I think, any hobby can be entertaining and useful if you do it with wish and pleasure, otherwise it is just a waste of time. There are many kinds of hobbies.

One of the most popular hobbies is collecting. People can collect eve¬rything. The most popular items are records, postcards, stamps, coins and stickers. Coins can tell you a lot about other countries. There are many British coins in my friend's collection. One of the items is a threepence. From it I learnt that «threepence» is one coin three pennies worth and three pennies are three coins each worth one penny. It is an unusual coin because it has 12 sides (it is not round as other coins). 20 pence coin has 7 sides and apicture of the crowned rose, which is the symbol of Great Britain. On a five pence coin one can see a blooming thistle, which is the symbol of Scotland.

A popular hobby is playing games starting from football and volleyball and finishing with computer games and chess. This can be a good hobby, if you do not train too much to ruin your health for sport games, and if you do not spend too much time in-doors for computer games. Such hobby can be good for your health and mind because such games as chess and checkers help you develop your thinking. The same can be said about some of computer games (such as «civilization» games and «monopoly» games). President Yeltsin plays lawn tennis and President Putin goes in for judo. Outdoor activities are also popular and often become a hobby. In Russia there are many tourists who are fond of hiking and sailing. Some travel by car or by train. Gardening is not very popular in Russia, but it is very popular in Britain. British kings and queens paid much attention to gardening and growing plants, especially roses since the rose is the symbol of Great Britain. Henry VIII, whom we remember as the first head of the English church, turned Hampton Court into a royal palace and ordered to make there gardens and grassy mounts. Charles II (the begin¬ning of his reign is described by Dumas in his «10 Years Later») brought from France a liking for formal gardens with long alleys and canals. Queen Victoria (whose name Sherlock Holmes wrote on his wall with bullets) loved gardening and planted many trees in Frogmore, a private house of the royal family. Her beloved husband Prince Albert planted numerous trees (mostly firs and poplars) in the garden of Balmoral. There are many sorts of roses named after the members of the royal family, for example, Queen Elizabeth, Queen Mother and Silver Jubilee (marked 25 years of the present Queen's reign). Most English have green fingers and have a little lawn with flowers in front of their houses.

For many people going in for art is a good rest. Sir Winston Churchill and Queen Victoria liked to paint, president William (Bill) Clinton plays the saxophone. Brem, an outstanding naturalist, was interested in architecture. Costume designing, sewing, knitting, stitching and embroidering are usually considered to be women's hobbies, but it is known that some men do it really well. For example, Ives Saint Laurent, Gianni Versace and other masters of haute-couture are gentlemen. These hobbies are not only a pleasant way of spending free time, but also let every woman show her taste and talents, have an unusual, outstanding dress and save money. Many say that monotonous work which makes 90 % of such hobbies calms your nerves and lets you think over your plans for the future and so on. My mother sews and knits very well, she dresses all the family. My granny can knit wonderful sweaters, socks and gloves. She knows many patterns for Russian and Ukrainian stitching and decorates pillow-cases, napkins and towels.

One more popular hobby is reading. When you read you learn a lot about the world around you, about other people, history and life of other peoples. Many people, who like to read, collect books and learn the biographies of their favourite writers. People are different and they like different types of literature.

There are hobbies which have been popular for centuries, such as many sport games, reading, handicrafts, playing musical instruments. Other hobbies are relatively new, for example, parachuting, windsurfing and computer games. Some hobbies are typical for children (collecting stickers, photos of their pop idols) and for grown-ups (painting, gardening). Nevertheless, a person's hobby usually characterises the hobbyist. Paraphrasing the famous saying, we can say «Tell me what your hobby is, and I'll tell you who you are».

As for me, my hobby is my pet. It's a three-year-old collie. I train him to answer to his name and to perform many commands, both given in voice and in gestures. He follows my commands well but this requires daily training. I take my dog for a run two times a day, rain or shine. In summer, which we spend with my grandparents in the country, he likes swimming in the lake with me. In winter I take my dog to the suburbs of the city almost every weekend to have a good run.

If it were a summer afternoon, I would probably take my dog and go to the village where my grandparents live. If I had less time, I could take my dog for a run, or meet with my friends, go to the cinema or just talk. I could also help my parents about the house if they needed my help. Or I would simply go somewhere to swim and to lie in the sun if the weather were fine. If the weather were bad, I would stay at home. I could read a book, watch TV or play with my dog indoors.

© 2009–2010 Проект We are linguists

Диалог по английскому языку на тему

Hobbies

В данном разделе вы можете ознакомиться с билетами по различным предметам, школьными и экзаменационными топиками по английскому и немецкому языку, конспектами, а также материалами по педагогической практике.

