Every nation and every country has its own customs and traditions. In Britain traditions play a more important part in people's life than in other countries. The British are proud of their traditions and carefully keep them up.

The British and tea are inseparable. 8 out of 10 people in Britain drink tea every day and Britain imports about 20% of all the world's tea. Tea makes up about half of all that a British person drinks. Tea has even played a part in British literature and history.

One of the most striking features of British life is the self-discipline and courtesy of people of all classes. There is little noisy behaviour, and practically no loud disputing in the street.

Halloween Hey, hey, for Halloween! Then the witches shall be seen, Some in black, and some in green, Hey, hey, for Halloween! You should be very careful on the night of October 31.

Most European countries "celebrate" April 1st in some strange way, either by mocking the simple-minded or honouring the fool. Most of the tricks played on this day are far from original, and many have been used so often that they have become traditional.

American holidays are strikingly different in origin and show surprising similarities in the manner of their celebration. No matter what the holiday's origin is, they all seem to be the same thing.

July 4m, or Independence Day, is the most important American holiday. It's the birthday of the United States of America. On this day, in 1776, America signed the Declaration of Independence and started the fight for freedom from British rule.

Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492. At least that is what all elementary school children were always taught: "In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue." Of course, Columbus never "discovered" North America, and the regions he explored were already inhabited. He only discovered them from the viewpoint of the Europeans.

If you are not wealthy there is no use in being a charming fellow. Romance is the privilege of the rich, not the profes­sion of the unemployed. The poor should be practical and prosaic. It is better to have a permanent income than to be charming. These are the great truths of modern life which Hughie Erskine never realised.

The modern world is becoming smaller all the time. Every day distances between different countries seem less. For this reason it's becoming more and more important to know different languages, especially English. One billion people speak English today.

We've entered a new era: the twenty-first century. Of course, it's exciting and we are trying to predict what our life will be like in the future. It will certainly become better - I'm sure of it.

People have dreamed of travelling in space for thousands of years. But it was not until 1957that it became a reality. On October 4, 1957 Russia launched the first man-made satellite into space. It was called Sputnik 1. On April 12, 1961 the Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to orbit the Earth.

Probably in no other country are there such great differences between the various national daily newspapers — in the type of news they report and the way they report it. On the one hand, there are the "quality" newspapers: The Times, The Independent, The Guardian, the Financial Times and The Daily Telegraph.

The planet Earth is only a tiny part of the universe, but it's the only place where human beings can live. Today, our planet is in serious danger. Acid rains, global warming, air and water pollution, overpopulation are the problems that threaten human life on Earth.

Tn the past people learnt about news from newspapers. Nowadays people lusually learn what is happening in the country and in the world from TV or radio news programmes or from the Internet. Still we cannot imagine our life without newspapers. There are dozens of them on every news-stand.

The mass media play an important part in our lives. Newspapers, radio and especially TV inform us of what is going on in this world and give us wonderful possibilities for education and entertainment. They also influence the way we see the world and shape our views.

Scientists say that in the future people will live longer. With healthier lifestyles and better medical care the average person will live to 90 or 100 instead of 70 and 75 like today. When the human genome is decoded, we'll probably live up to 150.

Three months passed. Little by little Andrew got used to this strange town, surrounded by the mountains, and to the people most of whom worked in the mines. The town was full of mines, factories, churches and small dirty old houses.

I was born at Number Nineteen, Tummill Street, London. My mother died when I was five years old. She died fifteen minutes after my sister Polly was born. As my father worked from morning till night, he had no time to look after Polly and me, so he married again soon.

Nous avons un appartement dans un immeuble moderne. C'est' un immeuble de huit йtages, avenue Gorki. Notre appartement est au quatriиme. Il est trиs confortable et a une parfaite disposition de piиces.

La famille est une chose essentielle pour les gens; elle est la base du bien-кtre de ses membres, de leur santй et de leur bon humeur. Maintenant je voudrais parler un peu de ma famille et avan tout de mes parents.

Renй Goscinny est un des dessinateurs franзais. Il fait des bandes dessinйes, des images humoristiques. Goscinny est connu et aimй non seulement en France, mais dans les autres pays du monde, par exmeple, en Amйrique.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau, le cйlиbre explorateur de la mer est nй en 1910аSaint-Andrй-deCubarc(Gironde). Il a terminй l'йcole navale et a consacrй toute sa vie а l'exploration de la mer.

La dйcision d'organiser le championnat international du football fut prise le 28 mai 1928 а Amsterdam par les membres de la Fйdйration Interaationalle de football (FIFA).

Chaque annйe prиs d'un million de touristes visitent la France. Pourquoi va-t-on en France? Pour visiter des monuments ou pour rencontrer les gens? Pour prendre contact avec la France d'aujourd'hui ou la France d'hier?

Moscow is the capital of Russia. It was founded eight centuries ago by Prince Yuri Dolgoruky. Historians have accepted the year of 1147 as the start of Moscow's history.

First of all let me introduce myself. My name is Taras. I'm seventeen years old. I'm at 11-th grade. There are two more kids in the family besides - my elder brother Oleg and my younger sister Marija.

As you become older you realize that there are several essential things and places you always long to come back to. They are your birthplace, your home and the school you went to.

I am a pupil of the 11-th form, I study at school number 9. I would like to tell your about our school life. I go to school five days a week.

We did quite a lot of subjects at school. They were: Physics, Mathematics, Biology, Russian Literature, Chemistry, English, History of this country and many other subjects.

On the 5th of September 1977, the American spacecraft Voyager One blasted on its historic mission to Jupiter and beyond. On board the scientists who knew that Voyager would one day spin through distant star systems had installed a recorded greeting from the people of the planet Earth.

English is spoken practically all over the world. It is spoken as the mother tongue in Great Britain, the United States of America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Nowadays it's very necessary to know a foreign language. Knowledge of foreign language helps us to develop friendship and understanding among people.

English is the Language of Communication "Do you speak English?" - with this phrase begins the conversation between two people, that speak different languages and want to find a common language.

Learning a foreign language isn't an easy tiling. Nowadays it's especially important to know foreign languages. Some people learn languages because they need them for their work, others travel abroad, for the third studying foreign languages is a hobby.