TOPICS

9Christmas. What do people do?

People celebrate Christmas Day in many ways. In the days or even weeks before Christmas Day, many people decorate their homes and gardens with lights, Christmas trees and much more. It is common to organize a special meal, often consisting of turkey and a lot of other festive foods, for family or friends and exchange gifts with them. Children, in particular, often receive a lot of gifts from their parents and other relatives and the mythical figure Santa Claus. This has led to Christmas Day becoming an increasingly commercialized holiday, with a lot of families spending a large part of their income on gifts and food.
Many Sunday schools, churches and communities organize special events. These can include decorating the neighborhood or a shopping mall, putting up a Christmas tree and planning a Nativity display, concert or performance. A lot of plays and songs have a aspect of Christmas as a theme. Some groups arrange meals, shelter or charitable projects for people without a home or with very little money.

8. Robin Sharma  
                          60 TIPS FOR A STUNNINGLY GREAT LIFE
Ultimately, life goes by in a blink. And too many people live the same year 80 times. To avoid getting to the end and feeling flooded regret over a live half-lived, read (and then apply) these tips:
1. Exercise daily.
2. Get serious about gratitude.
3. See your work as a craft.
4. Expect the best and prepare for the worst.
5. Keep a journal.
7. Plan a schedule for your week.
8. Know the 5 highest priorities of your life.
9. Say no to distractions.
10. Drink a lot of water.
11. Improve your work every single day.
12. Get a mentor.
13. Hire a coach.
14. Get up at 5 am each day.
15. Eat less food.
16. Find more heroes.
17. Be a hero to someone.
18. Smile at strangers.
19. Be the most ethical person you know.
20. Don’t settle for anything less than excellence.
21. Savor life’s simplest pleasures.
22. Save 10% of your income each month.
23. Spend time at art galleries.
24. Walk in the woods.
25. Write thank you letters to those who’ve helped you.
26. Forgive those who’ve wronged you.
27. Remember that leadership is about influence and impact, not title and accolades.
28. Create unforgettable moments with those you love.
29. Have 5 great friends.
30. Become stunningly polite.
31. Unplug your TV.
32. Sell your TV.
33. Read daily.
34. Avoid the news.
35. Be content with what you have.
36. Pursue your dreams.
37. Be authentic.
38. Be passionate.
39. Say sorry when you know you should.
40. Never miss a moment to celebrate another.
41. Have a vision for your life.
42. Know your strengths.
43. Focus your mind on the good versus the lack.
44. Be patient.
45. Don’t give up.
46. Clean up your messes.
47. Use impeccable words.
48. Travel more.
50. Honor your parents.
51. Tip taxi drivers well.
52. Be a great teammate.
53. Give no energy to critics.
54. Spent time in the mountains.
55. Know your top 5 values.
56. Shift from being busy to achieving results.
57. Innovate and iterate.
58. Speak less. Listen more.
59. Be the best person you know.
60. Make your life matter.

7. 11 Rules that you don't learn in school.
It is from the book "Dumbing Down our Kids" by Charles J. Sykes, 1995, and is directed at high school and college graduates.
Rule 1:

Life is not fair - get used to it
Rule 2:
The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself
Rule 3:
You will NOT make $40,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both
Rule 4:
If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss
Rule 5:
Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping - they called it opportunity
Rule 6:
If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them
Rule 7:
Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your own room
Rule 8:
Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life
Rule 9:
Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time!
Rule 10:
Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs
Rule 11:
Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one

