English language – a world language.

English language – a world language.

Nowadays, the English language is spoken the length & breadth of the world and permeates the areas it has never reached before. It is the language of business, science, technology, the media and communication in general, so it serves as a lingua franca in many countries. Geographically, English is the most widespread language on earth. In fact, people who speak English fall into 3 groups. The 1^st one is those who have learned it as their native language, it comprises around 400 million people, living on the British Isles, in the USA, Australia, New Zealand and parts of Canada and South Africa. The next group consists of those who use it as a second language in a society that is mainly bilingual. Finally, the 3d group includes those who use it for a practical purpose (either for business or education).

However, the emergence of English as a world language is a relatively recent thing. Some 6 or 5 centuries ago, the situation was quite different. For example, in Shakespeare’s time only a few million people spoke English. All of them lived in what is now Great Britain. Through the centuries, as a result of various historical events (the Great Geographical Discoveries, waves of immigration and the process of colonization) the English language was established as a mother tongue outside England.

In my opinion, there are several reasons why English has become a dominant language. First of all, it is the simplicity of form. English is an analytical language, that’s why, English verbs have very few inflections, adjectives do not change according to the noun and the category of gender isn’t distinguished. One more characteristic of this language is its flexibility, which means that without any inflections one and the same word can operate as different parts of speech at the same time. What is more, the openness of its vocabluary. English is mixing with and marrying other languages around the world. 70% of the English vocabulary are loan words and only 30% of the words are native. Besides, nowadays a good command of English isn’t perceived as prestigious but as a must alongside knowing how to use a computer and drive a car. So English is a vital key to a good job.

Judging by its standing in India, we may suppose that although English serves as a link language in post-colonial countries, it is more popular with not numerous affluent population, besides, it faces a quality problem, as it is frequently spoken badly and is read and written with poor fluency.(Hindish) What is more, purists of other languages are trying to resist creeping of English words into their languages. As far as I know, in France, where there seems to be a perennial war on Franglais, a list of English terms was published the use of which was prohibited. If the forbidden words were inscripted on a product, it was said to be kept off the market, I think that it was passed mainly for reasons of politics. However, I do agree that there’s sometimes sloppy and unnecessary use of foreign terms.

In conclusion, I believe that because of the spread of English other languages will die out. Well, everything depends on people, and I don’t think anybody wants their language to disappear completely.

 

Success throught a foreing language.

In our 21^st century with its tremendous technological and cultural progress everyone tries to find their own places and to be a success. And there’s no doubt that today knowing at least one foreign language opens many doors and helps to get on in life.

A foreign language is a vital key to benefit professionally and it gives you a lot of opportunities and chances that can increase the communication and negotiation potential of any business situation. For instance, the process of learning a foreign language flexes your creative muscle. Your long-term memory gets a good work-out. Moreover, you feel more confident when communicating, because your interpersonal skills will grow. It’s a great way to demonstrate your sensitivity to the diversity in our world’s population.

Knowledge of any foreign language gives you a good opportunity of getting a well-paid and rather prestigious job. Practice shows that employees often have technical and managerial abilities but lack the necessary foreign language skills. So in order to have a competitive edge you should have at least one foreign language under your belt for the employers to give preference to you.

I also believe that any foreign language widens your horizons and liberalizes your outlook. While travelling, you’re able to meet new people, get acquainted with their customs and traditions. And this, in its turn, makes you more broad-minded, educated and build up your confidence and self-esteem.

Steering clear of unnecessary information, listening to interactive cassettes, watching foreign films and reading books in the original will help you to converse easier and succeed in learning.

I’m convinced that knowing a foreign language will help you to stay current with global changes, land your dream-job.

Leaders and leadership.

Almost everyone today wants to become a leader. Leadership is an inseparable item of our fast-moving world; the world of high technology, of international business, fast-growing economy, international tourism. LEADER – is a person who guides or directs a group of people and who makes the most important decisions. In other words it’s a person who stays under the leadership of others. I suggest that everyone, to some degree, wears the hat of a leader, even if it is self-leadership (which, to my point of view, is the most important leadership of all).

Another question is “What qualities should the real leader possess?”

He must be:

1. Self Starter - Leaders are made, not found.

2. Ability to see the big picture - vision.

3. Selector of good people - People are the most important asset.

4. Trainer of people - Motivator - Build a team.

5. Good communicator - Good listener.

6. Risk taker.

7. High energy level - hard work is the only career plan.

8. Sense of Humor - Doesn't take himself/herself too seriously.

9. Strategic thinker.

So, the first and most important step for a leader is the decision to become a leader. At some point in time, leaders decide that they want to provide others with vision direct the course of future events and inspire others to success, they want toinstill (внушить) in others a hope and belief that they can create change for the better. They want to bring out in people their best talents.

In conclusion I would like to say that leadership is the ability to work hard and get real results, to set goals and obtain them. I think that leadership is a great responsibility, rather than a privilege.

 

Modern family values.

A lot of things in this world can change us but we start & end with the family. It’s the corner stone of our society. More than any other force, it shapes our attitudes, our hopes, our ambitions & and our values. the family is definitely a powerful institution.

