Устные темы

Тема № 1. Ekaterinburg

Ekaterinburg, the capital of the Ural Region, is situated on the Isset River. It was founded in 1723 by Tatischev. In 1924 it was given the name of Sverdlovsk. In 1991 the former name was returned.

Nowadays Ekaterinburg is a large industrial, scientific and cultural centre of the Urals. Its population is more than two million people.

From the very beginning the town grew and developed as a centre of industry. At present Ekaterinburg is one of the largest industrial centres of our country. There are many plants and factories in the city.

Ekaterinburg is a large cultural centre. There are a lot of theatres, museums, historical places in our city. We have the Opera House, the Drama Theatre, the Musical Comedy Theatre, the Children’s Theatre, the Puppet Show and others. The picture Gallery is famous all over the world.

Ekaterinburg is also a centre of learning in the Urals. One can find many Universities, Academies and Institutes here. There many different of educational establishments and research centres in Ekaterinburg.. The Ural State University was the first University in the city.

In the centre of the city there are many banks and offices.

Ekaterinburg is divided into several districts. They are connected with each other by the city public transport. There are such means of transport as trams, trolleybuses, buses, taxis. The underground is being constructed in the city now. The city traffic is heavy during the day.

The streets of Ekaterinburg are wide and straight.

There are many places of interest in our city. The tourists like to visit 1905 square, the Historical Square, the Eternal Flame and others. All of them are the places of our history.

Тема № 2. The United States of America

The United States of America is a general name of the country composed of 50 states. They are joined in a federal republic and its citizens are known as «Americans».

In the north the US borders on Canada, in the west – Mexico. The country stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. There are high mountains in the country: the Appalachian Mountains in the east and the Rocky Mountains which extend from Mexico to Canada.

The greatest rivers of the country are the Mississippi River, the Missouri River and the Colorado River. In the central part there is the territory of the Great Lakes.

The climate is moderate but various: from the tropics to the Arctic Region. Owing to the western winds the cyclonic storms are often. But there is another class of storms in the country. It is the West Indian hurricane. Many of such hurricanes are very disastrous.

The population of the US is about 250 million people. About two-thirds of the Americans live in towns and cities.

The language is called American English.

In 1620 the English traveled from England to North America with the ship «Mayflower». The first colonists spoke Elizabeth English, the language of Shakespeare. Later American English developed. There are some differences between the two languages in grammar, spelling, vocabulary and phonetics.

The largest cities are Washington, the capital of the country, New York, an unofficial capital, Boston, Chicago, Detroit and others.

The capital of the US is Washington, D. C. (District Columbia). It does not belong to any separate state, but to all the states. Washington is not the largest city of America. Its population is about 900 000 people. It lies on the Potomac River.

Washington is a one-industry town. That industry is government. It has many historical places. The largest and tallest building is the Capitol. The White House is the President’s residence. The Lincoln Memorial is devoted to the memory of the 16^th President of the United States.

Washington is a large scientific and educational centre. There are research institutes, universities, the National Academy and the Library of Congress.

Тема № 3. The British Painters. William Hogarth

William Hogarth, one of the most prominent English painters, was born in 1697 in London in the family of a schoolmaster. At an early age his talent for drawing made his father send him to an engraver. Later he began attending drawing classes at the art academy of Sir James Thornhill. In 1724 he produced a series of engravings entitled «The Talk of the Town». It satirized the society and the current tendency of fashionable London to appreciate and invite only foreign singers.

Hogarth’s engravings played a unique role in the history of art in England, for they not only brought him fame but they taught the ordinary people to love art. He was an innovator. Narrative pictures were nothing new, but Hogarth was the first artist to invent a story and illustrate it. He had a habit of recording facial expressions on his nails and then put them into his pictorial dramas full of humorous incidents. His pictures were comic; his portraits were honest and original. His masterpiece was portrait of Captain Coram. In 1735 he produced «The Rake’s Progress» (Карьера мота). The humour and moral force of these pictures were praised by Henry Fielding. Later came his «Marriage a la Mode» (модный брак), a telling piece of reportage on domestic life.

His self-portrait of 1745 is also a brilliant piece of portraiture (exhibition in the Tate Gallery, London). He is accompanied by his dog, his palette, and the works of Shakespeare, Milton and Swift.