UNIT ONE. I am havinga great time here in London

3.

Dear John,

I am having a great time here in London. I haven't been to London before and I like it here very much.

Now I am staying with my friends who have been living here for about ten years. So they know the city pretty well. The only problem is they always quar­rel (are always quarrelling) over silly things so I prefer to walk around London on my own.

I arrived three days ago and have already seen some places of interest: the Tower, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square and some others. And I have visited the National Gallery and the British Museum.

I am thinking of attending a language school here. I have not made any enquiries about such schools yet, but I don't think I should miss this opportu­nity to improve my English while I am here. People here seem to be friendly and helpful. I am trying to speak English as much as possible. People understand me! It's wonderful because I have been learning English for only two years.

It's a pity you aren't here with me. I can't help thinking about you.

Are you missing me? (Do you miss me?)

Love, Natasha

4.

Dear Jan,

I'm having a nice time here in St. Petersburg. I have not been here before and so every day brings something interesting and unexpected.

Now I'm staying with my friend. She rents a flat not far from the city centre. We have known each other since school. After finishing school she went to St. Petersburg to study at the university, where she has already been studying for two years. Of course my friend knows what is worth seeing in the city.

I have already been to the Hermitage and I'm going to visit the Rus­sian Museum one of these days. The city itself is an enormous museum. The other day my friend and I took a long walk around the city and I took photos of the buildings and monuments I liked best. I'm sending you a few photos with this letter. In the city there are a lot of tourists from all over the world. It's a pity you are not here with me. I can't help thinking about how much you'd like it here.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Love, Katya.

6.

A.

1. He's got quite a few friends; he's very popular at his college.

2. He's got too few friends and he often feels lonely.

3. Very few German engineers could speak Chinese when Volkswagen set
up a factory in Shanghai.

4. A few German engineers and Chinese managers could speak English,
so they were able to communicate in English.

5. There are very few people who will agree to low-paid jobs.

6. There are quite a few people who may apply for this job. It's prestigious
and well paid.

7. The meals are awful, but strangely enough, very few people complain.

8. The meals are awful. No wonder quite a few people complain.

9. The text was easy to translate. There were very few words I had to look
up in the dictionary.

10. The text only seems easy to translate. There are quite a few booby-
traps in it!

11. Ladies and Gentlemen! Let me say a few words about the main advan­
tages of the new method.

B.

1. Little is known about that old civilization!

2. Wait a little!

3. I'm afraid, too little time is left to discuss everything in detail.

4. I'm sorry, you can't stay a little longer.

5. Little was left of that lovely place after the earthquake.

7.

Before you begin reading the story learn a few words you might not know. Without it the humour of the story is likely to be lost on you.

The story is about the importance of punctuation. You must have guessed the meaning of the word. The corresponding verb is 'to punctuate'.

Keys

A wildlife manual is a reference book about animals. To toss means to throw. A mammal is an animal that feeds its babies with its own milk. Now you can be­gin reading the story.