 6. My Favourite Teacher.

”I want you to become true personalities full of joy and constant optimism, I want you to remember all the good and forget all the bad people did for you, I want you to be friendly, amiable and extremely tolerant not only to each other but to everybody around you.
I want you to believe in your future by means of hard and conscientious work and remember Oscar Wild’s words that there is no sin except stupidity.
And what more…keep smiling as much as you can!
This is the easiest thing you can do for person just about you”- these words as well as many other ones our English teacher would often tell me and many other teen-agers being students of hers.
I’ve known my English teacher for almost 5 years.
All these years she was teaching me English alongside with many other things.
I reckon, she is an example of a teacher who combines excellent teaching skills in addition to wonderful personal traits of character.
Speaking of her teaching skills I must admit, that her lessons were not dreary and boring as many other lessons we used to have, but on the contrary-they were overfilled with mad energy and stunning interest to the subject. 
All of the students were involved in various discussion no matter what was being talked over-either any grammar rule or some topic, either some characters from the novel or our plans for the future.
I’m sure, she made us think, imagine and talk about things in English.
Her explanations of the given material were really superb-everything was so simple and understandable that no one of us couldn’t fail to grasp it at once.
It wasn’t easy to get prepared for our English lessons, ‘cause home assignment was rather interesting, astonishing and varied at the same time.
I mean, we couldn’t perform play-the-pole imagining i.e. God himself and using some certain grammar structures or topical words alongside reading a fair amount of literature in the original and discussing every detail, every character and every action.
I suppose our English teacher really made us love and adore our subject (as it was our major).
Probably everything was subconsciously but I’m sure she really succeeded in doing that, as she gave us profound knowledge of the English grammar, oral and colloquial speech; she enlarged our vocabulary and showed us the fact that the English language isn’t a barrier in understanding native speakers, but it’s a means of communicating with a lot of people all over the world, that it can help in bringing people together for them to share their thoughts, experience, point of views and what not.
In general, I’m pretty sure Svetlana Borisivna is the best teacher of English I’ve ever met and she was really cut out for this profession.
And no doubt, Svetlana Borisivna has mastered all the possible teaching methods and she’s always on the look-out for something new and interesting.
She is an interesting person to deal with, I mean we used to discuss current events, music trends, literature, art and many other things to say nothing of her subject.
Svetlana Borisivna is an excellent expert of English and unfading source of understanding.
She is the one who made me find and understand my true personality and I’m thankful for her. Thanks!


5. My Flat.

   As a rule, people live either in multi-storied buildings or private houses. Still some of them live in hostels. As for family, we live in a prestigious neighborhood, in a socially-owned house we moved into 5 years ago, which is in stone’s throw distance from the center of the city. It’s rather profitable that there are all kind of public buildings and some shops in the vicinity. There is fruit garden and children’s playground in the yard. A narrow path through the garden leads to my porch. Small flowerbeds of asters give it a very splendid view, especially in autumn. There isn’t much noise as it’s far from the road. So climbing up the stairs or taking the lift you find yourself on the 2d floor landing in front of my door. You may press the doorbell and here you are inside the hall. The corridor is rather large. There is a stand for hats, coats and umbrellas on your right and a small table with a telephone and a vase of flowers on it on your left. Over the table you’ll find a mirror. The walls are papered with brown wallpapers designed brick. A matched checkered rug covers the floor for its all length, a pendant lamp hangs from the ceiling and gives our hall a warm light. In general, it looks rather pleasant here. So, you can get to each room through separate doors from the corridor. Let’s have a look at the living-room, which is one of our favorites as we spend much time during the day exactly here. So, it’s quite big and spacious, with a balcony where we grow flowers. It has a southern aspect and faces the front garden. Lace curtains cover the window and the whole wall. A vase of daffodils stands on a low windowsill. The wallpapers have cream shade and modern design. A gray soft carpet completely covers the floor. Modern crystal chandelier lights the room and makes it celebrated. Besides, our living-room is furnished elegantly. A cozy three-pieces set, consisting of a sofa and two comfortable armchairs in leather, are on your left. Bed-side the sofa, there is a standard lamp. By the window there is color TV-set with a stereo-tape recorder near it. Two landscape water-colours are on the opposite wall and there is a beautiful oil-painting over the sofa. We like to receive our guests here. They always say we have a lovely combination of various colors in this room. The other three rooms are: two bedrooms and a study. When you step into them, you’ll see they aren’t as roomy as living-room is. The smallest one is my study. Here we keep all necessary things at hands. There is a writing-table by the window with pens, pencils and papers on it. The telephone is on the left and just behind it a reading lamp stands. You’ll find many book-shelves which are built-in and we have the whole wall crowded with books, newspapers and magazines. Normally, my parents work here, but my brother and I do our homework here too. The corresponding surrounding makes you work here well in this room, besides the window overlooks the park, so it’s rather quiet here. As for the rest two rooms, they are the most comfortable bedrooms in our flat. I’d describe one of them, because the other looks like that in general. It’s furnished with a bedroom set in light oak, which consists of a double bed, bedside tables, a dressing table with a leather stool, a wardrobe and cupboard for spare linen. A Persian carpet is on the floor. A brown coverlet harmonizes with striped curtains in colour. A red lampshade gives a warm light to the room. As you see the bedroom is furnished very well, but quietly, in a good taste. Now let’s go to the kitchen the most favourite nook in our flat. It’s appointed rather well. It has an electric cooker and an oven. A set of kitchen furniture stretches in a line around three walls. There is a sink unit with a mixer tap, a dish drier and several cupboards in it. These cupboards contain crockery, cutlery and what not. A round table with a bowl of fruit on it and four stools to match are in the centre of the kitchen, and red and white checkered tablecloth is becoming to the lace of the same design. The refrigerator is in the left-hand corner. There is a nature-still calendar on the wall. Our kitchen looks cheerfully. As for the bathroom and lavatory, we have them combined. It’s rather ordinary room with a bath, a shower curtain, a washbasin, and a small mat on the floor. But white and blue tiled walls and shining taps make the bathroom a pleasant place. Oh, I’ve not mentioned a small closet where a washing machine, a vacuum cleaner and other knick-knacks are kept, it is in the corridor, just behind the entrance door. As you see now, we live in a modern four-room flat with all modern accommodations and my family did its best to appoint it well. We like our flat badly as we remember “There is no place like home”. And I can even surely say that my house is my castle.

