Сборник адаптированных текстов по английскому языку Lesson 1 We learn English

Lesson 5. Seasons

There are four seasons in a year: winter, spring, sum­mer and autumn. Each of them lasts three months.

Summer is my favorite season. June, July and Au­gust are summer months. When summer comes, the weather gets warmer and sometimes it can be very hot. In summer people spend much time in the open. They find time to go to the forest or to swim in the river. School­children like their summer holidays.

Autumn comes in September with the beginning of the school year. It is the time when fruit and vegetables be­come ripe. It is a very beautiful time of the year when the weather is still warm and the leaves change their col­our from green to yellow and red. But then it gets colder. The leaves fall from the trees and cover the ground. Birds fly away to warm countries. Then winter comes.

Winter is usually a cold season. It often snows, rivers and lakes are frozen. The sun sets early and rises late.

SEASONS
It is very nice in spring. The sky is often blue. The sun shines brightly in the sky. It is warm. It sometimes rains, but the rain is warm and pleasant.

Spring is a hard time for those who live in the country. There is a lot of work to do in the fields. Sometimes people are busy from morning till night. Tractors work in the fields day and night.

Children do not work in the fields. They go to school. They should work hard at the end of the school year.

Summer is as nice as spring. The sun shines brightly. It is warm and sometimes hot. It is warmer and hotter than in spring. The Days are longer than in spring. The longest day of the year is the 22nd of June.

In summer children do not go to school. They have summer holidays. They often help fathers and mothers on a farm. There is always a lot of work there in this season.

Summer is a pleasant season. There is a lot of fruit and veg­etables at that time. Some people like summer best of all.

After summer autumn comes. The days are shorter than in summer. The weather is not so pleasant as in spring and in summer. It often rains. The rain is cold and not pleasant at all. In September, the first autumn month, the school year begins in our country. Autumn is the season of fruit and vegetables. It is the hard­est time for country people. They should work hard in the fields. Children always help them with fruit and vegetables in autumn.

November is the coldest month in autumn. It sometimes

Winter is the coldest season year. Sometimes the weather is pleasant. It often snows. Some people like when it snows. There is a lot of snow on the ground. The snow is clean and white. The ground is all white with snow. It is pleasant to walk when it is not very cold and it snows. The best holidays in winter are the New Year and Christmas.

When autumn comes, the days become shorter and colder. It gets dark earlier and often heavy clouds cover the sky brining rain with them.

Sometimes there is heavy rain, so that an umbrella or raincoat is necessary if we don't want to get wet through. Then you can hear people say, "What a bad weather! When is the rain going to stop?" Many people then catch cold and must go to bed. At last frost and snow come.

Fields, forests and houses are covered with snow and rivers and lakes with ice. But spring again brings sunshine and warm winds. Sometimes it snows but snow will not remain long, will melt in the warm sun. Spring will bring bright sunshine, green grass and flowers.

We usually say: "A nice day", "Not a bad day" or "It's nice weather for the time of the year" if the weather is fine.

We can say: "It looks like rain", "It looks like snow" or "It's bad weather" when the weather is bad.

The weather in England is very changeable. A fine morning can change into a wet afternoon and evening. And a nasty morning can change to a fine afternoon. That is why it is natural for the English to use the compari­son «as changeable as the weather» of a person who of­ten changes his mood or opinion about something. «Oth­er countries have a climate, in England we have weath­er». This statement is often made by the English to describe meteorological conditions of their country.

The English also say that they have three variants of weather: when it rains in the morning, when it rains in the afternoon or when it rains all day long.

The weather is the favorite conversational topic in England. When two Englishmen meet, their first words will be «How do you do? » or «How are you? » And after the reply «Very well, thank you; how are you? » the next remark is almost certain to be about the weather. When they go abroad the English often surprise people of oth­er nationalities by this tendency to talk about the weath­er, a topic of conversation that other people do not find so interesting.

The best time of the year in England is spring (of course, it rains in spring, too). The two worst months in Britain are January and February. They are cold, damp and unpleasant. The best place in the world is at home by the big fire in the fireplace.

