The Solar system is the place where we live. It contains the central star, which is called the Sun, nine planets with their own satellites, many comets, billions meteorites and thousands asteroids. The closest planet to the Sun is Mercury. Mercury is hard to see from the Earth because it is so small and so close to the sun. At

When we want to buy something, we go to a shop. The shop assistant shows the customer various goods and sells them. We pay at the cash-desk. The goods can be wrapped up or packed in a box or parcel. No one in our family goes shopping as often as my mother does. She keeps house, so she knows better

Minsk is the capital of Belarus, an ancient and beautiful city with a long and exciting history. It was first mentioned in chronicles in 1067 in connection with the battle of the Nemiga River during which it was completely destroyed. It was destroyed, burned, ruined by the conquerors many times during its 930 year history: by the Crimean Tatars in

In our time, life is not so interesting and exciting as it can be. The world has become a bland and safe place. Each day is like another and we are so tired of such life. People in the past used to risk their life by hunting animals, taking part in expeditions. We need some adrenaline and extreme to feel

When we think of Paris, Rome. Madrid, Lisbon and other European capitals, we think of them as «cities’. When we think of the whole of modern London, the capital city of England and the United Kingdom, that great area covering several hundred square kilometres, we do not think of it as ‘a city’, not even as a city and its

Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. (born July 14, 1913) (born Leslie Lynch King, Jr., renamed after adoption) was the fortieth (1973-1974) Vice President and the thirty-eighth (1974-1977) President of the United States. He remains the only individual to serve as President without ever having been elected to either the presidency or vice presidency. Instead, following the resignation of Spiro Agnew he

I usually get up at 7 o’clock in the morning. I do my morning exercises, but not always, make my bed, wash and dress. Then I sit down to breakfast. At 8 o’clock I leave home and go to school. As a rule I come to school in time as the lessons begin at 9 o’clock. I live not far

One of the world’s greatest cities, Moscow (Moskva) is the capital of Russia. Since it was first mentioned in chronicles of 1147, Moscow has played a vital role in Russian history; indeed, the history of the city and of the Russian nation are closely interlinked. Today Moscow is not only the political centre of Russia but also the country’s leading

Today Scotland is part of the United Kingdom and is governed from London. There is a special minister in the Government, the Secretary of State for Scotland, who is responsible for education, local government and other important matters in Scotland. Although the legal education and banking systems are slightly different from those in England, life is very similar to the

The Great West Door is the main entrance on state occasions into the Cathedral and provides the central dramatic frontispiece of St Paul’s. The North Aisle Located to the left of the Great West door entrance. Areas of interest include a case containing the roll of honour of 33,000 members of the Merchant Navy who lost their lives serving in

In England, the Department of Education and Science is responsible for all levels of education. Universities, however, are self-governing and depend on the government only for financial grants. Education is compulsory between the ages of five and sixteen. About one-third of primary and secondary schools in England are administered by Anglican or Roman Catholic voluntary organisations. More than 90 per

The Olympic Games were originally an ancient Greek religious festival in honour of Zeus, held in Olympia near Mount Olympus, the mythical home of the gods. The initial date for the beginning of the Games was 776 В. С. They were held every four years, in the middle of the summer; the main condition of the festival was that there

«East or West Home is Best.» As for me I always remember this proverb when I have to live my native city Khabarovsk. To tell the truth, I usually miss Khabarovsk greatly when I’m far from it because I love it with all my heart. As you see, I consider Khabarovsk to be my native city, though I live in

Moscow has about 75 institutes of higher education. Two of them are universities — Moscow State University and the Russian University of People’s Friendship. The others are specialised institutes that train students in specific fields, such as engineering or medicine. Moscow State University ranks as the largest university in Russia. Established in 1755, it has over 28,000 students. The Russian

I am sure, in order to have a good job one should know foreign languages. The most widespread languages in the world are Chinese, Spanish, English and some others. But every well-educated person in the world speaks English, because it is the language of communication, business, science and culture. English is now the most important and widespread language in the

Critics claim that the golden age of television occurred in the 1950’s. Various fads have swept the television scene — e. g. westerns, doctor and lawyer shows, cops-and-robbers series, rural comedies. Sports coverage of baseball, golf and especially professional football is currently in vogue. Late evening talk shows are currently popular. Recently controversies involving television have concerned children’s programming, the

I was born on the 3rd of June 1991 in Moscow. Like many other children when I was a child I went to a kindergarten. At the age of 7 I went to school. I was very proud when I became a pupil. But very soon I realized that I had to work hard if I wanted my parents to

Since the early days people have been inventing new things to make the life easier. Inventions have changed the world immensely. A lot of people travel by planes. But it would be impossible without the Wright brothers who made the first flight in 1903. The Englishman Alexander Graham Bell patented his invention of the telephone in 1876. Very soon in

The Dutch were the first Europeans to settle Manhattan. To protect themselves from attacs, they built a sturdy wooden wall. Although it`s now long gone, this wall gave it`s name to a street in Lower Manhattan and the street, in turn, became synonymous with American capitalism. The street, of course, is Wall Street. The New York Stock Exchange and the

April 12, 1961 will never be forgotten. On that day Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin was launched into space. He circled the globe in the spaceship «Vostok» for 108 minutes. Gagarin was taking an enormous risk, because at that time nobody knew how a human being would stand up to space flight. Before Yuri Gagarin was launched into outer space he met