4. My Working Day.

   I consider it to be necessary to plan one’s working day in advance. It gives the opportunity not to waste one’s time. As I’m always as busy as a bee I try to plan my working day the previous evening. So my schedule is rather saturated. At 7 o’clock in the morning the alarm clock rings. I wake up, its time for me to get up but I still stay in the bed for some 5 minutes because I’m not an early riser. In some jiffies I recall the saying “Early bird catches the worm” and jump out of the bed, put on my gown and slippers and go to the bathroom. There I do everyday morning preparations, sometimes I have a shower, it makes me feel fresh. Then I spare some minutes for my hair-do and in spite of I’m young I like to wear my make-up, but light. Now I’m completely ready. Returning back to my room I make my bed and change my clothes. Mother is calling me for the breakfast, which is usually light. My lyceum is in a stone’s throw distance from my house, but I must hurry. I take my portfolio in leather and rush to the lyceum. On my way I meet my friends and we discuss our plans for the evening as a rule. My classes start at 9, but I always find some minutes to look through my homework to get ready for the lessons. The bell rings and my working day begins. I adore my classes because every day I learn something very interesting and useful, and I like my teachers at that. Besides between three pairs we have long breaks for 25 minutes. During the break we rest, discuss the latest news, our lessons, sometimes we even chat. Also my friends and I like to drop into the cafe in our lyceum to have a snack there. Normally I have 6 lessons a day. But 3 times a week I attend optional courses on English and Ukrainian and several societies on interests. Very often after classes I go to the library to get ready for the next day’s lessons. There I work at necessary information for me. I sit up for about 2 hours in the library to get ready. So I come back home rather late. Having put off my clothes I wash my hands and have my dinner – the most substantial meal a day. Actually I cook it myself. After it I am always ready to help my parents about the house. I like to do my chores, so I sweep the floor, polish the furniture, do some shopping. Then I start with my homework. Usually it takes me nearly 4 hours to cope with it properly. When there is much homework I sit up by 11 o’clock to do it, because I am rather industrious. Sometimes I have free time. So I prefer to visit friends, to go for a walk or watch TV if there is anything interesting on. At 8 o’clock my family has supper. So all members club together and sit down to our supper. During it we discuss that day’s news, exchange our impressions. Rather seldom it happens we go to the cinema or theater together on our week days, but it isn’t so often, as I have a lot of work to do. So after supper I go to my room and read or write something till 11 o’clock. Then I have a warm shower and go to bed. I don’t wish everybody “Good-night” as they have already fallen asleep. Normally I try to plan the coming day, but I relax and fall asleep myself. Mostly every night I see sweet dreams, because I’m rather exhausted. And the next day here we go again.   
                       
3.My Native Language (My Mother Tongue).

  Each nation has its own language. Now there are about 3 thousand languages in the world. Some of them are resembling, the others are different. Each language has its specificy. For instance Chinese is spoken by 700 million people  or 70% of population of China ). The oldest written language of the world is Egyptian, which is 5000 years old. Indian f.e. has the largest quantity of spoken and written languages – about 800. In general all languages can be devided into
2 groups. The first one includes so-called “dead” languages ( Latin, Ancient Greek) which are no more means of communication, the second group includes so-called “living” languages, which people use now. Besides there are some artificial languages, such as Basic and so on. Some years ago scientists from different countries decided to make one total language called Esperanto, but this idea failed. As it turned out later it was impossible to make such a language, because it would be smth. indefinite and misundestandable in it. That’s why
now there are several international languages : English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Chinese and Russian.
   
