Family relations

Whoever we are, one thing is certain. We are all born the product of a union between a man and a woman, and we are all very much shaped by those who raised us, our parents or caregivers. We are the product of human relationships, and most of us spend our days within the context of relationships with other people. We need other people to be close to us in our lives, or we tend to get sick. Who we are is very much a function of where we have come from, and who we surround ourselves with.

Despite their vital importance in our lives, relationships can be very difficult to manage. We expect our intimate partners to provide for many of our needs, but often find that differing expectations, frustration, and a need to be right create conditions for conflict and erosion of intimacy. Angels though they may be, our children test us for weaknesses and we don’t always pass. Our adult parents grow older and require care, placing a burden on our other responsibilities. A diverse set of communication and relationship skills is required if one is to successfully meet the challenges of family life.

The emotional and intellectual stages you pass through from childhood to your retirement years as a member of a family are called the family life cycle. In each stage, you face challenges in your family life that cause you to develop or gain new skills. Developing these skills helps you work through the changes that nearly every family goes through.

Not everyone passes through these stages smoothly. Situations such as severe illness, financial problems, or the death of a loved one can have an effect on how well you pass through the stages. Fortunately, if you miss skills in one stage, you can learn them in later stages.

The stages of the family life cycle are:

Independence.

Coupling or marriage.

Parenting: Babies through adolescents.

Launching adult children.

Retirement or senior years.

Mastering the skills and milestones of each stage allows you to successfully move from one stage of development to the next. If you don’t master the skills, you may still move on to the next phase of the cycle, but you are more likely to have difficulty with relationships and future transitions. Family life cycle theory suggests that successful transitioning may also help to prevent disease and emotional or stress-related disorders.

Whether you are a parent or child, brother or sister, bonded by blood or love, your experiences through the family life cycle will affect who you are and who you become. The more you understand about the challenges of each stage of the cycle, the more likely you are to successfully move on.

The stress of daily living or coping with a chronic medical condition or other crisis disrupts the normal family cycle. A crisis or ongoing stress can delay the transition to the next phase of life. Or you may move on without the necessary skills to succeed.

Be assured, you can learn missed skills and improve your and your family’s quality of life at any stage. Self-examination, education, and perhaps counseling are ways to improve yourself and your family life. These are also actions that can help you manage other issues, too, such as going through a divorce or being a part of a nontraditional family structure.

Appearance and Character

As once Somerset Maugham said each of us is a prisoner in a solitary tower and he communicates with the other prisoners, who form mankind, by conventional signs that have not quite the same meaning for them as for himself. And he was right as each of us is a separate personality who may resemble other people very closely or differ greatly from them.

People’s temperament is divided into 4 types: sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic and melancholic.

Sanguine is communicative, he wants to be a leader and organizer, tries to be in the limelight, resolute self-possessed (знает себе цену), he perceives quickly novelties in the life, he likes to overestimate himself, he is a big egoist, his words are not always entirely in character with his actions. He is able to stand hard labor due to his feature of being emotionally stable, is characterized by sarcasm.

Choleric is also communicative, quick-witted. He quickly becomes mad about something becomes fanatic but as soon as he is no longer interested in the matter, he falls into depression. Unstable choleric always leads to conflicts. Any stress situation is a serious conflict for him.

Phlegmatic is concealed, even-tempered, composed, can be easily irritated being in the joyful surrounding. He is afraid of people’s appreciation and is not wordy, but if he wants to express his ideas he does it in a solid way and substantially. He is either lazy or workaholic.

Melancholic is not prolix, composed and can be easily hurt.

It is a matter of common knowledge that appearance has something to do with the character. There is no doubt that they are interconnected.

Everyone knows that very often, unfortunately, appearances can be deceptive. Though everyone has got something pleasant and good about his character, some virtuous features of character that distinguish him from other people. Sometimes talking to a person who at first sight seems to be nice and pleasant can turn to be bad as his inner world is penetrated throughout by evil features. Knowing a person for many years we can never suspect that he is ill-natured, impertinent, or more than that a real scoundrel. He can open and show us those deep and evil features of his character that can strike us for ages. Besides, a person’s eyes can betray him as a human’s eyes are the soul of person’s nature and inner world.

