6. Read the following questions. Choose some of them and ask your class-mate. Then tell us, what you've found out about your partner. You may ask your own questions as well.

1. What's your name?

2. When is your birthday?

3. Where are you from?

4. Did you do well at school?

5. Why did you go to University?

6. What's your favourite pastime?

7. What things or activities can't you stand?

8. What has been your greatest achievement up to now?

9. Do you have a favourite book, piece of music or painting? What is it?

10. What's your dream?

11. How can you characterize your own personality?

12. What things couldn't you live without?

13. Do you have a pet?

14. Are you a handy person?

15. What would you do if you won a lot of money?

16. What's the best way of relaxation for you?

17. Is there anything you wish you could do?

18. What animal do you associate yourself with?

19. Do you remember yourself as a child? What kind of child were you?

7. Translate the sentences from Russian into English.

1. Народы мира такие разные. Бразильцы жизнерадостные, любят веселье (fun-loving), японцы застенчивые и трудолюбивые, а англичане считаются сдержанными людьми, которые не любят выносить сор из избы (wash out one's dirty linen in public).

2. Нина и Вера – близнецы (twins) и похожи друг на друга, как две капли воды (as like as two peas). Но они совершенно не похожи по характеру. Нина спокойная, открытая, дружелюбная. А Вера - довольно замкнутая и сдержанная.

3. Работа в саду (gardening) – одно из самых популярных увлечений. Хорошо известно, что англичане очень любят работу в саду и выращивание цветов, особенно роз.

4. Что вы делаете в свободное время? - Честно говоря, у меня его не так много. Но если выпадает свободный час или два, стараюсь читать книжные новинки. Моя страсть - исторические романы.

5. В детстве я занималась фигурным катанием (go in for figure skating). К сожалению, у меня не было особых способностей, поэтому я оставила спорт, но всегда вспоминаю о катке с удовольствием.

IV. Writing

Write a composition about yourself. Tell us about your likes and dislikes, interests, your personality traits, your achievements and dreams.

UNIT 2

I. Text My Family

Hi, again. Now I'd like to tell you about my family. On the whole, our family is large. There are three generations there. They are my grandmother, my parents, my brother and me. My father has a brother - he's my uncle, my mother has two sisters - my aunts; they have their children - my cousins. Besides, there are many in-laws in the family. I don't have any nephews or nieces.

I don't see all my relatives very often - mostly on some special occasions. The last happy event was my cousin's wedding last year, it gathered all our family.

But speaking about a family we usually mean our blood relatives, i.e. mother, father, sisters or brothers. My parents are rather young. My father is 45, my mother is 40. My mother's name is Tatiana Petrovna. She is an accountant. She's open, cheerful and energetic. I'm proud of my mother and love her very much. My father's name is Aleksey Ivanovitch. He is a businessman. He's clever, industrious, but hot-tempered sometimes. He has a perfect sense of humour. He has his own way in everything, and I respect him for that. My father is also very handy with many things. He can fix almost everything. My grandmother Lydia Stepanovna (my mother's mother) also lives with us. She's in her late sixties, she’s a pensioner, but she's a very lively and active person. She likes reading and gardening. We are grateful to our granny, because she keeps the house, and takes care of everybody. She is very kind and generous.

There's no one we call the head of the family, but my granny's advice and opinion are very important in any decision we take.

I have a younger brother called Dima. He is four years my junior. But in spite of the age gap we're very close. We have common interests - we both like sport, reading and computer. He is very energetic. It takes him half an hour to do his homework and then he rushes out to play football because he is crazy about it. There is one more member of the family, that is our dog. Rex is a sheep-dog. He does not like to stay alone when we are out, but whenever we return he meets us with such a joy and energy that make our spirits bright.

My family means a lot to me, because this is where I find love, understanding and support. We do have some rows, there are even long debates sometimes and from time to time we cannot come to agreement. But it’s only natural, isn’t it? It would be rather odd if everybody in the family always agreed with each other, shared all interests, were satisfied with everything and never quarreled. When I have my own family I’ll try to make it work on the same lines.