Few can doubt that our modern family unit is in a state of crisis. Psychologists & sociologists all over the world calling for a return to traditional family values, which naturally a thing of a past. When I thing about a typical traditional family, I imagine an extended family with a great number of children, which is characterized by fixed gender roles. The father is the only bread-winner (so it’s male-dominated) while the mother’s duty is to take care of children & keep the house. This family is noted for stability, devotion & even self-denial, high moral standards.

In comparison with a traditional family, a modern family is associated with a nuclear family. Besides, gender roles isn’t fixed anymore. Usually both parents work, thus they don’t spend much time with their children. This actually leads to a great number of “latch-key children”, who constantly left at home without required parental care. Modern families faced with the problem of frequent divorces. Parents can split up easily just because they lack understanding & tolerance. However, those who really suffer in this case are children. It’s a deep emotional trauma for them. What is more, we can see such deviations as homosexual marriages, group marriages, communal living arrangements & swingers’ group.In my view, it’s important to strengthen traditional families. It’s necessary to put the traditional family into the center of social policy.

 

Single-parent families.

To my mind everything has its beginning in the family. It's the family that should give you support and stability. It's a place where one should be able to find understanding. And it's parents, who are responsible for their child, as we come into this world absolutely helpless and we need support and care from the very first minute of our life. No doubt it's not an easy task to bring up a child, to give him a rounded upbringing, but it's twice as difficult to do it, when one is a single parent. Some think that a single parent can't bring up children as well as a couple. A child is considered to feel better off in a two-parent family where he is treated fairly, gets a rounded upbringing and proper discipline. Alongside with this there may exist the following problem: sometimes lack of affordable childcare keeps single parents in the poverty trap, and in a two-parent family a child can feel financial security. Besides, a child in a single-parent family is considered to miss out parent's attention and care. And on the whole many people thought that kids go off the track more often than children from a full family, to be influenced into short crime stuff, to be on drugs, to commit a crime....

But lots of people, especially single parents and children from a single-parent family, can argue about it. They say that all sorts of things can make kids go astray - it depends on the quality of child's home environment, not on how many parents a child has. There are people who have been brought up by a single parent and they are doing really well. Children in a single-parent family have more freedom, maybe they learn, to be much more independent. Besides sometimes it's even better to stay with one parent only, for example in the case when children witness lots of rows and fights between Mum and Dad. Actually I also stick to the opinion, that one parent CAN be a success in the upbringing of a child if creates a favorable environment and atmosphere. The last thing I'd-like to say is that anyway single-parent families should be supported by the government; they usually need someone to back them up. And there is no doubt that a parent is the one who is responsible for bringing up children and he deserves a pat on the back.

 

Adoption of children.

Adoption of children is a very tricky question for many people. It’s difficult to say why some people go though long procedures and finally have their adopted child and some people can’t even think about adopting a child.

Some of them just can’t have kids because of health troubles. There are people whose motivation to adopt isn't because they can't have kids. These are the people whose children are in their teens or have left home, or if they have young children they realize they have a lot to give a child with special needs. But everyone knows that it is not easy at all to adopt a child.

Only seven of up to 10,000 children in Britain awaiting adoption every year. Despite these flexible rules many children still stay in care and a large number of desperate couples search for a child abroad.

But what is the cut off point for suitable parents? You can adopt if you are over 21, in good health and have the energy to care for children. Ideal adopters should be from the same ethnic background as the child. It doesn't matter whether you are single, married or living together. Besides you can adopt whether you own your own home or are renting accommodation.

Unfortunately most couples who think of adoption automatically hope for a young baby. Finding prospective parents willing to take on an older child has always been harder. And, unfortunately, it is often the most needy children who are not adopted: those who have special needs, the abused, and the neglected. And for them the hopes are even bleaker. So, if one wants to adopt, he should go through an approved agency. Then your suitability to be a parent will be assessed. Then medical, family and police checks will be carried out on you If you are approved for adoption you'll have to live with this child for 13 weeks. When the adoption order has been passed in court, the child or children will legally become yours.

 

Ageism

There is no doubt that our society is highly competitive. Modern pace of life is tremendously fast and requires a person to be in good physical and spiritual health. If you don't want to be an outsider, you'll have to keep up with others.

There have always been stereotypes about old people. nowadays they are no longer passive victims but they can go on safari or climbing mountains, complete Open University degrees.

On the one hand the new image seem refreshing and liberating. The "young old" are lithe and sizzling at the age when our foremothers were spent and sagging. But on the other hand, this image of the "young old" is only a new stereotype. Ageing has become a social crime. Those who had emotionally harder lives, who were widowed young or brought up kids alone, those whose genetic inheritance didn't include elastic skin, whose faces are mapped with past exertions don't look like these "young old". But they shouldn't be punished for it. Just as we like our disabled people smiling and exceptional so we want the oldies that have bags of energy, who've never felt better, who are endlessly self regenerating and "amazing for their age" not those who merely show it. We have reached such a pitch that instead of admiring and learning from those who feel they've had enough and are ready to die, we're forever trying to jolly them up and yank them back to life.

But perhaps we shouldn't be hard on the new stereotype of ageing-- it is only a response to the previous one. When everyone was portraying old people in a negative way, one antidote was to reverse the image, deny ageing, and remark the old as glamorous and athletic.

