I don’t have many friends, but I have lots of books. I like fantasy stories best. I have a rich (B13) ____ IMAGINE ____ which takes me to magical lands. I

1. exescise/ soccer/ good/ form/ of/ is/ a/ Playing/
2.royal/Palace/ is/ of the/ the official/ family/ Buckingham/ residence/
3.at the 2002/ won/ the gold medal/ in womens/ Winter Olympics/ Sarash Hughes/ figure skating/.

You already have chains around your ankles. You're firmly locked into society. You're on the conveyor belt and it's very hard to get yourself off You find a job, a girlfriend whom you might eventually marry, you buy a house together and start paying off your mortgage. You decide to have children and put them on the conveyor belt the same way you yourself were put on. You earn more money and retire, grow old, and finally put yourself into an expensive residential care home. Well done. You did it. You did exactly what this society asked of you. went to college until I ighteen. I passed A-levels, then my ent w surfing around the world what they call year". I really don't like the on a gap word "gap". When I looked in the dictionary for the word "gap", I found "Gap: A break in continuity, interruption.' allowed The society doesn't recognize this year as being important. You are to do it in fact you are told that future employers love it because it means you have done something interesting, shown your independence, and have something original to talk about in your job interviews. But once the year is gap over, you must start serious work earning money and making plans for the future. We love plans in the UK, because plans are security, and we adore security. The funny thing is, I don't believe security can come from a big house and a fast car or a degree. All these things create an illusion that you are secure. Security, in my opinion, comes from within oneself I'm on my fourth "gap year and I'm happy, truly happy. Every now summer I work as a beach lifeguard in Cornwall, the county which is a long peninsula in the southwest of England and where thousands of people go for their summer holidays. I don't earn a fortune but my life is rich. I wake up every morning and see the ocean. I surf every day if there are waves. can Surfing is the one thing in my life that truly makes me happy. If I couldn't surf, then, I think, I'd dry up and rot. Surfing means everything to me and nothing will ever remove me from the ocean. I save what little I earn in the summer which enables me to spend each winter in the sun with my surfboard Australia, Sri Lanka, Thailand.. maybe South Africa or South America next year so that's what am going to do I've realized that surfing makes me happy, so that's what I am going to do. I'll base my life around it in every possible way. I'll do any job and live anywhere, as long as I have the ocean on my doorstep. Many of my friends went to college and university and now live in the city and do the usual nine-to-five things along with everyone else. I spent a short time living in the city last year and I couldn't believe what I saw. People seemed so lifeless on the Underground in the morning. Nobody seemed happy or friendly. It was the land of the living dead. I truly believe that lots of people know what makes them happy but they choose to ignore it because it gets in the way of what they are really supposed to do: namely, work and earn lots of money. Life should be an adventure and if you're on that conveyor belt, it will not happen. Whatever happened to adventure? I don't want to get to the end of my life and think: "What if?" I often asked what my plans are. I also get asked where I see myself get going and what I want to do with my life. "When," they ask, "are you going to get a proper job?" They forget that I be the person who saves their child's may life on a beach one summer. Isn't that "proper" enough? I want to do exactly what I'm doing right now. Sure I'd like a little house and maybe bring a baby into the world, but I refuse to believe that the only way of doing that is by following the system. I don't want to see the world in the movies and read about it in books. I want to see it myself, smell it, hear it and feel it. I refuse to follow other people's footsteps

