course, was not the first person to set foot on the continents to which his name is given. Vespucius died in Seville, Spain, in 1512.

Historic cities : Durham, York, Oxford

York. York is one of Europe’s historic cities. It began as an important roman city. In medieval times a stone wall was built around it, and wall is still there today. There is the river Omse near Lendal bridge. And from here you can walk around the city on the wall, it takes about two hours. In the south wall is Micklegate bar, where kings and queens entered the city. There is also Monk bar and Booth bar. Inside the city there is a cathedral. It was begun in 1220 and finished two centuries later. If you compare this English cathedral with a catholic cathedral, you will see that they are different. Cathedral in Protestant England don’t have colorful paintings on the wall, the color is in the windows. In the center of window of this cathedral is white rose- the symbol of York. There are also different interesting museums in York. One of them is the National Railway Museum. There are a lot of trains in it, for example the first public train in the world, built in 1825 and the fastest steam train in the world are here.. West Yorkshire. The West Yorkshire moors, where two great writers, Charlotte and Emily Bronte, lived. Their books are Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heinghts. They lived in the 1800s in the village of Haworth with four brothers and sisters. Their father was the minister at the village church. All the children died by the age of thirty, except Charlotte. She lived on alone with her father in this house. Then at thirty-eight she married. But only nine month later she died too and was buried in the church by her old father. OXFORD. Oxford is one of oldest and most famous cities in the world. it is famous for it’s university, the Oxford university. It also called a city of students, because over 12000 students are living and studding here in thirty five colleges. Oxford is a place of young people and old traditions, for example teachers are called dons and still wear black grows. Student here are taught one-to-one in the Socratic tradition. At the libraries you can still see notices written in Latin - the ancient language of scholars. Students here are surrounded by old stone building. One of them is Hertford College, one of smallest colleges in the university. About two hundred students live and work here. But Oxford is not all work, there are a lot of clubs and other interesting places for students and dons to visit. For example the Sheldonian theater, which is used for concerts and university’s ceremonies. Opposite the theater is book shop, where people buy books. It is one of the word biggest book shops, with seven kilometers of selves. There are also a lot of pubs and cafes in the city, where you can buy cheap food and drink a cup of coffee with friends. There are two rivers in Oxford. People usually travel in the rivers by boats called punts. Oxford is also famous for it’s gardens, which has a maze.

LEISURE TIME AND HOBBY

Many man,many minds. All people are different and so they prefer spending their free time in different ways. Some of them go the parks, forests,to the country and enjoy the beauty of nature. Others like to stay at home watching TV or reading books. There are people who are fond of cinema and theatres, so they try to go there as often as pos- sible. As for me I prefer to spend my free time in different ways. I like to go in for sports, to play football, basketball or volleyball with my friends. I like to watch TV, to listen a tape recorder and play computer games. Also I like to go for a walk in the country and enjoy the beauty of nature.And my way of spending free time is connected with my hobby. And my hobby is reading books...

I"d like to say that it"s hard to imagine our life without books.Books play such a great role in the development of personality. They help as to forget our daily problems and to pretend we travel to the past, future and to many different, wonderfull places that we can"t visit in reality. I am also sure that books are our good friends and teachers. From them we get to know the life around as better, they teatch as how to tell right from wrong, to love our Motherland, to understand friendship, people"s feelings. So, they teach us how to live. As for me I like to read different kinds of books: ......

Learning languages.
The problem of learning languages is very important today. Foreign languages are socially demanded especially at the present time when the progress in science and technology has led to an explosion of knowledge and has contributed to an overflow of information. The total knowledge of mankind is known to double every seven years. Foreign languages are needed as the main and most efficient means of information exchange of the people of our planet.
Today English is the language of the world. Over 350 million people speak it as a mother tongue. The native speakers of English live in Great Britain, the United States of America, Australia and New Zealand. English is one of the official languages in the Irish Republic, Canada, the South African Republic. As a second language it is used in the former British and US colonies.
It is the major international language for communication in such areas as science, technology, business and mass entertainment. English is one of the official languages of the United Nations Organization and other political organization. It is the language of the literature, education, modern music, international tourism.
Russia is integrating into the world community and the problem of learning English for the purpose of communication is espicially urgent today. Learning a foreing language is not as easy thing. It is a long and slow process that takes a lot of time and patience. But to know English is absolutely necessary for every educated person, for every good specialist.
It is well known that reading books in the original , listening to the BBC news, communicating with the English speaking people will help a lot. When learning a foreign language you learn the culture and history of the native speakers. One must work hard to learn any foreign language.