Finally, I'd like to say that society should respect and accept any personal choice, it should help old people to retain their vitality and develop their creativity as long as they want. In my opinion the statement “You are only as old as you feel” is quite true. But these attempts to look younger by any price are really frightening for me. I think that a person shouldn’t be in conflict with his age, because the process of getting older is inevitable.

 

Problems in the family.

In fact, when your children become teenagers it is really difficult to keep everything in order, to contact with them and not to go mad. That’s why there are special courses where parents are about to study the worst years of their children's lives.

Why do they spend their time at such classes? As one mother put it: "We've come because we don't want anything drastic to go wrong. I want to know that if a problem arises, I can deal with it.” Caring for teens demands special tactics. For some it is an innate skill, but others struggle tremendously. Their young ones are treading two paths — being children and young adults. They switch from one to the other and that is one of the things that makes it so difficult for parents. The course runs once a week for a month and is crucially aimed at parents whose children are aged 11 and 12: pre-teen. Start now, is the central message, and problems will be easier later. The rules are straightforward. It’s known that explosions occur when lifestyles drive early wedges between parents and their offspring. You remove those wedges by building confidence in your child, by learning to talk to them properly, and by defusing individual conflicts in an ordered, unemotional style. Easier said than done, of course, and the trouble with teaching parents to suck eggs is that it takes tact. So a major emphasis is on prompting students themselves to share their own solutions to individual flashpoints. For instance, how on earth do you manage to talk to your child when most evenings they are out rigorously improving themselves at drama, music, sports? One mother had come up with a neat solution: she had arranged for her three children to do their homework together around the dining-room table so that she could chat to them while cooking in the kitchen. Another mother (three-quarters of those who turned up were women) had stopped sending her two daughters to bed at the same time. With a year's difference in their ages she had an excuse to spread bedtime so that she could read each their own story instead of sharing the moment. A father said he had learnt to put his newspaper down when his daughter started chattering, explaining privately: «She just doesn't stop talking, and when I came here last week and they wrote up the subject heading: "How To Stop Your Child Talking To You" I thought: yes, I want that. But it was ironic. It was about the way we stop children communicating. It made me think."

Families facing individual conflicts — dirty rooms, late homecomings — were urged to adopt a six-point problem solving process to eliminate the utterly impossible and arrive at a compromise. The classes help parents and teachers to team up at a difficult stage, and there is a spin-off benefit: sitting in a classroom makes parents more comfortable about coming back at other times to discuss their child's general education.

In my opinion it’s really amazing when people understand that they need help and they want to get it from qualified people. It isn’t so dreadful to learn how to bring up your children because it influences your relationships and probably the future of your child.

Look deeper at a person.

We all know that appearances are really deceptive and it is better not to judge people only according to the way they look. But, however when we meet people for the first time we generally pay attention at their appearance, clothes and face at first. And in fact it is quite right, because we can learn some information about the person based on his physical appearance and that can help us to understand this very person better in future. Probably that’s why it becomes more and more popular to learn and analyze peoples’ faces. There is even a science physiognomy (face reading) that is to say the art of judging human character by facial features.This science can be really useful. Physiognomy isused in many ways today. Businesses use them to assist in hiring the right people for the right position and to do team building. Casting Directors use Face Readers to match the part with someone who would appropriately fit the character. Authors do the same with the characters in their stories. In fact this science takes into consideration everything: 'body language', Posture, Facial Shape ( People with round faces are emotional. They are known to be sensitive and caring. people with Square shaped faces are thought to have an intelligent, analytical and decisive mind. The face sharp is associated with an aggressive and dominating nature), Eyes ( The eyes are said to be the windows of the soul, your eyes reveal how open you are to life and experiences), lips (attest to your sensuality, communication, love & affection and how you express yourself Narrow lips: Unemotional).

This science can be used in different case and there was an experiment when face readers tried to discover the inner world of Mona Lisa, who is really famous with her enigmatic, sinister and slightly crooked smile, that suggest that she often told lies. Her distinct glint in the eyes attests to her fun-loving nature and good sense of humour. She was a spendthrift because of her nostrils. She was also a fickle and unreliable friend, because of the perfectly rounded hairline. And so on. All these hypotheses in fact can not be proved, because nobody knows who this woman was. But in fact it is really difficult to decide whether a genius is one who is touched by the divine finger or his prodigies is the result of gruelling ['gruəlɪŋ] periods of training. In fact it is highly possible that geniuses are born, not made, but at the same time the development of their abilities greatly depend on the style of parental behaviour, for ex. simulative and supportive behaviour can be really important, because parents can give their children a head start in the increasing competition for growing up into successful adults.

The British press.

British people watch a lot of television, but, nevertheless they R the world’s third biggest newspaper buyers.

Newspaper publication is dominated by national press, which is an indication of comparative weakness of regional identity in Britain. Most local papers do not appear on Sundays, so on that day the dominance of the national press is absolute. The ‘Sunday papers’ R so-called because it is the only day on which they appear. Some of them R sisters of daily ones. The Sunday papers sell slightly more copies than the national dailies & R thicker. Papers R usually delivered in the morning by a teenager, & it is called the morning ‘paper round’.