-Have you chosen your hobby?

-No, I haven't. I did not choose my hobby. I got interested in collecting postcards occasionally. One of my mother's friends sent me a postcard with beautiful flowers for my birthday. Since then 1 have started collecting postcards with flowers. Later I got an interest in learning about flowers, their names in Russian and in English. Then I tried to grow some flowers and studied their vegetation conditions. I also take photos of wild flowers in different periods of their vegetation.

-Does your hobby help you study at school?

-Well, in a certain way. There are many things which flowers and other plants have in common, and it helps me study botany. Many flowers are named after important and outstanding people, so I know their names and deeds. My hobby also helps me get along very well with my grandmother who is a great lover of flowers. I help her grow them and we spend summer very happily together.

-Do you like making things?

-Well... I can sew a little, and I knit rather well. But I wouldn't call it a hobby. I do it because sometimes I do not see anything I'd like to wear available in the shops, so I sew or knit the thing I like. I can say that I prefer embroidering to sewing because it is like painting a flower-piece. But, of course, I use patterns sold at shops.

-What can people collect but postcards?

-Oh, there are many collectable things. For example, bottles, beer mugs,video films and computer games. Mark Twain once wrote a story about a hobbyist who collected pipes, autographs, bells, even pieces of broken bricks! The most extravagant hobby of that man was collecting echoes.

-Do hobbies help people be happy?

-Yes, I think so. Many people have neither enough time nor talent to become national poets, actors, painters or singers. But in their free time they can exercise their gifts in the family circle and be happy. My mother says that knitting makes her happy because it calms her nerves and lets her create. Most people rest from their duties going in for their hobby.

-Do their hobbies have any impact on their country?

-Sometimes, I think. Let us consider the example of Tretyakov, whose private collection became the basis of the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow and the example of Catherine the second whose collection of paintings grew into the State museum of Hermitage. Usually museums start as private collections and only years and decades later they become museums. It is also true about the Tower of London and the Louvre, these great European museums.

-What do you think about games of chance as a hobby?

-I think it is silly to game. On the one hand nothing depends on your cleverness or skills. On the other hand, these games require gambling. You can simply game away your money and gain nothing.

-What games of chance do you know?

-Oh, there are many - card games, bingo, billiards, gambling at races.

-Have you ever taken part in any game of chance?

-Well, sometimes I play cards, but we don't stake our money on anything.

Топик/тема по английскому языку

My school

В данном разделе вы можете ознакомиться с билетами по различным предметам, школьными и экзаменационными топиками по английскому и немецкому языку, конспектами, а также материалами по педагогической практике.

I can say that I have been happy at school. I believe school is not only walls, but walls are also important. If the building is cosy and comfortable, if it is freshly-painted and repaired, if it is well-equipped, the pupils feel that the state pays attention to their studies, that they will be needed as educated people.

I like my school building because it is clearly seen that everything has been designed so as to help the pupils. You can easily find your way around the school.

There are 5 floors in it. On the ground floor you can see a gym, a medical room, a dinighall, metal workshops and home economics classrooms. It is very convenient to have a dinighall at school, because we can have a snack or lunch there - the prices are reasonable and the range of food is rather good. Cakes and buns baked at school are so tasty that I buy them to bring home for tea. On the first floor you can see a library, an assembly hall, two computer labs and physics, biology, and chemistry labs. Our library is a wonderful one, because of the librarian, I believe. Natalia Ivanovna always supplies us with the necessary books. The headmaster's office and the teachers' room are also on the first floor. On the second floor you can see the classrooms of Russian, Mathematics and other subjects. Our school museum is also on the second floor. The third floor is dedicated entirely to English. There are eight English classrooms there. The walls of the corridors are decorated with the pictures of famous British and American sights. You can see Big Ben, the Stone-henge, the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building. The primary school occupies the fourth floor, so we don't go there often.

Our school his very well equipped. Our computer labs are supplied with ten computers each, and the computers are available for the students to prepare their papers and reports after lessons. Each lab also has a printer and a scanner. What I appreciate most of all is the connection to the Internet. I have acquired many useful skills - typing, Internet navigation, dealing with text documents. Some classrooms are supplied with VCRs and tape-recorders, so teachers offer us to watch special films. Our classrooms are cosy and home-like, because there are lots of flowers and posters on the walls, nice curtains hang on the windows. We help keep our school clean and tidy by washing wails and windows every term.

