I HAVE A DREAM TO BE A DOCTOR
There are many interesting and noble professions. I want to become a doctor.
I like this profession and I am eager to get a medical education and work at a hospital.
It is a good tradition in our family. My mother is a doctor, my grandfather is a doctor and I want to be a doctor, too.
When I was a little boy my grandfather worked at a hospital and I spent some time at the hospital with him. He is a surgeon and works in a surgical department.
Day by day he takes care of his hospital patients, he treats them well. He is very attentive. Every day he comes in towards asking patients, "What do you complain of?"
He wants all people to be able-bodied and he tries to treat his in-patients in a proper way.
To operate on persons is his main task. He is a kind and skilled surgeon.
Every day he comes into an operating-room and operates on his in-patients. After each operation he takes care of his in-patients. Day by day he helps them to recover and he is glad when he can say, "My in-patient is quite recovered."
Sometimes he advises his in-patients to go to sanatoriums after leaving the hospital. He instructs them in detail what they can do and eat after their operations.
My grandfather tells me a lot of true stories about doctors, their profession, their aid for people.
I respect my grandfather. I like his profession and I have a dream to be a doctor too.
Sports and healthy lifestyle
─ What role does sport play in your life?
─ Although I do not go in for sports, I am fond of such activities that allow me to keep fit at home. I start with running then I take exercise programmes.
─ Do your friends go in for sports?
─ Some of them go in for sports and sports activities such as swimming, skiing, playing badminton, ice hockey, football or basketball. Unfortunately, public sports facilities are not always available to my friends, and they are engaged into outdoor activities. Most of them prefer running. They put on the white 'trainer' shoes and tracksuits and run through the parks or along the streets for half an hour a day.
─ Do secondary schools officials pay attention to sports?
─ Russian schools use sports activities as a way of teaching social values. Among these are teamwork and sportsmanship. The average secondary school offers its pupils such sports as football, basketball, track-and-field. Being intelligent and being good in sports are regarded as an ideal.
─ Do you often attend a swimming pool?
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─ I enjoy swimming that is why twice a week I go to the swimming pool in autumn, winter and spring. In summer I swim in the lakes and rivers. But most of all I like to swim in the Black sea.
─ Is the healthy life-style popular in Russia?
─ Yes, certainly. Today everybody wants to be fit, feel good, look slim and stay young. Everyone who wants can participate in sports activities in our country. Many fitness clubs and public leisure centres have been built during the past years. These modern centres with their swimming pools, squash courts, gym and indoor courts for tennis are competing with cinemas and theatres as places for people to go to spend their leisure time. There one can find a leisure pool with a wave machine, water slides and tropical plants Families can spend their holidays at huge indoor water parks. In such pools people in the main splash and not swim.
─ What do you know about sports in foreign countries?
─ Nowadays sports and activities are fashionable in Europe and America. For example, popular marathons are now held everywhere. Lots of people want to see if they can run 42 kms and do it faster than everyone else. The big city marathons, in London and New York, are important sporting events. Television cameras and newspapers report them in detail. According to the latest figures the most popular sports in Europe and America are walking, cycling, jogging, playing football and golf. Other popular sports are bowling, badminton, tennis. Experts are asking a very important question: should sports be taken seriously or should it be just for fun?
─ What do you think about it?
─ I think, it depends upon the people's choice. Some people want to go in for sports seriously, others consider it to be a way to keep fit.
─ What sports are British fond of?
─ Sports play an important part in the life of the English people. All sports are very popular among them. The national British sports are: football, golf, cricket, table tennis, lawn tennis, snooker, steeplechase, racing, darts. The British are fond of football which is of two kinds there: association football (soccer) and rugby. Englishmen like all kinds of racing. Horse-racing, motor-car racing, boat-racing, dog-racing, donkey-racing are very popular in England.
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─ What sports are popular in American?