As I live in Ukraine I speak Ukrainian, it’s my mother tongue. In 1994 the World Congress acknowledged it as one of the most peaceful and put it on the second place for its melodical sounding (Italian takes the first place). Together with Russian and Bilorussian, Ukrainian appeared long ago from ancient flavian language which was the mean of communication in Kyyiv Rus’. The history of formation of our language takes over several centuries, it left us a lot of legends, tales, songs, chronicles, etc. This history is both glorious and famous. The Ukrainian language we speak now preserves all the traditions of old Ukrainian. The 19-th century and the beginning of  the 20-th were especially difficult for the development and statement of Ukrainian, to say nothing of the previous centuries. It was the time of bans, oppression, disdane on the side of Russian leadership. But it stayed alive in spite of all the difficulties.
  Now when Ukraine is an independent country it’s necessary to have Ukrainian as a State language. And I am proud of we have it because it is considered to be a symbol of our independence and national self-consciousness. We should learn our native language, assess it and take care of its purity. I know there exist some discussions as for the quantity of state languages in Ukraine. Some people think there should be two of them Ukrainian and Russian. As for me it’s wrong. I don’t have anything against other languages and even more then that,
I quite agree with the saying “As many languages you know so many times you are the man” .But we are Ukrainians and Ukrainian must be the only state language for us. On the other hand if you want you may learn and speak any other language you like. But also I remember another saying “Who forgets his own language that one has no future”.
   Therefore as I don’t want to be a representative of the lost generation I learn much to know Ukrainian properly. It’s well-known that Ukrainian is called as the language of a nightingale. And there are many proves to this. Just listen to Lesya Ukrainka’s verses or to those by Lina Kostenko. No doubt you’ll admire the melody, rhythm and beauty of it. No loud intonations, no violence, but you feel a deep strength of the language. And according to L.Ukrainka our language is our weapon, we should protect our uniquecy as a nation with the help
of a word, a Ukrainian word.     
         

2. WONDERFUL EARTH
First of all there was darkness. Nothing. Zero. Then God said, “Let there be light!” And there was!
Then suddenly there were stars and planets and galaxies and comets and meteors and great clouds of gas! All whizzing (проноситися зі свистом) about. And going bang (грохнутися)! It was like an enormous firework display. And God said, “That’s not bad for a start!”
Out of all the millions and billions and zillions (величезна кількість) of planets, God picked out one to be special. Why this one? I don’t know. It wasn’t even big. It was the earth.
God made the earth spin (вертітися), which made the day and night, and he made the moon go round the earth, which made the months, and he made the earth go round the sun, which made the years.
Then, with his finger, he gently nudged (злегка підштовхнути) the North Pole a little to one side, which made the summer turn to winter and back again.
It was all very complicated, like making a giant clock.
But it all worked perfectly.
On the earth, God made dry land and water. The land had mountains and canyons and deserts and huge exploding volcanoes!
The water was even better. God made rain and rivers and mist and waterfalls and hailstones and snow and icicles and icebergs and great oceans with enormous crashing waves!
Just out of water!
Then came the plants. Little twiddly ones at first, too small to see. The plants grew…and grew…
…until great forests spread right round the earth, and the whole world turned green. It was very beautiful!
There were all kinds of plants. Some had leaves like giant hands, some had long spiky ones, some had small feathery ones and some had no leaves at all!
Some could grow in just one day and some lived for a thousand of years! Some had lovely flowers and some had delicious fruit.
Some had seeds as big as your had, some had seeds like dust, and some had seeds that whirled like helicopters…
… and grew into great big trees!

But now the fun really started …

God made animals!