The psychologist say that sometimes we shouldn’t blame such people for their bad features as in their childhood we may find anything which is associated with their bad behavior. But a person in his turn should try to change himself for him to be among people, to have real friends because the communication with this class of people can come to a bad end for others. When we speak about somebody’s face, figure, hands, feet we mean his or her appearance.

To sum up, I think everyone is equal, regardless of their appearances. We should know all about their internal features and external appearance to make a fair judgment.

Dwelling and its Types

We can hardly say that today there exist the problem of choosing a type of housing. Everyone can find something he or she likes. For instance, some people prefer to live somewhere in the country in a small, but cozy cottage or a large farmhouse. To my mind those people, who prefer this type of dwelling really adore nature: they want to wake up to songs of birds, to enjoy beautiful landscapes, to breath fresh air or in other words they want to have a calm and measured rhythm of life. Usually such people keep the poultry and the cattle. One of advantages living in such a house is that you have your own land where you can grow fruit and vegetables, make flowerbeds and plant beautiful flowers, lay out an orchard, etc. You can also build some outhouses like a green-house, a garage or a tool shed. But the greatest disadvantage of living in a farmhouse or in a cottage, in my opinion, is that it takes much time to get to the nearest town, but if you have a car it isn’t a problem. That’s why one can think over the possibility to live in a cottage when retire.

There are also those who like semi-detached houses or, as the Americans call them, duplexes. I believe that such houses attract people because they are less expensive than mansions or bungalows for example and you have only one neighbor as opposed to block of flats. And as you have a neighbor you can always turn to him if you need something, though from time to time they can disturb you when repairing the house or listening to music too loudly. But in general I’m sure that it’s quite nice to live in a semi-detached house.

Time and Dates

A year is the average time it takes the earth to go once round the sun. There are 12 months or 52 weeks or 365 days in a year. Every four years there is a leap year. It has 366 days. We all know the names of the months, but not all of us can quite remember how many days there are in each month. There is a little poem to help.

Thirty days has September,

April, June and November.

All the rest have thirty-one,

Excepting February alone,

Which has but twenty-eight days clear,

And twenty-nine in each leap year.

There are seven days in a week, 24 hours in a day, 60 seconds in a minute and 60 minutes in an hour. We probably have 60 because 60 was a very important number to the people who lived in ancient Babylon, a land from which many of our ideas came.

There are seven days in a week. The seven days of the week are named in honor of the sun, the moon and five of the planets. Sunday is the sun’s day, Monday is the moon’s day, Tuesday is Mars’ day, Wednesday is Mercury’s day, Thursday is Jupiter’s day, Friday is Venus’ day and Saturday is Saturn’s day.

The planets were named after Roman gods and goddesses. The beginning of the day is dawn or daybreak, then comes morning, noon, afternoon, evening and night. We can’t change the length of the day. It is made for us by turning of the earth on its axis. The sun rises in the east in the morning and sets in the west in the evening.

We know that the time is not the same all over the world. For this reason, the world has been divided into time zones. All the places in each zone have the same time. It is called standard time.

Natural Phenomena in Weather and Seasons

There are four seasons in a year: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Every season is beautiful in its own way.

When spring comes nature awakens from its long winter sleep. The days become longer and the nights become shorter. The ground is covered with emerald-green grass and the first flowers. The air is fresh, the sky is blue and cloudless, and the sun shines brightly. The trees are in full blossom. The nightingale begins to sing its lovely songs, and sweet melodies may be heard from every wood and park. The days are warm and everything is full of life and joy.

Spring is followed by summer. The weather is usually fine in summer, but it can be very hot, especially in July. Sometimes there are storms with thunder and lightning. In summer people try to get away from the city noise and spend more time in the open air. They pick mushrooms and berries in the forest, swim in the rivers and lakes, go fishing and boating. Most people prefer to have their holidays in summer.

