English for everyone

American Symbols
The American flag is often called «The Stars and Stripes», it is also called «Old Glory». It represents the growth of the nation. It has 13 horizontal stripes, 7 red and 6 white which stand for the original 13 states. In the top left hand corner there are 50 white stars on a blue background: one star for each state. The national anthem of the United States is «The Star Spangled Banner». The words written during the Anglo- American war of 1812—1814 and set to the music of an old song. Every state has its own flag, its own emblem and its own anthem too.
The eagle became the national emblem of the country in 1782. It has an olive branch (a symbol of peace) and arrows (a symbol of strength). You can see the eagle on the back of a dollar bill.
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The United States of America (General information)
After 350 years of development the United States of America still holds the leading position in the western world. The USA is the most powerful and highly developed country of the world. The United States of America lies in the central part of North American continent. Its western coast is washed by the Pacific Ocean. Its eastern coast is washed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.
The USA consists of three separate parts. They are the Hawaiian Islands, Alaska and the rest major part of the USA. There are fifty states and district of Columbia. The states differ very much in size, population and economical development. The population of the United States is about 250 million people.
What makes the USA the leader of the western world is its economical, political and military dominance over other countries.
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How do I learn English
Nowadays it’s very necessary to know a foreign language. Knowledge of foreign language helps us to develop friendship and understanding among people.
The total number of languages in the world is from 2500 to 5000. English is spoken all over the world and very popular. There is a proverb: «Knowledge is Power» I agree with it.
I study English, because I want to read English books of great writers in origin. I want to communicate with people from different countries, I want to understand their culture and traditions. I like to travel. Speaking English I can travel anywhere, because more than 1 billion people speak English. I have a pen-friend abroad. She lives in Sweden. I have much fun writing letters to my Swedish friend.
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English Language of Communication
«Do you speak English?» — with this phrase begins the conversation between two people, that speak different languages and want to find a common language.
It’s very good when you hear: «Yes, I do», and start talking. People of different countries and nations have to get along well with the progress in world trade and technology as well as with each other.
So it is very useful to learn foreign languages. Knowledge of foreign languages helps us to develop friendship and understanding among people.
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Test I
I. Прочитайте текст и ответьте на вопросы.
A traveller who had been riding in the rain and was wet through, arrived at a small hotel in the country. There was only one fireplace in the hall and a lot of people around it. The traveller thought of a plan how to get warm. He asked the hotel owner to take some fish to his horse. The hotel owner was surprised but the traveller insisted and the hotel owner did as he was asked. All the people rushed out to see the horse eat fish. The traveller had the fireplace all to himself and felt comfortable. When the hotel owner returned he said, «I was sure horses do not eat fish.»— «Then why did you take it to my horse?»
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Getting to the heart of colors
Is a ripe tomato red?
What colour is a ripe tomato? “Red, without a shadow of a doubt!” everybody would reply.
But we should have a little doubt…
For example, a diver, going down with a tomato in his hand, at a great depth would see the tomato changing colour: from dark green to grey, from yellow back to its natural red. So we can say that a tomato isn’t red, but it looks red in the light of the sun.
Sunlight is made up of a spectrum of coloured rays which go from red to violet passing through orange, yellow, green, blue and indigo.
When the light hits an object, it produces a strange phenomenon. If the object absorbs all the coloured rays, it appears black. If it doesn’t absorb any of the coloured rays, it appears white. And if it absorbs only some of the rays, it appears coloured.
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The rich ancient Egyptians liked parties and good food. They often wore cones of perfumed wax on their heads. The wax melted during the dinner and ran down in streams, cooling their faces.
In ancient Greece and Rome, guests at a banquet wore wreaths of plaited flowers and leaves. They believed these would prevent drunkenness.
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