The United States of America

Great Britain

The official name of the country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. There are four different countries in the United Kingdom: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The first three parts make up Great Britain. The total area of the UKis about 244,000 square miles.

The United Kingdom is populated by 56 million people.

The state system of the country may be defined as a constitutional monarchy. English Kings and Queens reign but do not rule. The supreme legislative authority is Parliament consisting of two chambers - the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Peers in the House of Lords are not elected by voters. Their seats in the chamber are hereditary. The House of Commons is an elected assembly.

There are three main political parties in Britain: the Labor, Conservative and Liberal party.

Britain is a highly developed industrial country. Its main industries are: coal-mining, machinery, textiles and clothing, shipbuilding, vehicles, metal manufacture, electronics, chemicals, etc. The main industrial centers are: London, Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Newcastle, and Liverpool.

English agriculture is also a highly developed industry, but Britain has to import grain, meat, wine, fruit and other foodstuff.

The capital of Great Britain is London. It stands on the Thames. London is the main industrial, economic, cultural center in Britain. There are many wonderful sights in the city, such as the Tower, the Buckingham Palace, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Trafalgar Square etc.

1.define - определять, давать определение (as)

2.reign - царствовать

3.elect - избирать (голосованием)

4.hereditary – наследственный

5.coal-mining — угольная промышленность

6.vehicle – автомобиль

7.metal manufacture - металлургия; металлургическая промышленность

8.grain – зерно

The United States of America

The United States of America is one of the largest countries in the world. The total area is over 9 million square km. The country borders on Canada in the north and on Mexico in the south.

The country is washed by 3 oceans: The Arctic, the Atlantic and the Pacific. The country has many Lakes, including the Great Lakes and many rivers, the longest of which is the Mississippi. The climate conditions are rather different. The country is rich in natural and mineral resources: oil, gas, coal and various metals.

The country population is over 250 million people. The official language of the state is English. The national symbol of the USA is the national flag «Stars and Stripes» (having 50 stars and 13 stripes on its field).

Officially the country comprises 50 states and 1 district — Columbia. Each state has its own capital. The capital of the USA is Washington. There are many large cities in the country: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston and others.

According to the Constitution, the powers of the US government are divided into 3 branches: legislative, executive and judicial. The legislative power belongs to the Congress consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The executive power belongs to the President and his Administration. The judicial power belongs to the Supreme Court and the system of federal courts.

The USA is a highly developed industrial and agricultural country. The main industrial branches are aircraft, automobile, electronics, radio-engineering and others. Nowadays the USA is one of the leading powers of the world due to its economic, political and military influence.

state — государство, штат, состояние

to border on— граничить с

to divide — делить

climate conditions — климатические условия

branch — отрасль, ветвь

stars and stripes — звезды и полосы

legislative — законодательный

executive — исполнительный

judicial — судебный

powers – полномочия, власть

to belong — принадлежать

the Senate — Сенат

House of Representatives — палата представителей

The Supreme Court — Верховный суд

influence — влияние

Russia

Russia is the largest country in the world. Its total area is over 17 million square kilometres. Our land is washed by 12 seas. In the south and in the west the country borders on 14 states.

The country has a great variety of flora and fauna. There are many forests, plains and steppes, taiga and tundra, highlands and deserts in our land. The highest mountains are the Altai, the Urals. There are over 2 mln. rivers in the Russian Federation. The longest of them are the Volga, the Yenisei, the Lena, the Amur. Our land is also rich in various lakes. Baikal is the deepest lake in the world.

The climate differs from arctic and mild — to continental and subtropical. Our country is rich in natural resources: oil, natural gas, coal and other minerals. It is one of the highly developed agro-industrial powers in the world. The main industrial branches are: machine-building, aircraft, aerospace, automobile, chemical and others.

The Russian Federation is a multinational state. It comprises many national districts, several autonomous republics and regions. The population of the country is about 150 mln.

The Russian Federation is a constitutional state headed by the President. The country government consists of 3 branches: legislative, executive and judicial.

The legislative power belongs to the Council of Federation and the State Duma.

The executive power belongs to the Government (the Cabinet of Ministers) headed by the Prime Minister.

The judicial power belongs to the system of Courts: the Constitutional, the Supreme and federal courts.

Our country has a multiparty system.

Moscow is the capital of our Motherland. Its population is over 10 mln people. It is the main political, scientific, cultural and industrial center of the country.

My Biography

1. Let me introduce myself. My name is … My surname is …
2. I was born in 1980 in Vologda. /

in 1975 in Kirillov, Vologda Region.

1. My family is not large/ My family is large/

There are two / four / six of us:

my mother, father, sister, brother and me.

/: my wife, son, daughter, and me.

My sister studies at school / works at the University.

My son is 4, he goes to the kindergarten.

1. Now I work in a firm / at the factory / at school.

Now I don’t work

I am an economist / teacher / driver / machinist.

1. I decided to continue my education and entered the …Academy.

I am a correspondence student.

My future specialty is connected with

- Design /

- Economics /

- Psychology /

- Law.

1. In 6 years I will graduate from the University having received higher education.
2. We have several subjects at the University, namely:

Higher Mathematics, English, special subjects and others.

1. Usually I don’t have much free time. But I have some hobbies.

My hobbies are: listening to music,

reading books … / science-fiction, detectives,

novels, Russian classics.

watching films… / science-fiction films,

detectives, thrillers, comedies.

dancing…

As for music, I prefer … / pop, rock, club music, classical music.

I go in for sport. My favorite kinds of sport are:

boxing, skating, skiing, athletics …

1. In future I hope to find a well-paid job connected with my specialty.

The Vologda Region

The Vologda region is situated in northwestern Russia. The Vologda territory is crossed by important ways connecting the central Russia with the Urals and Siberia.

The administrative center of the region is Vologda. The city of Vologda is the largest in the region and one of the most important in the North of Russia junctions of railways, automobile roads and airways.

The city of Cherepovets is one of the largest centers of steel and chemical production in the country.

The region is famous for the number and significance of its historical and cultural monuments: the Vologda Kremlin; Spaso-Prilutsky, Kirillo-Belozersky monasteries. Ancient towns of Vologda, Veliky Ustiug, Totma, Ustiuzhna, Belozersk and Kirillov are well known all over the country.

The first reference to Vologda, the center of Vologda Region, dates back to 1147 - the same year Moscow was founded. A saying goes that in the XVIth century the Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible even intended to make Vologda the capital of Russia. Peter the Great also paid much attention to Vologda.

The Vologda Region is one of the developed industrial regions of Russia. It takes the third place in Russia in the amount of industrial goods per head.

The region is also characterized by a well-developed agricultural complex. Nowadays Vologda Region is one of the most important producers of milk, meat and eggs.

The products of ferrous metals metallurgy, chemical industry and mechanical engineering form the export structure of Vologda Region.

Today the Vologda Region is one of the important cultural and economic centers of Russia's North-West.