ART GALLEREYS OF LONDON

Speaking about art gallereys of London we should first of all

mention The national gallery, The national portret galerey and

The tate gallery. I would like to tell you about National portret

gallery and about Tate gallery.

The national gallery houses one of the richest and most

extensive collections of painting in the world. It stands to the

north of the Trafalgar Square. the gallerey was desighned by

William Wilkins and build in 1834-37. The collection covers all

schools and periods of painting, but is a specially famous for

it's examples of Rembrant and Rubents. The british schools is

only moderately represented as the national collections are

shared with the Tate gallerey. The National gallerey was founded

in 1824 when the government bought the collection of John

Angerstein which included 38 paintings.

The Tate gallery houses the national collection of british

painting from the 16-th century to the present day. It is also

the national gallerey for modern art, including painting and

sculpture made in Britain, Europe, America and other countries.

It was opened in 1897 as the national gallerey of british art. It

owes it's establishment to Suie Henritate who built the gallerey

and gave his own collection of 65 painting.

MOSCOW THEATRES

For decades Moscow has had a reputation as a city of theatres. The birth plays of the historic "Bolshoy", "Maly" and "Moscow Art" theatres the city has been and steel is a centre for the development exploretary modern ideas in the dramatic art and is famous for it's great number of highlygifted, interesting directors, actors, playwrigts and artists.

Every evening the doors of Moscow theatres open to streams of theatre-gowers. The best Moscow theatres devoded themselves to developing the principals of directing and acting laid down by Stanislavsky, Meerhold, Nemerovich-Danchenko, Vachtangov and others. The discoveries and successes of Moscow theatres today exists due to experience and triumphs of preceding generations.

I'd like to tell you about the Bolshoy Theatre. The magestic building of the Bolshoy Theatre stands in Theatre Square in Moscow's central quater, not far from Kremlin. This is the leading Russian opera house with the best vocalists and choreographers in it's company.

The Bolshoi traces it's history to 1776 when a standing opera company was organized in Moscow. The first opera shown in Bolshoi theatre was opera "life of tsar" (now "Ivan Susanin").At later times operas by Dargomyzhsky, Serov, Tcaikovsky, Borodin, Moussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and Rubinstein were produced here.

At the same time the Bolshoi company staged the best operas and ballets by West European composers-Mozart, Rossini, Weber, Verdi and others.

The bolshoi ballet company enjoys well-deserved fame as the world's finest. This is equally true of it's brilliant realistic style of perfomance and repertoire.

MY FAVORITE PAINTER

One of my favorite artists is Rembrant is the greatest Dutch

master, one of the supreme geneuses in the history of art. To

this day the art of Rembrant remains one of the most profound

witness of the progress of the soul in it's earthly pilgrimage

towards the realisation of higher destiny. The son of the

prosperous miller, Rembrant was born in Leiden in 1608. He

studied at Leiden University, but his real vocation was painting.

His rapid sugsess promoted him to move to the Amsterdam in 1631.

In 1632 Rembrant bought a splendid house, started a collection

of paintings and rarities. The universal artist dealt with many

world subjects. Rembrant created a number of portraits and some

group portraits which were traditional to the Dutch art. The best

of them are "Anatomy lesson of Dr. Tulp" and "The night watch".

In 1655 Rembrant found himself in the midst of several

financial troubles. At that period he painted "The Polish Rider",

which is an allegory of the man's earthly journey.

