Speaking Comprehension Test 9

1. “The family is one of nature’s masterpieces.”

- members of your family

- appearance and character

- free-time activities

- family traditions

2. “I observe myself, and I come to know others.”

- your personality, your hobbies (pets)

- your interests and leisure time

3. “A friend is a gift you give yourself.”

- describe your friend,

- how you spend time together

- a true friend

4. “A country without trees is almost as hopeless.”

- what causes environmental problems

- what effect it has brought to people’s life

- how we can help the environment

5. “First impressions are most lasting.” Invite your friend to visit Chernihiv.

- history of Chernihiv,

- places that are worth visiting

6. Sport in your life

- a kind of sports you prefer,

- the importance of sport

- a healthy lifestyle

7. Great Britain

- geographical position, climate

- London-the capital of Great Britain

8. The Internet

- the role of computers in our life

- pros and cons of the Internet

9. Compare two jobs

- what each job requires

- its pros and cons

10. Travelling

- why people travel, means of travelling

- how you prefer travelling

11. Living in a city

- pros and cons of living in a city

- pros and cons of living in the country

12. Your favourite book

- what books you read

- what your favourite book is about

13. Good eating habits are the best way of being healthy.”

- healthy and junk food, healthy lifestyle

- Ukrainian traditional food

14. Holidays are an important time to spend with friends and family.

- holidays, festivals in Ukraine,

- your favourite holiday

15. Ukraine

- geographical position, climate

- political system and state symbols

- Kyiv - the capital of Ukraine

1. My Family

I am Zhilin Andrey. Andrey is my name and Zhilin is my surname. I am seventeen years old. I want to tell you a few words about my family. My family is not large. I have got mother, father and grandmother. There are four of us in the family.

First of all some words about my parents. My mother is a teacher of biology. She works in a school. She likes her profession. She is a good-looking woman with brown hair. She is 44 but she looks much younger. My father is computer-programmer. He is forty-six. My father often sings and when we are at home and have some free time I play the guitar and we sing together. He is also handy with many things. When he was little he liked to take everything to pieces. My grandmother told me a story that ones my father tried to repair their kitchen clock but without success. They had to give it to a repairman. But it happened a long time ago. Now he can fix almost everything.

My parents have been married for 18 years. They have much in common, but they have different views on music, books, and films. For example, my father likes horror films and my mother likes soap operas. My father is fond of tennis. My mother doesn’t go in for sports. My parents are hardworking people. My mother keeps house and takes care of my father and me. She is very good at cooking. My grandmother is a pensioner. She lives with us and helps to run the house. She is fond of knitting.

I want to become a student. I’d like to learn foreign languages. I always try to be in good mood. We have got a lot of relatives.

Family traditions

Birthday is a very wonderful day. Everybody likes to celebrate it. It is a good opportunity to spend time with friends, parents, relatives.

I was born on the 10th of January. In the morning on my birthday my parents lay the presents near my bed. So the first thing I see when I open my eyes is my presents. My Mum and Dad and my little brother come to my room to congratulate me and to sing "Happy Birthday".     Usually we hold my birthday party in the evening. Once we went to a cafe to celebrate my birthday, but usually we celebrate it at home. We clean the house the day before my birthday. In the morning of a birthday party day my father goes shopping and buys everything we need. My mother bakes a cake or pie.     In the evening the food is cooked, the table is laid. We put on evening suits and dresses and wait for the guests. The flat looks nice and cosy. I am always very glad to meet my guests. I like getting flowers and presents. Mum gives me the telegram from my aunt. We have an abundant dinner on this day. Mum brings in the birthday cake. I blow the candles out. We dance and sing songs, play games and laugh, joke, tell funny stories. I think that my birthday is one of the best days in a year.    

Family Life

How close are you as a family? We usually see each other at least once a month, maybe more often. We have lunch together on Sunday if we haven't got anything special to do. We live in Chernihiv, which is about an hour and a half away from Kyiv where my grandmother lives. It's not so far.

Usually my uncle and aunt are there too, we're quite a large family! Sometimes my brother and his girlfriend come over. They live nearby. The meal takes about four hours, we spend a lot of time chatting.

