2 (#2) Your Family_________________________________________

♦ Our family is large (small, not very large). We are the family of seven (two, three, four, five, six): my mother, my father, my grandmother, my grandfather, my sister, my brother and I. My mother's name is … She is … years old. She is a teacher (a doctor, a worker, an engineer). She is a very nice, kind and clever woman. My father's name is ... He is ... years old. He is a worker (a teacher, an engineer, a doctor, a businessman). He is lather tall and strong. He is a man of strong character - and all of us love him very much. My grandmother's name is ... She is ... years old. She does not work now, she is a pensioner, but she has a lot of work to do about the house. All of us try to help her. My grandfather' s name is... He is... years old. He is a pensioner too. My brother and sister are students (pupils). There names are ... They are older (younger) than me. We are a very good family. We love each other very much. In the evenings, when all the members of our family get together after work and study, we like to watch TV, to read books and newspapers, to talk about different things and to discuss all our problems together. When the weather is good we sometimes go for a walk. We have a small house in the country with a garden and a kitchen-garden. There is much work there and on week-ends we go there and work and have rest all together.

♦ We are 4 at our family: my mother, father, my elder brother and I. I think, our family is friendly, united. We spend much time together, go for a walk in the woods, visit theaters, museums, go to the cinema. My mother's name is Luidmila Mikhailovna. She is an engineer, she works in an office. She is a kind, nice woman. She can cook very well. She is fond of reading. My father's name is Konstantin Alexeevich. He is a sailor. He is a strong, clever man. He often tells me interesting stories about different countries. Father can do a lot of things. He teaches me to repair furniture, to drive a car. My brother's name is Alexei. He is 22 years old. He have been studied in Far- Eastern State Marine Academy for 5 years. Now it is a very difficult period for him: he is passing through state exams. I have my duties about the house. I must go shopping, clean the rooms. It's not difficult for me. I like our home to be clean and tidy. I think home is the nicest place. As proverb says, . There is no place more delightful than home and there are no people more dear than your relatives.

♦ In my opinion family is one of the most important things in one's life. Almost all our life we live within a family. There are five of us in the family: My father - Iliy Nikolaevich, my mother Vera Pavlovna, my elder brother Michael and the youngest child in our family my ten-year old sister Olga. I think it would be right if I begin with my parents. They have been married for 20 years now. They met each other at the institute where they studied together both of them were in their first year then. However it was not until their last year at the institute when they got married. My father is a chief sales-manager in a firm which sells various computer equipment. Many years ago after he had graduated from the institute he became an electronic engineer in one of the Moscow research institutes. His firm has several branches in some other big towns in Russia such as St Petersburg, Voronez, Novosibirsk and others. So he has to travel a lot. My father is an only wager in our family but as he is very good at his job his firm pays him a good salary. However his Saturdays and Sundays are wholly devoted to his family. In youth he went in for sport so we often play either football or volleyball which are his favourite games. My mother is a housewife. A year after she graduated from the institute my elder brother was born and she had to stay at home. Later it was decided that she would run the house and look after the family. My mother is a nice looking woman. She is of medium heigth. Her hair is dark and she usually wears a bun. So most of her time is devoted to housework. Except for the time when soaps are shown on TV. She adores them though my father thinks they are silly. He like most men prefers detective stories and action films. My elder brother is now in his third year at the Moscow State University. He studies at the Geographical faculty. He was keen on Geography when at school and wanted to travel to places yet unknown. I personally think that it was the spirit of adventures that made him go to the Geographical faculty. The youngest member of out family is ten-year old Olga. She goes to the colledge in the neighbouring town and spends there five days a week. So we see her only on Saturday and Sunday and during her holidays. In spite of her age she enjoys living in a colledge and always looks forward to going there after holidays. She has got lots of friends there. Our family is very united and we like to spend our free time together.

♦ The family is very important as a unit in our society. Nothing else but family can be an emotional center of people's life, can be a transmitter of culture and raising children. Every mother feels great affection for her children and tries to bring them up in a proper way. Understanding between the members of the family and consideration for others are very important in family relationship. Tenderness, warm-heartedness and respect must always be present in the family to make it friendly. A lot of activities help members of the family to

be on friendly terms: discussing all the family plans together, going on trips hikes together, visiting museums, theaters, exhibitions and exchanging opinions about them, sharing the same joys and sorrows. If you think of the others in the family you show your love and attention

in everyday life, you can hurt them if you are selfish, not sincere and rude. It is very important to visit relatives on holidays, on birthdays, on anniversaries and develop close relationship. We feel

more affection for our relatives when we are parted from them. The proverb says, " /Absence makes the heart grow fonder". When the family is friendly, everybody has the warmed feelings of returning home where dear relatives are waiting for them. There are different opinions on how children should be treated if they disobey their parents, break the rules, do forbidden things, don't keep their words or promises. Some people think that parents should be patient, kind and understanding. The rules and children's behaviors are discussed in such families. But others believe that children ought always to obey the parents and if they won't they should be punished. From my point of view, such principles won't do a lot of good. Fear and punishment will lead to selfishness, cruelty and lies. But "love and kindness will save the world". We are the family of two. I live with my mother. We don't have such problems as misunderstanding between the members of the family. I think that it is due to the age of my parents and their character. My mother is 40 years old, she is layer. She is a kind, clever and responsible woman. My mother always ready to give me necessary information, moral support and a good advice. It is common knowledge that there is no place like a home. We are dedicated to our homes, we give them much love, care and enthusiasm. A man's house is his castle. I like my home and I want to tell you more about it. I live in Kuprijanov st. in center of our city. We moved into this flat several years ago. Now it is a place where I feel it ease and enjoy every minute of my stay there. We have a washing-machine, a vacuum cleaner, a refrigerator, a freezer, hand-mixer, computer and

