People attend college or university for many different reasons (for
example, new experiences, career preparation, increased knowledge).
Why do you think people attend college or university? Use specific
reasons and examples to support your answer.
Nowadays, food has become easier to prepare. Has this change improved
the way people live? Use specific reasons and examples to support your
answer.
It has been said, Not everything that is learned is contained in
books. Compare and contrast knowledge gained from experience
with knowledge gained from books. In your opinion, which source
is more important? Why?
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Television
has destroyed communication among friends and family. Use
specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.
When people succeed, it is because of hard work. Luck has
nothing to do with success. Do you agree or disagree with the
quotation above? Use specific reasons and examples to explain your
position.
Many people visit museums when they travel to new places. Why
do you think people visit museums? Use specific reasons and
examples to support your answer.
Some people believe that university students should be required to
attend classes. Others believe that going to classes should be
optional for students. Which point of view do you agree with? Use
specific reasons and details to explain your answer.
Some people think that they can learn better by themselves than with a
teacher. Others think that it is always better to have a teacher. Which do
you prefer? Use specific reasons and details to explain your answer.
Should governments spend more money on improving roads and
highways, or should governments spend more money on improving public
transportation (buses, trains, subways)? Why? Use specific reasons and details to explain your answer.
It is better for children to grow up in the countryside than in a big
city. Do you agree or disagree? Use specific reasons and details to explain your answer.
In general, people are living longer now. Discuss the causes of this
phenomenon. Use specific reasons and details to explain your answer.
In some countries, teenagers have jobs while they are still students. Do
you think this is a good idea? Support your opinion by using specific
reasons and details.
A person you know is planning to move to your town or city. What
do you think this person would like and dislike about living in your
town or city? Why? Support your opinion by using specific
reasons and details.
It has recently been announced that a large shopping center may be built
in your neighborhood. Do you support or oppose this plan? Why? Use
specific reasons and details to support your answer.
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? People should
sometimes do things that they do not enjoy doing. Use specific reasons
and examples to support your answer.
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Television,
newspapers, magazines, and other media pay too much attention to
the personal lives of famous people such as public figures and
celebrities. Use specific reasons and details to explain your opinion.
Some people spend their entire lives in one place. Others move a number
of times throughout their lives, looking for a better job, house, community,
or even climate. Which do you prefer: staying in one place or moving in
search of another place? Use reasons and specific examples to support
your opinion.
Is it better to enjoy your money when you earn it or is it better to
save your money for some time in the future? Use specific reasons
and examples to support your opinion.
Businesses should hire employees for their entire lives. Do you agree
or disagree? Use specific reasons and examples to support your
answer.
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Attending a live
performance (for example, a play, concert, or sporting event) is more
enjoyable than watching the same event on television. Use specific reasons
and examples to support your opinion.
Learning about the past has no value for those of us living in the
present. Do you agree or disagree? Use specific reasons and
examples to support your answer.
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? With the help of
technology, students nowadays can learn more information and learn it
more quickly. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.
What are very important skills a person should learn in order to be
successful in the world today? Choose skills and use specific
reasons and examples to support your choice.
Some people like to travel with a companion. Other people prefer to
travel alone. Which do you prefer? Use specific reasons and
examples to support your choice.
Some people prefer to get up early in the morning and start the days
work. Others prefer to get up later in the day and work until late at night.
Which do you prefer? Use specific reasons and examples to support your
choice.
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Face-to-face
communication is better than other types of communication, such as
letters, email, or telephone calls. Use specific reasons and details to
support your answer.
You have received a gift of money. The money is enough to buy either a
piece of jewelry you like or tickets to a concert you want to attend. Which
would you buy? Use specific reasons and details to support your answer.
It has recently been announced that a new movie theater may be
built in your neighborhood. Do you support or oppose this plan?
Why? Use specific reasons and details to support your answer.
GENERAL INFORMATION ON THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS
Territory.
The Republic of Belarus has a very favorable geopolitical situation in the center of Europe. It is situated at the crossroads of trunk-railways and highways, systems of oil- and gas-pipe lines, flow lines between Western Europe and Asia. On the East Belarus borders on Russian Federation, on the West on Poland, on the North on Latvia and Lithuania, on the South on the Ukraine. The distance between Minsk, the capital of Belarus, and the capitals of the neighboring states is as follows: up to Vilnius 115 miles, to Riga 296, to Warsaw 342, to Kiev 347, to Moscow 435miles. Administratively, Belarus can be divided into 6 main regions: Brest region, Vitebsk region, Gomel region, Grodno region, Minsk region and Mogilev region; the city of Minsk can be singled out as an independent unit.
The territory of Belarus is 80,15 thousand square miles. Its length from north to south is 348 miles, from west to east 404 miles. The length of the borders is 1845 miles.
Population.
At the beginning of the year 2006 nearly 9,99 million people resided in the Republic of Belarus. According to the census of the year 1999, considering the overall quantity of inhabitants the percentage of the Belarusian was 81,2%, the Russians 11,4%, the Poles 3,9%, the Ukrainians 2,4%, the Jews 0,3%, other nationalities 0,8%. The share of the rural population is 30,5%. The Belarusian abroad is more than 3 mln. people.
There are two state languages in Belarus: Belarusian and Russian. Nearly 50% of the population belong to different confessions (80% are Orthodox, 14% Catholics, 2% Protestants).
The amount of able-bodied citizens at the beginning of 2006 was 5926,2 mln. people. Manpower resources (men at the age of 16-59, women 16-54 and working pensioners) in 2005 made up 60,9% from the overall number of inhabitants.