─ Such sports as hockey, soccer, weightlifting, track and field, tennis, rowing, wrestling, golf, basketball, volleyball, boxing, figure-skating, cross-country skiing, swimming, judo and shooting are popular in the USA. The variety and size of the country, its different climates and the people's love of competitions of any type can explain the large choice of sports in America. The most recent unusual sport that first reached popularity in the USA is triathlon. It includes swimming, bicycle racing and long-distance running and is becoming more and more popular in Europe.
─ What do you know about the Olympic games?
─ The history of the Olympic games dates back to Ancient Greece. According to the legend Hercules was the founder of the first Olympic Games. An athletic festival with competitions in music and poetry began to attract the Greeks in the 8th century. The year 776 BC was established by history as the first date of the recorded Olympiad. The Olympic Games were held every five years. People dated events by the Olympiads throughout ancient period. The athletes competed in running, boxing, wrestling, horse and chariot racing. The winners were given laurel wreaths. According to the rules established at Olympia all hostilities between warring states ceased for the duration of the Olympiad. The truce was universally respected and no Greek state could break it. In the course of time the festival became so popular that not only athletes competed for the crown of wild olive but artists, poets, philosophers, orators and historians, were trying to create immortal works dedicated to the unity and splendour of Hellenic civilization. The prestige and brilliance of the Olympic Games was so great that other panhellenic festivals were instituted two centuries later - the Pythian (590 BC), the Isthmian (580 BC), the Nemean (573 BC), in honour of Apollo, Poseidon and Zeus respectively. The Olympic Games were held for nearly twelve centuries and were abolished in 394 AD by Theodosius I, the Christian Emperor, on the ground of their pagan origin. At the end of the 19-th century Baron Pierre de Coubertin revived them. In 1894 he addressed the International Congress of Athletes emphasizing the importance of sports in the peoples' life. The first modem Olympic Games were held in Athens in 1896 to signify the succession of the tradition. Since then the Games have been regularly held in different countries of the world.
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─ What body controls the programme of the Olympic games?
─ The International Olympic Committee is responsible for the programme, the number of the participants and the city-host for the Games.
─ When did Russia join the Olympic movement?
─ Our country first participated in the 1952 Summer and 1956 Winter Olympic Games. The achievements of our athletes in the Olympic Games were a source of great national pride. Although athletes were technically amateurs, they were well supported by the Sports State Committee. In ice hockey, volleyball, basketball, gymnastics, track-and-field athletes, weight lifting, wrestling, and boxing our country was among the best in the world. At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics the team of our country won 45 gold medals.
Sport is very important in our life. It is popular among young and old people.
Many people do morning exercises, jog in the morning, train themselves in clubs, in different sections and take part in sport competitions.
Other people like sports too, but they only watch sports games, listen to sports news. They prefer reading interesting stories about sportsmen. But they don't go in for sports.
Physical training is an important subject at school. Pupils have got physical training lessons twice a week. Boys and girls play volley-ball and basket-ball at the lessons. There is a sports ground near our school and school-children go in for sports in the open air.
A lot of different competitions are held at schools, a great number of pupils take part in them. All participants try to get good results and become winners. Sport helps people to keep in good health. If you go in for sports, you have good health and don't catch cold.
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Children and grown-ups must take care of their health and do morning exercises regularly.
There are some popular kinds of sports in our country: football, volley-ball, hockey, gymnastics, skiing, skating. Athletics is one of the most popular kinds of sports. It includes such kinds of sports as running, jumping and others. Everybody may choose the sport he (or she) is interested in.
There are summer and winter sports.
My favourite sport is swimming. I go to the swimming-pool twice a week. But I prefer to rest by the lake or the river and swim there.
My friend Kostya goes in for boxing, He is a good boxer and he is a brave and courageous boy. His hobby helps him in his everyday life.
We must speak about the Highland Games in Scotland. All competitors wear Highland dress. There are such competitions as putting the weight, tossing the caber and others. The English are great lovers of sports.
Learning foreign languages
“Proper education”
Defining the "educated man or woman" is very difficult to do. However, most would agree that the knowledge of at least one language would surely be an important item on the list. If wе review the history of the study of languages, we find that the study of Latin and Greek was, for many centuries, necessary for any scholar. As late as the middle of the 19th century, an educated person could read in their original form the works of great writers and thinkers, both ecclesiastical and secular.
