Практический курс разговорного английского языка

dissatisfaction with the appearance – неудовлетворенность внешностью

to be easily influenced by – легко попадать под влияние

to fulfill one’s duties in time – выполнять свои обязанности вовремя

to be illiterate – быть безграмотным

ignorance – невежество

to make your dreams come true – претворять мечту в жизнь

Now we are to speak about teenagers’ problems, in spite of the fact that youth is considered to be the happiest time of a man’s life.  We have got several letters from students living in Belarus. They seem to be a part of great discussion on your problems. We invite you to join this discussion.

Ex. 1. Read these letters and say if you agree or disagree with these students.  Which of these problems are close to you?

Youth is a special time for any person: he or she is no longer a child and not yet an adult. And young people have some problems special to this period of life. One of them is the problem of finding oneself. Some teenagers still remain in a condition of Great Uncertainty: they don’t have particular interests or hobbies; there are no particular aims in their lives. That’s why they are in a constant search, which sometimes makes them choose the wrong way, for example drug addiction. I think if a person has a goal in life, or there is something in the world that interests him or her very much, that person is lucky. A wide range of interest is a sign of an intelligent and broad-minded person. That’s why almost all young people try different sides of life in order to find something which attracts them most of all.  

By Girnik

Everybody thinks that youth is the best period of life. But young people have as many problems as grown-ups.

The problem that alarms me most of all is the problem of planning my future career. It is essential to have a good job. And to get a good job you have to be well-educated. So, after leaving a secondary school I should choose university and see what entrance exams I have to pass. I can’t enter any university without good knowledge, for example of English, so it is necessary to pay for special lessons which mean heavy expenses.

After graduating from the university you have another problem. How to find a good job? Unemployment is a sore point in our country. Even qualified professionals often cannot find a good job. So, planning my future I have to think a lot about the possibility of finding a good job after finishing my education.

By Tanya Savanchuk   

Nowadays teenagers have rather difficult lives. They have so many problems. The main ones are: hard drags, diseases, such as AIDS, problems with adults, early pregnancy and of course violence and crime among youth.

Our world is facing a drugs crisis. The greater part of teenagers are using, or have used drugs. This is the main problem in the world, I think.

Because of drugs, boys and girls become angry. They loose their connections with their parents, and misunderstand them. They have a lot of communicative problems. Teenagers don’t have enough money to buy drugs, so they must steal. And using drugs evokes such a dangerous illness as AIDS. Drug addicts aware of their illness and with this their lives end.

To my mind our government should take the first step in stopping this problem and prevent the selling of drugs. Besides our government should lead different educative programs, such as “Stop AIDS”, or something like that. Even in schools we should have lessons dedicated to these problems. So, in my point of view, we should stop drugs. Teenagers should think about their future life. They should have dreams about their future career. And even if they are given drugs, they should just say “NO”. 

By Olga

As for me, the number one problem among young men is conscription. In our country all  boys must go to the army. (Of course, if they haven’t got serious disease.) It doesn’t mean that I don’t want to carry out the duty of a male citizen of our republic. But our army is like a prison today, with violence, bad food, poor clothes. I think that military service should be a job; a professional army would be more organized. Of course, this problem can be solved only by government and even they cannot solve it now. But adults must remember that the young are society’s future. If the present generation of youths grows up to be “lost”, we have no future.

By Sergey Manko

Every day we have to make important decisions. It is very hard to make them in youth, because we are not children, for whom the world is so simple, and not yet adults, who have life experience.

In this transition period teenagers are very changeable: full of self-criticism, frequent changes of mood, dissatisfaction with their appearance.

Teenagers are also easily influenced by others. And just in this period great number of people begins to smoke, communicate with different groups. But I think, you should love yourself in order to find the right way in life and place in society. I guess, you should not only follow your wishes, but also fulfil your duties in time; control yourself. I would like to say that we shouldn’t be illiterate. Ignorance makes unemployment a sore point.

So we are responsible persons and we should respect ourselves and other people, too. And to respect yourself means to wish yourself happiness and try to make your dreams come true.

