2. Are you on good terms with your parents and grandparents?

I am on good terms with my parents. I have an excellent father, very involved and protective towards us and we love him dearly. And my mother always tries to help me as much as she can. My grandparents live rather far away but they are frequent guests in our house. They love me dearly, always bring me presents and give valuable advice when I need it. And when I visit them, I help them with their work about the house and on the vegetable plot. My family is very united and I am happy to have such a good family.

3. What will you ask a British teenager about his relatives?

4. What can you advise people who want to have a good relationship with their parents and grandparents?

Love, understanding and respect must always be present in the family to make it happy. A lot of activities help family members to be on friendly terms and to form a good relationship: discussing plans together, going on trips together, visiting museums, theatres, watching films and exchanging opinions about them, sharing the same joys and sorrows.

5. They say that parents and children have difficulties understanding each other because of the generation gap. What do you think about this problem?

Fortunately, my views on life and my parents’ opinions have seldom been in conflict so far, there are no deep unsolvable contradictions between us, and I don’t often feel the so-called generation gap, though, in my opinion, it is inevitable in most families. You see there is a period of 20 or 30 years between parents and their children, and life changes a lot during this period. Very many things around us change: manners, codes of behavior, fashions, movies, music, tastes and so on and so forth. And some parents can’t understand their children’s world, which is so unlike theirs. They often nag (ворчат), “I didn’t use to do this or that at your age.” And the children often think, “Of course, Mum, how could you spend hours in the Internet or play computer games 30 years ago?”

Every new generation is different from the one that preceded it. And naturally their views and opinions don’t always coincide. But I think that if the members of the family are great friends, they will try to achieve a mutual understanding.

4. Let’s talk about friendship and relationship with friends.

1. Let’s talk about friendship. What role do friends play in your life?

Frankly speaking I can’t say that I have a lot of friends. You see, I’m rather choosy. I think that a friend to all is a friend to none and that friends should be few but good. I consider friendship to be the most precious gift in life. When we have friends, we are never lonely.

My best friend is Mary (Alec). We are nearly the same age. Actually she (he) is only 2 months older than me. We have a lot in common: we share the same interests and attitude to life. Our opinions usually coincide, and even if they differ, we never quarrel, there is a mutual understanding between us. Whenever I’m in trouble she (he) is always willing to lend me a helping hand.

I like my friend’s appearance. Mary is really charming. She has green eyes, long eyelashes and straight blond hair. She is quite tall, a bit taller than I am. We get on well and we can always rely on each other. Mary is easy to deal with and she is very sociable. (Alec is rather handsome. He’s got light grey eyes and straight dark hair. He is quite tall, a bit taller than I am. We get on well and we can always rely on each other. Alex is easy to deal with and he is very sociable.)

Mary (Alec) is a good mixer and it is easy to get along with her (him). She (He) is a little bit disorganized but I don’t think it is really a fault. I like my friend very much and I hope that we shall always be devoted friends.

2. Can you rely on your best friend? Why (not)?

I have a few friends who I can absolutely rely on and with whom I can share my top secrets. My best friend Mary (Alec) is certainly among them. She (He) has never let me down.

3) What questions do you usually ask when you want to get acquainted with someone?

4) What can you advise a teenager who has no friends?

I can advise him to be more sociable. He may join some clubs and make friends with young people who have the same interests. For example, we have a very good tourist club at our lyceum and students enjoy going on trips. After the trips they enjoy singing tourist songs and chattering about their impressions there. I can advise him to join this club. He will certainly make a lot of friends there.

5)Nowadays people prefer to have more money than many friends. What do you think about it?

There are wise words “Money can buy you a bed but not sleep. Money can buy you medicine but not health. Money can buy you a house but not home. Money can buy you company but not friends.” So there are things more important than money. In my opinion, friendship is certainly more precious than money.

5.Let’s talk about education.

1. Let’s talk about education. What can you tell me about your school?

No doubt school occupies a very special place in the life of every person. At school we do not only learn different subjects, we are also taught what is right and what is wrong, we make our first friends and life-long friendship.

I study at Mogilev Regional Lyceum # 1. In my opinion it is the best place to receive a proper education. When you enter the lyceum, you won’t see frowned or indifferent faces. There are only cheerful people. What impressed me most on my first days at the lyceum was the fact that all the teachers addressed us ‘you’, not ‘thee’ as in the former school.

The lyceum occupies a large three-storeyed building, which is very beautiful and full of historic associations. Originally it was an educational institution for the daughters of clergymen. For some years there was a teachers’ training college in this building and then for many years there was a boarding-school here. And we shudder at the thought that during the war there was the so-called “Gestapo” here, and a lot of people were tortured and even killed in the cellar of the building.

Since 1990 the building has been occupied by Mogilev Regional Lyceum #1.

The architecture of the building is impressive. The classrooms and studies look very spacious due to their high ceilings. The studies are equipped with the latest teaching aids. For instance, our English study has a tape-recorder, a record-player, a juke-box, and a video. What is more, we use them all at our lessons.

There are a lot of clubs at the lyceum. It’s a shame I’m too pressed for time and can’t take part in all the clubs I like. One of the best and cosiest places for relaxing is the tourist club. It is so enjoyable to sing tourist songs and to chatter about our trips there.

I study in the class majoring in English. No wonder my favourite subject is English. We have English nearly every day. At our English lessons we do a lot of reading, writing and speaking. Much attention is paid to grammar and listening comprehension. I want to make good progress in English, that’s why I try to work hard. I think that studying at the lyceum I have every opportunity to master the language, so I’m happy that I study here.