By the later part of the 19th century, individual disciplines such as chemistry, botany, and geology began tо evolve. Specialization in particular fields, including modern languages such as French and German, became necessary, because it was no longer possible for an individual to be well read in many subject areas and stay current on rapid developments in industry, science, and medicine.
The study of European languages is considered as part of а classic education. One could read and approach the literature, art, and architectural heritage of Europe more closely with an appreciation for, if not fluency in, one of the European languages. To have been exposed to foreign languages is a hallmark of good scholarship and a “proper education”.
A bridge to understanding
Language displays а culture. When you study another language, you gain the understanding of language, not only the one being learned, but also of your own. Foreign language study brings home the impact, the sensitivity, and the limitations of our native language. It teaches volumes about the culture that uses the language being studied. Developing an understanding of а simple phrase in another language can explode the imagination. No mere translation will be able tо convey the true meaning of the phrase you understand in its original expression.
In examining the Eskimo language, you'll find just one word for а motorized vehicle, meaning both an automobile and а motorcycle. You cannot distinguish between the two different machines by vocabulary, because historically the Eskimo culture was seldom confronted with motorized vehicles. On the other hand, these people, who live in what others see as an almost monochromatic world of icе, have а multitude of words for snow. Wet snow, big snowflakes, dry dusty snow, intermittent spitting snow, snow that falls so fast there is no visibility — all have a term.
Americans are sometimes referred tо as being culturally isolated, but, like many blanket statements, this simply is not accurate. The United States is made up of citizens from countless nations, many of whom continue tо speak their native language in the home and with friends. There are even communities of native speakers, so you might find а large cluster of Koreans in Los Angeles and an equally dense population of Cambodians in Lowell, Massachusetts. Americans are, in fact, а polyglot nation. American so-called English language is also interwoven with non-English words. Dungarees is an Indian word; kindergarten is а German word. A great number of French words is also used: croissant, esprit de corps, mattre d'hotel, hors d oeuvres, chateaubriand. However, it is true that Americans do not have а good reputation for learning foreign languages. This is largely due to the country’s physical isolation. Europian and Asian countries, which are in close proximity tо other countries, are multi-linguistic. Add tо that the growing dominance of English in international business, and some Americans can justifiably feel less urgency about learning а foreign language. No matter where an American goes, he thinks that somebody who can speak some English will always be right around the corner.
Foreign languages are useful and needed
The exciting fact is that foreign language study is needed now more than ever. For both the students and the teachers of foreign languages comes the bonus that experiencing the language, using the language, and hearing and seeing it used are no longer confined tо the classroom. Nor does it take а trip abroad. The world has grown closer and smaller, and that makes learning а language not just more meaningful, but also imperative.
The need for foreign language skills confronts you daily. In the political arena, world leaders often cannot retire alone tо discuss important matters face tо face and confidentially; interpreters must relay their communications. In equally significant arenas of economics, joint military operations, medicine, and science, global sharing is imperative and can be seriously impeded by the need for translation services. Each day the world community becomes ever more entwined in economic, political, social, and military combinations of states and countries. Our stores are filled with products from around the world, many in the original packaging. Our cities abound with restaurants, coffee houses, newspapers, radio and TV stations, and social centers for groups that are built around other languages. With so many examples of cultural interchange it’s easy to see why the knowledge of foreign languages is so vital.
With shared language, we reach across enormous cultural boundaries. It is certainly а skill and an art that are well worth the many hours оf study, language lab practice, travel, and reading tо attain.
The Future: A Must for Our World Community
Learning someone else's language is nо longer some personal cultural adornment, but rather а signal of membership in and stewardship of the world community. The ground is shifting under our feet, and we will continue tо see dramatic changes in the numbers of people learning foreign languages, in the use of and exposure to foreign languages.
