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You may also make your speech interesting by using colorful, descriptive language. To make your speech entertaining use humor, because audience loves jokes, funny situations, witty remarks. Remember, humor is effective when done well. Keep in mind that neither your audience nor you expect perfection. You are not professional speaker, and this is your firs speech in the class. Do your best on the assignment and have fun with it. Plan what you want to say, organize the material clearly, practice thoroughly, concentrate and deliver your speech. Deal with your nervousness by thinking positively and visualizing yourself giving successful speech. You may be surprised by how much you enjoy giving your first speech!

NEW YORK

New York is the largest city in the USA and the biggest seaport. It is the business centre of the United States. New York is situated in the mouth of the Hudson river.

In comparison with such ancient historical cities as, say, Rome, London, Moscow or Paris, New York is quite young. It was founded in 1613 by Dutch settlers.

There are five destricts in the city: Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Richmond. Manhattan is the central and the oldest part of the city. It is the distrisct of business and finance. It is here in Wall Street that many business offices, banks and the world famous New York stock exchange dominates business life of many countries.

The total area of New York is 365 square miles or 900 square kilometers. Its population together with the population of its suburbs amounts to 16 million people.

Among the inhabitants of New York one can meet people of almost all nationalities. They settled here during the immigration in the 19^th and at the beginning of the 20^th century.

A traveler who visits New York for the first time wonders at the modern architecture. The Statue of Liberty, which is on Liberty Island, was a present from France in 1876 on the occasion of the 100^th anniversary of American independence. This statue and a few 18^th and 19^th century churches, hospitals, newspapers affices and other buildings are the only example of “old” architecture in New York. Wherever your eyes travel, everywhere you can see sky-scrapers.

New York, one of the USA leading manufacturing cities, is the home of great firms and banks. The most important branches of industry are those producing vehicles, glass, chemicals and all kinds of machinery. The city has very busy traffic. Its streets and highways are full of cars and buses.

The mouth of the Hudson river makes an excellent harbour for numerous passengers and cargo ships from all over the world.

Speaking about New York one can`t but mention the outstanding role, the city plays, in the cultural life of the country. New York has many museums and art galleries which have collected works of art of many peoples and of all times. Many of them are on contstant display in the Metropolitan of Art, the Whitney Museum of art.

Most of the theatres and cinemas are in or near Broadway, the longest street and the biggest shopping district in New York. The Motropolitan and Modern Arts Museums attract many visitors. 

WASHINGTON

Washington, the capital of the United States of America, is situated on the Potomac River in the District of Columbia. The district is a piece of land ten miles square and it does not belong to any separate state but to all states. The district is named in honour of Columbus, the discoverer of America.

The capital owes much to the President of the USA – George Washington. It was G. Washington, who chose the place for the District and laid in 1790 the cornerstone of the Capitol, where Congress sits.

Washington is not the largest city in the USA. It has a population of 900 000 people.

Washington is a one-industry town. That industry is government. It does not produce anything expect very much scrap paper. Every day 25 railway cars leave Washington loaded with scrap paper.

Washington has many historical places. The largest and tallest among the buildings is the Capitol with its great House of Representatives and the Senate chamber. There are no sky-scrapers in Washington because no other building must be taller than the Capitol.

The White House is the President`s residence. All American presidents expect George Washington (the White House was not yet builtin his time), have lived in the White House. It was built in 1799. It is a two-storied, white building.

Not far from the Capitol is the Washington Monument, which looks like a very big pencil. It rises 160 metres and is hollow inside. A special lift brings visitors to the top in 70 seconds from where they can enjoy a wonderful view of the whole city.

The Jefferson Memorial was built in memory of the third President of the USA, Thomas Jefferson, who was also the outhor of the Declaration of Independence. The memorial is surrounded by cherry-trees.

The Lincoln Memorial is devoted to the memory to the 16^th President of the US, the outhor of the Emancipation Proclamation, which gave freedom to Negro slaves in America.

On the other bank of the Potomac lies the Arlington National Cemetery where President Kennedy was buried. American soldiers and offices, who died in World Wars I and II are buried there too.        