other things which I consider to be quite necessary as they make our life easier and help to solve a lot of problems in the shortest possible time. We have 2 rooms, a kitchen and a bathroom. When you drop into our flat you come into a lobby, where you can take off your coat, shoes and hat. I'm very happy to have a room for myself, where I feel quite and comfortable. It is a place where I can relax, read a book and listen to music. There are yellow blinds and a writing

table, a sofa, a bookcase where my favorite books are situated. There are a lot of things in my room which can tell about myself, about my friends and relatives. You can find frames with photos of my parents and best friends on the walls, little pictures. They remind me happy

moments of my life and that is why are very dear for me. You may be surprised, but the most popular and favorite place with all of us is the kitchen. Every Sunday my mother makes a cake and we gather together, discuss our problems and make plans for the next week. Our kitchen isn't large and looks the usual modern kitchen you can see in many other homes. I can tell a lot about my home, but to make a long story short I can say, that speaking about my home, I don't mean a

flat as it is , I mean people, who are dear to me, who love me and are always waiting for me. That is why, wherever I were I would always hurry home.

3 (#4, 13) The area you live in________________________________

My house is situated in a very picturesque place, has wonderful parks and gardens.

I think my town is a nice place to live in. The life in our town is quiet and peaceful.

♦ All of us want to live in a warm place with all modern conveniences. But not every person manages to do it. People in different countries live differently. I would like to describe you the average house of English family and Russian family.

Many families in Britain live in flats, but most people live in small houses built close together joined to another on one side only by one wall in common. They are called semi-detached. They are usually consist of 2 floors. British prefer to say upstairs and downstairs to first (ground) floor and second (first) floor. Downstairs are the living rooms. They are a drawing room, a sitting room and a kitchen. Upstairs are the bed rooms, a bathroom and a nursery for the children. The drawing room means that it is the largest room in a house and the one with the best furniture. This is the room where the British receive their quests; though when the familiar friends come in they generally talk in the sitting room, which is used by all the family and is not as formal as a drawing room. Almost in every English house there is a fire-place, it is usually in the sitting room. They think that electricity is cleaner but a coal fire is more homely. Around a house there is a front garden and back garden. The front garden is a smooth grass lawn, you can see also there a few flower beds. Back garden is more useful, but less pretty than front one. Vegetables, potatoes, cabbage, cauliflowers, peas and lettuce are grown there.

This house is a dream for common Russian, but it is a bit simpler in Russia. The majority of Russian population lives in blocks of flats. In a house which is not very large (has 3 or 5 stores or only 1 entrance) everybody knows all secrets of the neighbors and share their negative or positive feelings and emotions with near-living people. When a house is large (has 9 or 16 stores and many entrances) neighbors don.t know even the names of each other. In front of a house there is a children.s playground. There are several flats on one floor. Usual Russian flat consists of entrance hall, two or three rooms, kitchen, toilet and bathroom which are not very large. Some people live in private houses or cottages with gardens around. I think that living in private house or cottage is more comfortable because you have a large area at your disposal, you don.t have a quarrel with your neighbors when you make a noise or when you listen to the music in high volume, in summer you can get a sunburn in your garden.

In both English and Russian houses people have modern conveniences such as central heating, electricity, gas, cold and hot running water, telephone. They also have different furniture and appliances.

Depending on personality and financial situation people make their house and home.

4 (#6, 12) Personality______________________________________

♦ Frankly speaking, I have a lot of acquaintance, but not all of them I can consider to be my friends. It’s enough, as I think, to have one or two close friends who are able to understand you and to support you in hard situations. So, there are few people whom I can call my real friends. We have much in common and we enjoy communicating with each other. One of my friends is Sergey. He is 22. I can say that he is handsome man and charismatic person. His face is oval and he has black curly hair and hazel eyes. Sergey is a well-bred, jolly and kind person. We study together in the University. Sergey wants to be a chemist. He studies well because he is greatly interested in his future profession. Sergey is a hardworking man too. Sergey does not have much free time but if he has, he likes to spend it in a good company, consisting of his friends. When we gather together we like to listen to music, both classical and modern one, to watch new films and discuss them. I enjoy talking to him a lot because he knows many interesting facts about famous people, history. His favorite subject at school were history and literature. He is fond of reading. Books have become part and parcel of his life.

We have been being friends for a long time. We trust each other so much that we have some personal secrets which are not revealed to the others. I can tell him about my troubles and I am sure that Sergey would help me and give me a piece of good advice.

Sergey is an intelligent person. He has a deep and genuine interest in people, open-mindedness and inquiring mind. It is necessary for him as a chemist.