school in Russia. They want to know how to learn English. Mr Grams: English isn't too difficult. Everybody can learn it. Your English, for example, is very good. Misha: Oh, thanks, Mr Grams. But I started to learn English when I was really young. A lot of my friends think that it's too late to start now. They have only four years left (у них осталось всего 4 года) before they finish school. Mr Grams: It's not too late. Four years is more than enough. If your motivation is good, you'll soon make progress. Misha: What will they have to do then? They don't have enough money for private schools and trips abroad. Mr Grams: They don't have to do those things. But they'll have to work on their English as often as they can. First of all, they should buy a good dictionary, because they will have to read a lot of books. But they shouldn't start with English newspapers or books which may be too difficult for beginners. They should ask their English teacher for adapted versions of English books When they read, they should start a vocabulary notebook and write down all the new words with the translations. It is very important to write down examples of the sentences with the new words too. When you do that, you can remember the place of the word in the sentence, which prepositions or articles go with it, and remember it in context. Misha: Should they watch films in English? Mr Grams: They can try, but they shouldn't get upset if they can't understand anything. They'll have to watch the same film again and again until they understand better. It is also a good idea to get a copy of the same film in Russian. Misha: Is that all? Mr Grams: Oh, no. They should listen to English cassettes and repeat things after the speakers. That will improve their pronunciation and their ability to understand. Misha: But they are always listening to our teacher. Her English is very good. Isn't that enough? Mr Grams: Unfortunately, it isn't. They have to listen to different accents. If they always listen to the same person, they won't be able to understand other people. So if they aren't able to talk to native speakers, they'll have to use the cassettes! Misha: And what about grammar? They learn a lot of grammar rules by heart. Mr Grams: You don't have to do that. Grammar is very important, of course, but they have to use it, not simply learn the rules. However, they should learn texts and songs by heart. Then they will have longer phrases, not only words in their memory. Misha: Thank you very much, Mr Grams. You're my favourite teacher. Mr Grams: That's very kind of you, Misha.

ing together but a unity of people who support each other in different situation. Anything can happen in this life but i know that the only people who will always love and understand me are my family. Blood is thicker than water. That's why family is much more important to me than friends. Friends can betray you. There are lots of books and films about this. They can envy your success at school and your success with girls and even your cool jeans or a bike can make them feel jealous . It doesn't matter that i don't have many friends. And if i get into trouble, the people i ask for advice are my parents



2 ТЕКСТ - Friends are everything to me. Life isn't worth living without friends. My family... they don't care about me, and frankly speaking , i don't care much about them either. The only things they care about are their jobs and making money. Even my grades at school don't worry them much. Sometimes they ask me about my progress, but I'm never sure if they hear my answer. I would feel absolutely lonely if I did not have friends. We often gather at my place or somewhere else to speak about life, listen to music and have fun. Sometimes we quarrel, but I don't believe that my friends mean to hurt me. Life is cool with them.



3 ТЕКСТ - I think I'm
very lucky. I have a family that loves me and friends I enjoy spending time with. My parents and I are people of different generations, so we don't see the world in the same way. But I know they wish me well and I appreciate their advise. (Though sometimes I ignore it and forget about it) They don't like all of my friends, but they don't just say "no". They try to explain their point of view, and sometimes I find their arguments quite convincing. I agree that not all people you go out with can be called friends. Real friends are very rare and you should sherish them. And if you happen to find them, take care of them, never hurt them and try not to lose them.

en people living together but a unity of people who support each other in different situation. Anything can happen in this life but i know that the only people who will always love and understand me are my family. Blood is thicker than water. That's why family is much more important to me than friends. Friends can betray you. There are lots of books and films about this. They can envy your success at school and your success with girls and even your cool jeans or a bike can make them feel jealous . It doesn't matter that i don't have many friends. And if i get into trouble, the people i ask for advice are my parents



2 ТЕКСТ - Friends are everything to me. Life isn't worth living without friends. My family... they don't care about me, and frankly speaking , i don't care much about them either. The only things they care about are their jobs and making money. Even my grades at school don't worry them much. Sometimes they ask me about my progress, but I'm never sure if they hear my answer. I would feel absolutely lonely if I did not have friends. We often gather at my place or somewhere else to speak about life, listen to music and have fun. Sometimes we quarrel, but I don't believe that my friends mean to hurt me. Life is cool with them.



3 ТЕКСТ - I think I'm
very lucky. I have a family that loves me and friends I enjoy spending time with. My parents and I are people of different generations, so we don't see the world in the same way. But I know they wish me well and I appreciate their advise. (Though sometimes I ignore it and forget about it) They don't like all of my friends, but they don't just say "no". They try to explain their point of view, and sometimes I find their arguments quite convincing. I agree that not all people you go out with can be called friends. Real friends are very rare and you should sherish them. And if you happen to find them, take care of them, never hurt them and try not to lose them.