EX.2. read and translate the texts about working dayof different persons and define the social status of the speakers. М AKE THE PLAN.

 

 

Lis а: In our life we have weekends and holidays. Of course, it’s more pleasant to speak about holidays than about workdays. But these workdays make up an essential part of life.

At 7.30 the alarm-clock wakes me up and my working day begins. Actually I’m not fond of getting up early, but I’m already used to it. I do my bed and go to the bathroom. There I brush my teeth and take a shower. At 8 o’clock I’m ready to have breakfast. Usually I have no time to cook my breakfast, so I just have a cup of tea and maybe a bowl of cereal.

I leave home at 8.20. My school is not far from house and it usually takes me 5 minutes to get there. My classes begin at 8.30 a.m. and finish at 3 p.m. At 11.20 I usually go to our school canteen and buy something to eat.

When my classes are finished I return home. Then I cook my dinner or warm it up. After hard work at school I feel like having a rest. After dinner I usually go out with my friends or go in for sports. Besides I have additional private lessons of drawing. Twice a week I go to the School of the Arts in order to pursue my dream to become a painter. Then I do my homework for the next school day. It takes me about 3 hours.

If I have 2 or 3 hours before going to sleep I watch TV, listen to the music, chat with some friends or help my mother to cook supper. When the supper is ready we gather in the dining room, eat and share the day news. After supper I sometimes play chess with my father and at about 11 o’clock I have a bath and go to bed.

 

 

Misha: I usually start my day with getting up and doing all things that everybody does in the morning: washing, having breakfast, etc. Also, I got used to gather my learning tools: pencils, exercise-books, text-books in the morning. Then I usually go to the university. Fortunately, father takes a car every morning and he often picks me up and drives me to the doors of our university building. And soon the lectures and lessons begin... We have from 2 to 4 lectures every time, depending on day. I like studying in the university more than in the school because in university it is mostly allowed to miss some lectures (of course, later you should take a summary from your mate and copy it). So, a student is much more free, than pupil is.

 After the lessons I usually return home where I have dinner and start thinking about my ways of spending the rest of the day. Very often I go to my friend’s places. During the early autumn and summer I often go to the sports ground or on the beach. I also like visiting different sports events, for example, soccer matches of «Luch» in Russian championship. So, the world is full of enjoyable things to do.

On returning home I usually start doing my homework (perhaps, it is the most dull part of the day). Having finished it, I open a book and read it or watch TV. At last, I go to the bed.  Of course, I would like to tell you more about myself and my working day, but, unfortunately, my time is rather limited and I have got a lot of homework to do. Generally, now you know about my working day enough.

 

 

alex: I am going to tell you about my working day. First of all let me introduce myself, I`m Leonid. I`m a pupil of 6th form. I study at school number 4 in Apatity.

 

Morning… I get up at seven o`clock. An hour in the morning is worth two in the evening. I glad to see my family at the kitchen. My parents love me and always suppose me. My house is my castle. We sit at the table and have our breakfast together. My family is the best. I love it. Every bird likes its own nest. My family likes different proverbs, and we use them in our everyday live. Sometimes we have some little problems in my family, but nobody knows about it. Don`t wash your dirty linen in public.

As usual we eat porridge and fruits. Most of all I prefer apples. Mum always says "An apple a day keeps the doctor away". After my breakfast I go to school. It is big and nice. I`m good at many subjects. I think "Knowledge is power`. Usually I have 5-6 lessons. Each lesson lasts 45 minutes. Of cause we have breaks between the lessons. But you know - business before pleasure. My favorite subject is Literature. I am fond of reading. Reading makes a full man. Also I am keen on sports. After my lessons I go to school gym. Richard Steele said "Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body".

Evening... As a good student I do my homework. At exactly 8 o`clock we have supper. And the same time my fathercomes back home. Punctuality is the politeness of kings. At the family table we eat and speak about our last day. I like such hours. East or West, home is best.

At 10 o`clock I go to bed. Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.

I hope you like my story, maybe it`s not interesting, but it is real day of my life.

 

Roman: On weekdays the alarm-clock wakes me up at 6.30 and my working day begins. I'm not an early riser, that's why it's very difficult for me to get out of bed, especially in winter. I switch on my tape-recorder and do my morning exercises. Then I go to the bathroom, take a warm shower, clean my teeth and shave. After that I go to my bedroom to get dressed.

Usually my mother makes breakfast for me. But when she is away on business or just doesn't have to get up early, I make breakfast myself. While having breakfast, I listen to the latest news on the radio.

I leave the house at 7.30 and go to the nearest underground station. Last year I tried to enter Moscow University, but unfortunately I failed my entrance examinations. So I thought I should work somewhere. It wasn't easy to find a job, but I managed to get a position of a secretary in a small business company.

They agreed to take me because I had studied typewriting, computing and business organisation at school. And besides, I passed my English schoolleaving exam with an excellent mark.

It takes me an hour and a half to get to work. But I don't want to waste my time on the train. I've got a small cassette-player and I listen to different texts and dialogues. Sometimes I read a book and retell it silently. If I come across an interesting expression I try to memorise it. I also write some English words on flashcards and learn them.