By Olga Evkuta    

Ex. 2. Find  in the text the English for:

уже не ребёнок, но ещё не взрослый; состояние сильной неуверенности; находиться в постоянном поиске; большой круг интересов; большие затраты; безработица; квалифицированные специалисты; поступить в университет; возможность найти хорошую работу; становиться злым; не понимать родителей; проблемы в общении; они должны воровать; опасные заболевания; знать о болезни; думать о будущей жизни; мужское население; важные решения; жизненный опыт; переходный период; любить себя; уважать себя и других людей; желать себе счастья.

Ex. 3. Express your attitude to the problem, using the words and word-combinations given bellow:

a)  The problem of finding oneself:

to have particular interests or hobbies, to have an aim in life, a constant search, a goal in life, the wrong way, the right way, a wide range of interests, to be fond of smth., to be interest in, to go in for, to be good at, different sides of life.

b)  The problem of planning one’s future carrier: 

to be well-educated, to leave a secondary school, to attended classes, to be good at, to know foreign languages, to choose university, entrance exams, to pass exams, to pay for, can afford, chargeable education, free of charge, heavy expenses, to find a good job, well-paid job, to have connections, diploma, a good specialist, to have an experience, requirements, to apply, resume, application letter.

c)  The problem of drug addiction:

to choose the wrong way, to be easily influenced by, to use drugs, number one problem, to have problems with adults, to become angry, to misunderstand, communicative problems, to steal, to evoke, to aware of, to take the first step in doing smth., to stop drugs selling, to be given drugs, to turn to crime, law-and-order problems, to become a troublemaker, psychological support center, to talk out one’s problem, to think about future life, to have a goal in life.

d)  The problem of conscription: 

to go to the army, to carry out one’s duty, a male citizen, military service, professional army, to avoid, to escape, to hide, to simulate, to pretend, to defend, to be defeated, to create a better image, to be a real man.

e)  The problem of finding the right way in life and place in society:

to make importance decision, life experience, transition period, to be easily influenced by, to begin to smoke, to follow one’s wishes, to fulfill one’s duty, in time, to control oneself,  to be illiterate, to love yourself, to respect, to be treated with respect, to be responsible, to wish yourself happiness, to make your dreams come true, to live in harmony with yourself.

Ex. 4. Choose the problem from ex. 3, which is close to you, and discuss it with your fellow student. Use the vocabulary and expressions given.

Ex. 5. You have read and discussed five letters (see ex. 1). Write a letter to one of these students. Tell him (or her) about your problems; say if you understand him (or her) and explain why you agree or disagree with him (or her). Begin it in such a way:

Dear Olga              Dear Olga

I fully agree with you when              or             I don’t understand you when 

you say…..                    you say…….

Use expressions of agreement and disagreement.

    Agreement                                                                                                 Disagreement

I fully agree with…              I don’t think I can agree with …

She is quite right              I am afraid she is wrong

I’m of the same opinion                                                              It’s not quite so

It’s really so              On the contrary

I understand when she says               I can’t understand she says…

UNIT III.

KHABAROVSK IS THE CAPITAL OF THE FAR EAST

PART I. KHABAROVSK

Vocabulary:

to stretch [                                          ]  – простираться, растягиваться

fertile [                                          ] – плодородный

to name after – называть в честь

Assumption Cathedral [                                                                      ] – Успенский Собор

Civil war [                                                        ] – Гражданская война

to date  (back) – датировать

a merchant [                                                        ] – торговец, купец

repository [                                                        ] – хранилище

to honour [                                          ] – почитать, чтить

to unveil [                                          ] – открывать (торжественно)

to reward [                                          ] – награждать

indigenous people [                                                        ] – коренные жители

to dismantle [                                                        ] – демонтировать, разбирать

to erect [                            ] – возводить

point of  intersection – точка пересечения

artificial [                                                        ] – искусственный

to knock down [                            ] – сносить

Ex. 1. Read the proper names, paying attention to the definite article.

The Russian Far East, the Far-Eastern Economic region; the Urals, Western Siberia; Assumption Cathedral, the Civil War, the Far Eastern State Scientific library, the Russian Tsar Nikolay II, the Great October Socialist Revolution, the War Memorial, Nazi Germany, the State Museum of the Far East, the Russian Geographical Society, the Far Eastern Art Museum, Governor-General of the Eastern Siberia count Muravyov-Amurskiy, the Transsiberian Railway.