Probably in 1669, the year of his own death, Rembrant

painted his famous "Return of the Prological son", which stands

at the ultimate peak of Cristian spirituality, illuminating the

relationship of the self to the eternity.

The biblical theme was very important to Rembrant. He painted

"Artakserks, Oman and Eshpir", "The Saint Family".

Rembrant was not understood when he was alive. He died in

poverty. But it is the spirituality of his art that distinguishes

Rembrant from his Dutch contemporaries making him the greatest

artist of the world

THEATRES, MUSIC HALLS AND CINEMAS

Theatres are very much the same in London as anywhere else; the chief theatres ,music halls and cinemas are in the West End. If you are staying in London for a few days, you'll have no difficulty whatever in finding somewhere to spend an enjoyable evening. You'll find opera, balley, comedy, drama, revue, musical comedy and variety. Films are shown in the cinemas during the greatest part of the day.

The best seats at theatres are those in the stalls, the circle and the upper circle. Then comes the pit, and the last of all the gallery where the seats are cheapest. Boxes, of course, are the most expensive. Most theatres and music halls have good orchestras with popular conductors.

You ought to make a point of going to the opera at least once during the season if you can. There you can get the best of everything - an exellent orchestras, famous conductors, celebated singers and well dressed audience. But, of course, if you are not fond of music and singing, won't interest you.

At the West End theatres you can see most of the famous English actors and actresses. As a rule, the plays are magnificently staged - costumes, dresses, scenery, everything being done of the most lavish scale. Choose a good play, and you'll enjoy yourself thoroughly from the moment the curtain goes up to the end of the last act. Get your seats beforehand, either at the box-office of theatre itself or at one of the agencies. When you go to a theatre, you'll probably want to seat as near to the stage as possible. But if you are at the cinema, you may prefer to seat some distance from the screen. In fact, I would say, the further away the better.

ART IN MOSCOW

Speaking about art gallereys of Moscow we must mention the most famous gallereys.

The State Tretyakov gallery is one of the best known picture gallereys in Russia. It takes it's name from it's founder Pavel Tretyakov, a Moscow mercant. In the 19'th century Tretyakov began to collect russian paintings. He visitet all the exibitions and art studios and bought the best pictures. Little by little Tretyakov extended his interests and began to collect earlier Russian paintings. In 1881 Tretyakov opened in St. Peterburg to the public, 11 years later he donated it to the city of Moscow. Since then the gallerey has received hundred paintings from oter museums and private collections. The Tretyakov gallerey reflects the whole history of Russian paintings from 11'th century to the present day.

Also I'd like to tell you about state pushkin museum of fine art. The building was built in Greek stile by Roman Klein in 1898 - 1912 to house a museum of fine art, founded of initiative of professor Ivan Cvetayev. Since 1937 it has be known as The Puskin museum of fine art. It has one of the worlds largest ancient collections of european art. Now the picture gallerey has over 2 thousands works of various schools of painting which enaibous us to understand and appreciate the variaty of staills over the centuries.

The Pushkin museum pereodically hald's exibition of the art of various countries and of individual outstanding artist of past and present.

Computers

When Charles Babbage, a professor of Mathematics at Cambridge university, invented the first calculating machine in 1812 he couldn’t imagine the situation we find ourselves in today. Nearly everything we do in the world is helped, or even controlled by computers, the complicated descedants of his simple machine. Computers are used more and more often in the world today, for the simple reason that they are far more efficent than human beings. They have much better memories and they can store much information. No man alive can do 500000 sums in one second, but a computer can. In fact, computers can do many of the things we do, but faster and better. They can predict weather, and ever play chess, write poetry or compose music.

The use of computers

Just as television has extended human sight across the barriers of time and distance, so the computers extend the power of the human mind across the existing barriers.

Computers in medicine

Computers are one of great importance in modern hospital. The chief use of computers is the storing and sorting the medical knowledge which has been equired in the last 50 years. No doctor can possible keep up with all discoveries. The only solution of the problem is store medical knowledge in a computer. Today there are medical computer centers were all existing knowledge of simpthoms of various dessieses and of their treatment is stored. Doctors feed data on simpthoms in the computer and get the nessesary information on correct diagnostics and treatment.

