Examination Topics

Christmas

New Year’s Day is a family event in Russia. People begin to prepare for this holiday beforehand. Everything is rush and bustle. There is a great air of expectation. People decorate their New Year trees with tinsel, various baubles and coloured lights. They usually put their presents under the tree. When the Kremlin clock strikes 12 they see the New Year in.

There are also dates and events in our country that are memorable to Russian people. They are Victory Day, the Day of Reconciliation and Harmony, Women’s Day, the Day of Spring and Labour, Independence Day, Country Defendant’s Day, Constitution Day, and Maslenitsa. Besides, there are many professional days in our country: Teacher’s Day, Miner’s Day, etc.

Christmas in Russia is celebrated on 7 January. It is celebrated with all-night services in churches. Country Defendant’s Day is celebrated on 23 February. This holiday is devoted to soldiers and officers and everyone else who defended the country or is in the Army. Women’s Day is celebrated on 8 March. It is a day-off. Men and boys try to please their mothers, sisters and friends by giving them presents and flowers. Maslenitsa marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring and Lent. During this festival people make pancakes, sing and dance traditional songs and dances, and visit each other. Maslenitsa and Easter are movable holidays. Easter is the main Orthodox festival. People colour eggs and enjoy traditional Russian dishes. Churches hold special services on this day.

The Day of Spring and Labour is celebrated on 1 May. On this day people prefer to go outdoors and take part in all kinds of outdoor activities. Victory Day is celebrated on 9 May – it celebrates the end of the Soviet Union’s participation in World War II in Europe. People put flowers at the tombs of the soldiers who were killed during the war. The main ceremony is held in Moscow. People lay flowers in Moscow’s Park Pobedi and at the Tomb of an Unknown Soldier. Independence Day is celebrated on 12 June. On this day Russia became an independent country after the break up of the Soviet Union in 1991. This is an official holiday. The Day of Reconciliation and Harmony is celebrated on 7 November. It used to be the greatest official holiday, celebrating the anniversary of the October Revolution. Now this day is marked by marches and demonstrations. For many people it’s just a day-off. The Constitution Day is celebrated on 12 December. It celebrates the new Constitution of 1993.

There are fewer public holidays in Great Britain than in other European countries. They are: Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Spring Bank Holiday and Late Summer Bank Holiday. All holidays and traditions are connected with the history and culture of the country.

The most popular holiday is Christmas. Every year the people of Norway give the city of London a present. It’s a big Christmas tree and it stands in Trafalgar Square. The central streets are beautifully decorated. People decorate their houses with holly and mistletoe. They send Christmas cards to greet each other. Children hang their stockings, hoping that Father Christmas will come with toys and sweets. Before Christmas groups of people go from house to house – they sing Christmas carols and collect money for charity. Christmas is a family holiday. The family usually meets for a traditional dinner of turkey and Christmas pudding, and everyone gives and receives presents. New Year’s Day is less popular in Britain than Christmas. But in Scotland, Hogmanay is the biggest festival of the year. They celebrate New Year. The preparations for the occasion begin several days before the New Year’s Eve, which is known as Hogmanay. The night of Hogmanay is a time for merrymaking, the giving of presents and observance of the old customs. The name “Hogmanay” is supposed to come from the Anglo-Saxon “Haleg Monath” (Holy Month), or the Gaaelic “oge maiden” (New Morning). December 26th is Boxing Day. People usually visit their friends, go for a drive or for a long walk, or just sit around and watch TV recovering from too much food after Christmas dinner. In the country there is fox-hunting.

Easter

Easter is the time when certain old traditions are observed. It is celebrated as the start of spring and as a religious festival. It is the time for giving and receiving presents, such as Easter eggs, hot cross buns, fluffy little chicks, baby rabbits, and springtime flowers to signify nature’s reawakening.

Four times a year the banks are closed on Monday apart from traditional weekends. Such days are called Bank Holidays.

Besides public holidays, there are certain traditional festivals which have existed over centuries in the country. They are Pancake Day, Guy Fawkes’ Night, Saint Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Hallowe’en, April’s Fool Day, etc. These days are not days-off. But they help to keep many traditions, which Englishmen have always been famous for.