Summer months are rather cold and there can be a lot of rainy days. So most people who look forward to sum­mer holidays, plan to go abroad; to France or somewhere on the Continent.

The doctor's family is large. There are six of them: Father,

It is Saturday, the family is at home.

When Mary comes Olya welcomes her and says, "Good
afternoon!"

Mary answers, "Good afternoon!"

Olya introduces Mary to her father, mother, sister and broth­ers. Before they have tea Olya shows her friend their house.

"This is the dining-room; it is the biggest room of the house. On the right you see Father's study; it is smaller than the other rooms. On the left there is the living-room, it is a little smaller than the dining-room. Opposite there are two bed­rooms. This is our bedroom. My sister and I sleep in it. And that is my brothers' bedroom. The rooms are not large but we like them very much.

This is the kitchen and that is our bathroom. And how many rooms are there in your house?"

"We have three rooms. Our rooms are not so large as yours. We have a small house and a little garden behind the house. In the garden there are many beautiful flowers and beds with vegetables."

Can you tell us what men wear? They usually wear a shirt and trousers, a coat or a jacket, socks and shoes. If it is cold, they put on a coat, a cap or a hat and a pair of gloves.

If it rains, men and women wear a raincoat. In autumn when it is raining hard an umbrella is necessary.

Lesson 9 Meals
MEALS
There are four meals a day in an English home, breakfast, lunch, tea, and dinner.

Breakfast is the first meal of the day. It is at about 8 o'clock in the morning, and consists of porridge with milk and sugar, eggs—boiled or fried, bread and butter with marmalade or jam. Some people like to drink tea, but others prefer соfee. Instead of porridge they may have fruit juice, or they prefer biscuits.

The usual time for lunch is 1 o'clock. This meal starts soup or fruit juice. Then follows some meat or poultry potatoes — boiled or fried, carrots and beans. Then a pudding comes. Instead of the pudding they may prefer cheese and biscuits. Last of all coffee — black or white. Englishmen drink something at lunch. Water is usually on the table.

Tea is the third meal of the day. It is between 4 or 5 o'clock the so-called 5 o'clock tea. On the table there is tea, cream, sugar, bread and butter, cakes and jam. Friend and visitors are often present at tea.

Dinner is the fourth meal of the day. The usual time about 7 o'clock, and all the members of the family sit together.

Dinner usually consists of soup, fish or meat with vegetables — potatoes, green beans, carrot and cabbage, fruit salad, ice-cream or cheese and biscuits. They have black or white coffee.

This is the order of meals among English families. The greater part of the people in the towns, and nearly all the people, have dinner in the middle of the day. They have tea a little later — between 5 and 6 o'clock, an in the evening, before going to bed, they have supper.

So the four meals of the day are either breakfast, tea, supper; or breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner.

The usual meals in England are breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner or, in simpler houses, breakfast, dinner, tea and supper.

For breakfast Englishmen often have porridge or corn­flakes with milk or cream and sugar, bacon and eggs, jam with buttered toasts and tea or coffee. For a change they can have a boiled egg, cold ham, or fish.

English people usually have lunch about one o'clock. At lunch time in a London restaurant you can have a mutton chop, or steak and chips, or cold meat or fish with potatoes and salad, then a pudding or fruit.

Afternoon tea can hardly be called a meal. It is a sub­stantial meal only in well-to-do families. It is between five and six o'clock. It is rather a sociable sort of thing, as friends often come for a chat while they have their cup of tea, cake or biscuit.

In some houses dinner is the biggest meal of the day. But in great many English homes, the midday meal is the chief one of the day, and in the evening there is usually a much simpler supper — an omelet, or sausages, some­times bacon and eggs and sometimes just bread and cheese, a cup of coffee or cocoa and fruit.

