Travelling by ship

Almost all people like to travel. When you have got holidays you can travel by car, by train, by plane and by sea. I like to travel by sea best of all. Some years ago we took a cruise along the Black Sea coast on board the liner Ukraine . We came to Odesa by train. Then we went to the seaport and saw our ship. It was big. We liked it very much. I remember the ship and our cabin. Our cabin was comfortable. It had got two berths, a table two chairs and one wide window and the warm wind was blowing through it. There was fresh air in our cabin during all the voyage. We had breakfast, dinner and supper on board the ship. When it was time to have meals we went to the restaurant. The weather was fine. After breakfast we spent a lot of time on the deck sitting in deck chairs or standing at the rail, watching the ships, passing not far from our ship. It was pleasant to watch the waves too. I remember the sunrise and the sunset well. It was unforgettable. In the afternoon I took a sunshade because the sun was shining brightly. It was hot in the sunshine. In the daytime we liked to watch the sea-scape. At four oclock we entered the port Adler. There were some ships there. We saw many people on the pier. We had some free time in Adler and we went for a walk while the ship was in the port. The water was clean and it was pleasant to swim in the sea. At 8 oclock we came back. The liner was going to sail off. In the evening we patched TV, danced or stayed on the deck when the weather was fine. I enjoyed my trip. This voyage impressed me for all my life.

Environment

Nowadays, environmental problems are the most burning for the society. Air, water, land and nuclear pollution badly damage the nature. People cut down trees and destroy the habitat of thousands of animals. As a result, many species are in danger of extinction. Factories pollute our rivers and lakes with dangerous chemicals. The increasing number of cars in towns and cities has led to the growth of harmful gases in the atmosphere. There is much litter everywhere, our parks and forests are full of rubbish.

People are becoming more and more aware that our planet is under threat and it’s all our fault. Fortunately, it’s not too late to solve these problems. We have the time, the money and the technologies to take care of our planet.

But the most important thing we must do is to open our eyes and act immediately. The Earth is our home and we should protect and save it for ourselves and for the future generations.

Ukraine

Ukraine is a sovereign state; its independence was proclaimed in 1991. Ukraine is situated in the east of Europe. The territory of Ukraine is 603 700 square kilometres. Ukraine borders on Russia, Belarus, Poland, Moldova, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania. It‚ washed by the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov and has very important ports. Ukraine is the largest country in Europe excluding Russia. 5% of Ukraine‚ territory is mountainous; the rest part of the Ukrainian area is flat. Ukraine has the Carpathians and the Crimean Mountains. The Carpathians is the natural mountainous boundary of Ukraine.

The Dnieper is the main river of the country; it‚ the third longest river in Europe. Such rivers as the Dniester, the Danube, the Southern Bug and the Seversky Donets are also important.

The population of our country is about 46 million people. Besides Ukrainians the representatives of many other nationalities live there: Russians, Jews, Belarusians, Moldavians, Romanians, Greeks, Tatars, Poles, Armenians, Germans, and other ethnic minorities.

The biggest cities of Ukraine are Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhya, Donetsk, Odessa, Mykolaiv and others.

Ukraine is developed industrial and agricultural country. It‚ rich in iron ore, coal, natural gas, oil, salt and other mineral resources. Ukraine has such branches of industry as metallurgy, machine-building, power industry, chemical industry and agriculture.

Ukraine has a rich historical and cultural heritage. There are many higher educational establishments, theatres, libraries, museums, art galleries in Ukraine.

Ukraine is a member of the United Nation Organization and takes part in the work of many international organizations.