As for me, most of all I like Hallowe’en. It goes back many, many hundreds of years. At that time the Celts lived in England. The Celts said, “In this night the ghosts of the dead come back.” Nowadays children in the USA and Britain dress up as witches or ghosts. Some children also make jack-o’-lanterns out of pumpkins. They put them in the windows at night. In the evening, the children go out in groups and knock at people’s doors. The children call out: “Trick or treat.” Most people then give the children a “treat”. This is usually a sweet, some chocolate, or maybe a toffee apple. But some people do not give the children a treat. Then the children play a trick on them. Sometimes, they ring the doorbell again and then they hide or run away. Or they come to the house again later and put leaves, grass, stones or other things into the letterbox. Children and older people often have Hallowe’en parties where they play games such as “bobbing for apples”, “apples on a string”, “fortune telling”. I wish we celebrated Hallowe’en in Russia because this holiday is very funny and interesting.

10. You are going to spend a month with an American or British family. What do you think will be interesting for your host family to learn about you?

Hello! Let me introduce myself to you. I’m Alexander, Alex for short. I live in Moscow. I’m a student of the 9th grade. We are a family of four: my mother, my father, my elder brother and me. We live in a block of flats on the 11th floor. There are three rooms in our flat and we have all modern conveniences. I share a room with my elder brother. My brother is a student of Moscow University. We are close friends. I discuss everything with him and we don’t have any secrets from each other. We get on very well. Sometimes I even borrow his clothes and he never gets annoyed. We don’t feel competitive, because we have different interests. I’m more academic and he’s more artistic. But we are both fond of sport very much. We both go to the swimming pool twice a week. It helps us to keep fit, it gives us good stamina, and it’s good for our hearts and lungs. We hardly ever quarrel or fight. My brother never sees me as being in the way. I think I’m quite easy-going. I’m similar in personality to my mother. She is always very friendly to all, although she can be quite critical of people. I like to be friendly to the people around me, and I don’t normally like to let my bad moods and anger inside me, come out and affect other people.

I don’t know if I’m particularly obsessive. I like to do different things every day. I am fond of collecting different things. One day I collect toy cars, another day I want to collect badges. But most of all I prefer collecting stamps because it’s a family hobby. You can learn a tremendous amount through stamps, especially about history. Stamps are a great way to bring history alive. All the members of my family collect stamps and the theme of our collection is history. It is a long-lasting hobby and who knows – in 20 years or so it may have become an impressive collection that can be appreciated and enjoyed by my own children too.

I have grandparents, my mother’s parents. They don’t live with us; but I often visit them. They live a very routine life, but they like it. I can’t put my finger on it, exactly, but there is some atmosphere in their house like nothing has changed for twenty years. My parents are doctors and they work in the hospital. They are very giving, caring persons, and always consider those around them. They work very hard in their hospital and really put all their energy in their work. They are very much in love, even after years of being married and always caring for each other. My parents have warm, friendly eyes and always express a spirit of goodwill towards people. I love my parents very much and my ambition is to be a doctor too, because I want to help people if they have some problems with their health. I originally became interested in medicine during my 9th grade, when I realized that my skills and my traits would serve me well in my future career. Besides I’m good at Chemistry, Biology and History – they are my favourite subjects. I’m not very good at English, but I understand that it is one of the most important subjects now, and I try my best to improve it.

We have a pet. It’s a dog. Her name is Sunny. Her mother is a Scotch Shepherd dog. I am never lonely with my pet. She is a great favourite with everyone in our family. All people admire her. She wears a good collar with her name on it. She especially likes morning walks with my father.

My native city is Moscow. Many people associate Moscow with the Kremlin and Red Square as the heart of the city. It is really the oldest historical and architectural centre of Moscow and my favourite place in Moscow, because it’s connected with the history of my country. Nowadays the Moscow Kremlin, with all the beauty of the palaces and cathedrals, is a wonderful sight. All these cathedrals have been converted into museums. Ivan the Terrible Bell Tower, one of the most remarkable structures of the 16th century, rises in the centre of the Kremlin. It unites all the Kremlin Cathedrals into a majestic ensemble. One of the well-known Kremlin museums is the Armoury Chamber. It was built in 1851. The famous golden cap of Monomach, the first Russian imperial crown of Catherine II made of silver, and many other precious historical items are exhibited there. So when you come to my native city, I’ll show you all the interesting and amazing sights of it.

11. People have various reading preferences. What do you like to read? What is your favourite writer?

I think that we can’t live without books. There are a lot of different kinds of books in the world, for example, thrillers, historical novels, science fiction, adventure books and others. Most of them are with us during all our life. Boys all over the world like reading adventure, thrillers and horror stories, whereas girls prefer romances, historical novels and poetry. Encyclopaedias, reference books and dictionaries help pupils to do well at school.

