Topics for the preliminary:
The Republic of Belarus
The Land and the People of the UK
My Gymnasium and its Traditions
Belarussian Eating Habits
Money Talks
History of Money
The Republic of Belarus
It’s a pity but
a lot of people have a vague idea of the country called Belarus, thinking it’s
just a land of woods and swamps. Surprisingly, one of the most popular searches
on the Internet, related to Belarus is the question “Where is Belarus?”
Thinking about it, let us ask ourselves if it is possible or if it’s correct to
give one definite answer, especially if we bear in mind that our mission is to
unveil this terra incognita for tens of thousands, or may be hundreds of thousands
or perhaps, millions of Internet users. In my opinion the easiest explanation
is its geographical position.
Belarussian
territory is about 207,000 square km. The population is about 9,5 mln people
according to the results of 2009 population census. The republic is divided
into 6 regions called oblasts with the administrative centers in
Minsk, Brest, Grodno, Gomel, Vitebsk and Mogilev. The capital of the country is
Minsk, its political, economic, industrial and cultural center. As you can guess,
Belarus is an inland country without any sea, but with numerous lakes and
rivers, making their way to the Baltic or Black sea.
Our
motherland is a remarkable land. It is generally a flat country;
its highest point is 346-meter Mount Dzyarzhynskaya. Northern Belarus has
a picturesque, hilly landscape with many lakes and gently sloping hills.
There are 3,000 rivers flowing over the territory to two basins - of
the Black and the Baltic seas. The longest rivers are the Dnieper, the
Neman, the Western Dvina and the Western Bug. My country is called
"blue-eyed", because the republic has over 10,000 lakes and the
largest of them are theNaroch, the Osveyskoye and the Dryvyaty. More than a
quarter of the country is covered with forests; the biggest of them
are called puschas. The famous nature reserves are the Belovezhskaya
and the Nalibogskaya Puschas with dense forests of pine,
birchand oak, which are the oldest and most magnificent of
Belarusian forests. The beauty of these places is truly unforgettable. The rare
bisons, the aurochses, which survived fromthe glacial
times, live in the Belovezhskaya Puscha. In general the flora and fauna of
Belarus are very rich. You can find a lot of birds and animals there. One of
them is a stock, which is a symbol of our country, "beneath white
wings". The west-southern part of the republic is covered with
bogs, which are considered to be the lungs of Europe and are called the
Polessye.
The Land and the People of
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the
The
The
Everyone who was born in
Most people live in big industrial cities. Also, there are many lonely hills, quiet rivers, deep lakes and farmlands especially in the south of the country.
The flag of the
Foreigners are always surprised at
MY GYMNASIUM
We know nothing at birth. Everything
we know came through other people teaching us. These people are our parents,
teachers, scientists, and philosophers. And as a
result we are what total education has made us. All children at the age of 6 go
to school. On the first of September millions of pupils come back to school
after summer holidays. We regard the first
day at school as the Day of Knowledge.I have studied in Gymnasium 2
since__________________. My gymnasium is situated in Nikiphorov Street. It is of a typical
design, but the quality of teaching is
rather high. We have nearly 17 subjects to study and it is very difficult to
know each of them if you are not a
child-prodigy. There is a wide range of optional
courses to develop pupils' abilities and talents. One
can join any club of sportive, evening and weekends activities. In other
words we have all the
opportunities to enrich our
personalities. Our doorway is equipped
with a computer and now it's a real problem for lovers to shirk
school. We have fully-equipped rooms to
study chemistry, biology, English and IT. Our classes are well equipped to
carry out experiment and do scientific projects. Our pupils can widely use
computers for studies and scientific research. We have a gym in our gymnasium
so as playgrounds and ground fields because
sport is popular with our students.
Now let’s talk about food. What can you tell me about
eating habits in Belarus?
