4.28. White house

White House - official name of the executive mansion of the President of the United States. It is on the south side of Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C., facing Lafayette Square.

The building, constructed of Virginia freestone, is of simple and stately design. The porte-cochere on the north front, which forms the main entrance, is a portico of high Ionic columns reaching from the ground to the roof pediment; it is balanced by a semicircular colonnaded balcony on the south with a second-floor porch, completed in 1948. The main building (four stories high) is about 170 ft (52 m) long by 85 ft (26 m) wide. The east and west terraces, the executive office (1902), the east wing (1942), and a penthouse and a bomb shelter (1952) have been added. The colonnade at the east end is the public entrance.

The executive office is approached by an esplanade. Large receptions are usually held in the East Room, which is 40 ft (12 m) by 82 ft (25 m). The elliptical Blue Room is the scene of many social, diplomatic, and official receptions. The Red Room and the Green Room are used for private and quasi-official gatherings.

The White House, designated "the Palace" in the original plans, was designed by James Hoban on a site chosen by George Washington. It is the oldest public building in Washington, its cornerstone having been laid in 1792. John Adams was the first President to live there (1800). The building was restored after being burned (1814) by British troops, and the smoke-stained gray stone walls were painted white.

Despite popular myth the cognomen "White House" was applied to the building some time before it was painted. The name became official when President Theodore Roosevelt had it engraved upon his stationery. Part of the house was rebuilt (1949-52) on a steel-supporting frame. The grounds, which cover about 18 acres (7 hectares), are attractive with broad lawns, fountains, trees, and gardens. They were planned by Andrew Jackson Downing . Pennsylvania Ave. between the White House and Lafayette Square was closed to vehicular traffic in 1995 for security reasons.

4.29. Why do we learn the english language

Education is very important in our life. An educated person is one who knows a lot about many things. He always tries to learn, find out, and discover more about the world around him. He get knowledge at school, from books, magazines, from TV educational programs. The pupils can get deeper knowledge in different optional courses in different subjects and school offers these opportunities. They can deepen and improve their knowledge by attending different optional courses in different subjects. The result of the educative process is the capacity for Further education. Nowadays the students of secondary schools have opportunities to continue their education by entering, gymnasiums, lyceums, colleges.

But the road to learning is not easy. There is no royal road to learning. To be successful in studies one must work heard. It's for you to decide to learn and make progress or not to learn lose your time. The role of foreign languages is also increasing today. Thanks to the knowledge of foreign languages one can read books, magazines in the original, talk to foreigners, translate various technical articles. Moreover, joint ventures which have recently appeared in our country need specialists with profound knowledge of foreign languages like English, German or French. To know foreign languages is absolute necessary for every educated person, for good specialists. Our country is transferring to a market economy. Research and innovations should improve living, working conditions of our people. That is why it is so important to be persistent in students. A language that came from nowhere to conquer the world… The movement of English around the world began with the pioneering voyages to the Americas and Asia, continued with the 19th century colonial developments in Africa and the South Pacific, and took a significant further step when it was adopted in the 20th century as a official or semiofficial language by many newly-independent states.

English is now the dominant or official language by many newly-independent states. English is now the dominant or official language in over 60 countries, and is represented in every continent and in the three major oceans - Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific. It id this spread of representation which makes the application of the term "world language" a reality. The present-day world status of English is the result of two factors: the expansion of British colonial power, which peaked towards the end of the 19th century, and the emergence of the United States as the leading economic power of the 20th century. There are many different reasons why people study foreign languages, English in particular. Here are some of them: to travel abroad; to get good job to have something to do in your spare time; to be better educated; to be familiar with social and cultural life in other countries; to be able to participate in conversations with people from English-speaking countries. English is the language of international air traffic control, and is currently developing its role in international maritime, policing, and emergency services English is the chief language of international business and academic conferences, and the leading language of international tourism. English is the main language of popular music, advertising, satellite broadcasting, home computers, and video games. A foreign language is not just a subject learnt in the classrooms. It's something which is used in real life situations.

There are many reasons why we begin to study foreign languages. First of all it's an effective medium of international communication. I'm convinced if we are working in any brunch of science we must read books and magazines in other languages. Learning foreign languages opens up opportunities and careers that didn't even exits some years ago. Knowing foreign languages can help us to find a job in such fields as science and technology, foreign trade and banking, international transportation communication, teaching librarian science and others. A more general aim is to make our intellectual and cultures. Learning a foreign language including learning also culture, traditions and mode of thought of different people. Of course speaking and writing in a foreign language is a difficult art and it has to be learned. It has replaced French in the world of diplomacy and German in the field of science.

As for me, I'm completely convinced that to know a foreign language is absolutely necessary for all educated person and modern specialists. Everything depends on our own efforts.