Task 1. Read the text. Reading is one of the greatest pleasures in life. I would be lost if I didn’t have a good book to read. I can’t remember any time in my life when I wasn’t reading something. I guess you could call me a bookworm. I’ve always got my head buried in a book. I think reading is more than just a hobby. It’s a part of who we are. We learn many things about the world from books. We entertain ourselves with great novels from all over the world, and from the past. Even novels from hundreds of years ago are a great read. You notice how much reading is part of us when you sit on a train. Everyone has a book, magazine, or nowadays, a computer. Everyone seems lost in their own world. The world of reading is not a bad place to be lost in.
It is common knowledge that television has become the most popular entertainment in our home life. Now fewer and fewer people go out in the evening, preferring to stay at home and enjoy themselves sitting in comfortable armchairs in front of TV-screens and watching either “live” TV or films on video. In Russia people can choose among lots of channels. Some of them are commercial: they are Discovery, Travel Channel or CNN in English. The others, such as Russia 1, belong to the federal government. A great number of central channels make their viewers watch advertisements, as the main part of the money they get, comes from advertising. So between and during programmes we have to watch advertisements for chewing-gum, soap, washing-machines, detergents and many other items we do not require at the moment. There is a special channel broadcasting lots of sports events such as championships, competitions, races, games and interviews with sportsmen and sportswomen. There are also several channels transmitting regional programmes and news and a channel “Culture”, composed of cultural programmes.As a rule, adults prefer to watch news.
The official name of the country is the United Kingdom of the Great Britain and the Northern Ireland. The country is situated in the British Isles. The two main islands are the Great Britain (in which are England, Wales and Scotland) and Ireland. The United Kingdom is not far from Europe. The UK is washed by the Atlantic Ocean in the east and by the North Sea in the west. The highest mountains are in Scotland and Wales: Ben Nevis and Snowdon. The longest rivers are Severn and River Thames.The UK is one of the world`s smallest countries ( it is half the size of France or Spain).The largest cities of France or Spain). The largest cities of the Great Britain are London, Birmingham and Glasgow.
In Russia people can choose among lots of channels. Some of them are commercial: they are Discovery, Travel Channel or CNN in English. The others, such as Russia 1, belong to the federal government. A great number of central channels make their viewers watch advertisements, as the main part of the money they get, comes from advertising. So between and during programmes we have to watch advertisements for chewing-gum, soap, washing-machines, detergents and many other items we do not require at the moment.
There is a special channel broadcasting lots of sports events such as championships, competitions, races, games and interviews with sportsmen and sportswomen. There are also several channels transmitting regional programmes and news and a channel “Culture”, composed of cultural programmes.As a rule, adults prefer to watch news.