Computers that can be learn

Ordinary computer can remember only the data stored in the hard disk. Now scientists have desighned machines, that are capable of learning from experience and remembering what they have learned. Such a machine is capable of recognising objects without human help or control. Of course, they made many mistakes.

There is another similar machine which can look at letter alphabet a simple words and they “say” thought a loudes speaker what it has seen. The machine has as certain learning power.

Computers at the school

Information science with the ideas and message of processing and storing informations is of great importance today. That’s why computer technology must be told in secondary school. The new subject “basic information science”, and “computing machine” was intreduste for the siner forms at schools. The pupils teach computers to anlestigate school problems. Contact with the machine increases the interest in learning, makes them more serious about studing new subject. School computers are used not only for studing information science, but also examinations purposes. Young people who finish the school must be trained to operate computers.

Fedor Dostoevsky (1821-1881)

The Russian writer Dostoevski is regarded as one of the world's great novelists. In Russia he was surpassed only by Leo Tolstoi.

Fedor Mikhailovich Dostoevski was born on Nov. 11, 1821, in a Moscow hospital where his father was a physician. At 13 Fedor was sent to a Moscow boarding school, then to a military engineering school in St. Petersburg. Shortly after graduating he resigned his commission in order to devote his time to writing.

Dostoevski had published two novels and several sketches and short stories when he was arrested along with a group of about 20 others with whom he had been studying French socialist theories. After the 1848 revolutions in Western Europe, Russia's Czar Nicholas I decided to round up all of that country's revolutionaries, and in April 1849 Dostoevski's group was imprisoned. Dostoevski and several others were sentenced to be shot, but at the last minute their sentence was changed to four years of hard labor in a prison in Omsk, Siberia. There, Dostoevski said, they were "packed in like herrings in a barrel" with murderers and other criminals. He read and reread the New Testament, the only book he had, and built a mystical creed, identifying Christ with the common people of Russia. He had great sympathy for the criminals.

As a child Dostoevski suffered from mild epilepsy, and it grew worse in prison. After four years in prison, he was sent as a private to a military station in Siberia. There in 1857 he met and married a widow named Marie Isaeva.

In 1860 Dostoevski was back in St. Petersburg. The next year he began to publish a literary journal that was soon suppressed, though he had by now lost interest in socialism. In 1862 he visited Western Europe and hated the industrialism he saw there. Dostoevski had been separated from his wife but visited her in Moscow before her death in 1864. In 1867 he married his young stenographer, Anna Snitkina. He died on Feb. 9, 1881, in St. Petersburg.

Education in Russia

An educated person is one who knows a lot about many things.I think it is very important that everyone should be educated.Each pupils ought todo his best to become a useful member of our society. Education is very important in our life. Going on educational excursions gives us opportunities to acquire some scientific knowledge.

In the Russian Federation the school education is compulsary. Pupils begin to go to school at the age of six. When they complete high grades they can either continue to study at school for more 2 years, or go to a professional school where they study not only main subjects , but are able to learn some profession. When school pupils leave school they can try to continue their educaton in institutes or universities.

There are many school types of schools in Russia: specialized, politecnical, musical art and others. Nowdays appeared some new types of schools: gimnasiums and colledges.