He made some black and white and some brightly coloured. Some with lots of hair and some with lots of teeth! Some who live in big groups…and some who live by themselves. Some high jumpers  and some law jumpers. Some with stripes and some with spots. Some very big and some tiny. Some with long necks. Some who are good at fishing! Some with horns made of hair. Some that hiss and some that roar. Some fat and grey… Some tall and pink. Some with rings on their tails… and some with stings on their tails! Some with tentacles and some with tusks. Some fast … and some slow. Some with blue feathers… and some with blue bottoms!
Some who like it cold… and some who like it hot! Some birds that can’t fly… and some fish who can!
And if you turn each half of the page, you can make some that God didn’t think of like the ostraffe and the crocopus!
God made humming birds as small as bees and whales as big as buses, chameleons that can change to any colour, sloths that grow moss on their backs, parrots that can talk and swifts that sleep while they are flying, moths that look like leaves and insects that look like sticks, skunks that smell disgusting ( except to other skunks ), squirrels that fly, bees that dance, worms that eat mud and goatsthat eat anything, dolphins that smile, crocodiles that green and hyenas that laugh, butterflyfish and parrotfish and lionfish and batfish and catfish and dogfish and hogfish, hairy caterpillars and bald eagles, deavers that dams and moles that dig tunnels, kangaroos that carry their babies in pouchers and pelicans with beaks like shopping bags, sharks with teeth like razors, beetles with antlers, gorillas as strong asten men, jumping fleas and jumping spiders, toads that blow thmselves up like balloons,electric eels and beetles that grow in the dark,bears that sleep all winter long,termites that make tall housestough as concrete, salmon that can swim up waterfalls, lizards like dragons, elepants with noses like hosesand squids that squirt ink.
He made animals that sing and squawk and spout and hiss and hoot and howl and honk and chirp and peck and pounce and flap and fly and slide and slither and squirm and screep and crawl and prowl and growl and gallop and glide and dive and swoop and jump and hang and warble and squek and roar…
And he made a whole lot of animals that you have probably never heard of… The dugong, the common noddy, the slow loris, the wrestling halfbeak, the footballfish, the bananaquit, the lousy watchman, the weedy seadragon, the pink fairy armadillo, the rubber boa, the bush squeaker. And last but not least, he made something really wonderful! What do you think it was? IT WAS YOU! And me of course. And everybody else. We are his masterpiece. His best effort! HOORAY!
In some ways we are a bit like God. We can think and talk and make things. We are really very clever… We are so clever… We have even walked on the moon!b
Now, you΄d think with such a wonderful world to live in, we΄d take good care of it, wouldn΄t you? Especially being so clever.
But lately we haven΄t been making a very good job of it… We have chopped down the forests… We have filled the air with dirty smoke… We have made the rain sour… We have poisoned the rivers and seas… And destroyed the placeswhere animals live… We have even made the weather go wrong! That΄s not very clever is it?
Our poor old world isn΄t very well at the moment. It΄s in a terrible mess. We are spoiling the beautiful place God gave us to live in.
We must stop to think. Does he really want us to chop down the trees? Does he really want us to make all that smoke? How can we clean up the rivers and the rain? How can we look after the plants and animals? Well it won΄t  be easy. But if we ask him to help us change, maybe… just maybe…
Earth is wonderful! God made it that way. Wecan sometimesforget that and then we spoil it.
The best way of understanding what an amazing place it is and where we fit in is to go back to the beginning…

1. Problems of the youth 


(friendship, love, conflicts)
- What are the problems of the youth?
- Youth is the time when a person is trying to find his place in the world. And during this search he or she comes across different problems which are as important as those of the adults. The youth of the twenty first century face almost the same the problems which were acute to their parents when they were young.


- What is the most important problem of the youth?
- One of them is a generation gap. Every generation is unique in its experience. It has its own ideals and a system of values concerning every aspect of human life. Adults always complain that the young are not what they were. These words are repeated from generation to generation. Undoubtedly it is correct. In fact today the young are better educated. They grow up more quickly. They derive joy from more freedom. At present the young do not blindly accept the ideals of their parents. For them everything that the adults bear in mind is past history. And this is inevitable, because different generations take different directions. Moreover, the young look forward and the old people look backward. The adult always teach the young how to live. They apply old standards to the new way of life. The past is hanging over them preventing them from appreciating the things around them anew. The young think that the adults have lost touch with everything that is important in life. They are right, because what is important to the adults is the past. The young know what they want. They prefer to make their own mistakes rather than to listen to the warnings of the adults. The past exists to help the young to avoid unnecessary blurs. But they do want to have them. The young want to live their own life. They want to overcome their own difficulties without turning back. Unfortunately the life of the young is frequently determined by the adults. The adults start the war but the young die in it. The young and adults have different points of view concerning everything. And it generates the conflict of the generations. In the 19th century Ivan Turgenev in his novel "Fathers and Sons" perfectly illustrated the eternal problem of fathers and children's misunderstanding. I think that parents will never understand their children.