1. 
   Listen to dialogue
   

People use radio or television. They switch on the radio set or TV set and choose the programme they like best. Some people like music. They listen to various concerts of opera and old music, new and old songs, and see dances. Those who are fond of sports listen to or watch football and hockey mat­ches. These are the most popular kinds of sports. There are a lot of fans among people. They can also see championships in athletics and other kinds of sports. Everybody likes to see skating and dancing on the ice. Radio and television extend our knowledge about the world in which we live. Television helps us to 'visit' different lands, see new plants, animals, unusual birds, fish and insects, mountains and lakes, rivers, and seas. We are shown different countries, cities and towns and people who live there. On TV people could even see both sides of the Moon. This is what we can do at home.

If we want to go out, there are a lot of cinemas, theatres, museums, Houses of Culture and clubs in our country where we can spend our free time.

In big cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg it is often diffi­cult to decide where to go in the evening. Newspapers tell us what is on at cinemas and theatres. If you are a theatre-goer, you will choose a play you want to see. If you are a film fan, you will go to a cinema. When new interesting plays are on, it is not easy to get tickets, because the theatres play to full houses every night. Then you must book tickets.

In small towns and villages they have actors of their own. So they invite a group of actors from a big town or a city to show plays. Everyone likes to see the plays. Schools usually get tickets for their pupils. They go to the theatre with their teachers and have talks about the play they have seen.

The cinema has really become the most popular kind of art. Films are shown in cinemas, clubs, Houses of Culture and even schools in villages. Young and old people like to see films very much, and when a good film is on, the house is usual­ly full.

In small towns and villages both Houses of Culture and clubs are the centres of cultural activities which are carried out through different sections. Those who like to dance join a dancing section. Those who are interested in music join a musical section where they are taught to play different musical instruments. People who are fond of sports can join sport sections, such as football, skiing, boating, chess, and others. The art section is one of the most popular with the people, because they can learn to create beautiful things there. Some members are taught to paint, and they organize local exhibitions of their paintings. Some do cutting work; others grow flowers and take part in town and region flower-shows.

Old traditions are coming to life. In some villages they build 'Huts on hen's legs', taverns in the old Russian style such as 'Lubava' on the way from Moscow to Novgorod, where people can meet their friends, have pleasant talks, eat Russian food and listen to Russian music.

So you can see how interesting the ways in which leisure time can be spent are.

SPORTS AND GAMES
We are sure you are all interested in sport. Many of you cer­tainly play such games as volleyball or football, basket­ball or tennis. People who play a game are players. Players form teams and play matches with other teams — their oppo­nents. Two players playing with each other are partners. Each team can lose or win. In a football match players try to score as many goals as they can.

Most matches take place in large stadiums.

Athletics is the most popular sport. People call it 'the queen of all sports'. It comprises such kinds of sports as: running (for different distances), jumping (long and high jumps) and others.

From time to time international championships and races (horse-races, motor-races, cycle-races) take place. Representa­tives of various countries can win a gold, silver or bronze med­al. Such great championships in sport are organized every four years and we call them Olympic Games. Only the best may take part in them.

There are so many kinds of sports, such as cycling, swimming, gymnastics, boxing, skating, skiing, rowing, yachting and many more in which you can take an active part or just be a devoted fan.

VICTOR COULDNT GO TO THE MATCH
Victor Ivanov is a worker. He lives in Moscow. He is a football fan. Victor likes to go to football matches.

There was a very interesting football match last Saturday. It was a match between the teams of Russia and Great Britain. Though Victor is a football fan, he couldn't go to the match. He couldn't go to the match, because he had to stay at home. He had to stay at home, because his mother was away and he had to look after his little sister.

He had to cook food for the child; he had to wash and dress her. That was not very easy. To tell the truth it was very difficult, but he had to look after his little sister.

When the mother was back, she found Victor and

Traveling became a part of our life. Thousands of people travel every day either on business or for pleas­ure. They travel by road, by train, by air or by sea.

Of course, traveling by air is the fastest and the most convenient way, but it is the most expensive, too. Traveling by train is slower than traveling by plane, but it is less expensive. You can see many interesting places of the country through the window. Modern trains have more comfortable seats. There are also sleeping cars and dining cars that make even the longest journey more pleasant. Speed, comfort and safety are the main advan­tages of trains and planes. That is why many people pre­fer them to all other kinds of traveling.