Bath

Bath is an unusual city because it was built for leisure and health. Most of the houses were built in the eighteenth century when Bath became a fashionable place. The houses were built with the pale golden-coloured stone from the nearby hills. Some of the terraces in Bath were built in crescent or circular shape. Some of the streets in Bath are closed to cars, so walking around, relaxation and pleasant conversation are as popular as they were in the eighteenth century. In those days the favourite meeting place was the social center of Bath, a building called “The Pump Room”. Here you can drink tea in the elegant atmosphere of the eighteenth century. The Pump Room was built over a spring, where natural hot water comes up from the underground. This water contains minerals which are good for you. The English were not the first to enjoy this warm, healthy water. The Romans built hot baths, swimming pools, and a temple here nearly two thousand years ago. The Roman Bath was fonded in 1878 and now ut’s stil work there. Near Bath you can visit beautiful gardens and classical country houses. Devon. Around the world there are about forty Plymouths-all named by people who sailed from this town in sixteenth and seventeenth century. In the early seventeenth century men and woman left from here to build a new life in America. The English Plymouth of today is Devons largest city. Its an interesting city to visit and many of the houses overlooking the sea are hotels, guest houses and bed and breakfast. A bed and breakfast is a private house which offers a room and a breakfast. Guest houses are like hotels but usually smaller and cheaper. The countryside of Devon has narrow country roads with high banks on both sides, which protect you from the wind. Devon is a green hilly county with many rivers and estuaries. Salcombe is a popular holiday town on the Kingsbridge Estuary. Here you can hire a boat and explore. Its one of the most popular places in Britain for sailing. One reason for its popularity is climate. This area is the most southernmost part of Britain, so its little warmer than elsewhere. Another good thing is absence of big modern hotels. They are not allowed in this protected area of natural beauty. The local drink in Devon is a strong cider called scrumpy. Its made of apples, using a traditional process. When the apples have been cut up, the pieces are scooped up with a wooden shovel and carried to a press. The lid of the press is placed on top, making a giant sandwich. The cogwheels begin to turn and the juice is squeezed out, quickly at first. A few month from now this apple juice will be a good scrumpy.

Exploration

Christopher Columbus

300-400 years ago a great deal of the world was undiscoveried. But now there seems little more to explore, the wild north was conquered, the jungle was conquered too. And it seems that all the pages of the great book called “The Earth” has been filled in, but exploration still goes on.

In the 15th century people knew only 3 continents: Europe, Asia and Africa. They knew nothing about America. The man who was thought to be the discoverier of America was born in 1451 in Italy. His name was Cristopher Columbus.

Knowing that the earth was round he desided to reach India by sailing to the west. It was very difficult for him to organize an expedition as nobody wanted to help him. At last the Spanish government gave him some money. In the 1492 he sailed with 3 small ships in to the Atlantic ocean. They had been sailing for more than 2 months and at last they saw land. Columbus was certain that the lands he discoveried were part of India and he called these islands “The West Indias”. He made 3 voyagers to America. His last voyage was made in 1502-1504. After that, seriously ill, he remained in Spain until his death. He died believing that Cuba was part of Asia. Colum-buse’s voyagers gave Europe first important knowledge of the new world. Many places have been named in his honour. America however was named after another explorer Amerigo Vespucci.

Americus Vespucius (or Amerigo Vespucci, as the name is spelled in Italian) was born in Florence, Italy, in 1454. He was in Spain at the time of Columbus' first and second voyages. In a letter, written in 1504 and printed in 1505, he claimed to have made four voyages, on the first of which, in 1497, he explored the South American coast. This would make him the first European to land on the American continent, for at that time Columbus had only reached the outlying islands. Most scholars reject Vespucius' version of this voyage. Vespucius perhaps did accompany a Spanish expedition that of Alonzo de Ojeda to South America in 1499, and in 1501 and 1503 he probably went with Portuguese expeditions. Probably he never commanded an expedition himself and, of course, was not the first person to set foot on the continents to which his name is given. Vespucius died in Seville, Spain, in 1512.

Scotland.