Just as in many
countries of the world, in Belarus we usually have 3 meals a day: breakfast,
dinner and supper. Belarusian people usually
have breakfast from 6 to 8 o'clock in the morning. Some people have light
breakfast, consisting of a sandwich with cheese or sausage, an omelette, boiled
or fried eggs. Others prefer more substantial food, such as fried or boiled
potatoes with ham or chop, macaroni with sausages or porridge. The usual drink
for breakfast is a cup of tea or coffee with cakes, pies or biscuits.
From 11:00 till
12:00 many people have a bite or lunch. People have it at work. They eat
bread (usually with butter, cheese and
sausage) and drink either coffee or tea. Though some people may prefer to drink
milk or juice. Pastry or biscuits can be
used as a snack. Belarusian children have their lunch at school.
Dinner in Belarus
is the biggest meal of the day. Dinner usually begins with an appetizer: some
salad or a piece of herring for example.
The main course of
the dinner is some kind of soup such as cabbage soup (shchi), beetroot and
cabbage soup (borshch), noodle soup or just chicken broth or okroshka which is
usually cooked in summer. Milk soup is cooked
for children.
For the second course we eat roast meat or
fish with some garnish such as potatoes, rice, some beans, spaghetti and
buckwheat.
The third course is
a dessert. It may include pastry or biscuits with milk, tea, coffee, cocoa,
juice, stewed fruit (компот).
The final meal of the day is supper. It
usually begins at 6 or 7 o'clock p.m. Some people eat salads, fried meat, liver
or fish with potatoes, cereals, spaghetti. This food may be combined with such
vegetables as tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, cabbages, beets, etc. After that we
usually have tea. Children usually have milk or juice with biscuits and sweets
before going to bed. People who have their full dinner in the afternoon have a
light meal.
It should be noted that supermarkets sell
a range of pre-packed meals to be heated in the microwave. Many families in
cities and towns prefer to eat take-away food for dinner instead of cooking it
or to have a snack at McDonald’s.
Money talks
Is money important? Before I answer this question, let me say only this: "Money doesn't bring happiness!" This was once a useful proverb, but now it's old fashioned.
In today's world, if you don't have money you have nothing. Do men control money or is money controlling men? For some people, money is everything. But not everybody thinks that way. We live in such a materialistic society where the common belief is that he, who makes the most money, has the most power and dignity. Often, however, he who makes the most money has the most stress and the least free time. Undeniable, in this modern and sophisticated world, we always look up at wealthy people like Bill Gates. But we must bear in mind that money is not the key to happiness.
Originally, money was created by men for convenience. Nowadays we are not able to imagine a society in which money is unimportant. It is a symbol of power, glory, fame, our entire happiness depends on whether we have it, or we do not. We need to satisfy our basic needs: if we are hungry and homeless, we are less likely to achieve true happiness, and money is necessary at least to get food and a place to live.
Mark Twain used to say this: "Clothes make the man" and I think he was right. Without money, how you can go at the supermarket and buy everything you need? So, yes, I consider that money is important.
What do you know about the history of money?
To begin with, I would like to say that money plays an important role in our life. People use money every day to pay for things they buy. People work for money, they go out to spend money. Some people 14 even make friends for money. In the past people used different objects, for example shells, salt, tobacco.
The objects were used to buy goods. But it was difficult to divide them or to save up for a rainy day.
Later people invented another kind of money. The first coins were made in Turkey; the first paper money appeared in China. Today money is produced and controlled by the government.
Nowadays there are many ways of earning money. Some people become rich due to their talents. Some people win money in lotteries. Children and students take up part-time jobs. With their own money they get a sense of independence. They learn to appreciate their labor. But there are also criminals who don't like to work. They steal money, rob other people and even kill for money. I think it's awful.
Of course, money gives us independence, financial stability and a lot of opportunities for travelling or having fun. But people become money dependant. They want more and more things: clothes, food, cars, houses. And they don't use money to help other people.
As for me, I'm not a person of that kind. I agree that money can make our life more comfortable but it's not everything in this world.
А какое правило ?
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