The Earth

We live on the earth. It is very, very big. There is a lot of water on the earth. It is in rivers, lakes, seas and oceans. There are a lot of forests and fields, hills and mountains on it. The earth is full of wonders. Different animals live on the earth. Different plants grow on it. The earth is beautiful.

There are large countries and small countries. There are warm countries and cold countries. There are some countries where there are four seasons in a year and some countries where there are only two.

When the sun shines it is day. When the sun does not shine it is night. When it is day in one country it is night in another. You can see the moon and the stars in the sky at night. People live in different countries. They speak different languages.

Our country is one of the largest in the world. It is so large that when it is morning in the east, it is evening in the west. People who live in our country speak more than two hundred different languages.

The English year

The are four seasons in the year: spring, summer, autumn and winter. The winter months in Great Britain are November, December, January and February. The winter months are cold. In Great Britain in winter it snows and rains.

November, There 30 days in November. It is the first winter month in Britain. In November there is a great holiday in America - Thanksgiving Day. Families come together for the day. They decorate the houses with autumn's fruts and flowers and eat traditional American food: roast turkey and pumpkin pie.

December. There are 31 days in December. On the 25th of December there is the greatest holiday of all in England - Christmas or X-mas. People give each other presents and send Christmas cards. Pupils have their Christmas holidays. Most of the banks, offices and industrial enterprises close for holidays too. The traditional English dinner on Christmas Day is roast turkey and Christmas pudding. The Queen's speech is on television at 3.00 p.m. During Christmas in Trafalgar Square there is a Christmas tree.

January. There 31 days in January. There is a lot of dancing, eating, and drinking during New Year Holidays.There is an interesting New Year tradition in Scotland: you can go "first footing". It means you visit you friends, so you are "the first foot" of the New Year in their houses. The Scots believe that the First Foot brings luck to the family for the New Year. The First Foot must be a man ( or a boy ), not a woman! And he must have dark hair.
February. There are twenty eight or twenty nine days in February. The 14th of February is St. Valentine's Day. People buy or make Valentine cards and send them to their beloved. They don't sign their cards - you must guess who sent the card to you. Boys and girls, husbands and wives, relatives and friends send cards to each other. There are different cards to suit all tastes.
In Great Britain there are two spring months: March and April March. There are 31 days in March. In England spring begins in the end of March. The 17th of March is a national holiday in Ireland - St. Patrick's Day. People send greeting cards. On that day people wear a shamrock. A shamrock is a plant with three leaves. It is the national emblem of Ireland. In March there is also a holiday for English women - Mother's Day. People in the family try to make it a day off for Mother and help her in any way they can. On that day they visit their mothers and give them some presents. If they can't do it they send their mothers "A Mother's Day Card".

April. April is the second and the last spring month. There 30 days in April. In April or at the end of March people celebrate Easter Day. They celebrate it as the start of spring or a religious festival. In England it is time to give and get presents.On Easter Sunday children get chocolate Easter eggs or rabbits. The Easter holidays are at the end of March and in the first half of April. Pupils go back to school after Easter. In April there is a day for fun -April Fool's Day. It's on the first of April. English children like this day very much. They play jokes and tricks on other people: other children, parents, friends, relatives, school teachers. "Oh, Ted, look, your right shoe is on your left foot!" When the boy looks at his feet and sees that he has got them all right, the one, who is playing the joke, says, "April Fool!" So children play different jokes and tricks.

May, June. July. August, In Great Britain summer begins in May. So there are four summer months. The weather is usually warm, but not always. It is often changeable. The days are long and the nights are short. When the sun is high in the sky, it is hot. People wear light clothes - cotton shirts, jeans, skirts, T-shirts and light shoes. In May on the first Monday English people celebrate the May Day holiday. In June the English people celebrate Father's Day. On that day children send cards and give presents to their fathers. On the 4th of July the Americans celebrate their most important holiday - the Independence Day. They display their flags, decorate their houses and hold street parades on that day. If the weather is fine, there are a lot of people on the beaches in July and August.

September. October. Autumn comes in September. Autumn is usually a nice season in England. It is warm and dry. But it can rain a lot too. The summer holidays are over in September. The parks, beaches and streets of Britain are very quiet. It is time to go back to school. In Great Britain school begins in the second week of September. On the 31t of October there is a nice holiday for children - Halloween. People put pumpkins on the window-sills. They draw eyes, noses and mouths on the pumpkins and put candles into them. So the pumpkin looks like a face. Children dress up in tunny clothes. Ihey go from house to hous