Issue 22

Issue 22
Our Gymnasium is famous for its level of English language.
Therefore one of the most important parts is the International
Friendship Club.
I joined this club three years ago. IFC is a wonderful place, where
you can widen your skills of English, develop your speaking abilities
and make new foreign friends.
No so long ago, in October, we met Scouts. It was my fourth time
meeting them. And every year we have something special for them –
various programmes, visits and activities. Each year our teachers, the
leaders of IFC try to do their best to impress all the Scottish friends.
This year nine scouts and two their leaders visited us. On the first
day we had meeting in the club, where we shared with each other our
traditions, cuisines and ways of spending holidays. So it was amazing!
For the first time we were very shy, because we were afraid of
misunderstanding. But after long walks we had accustomed to them
and had nice talks then.
This year we had only two
part-time days with scouts. And
on our second day we took them
to our Central market, where we
were divided into five groups,
each group consisted of one
scout and two of our students.
At the market they were asked
to complete a complicated
mission. Scouts had to buy
something (that was in theirs tasks)
speaking in Russian, with the help
of the vocabulary, that our 9th-form
students had made for them. It was
really fun and I hope that they
enjoyed it.
After the game we had half an
hour to walk along the rows. The
most memorable thing for them
was the place, where people all
over the city show and sell their
pets – the cutest place at the market.
I’m very glad, that I was
able to just hang out with
them. And as always it was
very hard to say goodbye. I
don’t know why, but we made
friends with these people very
quickly.
It’s a little bit sad, because
I am a school-leaver this year,
I won’t meet them next year,
I’m thankful to the club and
especially the teachers for this experience!
Veronika Zemlyanik, 2015 school-leaver
Travel Notes
Well, let me start with the fact
that I have never been to the UK and I
have never had an opportunity to do
it, as well. So when I first heard that I
can go to Aberdeen I was so happy
that I can’t even describe my feelings
about this idea.
Our trip was rather difficult
because firstly we had to go to Minsk
by car and then fly to Frankfurt where
we had to stay for somewhere 3 or 2
hours and then we caught a flight to
Aberdeen. It was very exhausting but
very interesting, as well. I had a chance
to see the English Channel,
Great Britain from the bird’s
flight height.
When we arrived to the
Aberdeen airport I was pretty
surprised it didn’t seem
different to me and I felt just
like I did in the Minsk airport
and it was fantastic. I have
learnt that people there were
just like our and that fact gave
me a chance to feel comfortable. On the way out we were met by two
representatives of Aberdeen they were speaking English and my first
impression was: “Oh, my god”. Firstly I couldn’t understand even a
word but at the end of the day I was freely speaking with them.
But let’s return to
airport when we left it
we were taken to our
hostel by bus. Let me
say a few words about
our hostel. It was very
beautiful from the
outside but rather
impractical inside. It
had one shower per
floor,
we
all
understood
that
having
only
one
shower for several people is not comfortable but we didn’t have time to
take a shower because when we returned to the hostel: 1) I was too tired
2) It was time to go to bed. We woke up very early and were busy
during every day of our stay in
Aberdeen.
Some words about the
conference itself. It was held in
the Beach Ballroom and lasted
for the whole day. We were
sitting there and listening and
talking about World War I. Each
story was different. Every story
was about each country. People
were telling about the war press
in
their
country,
about
propaganda that was held there.
So to conclude I’d like to say that
this trip was an unforgettable
practice for me and my English
speaking skills and I hope that
such trips would be held more
often.
Gleb Borushkov, 11
Discovering New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in
the Southwest Pacific Ocean. It lies about
1600 km southeast of Australia.
New Zealand belongs to a large
island group called Polynesia. The country
is situated on two main islands — the
North Island and the South Island — and
several dozen smaller islands. Most of the
smaller islands are hundreds of kilometres
from the main ones.
Wellington is the capital of New
Zealand and Auckland is the largest city.
English is the official language of
New Zealand and is spoken throughout the country. Many native people speak their own
language - Maori, in addition to English.
The country once belonged to the British empire. Today it is an independent member of
the Commonwealth of Nations.
