CARD 6 WE ARE PROUD OF OUR MOTHERLAND – RUSSIA
The official name of my native country is the Russian Federation. It is the biggest country in the world. Its great history and unique culture are treasured by all Russian people. I am not an exception. I love my country. I am proud of Russian people and their achievements. I hope my generation will do everything for the benefit of our country.
Russia is famous for its size which is hard to imagine. The flight from Moscow to Magadan takes eight hours. Russia is situated in Europe and Asia. Its total area is over 17 million square kilometers. It borders many countries like Finland, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China. It has a sea border with the USA.
Russia is the country of mighty rivers like Lena, Amur, Yenisei. The largest river in Europe is the Volga. Baikal is the deepest lake. The country is located on two plains: the Great Russian Plain and the Western Siberian Plain. Russia is a country of high mountains. The Caucasus stretches from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea; its highest mountain is Mount Elbrus. The Urals extend from the Arctic Ocean to the steppes. They divide the European and Asian parts of Russia.
Climate has influenced the character and lifestyle of Russian people greatly. It is cold in the North even in summer. The central part has mild climate, in the South it is warm all year round. The climate of Siberia is continental: summers are hot and dry, winters are very cold.
Russia is very rich in mineral resources such as oil, natural gas, gold and others.
The population of Russia is about 150 million people.
The Russian Federation is a presidential republic. The President is the head of state and is elected directly by people. The president guarantees the basic rights of the people and is involved in the work of the legislative and executive branches. The Federal Assembly represents the legislative branch of power. It consists of two houses: the Federation Council and the Duma which make laws. All people can elect their representatives to the Federal Assembly. So, our country is democratic.
I am proud of my country and I don’t want to live anywhere else. I was born in Moscow. Moscow is the capital of our country. It was founded in 1147. It’s a wonderful city. There are many sights here. You can visit a lot of museums, art galleries, theatres, churches, cathedrals and monuments in our capital.
The Moscow Kremlin is the best-known sight visited by millions of tourists every year.
Foreigners say it isn’t easy to understand the Russians. There are a lot of stereotypes about Russian people which are true in many cases. I agree that Russians think and act big, because we are impressed with the size of our country. We build such colossal things as the Cathedral of Jesus Christ the Savior or the Mother Russia Monument in Volgograd. We don’t save water and often waste electricity, because our country is rich in resources.
Anyway, our cruel climate and harsh history made us value stability and overcome hardships.
I like Russian people because they are hospitable. We often gather around the table on holidays or when guests come. When I visit some other countries, I often try to compare them with my homeland. I think there is no place like home.
Dialogue
-What are the advantages of doing sports?
-I think that amateur (любительский) sport has more advantages than disadvantages. Doing sport helps people to stay fit, healthy and makes them more organized and better disciplined in their daily activities.
-Do you have any friends who are in for sports?
-Yes, I do. I know some people who are fond of sports and do sports regularly. They have well-trained muscles, so they are attractive. I mean, they are pleasant to look at.
-Are there any disadvantages?
-Of course, doing sports takes a lot of time. You have to exercise every day but it’s hard if you have to study. Oh and nobody wants to lose. Some people may be jealous if their rival wins. But professional sport has much more disadvantages.
-What are they?
-You see, the main point of taking part in sports professionally is money. On the one hand, it’s a great motivation for athletes to improve their results. On the other hand, commercialization has often negative influence, for example, some matches are a real cheating of fans.
-Would you like to do a professional sport and get a lot of money?
-No, I wouldn’t. When sport career is over, sportsmen may notice that they are lonely and jobless. Their bodies have been worn out by too much stress, joints (суставы) and muscles get deformed.
-Do you agree that some sports are not good for health?
-You are absolutely right. Sportsmen suffer from physical injuries which they get doing figure skating, wrestling, gymnastics, bobsledding, skiing. Some sportsmen try to get better results using steroids. All these things ruin their health.
CARD 7 HOLIDAYS IN ENGLISH-SPEAKING COUNTRIES
British and American people love holidays. Any holiday is celebrated with lots of food and presents.
On state holidays there are parades, fireworks and official ceremonies. For example on Veteran’s Day Americans remember the veterans. The President puts flowers on the Tomb of the unknown Soldiers in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
One of the best-loved holidays in both countries is Christmas. It is celebrated on the 25th of December. Santa Claus visits children and puts presents into their stockings. It’s a nice tradition.
I would like to tell you about St. Valentine’s Day because I like the tradition of celebrating this holiday.
