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The Republic of Belarus

Geographical position. Belarus is situated in the eastern part of Europe. It occupies the territory of 207, 600 square kilometers. The population of the republic is about 10 million people. Belarus is bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities are Brest, Grodno, Gomel, Mogilev and Vitebsk. Belarus is divided into six oblasts, or provinces, which are named after the cities that serve as their administrative centers.

Belarus is a lowland with forests, swamps, and numerous rivers and lakes. The longest rivers are the Dnepr, the Neman, the Western Dvina, the Western Bug and the Prypiat. The largest lake is Lake Naroch. Forests of Belarus constitute its beauty and wealth. They occupy over a third of its territory. The country is famous for its Belovezha forest reserve.

The territory of Belarus includes deposits of peat, fire and refractory clay, moulding sand and sand for glass production, different construction materials. There are deposits of oil, coal and lignite, iron ores, nonferrous metal ores, dolomites, potassium and rock salt, phosphorites as well.

The climate of the republic is temperate continental with mild and humid winter, a warm summer, and a wet autumn.

Historical outline. The history of Belarus goes back to its antiquity. The territory of present-day Belarus was first populated in the early Stone Age by Eastern Slavic tribes. The ancestors of the Belarusians (the Krivichi, the Radimichi and the Dregovichi) lived in the basins of the big rivers, hunting, fishing and cultivating lands. The first Belarusian national state was the Polotsk Principality, then from the 13th till 16th centuries, the territory of present-day Belarus was the core of the Great Lithuanian Principality in which Belarusian was the official language. It was one of the largest, most powerful and flourishing states in Eastern Europe. In 1569 a political union was concluded between the Principality and Poland. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Rzecz Pospolita) was founded. In the 18th century Belarus was included into the Russian Empire.

The advantageous geographical position – on the crossroads from East to West and from North to South – more than once turned into disadvantage. Belarus was the arena of many wars, invasions and aggressions. In the 11th century the Tatar-Mongols attacked Polotsk and Turov principalities in the East and South. In the 13th century the Crusaders invaded Belarus from the West. Sweden conquered the North of Belarus. Belarus was devastated by Russian-Polish wars (16–18th centuries), the Napoleon invasion (1812), World War I (1914–1918), the Soviet-Polish war which ended with Western Belarus ceded to Poland and World War II and Nazi occupation (1941–1944), the longest and the greatest fighting for freedom and independence. All these tragic events slowed down but didn't stop the development of the nation.

At the beginning of the 20th century Belarus was a backward province of the Russian Empire – called the North-Western region where 80 % of the population were illiterate.

On the 1st of January 1919 the Declaration on the formation of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic was adopted. In December 1922 it joined the USSR as one of its founders. In 1939 the Western territories joined Belarus.

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The territory of Belarus and its nation were devastated in World War II, during which Belarus lost about a third of its population and more than half of its economic resources. But despite all this, Belarus restored its cities, rebuilt its economy.

On the disintegration of the USSR Belarus proclaimed its sovereignty on July 27, 1990. In December 1991 it was one of the three Slavic republics of the former USSR to form the CIS (the Commonwealth of Independent States) with headquarters in Minsk.

State system. On March 15, 1994 the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Belarus adopted a new Constitution in which Belarus is proclaimed a unitary democratic state with the rule of law. The new version of the 1994 Constitution with amendments and additions was adopted pursuant to the referendum of November 24, 1996. According to the existing constitution the head of the state is the President. The Constitution establishes the principle of separation of power: state power in the Republic of Belarus is founded on the basis of its separation into legislative, executive and judiciary.

The National Assembly is a bicameral parliament comprising the 110-member House of Representatives (the lower house) and the 64-member Council of the Republic (the upper house). The House of Representatives has the power to appoint the prime minister, make constitutional amendments, call for a vote of confidence on the prime minister, and make suggestions on foreign and domestic policy. The Council of the Republic has the power to select various government officials, accept or reject the bills passed by the House of Representatives. The government includes a Council of Ministers, headed by the prime minister. The judiciary comprises the Supreme Court and specialized courts.