THE IRISH MUSIC

Ireland is strong and rich in music. The Irish people love to sing, to dance and to make music of all kinds. The harp has always been a very important musical instrument in Ireland. In the wars between the Irish and the English, it was like a national flag for the Irish. In the seventeenth century it became more than that. One very famous harper was O`Carloan. He was born in Westmeath in about 1670. When O`Carloan was about sixteen years old his eyes failed and he became blind. With the help of a kind, rich lady he learned to play the harp. He also wrote poetry and music for the harp. People have saved a lot of his music and harpers still play O`Carloan`s beautiful songs.

When they hear the word “nocturne”, people usually think of Chopin. Chopin`s nocturnes are famous but the first nocturnes came from an Irishman. He was John Field. He was a pupil in London of the great piano player, composer and teacher Clementi. He was one of the really great pianists. We can`t hear him today because there were no records of music in his time.

Ireland also has its great pop and rock musicians. A very successful group is U2. It started in Dublin in 1979. U2 is a rock group. It knows the young people of Ireland and the things that they feel and want. They speak for young Irish people but they are famous all over the vorld.

Today there are many Irish musicians. A lot of them are internationally famous, and that is wonderful for a country with only five million people.  

THE IRISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

The Irish have their own language. It comes from their Celtic history. But today nearly all Irish people speak English. The Irish speak English in their own special way. Foreigners don`t easily understand an Irish accent, but it is strong and musical, and many people think that it is very  attractive. Many fine writers have come from Ireland. Some, like James Joyce, have helped the world to know Ireland better. This writer was writing at the beginning of 19<sup>th</sup> century, when Ireland was on the road to independence. James Joyce was the first of ten children. He went to school and college in Dublin, but when he was still a young man he went to live in Paris. For many years of his life he was in Paris, Italy and Switzerland. In his first book he wrote short stories about his time as a boy in Dublin. But there are some famous Irish writers like Oscar Wilde and G.B. Shaw who didn`t write about Ireland. G.B. Shaw was also born in Dublin and also wrote plays. Shaw was very witty man, but he was above all a thinker. He wanted to change the things that were wrong in the world. He disliked the things that were false. At one time people thought that Shaw was a second William Shakespeare. Today not many people think that but a lot of people go to see his plays.

Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin. He went to Trinity College and later to Oxford University. Wilde wrote novels and poetry but people remember his plays. Most of his plays are comedies.

SERGEI PAVLOVICH KOROLYOV – THE FOUNDER

OF PRACTICAL COSMONAUTICS

Academician S.P. Korolyov is a famous scientist and founder of practical cosmonautics. He was the chief  constructor of the Earth sputniks and spaceship.

S.P. Korolyov was bor in 1906 in the small Ukrainian town of Zhitomir into a family of teacher. He spent his childhood with his grandparents in the town of Zezhin where he studied at home with a teacher. In 1922, at the age of 15, Sergei Korolyov began to study at a vocational building school in Odessa, where he received his secondary education and became a builder.

He was interested in mathematics, literature and he read a great deal. All his life he loved music. In 1923 Sergei Korolyov joined a Glider Pilot`s Club, where he learned to construct gliders and to fly them.

In 1925 Korolyov entered the Kiev Polytechnical Institute where he studied aviation and mathematics, but in the evening he had to work for money: he was a building worker, he worked at the post-office and he played very small roles in films.

After two years in Kiev Korolyov came to Moscow. In the day-time he worked at an aeroplane factory and in the evening he studied at the Moscow Higher Technical School. After lectures he worked at home on the design of a new glider.

At the Moscow Higher Technical School  Korolyov learned about K.E. Tsiolkovsky`s ideas on space travel and about his rocek. In 1930 S.P. Korolyov graduated from the Moscow Higher Technical School and became an aviation engineer. At the same time he finished the Moscow Pilot School. During the Great Patriotic War S.P. Korolyov constructed a jet engine for aeroplanes and rockets.

On October 4, 1957 the first man – made sputnik of the Earth was launched into space. It was the result of thirty years hard work and Chief Constructor was S.P.Korolyov. Then dogs were sent into space and only after a lot of experiments the firs cosmonaut in the world – Y.A. Gagarin launched into space in the spaceship “Vostok” on April 12, 1961.

After this there were many other longer and more difficult flights. Then followed rockets to the Moon, Mars and Venus.

S.P. Korolyov died in 1966. For his brilliant work in the name of science and progress he was awarded two Gold Stars of the Hero of Socialistic Labour.

People will always remember the names of those who opened a new era in the conquest of outer space, and the name of S.P. Korolyov is one of them. 