Autumn begins in September. The days become shorter and the nights become longer. The leaves turn yellow, red and brown and fall to the ground. Most birds fly away to warm countries. There is a short spell of dry sunny weather in September, which is called ‘Indian Summer’. It is a beautiful time when the sky is cloudless, the trees around are golden, the air is transparent and it is still warm. But gradually it gets colder and colder. It often rains in October and November which makes autumn an unpleasant season.

In winter the sun sets early and rises late. The rivers and lakes are frozen over. Everything is covered with snow. Sometimes it is very cold, about 25-30 °C below zero. Going out in such weather isn’t pleasant. Winter is a good time for sports. People go in for skating and skiing. Tobogganing is also popular, not as a kind of sports, but rather as a fun.

As for me, I like all seasons, but I think there is nothing like late spring.

Global Environmental Problems

The planet Earth is only a tiny part of the universe, but it’s the only place where human beings can live. The world environment means simply what is around us. Some people live in towns, other in the country. There are a lot of ecological problems. The most serious are: noise from cars and buses; destruction of wildlife and countryside beauty; shortage of natural resources; the growth of population; pollution in its many forms. Water pollution, for example: water is everywhere, but there is no ocean or sea which is not used as a dump. Many rivers and lakes are poisoned too. Fish and reptiles can’t live in them. People can’t drink this water. So we have to be concerned about water environment.

Another problem is air pollution. It influences people’s health. Among dangerous factors one should mention the following: ultraviolet radiation from the sun can cause skin cancer. Normally the ozone layer in the atmosphere protects us from such radiation, but if there are holes in it, ultraviolet radiation gets to the earth. Many scientists think that these holes are the result of air pollution.

We also have problems with nuclear pollution. It can’t be seen but its effects can be terrible. To make air clean again we need good filters at nuclear power stations, at factories, in cars and buses.

Another problem is growth of population. Humans lack place to live. They need more water, more food. So it is the reason of the shortage of the natural resources. But for this we face the problem of green house effect. It works like this: sunlight gives us heat. Some of the heat warms the atmosphere and some of the heat goes back into space. Nowadays the heat can’t go into space. That’s why winter and summer temperatures in many places have become higher. If the temperature continues to grow up the snow on the mountains and ice will melt, so the most of the earth will be under water. Thus, everyone has to understand how important it is to solve these problems that endanger people’s life.

Modern Means of Communication

We cannot imagine the world without modern ways of communication. They make the lives easier, the business quicker and more flexible and connect people all over the world any time. Among them one can mention the following: phone, mobile phone, Skype, ICQ, Internet.

Knowledge is power. The easiest way to get is through Internet. It saves a lot of time, provides vast field of information and gives me the opportunity to visit virtually any spot of the world. It helps me pay my taxes quickly; it secures up-to-date knowledge about any sphere of interest.

Writing postal letters is not popular and is rather time-consuming. That’s why we’ve got electronic mail (e-mail) – a progeny of computer technology. It facilities the transmittal of messages through the use of computer storage and computer inter-links, thus eliminating postal delays. Apart from being time saving, it is a more convenient and unobtrusive method of sending a message as the sender can be sure of not disturbing the recipient.

Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice calls over the Internet.

Skype has also become popular for its additional features which include instant messaging, file transfer, and video conferencing.

ICQ is a homophone for the phrase ‘I seek you’. It was a popular instant messaging computer program, first developed by the Israeli company Mirabilis.

Mobile phones are also useful and often prevent a person from serious troubles. Having quick access to Emergency Services, no matter how far you are is quite an advantage. The constant contact with my loved ones is a fact that keeps me calm. Sending immediate pictures of a wonderful scene I witness and sharing them with my friends makes me happy and fills my life with positive emotions.

In the century in which the most precious of all is information modern technologies are the key for doing successful business and for safe communication. God has created us different in order to share our uniqueness and in this busy stressful world of alienation we should all cherish any valuable moments of personal contact with others. Looking at somebody’s eyes can preserve people as human beings. Modern technologies are quite beneficial but they could never replace the old fashioned personal contact between people who need to see, touch and feel the warmness of the men.