Belarus is a member of the United Nations and a number of other international organizations.

Economy of Belarus

The Republic of Belarus has a developed industry, agriculture, an advanced culture, science and technology. Industry holds an important position in the republic's economy. The leading industries are machine-building and metal-working, motor industry, agricultural machinery, chemical industry, electronics and electrical engineering, radio-engineering, pharmaceutical industry, production of construction materials, light and food, etc.

Belarus specializes in the production of different kinds of trucks, including coaches and special-purpose vehicles. The enterprises of the republic produce agricultural machinery, television equipment, elevators, home electric appliances, household refrigerators and freezers, automatic washing machines, chemical yarn and fiber, potash fertilizers. The range of products includes furniture, electric motors, paper, varnishes and paints. Different new sophisticated products, such as integrated microcircuits, liquid-crystal indicators and displays and special technological equipment are produced as well.

The major products of light industry are textile, knitwear and clothes, as well as footwear.

The main directions of the farming industry of the republic are meat and milk production and potatoes and flax cultivation. Cereals, vegetables, sugar beet and fodder crops are grown as well.

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Belarus possesses a developed transport infrastructure, including main railways and motor-ways, oil and gas pipelines. The national airport «Minsk-2» operates regular flights to different cities and towns of Europe and Asia.

Education in Belarus

Scientific and intellectual potential is the main strategic resource of Belarus. The republic guarantees its citizens the right to universal secondary education and creates means for further professional education. It tries to preserve the democratic character of education paying much attention to common human values, developing independent critical thinking instead of simple perception of information.

The current structure of the national educational system includes pre-school education and upbringing, general secondary education, off-school forms of education and upbringing, vocational education, secondary special education, higher, education, training of scientific and scientific-and-pedagogical staff qualification improvement and staff retraining, adult self-education.

At present, the general secondary education system includes the following levels: primary (4 years of education), the 2nd level school ( 5 –9 classes) and the 3rd level school (10–11 classes) which may exist both separately and within a basic (9-year) or secondary (11-year) school. Education starts when a child is 6 years old. Education in schools of the 2nd and the 3rd levels is finished by final examinations after which graduates of basic schools obtain certificates of basic education and those of secondary schools certificates of secondary education.

Higher education is provided by the universities or specialized institutes. Ad-mission to specialized secondary and higher schools in Belarus is by centralized testing. As a rule, education lasts 5–6 years and is finished with passing a state exam and defending an undergraduate's project. Persons who have successfully completed their studies receive diplomas. The academic year is usually 9 months or 2 terms of four and a half months each. Classes usually begin in September and end in June. Students study different general and special subjects. The work is organized in the form of lectures, tutorials, laboratory work, practical training and individual project work. Students of state higher educational institutions get a monthly student's allowance, non-resident students are provided with hostel accommodation.

Mogilev

Mogilev is a more than 700-year-old city. According to the Mogilev chronicles, the Mogilev castle was built in 1267. There are several legends explaining the origin of the city's name. One of them is connected with Duke Lev Danilovich Mogiy (the Mighty Lion) over whose grave a burial mound was made later nicknamed Mogilev (or the Lion's tomb). In the course of its history the city was repeatedly attacked and besieged, even burnt to the ground not once. Invaders ruined and robbed it. Mogilev survived a number of conquests - the Swedish during the Northern War in 1700–1721, the Napoleon ones during the Patriotic War of 1812 and the last one – the fascist Germany occupation of 1941–1944. The city remembers the heroic defense of 1941 and the courageous struggle of the partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War. In June 1944 the city was liberated from German invaders.

Mogilev became the center of the province after the reunification with Russia in

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1772. During the First World War the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Headquarters were based in Mogilev. Soviet power was established here in November 1917. Mogilev has been the center of the region since 1938.