Ultimately, we need tо make the individual connections, whether it is two powerful leaders adjourning for some private conversation or а tourist and native sharing а cup of tea together. Each will find differences really not so vast as we once supposed when communication was obscured by the veil of а language we did not understand. The arenas may change; they may be political, social, economic, military, artistic, educational, or recreational, but the underlying need for individuals tо understand each other does not change. Nothing can make those connections faster or more human than sharing а common language.
It is necessary to learn foreign languages. That's why pupils have got such subject as a foreign language at school. Everybody knows his own language, but it is useful to know foreign languages.
I learn English, because I understand that I can use it. For example, if I go to England I'll be able to speak English there. If I go to the USA, I'll speak English too. English is used not only in England, but also in other parts of the world.
I learn English because I want to read foreign literature in the original. I know and like such English and American writers as Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Lewis Carroll and others. I understand that I must learn English. If I know English well, I'll be able to go to the library and take books by English and American writers in the original.
I like to travel. But it is difficult to visit countries, when you don't know the language of these countries. If I know the language of the country, where I am going to, it will be easy to travel there. If I want to ask something, I can do it in English.
I like to read books. And I like to read newspapers, too. If I know, for example, English I'll be able to read English newspapers and magazines. Knowledge of foreign languages helps young people of different countries to understand each other, to develop friendship among them. For example, we have a foreign exhibition in Moscow. If I know a foreign language, it is easy for me to visit this exhibition.
You can see a lot of advertisements, signboards, names in the streets. They are in foreign languages. Very often they are in English. If you know English, you can read and understand them.
Now we buy many clothes from other countries. If you know English well, you can read something about the size of this or that thing. It is clear for you what it is made of.
There are a lot of films in foreign languages. If you know foreign languages, you can understand films without any help. There are international friendship camps in the world. If you can speak foreign languages, it will be easy for you to visit such camps and speak with the boys, girls, men even they don't know Russian.
In short, I understand that I have to learn English in a proper way and I try to do it.
Travelling
─ Do you like to travel?
─ Yes, I do. Besides, I want to say that I can not imagine my life without travelling. Modern means of communication make the world a small place. Now it is possible to visit many countries and meet people of all nations. Today travelling is a way of life for some people. Moreover, in the past travelling was a specific driving force of human development. For example, the rudiments of mathematics were brought to Europe from Bagdad in the 13th century. In the past travelling was extremely dangerous, but it did not stop explorers to investigate our planet.
─ Do you travel much?
─ No, to my regret I do not travel much. Although I am fond of seeing new places and meeting different people, I can do it only once a year.
─ What countries have you visited?
─ I have visited Great Britain.
─ When did you visit Great Britain?
─ I visited Great Britain last year.
─ What can you tell us about your journey?
─ Last summer my classmates and I went to Great Britain for a holiday. We lived in the host-families in the suburbs of London. We went to London every day by the 12 o'clock train. We didn't go to England only for pleasure. We were learning English there. We had classes of English five days a week three hours a day. Our English teacher gave us classes of English at school. And when the classes were over her assistant took us round London and showed us the sights.
─ Did you see a lot of places of interest?
─ We took most of our stay there. We had never been to London before, but we knew a lot about its places of interest such as the National Gallery, the Tate Gallery, the Tower of London, the Houses of Parliament, Nelson's Column.
─ What impressed you most of all there in London?
─ I was greatly impressed by Changing the Guard. It is London's most popular spectacle. It takes place in the forecourt of Buckingham and lasts about 30 minutes. Every day a lot of people come to the palace to see it.
─ What did do at the weekends?
─ At the weekends we were looking around all day long. We went to Hampton Court, the residence of Henry VIII, Windsor Castle, the residence of Elizabeth II. We went to Rochester. There we visited Dickens's museum and a medieval castle. I was greatly impressed by Hampton Court. Henry VIII liked his palace on the Thames very much. We also could feel its beauty as we walked around the magnificent building. Every corner captured our hearts. Beneath the colonnade in Clock Court was the entrance to the king's apartments, restored to their full glory after the fire of 1986. History was vividly seen there.
─ What other London places of interest did you like?