Computer in Our Life

Computers grew rapidly and are common throughout the world. They are used to deal with many tasks due to their various potential. Therefore, they have much influence on our life. Their impact can be classified into three categories: communication, facilities and medical care.

First of all, computer can improve quality of communication. Nowadays, barriers seem to be gradually destroyed. Computer can bring people closer together and facilitate contacts between them. For example, people can communicate with others worldwide by using e-mail. It saves their time compared with letters. We don’t have to write the letters, put into the envelopes and send them over long distances. It’s very convenient for people who’d like to send letters to other countries. Also, we can easily access to e-mail almost everywhere. We can check mail from both personal computer at home or public one.

Besides, computer can improve quality of media. Since television and radio play an important role in communication, computer is the main equipment to provide facilities for them. For example, TV directors use computer to manage their program plan. For radio, CD-players are replaced by computer. Music is converted into digital file which can save time and space.

Computer also facilitates our life and provides convenience. For transportations, it facilitates the way people travel. For example, both sky train and subway can make people move from one place to another in a few minutes even in rush hours. It saves time and relieve severity of traffic jam.

Computer can also provide potential for improving the effectiveness of medical care. For example, it is used to store data of hospital such as patient data and medical information. Physician and nurse can access to this data easier which means a decrease in the process of operation.

In addition, many operations are no longer manually performed, rather computers are used to manage these tasks. For example, in laboratory, medicine invention and some operations, some tasks are done by computer instead of people. Therefore, it saves time for both patients and physicians and reduce delay action.

So, computer plays an important role for mankind. It provides facilities for our life and also creates effective production.

Youth Problems

Everybody says that youth is probably the best time during life. Being young means romance, love, new discoveries and so on. But it is also the most difficult time because you have to make some very important decisions, which will influence all your future life.Things are not easy nowadays even for adults, but for teenagers who have to find their own place in society, it’s even much more difficult. It’s necessary not only to adapt to your society, but also to be confident in your lifestyle. For your future it is essential to have a good job. Every girl or boy leaving secondary school should choose an institution of higher education, or if he or she doesn’t want to study any more, choose a job straight way.But even if you are studying, you need money of your own to pay for extra clothes, tapes, books. It’s something the problem.Emotional problems for young people can be far more difficult than financial ones. The typical teenager problem is drug habit. Some young men use drugs, because they think it’s cool. But they don’t understand that it’s wrong. Some of them can’t stop that, and they become dependent on drugs. They commit different serious crimes in search of money to buy drugs.Youth is also the time to meet your first love. It is, of course, wonderful, but, as it is widely known that first love often has an unhappy end, this also increases youth problems.We also face the problem of spending our free time. We can do it in different ways. Some teenagers spend their free time having fun in night clubs. Others spend their free time in the streets.Another typical problem for most of the teenagers is problem with their parents, the so‑called generation gap. Leo Tolstoy said: “All families are happy in the similar way and unhappy in its own way”. And happiness or unhappiness of any family mostly depends on relations in it.So many families so many family relations. Each family establishes its own relations in its own way. It has its own traditions and customs and its own unwritten constitution including rights and duties for every member of the family. The level of democracy is also different in different families, which mostly depends on the viewpoints of adults usually not coinciding with a child’s point of view. So the problem of misunderstanding becomes urgent. It as a rule sharpens as soon as a child approaches his or her difficult teens. And both sides (parents and children) should be patient and tactful to settle down all the problems and stay friends.Parents say that it’s difficult to discipline children. But experts state that parents will get the best results if they try to prevent or stop misbehavior in natural, logical and when possible funny ways. So, it is difficult to be young. But you only can be young once and some wonderful things can happen only when you’re young. So, try to enjoy youth while it lasts.

Shops and Shopping

When we want to buy something we go to a shop. There are many kinds of shops in every town or city, buy most of them have a food supermarket, a department store, men’s and women’s clothing stores, grocery, a bakery and a butchery.

I like to do my shopping at big department stores and supermarkets. They sell various goods under one roof and this is very convenient. A department store, for example, true to its name, is composed of many departments: ready-made clothes, fabrics, shoes, sports goods, toys, china and glass, electric appliances, cosmetics, linen, curtains, cameras, records, etc. You can buy everything you like there.

