They say everyone feel save on board of a big ocean liner. Besides such liners have all the modern conveniences and all sorts of entertainment facilities. The others prefer traveling by air. There is no doubt this type of traveling is more comfortable
and surely much quicker. But there is one great disadvantage: the price is too high, but it makes no difference to you if you are traveling on business. As for me I prefer traveling by train. I think it combines both: comfort and speed. Be¬
sides it doesn't
depends upon weather so much as for example plane does. So if you have made up your mind to travel by train the first thing you should do is to buy a ticket. You may book it in advance or to buy it just at the railway station. So In the proper time you o
u
ght to be at the station with a suitcase where all your necessary things are packed. If you need porter will take care of your luggage and help you to load into the carriage. There are always bustle and confusion at the station. Different trains are stand
i
ng there: an express, fast train and mail ones. And so no wonder that it is hard to find the train you need. But you may ask the number of your train in the Information Bureau. At last you show your ticket to the guide and go into the carriage. Then the s
h
rill whistle is heard and the train with a jerk pulls out of station. You are on your way. If you got tired you may take your bedding and turn in. During your journey you needn't worry about your meals. In the train there is a dining car where you can get

your dinner. There is nothing like watching fields and meadows passing by your window. Though there aren't any entertainment facilities on the train I'm sure that a good conversation with your fellow-passengers can substitute it. That is why I consider tr
aveling by train to be the most pleasant one.

Environmental Problems
(Проблемы окружающей среды)

The problem of ecology is very important today, because we live in a polluted world. People all over the world discuss environmental protection, but they still continue to pollute air, water and soil.

Plants and factories are being built near rivers and lakes. The water is full of industrial waste and this kills animals, insects and plants.

There are some organizations that were created to protect
our nature from pollution. The most famous organization is Greenpeace. It protects animals from dying out. There are special farms and organizations that help wild animals to survive. People who work in such places feed animals and cure them.

There are several types of pollution: air pollution, water pollution and soil pollution.
Air pollution is caused by different means of transport in big cities. Our cities are full of smog because of heavy traffic and people notice that it is hard to breathe th
ere. Cars, buses and planes are among the worst air polluters. Factories and plants also pollute air pouring harmful gases and smoke into the air and that causes lung diseases among people and does harm to our health. Acid rains that appear because of air
pollution damage forests and soil.

Water pollution is another dangerous kind of pollution. Factories and plants throw wastes into rivers and lakes making them dirty. Animals die when they drink this water, people get sick when they swim in it and eat fish that live there.


Soil pollution stops plants from growing and makes people sick when they eat fruit and vegetables grown on polluted soil. People also pollute soil by leaving litter on it. Forests are full of used bottles, wrappers and cans. Such lit
ter can be found in rivers and lakes, too. Wild animals get sick and die because of this.
Every day we throw away a lot of litter. However, we can use it again, for example paper, cloth, glass, plastic, etc. Everybody must know the three R's: Reduce, Re
use and Recycle. We can reduce the usage of water and electricity. We should reuse whatever we can, for example, plastic bags, paper, cans, glass and bottles.
It is not possible to stop technological process, close factories and plants. People need to i
nvent new waste free technologies that will not do harm to nature. There are new inventions such as filters that make water and air clean. Some factories and plants have started using these machines already and this helps to prevent pollution. Special kin
ds of gasoline for cars can help to reduce air pollution.
We must not ignore the problems of environmental pollution and try to make everything possible to reduce if not stop it.

Mass Media ( Средства массовой информации)

We live in the world of information. It is everywhere and sometimes it is even more valuable than money. Mass media
, that is the press, radio, television and the Internet, play an important role in our society. They inform,
educate, entertain and give us any kinds of information. The press is one of the most powerful kinds of mass media
. Nowadays there are daily, weekly and monthly newspapers and magazines. My family is subscribed to Komsomolskaya Pravda which is one of the
most famous Russian daily newspapers. I read it every day to know what is happening in the world. My mother buys women's magazines and my father reads sports magazines. There are also a lot of children's magazines. They are colourful and full of pictures.


Television plays a big role in our society, too. Most People have several TV-sets at home. Television gives a great opportunity for people to learn latest news. The are also a lot of educational programmes, childrenТ
s programmes, films and soap operas o
n TV, Talk shows are also very popular with people nowadays. I usually watch news and films on television. My mother likes soap operas, my father prefers sports programmes and political talk shows. My brother watches cartoons and educational programmes. I
think that it is impossible to live without television now.
Radio is less popular than newspapers and television. People listen to the radio in cars and at work. I usually listen to the radio when I do my homework because it helps me think. There is a l
ot of music on modern radio and very few conversations. Every hour radio stations tell us news in brief. There are different types of radio stations. They are divided according to the style of music they play. There are radio stations where you can hear o
nly classical music, rock or pop music. There arc radio stations only with Russian music, for example, Russian Radio. Some of the stations only have news and talk shows. Older people like listening to them.

The Internet is the newest kind of mass media.
More and more people use it in Russia regularly, but it is very expensive and not every place has the Internet connection. The Internet is the greatest source of information. Almost everything can be found there. If you have the Internet, you may not rea
d newspapers or listen to the radio. You may not watch television either. АЦ
main newspapers and television companies have websites, so you can read news and watch television without turning on a TV-set.

I use the Internet very often. I chat with people
all over the world online and read news. I use the Internet to find important information for my studies, too. E-mail has become a good way of communication. You can send a letter to your friends from other countries without buying an envelope and it will
be delivered within a few seconds.
There are advantages and disadvantages of mass media
. The advantages are the following: mass media
educate and entertain people. But you need to have a TV-set to watch television, a radio set to listen to the radio. To
look for information in the Internet you will need a computer and the Internet connection and they both cost a lot. Another disadvantage is that sometimes this or that information is not reliable. The Internet is full of sites with wrong information.

But in spite of all disadvantages, people still watch TV, listen to the radio and browse the Internet.

Arts ( Искусство)


There many arts in the world, but the most popular are: literature, music, theatre, cinema and others. Every person has his or her own favourite
art .
Music has always fascinated people. It touches their hearts and makes them laugh or cry.
Music can be heard everywhere. Nowadays there are a lot of musical genres: classical music, rock music, pop music, club music and others. I can listen to any genre of music. It depends on my mood. When I am sad I listen to classical music. When I am happ
y I like listening to energetic, fast music and hard beat. However, some people listen to one kind of music only and they listen to it no matter what mood they are in.
There are a lot of wonderful works of literature-Famous writers and poets created a b
ig variety of poems, stories and novels that are read over the world. Russian poets and writers like Pushkin, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky are famous all over the world. Their works are translated into many languages.

Theatre is a popular kind of arts , too. T
here are a lot of theatres in Russia, but most of them are situated in Moscow. The Bolshoi Theatre and the Maly Theatre are world famous. If you like opera you should go to the Bolshoi Theatre. The tickets are rather expensive though. The Maly Theatre sta
ges dramas and plays based on classical novels.

I am a theatre-goer. I prefer going to drama theatres. I do not like opera and ballet. Not long ago I saw Uncle's Dream by Dostoevsky in the Vakhtangov Theatre I liked the play a lot.
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