Mogilev is one of the largest industrial centers of Belarus and the region. It produces more than 50 % of the total industrial output of the whole region. There are industrial enterprises producing chemical fibers, passenger elevators, wheeled prime movers, electric engines, fabrics, shoes and other consumer goods. Mogilev is a large transport center. Railway, automobile, river and pipeline transportation are well developed here.

Mogilev is the scientific and cultural center of the region. It has 3 state Universities, the Mogilev branch of Belarusian Academy of Music, the branch of Belarusian Institute of Law, some colleges and vocational training schools.

There are also some museums and theatres.

Great Britain. General Outline

Geographical position. Great Britain, the official name – the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, is situated on two large islands and over five hundred small ones. The total area of Great Britain is 240,000 sq. km; its population is 56,000,000 people.

In the North-West and West the country is washed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea, in the East – by the North Sea. The island of Great Britain is separated from France by the English Channel. Northern Ireland, which is a part of Great Britain and which is situated on the island of Ireland, is separated from Great Britain by the North Channel.

The island of Great Britain is divided into two parts: mountainous (in the North and West of the island) and lowland (in the South and East). There are no very long rivers in Great Britain. The most important rivers are the Thames (the deepest) and the Severn (the longest).

Due to the moderating influence of the sea Great Britain has an insular climate, rather humid and mild, without striking discrepancy between seasons.

Great Britain is not very rich in mineral resources; it has some deposits of coal and iron ore and vast deposits of oil and gas that were discovered in the North Sea.

Great Britain consists of four main parts: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Administratively Great Britain is divided into 55 counties. The biggest' cities of Great Britain are London, Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh, and Cardiff.

England is the largest part of Great Britain.

State system. Great Britain is a parliamentary monarchy. Officially the head of state is the Queen (or the King). However, the power of the Queen in Great Britain is not absolute. She acts only on the advice of the ministers and Parliament.Parliament in Great Britain has existed since 1265 and is the oldest Parliament in the world. It consists of three elements

– Monarchy, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. They meet only on occasions of ceremonial significance, such as the state opening of Parliament, although the agreement of all three is normally required for legislation.

The House of Commons consists of 659 elected members called Members of Parliament or MPs. Election to the House of Commons is an important part of the British democratic system.

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The House of Lords currently consists of 688 non-elected members (hereditary peers and peeresses, life peers and peeresses and two archbishops and 24 senior bishops of the Church of England). Its main legislative function is to examine and revise bills from the Commons, but the Lords cannot normally prevent legislation from becoming law if the Commons insists on it. It also acts in a capacity as the final court of appeal. In recent years the House of Lords has undergone a process of reform to make it more democratic and representative. As a first step, the rights of some 750 hereditary peers to sit and vote in it solely on the basis that they inherited their seats were removed. The remaining hereditary peers are allowed to sit temporarily in the transitional chamber until the full reform programme is in place. The next phase of the House of Lords reform would remove the remaining hereditary peers and create a partly-elected upper house.

General elections are held after Parliament has been 'dissolved', either by a royal proclamation or because the maximum term between elections - five years has expired. The decision on when to hold a general election is made by the Prime Minister. After the general election the Queen appoints the head of the government — the Prime Minister. As a rule the Prime Minister is the leader of the party that has won the election. The Prime Minister appoints the ministers to make up the government.

There are three main political parties in Great Britain: the Conservative Party, the Labor party and the Liberal-Democratic party.

Great Britain. Economy and Science

Economy. Britain became the world's first industrialized country in the mid19th century. Wealth was based on manufacturing iron and steel, heavy machinery and cotton textiles, and on coal mining, shipbuilding and trade. Manufacturing still plays an important role and Britain excels in high-technology industries like chemicals, electronics, aerospace and offshore equipment, where British companies are among the world's largest and most successful. The British construction industry has made its mark around the world and continues to be involved in prestigious building projects.