Each of the national press can be characterized as belonging to one of the two distinct categories. The ‘quality papers’, or ‘broadsheet’ cater for the better educated readers while the ‘popular papers’, or ‘tabloids’ sell to a much larger readership. Broadsheet R twice as large as tabloids, all the articles R written in a formal & complicated style, & tabloids, just on the contrary, R characterized to have simple & informal style. Broadsheets R strong on politics, economics, serious news, while tabloids appeal to those who like reading human-interesting stories, sex & scandal. Broadsheets also devote some place for human-interested stories to attract more readers. Both ‘quality papers’ & ‘popular papers’ devote equal amounts of attention to sport. The difference between them is in the treatment of the topics they cover. Tabloids R notable for having more pictures, less print, lots of photos & all headlines R big & R in bold type. Broadsheets R ‘The Times’, ‘The Guardian’, ‘The Daily Telegraph’, ‘The Independent’, ‘The Observer’, ‘The Financial Times’, & tabloids R ‘The News of the World’, ‘The Sun’, ‘The Mirror’, ‘The Star’.

Although different papers have different political outlooks. The British press is controlled by a rather small number of extremely large multinational companies. That’s why the British press is renowned for its freedom from interference from government. It is so powerful that it can be referred to as ‘the forth estate’.

Unfortunately, tabloids often interfere in people’s private lives & that’s why the Press Complaints Commission was organized to deal with complaints regarding invasions of privacy.

 

Radio in GB.

Though the BBC might be said to be “the mother of information services”, the radio remains absolutely at the core of GB national life and there are still many people who are forcefully and energetically passionate about it.

Some people deem that making radio is easy because it is not as technically difficult as TV. I can’t concur with it. As any other, may I say, “organization”, radio requires complete dedication and ability to rise to the challenge. Radio reporters are an amalgam of a person who is a desk-bound and of one who thinks on feet and is able to broadcast from the spot and is eager to try his hand at everything.

All in all there are several different types of radio stations: state, independent, private and illegal or pirate stations. Speaking about BBC radio, I should say that there are 5 national radio stations. For instance, Radio 1 is devoted almost entirely to pop music; its birth was a signal that popular youth culture could no longer be ignored by the country’s established institutions. On the contrary to Radio 1, Radio 2 broadcasts mainly light music and chat shows. If you want to listen to classical music, you are to tune into Radio 3. A variety of programmes from plays to comedy shows to consumer advice programmes and in depth news coverage is presented on Radio 4. Radio 5 is largely given over to sports coverage and news. While Radio 1 and 2 seem reasonably stable, Radio 3 and 4 are challenging and gradually disappearing as they have problems with audience expectations.

In spite of frequent raids by the department of trade and industry, pirate or illegal stations still do not pay copyright levies and still manage to put out a professional-sounding 24-hour show. They work for the love of it and build up a following of young people who can’t get what they want from the legal stations and tune into a pirate one, dealing with risqué material.

So variety is the spice of our life, and I suppose that people who deal with radio and the media in general and prepare whizz-bang news for us invoke respect.

 

TV in GB.

Nowadays people can’t do without television & radio, because they R creeping into different spheres of people’s life. It’s common knowledge that the public gets most of the information about events & current pace of life from mass-media. Television brings the world to our room.

Television is the most significant form of broadcasting in Britain. Britain TV’s independence from the government interference. The BBC is the matter of information services. It has the reputation for being accurate & impartial in news broadcasting. The basic principles of broadcasting that the BBC adheres R: independency, decency, unity, creativity, respect, objectivity, impartiality.

The BBC depends neither on advertising nor on the government for its income. It derives financing from license fee which everybody who uses a television has to pay. However the government decides how much this fee is going to be. Its director general has the right to veto any BBC programme before it has been transmitted & even to take away the BBC’s license to broadcast. The BBC also runs 5 national radio stations. Today, the BBC World Service broadcasts around the globe in English and in several other languages.

There’s no advertising on the BBC, but Independent Television (ITV) gets its money from advertising. It consists of a number of private owned companies, each of which is responsible for programming in different parts of the country. Both BBC1 and ITV show a wide variety of programmes. They R in constant competition with each other to attract the largest audience. They try to do the same type of programme better, but not broadcast a more popular one. This is known as the ratings war. These channels broadcast a relaxed style of news magazine with more formal news summaries, a mixture of popular discussion programmes, soap operas, dramas, comedies, films & various programmes of light entertainment & general interest.

BBC2 & Channel4 act as the main promoters of learning & culture. Both have been successful in presenting programmes on serious & weighty topics which R nevertheless attractive to quite large audience. Channel5 is a commercial one. Its emphasis is on the entertainment. However it makes all other types of programming too.

There is also a Welsh language channel for viewers in Welsh.

 

The Open University.

Since its founding in 1969, the university has opened up educational opportunities for millions students, has inspired and helped similar distance education institutions in many countries and won a worldwide reputation for its pioneering methods of distance education.

The OU, originally referred to as the University of Air, from the outset was open to all – there are no entry qualifications for the undergraduate programme, except the minimum age of 18. It is offered a second chance to thousands of people who had not had the opportunity to go on to higher education in the past. For them part-time study based at home opened a whole world of learning. It was particularly important in a country with the smallest percentage of students in higher education in Europe.