─ I liked the Tower of London and St Paul's Cathedral.
─ What do you know about them?
─ St. Paul's Cathedral is Sir Christopher Wren's masterpiece. The construction of the Cathedral lasted for 34 years. It is crowned by the dome. Inside the Dome are scenes from the life of St. Paul. Here too is the famous Whispering Gallery. There are many memorials in the Cathedral including those to the heroes such as Wellington and Nelson. As for the Tower of London, it is connected with many important events in English history. It has served as citadel, palace, prison, mint, menagerie. Now it is a museum. The White Tower was built in 1078 by William the Conqueror to protect the city. The Tower is famous for its illustrious prisoners. Many great people lost their heads on the executioner's block. The Tower is guarded by the Yeoman Warders popularly known as 'Beefeaters', clad in their traditional Tudor uniforms.
─ What do you know about British cultural life?
─ I can make some general comments on British cultural life. First of all I want to say that English culture, enriched by the contributions of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, dominates in the cultural life of the United Kingdom. Widespread changes in the United Kingdom's cultural life occurred after 1945. The most remarkable was perhaps the emergence first of Liverpool and then of London in the 1960s as the world centres of popular culture. The «Beatles» were only the first and best-known of the many British rock music groups to win the world. British clothing designers for a time led the world as innovators of new styles of dress for both men and women, and the brightly coloured outfits sold in Carnaby Street and King's Road shops briefly became symbols of Britain.
─ Does the British government support the arts?
─ As far as I know, during the postwar period, successive governments shifted their policies toward the arts. The independent Arts Council, formed in 1946, supports many kinds of contemporary creative and performing arts. This support has supplemented the great expansion of the cultural market, mainly commercial, and of audiences and viewers for the arts generally.
─ Were you happy there in London?
─ Yes, of course. I was very happy there. I liked my host-family very much.
─ What are usual meals in England?
─ The usual meals in England are breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner. Breakfast is generally a bigger meal than that on the Continent, though some English prefer a continental breakfast of rolls, butter and coffee. It is said that the traditional English breakfast is porridge. But it is not so. They do not like porridge. They think that their guests from the Continent like it and serve it to them every morning. English people like corn flakes or cereals with milk and honey, bacon and eggs, marmalade with buttered toast, and tea or coffee.
─ What do English people have for lunch?
─ They have lunch at one o'clock. At lunch time in a London cafe or restaurant it is possible to find a mutton chop, or steak and chips, fish and chips, and something of the like, then a fruit to follow.
─ Do all English have their famous five o'clock tea?
─ No, not all of them. It is the privilege of the conference participants or the representatives of some leisure classes who take it as a kind of social activity with a chat and a cup of tea with pastries or a cake.
─ What do English have for dinner?
─ Dinner time throughout England is seven o'clock p.m. For some families dinner is the biggest meal of the day. But for others midday meal is the chief one of the day while in the evening they have a much simpler supper - an omelette, or sausages, or a glass of milk.
─ Is British food specific?
─ Previously everything people ate was home-made, and prepared in the traditional way. Nowadays produced food is replacing the slow, careful preparation of fresh vegetables and other ingredients. Canteens, cafeterias and even many restaurants serve course meals instead of individually prepared dishes for each customer. As far as I know British restaurants have not always been famous for their good food. Too often they offered fried food and chips with everything. But now healthy food is in fashion and so is international cooking.
─ Where have the British taken food ideas from?
─ The British have taken food ideas from all over the world. They can eat Chinese, Indian, French, Italian and Greek food in any big city, and in London there is a fantastic variety of restaurants.
─ Do the British often go to the restaurants?
─ Most British families go to the restaurants only on special occasions, like birthdays, or wedding anniversaries. The restaurant's best customers are business people, who meet in them to talk business in a relaxed atmosphere away from the telephone. For visitors to London, eating out can be fun. In some restaurants the menu and decor are just like they were in Queen Victoria's day, a hundred years ago.
─ Where can visitors to London go to have special London feeling?