The teachers of our school are professionals. They do their best to help us study. But for their talent for finding vivid examples and for explaining the most difficult things in a simple way most of us would not be able to study well. Our teacher of history explains everything in detail, so that we can understand the inner tendencies of all events. That makes a great deal easier to memorize the dates. If something is not clear, he is always glad to answer our questions. Everyone loves our teacher of Russian and Russian literature, because she is very clever and learned. It seems she knows every piece of literature and the biographies of all Russian writers. We respect her for being so self-possessed and democratic. No problem seems too difficult to her. But most of all I love my teacher of English for her care about us and our knowledge of English. I am happy that I have studied at a school with such good teachers. 1 think that the knowledge I got from my teachers will help me enter Herzen University and become an educated person.

My favourite school subject is English because I like the teacher, but also because it is useful and interesting. It is interesting to learn about the English language and about the English-speaking countries, their culture and people. I suppose the knowledge of a foreign language, preferably English, is essential for an educated person who expects to find an interesting and a well-paid job in the future. But I'm not very good at physics and chemistry. For me these are hard nuts to crack. It is difficult for me to memorize and use formulas.

Our school offers us many out-of-class activities, including several clubs, excursions and school theatre. The most popular is the English club where we learn English and study the English speaking countries. Our school also participates in the International exchange programme, so every year several pupils can visit a country where English is spoken as a native language. Our school theatre is also loved by everybody. There the plays of Russian and English playwrights are staged. We are proud of staging English plays in English. We visit theatres together and discuss the plays after the lessons. During the English week we conduct research in the history, politics and geography of the English-speaking countries. We also often go on excursions to many interesting places with our teacher of history, who is our form master. My friends and I have been to Novgorod and Sevastopol this year.

I have got a good many friends at school. Some of them are my classmates. I am happy because my classmates are very friendly. We help each other with difficult subjects and borrow books from each other. I feel that I can rely upon my friends in difficult circumstances. During the breaks we speak about everything in the world and share all our secrets. It is great to have so many friends. That is why I can say that I was happy at school.

© 2009–2010 Проект We are linguists

Условия и правила

Топик/тема по английскому языку

Education in Great Britain

В данном разделе вы можете ознакомиться с билетами по различным предметам, школьными и экзаменационными топиками по английскому и немецкому языку, конспектами, а также материалами по педагогической практике.

The system of education in Great Britain is rather complicated and differs from that in Russia. Great Britain has no written constitution and that is why the system of education is determined by the National Acts. There are several basic features for public education in Great Britain. Firstly, there are wide variations between different parts of the country. Education in England and Wales is nearly the same, while in Scotland and Northern Ireland the systems differ a lot. Secondly, it mirrors the country’s social system: it is class-divided and selective. The majority of schools are maintained schools. They are supported by public funds and education in them is free. Most parents choose to send their children to these schools, but there is also a great number of public schools in which parents have to pay for the education of their children.

Pupils in Great Britain can choose between Arts (Humanities) and Science. The science pupils will study Chemistry, Physics, Math, Economics, Biology, and Geography. The Art pupils will do English, Literature, History and Languages. But all the pupils have to do some general educational subjects such as PE, Home economics and so on.

Between the age of 2 and 5 some children go to infant classes in primary schools. Here they play, lunch and sleep.

Most children start school at the age of 5 at primary school. This school is divided into infant and junior. At infant school children are taught 3-rs: reading, writing and arithmetic. At the age of 7 children go to Junior school. Here they have set periods of Arithmetic, Reading, Composition, History, Geography, Art and so on. The pupils are streamed according to their abilities. The most talented are in stream A, while the least are in stream D. Pupils stay in Junior school for 11 years. Until 1960 children took a selective exam at the end of primary school (The eleven Plus Exam): those who passed the exam went to grammar schools, that led to Universities, those who didn’t – went to secondary modern schools, that led to technical schools only.

After 11 most children go to comprehensive schools. These schools give the children the same opportunities in education; others go to Grammar or secondary modern schools. About 5% of pupils are educated privately in public schools, most of which are single-sex schools. The schools such as Eaton, Harrow, Rugby are famous for their ability to give the pupils self-confidence, the right accent, a good academic background and the right friends and contacts. The education in these schools is of higher quality. These schools accept pupils on the basis of entrance exams.

In Great Britain pupils have to pass two exams, both called General Certificate of education (GCE). At about 16 they take 0-Level exam in 7 or 8 subjects. For a lot of jobs you must have 4 or 5 0-Levels. But if a pupil doesn’t want to sit for this exam he can take Certificate of secondary education exam that is much easier. At the age of 16 pupils can leave school, but pupils who wish to enter a university usually take A-Level exams in 2-3 subjects. To take these exams they have to stay at school for 2 more years till the age of 18. Three A-Levels are enough for most Universities, but to enter Oxford or Cambridge you have to take special exams.

