My Family 1. Family is the most precious thing for me, because this is where I find love & understanding, & support. 2. Our family is quite large by modern standards. 3. It consists of four people - my parents, my younger sister & me. 4. My parents are quite young, about 35, & my sister is four years younger then me. 5. My father is a civil navigator. 6. He spends most of his time at work, so the time when he is home in the evening is something special for my sister & me. 7. My mother is a teacher, & she has more time to spare than my father. 8. We share our problems & secrets with them, & they often give very good advice. 9. There' s often a lot to do about the house, but we are always willing to help with the chores, & everything is done quickly & efficiently. 10. Most of all I like our late dinners or early suppers, when we all gather round the table, & the light of the kitchen lamp creates a relaxed & cosy atmosphere. 11. We talk, & joke, & have fun, because we are all friends. 12. Sundays are also very nice. 13. If the weather is fine, we go skiing in the forest in winter, or to our 'dacha' in summer. 14. In fact, it's just a small cottage on a small plot of land, but we like it a lot, & like to work in the garden, planting, digging, gathering strawberries & tomatoes. 15. But, if I were asked about our family hobby, I would name reading. 16. Reading is a perfect combination of business & pleasure, of intellectual work & entertainment. 17. That's about all. I'm lucky to have such a loving & friendly family, & when I have a family of my own, I will try to make it work on the same lines. Me & My plans for the future. 1. Finishing school is the beginning of the independent life for millions of schools leavers. 2. Many roads are opened before us: vocational & technical school, institutes & universities. 3. But, it's not an easy thing to choose a profession out of more than 2,000 existing in the world. 4. Some pupils follow the advice of their parents or friends, others can't decide even after leaving the school. 5. As for me I made my choice long ago. 6. I specialize in the humanities. 7. Social Sciences & English have always been my favorites, but my chief interest is law. 8. My dream has always been to become a lawyer. 9. My choice of this occupation didn't come as a sudden flash. 10. As a child, I listened to my aunt & uncle discussing professional matters. 11. Little by little, I got interested in the subject & began thinking of law as my prospective occupation. 12. For me, choosing a career is not only a matter of future prestige & wealth. 13. In my opinion, a job should be interesting & socially important. 14. That is the reason why I have chosen the profession of a lawyer, which gives plenty of opportunities to help people in trouble. 15. In addition I should say, whatever profession I choose to follow, the greatest pleasure will surely come from feeling that I am useful to my country. Country that I want to visit. 1. I haven't been to Great Britain yet, & I'd like to visit this country very much, because I like the English language, & I' m curious to learn about everyday life of the people who speak this beautiful language, & just see the sights. 2. Here's what I know about this country so far. 3. The full official name of the country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland. 4. It is a constitutional monarchy - the nominal head of state is Queen Elizabeth the Second, but the real law-making body is the Parliament, consisting of two Chambers, the House of Commons & the House of Lords. 5. The royal family is preserved as a kind of a tourist attraction. 6. The country is situated on the British Isles, which lie off the north-west of Europe. 7. They are separated from the continent by the English Channel, better known by its French name - La Manche. 8. Now, there is a tunnel under the Channel, efficiently binding Great Britain & the continent. 9. The climate is rather mild, influenced by the Gulf Stream, & famous English lawns & gardens are of some special shade of green. 10. The UK is a very highly developed industrial country, with such branches of industry as ship-building, manufacturing of textiles, machinery, electrical & electronic equipment, & many others. 11. The population of the UK is about 55 million people . 12. There are two major political parties in the UK, Labour & Conservative. 13. The Conservative are in office now. 14. I know a lot more about the UK, but this information has been taken from books & mass media. 15. I'd like to visit the country & see everything for myself. My hobby 1. People get a kick out of doing most extraordinary things. 2. The most widespread hobby is collecting. 3. I can't say that I'm really mad about this or that kind of leisure activity. 4. I tried collecting stamps, they are so nice & informative. 5. But gradually my interest just faded away, & I gave my collection to my friend for his birthday. 6. Then I moved on to collecting recordings of the pop groups I liked, but after a while it seemed pointless because music radio stations play old & new hits all the time. 7. I go on doing it, but I wouldn't call it a hobby. 8. I like dancing at some club or disco, but it's just a way of spending time, not a hobby really. 9. Best of all I like reading. 10. It's a very quiet occupation, & it does not require any particular skill or ability. 11. But that's what gives me the greatest pleasure. 12. I enjoy reading all kinds of books - historical novels, travelogues, biographies, novels, science fiction, detective stories, poetry, etc. 13. Someone said that reading to the mind is what exercise is to the body. 14. Books can't be replaced by all the mass media in the world. 15. Reading is a perfect combination of business & pleasure, of intellectual work & entertainment. 16. ............