On February 14 each year millions of cards, flowers, candy and tokens of love (знаки любви) are exchanged between sweethearts, all in the name of St. Valentine. Chocolates and jewelry are the big hits of this holiday as well as romantic dinners.
But who is this mysterious saint and why do people celebrate this holiday? Much of St. Valentine's story is a mystery, clouded by centuries of myths and legends. As a matter of fact, February has long been a month of romance.
The first interpretation has this celebration originating as a pagan (языческая) tradition in the third century. During this time hordes of hungry wolves roamed outside of Rome where shepherds kept their flocks. The God Lupercus, was said to watch over the shepherds (пастухи) and their flocks (стада) and keep them from the wolves. Every February the Romans celebrated a feast called Lupercalia to honor Lupercus so that no harm would come to the shepherds and their flocks.
St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, keeps both ancient Roman and Christian tradition. One of the earliest popular symbols of the day is Cupid, the Roman god of love, who is represented by the image of a young boy with bow and arrow. Cupid became associated with it because he was the son of Venus, the Roman god of love and beauty.
The most popular legend tells that St. Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men -- his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. Another version had St. Valentine jailed for helping Christians. He comforted, encouraged, and even rescued victims of religious persecution (преследование). While Valentine was in prison he cured a jailer's daughter of blindness. Claudius became enraged and had Valentine clubbed (забили насмерть дубинками) and beheaded (обезглавлен) on February 14, 269 A.D.
The most romantic story claims that Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, he fell in love with a young girl -- who may have been his jailor's daughter. Valentine poured out his heart on paper, writing the most beautiful love letters to her. When the date was set for his execution, he penned the last words to his sweetheart, which he signed: "From Your Valentine" an expression that is still in use today.
The truth behind the Valentine legends is not obvious but the stories certainly describe him as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure. In 496 Pope Gelasius declared the day in honor of St. Valentine. Through the centuries the February 14 remained a time to exchange love messages and gifts although the holiday was removed from the Church's calendar in 1969.
Dialogue
-Why do people learn foreign language?
- I think our world is becoming a global village. It is necessary to learn foreign languages to communicate with people of different nationalities.
-Why do people choose to learn English?
-About 400 million people speak English. Since many people speak English as their native language in such highly developed countries as the USA, Great Britain and Canada, people in other countries study English to communicate with English-speakers. English is also the language of international communication. Many people whose languages are different, can understand each other if they speak English.
English is now the language used in computers. About half of the mail and scientific books are in English. English is the language of many international organizations like the United Nations. I think these are the main reasons why people in Russia study English.
In my opinion, there is one more reason. We study English because it is taught at schools, colleges and Universities all over the world. It is impossible to work well now if you don’t know English. If someone is going to apply for a good job, the knowledge of English will be required.
-Why are you going to study English after finishing school?
-As for me, I study English because I am going to use it as a language of international communication – lingua franca. Doing my studies or working for a company I will communicate with foreign students and colleagues in English. In my free time I will talk with people in chat rooms in English. I may even read books and watch video in English. Moreover, I like to sing English songs!
CARD 8 MY FAVORITE TV PROGRAMS
Television offers us a lot of possibilities. Firstly, we get informed because we can watch news programs and weather forecast.
Anyway, I appreciate television not only for giving information, but also for entertaining us. There are various TV programs: talk shows, game shows, profiles, crime, sport, news, children’s programs, and, of course, television series.
As for me, my favourite TV program is KVN. KVN is an abbreviation of Russian: Клуб Весёлых и Находчивых. "Club of the Merry and Inventive" people is a Russian humor TV show where teams (usually teams of students) compete by giving funny answers to questions, improvisations, prepared sketches. The program has been aired by Channel One since November 8th 1961. Eleven years later, in 1972, when a few programs were being broadcast live, Soviet censors found the students' impromptu jokes offensively anti-Soviet and banned the KVN for fourteen years. The show was revived during the Perestroika era, in 1986, with Alexander Maslyakov as its host. It is one of the longest-running programs on Russian TV.
The game of KVN is a turn-based task-based team competition in front of live audience judged by panel of judges. Typically, each team is asked to complete 4-5 assignments such as:
Greeting (Privetstviye) - witty introduction of the team, humorous greeting to the jury and spectators.
Warm-up (Razminka) - rapid exchange of funny questions and improvised answers, sometimes played against the audience, jury and/or the host.
Musical Competition (Muzykal'nyy Konkurs or Muzykalka) - a competition in which the competing teams show musicals sketches and numbers involving singing, playing musical instruments and dancing.
STEM - "students variety miniature" (Studencheskiye Estradnyye Miniatyury, Russian: Студенческие Эстрадные Миниатюры) a contest in which only three performers from a team are allowed be on stage simultaneously.
