Text 1.2
This is Tom. He is in the room. His room is small. It has a door and only one window. It is a small clean room. Its ceiling and walls are white. Its floor is brown. You can see a table in the room. It is a yellow table. The table is at the window. Tom is at the table. Many books are on the table. You can see them. They are in the middle of the table. Some of them are very interesting. There is also a lamp and a computer on the table. Near the window, you can see beautiful flowers. Their leaves are green. His friends John and Helen often come here. Sometimes they do their homework together. Usually Tom does his homework himself, but sometimes his friends help him.
Text 2
Tom is a student. Now he is in his classroom. The room is nice. It is light, clean and large. Its ceiling is white. The walls are yellow. Its floor is grey. There is one door and three windows in it. When it is warm, the windows are open. When it is cold, they are shut. The door is always shut during the lessons. There is a blackboard on the wall. Generally speaking, it is green, but most people still call it a blackboard. Teachers and students write on it. There are some words on the blackboard. They are Russian words. Tom can read them. He can do it himself. He can speak Russian a little. Students sit on chairs at their desks. The chairs are comfortable. The desks are clean. The students’ notebooks are on their desks. The teacher’s desk is near the blackboard. Professor Smith is their teacher. Professor Smith’s book is on his desk. Tom’s friends are in the classroom too. Their group is not very large. There are only fifteen students in it. Today twelve of them are present, three are absent. Tom and other students of his group are group mates. They learn many subjects. They are: Russian, English literature, history, economics, mathematics, geography and some others.
Text 3
Great Britain
The British Isles lie in the north-west of Europe. They consist of two large islands, Great Britain and Ireland, and many smaller ones. Great Britain is the largest island in Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world.
The official name of the country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Sometimes it is called UK for short. On the Internet, “.uk” is used as a country code. The UK includes England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It occupies an area of 209,331 km². Britain is separated from Ireland by the Irish Sea. Only the northern part of the second large island is under the rule the British government. The southern part is independent of Britain. It is the Irish Republic.
The United Kingdom does not include the Isle of Man (which lies between Great Britain and the island of Ireland) and the Channel Islands (which lie off the North coast of France). They depend on the British Crown, but they have their own legislative, monetary and taxation systems. Each of them has its own parliament and a Governor, appointed by the Crown.
Britain is separated from the Continent by the English Channel and the Strait of Dover. It is connected with continental Europe via the Channel Tunnel, the longest undersea rail tunnel in the world which was completed in 1993.
Text 5
The United States of America
The United States of America is the fourth largest country in the world after Russia, Canada and China. Its total area is 9.83 million square km. There are 3 parts of the territory. It occupies the central part of the North American continent, Alaska in the north of it and Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean.
The United States of America is a federal republic. It consists of 50 states including the states of Alaska and Hawaii. Outlying areas include Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, and the US Virgin Islands.
The United States of America borders on Canada in the north. The northern boundary is partly formed by the Great Lakes and the St Lawrence River. The USA borders on Mexico in the south. The southern boundary is partly formed by the Rio Grande. United States also has a sea-border with Russia.
The country is washed by 3 oceans: the Arctic, the Atlantic and the Pacific. The country has many lakes. The Great Lakes are among them. There are also many rivers on the US territory. The longest of them are the Mississippi, the Missouri, the Columbia, the Rio Grande and some others. On the US territory there are mountains and lowlands. The highest mountains are the Rocky Mountains, the Cordillera and the Sierra Nevada. The highest peak, Mount McKinley, is located in Alaska.
The climate conditions are rather different. The country is rich in natural and mineral resources: oil, gas, iron ore, coal and various metals.
The USA is a highly developed industrial and agricultural country. The main industrial branches are aircraft, rocket, automobile, electronics, radio-engineering and others. The country accounts for 41% of global military spending. After the Cold War it became the sole superpower. Now it is a leading economic, political, and cultural force in the world. It is the largest market in the world.
Text 6
London
London is the capital of Great Britain. More than seven million people live in London. London lies on both banks of the river Thames. It is one of the largest cities in the world and the largest urban zone in the European Union.
London was founded by the Romans in 43 AD. They called it Londinium. This lasted for just seventeen years and around 61 AD, the Celtic Iceni tribe led by Queen Boudica stormed it, and burnt it to the ground. Later it was rebuilt and became the capital of the Roman province of Britannia in 100 AD.
After the collapse of Roman rule in the early 5th century many people left London. A hundred years later in the 6th century Anglo-Saxons founded a new settlement near the old Roman city. It grew and its population was more than 10000 people.
In the 9th century Vikings attacked London several times. It led to a relocation of the city back to the location of Roman Londinium, in order to use its walls for protection.
In the 10th century London was the country’s largest city and most important trading centre. After the unification of England it became an important political centre.
In the 11th century King Edward the Confessor refounded and rebuilt Westminster Abbey and Westminster Palace not far from London. It became a royal residence.