Nowadays USA is world’s third-largest country by size (after Russia and Canada) and by population (after China and India). The total territory of the USA is 9,630,000 sq km. It is about half the size of Russia or lightly larger than China or Brazil. The USA has borders with Canada, Mexico and Russian Federation. The lowest point is Death Valley

It would be a platitude to say that A. S. Pushkin is the greatest Russian poet. But I hope no one is challenging the view that he occupies an outstanding place in Russian literature and culture. Every summer in June, thousands of people visit the Pskov land. They come here to the village of Mikhailovskoye to the wonderful festival of

THE NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), sometimes called North Atlantic Alliance, is an international organisation for defence collaboration established in 1949, in support of the North Atlantic Treaty signed in Washington, D. C., on April 4, 1949. Nowadays NATO headquarters are located in Brussels, Belgium. Initially there were 12 members in the NATO: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland,

There are a number of holidays, which are celebrated in Great Britain every year. One of them is, of course, the New Year’s Day on the first of January. It is not so popular in England as in our country, but it is rather popular in Scotland. On that day people usually visit their friends and there is a lot

The heartfelt goodbye to the people’s princess sums up how everyone felt about her tragic death. Astonished tourists fighting back their tears watched Englishmen weep unashamedly on the streets of London. And the grief at her senselese death stretched all around the globe — from America to the Far East. Strangers everywhere clutched each other, sobbing bitterly, mourning a woman

Not long ago computers were considered an amazing invention. Today they form part of our everyday life. The latest thing today is Virtual Reality. A Virtual Reality system can transport the user to exotic locations such as a beach in Hawaii or the inside of the human body. The Virtual Reality system is still in the early stages of its

Baseball is the most popular game in the US. It is played throughout the spring and summer by schools, colleges and professional teams. Football is the most popular game in the autumn. There are professional football teams in all the main cities of the United States. In American football there are eleven players in each team, as in the original

In Russia young people who want to study medicine, apply to medical schools or medical departments of universities. After successful entrance examinations young people become students. Curricula of medical schools include a six-year course in medicine or a five-year course in dentistry and pharmacy. The medical course is divided into the pre-clinical course, the clinical course, sub-internship and internship. The

New Year is a great holiday in our country. Everybody likes it very much. It is especially loved by little children. People do not go to work on that day, and children do not go to school. This holiday is considered to be a family holiday. It is usually celebrated at home among the members of the family. People decorate

«In 1492 Columbus sailed Ocean Blue». This little rhyme many American children learn to remember the date when Christopher Columbus «discovered» America. ‘But was Christopher Columbus really the first person to discover the continent and return home to tell about it? Probably not, but he was the first to return to Europe and tell all about what he believed to

In 1867, Canada was just a colony with internal autonomy; since 1931, it has been an independent state in the world community. Canada’s Constitution is actually a British statute, the British North America Act, 1867, which has been amended more than 20 times since its inception. Since 1982 when Canadians obtained the right to amend the Constitution in Canada —

Albert Einstein was born at Ulm, Germany, on March 14, 1879. Six weeks later the family moved to Munich. He had his violin lessons from age six to age thirteen. Later, Einstein’s family moved to Italy (Milan), but Einstein remained in Munich. In 1895, Einstein failed an examination that would have allowed him to study for a diploma as an

If you want to keep fit you must go in for one kind of sport or another. Sport is an essential part of my daily life. Every morning all the year round I do my morning exercises. Almost every day I do some training. In summer I go swimming or rowing. During my summer holidays I go on hikes. I

Traditionally English people have three meals a day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast is served in the morning. It used to be a large meal with cereal, eggs and bacon, sausages, tomatoes. But such a large breakfast takes a long time to prepare and is not very healthy. Nowadays, Britain’s most popular breakfast consists of cereal, toast with marmalade, juice

Russia’s parliament, which is called the Federal Assembly, consists of a 450-member lower house known as the State Duma and a 178-member upper house called the Federation Council. The State Duma makes the country’s laws. The Duma’s proposed legislation must be approved by the Federation Council and by the President before becoming law. However, the State Duma can override a

Yerevan is the capital of Armenia. 1,1 mln people live in Yerevan and it is the largest city in Armenia. Yerevan is the most important transport crossroad, as well as political, economic, cultural and scientific center. The city has 2 airports and Yerevan had a metro since 1981. The name of Yerevanoriginated from Urartian Erebuni fortress before it was colled

Gerard Depardieu is one of the most popular actors. He was born in 1948 in a poor family of a shoemaker in a little town. When he was 16 he came to Paris without any education and without any money. Together with his friend he began to attend the actor courses. He got acquainted with a girl of a wealthy

The British have a reputation for being mad about sports. In fact they like watching sports more than playing them. The British are spectators and the most popular spectator sports are cricket and football. Football is the most popular game. Football, or soccer, is an example of a professional game. The game of football was first played in Britain, and

Vegetables — Овощи Aubergine — баклажан beans — фасоль beetroot — свекла broccoli — брокколи cabbage — капуста carrot — морковь cauliflower — цветная капуста courgette — кабачок, цукини cucumber — огурец green pea(s) — зеленый горошек onion — лук pepper — перец potato — картофель pumpkin — тыква radish — редис sweetcorn — кукуруза tomato — помидор Fruit —

This bridge built in 1894, is still in daily use even though the traffic in and out of the London wharves’ has increased to an extraordinary extent during the course of the 20th century. Even today Tower Bridge regulates a large part of the impressive traffic of the Port of London. Due to a special mechanism, the main traffic-way consisting