─ If visitors to London want special London feeling, they should go to the «Ritz» in Piccadilly for tea any afternoon at about half past four. Or they can try England's favourite food - chips and fish. They can take it away and eat where they like - in the park, on the bus or while walking down the street. That's what Londoners do!
─ Have you ever travelled by air?
─ Yes, I have. It happened a year ago when we went to Great Britain. We got to London by air. On the appointed day we went to the airport by car. Soon we boarded the big air-liner. When we took off the voice informed us about the altitude we were flying. The flight took us more than three hours. Time passed quickly. The plane arrived at the airport in time.
─ Have you ever used any other way of travelling?
─ Certainly. There are different ways of travelling. I have travelled by train, car, and boat. When I travelled by car or train a blurred image of the countryside always smeared the window. It is a peculiar feature of our time not to use legs but to move about in cars, trains, jets, from a very early age. Today people travel hundred of miles every day.
─ What kind of travelling do your parents prefer?
─ My parents prefer to travel by coach, that is why of all the available tours they choose coach tours. Such tours are not expensive and my parents like them very much. Coach tours give a chance to do a lot of sightseeing and have a good rest at the same time. Last year my parents bought a coach tour. They enjoyed the tour very much. During the ten-day holiday they visited Germany, the Netherlands and France. There was no trouble with the luggage because it was taken care of at every night stop. Moreover hotels were carefully selected and booked in advance. My parents recollect this tour even a year later.
─ What role does tourism play in the present day society?
─ I think, it is very useful to visit different countries and get familiar with different cultures. People today are travelling far more than they ever used to. Some people think that tourists damage either the districts or cultural and historical places they visit. Certainly, it is a sufficient reason for tourism to be stopped. Others consider that today tourism has been elevated to a kind of religious ritual which is gradually exhausting our planet. Moreover, when people travel at high speeds they live in the future because they spend most of their time awaiting the arrival at some other place, and the present stops to be a reality. One should remember that travelling at high speed is a means not an end in itself.
─ Did people travel much in the historical past?
─ In the past people did not travel so much as we do today. Tourism is the phenomenon of the 20th century. In the past people set sail in search of new land and trade routes. The period of extensive travelling in called the Age of Discovery.
─ Is it possible to date the beginning of the Age of Discovery?
─ Some historians think that the Age of Discovery, which opened the world to European shipping, began around 1419 when Portugal's Prince Henry, known as «the Navigator», established a maritime training centre on his country's Atlantic coast.
─ What were the consequences of the Age of Discovery for the peoples of Africa?
─ They were disastrous. Africa had a slave trade. In 1434 Portuguese adventurers brought the first black slaves to Lisbon. As Europe's transatlantic colonies grew in importance, so did the need for manual labour. It is supposed that as many as 10 million slaves were transported to the New World, perhaps 5 million of them in the 18th century. Nearly two million more died aboard the crowded prison ships that carried slaves to work the sugar fields of the Caribbean or the cotton plantations of the American South.
─ Was the Age of Discovery damaging to the New World?
─ Native Americans were victimized by colonialism: millions died of imported diseases like smallpox, which their immune systems could not handle. The conquistadors ruthlessly suppressed the cultures of Aztecs of Mexico and Incas of Peru.
─ Did the cultures of the Aztecs of Mexico and the Incas of Peru give anything to the world?
─ They made a lasting and invaluable contribution to world cuisine. Tomatoes, potatoes, corn and peppers, tobacco, and many other delicacies, came to us from the New World.
─ What do you know about the native inhabitants of the New World?
─ Before Columbus set foot on the shores of the New World on 12 October 1492, the Mayans lived around the great cities and temples their ancestors had built in the south-eastern Mexico. It is a well established fact that the Maya civilization reached its zenith during the Classical period, from about AD 250 to 900. After AD 900 it began to decay, perhaps owing to stresses in the social structure, overpopulation, and deforestation." A number of important cities emerged in the late Classic period. The inhabitants of the cities were building striking stone architectural monuments, but their scientific and artistic achievements were not remarkable. Their economies remained underdeveloped. By the time of the Spanish conquest, the Maya civilization was in decline, yet they resisted subjugation longer than either the Aztecs of Mexico or the Incas of Peru. Spain ruled Central America for about 300 years. The Mayans maintained their autonomy only 1697. Unfortunately, disease and the social disruption brought with the Spanish conquest annihilated a large part of the native population during the 16th century.
