ENGLISH TOPICS for exam

1. Our house and flat

I live in a new nine-storeyed block of flats in Pushkin Street. Our flat is on the third floor. It is very comfortable and has all modern conveniences, such as central heating, electricity, gas, cold and hot running water, a telephone and a chute. There are three rooms in our flat: a living-room, a study and a bedroom. We also have a kitchen, a bathroom, a small entrance hall and two balconies.

Our living-room is the largest in the flat. It overlooks a green park and has a lot of sunshine. The living-room is nicely furnished.

I spend most of my time in my bedroom which I use as a study. Here you can see a writing-table, a pull-out sofa, some book-shelves crammed with books. There is also a thick comfortable rag on the floor near the sofa.

My parents' bedroom is more spacious than the study.

Our kitchen is rather large. There is a set of modern kitchen furniture, a gas-stove with an oven, a food processor, a refrigerator and a cupboard where we keep our dishes. The kitchen serves us as a dining-room. But when we receive guests we have meals in the living-room.

I like my bathroom too because it provides us with maximum of convenience and is well-fitted. It's very pleasant to have a bath or to take a shower here.

The entrance hall is small. We try to keep our flat clean.

2. Belarusian education

Belarusian educational system is a branch which has gone though different reforms. Nowadays it includes nurseries, primary schools, secondary schools, and a wide range of specialized schools, colleges, and universities.

In the day nurseries, also known as kindergartens, children learn the ABCs of reading, writing, counting, drawing, designing simple things, singing and dancing.

Secondary education, which is compulsory, now lasts 11 years. It consists of three levels.

The first level is called the primary school. It may start at the age of six or seven and continue for four years.

The second level is five years of instruction with a wide choice of subjects. If children leave school after the 9th form, they may enter different secondary specialized educational establishments, like colleges or specialized schools.

The third level consists of two years of instruction. Every pupil can make particular choice which subjects he or she wants to study: sciences, humanities, biology, linguistics, etc. After leaving the third level pupils may enter not only different colleges, but also the university, after successful passing the centralized testing.

School takes place every day of the week, except Saturday and Sunday. Every lesson lasts 45 minutes with breaks from 10 to 20 minutes. The school year begins on September, 1 and ends in June. It is divided into four terms, with holidays up to 10 days between them. The summer holidays last from June to September.

3. Education in great britain

Education in Great Britain is provided by the Local Education Authority. In 1988 the «National Curriculum» was introduced. It means greater government control.

Children under five don't have to go to school, but there is some free nursery-school education before that age.

At the age of five children go to primary schools, first to infant schools for pupils aged from 5 to 7 and then to junior schools for pupils from 8 to 11 years.

Some parents choose to pay for private education. Private schools are very expensive and only about 5 per cent of the schoolchildren go there.

Free secondary education has been available to all children in Britain. Children must go to school until the age of 16, and pupils may stay on for one or two years more if they wish.

Over 80 per cent of schoolchildren go to comprehensive schools at the age of 11. These schools are not selective — you don't have to pass an exam to go there.

Comprehensive schools want to develop the talents of each individual child. So they offer a wide choice of subjects, from art and craft, woodwork and domestic science to the sciences, modern languages, computer studies, etc. All these subjects are enjoyed by both girls and boys. All pupils move to the next class automatically at the end of the year.

In the last two years of school they work towards a qualification called the General Certificate of Secondary Education. Here students usually study three subjects. At the end of the sixth form they take an examination called A-levels which is needed for University entrance.

If people leave school when they are sixteen, they can get a job or they can go to a college. At a college students usually study practical subjects like typing, cooking, mechanics, hairdressing, etc.