1. Read the text. To understand it better consult active vocabulary:

First of all, I’d like to tell you about myself and my family. I am Maksym Marchenko. Maksym is my first name and Marchenko is my surname. I am 17. In June I left school and became a student of the National University of Water Management and Natural Resources Use. I am a full-time first-year student of the Faculty of Applied Mathematics and Computer-Integrated Systems.

I can’t say that my family is large. I live with my parents and younger brother in Rivne. It’s a small provincial town in the west of Ukraine. Though I live with my parents I don’t see them very often. My Mum works for advertising agency. I think her job is much more interesting than my Dad’s. I get on very well with her, but sometimes she worries too much. My father is a bit of a workaholic. He works for a big company as a human resource manager. He works late hours, even weekends. He’s nice but when I go out he wants me to be back by 10 o’clock. My brother Mykola is a bit weirdie. He is 15. He spends most of his time on his skateboard. He has a bunch of friends who are all crazy about it. They spend hours practising. He is fond of computer games.

As for me I’ve just spent my second week at the University. I have been finding my way around the University and becoming accustomed to the curricula set for us for this academic year. My life has completely changed. I’m a lark by nature and used to live according to the saying “early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”. But now my usual daily rhythm is changing. Slowly but surely I’m becoming an owl. Not so long ago I did things more efficiently in the morning but now I can hardly wake up. I’m always hurrying. Not to be late for the first class I take a route taxi, though I live not far from the University. After classes I walk home enjoying fresh air. It usually takes me only 20-25 minutes. At home after a short rest I do my homework. Usually I have a lot of work to do. Totally exhausted I go to bed late at night.

I have always been interested in information technologies. I’m used to regarding the computer as a great scientific achievement of our time. We can use computers for so many things – chat on line, send emails, find information for our studies, find information about entertainment and travel, listen to or download music, shop, read about our interests, and certainly practise our English. Teens are more and more ready to learn English on the streets of cyberspace from their pen pals (friends) on the Internet. I’m not an exception! I also have a pen pal. His name is Mike Nilson. He is from the USA, from Boston. Mike is a second-year student of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. I can chat online with my friend thousand of kilometers away. We have much in common. At least we both like computers, mathematics, reading and music. I received an email from him yesterday where he asked to write about my University. It goes without saying I shall send him email as soon as I’m free.