The university says that women looking after a family at home have been the main beneficiaries of the OU’s openness. Despite of the fact that the OU was accused of being the university catering mainly for bored housewives, today a half of all OU students are woman and many use it as a part of a planned career break.

The flexibility of OU study means that full time workers can retain or gain extra qualifications at the same time. Even if we consider the economic side, it is an insurance against the ebb and flow of the job market. The university caters for many students by correspondence tuition, backed up by TV programmes and face-to-face tutorials. Since the beginning the OU has been in partnership with BBC.

OU students are a dedicated brunch as a study requires 10-15 hours a week for ten months a year and it usually takes 6 years to complete a first degree. In addition it is not cheap: the cost of a degree works out 2000 pounds. Actually it offers not only degree courses, but it has a huge professional and vocational programme.

 

Children and TV.

As a matter of fact, children spend a lot of time watching TV. Television is even more pervasive in a child's world than school, so that is called the "first curriculum". That's why psychologists, authorities and certainly parents are deeply concerned about this matter and try to analyze TV's impact on children. Those who are against TV give a lot of proof for its disastrous impact on children. First, watching TV over a long span n seriously damages children's ability to think clearly. It shortens the attention span and erodes their linguistic power. The reason for it is quite clear: television is essentially a visual medium. It shows pictures moving very rapidly. Consequently, TV can never teach what a medium like a book can teach. Actually, children respond emotionally to what is shown. Thus, children who watch TV excessively find it difficult to analyze and express their ideas verbally.

Besides, not only does TV-abuse hurt children's academic performance and stunt their social development, but it also has a disastrous impact on their health. Sitting hourly in one and the same pose provokes backache, headache.

Moreover, it opens up all the society's secrets and taboos, thus erasing the dividing line between childhood and adulthood.

However, there are people who claim that we shouldn't blame TV for all the deadly sins, as it is families, school that shape children's behavior. First and foremost, parents shouldn't neglect their children, they shouldn't off- load their responsibility. Certainly it is easier to plonk your child down in front of a TV-set and have some peace and quiet.

I'm deeply convinced, that children won't fall prey to the negative influence of TV if their parents listen to them, read to them. Some videos arise compassion and allow a child to flirt with fear. Taken slowly, however, they can help to master fear and impart life-saving lessons. There are those parents who think it wrong to introduce a child to any concept of danger or threat. Indeed it is a delicate balance between needlessly scaring a child and making him or her streetwise.

Used sensibly TV can expand knowledge and understanding of the world around us and provide great enjoyment as well.

 

The green movement.

Greenpeace is an independent, campaigning organization which uses non-violent, creative confrontation to expose global environmental problems, and to force solutions for a green and peaceful future. Greenpeace's goal is to ensure the ability of the earth to nurture life in all its diversity. Greenpeace has national and regional offices in 41 countries worldwide.

The origins of Greenpeace lie in the formation of the Don't Make A Wave Committee. Taking its name from a slogan used during protests against United States nuclear testing in late 1969,

By the late 1970s, spurred by the global reach of what Robert Hunter called "mind bombs”, more than 20 groups across North America, Europe, New Zealand and Australia had adopted the name "Greenpeace".

The organization currently actively addresses many environmental issues, with primary focus on efforts to stop global warming and to preserve the biodiversity of the world's oceans and ancient forests. In addition to the more conventional environmental organization methods, such as lobbying politicians and attendance at international conferences, Greenpeace has a stated methodology of engaging in nonviolent direct action.

Some of Greenpeace's most notable successes include the ending of atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons, a permanent moratorium on international commercial whaling, and the declaration by treaty of Antarctica as a global park, forbidding possession by individual nations or commercial interests. To back up this latter point, World Park Base was established in Antarctica.

Friends of the Earth is one of the leading environmental pressure organisations in the UK, and a major force behind today's growing green movement. Their message is a simple one: it is only in protecting the earth that we can protect ourselves — against pollution, the destruction of our urban and rural environment, mass unemployment and the horrors of global famine and war. Friends of the Earth is a national campaigning organisation (Friends of the Earth Ltd) established in Britain in 1971, with a network of 250 local groups. Each group is financially independent and decides its own policies and priorities. In practice, groups support national campaigns, organised by Friends of the Earth Ltd, and also initiate campaigns on local issues.

 

Traffic pollution in GB.

Traffic pollution is threatening the health of people living in cities. On a planetary scale, it is contributing to global warming. The urgency is to develop alternatives to transporting goods by road and nonpolluting methods of propulsion for vehicles.

The effects of air pollution on health are starting to be known – respiratory problems for vulnerable people and a contributory factor in the development of cancers… A great number of people die several weeks prematurely as the result of pollution by particles originating from motor vehicle – one of the many pollutants emitted. Studies also suggest that people living in polluted areas are more at risk of heart disease. This is why a number of cities in Europe have installed networks to measure pollutants and alert the population. Certainly, ever harsher standards are limiting the noise emitted by vehicles; but the biggest nuisance is caused by railways and roads close to homes.

On the global scale, the environment impact of traffic is just as worrying. The combustion of hydrocarbons gives off carbon gas, the principal greenhouse gas responsible for the current climate changes.

There are various useful tips for cutting pollution when driving:

• drive gently – rapid acceleration and heavy braking increase fuel consumption.

