MY NATIVE TOWN STERLITAMAK
I live in Russia, in the Republic of Bashkortostan. Our Republic is located1 along the South Urals, forming a natural border between Europe and Asia. There are over 20 cities and towns in the Republic. Sterlitamak is the second largest city of Bashkortostan after Ufa. It was founded in 1766. It stands on the banks of the rivers Sterlya, Belaya, Ashkadar. More than 260 thousand people live there.
Sterlitamak is the main industrial and cultural centre. It is the major centre of chemical industry not only of the Republic of Bashkortostan, but of the whole of Russia.
More than 50 thousand employees2 engage at 500 industries and construction sites.
The largest factories are the "Soda" Joint-Stock Company3, the Petrochemical Plant Joint-Stock Company, the" Kaustik" Joint-Stock Company, the «Avangard» Joint-Stock Company, and the"Kauchuk" Joint-Stock Company.
Machine building4 also remains the main branch of industry. The "Machine-tool Building Factory" Joint-Stock Company produces not only machines, but quite a lot of consumer goods5.
The "Inmash" Concern is known as the "factory of the future". It produces industrial robots, woods-cutting machines6, shoe-making machines7, mini-motors and other machines.
There is also the Leather-Processing Plant8, the Foot - wear factory9, the Garment Factory10, the Food industry11 companies.
Sterlitamak can be called a city of students. There are 9 industrial vocational schools12, 8 secondary specialized educational institutions, the Pedagogical Institute, the branch of the Ufa State Oil Technical University, the Sterlitamak Law Department of the Bashkir State University, the branch of All-Russia Financial Institute.
Sterlitamak is a city of Sports. Sportsmen and sport fans can make use13 of 4 stadiums, 2 Physical Culture Houses with swimming pools, a ski-jump, gym halls, the city chess and draughts club14, physical-training and fitness centres, the city tourist centre, numerous sport grounds, three children's and teenager's sport schools. There is a Physical Training College.
Sterlitamak is a big cultural centre. There are some theaters there: the Russian Drama Theatre, the Bashkir Theatre, the Dance Theatre, the Bashkir-Tatar Philharmonic Society.
There are some museums, cinema-theatres, the Park of Culture and Recreation, three Culture Palaces, the Republican Culture College.
The city becomes cleaner and more beautiful and very attractive.
I like my native town very much.
VOCABULARY
1) to be located – быть расположенным
2) an employee – служащий
3) Joint-Stock Company – акционерное общество
4) machine building – машиностроение
5) consumer goods – товары широкого потребления
6) woodcutting machine – деревообрабатывающая машина
7) shoe-making machines – машины для производства обуви
8) Leather-Processing Plant – кожевенный завод
9) the Foot - wear factory – обувная фабрика
10) the Garment Factory – фабрика для шитья одежды
11) the Food industry - пищевая промышленность
12) vocational school – профессиональная школа
13) to make use of – пользоваться
14) a draughts club – шашечный клуб
Текст № 5.
OUR DUTIES IN THE HOUSE
Our family is not very big. We are only four. My Mum works as a teacher and very often she feels tired. So we usually help her about the house.
Everybody in the family has duties. My Dad goes shopping and cleans the carpets. I tidy my room, wash up and sweep the floor. Sometimes I make tea or coffee for breakfast.
My Mum cooks dinner and lays the table. As you see we are a friendly family and we are ready to help each other.
I would like to say a few words about children’s duties at home. If we want to please our parents, to make them happy, not to upset them, we must perform our most common household chores1. If we do it, the house will look tidy2, clean, neat3 and shiny4. The atmosphere in the house will be friendly and we will give more time to each other, to our hobbies. It will help us to have enough time to go to the pictures (movies) and theatre, to visit the Zoo or the circus, to read interesting books.
Boys and girls have different duties at home. As for boys5, they help their fathers, elder brothers or Grandfathers to repair6 their family car, their flat, broken furniture, to fix simple electric appliances7, such as TV or radio sets, clocks or watches, irons or vacuum cleaners. They can use different tools such as a hammer8, a screw-driver9, a hacksaw10, a plane11, a drill12, an axe13, scissors and a soldering-iron14.
As for girls they have many duties at home as well. They put rubbish into a trashcan and empty it, wash the cutlery15 and the dishes. They must help their Mothers and Grandmothers to lay and clear the table and to serve meals16. They learn how to work with needles, threads17 and scissors.
In our family Mother keeps the house. It takes her a lot of time, but all the members of our family try to help her and share the duties18.
We have a lot of work to do at home. It is necessary to cook meals, to tidy all the rooms, to do the laundry19, to wash up20 and to take away rubbish21 out of a trashcan.
It is very important to keep the house clean and tidy, so we must clean all the rooms regularly. If the room is messy (there is a mess22 in the room), you must fold your clothes23 and put it into the wardrobe, then find the right place for every thing. After that water the flowers, dust and polish the furniture, water the carpets, sweep and wash (clean) the floor. Then you can enjoy your room.
Some people say that washing up isn't pleasant (boring) because you have to wash dirty dishes. Others like it. But washing up is a necessary domestic duty and we wash up after each meal.
First we must clear the table and pile24 everything tidily near the sink. Then you take a dish-cloth and wash glasses, cups, knives, forks, spoons, plates and other dishes. You must, of course, have a lot of hot water and some detergent25; after that you take a tea-towel and wipe everything. If you have a plate-rack, you can put the plates and cups in the rack to dry.
Everybody knows how pleasant it is to have clean clothes and clean bed linen. The family washing is one of the most important duties. Small things can be nicely washed in soapy water, but most people today use detergents.
Many families do all the laundry at home. They have modern washing machines and say that this work is not very difficult. They do one big washing every week26 when bed linen27 and towels are washed. If there is a big yard with wash-lines and it is a fine day, it is good to hang wet clothes and linen out in the fresh air and sunshine. They smell so pleasant when they are dry.
But if you don't like to wash things at home by hand28 or with the help of the washing machine, you can take your washing to a public laundry and fetch29 it as soon as it is ready. Everything will be washed, pressed and your time will be saved.
VOCABULARY
1) household chores - домашние обязанности
2) tidy – опрятный, аккуратный
3) neat – приятный
4) shiny- блестящий
5) as for boys – что касается мальчиков
6) to repair - ремонтировать
7) to fix an electric appliance - установить электроприбор
8) a hammer - молоток
9) a screw-driver - отвертка
10) a hacksaw – пила
11) a plane - рубанок
12) a drill -дрель
13) an axe - топор
14) a soldering-iron -паяльник
15) cutlery - столовые приборы
16) to serve meals - подавать еду
17) threads - нитки
18) to share the duties - разделять обязанности
19) to do the laundry – стирать бельё
20) to wash up - мыть посуду
21) to take away rubbish – выкидывать мусор
22) mess - беспорядок
23) to fold the clothes - свернуть одежду
24) to pile - складывать
25) detergent- моющее средство
26) to do one’s washing a week - стирать раз в неделю
27) bed linen – постельное бельё
28) to wash by hand - стирать вручную
Fetch - забирать
Текст № 6.