I usually arrive at work at ten minutes to nine though my working day begins at 9 sharp. There are always some fax messages to translate from English into Russian. Sometimes my boss wants me to write a letter to our business partners abroad. There are also a lot of phone calls which I have to answer.

At 1 o'clock in the afternoon we have lunch. We usually have lunch in a small cafe just round the corner. At 2 o'clock we come back to work. And we work hard till 5 o'clock. During the working day we also have several short coffee breaks. But sometimes we have no time for them.

I come home at about 7 o'clock in the evening. My parents are usually at home, waiting for me. We have dinner together. Then we sit in the living room, drink tea, watch TV or just talk. Occasionally I have to stay at work till 6 or even 7 o'clock in the evening. When we have a lot of things to do we go to work on Saturdays. So by the end of the week I get very tired. All I can do on Sundays is to sleep till eleven o'clock, watch television, listen to music and read something in English.

And still I always look forward to my next working day because I like my job. I think I get a lot of useful experience.

 

 

Polina: On week days I usually get up nearly six o'clock. I do not like to get up early, but I have to, because I have a lot of work to do during the day.

 

I make my bed, wash my face, put my clothes on and go to the kitchen to have breakfast. My mother usually prepares, breakfast for me, but sometimes I do it myself. If I prepare my breakfast for my own, I should have to get up earlier. I do not like big breakfasts; I prefer a cup of coffee and a sandwich.

 

Then I go to school. It is rather far from my house and I go there by bus. I have classes till two or three o'clock, it depends on a week day. Then I come home and have dinner. I like a big dinner, because when I come home from school I am hungry.

 

After my dinner, I have a rest for a couple of hours and then I do my homework. If I have some spare time I do some work about the house. I sweep the floor, dust the furniture and clean the carpets with the vacuum-cleaner. Sometimes my mother asks me to go shopping.

 

Then I have free time. I go for a walk with my friends or watch TV, or read books or play my favourite computer games. Then I have supper with my family. I like evenings very much, all members of our family get together after work and study and have the opportunity to talk and to discuss our family affairs.

I usually go to bed at about ten o'clock, sometimes at eleven o'clock.

 

UNIT 14

ТЕМА 14: ДОСУГ.

АННОТАЦИЯ ТЕКСТА.

My hobby is painting and drawing. I have finished art school and now I paint and draw in my free time. I depict things that have impressed me deeply: beautiful flowers, poetic landscapes, ancient ruins. I like to paint portraits as well. It is very important to catch a person in a moment of action, feeling, perception and record that moment with unerring strokes. Only geniuses are blessed with this gift. Sometimes I create decorative compositions, large in scale and bright in colour. I paint on canvas and draw on paper. I work in oil and watercolour, pencil and pastel. For me painting is a means to understand the beauty and harmony of the surrounding world, a way to express my own emotions, feelings and perception of life. It is important for me to study the artistic heritage of great painters. That is why I like to visit museums and art galleries. My favourite painters are Vincent Van Gogh and Victor Borisov - Musatov. Painting is not the only hobby of mine. I read a lot of books. One of my favourite writers is R.R. Tolkien. In my free time I like to listen to music. Classical music is my favourite one. Mark

 

 

HOW THE BRITISH RELAX

As British people say, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. Like everybody else, British people like doing things outside work.

Gardening is a well-known favourite. As the weather in Britain is relatively mild, British people manage to do gardening almost all the year round. Sometimes this can be just doing a bit of weeding and sometimes, serious vegetable and fruit growing. In fact, regardless of the size of the garden, the British can always find plenty to do in it. Mowing grass is also very important. Every Sunday morning they come out to mow their lawns. To outsiders, it almost seems like an obsession but to a British person it is an important social duty. The British see an unmown lawn not only as a sign of laziness, but also as disrespect to others (and you can get fined for it as well).

Walking is also very popular. Ask any British person if they have a pair of walking boots and the answer will probably be yes. Except for dry summer days, the beautiful British countryside is pretty muddy, so you need a good pair of walking boots or “wellies” to enjoy your walk. Walking as leisure activity has a long tradition in England. You can buy a variety of maps and guides to walking routes. Organised walking is also popular and is a good way to discover local sights of interest with a group of like-minded people and a good guide.

Cycling is another popular activity. Unfortunately, many British roads are busy and don’t have cycling paths, so cycling can be a bit dangerous in Britain. Many people find quiet country roads and spend their whole holidays exploring their homeland on their bikes.

More extreme sports like rock climbing also attract people. And, of course, the famous British eccentricity is the cause of unusual sports like extreme ironing. Extreme ironing is a serious sport where teams of people compete at who can do their ironing in more extreme conditions. Extreme ironing is now an international sport with serious competitions and organized events.

Of course, not all British people keep fit by engaging in extreme sports. Many go to the gym, swimming pool or fitness classes. However, it has to be said that the British are not the sportiest nation in the world. Increasingly, British people spend their free time watching TV. Sad, but true. The only comforting thing is that they are not on their own – most of the world seems to be doing the same!

As far as actually going away on holiday, many British people choose to spend their holidays abroad, preferably somewhere warm and dry. Spain, France and Greece are regular destinations due to convenient location and kind climate. City breaks are also a good idea for changing the scenery and enjoying new places without too much trouble.

UNIT 15