© 2009–2010 Проект We are linguists

Условия и правила

Топик/тема по английскому языку

Art

В данном разделе вы можете ознакомиться с билетами по различным предметам, школьными и экзаменационными топиками по английскому и немецкому языку, конспектами, а также материалами по педагогической практике.

There are many different arts - literature, architecture, sculpture, painting, drawing, music, dance, theatre, cinema and others. Pieces of art can be perceived by eye and ear, they can be three-dimensional or two-dimensional. There are many styles and genres of art. Popular arts are music, theatre, painting and cinema. People need art as a way they understand the world around them. Though all people are different, everyone has his favourite art. The word «music» originates from the Greek word «Muse». There were 9 Muses (goddesses) in Greek mythology, each was in charge of an art or a science. Music is the art of combining sounds of voice or voices and/or sounds of musical instruments to produce harmony and express emotions. Pieces of music often move humans' souls and make people feel and suffer. Being a small boy, Chaikovsky was shocked by the sounds of music. Music always was used to inspire troops before battles.

The word «theatre» also originates from a Greek word. Theatre is not only the art of acting but also dramatic literature and the place where plays are performed. It was the Greek theatre where the main types of plays were defined (tragedy, comedy and drama). It is interesting to know that the tradition of making rich, beautifully decorated costumes also came from the Greek theatre. For centuries theatre has been the most popular spectator art for both rich and poor people. In Russia puppet theatres with Petrushka and other characters were very popular. Theatre was the place of meeting and dating for the nobles (just think of Leo Tolstoy's «War and Peace»).

Painting (the word is of Latin origin) is the art portraying or representing objects with line and colour. The first pictures were probably the pictures of animals and were drawn for the reason of magic. There are many items portraying gods. In Christianity they are called «icons». The most famous Russian icon painters were Andrey Rublyov and Pheophan Greek. Moslem religion prohibited to portray people and let artists paint only flowers and things because they have no souls. Painters express their ideas through composition, colouring and light and shade effect. There are many techniques developed through centuries to interpret the feelings of an artist into flat images on a canvas or a piece of paper.

Cinema is the youngest of the arts. It appeared in the XIXlh century when the special device was invented. At first, films were silent but later the techniques for shooting sound films and films in technicolour were developed. The problems of art in general and cinema in particular are discussed in the film entitled «A man from Capuchins' Boulevard»

© 2009–2010 Проект We are linguists

Условия и правила

Диалог по английскому языку на тему

Art

В данном разделе вы можете ознакомиться с билетами по различным предметам, школьными и экзаменационными топиками по английскому и немецкому языку, конспектами, а также материалами по педагогической практике.

-What is art's purpose?

-Most people believe that art is an attempt to understand and analyse life. But art also entertains. As an example we can take the plays by Moliere which are bitter satires on the nobles and clergy. The plays were prohibited because they abused the monarch. Many plays teach people to behave, showing their bad qualities and the result of their bad deeds.

-What arts are most popular?

-I think those arts are popular the works of which are easy to understand and which are true to life. You see, the symbolists (Blok, Bely, etc.) were at first less popular than many other poets because the reader had to learn their special, symbolic language. The same can be said about abstract art. This does not mean that these styles are worse, but it means they are more difficult to understand and so they are less popular than others. Well, I think the most popular are music, theatre, painting and cinema.

-Where can you enjoy pieces of art?

-Well, we enjoy music at concerts in the Philharmonic, the Conservatoire and the Chapel. We also enjoy music while watching a ballet or listening to an opera at an opera house. Sometimes in summer you can listen to a piece tor the brass orchestra in a park or a garden. We can see paintings, sculpture and pieces of applied arts in museums and churches, sometimes in the streets (statues of famous people). One can enjoy films at a cinema-hall.

-Do you like music?

-Yes, I do.

-What styles of music do you know?

-There are many styles. Speaking about classical music, I like pieces by Mozart, Chaikovsky, Glinka. I also like songs by Pakhmutova, Krylatov,Dunayevsky. My favourite composer is Kabalevsky.

-What other styles do you know?

-Jazz, techno and rock are popular with the young people.

-Have you ever been to a concert of classical music?

-Yes, many times. Mother likes to listen to the strings. She often takes me, too. My favourite instruments are the harp and the organ.I also like the sound of the guitar and the violin. But I know how difficult it is to play the violin.

-What do you feel when you listen to the music?

-I try to imagine what the composer wanted to express with the music. But usually the music carries me away and I do not only feel, but also see different pictures of people, events and so on.

-Do you like music more than theatre?

-I would not say so. You see, music uses only sounds to express the ideas, but the theatre uses music, dance, movement, colour and singing, so this art is more appealing to many people and for me, too.