Scotland is one of four part of the GB. In area Scotland is more than half as big as England. The principal cities of the country are : its capital Edinburgh and the main industrial center Glasgow. Scottish towns look very different from English towns. Some words about Edinburgh . Edinburgh, capital of Scotland, is one of Britain’s most attractive cities. It’s a city for people who like to walk. You are never far from green parks, gardens and hills - even in the main shopping streets. It’s a busy modern city, but the history is everywhere. At the top of the highest hill in Edinburgh is Edinburgh Castle. It was the home of Scotland’s royal family until 1603 when King James the 6^th of Scotland became king of England and moved to London. The road which begins at the castle and goes eastwards is called Royal Mile. At the other end of the Royal Mile is the Palace of Hollyroodhouse. It was built by a Scottish king before Scotland and England were united to make Great Britain. Now it is a second home for the Queen or her children, who usually visit Edinburgh in the summer. When the royal family is not there you can visit the palace and see a lot of interesting things. There are nine hills in Edinburgh. They are long-dead volcanoes. From the tops of them you can see two bridges : the modern road bridges an the old rail bridges which has carried trains to the Highlands for more than a hundred years. The highlands of Scotland is mountainous and wild. In the winter it’s white with snow but in the summer it’s purple. Highlands are famous for the Scottish Olympics or the Highland games ( it’s real name ). These games are not only sporting competitions : music and different traditional games are very important too. While athletes throw the hammer at the one end of the arena, you can watch a dancing competition at the other end. there is also a game for the strongest athletes - tossing the caber, which weights 60 kilos and is six metres long. These games are very popular in Highlands. Usually between the mountains are rivers and lakes. Scottish people like fishing very much, that’s why they say that Scottish rivers are good for two : fishing is one, the other is Scotch whisky. Whisky is made from water and barley. The method hasn’t changed for hundreds years. Scotch whisky is the best one. Scotland is also famous for it’s kilt, the most important part of national dress and bagpipes - the national instrument. I thing Scotland is very beautiful country and if you visit it you shall never forget it.

Wales.

Wales is a country of lakes and mountains. Its about the half the size of Switzerland, and it has a population of two and three quarter million. On the north of Wales is some of the most beautiful scenery in the British islands, the Snowdon mountain. Snowdon is Britain’s second highest mountain.

Wales is an not independent nation. In 1292, the English king, Edward , invaded Wales and built fourteen huge castles to control the Welsh people. His son, Edward, became the first prince of Wales, since then all the kings and queens of England have given their eldest sons the title, Prince of Wales. Prince Charles became the twenty-first Prince of Wales. Although the English have ruled Wales for many centuries, Wales still has its own flag, culture, and, above all, its own language. In the towns and villages of North Wales, many people speak English only as a second language. Their first language is Welsh. In Llanberis, a small town at the foot of Snowdon, eighty-six per cent people speak Welsh as their first language. At the local primary school children have nearly all their lessons in Welsh. The children should be bilingual by the time that they are eleven years old. It is not a problem for children to learn two languages at the same time. Children have insight into two cultures, so have all the folk tales of two languages. Children like Welsh because in Welsh you spell things just how you say them, in English there are more silent letters.

Welsh is one of the oldest languages in Europe. Its a Celtic language, like Breton in France, Gaelic in Ireland, or Gaelic in Scotland. Two and a half thousand years before these languages were spoken in many parts of Europe. They died out when the Romans invaded these areas, but some of them survived in the north-west corner of Europe. But over the last hundred years the number of Welsh-speaker has fallen very quickly. Now only twenty per cent of Welsh people speak Welsh. Here are some of the reasons for the decline.

In the nineteenth century people thought that Welsh an uncivilized language. If you wanted to be successful in life you had to learn English, the language of the British Empire. So in many schools children were forbidden to speak Welsh.

At the beginning of the twentieth century many English and Irish people moved to South Wales to work in the coal mines and steel works. They did not learn Welsh.

People, especially young people, moved away from the Welsh-speaking villages and farms of north and west Wales to look for work in the big towns and cities, so the Welsh-speaking communities became much smaller.

In the 1960s and 1970s many English people bought holiday cottages in villages in Wales. Most of them did not learn Welsh. This also pushed up the price of houses so that local Welsh-speaking people cold not afford them.

English comes into every Welsh home trough the television, the radio, newspapers, books, etc. There are Welsh-language TV and radio stations, but far fever than English ones. And now there is cable and satellite TV, too-in English, of course!

The decline has now stopped, because a lot has been done. Road signs, bilingual documentation, and there is a Welsh language act. The future of Welsh is uncertain. The problem is that Welsh has to survive next door to English, and, as we all know, English is a very successful language.