You were asked to write an essay about a famous writer from the English-speaking country. Talk about
- the most interesting period of his/her life;
- inform about the place of this writer in the world literature;
- give short information about his/her famous works.
It is no doubt that the writers from the English-speaking countries have enriched the treasure of the world literature. Such names as William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, Mark Twain and many others are well known for those people who like to read. As for me, I’m keen on reading detective stories and the most significant name among the authors of this genre is Agatha Christie. With her 78 crime stories she has been the world’s best selling writer and her play ‘The Mousetrap’ has run longer than any other play in the history of the British theatre.
I think that the key to the success she had was in her good education. It was interesting for me to know that her formal schooling did not start until she was 13 but she was so good at it that her parents sent her to France to study History and Art two years later. But the most impressive fact about Agatha Christie was that she served in a hospital during World War I and in a pharmacy during World War II. I also know that she was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 1971.
Agatha Christie was regarded as the queen of crime and mystery. It is impossible to say exactly how many of her books have been sold but it is more than 2 billion copies in the world. She is the most widely published author of any time in any language, being outsold only by the Bible.
I like all the novels by Agatha Christie but my favourite ones are those which tell about Miss Marple, an eldery lady who understands the human nature with all its weaknesses even better than the police and easily finds a murder. These stories are certainly worth reading.
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You were asked to prepare a report about the system of education of any English-speaking country.
- what the age of schooling is;
- what types of schools there are;
- what subjects are taught there;
- what exams the pupils take.
Each country in the United Kingdom has a separate system of education under separate governments: the UK Government is responsible for England; the Scottish, the Welsh and the Northern Ireland Governments are responsible for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Today I would like to tell you about the system of education in England.
There are two main categories of schools: state schools, which are free to all children between the ages of 5 till 16 and independent schools, which are called Private or Public Schools. In these types of schools parents have to pay for their children's education.
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According to the latest statistics, 93% of the children in England go to "state schools". State schools are non fee-paying, they are funded from taxes and most of them are organized by Local Authorities. Parents are expected to make sure that their child has a pen, a pencil, a ruler etc., but the cost of more specialized things like books, examination fees are covered by each school. Parents are, however, expected to pay for their child's school uniform and items of sportswear. Charges may also be made for music lessons and for board and lodgings on residential trips. Schools may ask for voluntary contributions for school time activities - but no pupil may be left out of an activity if their parents cannot contribute.
Only seven percent of British schoolchildren go to private schools called independent schools. Parents pay for this. Most independent schools are called preparatory schools because they prepare their children for the Common Entrance Exam which they take at the age of 11.
Children's education in England is normally divided into two separate stages. They begin with primary education at the age of five and this usually lasts until they are eleven. Then they move to secondary school, where they stay until they reach sixteen, seventeen or eighteen years of age.
At primary school children learn to read and write and the basis of arithmetics. Later children learn geography, history, religion and, in some schools, a foreign language. After primary school children go to the secondary school. There the main subjects are English, Mathematics, Geography, Art, Science, History, Physical Education, Information Technology, Music and Religious education.
When students are 14-16 years old they may take an exam in various subjects in order to have a qualification and at 16 they get The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) (English, French and Maths). It is for those
students who are seeking a university entrance. Some school-leavers can take the General National Vocational Qualifications (design, business and tourism).
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If you need more information about the system of education in Great Britain, you can search the Net and find what you want.
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You were asked to prepare a report about libraries. Tell:
- what we need libraries for;
- whether you visit your school library and why;
- whether you prefer to use the library or the Internet and why.
The word “library” comes from the Latin word “liber” meaning "a book". Nowadays we understand a library like a place where information in print (books, manuscripts, periodicals and musical scores) and in other forms is collected and arranged to serve people of all ages and interests.
Libraries appeared in ancient times in Egypt, Assyria, Greece and Rome.
Perhaps the most famous library of that early day was at Alexandria. It contained numerous Greek texts as well as manuscripts in other languages from every part of the known world. The first libraries in Russia were established in medieval monasteries. Public libraries were opened in the 19 century at the Academy of Sciences and Moscow University.
A library today is a centre for all kinds of communications: printed, pictured, recorded, and even electronically stored. In modern libraries you can find books, newspapers, periodicals, documents, printed music, maps, CDs and DVDs.
In some libraries we can also get access to their electronic resources or the Internet. Most libraries have a professionally educated staff whose first duty is to help us. Librarians also select and purchase books and other materials, organize materials so that we can easily use them, answer questions about facts, people, events, or advise us how to find the information we need.
Many people have books at home. As a rule these are the books of their favourite authors, dictionaries and reference books and the like. My family also has a home library. But books are read not only for pleasure. Reading books helps us in our education. We can find all kinds of books in the libraries: novels, biographies, fiction, short stories, books on traveling, technical books, magazines, books for children and so on. There we can find books in many foreign languages. So we can’t help visiting a library.
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Libraries can be found in many places. There are libraries in small towns and large cities, and there are libraries in schools, universities, colleges.
Personally I prefer to go to our school library. I must admit our school library has a good stock of books and the librarian is always ready to help in the choice of books. A great number of volumes fill the shelves. We can find there books of adventure stories, historical novels and tales that opened up panoramas of life and history of other countries, psychological novels, collections of short stories, the immortal classics. Our school library subscribes to several newspapers and magazines. They keep us well informed about the latest developments in our country and abroad, news in the spheres of science, art and literature.
The library is full of publications necessary for work at different subjects like art, physics, mathematics, etc. We often use them preparing for the reports or the discussions. There are different stands in our library which illustrate the most important events in our and other countries, articles about famous people and funny stories or get us acquainted with new books.
Our librarian is always ready to help us to choose a necessary book. Sometimes we have literary disputes in our library. Our librarian often invites poets, journalists and other interesting people to meet with us. The pupils of our school like the library very much and go there with great pleasure.
Some people think libraries are useless nowadays because everyone has an access to Internet and can easily find any information there. I cannot but agree with the fact that Internet helps us greatly. It helps us to find general information about different facts. But if we wish to study a thing in detail we need to read a book which can be found in a library. Besides it is a great pleasure to turn real pages and feel that special smell of a book…
Libraries have always played the great part in the development of humanity. The cultural heritage of mankind has been kept there for centuries. Throughout the history, libraries have been the centers of scholarship, art and I’m sure they will preserve this function.
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