-Do you play any musical instruments?

-Yes, I can play the piano because I was taking lessons of piano playing for five years, but now I've quitted it not because I am very busy at school. I can also play the guitar. I learnt to play it in the summer camp, but I only know a few chords to accompany tourists' and bards' songs.

-Do you know many songs?

-Just a few.

-Do you like going to the theatre?

-I'm not much of a theatre-goer, because I do not have much time, but I like to go to the theatre. I was lucky to compare several stagings of the «Swans' Lake» and understood that different dancers dance the same parts differently.

-When did you last see a play?

-It was last year. We saw «Swans' Lake» in the Mariinsky Theatre of Opera and Ballet.

-Did you like the performance?

-The ballet was a success, as usual. The house was full, there were many tourists from abroad. There were tourists from Britain and Japan. They asked me to help them buy programmes. The audience took the performance very enthusiastically, there were many curtain calls and flowers. We bought the tickets in advance and were lucky to get good ones.

-Where were your seats?

-We were in a box, next to the Tsar's Place, which is one of the best seats. We were facing the stage and saw everything perfectly. It is very important, you know. I took opera-glasses and could see even small details.

-What was the setting?

-The setting changed for every picture. In the first picture we saw the yard of the castle, in the second and the fourth - the lake in the thicket of the wood, in the third picture the stage represented the hall of the castle. The scenery was done by an expert. Especially wonderful were the swans swimming across the lake in the dark.

-Who played the main parts?

-Oh, I do not remember, it was a year ago, and I'm not a balletomane. But as far as I remember, the cast was not simply good, but wonderful. Everyone acted very well. The audience applauded much.

-What is the plot of the ballet?

-The ballet tells about a young prince who fell in love with a charmed girl, beautiful Odette. He wanted to marry her, but was deceived by an evil magician and his daughter Odille. But the prince learnt the truth, fought with the magician and married Odette. The story tells about the power of love and faithfulness.

-Is the Mariinsky Theatre of Opera and Ballet your favourite theatre?

-Yes, it is. I have seen many ballets and operas there.

- Do you prefer opera to ballet?

-No, I don't. I like ballet more than opera. I have seen «Don Quixote», «Giselle», «Coppelia» and others and I find them beauti ful and charming. I like some operas, for example, «Figaro's Wedding».

-Are there many differences between the theatre and the cinema?

- Yes, there are. On the one hand, in the cinema we watch a film. We don't see the real actors, only their images. The film is created of several episodes, shot in many variants. Creators of a film choose best passages and arrange them together. In the theatre we have a different situation - we see teai actors and they act in front of us. Theatre actors have no chance to repeat unsuccessful scene. On the other hand, in Films we see real people in real scenery. Special effects and stereo sound help us feel the atmosphere. In the theatre the scenery is usually rather conventional. There are very few effects. So I think that cinema causes more emotions. That's why I usually prefer cinema to theatre.

-What about the ballet and the opera?

-Well, if dramatic pieces sometimes are less appealing than films based on the same book (story, novel), operas and ballets have their special, unique palette of means, which is different from that of the cinema. That's why operas and ballets can't be compared to films.

-If you were an actress / an actor, what rote would you choose to act?

-I'd like to act Juliet? Romeo in "Romeo and Jiliet", a play by Shakespeare. This part is one of the leading in the play, it is full of passion and strong emotions. It is a role for a young performer, and it is a very difficult one. I'd like to act in English. I hope in would my English.

-Are you interested in painting?

- Well, I like some paintings and painters. I often visit art galleries, especially the Hermitage. But I also like the Russian Museum. I think I have visited the Hermitage more than 20 times. There are many beautiful pictures there. I last was there a month ago and visited all my favourite places -the Egypt Department, the Vase Hall and the Pavilion Hall with the famous clock «Peacock». This year I have also been on excursions to Novgorod, Pskov and Luga where I have seen many interesting things, including icon-painting.

-Who is your favourite painter?

-I like pictures by Kuindgy. I also like Russian landscape painters Shishkin and Levitan and canvases by Vasnetsov. They are full of modest Russian nature beauty, its beautiful pines and birches.

-Do you know any American or British painters?

-I know Gainsborough (portraitist and landscape painter), Constable (a famous landscape painter, close to impressionism), Reynolds.

-What art museums in London do you know?

-There are many famous art galleries in London. They are the National Gallery (Italian paintings, Dutch, collection, especially by Rembrandt), the National Portrait Gallery (more than 8000 portraits), the Tate Gallery (British artists), Victoria and Albert Museum (fine and applied arts), the British Museum (antiquities, plants, minerals), Museum of Moving Image (history of cinema).