Ex. 2. Read and translate the text.

Khabarovsk 

Khabarovsk is one of the biggest administrative, industrial, scientific and cultural centres of the Far East, the capital of the Far Eastern Federal Okrug. It stretches along the right bank of the mighty Amur river and Amurskaya tributary for 45 kms (28 miles) and covers the area of almost 154 square miles (40 hectares). Khabarovsk is a centre of a vast and rich territory where the first Russian settlements appeared a very long time ago. These lands attracted people from Central Russia, the Urals and Western Siberia with their fertile soil, rivers swarming with fish, large forests and  fur animals.

In 1858 a military post to guard Russian-Chinese frontier was founded . It was named Khabarovka after the Russian explorer of the 17th century Yerofei Khabarov. In 1880 it was promoted to a city rank and in 1893 was renamed Khabarovsk. During the 20th century Khabarovsk has grown into a big modern city with the population of about 600 thousand people.

The central part of Khabarovsk is built on the summits of 3 hills named Muravyov-Amurskiy street, Lenin street, Seryshev street, which in their turn are crossed by a number of parallel streets going up and down the hills.

Komsomolskaya Square is the beginning of the main street of the city-Muravyov-Amurskiy street, which ends by Lenin square. Previously it was called Sobornaya after a beautiful Assumption Cathedral which stood here. It was the place were all city's religious ceremonies were held. Later the square and the Cathedral were destroyed. At the end of the 30-s the Komsomol members rebuilt the square, that was how the square got its name. But a beautiful Cathedral appeared there again only in 2002. In the Square there is also a monument devoted to the participants of the Civil war.

There are some buildings adjoining the square. One of them the old red-brick building dates back to 1902. It belonged to the family of the rich merchants Plusnins, one of them was the mayor of the city just before 1917. Today it is the Far Eastern State Scientific-Research Library with the modest modern information support facilities and unique editions. Its repository now has 2 mln 700 thousand books and the annual input exceeds 80 thousand.

The main street leads to the main square of the city-Lenin Square. It was built as Nikolaevskaya Square in honour of the last Russian Tsar Nikolay II. After the Great October Socialist Revolution it was renamed the Square of Freedom and later the Square of Stalin. The monument to Lenin was unveiled  on November 7th, 1925. It has been called Lenin Square since 1957. The main square of the city was opened after reconstruction in October, 1988.

Another place of interest of Khabarovsk is the War Memorial Complex. It consists of two parts: the War Memorial itself and Glory Square. Glory Square was built in 1975. There is an obelisk here with the names of the Far-Easterners rewarded by the Star of the USSR Hero. The second part, the War Memorial, was built in 1985 in honour of the 40th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany. On the granite wall there are the names of the Far Easterners fell in the battles of the World War II. There is the eternal flame to remember the heroes of the WWII for ever.

There are several museums in Khabarovsk. The State Museum of the Far East, named after N.I. Grodekov, is one of the largest and oldest of them. It was founded in 1894 on the initiative of the Russian Geographical Society. Different displays of the Museum tell visitors about flora and fauna of the Far East, its history, life and customs of the indigenous people.

Another leading museum is the Far Eastern Art Museum. It was opened in 1931. The Museum has a big collection of paintings, sculptures, icons, many of which arrived from Russia's largest state museums like the Hermitage, the Tretyakov Gallery and the State Russian Museum. The museum also has works representing the traditional art of the indigenous people of the Far East.

There are some places of interest just along the bank of the Amur. One of them is the monument to Muravyov-Amurskiy. The monument is situated just near the famous Amur cliff, which is also considered to be the sight of Khabarovsk. Originally, a monument to the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia count Muravyov-Amurskiy was erected in 1891. In 1925 it was dismantled. On the initiative of the citizens of Khabarovsk it was re-erected in May 1992.

Khabarovsk is situated in the centre of the Far-Eastern economic region and it is the point of intersection of the most important transport ways. The Transsiberian Railway (the longest in the world – over 10.000 km) goes through the city. Every day about 30 passenger trains go through Khabarovsk and all guests who come to the city by trains are met by the impressive statue of Yerofei Pavlovich Khabarov. Though, it was Vasiliy Poyarkov, who was the first Russian to come to Amur, but actually Y. Khabarov was the first to found the Russian settlements here. The monument to Y. Khabarov (designed by Milchin) was erected in the Railway Station Square in 1958.