New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy. The British Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II of
the United Kingdom, is the monarch of New Zealand. She appoints a governor general to
represent her, but the governor general has little power. The legislation, prime minister, and
Cabinet run the national government.
Britain gave New Zealand a constitution in 1852, when it was a British colony. But
through the years the New Zealand legislature has changed almost all its provisions. Today, the
nation has no written constitution.
The first people who settled in
New Zealand were a brownskinned people called Maoris.
They came from Polynesian
islands located northeast of New
Zealand. They call New Zealand
the Land of the Long White
Cloud. The Maoris are one of the
Polynesian nations, who made
their great journey to New
Zealand from Indonesia and the
South Pacific in the middle of the
14th century. They sailed in double
canoes, open to all weathers. They knew
the winds, the ocean flows and the star navigation that is why they reached this land, later
called New Zealand and we can call them the Vikings of the Sunrise.
The country was discovered by Europeans in 1642, but they did not start to settle in the
islands until the late 1700's. Today, most New Zealanders are descendants of the early
European settlers. Maoris make up about 12 % of the country's population
New Zealand has one of the highest standard of living in the world. For many years, the
economy of the country depended largely on agriculture. Today agriculture, manufacturing,
and service industries are all important to the economy. New Zealand's economy depends on
trade with many countries — Australia,
Britain, Japan and the United States.
New Zealanders eat more butter and
meat per person than do the people of any
other country. The government's medical
program provides excellent health care.
About 70 % of New Zealand people own
their houses. Almost every family has a car.
Most New Zealanders live in single
family houses with a small vegetable
gardens. In the larger cities, some people
live in high rise apartment buildings. Almost
in every New Zealand home there are
refrigerators, washing machines, and other
modern electrical appliances.
But air conditioning and central heating are rare because the weather rarely becomes
extremely hot or extremely cold. In summer, New Zealanders prefer to keep windows open. In
winter, fireplaces or electric heaters keep the homes warm.
Although about fourfifths of New Zealand's population live in urban areas, cities are
uncrowded. Traffic jams seldom occur, even in downtown areas. Large cities have excellent
restaurants, milk bars, theatres, concert halls, and other places of entertainment. City life in
New Zealand tends to be, rather quiet. However it is changing in larger cities, where
international tourism is developing rapidly.
Near a fifth of New Zealand's people
live in rural areas — in some of them, small
settlements are linked by good roads. But in
other areas, rancher's nearest neighbours may
live kilometers away.
Some ranchers live almost in isolation.
Nevertheless, most farms and ranches have
electricity. Many farm families run their
farms with little or no hired help.
The total territory of New Zealand is
268,680 square kilometres. Its climate is
temperate with sharp regional contrasts. The
landscape of the country is mountainous with
some large coastal plains. The highest point is
Mount Cook 3,764 meters. Natural resources are: natural gas, iron ore, sand, coal, timber, gold,
limestone.
The population of New Zealand is about 3,910,000. About 80% of the population live in cities.
English, Maori are both official state languages of the country.
Talking about natural hazards, I should notice that earthquakes are common, though
usually not severe and there is a volcanic activity in New Zealand.
The Independence Day is celebrated on September, 26.
Government type is parliamentary democracy. Administrative division is the following: 93
counties, 9 districts, and 3 town districts.
Legal system is based on the
English law, with special land
legislation and land courts for
Maoris.
Since 1984 the government has
accomplished
major
economic
restructuring, transforming New
Zealand from an agrarian economy
to a more industrialized, free market
economy that can compete globally.
New Zealand is heavily dependent
on trade — particularly in agricultural
products. The main industries are mining, food processing, wood and paper
products, textiles, machinery, transportation equipment.
New Zealand's currency is New Zealand dollar.
Most population of New Zealand lives on the North Island. Here you can
also find big volcanoes like Egmont and Tonga-riro, geysers and lakes of bubbling
mud.
South Island is larger than North Island. There are the highest mountains in
this part of the country. There you can find the snow-capped Southern Alps,
rising 3 764 meters to the tip of Mount Cook (named after Captain Cook» who
visited the islands before sailing westwards and discovering the eastern coast of
Australia).