-What genre do you prefer?

-I like landscapes. Portraits are interesting, too. When I look at landscapes by Kuindgy with their bright colours and at «Ukrainian Night» and «Birch Grove», they at first look like photos, but as you keep looking at them you feel all the artist wanted to express. The warmth of a summer day calls us to seek for the shade of birch-trees, while the cold night air makes you shiver.

-Do you like going to the cinema?

-Well, now there are a lot of possibilities to watch a film without going to the cinema, for example, video or television. But some scenic films should be watched on the wide screen. The tickets are rather expensive, that's why this year I have been to the cinema only two or three times. We prefer borrowing videotapes to watch new films.

-What genre of films do you prefer?

-I like comedies both Russian and foreign. Considering foreign ones, I must say that they are light and really funny. For example, Jackie Chan's ones. He is a good actor and as well the director of many movies. In the end of his films he usually shows stills which are not included in the films, because the wrong movements, fails and so on. That's very funny, and at the same time Jackie shows, that he is not a superman, that he can make mistakes and laugh at himself. There are many nice film with Arnold Schwarzenegger starring, both comedies, like "Twins" and "Kindergarten Cop", and action films ("Terminater 1, 2", "True Lies", "Total Recall"). I like action films very much and try to watch the newest and most unusual ones. These films have a dynamic action, an interesting and intriguing plot. At the same time the good overcome the bad. Some action films are comedies, like "Men in Black" and "Men in Black-II". Some locate the action into the future, like "Star Wars". Some exciting action films show the so-called "parallel reality", like it is done in "Matrix". Science fiction will also do to pass an evening, something like "Starship Troopers" or "The Dune". I like some fantasy films, but not as a genre, sooner because I like the books they are based on. As an example I should mention "The Lord of the Rings". But at the same time I don't like "Conan the Barbarian" that much. I must confess that I don't care for melodramas, but I like musicals, both Russian and foreign, like "The Three Musketeers", "The 3th of June", "Magicians" (Russian), "Westside Story" (the USA).

-Do you have a favourite actor?

-I like Arnold Schwarzenegger. He is a self-made man. He went in for bodybuilding against the will of his family and won many medals, titles and prizes. He is also a specialist in international economics and got a university diploma after he became a millionaire. He has been working hard all his life. Arnold at first starred in films where he had to show his muscles and his skills in fighting, but he learnt to act more psychological parts. To act better he studies literature and follows all the orders of the director. Lately he has got a Taurus Prize for his impact on the slunt.

- What do you think about thrillers?

- They are not bad to be watched from time to time. But my mother thinks that watching thrillers is bad for me and does not let me watch such films often.

-What are your favourite Russian films?

-Oh, many. I like the so called «old comedies», directed by Ryazanov, Gayday and Danelia. Our favourite film is «A Diamond Arm». The most popular and talented actors starred there. Nikulin and Mironov make a perfect duet. They are compared in every way - clothes, behaviour, life styles. There are many comic scenes. Other nice comedies which I would advise to see are "Garage" by Ryazanov and "Operation Ы and Other Shurick's Adventures" by Gayday. Speaking about historical films, I'd name "Russia the Young" about Peter I and his reforms, "Alexander of Neva" about some important battles and protection of Novgorod lands against foreign invaders. There are many wonderful films about the Great Patriotic War: "17 Moments of Spring", "Shield and Sword", "Star" and many others.

- Have you ever watched a film in English?

-Yes, I have recently been lucky to watch «Men in Black». The film is more a comedy than anything else, but it was interesting to watch a film in English. At first I understood nothing because they speak so quickly! But after two or three views I understood most of the words.

© 2009–2010 Проект We are linguists

Топик/тема по английскому языку

Museums and picture galleries

В данном разделе вы можете ознакомиться с билетами по различным предметам, школьными и экзаменационными топиками по английскому и немецкому языку, конспектами, а также материалами по педагогической практике.

Museum is a building where objects illustrating art, history or science are displayed. Museums collect different items. They not only collect but also store, study, systematise and popularise arts, history and other subjects. So museums are divided into museums of Natural History (Zoology Museum in St. Petersburg, Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Museum of Natural History in London), museums of history (National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., The Bath Museum in Bath (England), Ethnography Museum in St. Petersburg, History Museum in Moscow), museums of Science (Polytechnical Museum in Moscow, the Franklin Institute Science Museum in Washington, D.C.) and art museums. The most popular museums are museums of art.

There are many art museums in Moscow, Saint-Petersburg and other Russian cities. The most popular art museum in Moscow is the State Tretyakov Gallery, in Saint-Petersburg it is the State Hermitage.