• Steady your speed – emissions are lowest when driving at about 50 mph, while they rise dramatically above 70mph

• Switch off the stationary – if stuck in traffic or stopping for more than a minute, switch off the engine.

• Look after your car – check tyre pressure and fuel consumption – regular servicing helps keep your car efficient

• Air conditioning and other on board electrical devices increase fuel consumption – only use then when really necessary

• When buying a new car, consider smaller & more fuel efficient models with catalytic converter, which will reduce emissions and save your money on fuel, tax and insurance.

By changing your travel habits, it is possible to have a major impact on how much you contribute to air pollution. This could range from car sharing to choosing alternatives such as walking or cycling:

• Avoid using your car for short journeys – short trips use more fuel, especially if the engine is cold – make combine trips or walk, cycle or use public transport instead.

• Plan your journeys carefully, choosing the shortest routes, which will save you both time and money while reducing your impact on traffic emissions.

• Car sharing will reduce pollution and running costs can also be shared.

• Cycling and walking are clean, cheap and healthy alternatives to driving

 

Energy crisis.

It is no surprise that we are in energy crisis, oil supply problems rapidly escalationg demand of energy, depletion of domestic oil & gas reserves is decreasing.

Demand for energy has encreased in recent years at an average rate at 4,3 %. Recent statistics report that the USA consumes over 20 % of global energy output.

The president of the USA proposed a 20% increase in federal funding aimed to develop alternatives to petroleum. Alternative examples included solar energy, wind power, hydro power.

All energy technologies produce waste. Burning fossil fuels, even relatively clean fuel like natural gas, are released as air polution & toxic waste.

The great advantage of nuclear power is its ability to wrest enormous energy from a small volume of fuel. It is ecologicaly safe & doesn’t pollute the enviroment.

Aprile 26 of 1986 marks the anniversary of the world’s worst nuclear accident, at Chernobyl in nothern Ukraine. It was the most serious accident to have occured at a nuclear power plant.

The Chernobyl reactors didn’t conform to international safty standarts & there was no protective structure around the reactorsto limit the effect of the accident. The reactor core erupted in a gigantic explosion, injecting huge amounts of heat & radiactive fuel into the atmosphere. The death toll was about thousand, some 3.5 mlm other people(over a third of them children) are thought to have suffered illness as a result of contamination from the deadly cloud or radioactivity.

Pick up most regional & local newspapers or magazines & you’ll read about the expanding energy problems. Look closer & you’ll also see features on alternative energy options as well. May be it is the only way out of enviromental pollution.

Children and music.

Actually, it seems to me that having a musical education is important as it helps one to mould a many-sided personality with rich imagination, sensitivity. Music is a source of inspiration, so one can flex their creative muscle. Besides, playing a musical instrument isn’t a walkover & it teaches you to be well-disciplined & hard-working. You know, it’s necessary to spend hours practicing, doing scales, learning to read. By the way, it’s a well known fact that with a musical background under their belt people can easier develop linguistic skills: your visual & long-term memory gets a good work-out & your ear is trained enough to enable you to pick up some subtleties in phonetics. Personally, I’m grateful to my parents for sending me to music school. I think that if a child has an ear for music & is interested in it going to music school will do him the world of good. However, I also believe that parents shouldn’t force & plunge their kids into music as early as possible.

Although musical education is valuable experience in forming one’s taste in music, I don’t think that one needs to be a connoisseur to appreciate it. Indeed, music & songs address our feelings & arouse common emotions in people who are of different nationalities & speak different languages. I don’t confine my attention to just one musical trend. I generally believe that every style has some classic examples or masterpieces of its kind that are worthy of attention. However, there’s music which I find not easy on the ear, e.g. psychedelic or aggressive rock as I consider it depressing and shocking to a certain extent. As they say, every man to his own taste. Dealing with problems of musical education I can’t help mentioning some advantages & disadvantages of making a career in this sphere.

On the plus side, being a musician or a singer is a very creative occupation where there are no limits in achieving mastery. On the minus side, nothing is achieved without hard work, & especially in music related professions. One should really endeavour and sweat to succeed, practice for 8 hours a day – some people just can’t bear the strain. I think that all these disadvantages testify to the fact that there are a lot of heavy drinkers & drug addicts esp. in show business.

What helps to become an eminent musician? Those whose parents or relatives are musicians are said to be more likely to follow in their relatives’ steps.

 

Folk music traditions.

Folk songs are the songs composed and sung by country people. The songs may be hundreds of year old; so nobody knows who originally composed them. Their origins are lost in antiquity.

Traditional British folk music has many different forms, including songs & ballads. Many folk songs related to the lives of ordinary people in past centuries; other tell about famous love stories or celebrate nature. Folk song cover a wide rage of emotions, history, local lore & occupational nostalgia.

In Britain folk music was traditionally played on instruments like the fiddle, flute, bagpipes, accordion & etc.

American folk music was created by the combination of many folk styles brought to America by immigrants.

In the USA the Carter family helped make folk music popular again in the 1920s. By the 1950s the recording industry had made folk music commercially successful. This interess in folk music also led to folk clubs being established all over the USA.