All the members of my family like reading very much. My father often reads newspapers and magazines. He thinks that it is the only way to be in the know of everything. And my mother is keen on reading romances and modern novels. For her they are more interesting than boring historical novels. She agrees with Anatole France that “history books which contain no lies are extremely dull”. But she wouldn’t mind reading about the life of well-known people.

I enjoy reading very much. Most of all I like reading detective stories, because they have interesting story lines and unusual endings. I am particularly captivated by characters who conduct investigations.

I never believed there really were books that you couldn’t put down. I changed my opinion when I started to read The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, an English writer. The book was written in the 19th century. It’s a very good detective story, with a bit of romance thrown in it. The book is basically about mistaken identity. The main character in the story is a young artist who goes up to the north of England to instruct two young ladies. And he falls in love with Miss Fairlie, who looks very like the woman in white. Finally they turn out to be identical twins. The author brilliantly describes the adventures, love and fears of his heroes. He really brings the characters to life. A good writer knows how to keep you reading the book. In The Woman in White the reader’s interest is caught from the very first page and there is suspense till the very end! This is a great book and I would recommend it to anyone.

But my favourite writer is Agatha Christie. She is possibly the world’s most famous detective story writer. She wrote 79 novels and several plays. Her books are translated into 103 foreign languages. Many of her novels and short stories have been filmed. Her sales outnumber those of Shakespeare, but her life was often lonely and unhappy.

She was born in 1890 in Devon. She didn’t go to school, but was educated at home by her mother. During World War I, while she was working in a hospital dispensary, she learned about chemicals and poisons, which proved very useful to her in her later career. She wrote her first detective novel, “The Mysterious Affair at Styles”, in 1920. In it she introduced Hercule Poirot, the Belgian detective, who appeared in many subsequent novels. Her other main detective was an elderly spinster called Miss Marple. Miss Marple doesn’t look like a detective at all. This old lady always uses her instinct and knowledge of human nature to investigate crimes.

In 1914 she married Archibald Christie, but the marriage was unhappy. It didn’t last long, and they divorced in 1926. Agatha desperately wanted solitude and developed very bitter feelings towards the media because the newspapers had given her a hard time over her breakdown. She was determined never to let them enter her private life again and she buried herself in her work. On November 25, 1952 her play “The Mousetrap” opened in London. Today, over 50 years later, it is still running. It is the longest running show in the whole world. Agatha Christie died peacefully in 1976. People all over the world value this talented writer and consider her to be the Queen of Crime.

I don’t mind reading adventure stories. I especially like to read about characters who go through dangers to complete their mission. I think it’s more interesting than reading dull historical novels. But I dislike poetry, especially modern poetry. I find it too complicated. Sometimes I fail to understand what poets mean.

I am sure that reading is an essential part of our life. Only in books can you find answers to all your questions. Books can tell us a lot about the modern world and ancient times. Besides, they can help us to explore new ideas and expand our outlook. I completely agree that “reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” What is more, books teach us to be kind and honest. While reading we learn how to solve our problems and to make people happy. And I think that reading is a perfect way to spend free time and not to feel bored. Books must be our friends during all our life.

12. Television is much spoken about nowadays. It has both good and bad points. What are your arguments for and against watching TV?

It goes without saying that television plays a very important part in people’s lives. It’s a wonderful source of information and one of the best ways to spend free time and not to feel bored. Television viewing is by far the most popular leisure pastime. For example, in Britain over 99 per cent of British homes have a TV, and the average person watches “the box” 26 hours a week. It’s not surprising, because TV channels show a great variety of programmes: documentaries and current affairs programmes, feature films and comedies, soaps and police series, concerts and talk shows.

There are four TV channels in Britain: BBC 1, BBC 2, ITV and Channel 4. BBC 1 and BBC 2, the two state channels, do not show adverts. ITV and Channel 4, the two independent channels, do show adverts. BBC 1 and ITV tend to broadcast popular programmes: sports programmes, recent films, news, game shows, children’s programmes and soaps. BBC 2 and Channel 4 show programmes which usually attract much smaller audiences: TV plays, classical concerts, foreign films and programmes for minority groups.

Russian television has between 10 and 15 channels, which show all kinds of programmes: news and sports programmes, talk shows and quizzes, documentaries and feature films, soaps and police series, comedies and concerts.