The Tretyakov Gallery was founded by Pavel Tretyakov, a Russian merchant. In 1892 he granted his collection of Russian painting to the city of Moscow, but the date of the foundation is 1856, when Pavel bought the first works. Now the museum has 7 departments: the Department of Painting and Sculpture of the XVIII - the first half of the XIX century (portraits of tsars, members of the royal family, officials, other outstanding people of the epoch); the Department of Painting and Sculpture of the second half of the XIX century (genre, landscapes by Pukirev, Perov, Savrasov, Aivazovsky, Kramskoy, Kuindgi, Shishkin, Vasnetsov, Surikov, Repin, Levitan); the Department of'Painting and Sculpture on the border of the XIX and the XX centuries (Vrubel, Rerikh, Nesterov, Serov, Kustodiev); the Department of Drawings (more than 20,000 items); the treasure-house (pieces of jewelry and applied arts - decorations for icons, cups, portraits in medallions, etc.); the Department of Ancient Russian Art (icons); the Temple-Museum (a church which also functions as a museum).

The Hermitage is one of the largest museums of the world. It hosts many permanent and temporary exhibitions (their number varies from month to month) in more than 400 halls. The Hermitage is a complex of 6 buildings (Winter Palace, Small Hermitage, Old Hermitage, New Hermitage, the Hermitage Theatre and the First Palace of Peter I). Many architects took part in constructing and reconstructing these buildings -Rastrelli (1754-1762), Stasov, Quarenghi, Montferrand, Rossi, and Brallov. The main departments of the museum are: the Winter Palace and the Hermitage (the Main Staircase, beautiful halls, the Military Gallery with portraits of Russian war leaders, the Grand Throne Room and the Hanging Gardens); the Department of History and Art of the Ancient World (Roman statues and busts, Greek vases and statues); the Department of Western European Art (Italian, Spanish, Flemish, Dutch, German, French, English art is represented by canvases and statues; a rich collection of arms and armour. Among English painters we can see Reynolds's pictures «Infant Heracles kills the snakes sent by Hera» (painted in 1786-1788) which was created as an allegory of the power of the young, but strong Russian Empire. Catherine II sent the artist his royalties and a diamond snuff-box with her portrait.

Two more pictures were ordered to the artist for the Hermitage collection. Gainsborough's work «Lady in Blue» is the most beautiful English painting in the collections of the Hermitage. The works of George Doe, another English painter, are mostly situated in the Military Gallery. The collection of his portraits in the Hermitage surpasses that in Great Britain. The Hermitage hosts a set of dishes by Josiah Wedgewood, an outstanding creator of pieces of ceramics. His «Set with Green Frogs» was made to the Catherine's II order and each piece of 952 items has views of England (more than 1200 landscapes). Each item also has a green frog because the set was made for the palace whose name was translated as « Frogs' moor»); the department of Oriental Art (Egyptian antiques - mummies, sarcophagi, statuettes, papyri, portraits; Chinese pictures and statuettes; Byzantine art and other interesting pieces); the Department of Primitive Art (mostly tools, weapons and pieces of applied art); the Department of Russian Art History (mostly items belonging to the times of Peter I); the First Palace of Peter I is a separate exhibition which was found occasionally while reconstructing the staff dining-room. It was turned into a Department of interiors of Peter's palace and is undoubtedly worth visiting.

There are many museums which are not usual buildings with pictures covering their walls. For example, Vitoslavlitsy in Novgorod and Kizhy in Karelia are two places where one can see izbas and churches built without nails the way they looked one or two hundred years ago. Another interesting place of this kind is the world famous Stonehenge in Great Britain. It is a World Heritage Site. The scientists still do not know whether it was built as an observatory, a cemetery or a temple. But it is a centre of one of the world's earliest cultures. The place is built of stones which had been brought from a place 385 kilometres away.

But the most famous are museums situated in London, this greatest attraction for tourists all over the world.

One of the most popular museums is the Tower of London which used to be a stronghold, a treasure-house, an arsenal, a prison, a mint, an observatory, a zoo and a royal residence. The Tower consists now of several buildings. The first to be built was the White Tower, the walls of which are about 15 feet thick. Queen Ann Boleyn and Elizabeth I were its prisoners. The Tower hosts the National collection of Arms and Crown Jewels. In 1834 the Royal Zoo was taken away, but the ravens stayed in the Tower. The legend says if the ravens leave the Tower, all the state will suffer a terrible depression. All the ravens have names.

The British Museum was founded in 1753 on the basis of Sir Hans Sloane's collection. It consists of two Departments -the Museum of Mankind and the Natural History Museum. The first of the two includes vast collections of works of art in stone, glass, bronze and gold which illustrate the cultures of the Ancient World. The other department contains 5 principal collections on the history of animals, plants and minerals.