In the 1960s other styles developed including bluegrass & country music, the most important was folk rock which combine traditional folk music with features of rock&pop.

Folk dances are traditional dances in which everyone can take part. They are danced to folk tunes & and have sequences of steps that are repeated several times.

Many English villages have morris dancing teams. It is usually performed on village greens or outside country pubs on May Day. The dancers dress in white & wear seds of small bells at the knee. Dances consist of a series of jumps & hops. Themes of the dancing include death & rebirth in nature.

Folk songs & dances mirror the nation’s ethos with unaffected honesty, striking no attitudes & asking nothing from the listener other than happy identity with its unsullied world, where truth walks hand in hand with beauty.

Pop music and youth.

“POP” is short for ‘popular’ and there has always been popular music. Burt until the 1950s there wasn’t a style of music just for young people. And nowadays it is part and parcel of teenager’s life. Pop music is diverse and every youngster can express himself through it. While a teenager, a person tries to find himself in this world. His attitudes towards other people, towards society values, towards everything are formed and his character is moulded. Pop music plays a significant role in the formation of personality.

With the appearance of rock & roll began the history of pop as a style of music for young people. Rock and roll came into existence in America in the 1950s. Some of its first big stars were black, but then white singers began to copy them. And the most popular was Elvis Presley, who called himself “The King of Rock & Roll”. He was a rough, tough and dangerous man, who played dangerous music, but he was a real hero among youngsters.

In the 1960s new groups and singers appeared. The most popular groups were the Rolling Stones that played hard and aggressive rock and roll and the Beatles or so-called “ The Flab Four”, which played a mixture of rock and pop. Both these groups led a British “invasion” of American charts.

As for America itself, at this time a new record label started there, including Diana Ross, Michael Jackson and others.

There also was “hippy rock” and many festivals were held. The biggest one, called “Woodstock” was on a farm in New York in 1969.

In the 1970s the highlights of rock and pop are The Sex Pistols and Abba. Abba’s song’s were popular with people of different ages. They were superstars entertainers: they used costumes, videos, etc. The Sex Pistols appeared together with the punk revolution and looked poor and angry, but they brought new energy to music. At this time there were other superstars like Elton John, Rod Steward, the Queen etc.

The most important musical event of the 1980s was “Live Aid” – a huge rock concert, that raised over $100 million for the starving people in Ethiopia in 1984. It showed that pop musicians and their fans could “change the world”.

Youth can’t do without pop music, each subculture includes this or that style of music. For example, music is the most important aspect of the punk subculture. Punk music is called punk rock and it is performed in a specific style of rock music. Different punk subcultures often distinguish themselves by having a unique style of punk rock. Most punk rock songs are short, have complicated arrangement and features lyrics that express punk values. And it is usually played in bands.

 

Young people and the media.

Mass media have always played a considerable role in promoting popularity or sometimes criticizing things, particularly youth subcultures. Thus it was Media that are powerful vehicles for communication, translating words, images, sounds & ideas into easily accessible public resources. In this way media facilitate intellectual growth & expansion and are valuable tools for environment. Young people can use media to express themselves by creating documentaries, Internet blogs, multimedia art installations, and their own recorded poetry or music. Yet media can spread propaganda, reinforce misleading stereotypes & encourage violence & destruction.

As adolescents become more immersed in media-saturated environments, they may be adversely affected by these negative messages.

Negative influences:

Media have an immeasurable impact on the lives of young people. As the world becomes more media-saturated, young people increasingly turn to television, the Internet, video games, newspapers, music & radio as models for development. These in turn have the capacity to influence behavior.

They point out that seeing a nearing about the suffering & brutality in other areas of the world may inspire responsible & politically conscious.

Positive influence:

Young people note the many different forms of media & distinguish between their varying levels of impact on adolescents. Most believe that entertainment media are much more influential in their daily lives than news media.

Still young people recognize that media can also play an educational role. As the information highway becomes faster, cheaper & more accessible, young people over the world are finding new ways to educate themselves & some schools are taking advantage of media as a supplement resource.

The millennial generation.

The rapid changes in our swiftly developing world are bound to have a respective impact on people & the youth are especially responsive to them.today, in 21th century, the new Millenial Generation is shaping out. Its representers are often refferednto as self-reliant, entrepreneurial risk-takers, aspiring to be millionaires by the age they are 35.

The children of the Baby boomers and the less uptight successors to Generation Xoverwhelmingly subscribe to the virtues of making money, dismissing government, party politics and politicians as irrelevance. They believe virtually anything should go. The MG seems to be self-confident and self-dependant. They aim high & don’t think themselves limited by background. Challenging to the dominance of the marcet economy they reject the outmoded motions of a job for life & express a desire to own thereown business. Safe establishment jobs are similarly dismissed(athough it isn’t true for all the countries) and is most regrettable, increasing number of youngsters is interesting in working in another European country.

Not any longer do young people believe that privileged background will provide a shortcard to success. Instead they herald the arrival of thr meritocratic society. In Briatan they feel responsible for finding a job & somewhere to live as a result of post-Thatcher credentials.