Thanks to satellites, TV viewers can increase their options and watch TV from different countries. Conventional television has to struggle to retain its audience, as people switch over to cable viewing, satellite TV, or renting video cassettes.

Television is a reflection of the modern world. It gives you an opportunity to travel all over the world, to see different people and learn about their customs and traditions. Television keeps you informed about the rest of the world. And of course, it helps you to escape from everyday problems.

A lot of people usually relax watching soaps – TV serials which dramatise their characters’ daily life. Their story lines are entertaining, but often unbelievable. I don’t think that they show life realistically; but to many people, the characters in the weekly TV serial shows have become more important than real people.

As for me, I prefer watching different quizz shows. That’s why my favourite TV programme is “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” It is shown twice a week, and lasts about an hour. The programme is now hosted by Maxim Galkin. It is a game show where the player is asked different questions. If the answers are correct, the participant gets a lot of money. But if he is wrong, he loses everything. I particularly enjoy watching this programme, because the questions are always very interesting and they help me to expand my outlook. Besides, it’s a perfect way to be in the know about everything. I find this programme clever and informative and try not to miss it.

Of course, not everything shown on TV is made in good taste. There are badly-written programmes which contain unnecessary bad language and violence. The strange thing is that neither politicians nor producers like to admit that watching violence on TV leads to greater violence on the streets.

Many people admit that the quality of television could be better. They would prefer to see fewer soap operas and crime series, and more history, drama, and science. One reason for the poor quality of programmes is advertising. Not all people like watching commercials. They find ads silly and boring. As for me, I don’t take advertising seriously. On the one hand, advertisements help people choose the best products and get the best value for their money. But on the other hand, they show life unrealistically and give false information. Besides, in adverts all people seem to be happy consumers, all kids seem to be healthy and well off. But this is not true at all. What is more, I find it very annoying when a film stops at the most interesting moment. Nevertheless, I am not against commercials on TV, because television companies earn their money from advertising.

Another thing I would like to complain about is the amount of smoking in the films that are shown on TV. Smoking is often shown as a very “cool” thing to do – making young people much more likely to copy what they see, and take up smoking themselves.

Some people say that television is a terrible waste of time. Of course, there are TV addicts who can’t drag themselves away from the box. They watch TV for hours without choosing programmes, and spend time in front of television which they could spend talking to their friends and family. In this case, television makes them really waste time. But on the contrary, if we watch TV for an hour a day, to find out what is happening in the world or to relax, then television is really useful.

In short, television does have its good points. Many of the broadcast programmes are educational and can help with schoolwork. A good soap-opera or a comedy is a source of relaxation for many people. Television also provides jobs for thousands of people. So I think it is not the TV itself which is to blame for the bad effects it has, but the fact that people do not know how to make the best use of it.

13. What are the most popular free time activities for British and Russian teenagers? What activities do you like? Why?

Britain has recent by been described as a “leisure society.” This is because there are a great variety of leisure pursuits. Young people generally go out on Friday or Saturday nights to a disco, to a concert or to a pub. In recent years going out for a meal or getting a take-away meal have become popular too. During the past years there is a great increase in keeping fit and staying healthy. A lot of teens started running, jogging and going to different fitness clubs in their spare time. Aerobics classes and fitness clubs opened in every town, and the number of recreation centres greatly increased. Indoor pools, with their wave-making machines, water slides and tropical vegetation, have became very popular.

And the same is true in Russia. A lot of teens go in for different kinds of sport. Sport helps them to feel as fit as a fiddle. In both countries there are special programmes for problem teenagers, such as a high-risk activities, for example they are taught to jump out of aeroplanes. But despite the increase in the number of teens participating in sport, the majority of young people still prefer to be spectators. They prefer to be couch potatoes. Watching sports on TV is a popular leisure activity, as is going to football matches on Saturday. Cinemas have been redesigned with four or more screens, each showing a different film at the same time, and a lot of teens like going to the cinemas too.

The young generation is fond of communication. There are many available methods of communication nowadays, and the most popular one is computers. A lot of teenagers spend plenty of time working on computers. The Internet seems really good fun. You may send e-mails to friends from different countries and get their answers instantly. You even may talk to them. It is easy and quick. A lot of teenagers have mobile telephones, so they can always be contacted, if they keep their telephone switched on, at any time of the day or night, or tend text messages.

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