Captains contest (Kapitanskiy Konkurs) - individual competition between the team captains.
Homework - comedy theater sketches on a given topic.
BRIZ - named after the Bureau of Rationalization and Invention. In this contest the teams need to present something such as an invention, a brief historical survey, movies, photo-albums or any type of new idea. It is also called a literature contest because it mainly consists of textual jokes.
News Contest (Konkurs Novostey) - similar to the BRIZ, but focuses on strange and funny "news".
Biathlon (Biatlon) - a contest in which a representative of each team "shoots" two or more jokes at the audience. The jury decides who leaves the "shooting range" until only two contestants remain and the jury picks one winner who gets 1 point.
Freestyle - a more modern and free version of the Greeting in which the teams have no restrictions of genre.
Cinema Contest (Kino-Konkurs) - a contest which involves making a movie, making a clip to a song, making a clip consisting of different video and audio pieces or dubbing a well-known movie.
A panel of judges, usually comprised of well-known celebrities, actors and writers, evaluates performances on wit, humor, production values and spectators reaction and declares a winner by awarding points to the teams. In the Premier-League the jury consists only of famous KVN players.
Groups of KVN teams are organized into several Leagues, where they compete annually for the League Champion title. KVN is so popular that there are literally hundreds of Leagues around the globe. Games of 2 Leagues are regularly broadcast on Russian Channel One: the Major League and the Premier-League, other Leagues are broadcast on local channels. Winner of the Major League (Vysshaya Liga Russian: Высшая Лига) is declared the Champion of the Club.
For more than 20 years TV broadcasts of KVN games receive the highest ratings in Russia. The popularity of the game is so high that even politicians use it as an opportunity to gain extra points, both Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin attended games played before the elections.
My favourite teams are RUDN, Prima and Obychnye Lyudi. I find them extremely witty and creative. Their theatre sketches are great!
In my opinion, KVN is better than Comedy Club. KVN is originally our Russian program. Although, Comedy Club is rather popular with young people today, it is just an American-style stand-up comedy club. Its traditions were not originated in our country; therefore it’s not so close to Russian people. To say nothing about some dirty jokes.
Dialogue
-What is healthy way of life?
-I think it means being active. Health is the man’s greatest wealth. Nowadays people are getting more and more concerned about the food they eat, about the air they breathe, and the way they look and feel. They understand that staying active as you get older gives you more energy and helps to avoid diseases.
-How can we stay active?
-Some of my friends are nuts on aerobics, shaping and bodybuilding. We can also do cycling, walking, swimming, and even dancing to keep our body flexible, make our heart and lungs stronger. We shouldn’t smoke or drink alcohol, keep to a healthy diet, avoid junk food.
-What is a healthy diet?
-Healthy diet is based on well-balanced food. Well-balanced food includes 7 important components: proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, water, and fiber. We should eat more fruit and vegetables; stop eating chocolate, paste, cakes and sweets in big quantities.
CARD 9 FUTURE PROFESSION
When you are leaving school you understand that the time to choose your future profession has come. It’s not easy to make the right choice of a job. I have known for a long time that leaving school is the beginning of my independent life, the beginning of far more serious examination of my abilities and character.
I have asked myself a lot of times, ‘What do I want to be when I leave school?’ A few years ago it was difficult for me to give a definite answer. As the years passed I changed my mind a lot of times about which career to pursue. It was difficult to make up my mind and choose one of the hundreds jobs to which I might be better suited. Once I wanted to visit a specialist, a career adviser, and ask him what my future profession might be. My friend said I should visit a fortune-teller. But finally I talked to my parents and made up my mind to go to the State Management University. Our decision is based on the fact that I am good at maths, English and economics. So, my future profession might be a manager.
What do I know about this profession? A manager has to adjust some initial plan and control the actions taken to reach the intended goal. From this perspective, there are five management functions: Planning, Organizing, Leading, Co-ordinating and Controlling. Management is also called "Business Administration", and schools that teach management are usually called "Business Schools". Management also has a responsibility to innovate and improve the functioning of the organization.
A manager is usually hired by a president or an owner of a firm. Any owner of a firm needs a manager called Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who is ultimately responsible for the success or failure of the business. He or she provides overall strategic direction for the firm, often with the assistance of a team of vice presidents. Strategic management decisions like what products to market, what market segments to target, what functions to outsource, what business model to employ, and what geographical areas to operate in are the responsibility of the CEO. The CEO is accountable to the board of directors.
It’s very difficult to be a good manager. I must be well-educated and well-informed. I must know English very well and study Business Correspondence, Finance, Team Work, and Marketing.
