Examination Card №8

I. Reading
The weather in Britain is very changeable and unpredictable. That's why people regularly listen to weather forecasts and talk about the weather, as it is a polite and impersonal topic of conversation. Actually the weather in Britain is warm and mild and extremes rarely happen.

The weather in the US varies between the regions because the country is large and there are different types of climate in it. Winters are warm and dry in the Southwest and cold and snowy in the Northeast and Midwest. Summers are usually hot. Some parts of the US suffer from tornadoes and hurricanes.

Many people in the US are worried about global warming and climatic changes this may cause.

II. Writing
Dear Susan,
Greetings from Ukraine! This is our famous Khotyn Castle. The town of Khotyn lies on the right bank of the River Dniester. The castle was originally built in the 12th century out of wood and in the 15th century it was completely reconstructed, built of stone. Its 50 metres walls are still considered the tallest in the whole Europe. Even today, the castle strikes visitors with its grandeur. Stone and earth fortifications stretch out for about a mile.
Come to Ukraine in June. We can go and see the castle together. The distance from Kyiv to Khotyn is about 565 kilometres, but we can easily get there by car or by bus.
My best regards to your family!
Svitlana

III. Speaking
Sooner or later it happens. Children grow up and the time approaches when they are to leave their home. We're becoming mature and need more freedom but our parents don't want to understand this? The story is not new. Generation gap is not an invention of our time. It used to be this way many years ago, it is so nowadays and, probably, it will exist forever.

Being teenagers we can often face a number of challenges and dilemmas at that time. We want more freedom but our parents want to control all sides of our life. As teenagers we see the world absolutely differently than the grown-ups. That's why arguments happen.

Teenagers feel limited in their decisions and choices, and parents are afraid of giving freedom to their kids. Is there a way out? They say that we must learn to make people around us accept our growing independence? But this is, of course, not easy. We need to follow our parents instructions who are still providing us with their guidance and support.

I think that I'm lucky to develop good relationships with my parents. I can always turn to my mother for advice. She is ready to give me a listening ear or a helping hand. I think that teenagers should listen to their parents' pieces of advice because they have much more life experience. I always try to follow my parents' advice, but in turn my parents always try to give me a possibility to make my own decision. This kind of mutual respect helps us to avoid misunderstandings in most cases. My parents are sure that I must learn self discipline, responsibility and the skills I will need to live in the adult world. Freedom helps me learn to take care of myself. But as every coin has got a reverse side, granting too much freedom by parents is just as bad as giving too little.

On the one hand, teens need to be allowed freedom to make choices and experience the consequences of those choices in order to learn responsibility and self discipline. They need to be allowed to assert themselves, try new things and learn new skills.

On the other hand, too much freedom can provide too many opportunities for poor choices and mistakes, and may result in serious problems. Teens are different.

To sum it all up, it's important to build relationships with the parents in a way they hold you accountable and allow you to experience the consequences of your choices. A responsible child will get more freedom, of course.

Date: 2016-01-03; view: 1071