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Books in my life

Books... I think that we can't live without them. I consider that books are with us during all our life. When I was a child my parents read them to me. I was pleased to listen to the stories and tales. I learned a lot of interesting things from books. I remember, I liked thick books. Later I could read myself.

I like to read books about animals, nature and children. I like to get presents on my birthday. I am happy if it is a book. It doesn't matter what kind of book it is. I like to read almost all books. If I have got time I like to spend it with my favourite book. When I was fifteen I was fond of reading too. But I preferred to read books about travels. I travelled with the heroes of the stories. I saw many interesting places and learned a lot of important facts about other countries and people. Now I like to read books on science.

You can learn many things from books. I am sure that books play a very important role in my life. Our family has got many books. All the members of our family buy books and read them. My mother says that books help us in self-education. In ancient times books were written by hand. It was difficult to write a book with a pen. Then printing came into our life. Printing played an important role in the development of literature and culture. Now there are a lot of books in the shops, there are many books in our flats. But it is difficult to buy all books which we want to read. That's why we get books in public libraries.

There are some problems in our life and sometimes it is difficult to solve them. I think that books can help us. Last year I read a very interesting book "An American Tragedy" by Theodore Dreiser. This novel was published at the beginning of the 20th century. The novel describes the tragic fate of a boy and a girl, Clyde and Roberta by name. It is a sad story. This novel was written many years ago, but it is popular nowadays. Books must be our friends during all our life.

London

London is the British capital and one of the biggest cities in the world. The oldest part of London is called the City. It is small, but it is very important. Two thousand years ago a town was built here. For hundreds of years people lived and worked there, but now many of the old houses are gone. Thousands of the people come here every morning to work in large offices.

To the east the large area called the East End. This is London’s poorest part, where people of all colours live. The very large riverside dorks in the East End make London one of the three largest parts in the world.

To the west are the fine shops and theatres of the area known as the West End. This is part is best known to rich tourists. Oxford Street with its great department stores is the favorite street for shopping. In the West End there are beautiful parks too. The largest of all London’s parks is the Hyde Park. The Houses of Parliament are along the bank of the Thames and Parliament Square is one of many London squares. Some of them are small, others are large and busy, like Trafalgar Square.

                                  

American and British schools

In America, all children from six to sixteen go to school. They spend six years in "elementary" school, and four or six years in "secondary" or "high" school. School education is free. At the end of every school year, the children take a test. If a child does well, he goes into next class ("grade"). If he doesn't do well, he has to repeat the grade.

Some schools have modern teaching equipment, like computers and closed circuit television, but there are small country schools, with just one classroom. At the end of their time at school, most students get a high school diploma.

In Britain all children from five to sixteen go to school. They spend six years in "primary" school, and then go on to "secondary" school. In Britain there are "state" schools, which are free, and private schools for which parents pay, Many British private schools are "boarding" schools. The children stay at school all the time, and only come home in the holidays. They usually wear uniforms.

Teaching in both countries is usually quite informal. Students often work together in groups and go to the teacher only when they need help. At school pupils spend the most important of their lives. It is here that their characters and views are formed.