The most important industrial developments in the past 20 years or so in Britain have been the exploitation of North Sea oil and gas, and the rapid development of microelectronics technologies and their widespread application in industry and commerce. At the same time service industries have been assuming ever-increasing importance and now account for around two-thirds of output and employment. There has been a steady rise in the share of output and employment-now around 80 and 75 per cent respectively - accounted for by private-sector enterprises as privatization of the economy has progressed.

Britain, the world's fifth largest trading nation, belongs to the European Union. Science. Britain has a long tradition of research and innovation in science, tech-

nology and engineering in universities, research institutions and industry. Its record of achievement is in many ways unsurpassed, from the contribution of Isaac Newton to physics and astronomy in the 16th and 17th centuries (theory of gravitation and three laws of motion) and the inventions of Michael Faraday in the 19th century (the first electric motor, generator and transformer) to the breakthroughs in the 20th century.

British achievements in science and technology in the 20th century include fundamental contributions to modern molecular genetics through the discovery of the threedimensional molecular structure of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) by Francis Crick, Mau-

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rice Wilkins and James Watson in 1953, the studies of superconductivity by Brian Josephson, radio-astrophysics of Antony Hewish, etc. Much pioneering work was done during the 1980s and 1990s. For example, in 1985 the British Antarctic Survey scientists discovered the hole in the ozone layer over the Antarctic; some breakthroughs were made in genetics research including the first pig with a genetically modified heart bred by scientists at Cambridge University, and the world famous cloned sheep Dolly.

Nobel Prizes for science have been won by more than 70 British citizens.

Higher Education in Britain

At 16 young men and women have to decide whether to stay at school, to go on to a college, to look for a job, or to start training for work. All have to think about gaining employment in a job market which demands increasingly skilled workers.

After their period in further education young people have the opportunity to go on to higher education in a university or college, provided they have good 'A' level exam results or good passes in vocational qualifications like the BTEC national diploma. Over the last 15 years, the proportion of young people going into higher education has risen from one in eight to one in three. Most higher education students receive some financial support from local education authorities, with the rest of their money made up through parental support or through the Student Loans Company set up by central government to provide subsidized loans for students. In certain cases large companies sponsor students through their degree courses. The Armed Forces also sponsor selected students through University Cadetships and Bursaries.

There are more than 80 universities in Britain including the Open University. The two oldest Universities in England are Oxford and Cambridge. Oxford and Cambridge Universities are known for their specific system of education. They preserve an antique way of life and great emphasis is laid on «tutorials». Each student has a tutor who gives him personal instructions. Every week the tutor and his students meet to discuss the work they have done, to criticize it in detail and to set the next week's work.

Until the nineteenth century England had no other universities apart from Oxford and Cambridge. The universities founded between 1850-1930 including London University are known as redbrick universities (because of the favorite building material of the time). Redbrick universities were built to provide a liberal education and give technological training for the poorer students.

The universities founded after World War II are called "the new universities" (Kent, Essex, York, etc).

All British universities are private institutions. Every institution is independent, autonomous and responsible only to its governing council, but they all receive financial support from the state.

Students who pass examinations at the end of the three or four years of study get a Bachelor's degree. The first postgraduate degree is normally that of Master conferred for a thesis based on at least one year's full-time work. Universities are centers of research and many postgraduates are engaged in research for the higher degree, the degree of Doctor.

A university consists of a number of faculties: arts, science, medicine, agriculture, education, law and theology. The teaching is organized in departments, such as engineering, economics, commerce, History, French, etc.

Education in Britain is not free of charge, it is rather expensive.

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Student’s Life

Leaving home – Jackie Snow is talking about her life in London (Headway

Intermediate, 2 b):

I came to London two months ago because I want to be a professional dancer, and the best schools of dance are here in London. I'm doing a course at the National Dance School, which is very hard work, but I'm really enjoying it. The course is expensive, but I work with a theatre group at the weekend. We teach dance to groups of children. I'm living with another girl in a flat in north London. It's small, but it's comfortable. My boyfriend, Tony, lives in the same street with his parents. They're very kind, and often cook meals for me.