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Books and reading

В данном разделе вы можете ознакомиться с билетами по различным предметам, школьными и экзаменационными топиками по английскому и немецкому языку, конспектами, а также материалами по педагогической практике.

Books surround us. They appeared ages ago and took different forms. The oldest form is probably the roll (30-40 centuries B.C.). It appeared in Ancient Egypt, and was as well used in Ancient Greece. The Egyptians used papyrus, brush and red and black ink to draw hieroglyphs, which at first meant things and animals and then started to mean sounds. There were more than 700 of hieroglyphs! Champollion, a French scientist, solved the riddle of these signs with'the help of Rosetta Stone on which there was a text in Egyptian and in Greek. Another ancient form was codex where pages were put one on another. The form of codex w as used in Mesopotamia (where the pages were made of clay), Rome and other countries. The Chinese invented paper, before this important invention people used different materials, mostly skins of animals. The books were copied by hand and cost a whole fortune. Later the printing press was invented so the books became popular and rather cheap. The first primed book was produced in Korea in the 8th century. In China the priming press began to work in the 11th century, in Europe - in the 15th century.

There are many genres of books around us. They can be divided into fiction and non-fiction books.

Non-fiction books contain real information and are used for education and work. They are reference books, dictionaries, atlases, biographies and autobiographies, scientific reports, textbooks and encyclopaedias. In reference books as well as in encyclopaedias you can find facts about different objects and famous people, about countries and animals. At school we use dictionaries to learn the meanings of words. Biographies are a good source of information. Sometimes they can also be a pleasant reading. Fot example, the biography of Moliere by Bulgakov, or of Tchaikovsky by Nina Berberova. Historical books describe different epochs and reigns of kings and queens.

Fiction books are written to give pleasure. They are also called belles-lettres. This word is mostly used when we speak about stories, novels and romances. «War and Peace» by Leo Tolstoy is an example of fiction. But the young usually prefer fantasy books and science fiction. The difference between them is the following: fantasy books usually describe the events and countries in the form of a legend and narrate about the past. A good example of fantasy is «Conan the Barbarian»; science fiction books describe events in the future, the characters and places are given as imaginary and usually take place in the future. «Starship Troopers» by Heinlein, «Stainless Steel Rat» by Harry Harrison are examples of the style.

I myself like science fiction most of all. My favourite science fiction book is «Starship troopers». The author of the book is Robert Heinlein. It has been filmed, but I don't like the film, which is very primitive. The plot of the book, on the contrary, is complex and there are many philosophical ideas built in the sequence of fantastical events and surroundings. The main character of the book is a boy named Johnny. The boy joins the army, because of his love to a girl who wants to be a pilot. But through the book his character and understanding of the situation changes. He understands what it means to be a citizen of the state, to bi responsible for your decisions. While in the army, he understands that only a man who can forget his own interests for the sake of his Motherland is a real citizen. I think, this idea is vital now in our country. I have read many science fiction books by Russian and foreign authors. At the end of the book he is an officer who understands his duty.

But my favourite fiction book is «Gone with the Wind». It was written by Margaret Mitchell. Her father was the President of the Atlanta Historical Society. You know, Atlanta was one of the important cities in the South. Since her childhood the girl had heard stories about the Civil War between the North and the South. When the girl grew up and got married, she decided to write down those stories. So, she wrote «Gone with the wind». The book was published for the first time in 1936. It was a great success and the next year it got the Pulitzer Prize. In 1939 the book was filmed.

I like the book because it has several levels of composition. The first level is the love story - the main character, Scarlett O'Hara, loves Ashley Wilkes, but marries for money another man, Rhett Butler. By the end of the book she understands that she and Rhett are alike and have much in common, that she loves Rhett. But Rhett leaves her, and we can only guess if she can get him back.

The second level is the description of the strong characters oi' the Southerners. Scarlett, a daughter of a rich planter, goes to the field and works as a slave when it is needed. Ashley, so quiet and gentle, goes to the war and fights well and bravely. In difficult situations of my life 1 think that they suffered more, but survived. So, this book helps me to go through the difficulties of my life.

The third level of the book is the atmosphere of the Southern way of life. On the first page we can read the description of the Tarlton twins. When they are compared, the author does not use the usual English expression «as two peas»; she says that they were as two cotton bolls. Margaret Mitchell describes a planter's house and his life routine.

The fourth level is the events of the Civil War between the North and the South, and the post-war life. This is very useful, if you want to understand the modern differences between the northern and the southern states in nowadays America.