- Why?
- Every new generation is different from the one that preceded it. Today the differences are especially considerable. The adults always believe that they know best only because they have been around a bit longer. They don't want their values to be doubted. The young on the other hand are questioning the assumptions of the adults, they suspect that the world created by their predecessors was not the best one.
- Was there any clash of values between generations?
- It is known far and wide that the clash of tastes and values between generations occurs in the main in highly developed countries. Occasionally it was sharp, especially in the 1960s and '70s in Western Europe and the USA.
- Can you see the solution to this problem?
- Certainly. I think that the only way to solve this insoluble problem both the young and adults should be tolerant and patient. Despite our generation differences there are no clashes of values in our family and my parents are my best friends. They always help me, console me, and try to help me to solve my problems.
- What is another problem of the youth?
- Another problem of the youth is the relationship of the young people with their friends and beloved. I believe in male friendship, and I doubt that there can be any real female friendship.
- Do you have a lot of friends?
- I think it is impossible to have a lot of friends. A person can be on good terms with his or her classmates or university groupmates but have only one or two real friends. I believe that real friends will never betray each other. They will always understand and help each other. It is true that tolerance is the pledge of friendship. It is wonderful if your school friend will remain your friend for the rest of your life. Unfortunately, when one enters a university school friends are often replaced by the new ones.
- Are there any other problems of the young?
- The problem of love is very important for the young. Today they young fall in love when they reach the age of Romeo and Juliet. Romanticism and idealism very often accompany the love of the young. Their belief in eternal love can end dramatically. Today nobody doubts about the depth of their passion. It is regrettable, but the young are not always ready to have stable relations. For a happy family life two people must understand and respect each other. It should be said that the young have other problems as well. They are concerned with education, money, employment, hobby, spending their free time, communication, and the like. And of course one of the most urgent problems is the accommodations problem. Few young people in our country have their own apartments. In the main they share the apartments with their parents even after getting married.
- Do young Americans have the same housing problem?
- I do not think so. As far as I know many young Americans do not live with their families.
- Where do young Americans prefer to live?
- They prefer to live in apartment blocks or residential areas where everyone is more or less of the same age. Young people often move away from home when they leave school (if they can afford it) into shared apartments or small, one-room "studio" apartments. They do their own cooking and cleaning, and go to the family home perhaps for the weekend.
- Where do young married couples reside in the USA?
- In the USA young married couples may move to new suburbs where most people have young families. In the countryside, some even build their houses themselves. If a family's income goes up, they often move" to another suburb, where the houses are bigger, with two or even three garages, a swimming pool, a games room for the children and everything a family could want.
- Do grown-up children live with their old parents in the USA?
- Old people do not live with their grown-up children. Many live in old people's homes. Some live in special towns, built for old people, where there are no young children and the atmosphere is quiet.
- Is it typical for Americans?
- I am sure it is. Americans are always on the move, and sortie families change their homes every few years.
- Where can average Americans start and end their lives?
- For example, Mr. and Mrs. Smith could start life in an apartment in New York, go on to a white painted wooden home in New England with small windows to keep out the cold in winter, move to a sunny house in California where oranges grow in the garden and big windows give a wonderful view of the swimming pool and the sea, and end their life in a town for old people.
- What are the problems of the American youth?
- It is difficult for me to answer this question. From the information derived from the mass media I can conclude that their problems are connected with their beliefs and values. Hard work is part of the American Dream. To be a success is important in America. Society frowns upon those who don't achieve it, that is why all young Americans want to work hard and be a success. The first step to it is a high school diploma. Without it, it is almost impossible to be successful. In order to get, it is necessary to compete, as rivalry is the spur to achievement. Winning is an American passion. In this case it is very important to be conscious of the society around and never do dirty tricks. Another problem that worries the young is to be well-liked. This feature is associated with the American Dream too. On the social level it is part of people's personalities. And of course communication can be one more problem not only of the young Americans but of all young people of today.
- How do the young communicate nowadays?
- Today the young can choose either traditional way of communication or a modern one. Traditionally the young meet after classes with their school or university friends at a cafe or a club to get fun, relax and acquire new friends. They go to the cinemas, theatres, concert halls or disco clubs. But if the young people do not like noisy clubs and other places of entertainment, they can find friends without leaving their apartments - the Internet gives such an opportunity. Although this international Web Wide Web is intended for getting knowledge, only few users employ it in this way. Other users employ the ICQ programme only for chatting. They can sit for twenty two hours at their displays carrying on endless chats with newly made friends. And it is a great problem of the present and future. Such young people do not eat, sleep, work or learn properly. They are only interested in their e-mail boxes. The best way for them is to go on chatting with their ICQ partners without meeting them. In general all the problems of the youth are linked with the present rather then with the past or future.