I know my parents are worried about me living in London, but it isn't dangerous at all if you're careful. It's so exciting here, there's so much to do and see. It was difficult in the beginning, especially getting to know the Underground, and I didn't know many people, but it's fine now. I have a lot of good friends. I love my Mum and Dad very much, but I don't want to live at home for the rest of my life. I phone home every Sunday, and when I go to a museum or art gallery, I always send them a postcard. Mum reads them, but I don't know if Dad does.

The United States of America

Geographical position. The United States lies in the central part of the North American continent between two oceans: the Atlantic Ocean to the East and the Pacific Ocean to the West. Canada to the North and Mexico to the South are the only countries bordering it.

The total area of the USA is over 9 million square kilometers. The capital of the USA is Washington D . C .

The population of the country is about 290 million people. For many decades the USA has been the place where lots of people sought refuge from persecution for political or religious beliefs. That's why in America there are representatives of practically all racial and national groups.

Because of such a huge size of the country the climate differs from one part of the country to another. The USA has eight climatic regions. The coldest climate is in the Northern part. The South has a subtropical climate.

The continental part of the USA consists of the highland regions and two lowland regions. The highland regions are the Appalachian Mountains in the East and the Cordillera in the West. Between the Cordillera and the Appalachian Mountains there are the central lowlands called the prairie, and the eastern lowlands called the Mississippi valley. There are many mountains in the West and South-West. The Rocky Mountains extend all the way from New Mexico to Alaska. Many rivers cross the country. The most important is the Mississippi. The main lakes are the Great Lakes in the North. The mineral resources vary from precious gold and rare uranium to common lead and zinc. Coal, oil, iron, copper and other minerals are abundant.

The USA consists of three separate parts. These are the Hawaiian Islands, situated in the central part of the Pacific Ocean, Alaska separated by Canada, and the rest of the USA. There are fifty states and the District of Columbia. The states differ very much in size, population and economic development. The biggest cities are New York,

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Chicago, Los Angeles.

The flag of the USA is called «Stars and Stripes». The stars represent the 50 states; the stripes represent 13 original English colonies, which in 1776 became independent of England.

State system. The United States of America is a federal republic. In 1776, when the independence of the USA was declared, 13 «founding» states entered the federation; from 1959 the federation comprises 50 states. The federal district of Columbia, coinciding with the capital of the country, Washington, is an independent territorial unit.

The state power is divided into three branches: legislative (the US Congress), executive (the President and his Administration) and judicial (the US Supreme Court).

The form of US government is based on the Constitution of September 17, 1787, adopted after the War of Independence. The US Constitution consists of the Preamble, seven articles and twenty-seven amendments; the first ten of them were adopted in 1791 and are called the Bill of Rights.

The Congress of the United States is composed of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Members of the House of Representatives are chosen every second year by direct ballot according to the population figures of their respective states. Senators are elected to six-year terms, two senators from each state independently of its population.

The President is head of the state and Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the USA. The President and Vice-President are elected for a term of four years. The President is elected indirectly in two stages: first electors are chosen in their respective states, and these elect President and Vice-President.

There are two main political parties in the USA: the Democratic and the Republican.

Each of the fifty states of the USA has a constitution patterned after the federal Constitution, with its divisions of power: legislative, executive, and judicial.

The United States of America. Economy

The Industrial Revolution that started in England during the 18th century did not take long to cross the Atlantic. It brought many changes to American industry between 1776 and 1860.

One key development was the introduction of the factory system, which gathered many workers together in one workplace and produced goods for distribution over a wide area.

A second development was the American system of mass production, which originated in the firearms industry about 1800. The new system required precision engineering to create parts that were interchangeable. This, in turn, allowed the final product to be assembled in stages, each worker specializing in a specific operation.

A third development was the application of new sources of power to industrial tasks. New forms of business organization - the bank and the corporation-facilitated the growth of industry.

The construction of railroads beginning in the 1830s marked the start of a new era for the USA. The railroads increased business activities. The rise of industry changed the relations between the workers and the employers. They became more im-