From early times Englishmen have been great collectors and travellers. The general level of art in Great Britain has always been high. But it has never reached that of France and Italy.

If you want to buy stamps, postcards, envelopes, to send a telegram or money order, to subscribe to newspapers or magazines, you have to go to the post-office. At some post-offices there is a special window where you may pay your rent, telephone, gas and electricity bills.

When we want to buy something, we go to a shop. There are many kinds of shops in every town or city, but most of them have a food supermarket, a department store, men's and women's clothing stores, grocery, a bakery and a butchery.

We go shopping every day. The other day my mother took me on a usual shopping round. We went to the grocer's and greengrocer s as we had run out sugar and onions. At the greengrocer's there was a long queue.

My family isn't large. It consists of four members. But each member of our family has his own tastes and interests. For example, my brother is fond of sports. So early in the morning he goes jogging.

Good table manners avoid ugliness. All rules of table manners are made to avoid it. To let anyone see what you have in your mouth is offensive. So is to make a noise.

When we speak about somebody's figure, face, hands, feet we mean his or her appearance. A person may be tall, middle-sized or short, thin or plump.

St. Valentine's Day has roots in several different legends. One of the earliest popular symbols of the day is Cupid, the Roman god of Love, who is represented by the image of a young boy with a bow and arrow.

Christmas Day is celebrated on December 25. Many people look on Christmas as the time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, but really the tradition goes back to the earliest of times.

Last month my mother had her birthday. My father decided to throw a surprise party for her. Two weeks, before the event he booked a room in my mother's favourite cafe.

Birthday is a very wonderful day. Everybody likes to celebrate it. It is a good opportunity to spend time with friends, parents, relatives. 1 was born on the 10th of January.

The world's greatest international sports games are known as the Olympic Games. The Olympic idea means friendship, fraternity and cooperation among the people of the world.

Long ago ancient Greeks often waged wars. Small states suffered and lost much even if they did not take any side and stayed out of wars. The ruler of such a small state, Elis, wanted to live in peace with all neighbours.

Sport is probably as old as the humanity itself. It has been developing with the developing and growth of the mankind. All over the world people of different ages are very fond of sports and games.

People all over the world are fond of sports and games. Sport makes people healthy, keeps them fit, more organized and better disciplined. It unites people of different classes and nationalities.

People all over the world are very fond of sports and games. That is one of the things in which people of every nationality and class are united. The most popular outdoor winter sports are shooting, hunting, hockey and, in the countries where the weather is frosty and there is much snow — skating, skiing and tobogganing.

We often hear a saying "Don't invent a bicycle" about something simple and known for a long time. Really, the bicycle is old enough — more than a hundred years of age. Its first prototype appeared in 1791 in France.

If you want to keep fit you must go in for one kind of sport or anotner. Sport is an essential part of my daily life. Every morning all the year round I do my morning exercises. Almost every day I do some training.

We all need exercise. This is true for young people (in their teens) as well as for adults. Even if you don't plan make sports your main occupation. This is my opinion and I feellike it is true.

Mankind always dreamed of overcoming gravitation and reaching other planets. But it was only in the 1960ies that this dream was to become reality. On the 12th of April 1961 the spaceship "Vostok" was launched into space with a man on board and after orbiting our planet successfully returned to the Earth.

When did man first begin to think of space travel? Man began to think of space travel in the second century A. D. At that time a Greek, Lucian of Samos, wrote a fantastic story about a man who was carried to the Moon by a storm.

There are 12 star sings. And people who belong to the definite sign have their own character, habits and manners.

At the beginning of this century medical scientists made a surprising discovery: that we are built not just of flesh and blood but also of time.

Not long ago computers were considered an amazing invention. Today they form part of our everyday lives. The latest thing today is Virtual Reality.

Let me introduce myself. My name is Masha. I have left school this year. It is my dream to become a student of the English department. I want to study English, German and maybe French. Knowledge of a foreign lanquage opens a new world for us.

Finishing school is the beginning of the independent life for millions of school leavers. Many roads are opened before them: vocational and technical schools, institutes and universities.

want to become a computer programmer. I am interested in computers. It is a whole new world. Many people continue careers of their parents or grand parents but it is not the case with me.

It is not easy to decide what profession to choose. Usual­ly, pupils' plans for the future change many times during the school years. There are so many people who influence you in choosing your occupation.

Generally it's so not easy for a school-leaver to decide on his future career. There are some frivolous people who enter an institute thinking whether they like the profession they had chosen or not.

There are many interesting and noble professions. I want to be a doctor. It is an interesting profession. I understand that it is necessary to study a lot to become a doctor.

My father is working for an international company as a managing director. I have been several times at his office. I like it very much to be there. My father is very busy. He often comes late from work.

I decided to be a journalist. I think it is an interesting and useful profession. I like to watch TV, listen to the radio, read newspapers and magazines. I like everything which connected with mass media.

I want to be an interpreter. It is an interesting and useful profession. My parents have a large library and they taught me to like books. I like reading books. My favourite subjects in school are English, Literature, Geography and History.

The full name of the country the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom is situated on the British Isles. The British Isles consist of two large islands, Great Britain and Ireland, and a great number of small islands.

There are two large islands and several smaller ones, which lie in the north-west coast of Europe. Collectively they are known as the British Isles. The largest island is called Great Britain.