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My decision to become a teacher of English is based on the fact that I am good at languages and literature. I am rather patient with little children and have an ability to explain things clearly. I hope at my University I will get more skills, study languages further and get some teaching practice.
What do I know about my future profession? Teachers need the ability to understand a subject well enough to convey its essence to a new generation of students. The goal is to establish a proper knowledge base on which students will build their life experiences. The passing of knowledge from generation to generation allows students to grow into useful members of society. Good teachers are able to translate information, experience, and wisdom into a significant knowledge of a subject. I hope I will use all the necessary methods of teaching and become a good teacher.
My future profession is very important because progress in every practical field depends on how people were educated.
Unfortunately, as a profession teaching has very high levels of Work-Related Stress which are listed as amongst the highest of any profession.
Dialogue
-What are the most popular TV programs for teenagers: news reports, music, series or feature films?
-I think that most teenagers are too light-minded to watch news reports regularly. They would rather switch to another channel and watch MTV, Sport or a soap opera on STS. The most popular TV programs are …
-What about feature films?
-Teenagers all over the world are nuts about ‘Star Wars’ which is one of the most popular, profitable, entertaining, and successful science fiction/action - adventure/fantasy films of all time. It has advanced special-effects technology to a degree unseen before. It brought the phrase "May the Force be with you" into common usage. This film is a mythological tale of space-age heroism (fighting Evil for the sake of Good). It features memorable characters - a benevolent ex-Jedi Knight, an imprisoned Princess of the peace-loving Rebel Alliance, two comical robotic droids, a space-pilot (Harrison Ford), a beastly creature named Chewbacca, and an idealistic young boy who becomes trained in the righteous ways of the Force in order to rescue the captured Princess from the evil Empire's Death Star and the dark forces of the Empire, led by evil Darth Vader. All things combined have brought this film a great success.
CARD 10 RUSSIA’S ACHIEVEMENTS IN ARTS
Russia’s achievements in arts are great. When we speak about Russian culture, we must speak about opera and ballet, music, fine arts, and literature.
Russian opera is well-known. Such masterpieces as ‘Ivan Sousanin’ and ‘Ruslan and Lyudmila’ by Glinka are in the collection of the best operas of the world. Every year thousands of Russian citizens and tourists enjoy ‘Eugene Onegin’ and ‘The Queen of Spades’ by Tchaikovsky.
Russian composers Tchaikovski, Musorgsky, Rakhmaninov and others have created beautiful music. Russian modern composers follow their tradition.
Russian school of painting started long ago, beginning with icon-painting. Well-known icon-painters Pheophan Greek and Andrey Rublyov created masterpieces which attract tourists from all over the world. Russian painters express the Russian soul and the beauty of Russian nature in their pictures. Landscapes of Levitan and Shishkin, historical canvases of Surikov and Repin, mythological pictures of Vrubel and Vasnetsov charm the visitors of the museums.
Russian literature is known as an example of good style. Since the first printing house of Ivan Fyodorov started to work, the Russian people have never stopped to read. Our writers Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov, and Fyodor Dostoevsky – are studied at all schools. Verses of Russian poets, such as Pushkin, Lermontov, Krylov, Yesenin, Mayakovsky, are translated into many languages. Mikhail Sholokhov, Boris Pasternak, and Joseph Brodsky were awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
In my opinion, Russian ballet is Russia’s great treasure. The Russian school of ballet is known for its well-trained and beautiful dancers, such as Anna Pavlova, Maya Plisetskaya, Ilse Liepa, Vladimir Vasiliev, and Rudolf Nuriev. They do very difficult elements and have their own unique style of dance. We are proud of our great ballets like ‘The Nutcracker’ and ‘Swan Lake’ by Tchaikovsky, ‘Spartak’ by Khachaturyan.
I admire the star of the St. Petersburg Maryinsky Ballet, Uljana Lopatkina. Maryinsky Ballet is one of the two major ballet companies of Russia. The other one is the Bolshoi Ballet company. Maryinsky Ballet is regarded as the best European ballet company which has strict classical traditions of elegance and beauty. The company was originally the Imperial Russian Ballet. In 1889 it moved into the Maryinsky Theatre. Under the direction of Marius Petipa the company premiered the Tchaikovsky ballets Sleeping Beauty (1890) and Swan Lake (1895). The company went into decline after the Russian Revolution in 1917, but the great teacher and ballet mistress Agrippina Vaganova (1879–1951) helped preserve its traditions by training the company's principal dancers. Her work became the foundation of ballet instruction in the Soviet Union. In 1935 the company was renamed the Kirov Ballet. During the cold war, the company experienced difficulties as many of its dancers, including Nureyev, Makarova, and Baryshnikov, defected to the West. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the company has produced, along with its traditional repertoire, ballets by Balanchine and other modern choreographers. Valery Gergiev now holds the post of the artistic director of the Maryinsky Theatre.