There are also escalators in big stores which take customers to different floors. The things for sale are on the counters so, that they can be easily seen. In the women’s clothing department you can find dresses, costumes, blouses, skirts, coats, beautiful underwear and many other things. In the men’s clothing department you can choose suits, trousers, overcoats, ties, etc. In the knitwear department one can buy sweaters, cardigans, short-sleeved and long-sleeved pullovers, woollen jackets. In the perfumery they sell face, body and hand cream, powder, lipstick, lotions and shampoos.

In a food supermarket we can also buy many different things at once: sausages, fish, sugar, macaroni, flour, cereals, tea. At the butcher’s there is a wide choice of meat and poultry. At the bakery you buy brown and white bread, rolls, biscuits. Another shop we frequently go to is the greengrocery which is stocked by cabbage, potatoes, onions, cucumbers, carrots, beetroots, green peas and what not. Everything is sold here ready-weighed and packed. If you call round at a dairy you can buy milk, cream, cheese, butter and many other products.

The methods of shopping may vary. It may be a self-service shop where the customer goes from counter to counter selecting and putting into a basket what he wishes to buy. Then he takes the basket to the check-out counter, where the prices of the purchases are added up. If it’s not a self-service shop, the shop-assistant helps the customer in finding what he wants. You pay money to the cashier and he gives you back the change.

But there is a very good service called Postal Market. It really helps you to save your time and get goods of high quality. You have just to look through a catalogue, choose the things you like, order them and wait a little to get them.

Food and Meals

It is not a secret that our meals influence our mood. Also it is very important for our health. Every single person should eat proper kinds of food – dairy products, meats, fruit and vegetables, fats and sugars, cereals and grains. Dairy products provide us with calcium, meat provide our bodies with protein, iron, zinc. Eating fruit and vegetables helps to keep us healthy too because they give us fibre, vitamins and minerals. We should eat fats and sugars in moderation, because too much fats and sugars can cause different heart-diseases. Cereals and grains are important for us because they provide us with the energy we need for physical activity.

In this fast-moving world it is necessary to watch what we eat – it should be healthy food, not junk one, which has become very popular. Eating too much junk food can cause overweight and a heart-disease. For example, it is much better to eat an apple or a banana than to eat a double hamburger with ketchup and mayonnaise. You will feel full in both cases, but a fruit or a vegetable is healthier.

Today there are a lot of different restaurants and cafés where you can eat delicious and not really expensive food. The service is usually excellent and friendly waiters help you to relax and enjoy your meal fully. You can eat any types of food in restaurants – you can try homemade cakes, beefsteaks, pasta and macaroni and others. For a main course you can order fish, meat or chicken with some rice or potatoes, also you can ask for pasta and salad. You can eat a bowl of ice-cream, a piece of apple pie, strawberries with cream or something like that for dessert. For drink you can order a glass of water or juice, a cup of coffee or tea or alcohol drink such as wine or beer.

Eating habits are different in different countries. For example, Brazilians never eat with their hands – they always use a knife and a fork, even when they eat hotdogs. Finns like to eat hot sausages and drink beer in the streets; many Filipinos prefer to eat with their hands. Also they think that it is polite to leave a little food on the plate at the end of a meal.

Well, as for me I do respect all nations’ eating habits and like to eat different countries’ food such as Italian Pasta, Japanese rice with sushi or Indian spicy meat. But most of all I like just ice-cream. It doesn’t matter what kind – with raspberry flavour, with marmalade, chocolate chips or pieces of fruit. I can eat it anytime and anywhere. But anyway, whatever you like you should remember words of wisdom which say that “We eat to live, but not live to eat”.

Health

People nowadays are more health-conscious than they used to be. They understand that good health is above wealth.

