GREAT INVENTIONS

Our century is a century of developing informational connection. Faxes, TV, Internet, and Telephone became the most popular way of getting and sending information. One of the greatest inventions of the century is computer.

Nowadays computers can pay wages, reserve seats on planes, control sputniks, compose music. Also everybody knows the words Cd Rom, a means of storing information on a disk to be read by a computer, e-mail, which becomes one of the ways to exchange information, the Internet - a network that is a way to get information, to communicate with people, to find everything you need.

As the years go forward our life becomes faster, a lot of new things appear, our mind develops and it cannot stop. Many centuries ago people even couldn't imagine that we will be able to exchange information using telephone, fax, Internet as long as they couldn't think that there are a lot of planets except our earth and that people can fly their.

Nowadays we live surrounded by machines and other inventions. And with new inventions we become happier because nearly everything is making by machine not by ourselves. And from day to day appear more and more new things. And we don't think about how the first inventions were created.

MY FAVOURITE SEASON

There are 4 seasons in a year: autumn, winter, spring and summer. Every season is good in its own way. But of course, I like be of all summer. I prefer it to any other season.

The sun rises earlier and earlier and sets later and later. In June we have the longest days and the shortest nights. The weather usually fine. The sky is blue and cloudless. The sun shines brightly in the sky. It is warm and even hot. Sometimes you can watch beautiful rainbow.

But the main thing is certainly having a two-month holiday Two months without lessons, whom having to get up early in the morning. Indeed, summer holiday is a great fun for schoolchildren I like to spend my holiday at the seaside. I like to lie in the sun and bathe in the sea. Summer is the best time for going hiking. Another favourite pastime in summer is gathering mushroom and berries. It is nice to put up tents and to make a bonfire. It is a brighter side of the picture.

The great Russian poet Pushkin said, "Oh, summer fine. I'd love you but for the heat, the mosquitoes and flies!" I share his opinion But the weather is not always fair and sunny in summer. Sometime the wind blows up. Suddenly black clouds cover the sky. It becomes hot and stuffy. A thunderstorm begins. On a day like this we say it's raining cats and dogs. There are a lot of puddles everywhere and streams of water run down the road. The storm is over. The sun comes ant. But after the rain every looks fresh and lovely again The sun shines brightly. Rain is good for trees and flowers.

POLLUTION

The British, like many other Europeans, are becoming more and more worried about their environment. Here are some of the environmental problems that they face. As the population of large cities like London, Birmingham and Manchester continues to grow, pollution problems become worse. The air in many towns and cities is being polluted by traffic and industry. The number of cars and lorries is growing all the time. On the one hand, they bring mobility to millions of people, but on the other hand, they need bigger, better and more expensive roads, which often ruin the countryside. Ecology and the contamination of environment, is concerned with climate, over-population in certain areas, deaths of plant and animals, chemical contamination of seas, lakes and rivers as well as atomic experiments and dumping of atomic waste from power stations. Floods, unexpected draughts, and the greenhouse effect are the next reasons.

Traffic in cities is getting worse and worse. Water pollution has become a serious problem in many British rivers. People living near airports suffer from the noise of increasingly larger and more powerful jet airliners taking off and landing.

26 THE BOY WHO CRIED “WOLF!”

There was once a boy who lived in a village up in the mountains. His family owned many sheep. The boy had a job, and that job was to watch the sheep. If a wolf came near, he needed to call for help. His sheep stayed on a hill near the village where he watched them every day.

One day, he thought of a trick he could play on the people who lived in the village. He was bored, so he thought this would be a way to have fun. He ran toward the village crying out loudly for help. He shouted, "Wolf! Wolf! Come and help! The wolves are at my lambs! The wolves are trying to eat them!"

There were many villagers in the town. They heard him crying and thought that they had to help. So, the kind villagers left their work and ran to the field to help him. They would try to help him chase away the wolves and protect his lambs. However, when the villagers got there, the boy laughed at them. There was no wolf there. He just wanted to watch them come running! He thought it was funny. Then another day the boy tried the same trick. Once again, the villagers came running to help him out, and once again the boy laughed at them. Then, one day, a wolf really did come and it started chasing the lambs. In great fright, the boy ran for help. "Wolf! Wolf!" he screamed. "There is a wolf! Help! Please! Help! Please!”

All the villagers heard him, but this time they did not come. They thought he was pulling another mean trick. They had learned their lesson and did not need to be laughed at again. So, no one paid attention to him and the shepherd-boy lost all his sheep –they all ran away.

When people in the village found out what had happened, they were sorry, but they told the boy it was his fault. That is the kind of thing that happens to people who lie. Even when they tell the truth, no one believes them. People are just so used to their lies.

HALLOWEEN

Halloween, Oct. 31, the eve of All Saints' Day, observed with traditional games and customs. The word comes from medieval England's All Hallows' eve (Old Eng. hallow = "saint"). However, many of these customs predate Christianity, going back to Celtic practices associated with Nov. 1, which was Samhain, the beginning of winter and the Celtic new year. Witches and other evil spirits were believed to roam the earth on this evening, playing tricks on human beings to mark the season of diminishing sunlight. Bonfires were lit, offerings were made of dainty foods and sweets, and people would disguise themselves as one of the roaming spirits, to avoid demonic persecution. Survivals of these early practices can be found in countries of Celtic influence today, such as the United States where children go from door to door in costumes demanding "trick or treat."

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