Dialogue Сократите диалог по своему усмотрению, выбрав несколько изданий.
- What newspapers and magazines are popular with teenagers nowadays?
- I think teenagers don’t read magazines a lot. But there are periodical publications which are rather popular. Most girls are keen on fashion and romance so they read magazines for girls such as ‘Elle Girl’. “Rovesnik” is teen’s magazine about all styles in music, the most interesting events in youth culture and celebrities’ lives, fashion and sport news, love for adventures and just love. Boys prefer magazines for gamers. Here are some of magazines which tell about the world of computers. ‘Game.exe’ provides useful information about new and well known games for all ages. It gives all the details of the favorite games, software and video cards. ‘Domashnij Komputer’ is a magazine for the modern family. Presents such computer novelties as new software, PC games, CDs, notebooks, informational resources and Internet search engines.’ Mir PK’ (personal computer), a magazine for all computer users, contains reviews of current software and hardware, new information technologies, results of testing of new products on the Russian and world markets.‘Haker’ is just the right magazine for hackers. In each issue: Hi Tech News, HardNews, Ferrum, Inside, PC-Zone, Hack, Hack-FAQ, Unix, Coding, Joystick, Units. Stereo&Video is a professional guide in the world of audio and video technology. Tests, novelties, market guide. ‘Fuzz’ is the most popular magazine about Russian and worldwide music society. The hottest news and objective reviews and critiques.
- What magazines for kids do you know? Did you use to read any when you were a child?
- In Russia there are some children’s magazines that keep old traditions and remain popular. For example ‘Murzilka’, a monthly magazine for 6 to 12-year-old children. Murzilka, the main character of every issue, talks to children offering them exciting games and contests, giving them endless surprises, tells fairy-tales, adventure and detective stories, legends and myths, poems, pictures and comics. The magazine offers a variety of competitions and quizzes. ‘Veselye Kartinki’ is one of the most popular Russian humor magazines for children from 3 to 7. It organizes leisure for the whole family: table games, cartoons, puzzles, word games, reading.
- What magazines can help you prepare for some school subjects?
- ‘Vokrug Sveta’ contains stories about travel, adventure, geography, unknown lands and civilizations, secrets of nature and history. ‘Nauka i Zhizn’ is a popular science monthly with a broad spectrum of topics for family reading and self-education. It was established in 1890. ‘Tekhnika – Molodezhi’ is a monthly for people who are interested in: exciting developments in science and technology, adventures, inventions, fantastic projects and hypothesis, enigmas of lost civilizations, mysterious cases, and phenomena. ‘Yuniy Naturalist’ is a unique, popular-science, well illustrated, the oldest monthly magazine about nature for children and youth. It is reliable for everyone who is interested in ecology and biology.
- What are the magazines for those who like literature?
- ‘Novyi Mir’, one of the oldest Russian literary magazines, offers articles on history, philosophy, history of culture, popular, archival, and critical materials, memoirs, diaries, and book reviews. The monthly literary magazine ‘Inostrannaia Literatura’ introduces the best foreign literature in various genres in Russian translation.
- What magazines do people read if they want to relax?
- If people like scanwords, they read scanword magazines like ‘Razgadai’ and ‘Otdokhni’. ‘Karavan Istorii’ is a collection of the most intriguing stories about famous people, traditions, and events in Russia and abroad. ‘Fashion Collection’ is a well known magazine from Russia offers the latest news from the Fashion capitals of the world - Paris, Milan, New-York and London, the direct reports about the fashion and culture events, the interviews of the most important designers and people of fashion; the best clothes, shoes, accessories, jewelry and other goods for the luxury and beautiful life of its readers. ‘Cosmopolitan’ is one of the most popular women’s magazines in the world..
- In what newspapers and magazines can you find some serious information and comments?
- “Sovershenno sekretno” was established in 1989 by Yulian Semenov and Artem Borovik. It is famous for its unique materials from restricted sources, dangerous journalistic investigations, courageous versions and exciting detective stories. “Zdorov`e” is about health and what it depends on. It shares with you the secrets of good sleep and food, of taking care of sick people, of news in alternative and classical medicine, of handling psychological problems and stress.
_________________ The pupil who is never required to do what he cannot do, never does what he can do.
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