To be healthy we should avoid different bad habits that can affect our health. Smoking and drinking too much alcohol, are the worst ones. It’s common knowledge that they can shorten our lives dramatically. Smoking, for example, causes a number of heart and lung diseases, such as pneumonia, emphysema and cancer. Besides, it makes your teeth yellow and skin unhealthy. Fortunately, in recent years smoking has received a lot of bad publicity, and fewer people smoke nowadays. Some companies don’t employ people who are smokers. Smoking has been banned in most public places because everyone agrees it does harm to our health.

Smoking and drinking are joined by less dangerous habits, such as skipping meals, eating unhealthy food, or even overeating. If we eat too much, we’ll become obese, and obesity leads to serious health problems. A lot of people like drinking coca-cola and coffee, enjoy pizzas and hamburgers. But what is tasty is not always healthy. In recent years eating habits have undergone a change. People are encouraged to eat less fat and more fiber. Fat is believed to be one of the major causes of obesity and heart disease. High fiber and low fat foods can now be found in all shops and supermarkets. Salads, beans, and fruit have taken the place of steak and ice cream. The fashion for health food is growing all the time.

Many people feel they are too fat, even if their doctors disagree. And a lot of people try to improve their fitness. There are a lot of ways to lose weight and avoid gaining it. Perhaps the most popular of them is following a diet. If you want to lose weight, you should cut out snacks and desserts, and cut down on fat. People have also become more aware of calories, the energy value of food.

But excessive dieting may be dangerous, too. Some people refuse to eat meat as they consider it harmful. They say a vegetarian diet reduces the risk of cancer and vegetarians live longer than others. I can’t agree with them, because meat is an excellent source of good nutrition. In my opinion, it’s wrong to put down a food simply because excessive amounts can cause health problems. Consumed in moderate amounts, meat is perfectly good for our health.

The only way to stay healthy and to keep fit is by going in for sports. Among the benefits of regular exercise are healthier heart, stronger bones, quicker reaction and more resistance to various illnesses. Besides, you can eat and drink as much as you want because you are burning it all off.

To be healthy, it is also very important to spend a lot of time in the open air. It is useful to go for a walk before going to bed, or at least to air the room.

Leisure Time

Leisure or free time is a period of time spent out of work and essential domestic activity. It is also the period of recreational and discretionary time before or after compulsory activities such as eating and sleeping, going to work or running a business, attending school and doing homework, household chores, and day-to-day stress. The distinction between leisure and compulsory activities is loosely applied, i.e. people sometimes do work-oriented tasks for pleasure as well as for long-term utility.

For an experience to qualify as leisure, it must meet three criteria: 1) The experience is a state of mind. 2) It must be entered into voluntarily. 3) It must be motivating of its own merit.

The word leisure comes from the Latin word ‘licere’, meaning “to be permitted” or “to be free,” via Old French leisir,” and first appeared in the early fourteenth century. The notions of leisure and leisure time are thought to have emerged in Victorian Britain in the late nineteenth century, late in the Industrial Revolution. Early factories required workers to perform long shifts, often up to eighteen hours per day, with only Sundays off work. By the 1870s though, more efficient machinery and the emergence of trade unions resulted in decreases in working hours per day, and allowed industrialists to give their workers Saturdays as well as Sundays off work.

Active leisure activities involve the exertion of physical or mental energy. Low-impact physical activities include walking and yoga, which expend little energy and have little contact or competition. High-impact activities such as kick-boxing and soccer consume much energy and are competitive. Some active leisure activities involve almost no physical activity, but do require a substantial mental effort, such as playing chess or painting a picture. Active leisure and recreation overlap significantly.

Passive leisure activities are those in which a person does not exercise any significant physical or mental energy, such as going to the cinema, watching television, or gambling on slot machines. Some leisure experts discourage these types of leisure activity, on the grounds that they do not provide the benefits offered by active leisure activities. For example, acting in a community drama (an active leisure activity) could build a person’s skills or self-confidence. Nevertheless, passive leisure activities are a good way of relaxing for many people.

Arts

Art reflects life, so the saying goes. Art appeals to our hearts and minds, to our feelings and ideals and it proclaims life. Art is truthful only when it serves life, and only when the artist hopes to arouse a warm response in the heart of the viewer. This was the case in the days of Raphael, this was the case in the subsequent stages of man’s artistic development, and this is the truthful relationship of art and life in the day of Renato Guttuso and Rockwell Kent.