Traveling by sea is popular mostly for pleasure trips. Tourists can make voyages on large ships to foreign coun­tries. The trips on the Volga, the Don and the Black Sea are very popular today.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is situated on the British Isles. It consists of four parts: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

England, Wales and Scotland occupy the territory of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is situated in the northern part of Ireland. The territory of the United Kingdom is about 244000 square kilometers. The popu­lation is over 56 million people. The capital of the Unit­ed Kingdom is London.

The surface of the United Kingdom varies greatly. The northern and the western parts of the country are moun­tainous and are called the Highlands. All the rest is a vast plain which is called the Lowlands. The mountains are not very high. The rivers are not very long. The most im­portant of them are the Severn and the Thames. There are many beautiful lakes in the mountainous part of the country.

The mountains, the Atlantic Ocean and the warm wa­ters of the Gulf Stream influence the climate of Great Britain. It is mild the whole year round. Winters are not cold and summers are not hot.

Great Britain is a highly developed industrial coun­try. It is known as one of the world's largest producers and exporters of iron and steel products, machinery and electronics, chemicals and textile. One of the industries is shipbuilding.

Great Britain is a country with old cultural traditions and customs. The most famous educational centers are Oxford and Cambridge universities. They are considered to be the intellectual centers of Europe. The education is not free, it is very expensive.

The United Kingdom is a monarchy and the Queen is the head of the state. But in practice it is ruled by the government with the Prime Minister at the head. The British Parliament consists of two chambers: the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

London is the capital of Great Britain, its political, economic and commercial centre. It is one of the largest cities in the world and the largest city in Europe. Its pop­ulation is about 8 million.

London is situated on the river Thames. The city is very old. It has more than 20 centuries old history. Tra­ditionally it is divided into several parts, the City, West­minster, the West End and the East. End. They are very different from each other.

The City is the oldest part of London, its financial and business centre. Numerous banks, offices and firms are concentrated here. Few people live in the City but over a million come to work here. There are two places of inter­est in the City: St. Paul's Cathedral and the Tower of London. St. Paul's Cathedral was built in the 17th cen­tury by the architect Christopher Wren. The Tower of London was built in the 15th century. It was used as a fortress, a palace and a prison. Now it's a museum.

Westminster is the aristocratic official part of Lon­don. There are Buckingham Palace where the Queen lives and the Houses of Parliament along the north bank of the Thames.

The clock tower of the Houses of Parliament is famous for its big hour bell known as «Big Ben». Westminster Abbey is the place where the coronation of nearly all kings and queens has taken place. Many of them are buried here as well as some other famous people of the country.

The West End is the richest and most beautiful part of London. The best hotels, restaurants, shops, clubs, parks and houses are situated there. There are many tour­ists there from different countries of the world.

Trafalgar Square is the geographical centre of Lon­don; it was named in the memory of Admiral Nelson's victory in the battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The tall Nel­son's Column stands in the middle of the square.

The East End is an industrial district of London. There are many factories there. The region is densely populat­ed by working class families.
Lesson 12 More about London
MEANS OF COMMUNICATION

People use various means of communication to get from one place to another.

In the old days people had to travel several days and months to get to the place they needed. They either went foot, by coaches driven by horses or on horseback or by ships. Then trains, trams, cars, buses, airplanes, ground and other means appeared.

Many people like to travel by air as it is the fastest way of traveling. A lot of people like to travel by train because can look at passing villages, forests and fields. Some people like to travel by car. There they can go slowly or as fast as they like. They can stop when and why they want.

People who live in big cities use various means of communication to get from one place to another.

Do you know what means of communication Londoners use the underground railway? They call it 'the tu

London's underground is the oldest in the world. It opened in 1863.

Londoners use buses. The first bus route was opened in London in 1904. Today there are hundreds of routes there. Interesting thing is that some of the routes are the same many years ago. London's buses are double-decked buses.