There's no one we call the head of the family, although my father's opinion is very important in all decisions we take. My uncle Vova is older than my father, so I suppose he's the real head of the family.

When my grandfather was alive, he liked to think that the whole family organized itself around him, but these days it's different. But we all try to discuss things together when we meet.

In most families, it's a small family group who lives in the same house: mother, father and the children before they get married. But if one of the grandparents dies, the other usually sells their home and goes to live with their children. So it's quite common to have one grandparent living with you.

Most children leave home when they get married. But there are some people who want to lead independent lives and they find a flat as soon as they start their first job, even before they get married. Of course, the main problem is that flats are so expensive to rent here, and we simply have to live with our parents.

2. About Myself

 

My name is ... I am seventeen (sixteen, eighteen). I live in Rostov-on-Don. My address is ... My telephone number is...

I am tall (not very tall, short, middle-sized). I am thin (not very thin, rather fat). My face is round (square, oval). I have a fair (dark) complexion. My forehead is narrow (broad) and low (high). I have a straight (turned up, crooked, aquiline) nose and a protruding (round) chin. My eyebrows are bushy (pencilled), my eyelashes are thick (thin) and long (short). I have large (small) blue (hazel, black, grey) eyes. My hair is black (fair, dark, blond, chestnut), straight (curly) and long (short, not very long).

As all children of my age I go to school. My favourite subjects are …. I’m good at …

I study two foreign languages: German (French) and English.

I like my future profession and I am going to do my best to become a good specialist.

I live with my family. It is large (small, not very large) and very good.

When my parents are not at home I like to watch horror films. By the way, my parents are cool people. I do not have problems with them. They married at early age, that is why they quite young and understand me well. My Mum is a real beauty with long wavy hair and dark eyes. My Dad is a lawyer. He is a tall and handsome man with dark hair and green eyes. My parents are always busy and if we have free time we spend it together. We love each other very much and always try to help each other and to spend as much time together as we can. I have a lot of friends too.

In my free time I like to visit Judo classes and to ride a horse. I am fond of reading and playing computer games. My favourite sport is football (swimming, tennis, hockey). My friends and I often get together to play different games, to go for a walk or to the disco or simply to talk.

When I have free time I like to listen to music, draw pictures and take photos of nature (especially I like flowers). I like to play with my beloved cat Max, who likes to sleep in my bed and who adores when I devote him my spare time.

About Myself

It is both pleasant and a bit difficult to speak about myself. It is pleasant because every person enjoys speaking about his or her interests, likes or dislikes. But at the same time it is difficult because to study a person, especially yourself, is a great journey, not a little walk.

Speaking about my character, first of all, I'd like to define what character is. These are some qualities that make a person different from others. People often say that I am not like others. I don't think that I am something special. When candles are out all cats are grey. But of course if you come closer and turn on the light, you can see that some features are typical of me.

But, to cut the long story short, I think I am a good humoured, very responsible, hardworking and emotional person. I like creativity and appreciate this trait in others. I don't like to lie and I feel when others do. I try not to be late and I hate when others don't come on time. I prefer to socialise with clever and polite people. It is very annoying when somebody whom I trust turns out to be unreliable.

But I try to treat other people in the way I’d like them to treat me. I am looking for a person with a strong and sound body and mind, who is interesting to talk to, whom I can trust and rely on.

As for my interests, I am fond of psychology in the sphere of dealing with people and the questions of how to form your thoughts in the most favourable way. I adore travelling, seeing other people with their traditions and customs, gettig acquainted with their culture, going sightseeing. Besides, I like different kinds of music. I like music with the rhythm you can dance to.

My Hobby - My Pets

I have several hobbies. But my major hobby is looking after my pets. I am fond of animals. I think nothing else in our life could supply us with more pleasant emotions than our pets. It is so pleasant to know that somebody needs you and loves you only for the fact that you exist. Your friends can betray you, but your pets — never.

Now let me tell you about my pets. I have two cats and a dog. One cat is male. Its name is Ryzhyk. He is 5 years old. His fur is reddish-brown. He likes playing with a ball. Actually, he has a dog-like behaviour. He performs different tricks and prefers the company of the dog to the company of the cat. Hes’ won several prizes at different Cat Shows.