BRITISH HOMES

There are 22 million homes in Britain – big homes and small homes, old cottages and new buildings, houses and flats. (Americans say “apartment” but British people say “flat”). Many British people love old houses and these are often more expensive than modern ones. They also love gandening and you will see gardens everywhere you go: in towns, villages and out in the country. Some are very small with just one tree and a few flowers. Others are enormous with plenty of flowers and enough vegetables and fruit trees. Two third of the families in Britain own their houses. Millions of these houses are the same with two or three bedrooms and bathroom upstairs, diningroom and kitchen downstairs. To pay for their house, home owners borrow money from a “building society” and pay back a little every month.

There are a great many different kinds of homes in Britain, but there are not enough! It is often very difficult for young people to find a home when they want to start a family. British homes are usually smaller than American homes. But like Americans old people, young families and unmarried people do not usually live together.  

AT THE THEATRE

The 20^th century brought great changes into the theatre. Cinema, radio, television, video altered the course of the major performing arts and created the new ones. But still there are hundreds of puppet theatres, conservatories and philharmonics, musical comedy theatres, drama theatres and opera houses where the audiences are excited at the prospect of seeing a play and the actors are most encouraged by the warm reception. But before going to a theatre you should book a ticket at a box-office. The most expensive seats are in the stalls, boxes and dress-circle. The seats in the balcony, pit and the upper circle are less expensive, they are cheap. Then at the entrance to the theatre the attendant tears your theatre ticket in half. He gives you your half back so that you can find your seat and sells a programme that will tell you which parts the actors are playing and how many acts there are in the play. Then you take your seat and may enjoy the play.

I have always envied the dwellers of large cities. They have so many opportunities to enjoy themselves. Theatres, cinemas, variety shows, circus, conservatoire, concert halls, etc. are at their disposal. In provincial towns like mine is we have only amateur dramatics. That`s why I always take the smallest change to go to a theatre when in a city.  

INDEPENDENCE DAY

On July 4 the Amercans celebrate their national holiday – Independence Day. The United States gained independence as a result of gradual and painful process. By the mid 1700`s, it became difficult for thirteen British colonies in the New World to be ruled by a king 3000 miles across the ocean. The British empire imposed high taxes upon the colonies.

In 1774, the First Continental Congress drew up a list of grievances against the British crown. This document was first draft of the document that would formally separate colonies from England. In 1775, the Revolutionary War began. On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress presented a second draft of the list of grievances. On July 4, the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of indepence. But the War of independence lasted until 1783. After the war Independence Day became an official holiday.

On July 4, Americans have holiday from work. People have day-long picnics with favorite foods like hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, and baked beans. Lively music is heard everywhere. People play baseball or compete at three-legged races or pie-eating or water-melon-eating contests. Some cities have parades with people dressed as the original founding fathers who march to the music of high school bands. In the evening people gather to watch firework displays. Wherever Americans are around the globe, they will get together to celebrate Independence Day.   

CALIFORNIA LIFESTYLES

Why do so many new ideas come from California? It must be something in the air. New lifestyles, new kinds of medicine, new religions, new house styles – so many new thing come from California.

Let`s talk about bungalows, for example. A bungalow is a simple house of one storey with a yard around it. Bungalows first became popular in southern California around 1900. Thousands of them were built very quickly. The style travelled all over the U.S., and for a long time all bungalows were called “California Bungalows”.

And now about the Spanish style of house. It`s popular in many places now. But it started in California. The old Californian “Spanish Mission” houses have thick adobe walls and round roof tiles. They are cool and comfortable. Inside, there are tiles on the floor, and heavy wooden doors.

Santa Barbara, a favourite Californian vacation town, is famous for its Spanish architecture. The story began in 1925. A big earthquake destroyed many of the buildings. After this disaster, a woman called Pearl Chase worked hard to bring in new laws. All the buildings in Santa Barbara, she said, must be in the Spanish style, with walls and red roofs. People agreed with her, and Santa Barbara today is one of the prettiest towns in the United States.

Californians love the sun, and their houses show it. The old ranch houses of California copied the mission style. In the centre of the house was an open place, or “patio”, with buildings on two or three sides. Californians liked the patio. They liked to live half inside and half outside. New houses today often have patios. People work, cook, sunbathe and talk to their friends on the patio. New modern houses all over the United States have copied the idea of the Californian patio. Some Californian ideas are not so easy to copy. Go up in an airplane, and look down at Los Angeles or San Diego. What are all those blue thing next to the houses? That`s right. They`re swimming pools. Not many people outside California can pay for their own swimming pool in their own backyard.     