I LIKE TO TRAVEL
I like to travel. First of all, the members of our family usually have long walks in the country. Such walks are called hikes. If we want to see the countryside, we have to spend a part of our summer holidays on hikes. It is useful for all members of our family. We take our rucksacks, we don't think about tickets, we don't hurry up and we walk a lot. During such hikes we see a lot of interesting places, sometimes we meet interesting people.
I like to travel by car. It is interesting too, because you can see many things in a short time. When we go by car, we don't take tickets too, we put all things we need in a car. We don't carry them.
It is comfortable to travel by train and by plane. When I travel by plane, I don't spend a lot of time going from one place to another. But it is difficult to buy tickets for the plane. That's why we take our tickets beforehand. If I travel by train or by plane my friends see me off at the rail-way station or in the airport. Sometimes we go to the seaside for a few days. As usual the weather is fine. It is warm, we can swim. It is a pleasure to watch white ships.
I think that travelling is a very useful thing for us and I enjoy all kinds of travelling very much.
TRAVELLING BY SEA
Almost all people like to travel. When you have got holidays you can travel by car, by train, by plane and by sea.
I like to travel by sea best of all. Some years ago we took a cruise along the Black Sea coast on board the liner "Russia". We came to Sochi by train. Then we went to the seaport and saw our ship. It was big. We liked it very much. I remember the ship and our cabin. Our cabin was comfortable. It had got two berths, a table two chairs and one wide window and the warm wind was blowing through it. There was fresh air in our cabin during all the voyage. We had breakfast, dinner and supper on board the ship. When it was time to have meals we went to the restaurant.
The weather was fine. After breakfast we spent a lot of time on the deck sitting in deck chairs or standing at the rail, watching the ships, passing not far from our ship. It was pleasant to watch the waves too.
I remember the sunrise and the sunset well. It was unforgettable. In the afternoon I took a sunshade because the sun was shining brightly. It was hot in the sunshine.
In the daytime we liked to watch the sea-scape. At four o'clock we entered the port Adler. There were some ships there. We saw many people on the pier. We had some free time in Adler and we went for a walk while the ship was in the port. The water was clean and it was pleasant to swim in the sea. I like the Caucasus and that's why I was pleased.
At 8 o'clock we came back. The liner was going to sail off. In the evening we patched TV, danced or stayed on the deck when the weather was fine.
I enjoyed my trip. This voyage impressed me for all my life.
Environmental protection
─ Is the problem of environmental protection urgent today?
─ Yes, the problem of protecting the nature is of primary importance today. Through their daily activities people pollute and contaminate land, water and air. If it continues the damage may become irreversible. It is known far and wide that pollution has ac companied mankind ever since groups of people first assembled and remained for a long time in one place. But pollution was not a serious problem as long as there was enough space available for each individual or group. With the establishment of permanent human settlements pollution became a problem and has remained one ever since. With the rise of advanced technology, the rapid spread of industrialization and the increase of human populations pollution has become a universal problem. The price for rapid industrial development is very high: natural resources are exhausted, the ecological balance of the planet is disturbed.
─ How is the environmental protection problem solved today?
─ In recent years the pollution problems have received great publicity. The environmental movement associated with no political party has gained widespread trust and support. Environmental activists stress that the problem is caused by industrial pollution and the automobile. The media's begun to campaign against the ugliness of billboards, tin cans and trash. The protection of natural resources and wildlife is becoming a political programme in every country. Numerous anti-pollution acts passed in different countries led to considerable improvements in environment. In many countries purifying systems for treatment of industrial waters have been installed, measures have been taken to protect rivers and seas from oil waters.
─ What are the main problems of today?
