Никоненко Тамара Петрівна

1. London is the capital of Great Britain.
2. There are a lot of places of interest in London.
3. They are Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, St. Paul’s Cathedral, London Bridge, the Tower of London and others.
4. London stands on the river Thames.
5. You can see the Tower of London at the Tower Bridge.
6. There are the Houses of Parliament not far from it.
7. Big Ben is the largest clock of England.
8. Buckingham Palace is the official residence of the Queen.
9. London is full of cinemas, theatres, museums and art galleries.
10. It’s a great city with beautiful squares, parks and gardens.
11. Trafalgar Square is the central square of the city.

   Ukraine is a sovereign state. The independence of Ukraine was proclaimed on the 24th of August, 1991. Its sovereignty is now recognized by all the countries of the world. The state symbols of Ukraine are the national flag and emblem. Blue and yellow state flag symbolizes the unity of blue sky and yellow wheat field. The little state emblem — trident — appeared first on the seals in times of Volodymyr the Great.
   It has its own territory, government, national emblem, state flag and anthem.
   The geographical position of Ukraine is very favourable for the development of its relations with the countries of Europe, as well as with the countries throughout the world. It borders on Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania. It is washed by the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The major rivers are the Dnieper, the Dniester, the Donets and others. The territory of Ukraine consists mostly of plains. The Ukrainian Carpathians and the Crimean Mountains make up only 5 % of its area.
   It is a well-developed industrial and agricultural country. Ukraine has many natural resources.
The population of Ukraine is about 50 million people. The biggest cities are Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Lviv, Mykolaiv and others.
   Ukraine has an ancient history. Nowadays Ukraine has established new relations with the countries throughout the world. Ukraine is one of the members of the United Nations Organization (UNO) and participates in the work of many international organizations. Scientists of Ukraine have made a great contribution to the world science.

   The title of the picture is “A Girl with the Peaches”. The painter is Valentyn Serov. He is a representative of realistic trend in Russian painting of the end of the 19th century. It is the portrait of Vera Mamontova when she was 12.
   The picture appears natural and spontaneous. The picture represents a young girl sitting against the window. The room is light and the girl, wearing the rosy dress is sitting at the table on which we see a silver knife and several peaches. The painter captured well the sitter’s vitality and portrayed his model with moving sincerity. The girl is painted with great concentration on the details. The eyes’ expression is serious and pure. Light, soft and delicate colours predominate in the colour scheme of the picture. This portrait exemplifies a high degree of artistic skill. It leaves the impression of airness and lightness. It is poetic in tone and atmosphere.

   In Great Britain children begin to go to school at the age of five. First they study at infant schools. In these schools they learn to draw with coloured pencils and paints. They also make figures out of plasticine and work with paper and glue. They play much because they are very young. Later they begin to learn letters and read, write and count.
   At the age of seven English schoolchildren go to junior schools. They do many subjects: English and Maths, History and Music, Natural History and Drawing, Handicrafts, French and Latin. They do not go to school as early as we do, but they stay there longer. The first lesson usually starts at 9 o’clock. There are 3 lessons with short breaks of 10 minutes between them and then an hour break for lunch. After lunch they have two more lessons which are over by half past three.
   If you have a look at an English pupil’s school record you will see that the marks in it differ from the marks we have. Our schoolchildren get marks from 1 to 12. At English school there are marks from 1 up to 10 and at some schools from 1 up to 100.
   Junior school ends at the age of 11 when pupils take the Eleven Plus examination and then secondary school begins.
   At the age of 16 schoolchildren take their GCSE exams. Only 45 per cent continue with full-time education after 16. The rest go to work or join employment training schemes.

   As a rule, schooling begins at the age of 6. The Ukrainian educational system is organized into four levels: primary, secondary, higher and post-secondary education.
   General secondary education is compulsory. Post-secondary education is available in different ways. Primary and secondary school has three stages: junior, basic and senior. Primary school comprises grades 1 to 4. Grades 5-9 are usually referred to as “basic school”, while 10-12 are “senior school”. Students usually study in the same school building throughout their primary and secondary education. Primary schooling lasts 4 years and basic school 5. The middle school curriculum varies slightly between schools. There are then 3 profile years. New types of schools appeared: gymnasiums, lyceums and private schools.  Post secondary education is provided by vocational training schools, universities and institutes. Higher education gives different qualifications: primary specialist (Bachelor’s), specialist and Master’s Degree. Higher education is either state funded or private. Ukraine cooperates with more than 50 international educational organizations.