CHARLES DICKENS

Charles Dickens was born in 1812. He lived in the south of England when he was a little boy. His father worked in an office. He was a very clever man, but he was very poor. Charles had many brothers and sisters, but he did not often play with them. His father had many books and Charles liked to read them. He learned to read very early. When Charles was 10 years old, his family went to London.

There his father got iinto debt (as he had little money) and than into debtor`s prison. So little Charles began to work when he was ten. That was the beginning of Charles` hard life.

He worked at a small factory in London, pasting labels on blacking bottles. He had to work in a dirty room with no windows. He didn`t like his work, but he had to work at the factory for two years. Then he went to school for three years, but he did not learn much at school. He learned much at home, from his father and from other clever people.

Later he worked as a reporter to the Parliament and became a writer of short stories.

In 1837 he published his first novel “The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club”. And the young reporter became a famous writer. Then he published novel after novel – “Oliver Twist”, “Dombey and Son”, “David Copperfield” and many other good books.

His books are very interesting; they tell us about the hard life of the poor people in England of that time. When we read his books, we something laugh, but we often want to cry.

Charles Dickens died in 1870.

He is one of the greatest novelists in the English literature. Dickens lived more than a hundred years ago, but people in the whole world like to read his books today, because in his books he showed a real world and people of Victorian England.

SCHOOLS ABROAD

In Britain all children from five to sixteen go to school. They spend six years in “primary” schools and then go on to “secondary” school. In Britain there are “state” schools, which are free and private schools for which parents pay. Many British private schools are “boarding” schools. The children there usually wear uniforms. They stay at school all the time and only come home in the holidays.

In America all children from six to sixteen go to school. They spend six years in “elementary” school in four or six years in “secondary” or “high” school. At the end of every school year the child takes a test. If he doesn`t do well, he has to repeat the material once more. If he does well he goes into the next class. School education is free. Some schools have modern teaching equipment like computers. But there are also small country schools with just one classroom.

At the end of their time at school, most students get a high school diploma. If they want to go to college, they take college admission tests. Teaching in both countries is usually quite informal. Students often work together in groups and go to the teacher only when they do need help. 

NEWSPAPER REPORTING

The newspaper printing is a rather unusual activity since each day the newspaper material is prepared anew. Newspaper includes editorial board work the following functions: getting the right news, writing it in the form of an article, selection of the best items for the print, and displaying the selection copy in the paper.

All these tasks are performed by journalists, editors and rewrite men, photographers and make-up editors responsible for the issue of the paper.

Thus, the newspaper reporting starts with collecting information for the paper. However, journalism does not stop here. Newspapers and magazines publish a great deal of stories, not only news items or political stories, for example, stories of humourous or some other type. Such essay-type articles may be called human interest stories. Besides, newspapers carry many items on sports, personalities of today as well as stories on science, art and technology. Rather popular are also the reports about the flights of astronauts and space research matters in general.    

Human interest stories are often written in the form of an interview, or as some journalists say, a “profile” is given. It is no secret that different newspaper publications differently influence the reader, this depending on the level of the skill of the journalist himself or the type of the topic being covered.

One can often hear some reporters who have just started their career in journalism asking this question: how to conduct an interview? There are hardly any rules to that effect because each interviewee is different. In most instances, the journalist`s problem is how to get the interviewee to start talking. The opening  questions, therefore, are of special importance. The reporter should not ask questions that call for only yes-or-no response. Another problem is how to keep on talking. Some interviewers take copious notes, others trust their memory and take notes only about the exact names, places, figures, and the like.

The above-mentioned profile-type stories may be characterized as “personality sketches” reading which one learns much about interesting aspects of somebody`s life. Other everyday topics covered by newspapers are stories on crime, medicine and law. Those organs of press which focus on entertainment, crime and just gossip are justly called “commercial”. These papers are published primarily for profit. Usually they have a considerable readership.     

LIBRARIES

Libraries play an important part in the cultural development of a country. People have a desire to learn, they seek knowledge. Books satifly this desire.

Books should not be read only for pleasure. Reading books helps us in our education. We can find all kinds of books in the libraries: novels, biographies, fiction, short stories, books and traveling, technical books, magazines, books for children and so on. In some libraries we can find books in many foreign languages.