A (Very) Brief History of the English Language



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Birds of a Feather


There are a lot of animals on our planet. They can be wild and domestic. Wild animals are those animals who live in nature without people. Wolves, foxes, giraffes are wild animals. Domestic animals are animals who live with people, who are not really scary. People always call them “pets”. Cats, dogs, sheep are domestic animals.

People divide animals into four groups – reptiles, birds, insects and mammals. Reptiles are animals without wings who lay eggs. Some reptiles are very dangerous. Crocodiles and snakes are reptiles. Birds are animals with feathers, two wings and two legs. Parrots and eagles are birds. Insects are small creatures with six legs and usually two pairs of wings. Butterflies and ladybirds are insects. Mammals are animals who feed their babies on milk. Dogs, kangaroos, dolphins are mammals.

Cats are mammals too. Their short fur can be of different colors – clear white, black, red, grey and so on. Cats have no fins and wings, just legs, a body, a head with whiskers and a long tail. They have 4 long legs, so they run quite fast. Sometimes cats can be friendly and nice to people, sometimes – selfish. It depends on a cat’s temper. Cats are domestic animals, so they live with people – in people’s houses and apartments. They eat fish, meat, milk, sometimes – human food. Cats live for 10 - 15 years, but some of them can live longer.

As for me, I have a pet too – I have got a red fluffy cat. His name is Ryjiy and it was named after his fur. My cat is four years old, he is very funny and sometimes he does crazy things. He likes to sleep with us and to look at the window where colorful birds fly. Ryjiy is rather smart and he knows the time I feed him and he goes to the kitchen before me. I like him very much and I hope he will live a long and happy life.


Books


Contemporary life is impossible without reading. The influence of literature on people's mind is great. Regular reading enriches your knowledge of the world and helps to form your entire personality. If a book appeals to you, it arouses lots of feelings and emotions in your heart. If you take to reading, the world of other people's ideas and problems becomes familiar to you. The process of reading demands much thinking on the part of the reader because reading exists not only for entertainment. When you are taken away by a thrilling plot and by author's vivid imagination or by his humorous remarks or by the way he portrays people, you can't help reading the book from cover to cover, when the life of a literary character is similar to yours, you take described events close to heart. If you feel that you lack information, knowledge, and words to express your opinions - read more! Thanks to books we can talk to people who lived in different countries and ages. A book is one of the greatest wonders of the world. It gives you a unique chance to link up with authors who lived hundreds and thousands years ago. The book is a faithful and undemanding friend. It can be put aside and taken up again at any moment. Read more and you'll never be bored!

Books and Reading


Books can fit almost every need, temper, or interest. Books can be read when you are in the mood; you don't need to do it all the time. Books are both more personal and more impersonal than professors. Books have an inner confidence which individuals seldom show; they rarely have to be on the defensive. Books can afford to be bold, and courageous, and explanatory; they don't have to be so careful of boards of trustees, colleagues, and community opinion. Books are infinitely diverse; they run the gamut of all human activities. Books can express every point of view; if you need a different point of view, you can read a different book. Reading is probably the most important skill you need for successful studies. You will have to read lengthy assignments in different subjects with varying degrees of detail and difficulty. If you you read inaccuratley, you will fail to understand some of the information and ideas you read. If you read slowly, you will have to spent too much time reading your assignments and the rest of your work may suffer.

Poor reading may be a problem for you, but it can be solved. Like other skills, your abilty to read English fast and accurately demands careful instruction and purposeful practice. You must keep practising on your own to improve your reading skills.


Books in my life


Books... I think that we can't live without them. I believe that books stay with us for all our life. When I was a child my parents read them to me. I was happy to listen to the stories and tales. I learned a lot of interesting things from books. I remember thtat I liked thick books. Later I've learnt to read myself. I like to read books about animals, nature and children. I like to get presents on my birthday. I am happy if it is a book. It doesn't matter what kind of book it is. I like to read almost all books. If I have spare time, I spend it with my favourite book. When I was fifteen I was fond of reading too. But I preferred to read books about travels. I travelled with the heroes of the stories. I saw many interesting places and learned a lot of important facts about other countries and people. Now I like to read books about science. You can learn a lot from books. I am sure that books play a very important role in my life. Our family has got many books. All the members of our family buy books and read them. My mother says that books help us in our self-education. In ancient times books were written by hand. It was difficult to write a book with a pen. Then printing came into our life. Printing played an important role in the development of literature and culture. Now there are a lot of books in the shops, there are many books in our homes. But it is expensive to buy all the books we want to read. That's why we can read books in public libraries. There are many problems in our life and sometimes it is difficult to solve them. I think that books can help us in it. Last year I read a very interesting book titled "An American Tragedy" by Theodore Dreiser. This novel was published at the beginning of the 20th century. The novel describes the tragic fate of a boy and a girl, Clyde and Roberta by name. It is a sad story. This novel was written many years ago, but it is still popular nowadays. Books must be our friends during all our life.


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