VIII. Do you always consult a dictionary when you see a new English word? Read and translate the text:

With many languages you can look at a word and know (more or less) how to pronounce it. With English this is not true: it is often very difficult to know the pronunciation from looking at a word. Let’s take for example the final letters ough in different words. They can be pronounced: cough (like ‘off’), enough (like ‘stuff’), through (like ‘too’), though (like ‘so’), thorough (like the first sound in ‘about’) and bough (like ‘wow’). The only way you can be sure about the pronunciation is to consult a dictionary.

IX. Read and translate the text:

I study english

Nowadays it’s impossible to achieve success in life without good knowledge of English. If you want to be a good expert in any field you need English to obtain new information on your speciality and to communicate with your colleagues. English is the language of modern business, of the internet, of international aviation and of international sport.

English is studied as a foreign language at secondary schools and Universities of Ukraine. As for me I’ve been studying it for about 10 years. In the Institute we have four hours of English per week. We study pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. We learn new English words, make up dialogues and communicative situations, do a lot of written exercises, read extracts from books in the original, translate and retell different texts and write tests.

I can understand spoken English rather well, but I find it difficult to speak. I like when we communicate in English, discuss different problems and express our opinions on various topics.

At home I try not only to do my English hometask but to watch different TV programmes in English. I also find it useful to study English through the Internet. I work at the language systematically because I want to perfect my command of English. I understand that it is of great importance in our modern life.

X. Find the English equivalents to the words and word combinations in the text and make up sentences with them:

• у наш час;

• неможливо;

• досягати успіху;

• отримувати нову інформацію;

• спеціальність;

• спілкуватись;

• колега;

• середня школа;

• розмовна ситуація;

• уривок;

• читати книги в оригіналі;

• переказувати;

• писати тести;

• спілкуватись англійською;

• обговорювати;

• писати тести;

• виражати точку зору;

• працювати систематично;

• удосконалювати знання з англійської.

XI. Read and translate the text: the role of english in the 21st century

English is the official language (de facto in some countries) or one of the official languages in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland, India, Madagascar, Malta, the Phillipines, South Africa and many other countries. It has about 350 million native speakers, which makes it the third-largest native language in the world after Mandarin Chinese (874 million) and Hindi (366 million). And over a billion people on the planet can speak, read, write and understand English with some degree of competence. They need it for work and for international communication.

English is currently used for more purposes than ever before. When Mexican pilots land their airplanes in France, they and the ground controllers use English. When German scientists make discoveries, they first publish their findings in English. When Japanese executives conduct business with Scandinavian entrepreneurs, they negotiate in English. When pop singers write their songs, they often use lyrics or phrases in English. When demonstrators want to alert the world to their problems, they display signs in English. Modern English is the dominant international language in diplomacy, communications, science, business, technology, aviation, entertainment and sport.