Art belongs to the people. The history of art beginning in the Renaissance and continuing on to our day and age confirms this. An artist is a worthy son of his time if his art is addressed to people, when it deals with life, when he welcomes the sunrise as a wonderful symbol of man’s finest hopes. It is a close contact with the life of his people that gives an artist’s work its power. One can find and study masterpieces of old and modern art in various picture galleries and museums.

The arts in Britain are flourishing, and present a varied and lively picture. London has become an international forum of the arts, with major exhibitions of painting and sculpture and theatre, opera and ballet companies and orchestras drawing large audiences. Throughout Britain there are festivals and centers of artistic activity – among them the Edinburgh International Festival, the music festivals at Aldeburgh, Windsor and Cheltenham and opera at Glyndebourne. The spread of musical interest in Britain owes much to the British Broadcasting Corporation with its daily music program and its partial financing of the Promenade Concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, London.

There are over 900 museums and art galleries in Britain and art exhibitions are shown all over the country through the Arts Council, which distributes government grants for music, drama, painting and sculpture. Local authorities play an important part in encouraging the arts, supporting galleries, orchestras and arts centers – an example is the ambitious Midlands Art Centre for young people in Birmingham.

British artists, writers, musicians and architects exert a powerful influence abroad. Notable figures include sculptors Henry Moore and Anthony Caro, painters Francis Bacon and Graham Sutherland and, among younger artists, Richard Smith, winner of a major international prize in 1967, Richard Hamilton, who painted the first ‘pop’ picture, and Bridget Riley, internationally known artist whose work has also inspired fashion.

British music owes much to the composer Benjamin Britten, whose influence has produced a new school of British opera. In architecture the work of Sir Basil Spence (Coventry Cathedral, Sussex University) and the collective work of modern British architects in housing and town planning are outstanding.

Literature presents great diversity. Poetry has received fresh stimulus from regional movements including the Liverpool poets, who write for public performance. Among novelists of worldwide reputation are Graham Greene, Angus Wilson, William Golding, Iris Murdoch and Muriel Spark.

In the town

In the streets, roads and squares of the town we see people walking and vehicles driving. The vehicles are: trams, buses, trolley-buses, taxi and motor-cars, motor-cycles, motor-scooters and bicycles.

Along the streets there are street lamps, at the corners of the streets there are traffic lights. The street lights are switched on when it gets dark; they are switched off hen it gets light. When the red traffic light is switched on, the traffic stops; when the green light is switched on, the vehicles drive on.

Along the streets we also see bus, trolley-bus and tram stops. This is where people get on and off. People wait for buses, trams and trolley-buses at the stops. They get on and off public transport there. In the streets there are also Tube stations where people get on and off the under‑ground electric railway.

At big crossroads in large towns and cities there are subways for pedestrians, and fly-over for vehicles. There are sometimes subways for traffic, too. At nearly all street corners there are pedestrian crossings for people to cross the road.

Every year between one and two hundred thousand people are injured. These people are killed or in­jured in road accidents.

If you are in England and if you listen to the eight o’clock news you will often hear news of road accidents. You may hear something like this: “On Monday evening last, at about twenty minutes to ten, a cyclist was knocked down by a motor van at the junction of Oak Road and High Street, in London. The cyclist has since died from his injuries. Will anyone who saw the accident please commu­nicate with New Scotland Yard, telephone number White­hall one, two, four, two”.

Accidents are often caused by carelessness. There are rules that help to make the roads safe, but people do not always obey the rules. They are careless. If everybody obeys the rules, the roads will be much safer.

In Great Britain traffic keeps to the left. Motor-cars, motor-vans, buses and cyclists must all keep to the left of the road. In most countries traffic keeps to the right. Be­fore crossing the road, stop and look both ways. Look right, look left, look right again. Then, if you are sure that the road is clear, that there is nothing coming, it is safe to cross the road. If you see small children, or very old people, or blind people, waiting to cross the road, it is a kind act to help them cross the road in a safety place.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-24