The 14th of February is a holiday, called St. Valentine's Day. It's the day when boys and girls, sweethearts and lovers, husbands and wives, friends and neighbors will exchange greetings of love or satirical comment. And the quick, modern way to do it is with a Valentine card.Valentines as we know them first appeared in the 18th century, and were cards with drawings and verses made by the sender. In the 19th century shop-made valentines appeared, and became decorated with lace, real flowers, feathers, and moss.Valentine-sending has now become less, though it does revive from time to time. The first Valentine of all was a bishop, a Christian martyr, who before he was put to death by the Romans sent a note of friendship to his jailer's blind daughter. Comic valentines are also traditional.Here is a story about St. Valentine's Day in one family. The story is called "A Valentine's Fiasco: Her Heart was Full — His Stomach Empty".My Great-Grandma and Grandpa had been married a good many years when she decided that they should exchange Valentine cards as they used to during their courtship. "We shouldn't let the custom die out", she pleaded. However, Great-Grandpa refused to spend any money on "such rubbish".She didn't require a card from him. She only wanted to surprise him and warm his heart a little. He worked hard. Every day he walked several miles across the fields to work, and he was accompanied by his grown sons, all carrying big sticks in one hand and lunch-baskets in the other.On that day the old lady got up very early. She took a real fresh rose from the garden and fixed it on the card so that when the card was opened, the living rose was revealed to the beholder's (loving, she hoped) eyes. Then she packed the boys' and papa's lunch-baskets. All day she smiled and sang to herself remembering their first romantic meeting and the few happy days they had before the babies began arriving.Alas, it all went wrong. When the boys and Great- Grandpa opened their baskets to have their dinner, the boys heard such a yell from their papa, that they were ready to run, remembering their father's heavy hands.Their father threw out an old card and a rose, not reading the words carefully inscribed with loving hand "Amos — my everything - Nellie". "My grub!" — he roared. "Where's my dinner?" — and in case of apoplexy the boys had reluctantly to hand over some of theirs.<span>Poor Great - Grandmama. With love in her heart, her mind had been miles away from her work. She had forgotten to do the first thing which all good Victorian wives were supposed to: "First — feed the brute".</span>
Письмо другу о любимой книге -
на английском
Дорогой Том!
Спасибо за твое письмо. Я счастлива, что
получила его.
Я согласна с тобой, что приятно перелистывать
страницы книги в книжном магазине, когда
выбираешь ее. Кроме того, ты можешь читать
фрагменты книги и смотреть в ней
фотографии.
Что касается моего любимого романа, это
"Сто лет одиночества'' Габриэль Гарсия
Маркес. Речь идет о семье Буэндиа, которые
живут в Южной Америке. Роман полон
таинственных событий и персонажей, у
которых есть магические способности. Я
думаю, что самым главным в романе
является сюжет, потому что он помогает нам
следовать за персонажами и анализировать их
поведение.
Итак, вы собираетесь принять участие в
викторине-шоу? Какие задачи будут в этом
шоу? Где она будет проходить?
Берегите себя!
С наилучшими пожеланиями,
Таня
Dear Tom,
Thank you for your letter. I'm happy to get it.
I agree with you that it's a pleasure to turn
over the pages of a book in a bookshop when
choosing it. Besides you can read the
fragments and look at the pictures.
As for my favourite novel, it is "One Hundred
Years of Solitude'' by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
It's about the Buendia family who lives in
South America. The novel is full of
mysterious events and the characters have
magical abilities. I think that the most
important thing in a novel is its plot because
it helps us to follow the characters and
analyze their behavior.
Well, are you going to take part in the quiz
show? What tasks will there be in the show?
Where will it take place?
Take care!
Best wishes,
Tanya
1.(Who?)The people went home after they (What did you do?) had finished their work.
2. (Who?) The young man (What did you do?) has decided to buy the new vase after the old one had fallen down and broken to pieces.
3. The lecture has begun (what time did you do?)by the time I entered the room.
Travelling is one of the most pleasant pastimes for me. I love seeing new places, meeting new people and learning about other cultures. There are many ways to travel, for example, by train, by plane, by bus, by car, by ship. I prefer travelling by car, because it gives the freedom of movement. You can stop whenever you want and wherever you want just to admire the beauty of nature. Travelling by car opens plenty of opportunities from the comfort of your seat. I usually travel with my parents. My dad is an excellent driver and he likes stopping by some nice places on the way. Last time we travelled by car was in May. We drove from Sochi to Sukhumi, which is in Abkhazia. Some of our distant relatives live there, so we decided to visit them. While we were driving, I’ve noticed that Abkhazian nature is splendid. There are so many beautiful plants, lakes and waterfalls on the way. We stopped twice to admire the view. I managed to take some memorable pictures.
I like that computer
this cat is nice
these flowers are beautiful
those calculators are new