My Hobby

According to the dictionary, hobby is an activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure or an activity that you enjoy doing in your spare time. I have different types of hobby. To begin with I’d like to say a few words about my childhood. When I was a child I enjoyed playing superheroes. So, I have a very big collection of them.

When I was at school I was interested in cooking. My key-friend was a student from India. That is how I learnt how to cook a lot of Indian dishes, from her. I enjoyed cooking myself and tried to cook a lot of food at home. My collection of recipes is small but mouthwatering. For example, I know how to cook Spanish paella. I am sure if you follow precisely the instructions step by step it will be delicious.

One of my hobbies is sport. My sport hobby is tennis and I like skiing and swimming. I can say that some of my friends are simply hooked on jogging and brisk walking. Isometimes play different sport games for health and pleasure. I’m very active. I like to play badminton and to ride a bicycle. My new hobby is roller-skating. Unfortunately, I have never tried wind-surfing, water skiing, and scuba diving.

My other hobby is photography. My mum says I take very good pictures. But I don’t think so. It’s not easy to be artistic.

When I first went to Tunisia (a country in North Africa) it was in 2005, I started to learn French. After French I tried to learn Spanish and Italian. I found it quite complicated and I often confused words and verbs. When I’ve been on holiday in Italy it was quite easy to understand what was going on, but I couldn’t actually form a sentence.

I'm fond of reading. Unfortunately, it’s getting less and less popular nowadays because of the Internet. My friends seldom borrow books from libraries. Some of them are sure this is a complete waste of time. I like reading fantasy books and historical novels. There is a very good library in Arkhangelsk which I use regularly.

I like music. I have a huge collection of albums. I adore the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Elvis Priestly. I very much like folk music and jazz-rock music. I hardly ever go to discos. I have been to a few places like M33. I would probably go to more if there was better music.

We organize extra class activities such as parties and other social activities at our University. I try to participate in most of them. My greatest problem at school was making speech in front of the class. And now I can manage it.

It is a well-known fact that healthy people live longer and their career is more successful. I don’t smoke and take drugs, I don’t drink alcohol, I don’t eat too much chips and sweets, I try to eat more vegetables and fruits, I sleep well without taking sleeping pills and tranquillizers.

Answer the following questions:

1. What steps does your regular morning routine include?

2. What is your daily shower routine?

3. Be honest! Do you really wake up at 6 AM & do yoga every morning, or are you more inclined to rush out the door at 8.49 without so much as brushing your hair?

4. Do you think that changing our old habits is impossibility, an exercise in futility, a waste of time?

5. Are you afraid of change? Would you like to make something new into a habit? Are you terrified at the idea of shaking things up?

6. How would you like your routine to look? What steps do you need to take to make this a reality?

7. What kind of steps do you need to take to switch up your routine for good?

8. What small changes do you think you could make which would really improve your daily routine?

9. Do you find it easy to keep your home “clean enough” most of the time?

10. What will be the daily routines for a sportsman?

11. What do teachers do on a daily routine?

12. Are you satisfied to spend your days doing nothing?

13. What is the most important thing you ever did?

14. Which event in your life was the most significant?

15. Who is your favourite painter, writer, tennis player, jazz musician, singer, bandleader, sculptor, architect, film maker, actor or actress, poet, explorer, composer, pianist?

16. Do you do anything for charity?

Unit 3

You will read & translate a text about Russia. Before you read, discuss in pairs the following.

1. What do you think Russia is famous for? How much do you know about Russia? 2. Who is the pride of Russia to your mind? 3. Can Russia be proud of its culture? Give your reasons. 4. Do you know the lowest winter temperature in Russia? Is it easy to say it? 5. Which is colder, Siberia or Antarctica? 6. Do you know anything about the general weather conditions that are typical of Russia?

Russia

(Its geographical position, climate, natural and mineral resources & industry)

I live in Russia. It is my native country. The Russian Federation is a transcontinental country. It occupies one seventh of the Earth's surface. It is situated both in Europe and Asia. With an area of 17,075,400 km², Russia is the largest country in the world, covering almost twice the total (land and sea) the territory of either United States or China.

The country is washed by twelve seas (the Baltic Sea in the west, the Caspian and Black seas in the south). Russia’s north is washed by several seas of the Arctic Ocean – White, Barents, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian and Chukchi seas. The eastern coasts of Russia are washed by the Bering, Okhotsk seas and the Sea of Japan. The Strait of Bering separates the Chukchi Peninsula from Alaska. Russia is also bordered by the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. I know from the history of my country the White-Baltic-Sea Channel, which connects the White Sea with Onega Lake, was constructed mostly by political prisoners.

Russia shares land borders with the following countries (counter-clockwise from northwest to southeast): Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It is also close to the United States (Alaska State), Sweden, and Japan across relatively small stretches of water (the Bering Strait, the Baltic Sea, and the Strait of La Perouse, respectively). The Strait of La Perouse separates Sakhalin from Hokkaido.

There is no other country in the world like Russia, with steppes in the south, plains and forests, tundra and taiga in the north, highlands, deserts and semi-deserts in the east. Its chief regions are the Russian (East-European) Plane, the Ural Mountains, the West Siberian Plain, the Central Siberian Plateau and the Far East. Russia’s Far East is a comparatively narrow strip of land extending from northeast to southwest for practically 4500 km.

The Ural Mountains, the traditional boundary between Europe and Asia, run for over 2.000 kilometers from north to south. The Caucasus, extending between the Black and Caspian seas, is a system of ranges of which the highest is Mt Elbrus (5642 m) which has always attracted Russia’s mountaineers. The northern slopes of the Caucasus border the south of the European part; the Khibiny Mountains are to the northwest.

There is a great number of rivers in Russia. The largest European rivers are the Volga, Northern Dvina, Don and Pechora, while Asia is crossed by the Ob’, Irtysh, Yenisey, Amur and Angara. The Volga River is one of the largest inland water transportation in Europe extending 3700 kilometers from Valdai Hills to the Caspian Sea. The main Siberian rivers - the Ob', the Yenisey, and the Lena flow from the south to the north. The Amur in the Far East flows into the Pacific Ocean. The Central Siberian Plateau is situated between the Yenisey and Lena rivers.

Among Russia’s lakes one finds The Caspian Sea, the world’s largest, and Baikal Lake, the world’s deepest one, as well as such large lakes as the Ladoga and Onega Lake. The water in Baikal Lake is so clear, that you can see the stones on the bottom.

Because of the vast territory there are various types of climate in the country. Russia’s climate is markedly continental, with cold winter and mild or warm summer, depending on latitude, but the climate varies greatly in different regions. Russia is spread over all climatic zones except tropical. Most of Russia’s territory is located in the temperate belt. The Arctic Ocean’s islands are located in the Arctic and sub-Arctic belts. At the same time, a small part of the Caucasus’ Black Sea coast is located in the sub-tropical belt. The huge territory of Russia stretches across 10 time zones.

Russia is among the world’s richest countries in mineral and energy resources. Russia is very rich in oil, natural gas, coal, as well as iron ore, copper, zink, lead, nickel, aluminum and tin. The most important deposits of coal and iron are in Siberia, as well as most of heavy industry. But there are also a lot of mines on the European territory of the country. Russia is also one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states.

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