However the youth of the world put caring before job success, which is consoling after all. They see themselves as sensitive, sensible & responsible individuals. Is concerned with the environment, animal testing & heathy food. And when it comes to matters of crimes & drugs, they are more conservative than they have ever been. They are against legalization of light drugs, & less percentage is in favore of abolishig the death penalty. Nevertheless the youth are more liberal on adoption & don’t feel the necessity of explicit sex & violence on TV being outlawede. They are getting more individualistic, ambitious & tolerant, but don’t seem to care for politics. Either they have no political affiliations or lack faith in party politics. Holding such attitudes would be very frightening for young people. But we’ll do believe that still the MG is equipped with values of current impotance & that our future is in safe hands.

 

Monarchy or republic in GB?

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is one of the few developed countries of the world where a constitutional monarchy has survived with its ages-old customs, traditions and ceremonies, while the majority of European monarchies were swapped away or changed into republics through wars and revolutions.

But as history shows, monarchies need to continuously reform themselves if they are to survive. The UK is not an exception; it’s making efforts to adapt to a changing world. Today monarchy has been stripped upon most its powers. The monarch reigns, though she doesn’t rule. From the evidence of written low only, the Queen has almost absolute power. She can choose anybody she likes to run the government. If she gets fed up with her ministers she can gust dismiss them. She can also summon a Parliament and it is she, who dissolves it before a general elections. The Queen is head of the executive, an integral part of legislature, head of the judiciary, the commander-in-chief of all armed forces, the “supreme governor” of the established church and the personal Head of the Commonwealth.

In practice, of course, the reality is very different. Being a constitutional monarch the Queen acts on the advice of her PM and doesn’t make any major political decisions. Although the Queen is deprived of actual power, her value shouldn’t be underestimated. The monarchy gives British people a symbol of continuity and a harmless outlet for the expression of national pride. Monarchy is a part of a daily life, and it’s hard to imagine Britain without the Crown. Occasions such as the state opening of Parliament, the Queen’s official birthday, royal weddings and ceremonial events such as the changing pf the guard make up for the lack of colour and ceremony in most people’s daily lives. Today the monarchy is one of the greatest tourist attractions: Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, Windsor Castle are on the list of priorities for most of tourists visiting Britain.

The British monarchy as an institution hasn’t been a burning issue in British politics for several hundred years. But during the last two decades of the XX century more and more people support the idea of Britain becoming a republic. Monarchy loses its positions, though the Queen herself remains popular, but the various marital problems of her family have lowered the prestige of royalty in many people’s eyes. Nowadays every 5th person favor Britain being a republic, people no longer want to be subjects, but citizens of their country, want to elect their governor and to rule their own country. The majority support the idea of having a constitutional reform, introducing a Bill of Rights and a written constitution. They think that monarchy as an institution is out of date and can’t keep in paced with the present quickly changing situation. Though other politicians claim that monarchy doesn’t negate modernity, it’s a nice remainder of the past, at the same time it keeps relevance to the present and the future.

The Queen herself is looking at ways to ensure the Monarchy remains in tune with the modern world. She’s considering changing some of the Monarchy’s most ancient rules

 

English language – a world language.

Nowadays, the English language is spoken the length & breadth of the world and permeates the areas it has never reached before. It is the language of business, science, technology, the media and communication in general, so it serves as a lingua franca in many countries. Geographically, English is the most widespread language on earth. In fact, people who speak English fall into 3 groups. The 1^st one is those who have learned it as their native language, it comprises around 400 million people, living on the British Isles, in the USA, Australia, New Zealand and parts of Canada and South Africa. The next group consists of those who use it as a second language in a society that is mainly bilingual. Finally, the 3d group includes those who use it for a practical purpose (either for business or education).

However, the emergence of English as a world language is a relatively recent thing. Some 6 or 5 centuries ago, the situation was quite different. For example, in Shakespeare’s time only a few million people spoke English. All of them lived in what is now Great Britain. Through the centuries, as a result of various historical events (the Great Geographical Discoveries, waves of immigration and the process of colonization) the English language was established as a mother tongue outside England.

In my opinion, there are several reasons why English has become a dominant language. First of all, it is the simplicity of form. English is an analytical language, that’s why, English verbs have very few inflections, adjectives do not change according to the noun and the category of gender isn’t distinguished. One more characteristic of this language is its flexibility, which means that without any inflections one and the same word can operate as different parts of speech at the same time. What is more, the openness of its vocabluary. English is mixing with and marrying other languages around the world. 70% of the English vocabulary are loan words and only 30% of the words are native. Besides, nowadays a good command of English isn’t perceived as prestigious but as a must alongside knowing how to use a computer and drive a car. So English is a vital key to a good job.

Judging by its standing in India, we may suppose that although English serves as a link language in post-colonial countries, it is more popular with not numerous affluent population, besides, it faces a quality problem, as it is frequently spoken badly and is read and written with poor fluency.(Hindish) What is more, purists of other languages are trying to resist creeping of English words into their languages. As far as I know, in France, where there seems to be a perennial war on Franglais, a list of English terms was published the use of which was prohibited. If the forbidden words were inscripted on a product, it was said to be kept off the market, I think that it was passed mainly for reasons of politics. However, I do agree that there’s sometimes sloppy and unnecessary use of foreign terms.

In conclusion, I believe that because of the spread of English other languages will die out. Well, everything depends on people, and I don’t think anybody wants their language to disappear completely.