Topic 1
I've read an extract from the book of Margaret Powell "Below Stairs". In
this extract author tells about her really difficult childhood, her family and
their fighting against hardship.
Margaret Powell was born in a family of seven. Her first recollection was
that other children were better off than her family was. But her parents
cared much for the children. Author's father was a painter and decorator,
sort of general odd-job man, and her mother used to go into domestic
service. Sometimes her mother used to bring home little treasures, such as
half a loaf of bread, but she hated accepting anything, she hated charity.
Margaret Powell's family never had a house to themselves. When they were extra hard up, they only had one or two rooms in somebody else's house. And when her father was working, they could afford half a house.
Margaret Powell's childhood wasn't easy at all. And, unfortunately, a lot of
middle-aged people used to face hardship in their lives. I think my
grandmother is one of them.
In contradiction to Margaret Powell's story, my grandmother was born in a
wealthy family of nine. They lived in West Belarus and there seemed to be
no difficulties. But when my grandmother was just twelve years old her
father and elder sisters were arrested as kulaks. And their mother and other
children were sent into exile in Kazakhstan. My grandmother was forced to
leave school and had never seen her father again. Fortunately my
grandmother and her sisters managed to start over after their terrible
experience.
Certainly, life is not an easy thing. And I think we should never give up.
And we shouldn’t be afraid to start over even when everything goes wrong.
Because "everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the
end."
Topic 2
Nowadays it seems strange for a woman not to be able to mix a job and
marriage. But just in the 1950's that was a reality. In those days women
used to have to make a choice between their happy family life and their
career. Moreover, it was really difficult to reach the top in a male
dominated profession. Just few women were courageous enough just to try
that. I want to tell you a story about one of those women, Mary Grieve,
which I have recently read.
Mary was born in Scotland in the early 1900's in quite a wealthy family. It
was typical to send girls to schools where they only learnt skills preparing
them for marriage. But, luckily for Mary, her father didn't do that. Mary
was obviously intelligent and when she left school she went to Oxford
University. It should be said that there were just few women at University
and it was assumed that women of Mary's class would spend a few years
enjoying their freedom and then settle down and get married. But Mary
wasn't a quiet and submissive woman, she was very determined and
prepared to be different, she wanted to be a real success.
So after University she got a job in journalism writing for a newspaper. Then Mary got a job with one of the women's magazines and after many years of hard work and
struggling in a male dominated profession she eventually reached the top
and became the first female editor of a magazine in Britain. On the other
hand Mary never married as her work was very important for her and, as
I've already said, it was impossible for a woman to mix a job and marriage.
She did however love children and spent a great deal of time with her
nieces and nephews. And even in her eighties she was still active and full of enthusiasm about life.
As for me, I would never make the same choice as Mary did. In my
opinion, there is nothing more precious than a family and children,
especially for a woman, even though my point of view can be old-fashioned
nowadays. But it also should be said that times have changed and today
there is no problem for a woman to mix her household duties and her job.
So, as for me, I hope to become not only a good mother but also a qualified
specialist. I know that's not easy, but I strongly believe that we mustn't miss
the opportunities we are given. Nothing is impossible and Mary’s example
has proved that.
Топик 3
I think brining up a child can be a real challenge. Sometimes parents just
can’t get through to their children and then they just shout and punish their
children in despair. But in my opinion it’s not a good idea to use such
methods and better solutions can be found.
Recently I’ve read the article about the problem child Kathy and changes in
her behaviour. When Kathy was nearly 3 years old she went to nursery
school. She settled in the group easily and she was more independent than
many other children. She was a lovely girl but she was a scratcher. If
anyone upset her or stood in her way she would scratch him immediately.
It’s obviously that her teacher wanted to stop it quickly. So she decided to
use the method she had read about in a magazine. She decided to ignore
Kathy’s misbehavior in the future and give the victims sweets. So the next
day the teacher followed Kathy around and when she heard an injured child
screaming she gave him a sweet. Kathy expected the teacher to give her a
sweet too but when she got nothing she looked puzzled. Then Kathy came
to the teacher and said that she had hurt her finger and demanded a sweet,
but the teacher refused to give it. Kathy turned, scratched a child
deliberately and walked away. But she had never scratched a child since.
I think that Kathy’s case may help another parents to deal with bullying.
It’s really less exhausting to replace shouting and punishment by rewarding
and giving more attention to injured children. I think such methods can be
really effective and result in amazing behaviour modification.
Topic 4
Recently I’ve read the text about an English housewife Diane Harpwood
and her attitude about her household chores. She’s well-educated woman,
she reads a lot and has quite good sense of humor. She has two children: the
youngest is called Ben, he’s nearly 2 & the eldest, Jodi, is almost 5. Diane
starts her day at 7 a.m. when her husband brings her a cup of tea and her
children burst into her room yelling and shouting. Then she goes to the
kitchen to have breakfast and during it she has to hurtle around the kitchen
in response to the children’s persistent demands. She says, that at 8 a.m. she
already feels exhausted. After breakfast Diane and her daughter Jodi go to a
bus stop and wait for a school bus. After that Diane has to do washing-up
and some housework. But she says that she just hate doing housework and
she dreams about another life. So in my opinion she’s not very satisfied
with her present life, but nevertheless Diane is quite optimistic. And, of
course, she takes her duties of a mother and wife seriously. She’s a caring
mother; she worries about the children’s nutrition and every day she finds
time to play with her son. Moreover she likes to wash her children and
reads to her daughter until she falls asleep. And I think she really loves her
husband, as every day they share lunch and Diane makes him supper. And
I’m absolutely sure that their family is united one. They take lots of walks,
feed ducks and visit library together.
As for me, the housewife’s life isn’t very easy. It’s difficult to cope with so
many different problems and responsibilities every day. But nothing is
impossible and I think Diane’s example proves it. She does her best to see
her family happy and united although she faces a lot of difficulties. She
sacrifices her life, to some extent. And in my opinion Diane Harpwood is
really worthy of respect.
Topic 5
I think brining up a child can be a real challenge. Sometimes parents just
can’t get through to their children and then they just shout and punish their
children in despair. But in my opinion it’s not a good idea to use such
methods and better solutions can be found.
Recently I’ve read the article about the problem child Kathy and changes in
her behaviour. When Kathy was nearly 3 years old she went to nursery
school. She settled in the group easily and she was more independent than
many other children. She was a lovely girl but she was a scratcher. If
anyone upset her or stood in her way she would scratch him immediately.
It’s obviously that her teacher wanted to stop it quickly. So she decided to
use the method she had read about in a magazine. She decided to ignore
Kathy’s misbehavior in the future and give the victims sweets. So the next
day the teacher followed Kathy around and when she heard an injured child
screaming she gave him a sweet. Kathy expected the teacher to give her a
sweet too but when she got nothing she looked puzzled. Then Kathy came
to the teacher and said that she had hurt her finger and demanded a sweet,
but the teacher refused to give it. Kathy turned, scratched a child
deliberately and walked away. But she had never scratched a child since.
I think that Kathy’s case may help another parents to deal with bullying.
It’s really less exhausting to replace shouting and punishment by rewarding
and giving more attention to injured children. I think such methods can be
really effective and result in amazing behaviour modification.