My second cat is of no breed. It's a female. Her name is Makha. She is 4 years old, long-haired, tabby. She doesn't like lively games. Her favourite pastime is lying on the windowsill and thinking about the sense of life.

And the youngest of my pets is French bulldog, 2 years old. Her name is Zhuzha. She is spotted in colour. She also has some prizes from the Dog Shows. It's a cheerful little dog whose loyalty is almost unlimited.

To my opinion, the role of pets in our life is best described by Austrian zoologist Conrad Lorenz. In one of his books he said: "In rapid current of our life a present-day man from time to time wants to feel he is still himself, and nothing can give him such a pleasant confirmation of it, but "four legs" mincing behind".  

Leisure time and hobby

Many men, many minds. All people are different and they prefer spending their free time in different ways. Some of them go the parks, forests, to the country and enjoy the beauty of nature. Others like to stay at home watching TV or reading books. There are people who are fond of cinema and theatres, so they try to go there as often as possible. As for me, I prefer to spend my free time in different ways. I like going in for sports, playing football, basketball or volleyball with my friends. I like watching TV, listening to a tape recorder and playing computer games. Also I like going for a walk in the country where I enjoy the beauty of nature. And my way of spending free time is connected with my hobby. And my hobby is reading books...

I'd like to say that it's hard to imagine our life without books. Books play a great role in the development of personality. They help us to forget our daily problems and to pretend we travel to the past, future and to many different, wonderful places that we can’t visit in reality. I am also sure that books are our good friends and teachers. From them we get to know the life around as better, they teatch as how to tell right from wrong, love our Motherland, understand friendship, people's feelings. So, they teach us how to live. As for me I like reading different kinds of books: ......

My hobby

Hobby is what a person likes to do in his spare time. Hobbies differ like tastes. If you have chosen a hobby according to your character and taste you are lucky because your life becomes more interesting. Hobbies are divided into four large classes: doing things, making things, collecting things, and learning things.

The most popular hobby group is doing things. It includes a wide variety of activities, everything from gardening to travelling and from chess to volleyball. Gardening is one of the oldest man's hobbies. It is a well-know fact that the English are very found of gardening and growing flowers, especially roses. Both grown-ups and children are fond of playing different computer games. This hobby is becoming more and more popular.

Making things includes drawing, painting, making sculpture, designing costumes, handicrafts. Two of the most famous hobby painters were President Eisenhower and Sir Winston Churchill.

Some hobbyists write music or play musical instruments. President Bill Clinton, for example, plays the saxophone.

Almost everyone collects something at some period in his life: stamps, coins, matchboxes, books, records, postcards, toys, watches. Some collections have no real value. Others become so large and so valuable that they are housed in museums and galleries.

Many world-famous collections started in a small way with one or two items. People with a good deal of money often collect paintings, rare books, and other art objects. Such private collections are sometimes given to museums, libraries and public galleries so that others might take pleasure in seeing them.

No matter what kind of hobby a person has, he always has the opportunity of learning much from it. Learning new things can be the most exciting hobby.

As for me, I like listening to music. Three months ago my parents bought me a compact disc player and I decided to collect compact discs. I like different music, it should be good. I collect discs of my favourite groups and singers. I carefully study the information printed on discbooklets. I try to find everything about my favourite singers. Also I like to watch music programmes on TV. I want to keep up with the news in the world of music.

Of course, I like spending my spare time with my friends. We talk about all sorts of things ( politics, teachers, girls). We discuss films, books, TV programmes. In fine weather we like to be in the open air. We find a nice place somewhere in the forest. We make a fire, bake potatoes and have a lot of fun. When the weather is bad, my friends come to my place. We have a good time together.

And my hobby is reading books...

I'd like to say that it's hard to imagine our life without books. Books play such a great role in the development of personality. They help us to forget our daily problems and to pretend we travel to the past, future and to many different, wonderful places that we can’t visit in reality. I am also sure that books are our good friends and teachers. From them we get to know the life around as better, they teach us how to tell right from wrong, love our Motherland, understand friendship, people's feelings. So, they teach us how to live. As for me, I like reading different kinds of books: ......