─ Cleaning up air pollution is one of the main problems of to day. Urban air pollution continues to expand as a result of the in creased number of motor vehicles. Exhaust fumes from the engines of automobiles contain a number of polluting substances. Tokyo has such a serious air-pollution problem that oxygen is supplied to policemen who direct traffic at busy intersections. Milan, Ankara, Mexico City, and Buenos Aires face similar problems.
─ Is acid rain damaging to nature?
─ One of the climatic effects of air pollution is acid rain. It is damaging to water, forest, and soil resources. It is blamed for the disappearance of fish from many lakes, for the widespread death of forests in European mountains, and for damaging tree growth in the United States and Canada. Acid rain has been reported in areas as far apart as Sweden and Canada, and in parts of the United States from New England to Texas.
─ Does radioactive contamination of environment worry people?
─ People also concern over the dangers resulting from massive releases of radioactive materials from nuclear weapons, which, if used on a major scale, could seriously endanger all of humanity. Another concern is accidents at nuclear power plants. In 1978 a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania suffered a severe accident leading to partial meltdown of its radioactive core. In 1986 the Chernobyl nuclear power plant near Kiev suffered a fire and partial meltdown, resulting in a major release of radioactive particles. Much of northern and eastern Europe experienced heavy nuclear fallout. The runoff from broken-down tanks is the source of organic pollutants. Indus tries located along waterways downstream contribute a number of chemical pollutants, some of which are toxic. One form of pollution that is characteristic of industrial societies is noise.
─ What can people do to stop pollution?
─ Attempts to control pollution, initiated during the 1950s, resulted in the successful elimination of such sources of pollution as industrial effluents and the outdoor burning of trash and debris. The task of cleaning up air pollution, though difficult, is not believed to be impossible. Use of fuels that are low in pollutants; more complete burning of fossil fuels; the scrubbing of industrial smokestacks often in combination with a recycling of the pollutants; and the shift to less polluting forms of power generation, such as solar energy in place of fossil fuels - all are methods that can be used for controlling pollution. Many large cities have taken measures to decrease the level of urban noise; the problem has received much attention with the ad vent of supersonic jet aeroplanes. In 1971 the U.S. Congress voted down appropriations to support the development of supersonic transport (SST) planes. Atmospheric testing of nuclear bombs was stopped in different countries to prevent radioactive contamination of the atmosphere. In 1990 the British government committed itself to a 30 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emission by the year 2005.
─ What can common people do to protect nature!
─ To protect nature people should change their attitude to it. Man should stop taking from it everything he needs and give it his love instead. Otherwise the payoff will be too high. It is good that at last people started to realize that they should keep air and water clean by establishing strict pollution control. Efforts are being made to reduce pollution from automobile engines by developing pollution-free engines which may eventually eliminate the more serious air pollution problems. Moreover, the strong public reaction can facilitate the exercise of absolute pollution control in various contamination industries.
Our country. Our environment. There are many big and small rivers, green forests, high mountains, lakes and seas in Russia.
Our Earth is our home. I think people must take care of our Motherland.
There are some laws and decisions on this important subject. We have state organizations which pay attention to this problem.
The international conventions pay much attention to the control of pollution too.
There are a lot of industrial enterprises in our country, that's why we can't ignore the problem of the protection of our environment. Our main aim is the protection.
Our environment must be clean. What must we do for it? We have to control atmospheric and water pollution, to study the man's influence on the climate. The pollution of the environment influences the life of animals, plants and our human life. If we don't use chemicals in a proper way we'll pollute our environment.
Our plants and factories put their waste materials into water and atmosphere and pollute the environment.
There are many kinds of transport in our big cities, that's why we must pay attention to the protection of our nature and the health of the people.
Radiation. Now it has become one of the main problems. It is not good for health of people. Many people died from radiation some years ago in Chernobyl. It was a tragedy. Another problem is earthquake. We know some terrible earthquakes in the world. Our scientists try to forecast earthquakes, then we can protect ourselves from them.
The people all over the world do everything to protect their nature, to make their country richer, to make their life happier.
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