Ukraine

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a constitutional monarchy. Britain does not have a written constitution. Parliament is the most important authority in Britain. The monarch serves formally as head of state. The present sovereign is Queen Elizabeth II (the second). The House of Commons consists of Members of Partliament. General elections are held every five years. All citizens aged 18 have the right to vote. There are few political parties in Britain. The main ones are: the Conservative Party, the Labour Party. Each political party puts up one candidate for each constituency. The one who wins the most votes is elected MP for that area. The party which wins the most seats in Parliament forms the Government. Its leader becomes the Prime Minister. The functions of the House of Commons are legislation and scru¬tiny of government activities. The House of Commons is presided over by the Speaker. The House of Lords is presided by the Lord Chancellor. The House of Lords has no real power. It's in the House of Commons that new bills are introduced and debated. Parliament is responsible for British national policy. Local govern¬ments are responsible for organizing such services as education, police and many others.

MY NATIVE CITY

Kyiv is my native city. It's an ancient city. Ancient Kyiv was a large commercial centre of the East Slavs. During the reign of Prince Volodimir the city expanded greatly. Under the rule of Prince Yaroslav the Wise many churches and ca¬thedrals and monasteries appeared in the city. There are a lot of places of historical importance in Kyiv. Among them there are the Kyivo-Pecherska Lavra, the Golden Gate, the St. Sophia's Cathedral. For those who love Kyiv so dearly as I do, it's very difficult to choose some places of the particular interest. If the day is fine and the sky is cloudless, I'd like to go to the Golden Gate. It is situated in the centre of the city. From the top of the Gates we can admire a splendid view of the city. I also like the St. Sophia's Cathedral. Prince Yaroslav the Wise is buried there.

HOLIDAYS IN UKRAINE

Almost every country has holidays honouring important events in its history. Some holidays come on the same date, some are movable. We celebrate the first day of Cristmas on the 7th of January. On the 6th of January people cook much food because the day after we must not work. On this day we have a sacred supper or Kolyada. It begins when the first star lights up. As the legend says, this star announced the birth of the God's Son. We celebrate Christmas for three days. In the evening a group of boys comes. They sing songs. By these songs they congratulate on holiday. Another religious holiday is Easter. It is movable. In Ukraine we have special attributes of Easter: Easter eggs, we call them "krashenka" and Easter cakes "paska". It is a very nice spring holiday. New Year's Day is very popular all over the world. It is my favourite holiday. Victory Day is on the 9th of May. It is a sacred holiday for every Ukrainian citizen. We are thankful to our grandfathers for the victory.

MY WORKING DAYI'd like to describe you my working day. All the days looked very much the same. On weekdays I usually get up at 7. I do my morning exercises. Then I wash my face and hands and clean my teeth. At half past seven I am ready to have my breakfast. I like to have a quick light breakfast. After breakfast I leave for school. My school is not far from my house. It takes me 10 minutes to get to school. My lessons begin at 8.30 a.m. and finish at about 3 p.m. Six or seven lessons a day is the ordinary timetable. Twice a week I stay at school after classes to play basketball. When I come home I have dinner. Then I rest a little. Sometimes I read a book or talk to my friends over telephone. After that I start doing my home assignments. Twice a week I go to have private lessons in Maths in order to improve my knowledge. As a rule, I finish doing my homework at about 11 o'clock. But one 'day a week is not so busy. This is Thursday. On Thursday I usually help my mother. Sometimes I do shopping or pick up clothes at the cleaner's. I usually have supper at 8 o'clock p.m.. Then I go on with my work. At 11 o'clock I go to bed.

LONDON

London is a very old town. It is about two thousand years old. Now London is one of the biggest cities in the world. Its population is about 8 million people. It's not only a capital of Great Britain, it's a large business and commercial centre. London stands on the Thames. As an ancient city London has a great number of places of historic interest. They attract tourists from all the world. London is traditionally divided into four main parts. They are Westminster, the City, the West End and the East End. Westminster is the historical area in London. Famous monuments and buildings are there. One of the most beautiful places is Westmin¬ster Abbey. Many greatest poets and writers are buried there. Chauser, Dickens, Kipling are among them. Newton and Darwin are buried there too. Another place which is worth seeing in London is the Tower. In different times this castle was a fortress, a royal palace, a prison. Now it is a museum. London is rich in famous palaces. Buckingham Palace is the official residence of the Queen. Westminster Palace is the seat of the British Parliament. The greatist of English churches is St.Paul's Cathedral. It was built by a famous English architect. Sir Christopher Wren. Trafalgar Square is considered to be the very centre of London. In the middle of it stands the monument to admiral Nelson. London is famous for its streets and squares as well. Fleet Street is known for the newspaper offices situated there. Regent Street is fa¬mous for the richest shops ans supermarkets. Speaking about London it is impossible to say nothing about its museums. The British Museum shows works of art from ancient Asia, Egypt, Rome and Greece side by side with those of Great Britain and other countries.

THE GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION OF UKRAINE

Ukraine is situated in the eastern part of Europe. It borders on Russia in the east, Belorussia in the north, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova in the west. Ukraine is washed by the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea in the south. The area of Ukraine is more than 603 thousand square kilometers. The most part of its area is flat. There are the Crimean Mountains in the south and the Carpathians in the west.

The territory of our country lies in three main zones: mixed forests, forest-steppes and steppes. The flora and fauna of our country are extremely rich. The nature of Ukraine is especially beautiful. There are 131 rivers in Ukraine. The longest rivers are the Dniester, the Donets, the Bug. The rivers of Ukraine are navigable. There are more than three hundred cities and towns in Ukraine. The biggest of them are Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dniepropetrovsk, Lviv. Odessa, Mikolayiv, Kherson, Kerch are the most important ports of Ukraine. The capital of Ukraine is Kyiv. It is an administrative, industrial, scientific and cultutal centre. Ukraine is rich in mineral resources: coal, oil, gas. different ores. Some of them are of industrial importance. Ukraine is a developed industrial country. Ukraine produces up-to-date instruments, electronic microscopes, synthetic diamonds. Ukraine is an agricultural country. Its soil is fertile. The geographical position of Ukraine is favourable for maintaining close economic relations with many European countries.

VTHE CLIMATE OF UKRAINEThe climate of Ukraine is temperate continental. The average tem¬perature in January is 7 degrees below zero, in July it is 17 degrees above zero. The winters are frosty. Sometimes the temperature is 20-25 degrees below zero. The weather varies greatly from year to year. Sometimes it often rains throughout a year and sometimes it is very dry. On the main part of the country rain falls enough to cultivate dif¬ferent agricultural plants. The climate of the Crimea differs from that on the main territory. The climate here is subtropical. The winter temperature is about 4 de¬grees above zero and the average temperature in summer is about 22 degrees above zero. There are a lot of evergreen plants in the Crimea. Comparing the climate in Ukraine with the climate in other Euro¬pean countries we may say that summers are hotter in Ukraine and winters are colder.