Khabarovsk is often called an air gate of the Far East as many airlines of national, local and international importance cross here. Khabarovsk airport is the largest and the most important in the Russian Far East and Siberia.

Khabarovsk is a recognized centre of cultural, artistic and sports life both for the Khabarovskiy Kray and the entire region. Here come touring the leading theatres of the Russian Far East and here take place theatre and musical festivals, Kray and zonal art exhibition, sports competitions. The following theatres work in Khabarovsk: Drama Theatre, the only in the Far East Operetta Theatre (Musical Comedy Theatre), Young Spectators Theatre, Puppet Theatre and Triad Pantomime Theatre. The reconstruction of the Concert Hall of the Kray philharmonic society was a nice present for musicians and the audience. In its technological and design solutions the Hall is unrivalled for all Russia.

No less great contribution to cultural life meant the construction of the Khabarovsk Circus for 1.300 viewers. It has no architectural analogues.

The success of local sportsmen is a special pride of Khabarovsk citizens. The citizens can attend good level sports facilities (sports palace in Lenin stadium, tennis courts in Lenin and Dynamo stadiums, swimming pool "Neptun").

The largest super– modern sports and entertainment centre "Platinum Arena" with an artificial ice rink and a field for training was built in 2003.

Khabarovsk is growing and improving all the time. Old houses are knocked down to give place to high modern buildings. It attracts many tourists from various parts of Russia and from foreign countries by its modern housing developments, its light-filled streets and wonderful squares, its theatres, museums and recreation centers.

Ex. 2. Find English equivalents in the text:

плодородная почва, пушные звери, Успенский собор, переименовать, участники Гражданской войны, хранилище, называть в честь, торжественно открыть, по инициативе, народное творчество коренного населения, генерал-губернатор Восточной Сибири граф Муравьев-Амурский, приезжать на гастроли, спортивно-зрелищный комплекс.

Ex. 3. Make up word combinations:

centre, intersection, to guard, library, museum, representing, statue, summit, anniversary, to reward, indigenous, to found, capital, theatre, reconstruction

Ex. 4. Complete the sentences:

1.      Khabarovsk is …

2.      In 1858 a military post …

3.      Khabarovsk is built …

4.      Komsomolskaya Square is the beginning …

5.      Previously Komsomolskaya Square was called …

6.      The old red-brick building …

7.      The main street leads …

8.      Another place of interest of Khabarovsk …

9.      There is an obelisk here …

10.  On the granite wall there are …

11.  The State Museum of the Far East …

12.  Another leading Museum is …

13.  The monument to Muravyov-Amurskiy …

14.  Khabarovsk is situated in the centre …

Ex. 5. Insert prepositions were necessary:

1.      Khabarovsk stretches along the right bank of the mighty Amur river and Amurskaya tributary … 45 kms (28 miles).

2.      The military post was named Khabarovka … the Russian explorer … the 17th century Y. Khabarov.

3.      During the 20th century Khabarovsk has grown … a big modern city.

4.      The central streets are crossed … a number of streets going … and … the hills.

5.      There are some buildings adjoining … the square.

6.      Lening Square was built as Nikolaevskaya Square … honour … the last Russian Tsar Nikolai II.

7.      Originally, a Monument … the  Covernor-General … Eastern Siberia count Muravyov-Amurskiy was erected in 1893.

8.      The Transsiberian Railway goes … the city.

9.      All guests who come … the city … trains are met … the impressive statue of Y.P. Khabarov.

Ex. 6. Explain the dates:

1858, 1880, 1902, 1925, 1931, 1956, 1957, 1894, 1891, 1958, 1988, 1992, 2002

Ex. 7. Expand the Statements:

1.      Khabarovsk is the centre of the Far Eastern region.

2.      In 1858 a military post was founded.

3.      Komsomolskaya Square has a long history.

4.      Lenin Square is the central square of the city.

5.      The War Memorial Complex is another place of interest of Khabarovsk.

6.      The State Museum of the Far East is one of the largest and oldest museums.