Londoners do not use trams, though London was the f city where trams appeared. And now it is one of the biggest cities in the world where there are no trams. The last tram in the streets of London was many years ago.

Londoners use cars. You can see a lot of cars in London streets.

When Londoners leave the town, they use trains, ships airplanes.

THE BRITISH MUSEUM
The British Museum has one of the largest libraries in t world. It has a copy of every book that is printed in the English language, so that there are more than six million books there. They receive nearly two thousand books and papers daily.

The British Museum Library has a very big collection printed books and manuscripts, both old and new. You can see beautifully illustrated old manuscripts which they keep in cases.

You can also find there some of the first English, books printed by Caxton. Caxton was a printer who lived in the fifteenth century. He made the first printing-press in England.

In the reading-room of the British Museum many famous men have read and studied.

Charles Dickens, a very popular English writer and t author of 'David Copperfield', 'Oliver Twist', 'Dombey and son “.

MORE ABOUT LONDON
London is the capital of England, and the capital of the United Kingdom, one of the oldest town of the world. Old Celts gave it its name, the Romans settled their new colony, the Germanic invaders tried to burn and destroy it, and the victorious Normans made it the capital of country.

The central part of London is full of historical remai Nearly every building, every bridge, every street, palace, hoi and stone — each of them has its own stotyits own past. London past and present are so mixed together that they can easily be separated and when you are in London you see past in the present and the present in the past.

The oldest part of London is called the City. In the С the streets and pavements are very narrow and the traffic very heavy on weekdays. That is because the most import London firms and banks having offices there.

The most fashionable and the most expensive part to live is the West End. It is situated between the City and Hyde Ps the City and the West End are the heart of London; they the parts which everybody who comes to London must see; wants to see, because they are more interesting than any part of London. All the most interesting buildings and offices are situated here.

The Tower of London, the Bank of England, the Mans House where the Lord Mayor lives, the Law Courts, and m; interesting old churches are situated in the City. The House of Parliament with Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the National Gallery and many theatres and good shops are in the End.

London has many bridges over the Thames, more than twenty, but the most interesting of them all is the Tower Bridge situated near the Tower of London.

The Tower of London is an old castle, with high walls, h towers, small windows and large gardens. Once it was a residence, a strong fortress and a state prison. Here many important people, among them two wives of Henry VIII, imprisoned and beheaded.

One of the oldest and the most famous places of London is St. Paul's Cathedral. It has been destroyed several times since the original construction in the century. It stands in the centre of the so-called Little Briti A large part of little Britain was destroyed during the houses that were close to the Cathedral's walls disappeared and for the first time in centuries St. Paul's Cathedral's "beauty can be seen.

The capital of Scotland is Edinburgh, but Scotland has no separate Parliament, for the Scottish MP (Members of Parlia­ment) sit with the English ones in Westminster in London.

Edinburgh is not the largest city in Scotland. Glasgow, which has a population of over one million, is twice as large as Edinburgh.

Even so, Edinburgh remains the centre of the life of Scot­land. Here are the administrative centers of the Navy, the Army, and the Air Force, the chief banks and offices; and the famous university.

Edinburgh, unlike Glasgow, has no large factories. Publish­ing is its well-known industry. It has been famous for its print­ers since the early years of the sixteenth century, when the first Scottish printing-press was set up within its walls. The publishing of books is today a very important industry. Much printing is done for London publishing houses, and there are many paper-miles near Edinburgh.

Edinburgh is a beautiful city. The first thing you see in Edinburgh is the Rock — the very large hill in the middle of the city, on which stands Edinburgh Castle. The Castle looks like a castle from a fairy-tale, and parts of it are more than a thou­sand years old. From the top of the Castle there is a beautiful view of the hill and the sea.

Besides the Castle there are many other interesting build­ings, such as Holy rood Palace which is the old royal resi­dence, the Art Gallery, the University of Edinburgh.

Edinburgh is famous for many things: its festivals (plays and music), its college of medicine, its museums and libraries, and for its writers Sir Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson and others.