South Island is very beautiful with its mountains, called Alps, lakes, glaciers
and fiords. Here you can see the Sunder-land Falls, where water drops from the
height of six hundred meters, making these falls one of the highest waterfalls in
the world.
The climate is mild at all
seasons. There is no much difference
of temperature between winter and
summer.
Notwithstanding
New
Zealand is close to Australia, New
Zealand does not have such terrible
heat of Australian summers, because
the ocean tempers its climate-North
Island is where you can find the
Maoris, fine people who had lived on
these islands hundreds of years
before the white man came. Most of
them live near Auckland.
Viktoria Yeroshenko, 2015 school-leaver
My holidays are over…
I want them to repeat,
I want to pick a flower
And sweets and cakes to eat.
The days’re a little shorter,
The nights are very long…
I’m looking at my photo,
My feeling are too strong…
I dream of sun and river,
I want to lie on sand,
I’m looking at my mirror,
I’m sitting on the land.
Sofia Komissarova, 7C
The Sky
Today the sky was crying,
Today the sky was running,
Today the sky was crying
white all over the world
Today around the world
the sky was running
Today the sky was crying,
Today the sky was running,
Today the sky by clouds was obscured,
And then the Rainbow’s sparkling!
Anastasia Sivakova, 6C
Katherine Tynan Hingston (1861-1931) Irish
poet and novelist whose works are dominated
by the combined influences of Catholicism and
Irish patriotism.Like the poet William Butler
Yeats, she developed a deep and abiding
interest in Celtic mythology.
The Wind That Shakes the Barley
There's music in my heart all day,
I hear it late and early
It comes from fields are far away,
The wind that shakes the barley.
В моём трепетном сердце музыка
Ни на сколько не затихает,
С небес, оттуда, свысока,
Дивная песня играет.
Above the uplands drenched with dew
The sky hangs soft and pearly,
An emerald world is listening to
The wind that shakes the barley.
Минует равнины и впадины,
По небу спокойно шагает.
Если б мог – то дал бы послушать я,
как
Дивная песня играет.
Above the bluest mountain crest
The lark is singing rarely,
It rocks the singer into rest
The wind that shakes the barley
Oh, still through summers and through
springs
It calls me late and early.
Come home, come home, come home,
it sings,
The wind that shakes the barley.
Со временем песня прекрасная
В души людей проникает,
И даже в погоду ненастную
Дивная песня играет.
Прошло уже много зим и лет,
А она всё не утихает,
«В родные края» - за куплетом
куплет
Дивная песня играет.
Oleg Yermoshko, 2015 school-leaver
Gustav Klimt
Gustav Klimt is a famous Australian painter. He was born on July 14 in
Baumgarten, near the Vienna, in 1862.He was the second child in a large family of
artist-engraver. At the age of 14 he began his studies at the Vienna school of
Applied Arts. In 1883 he completed his studies. He is one of the brightest
representatives of modern art.
In 1877 his brother Ernest
joined the same art school.
Together
they
created
portraits and sceneries from
photos. In 1880 they received
the first order «Four allegory».
In 1889 he travelled to Europe,
visit Munich and Venice. The
early work of the artist
consisted mainly of large
murals for theaters and was
painted in a naturalistic style.
The Best paintings of Klimt considered to be later works of the artist with clear
shapes, interesting colors and sinuous lines. In his paintings Klimt combines two
opposite forces: on the one hand – it is the absolute freedom, which leads to the
game of ornamental shapes. On the other
hand – it is the power of nature. Among
the most interesting paintings of Gustav
Klimt are «The kiss», «Goldfish» , «Water
snakes» , «Hope» and others.
The Kiss, 1907-1908, Vienna, Austrian
Gallery, the models for this painting were
Gustav Klimt and his beloved Emilia
Phlog.
Water snakes II, 1904-1907, Vienna,
private collection
Death and life (not finished), 1916, Vienna
Sunflowers, 1906-1907., Private collection
Klimt’s paintings became more and more popular,
and the style of classics passed to modernity.
In 1894 Klimt and his friend received a proposal to
decorate the great hall of the
University in Vienna.
In 1900 Klimt showed the first picture of the project «Philosophy» on Secession
Exhibition.
Critics
decided, that the picture
was offensive.
The artist wanted to say,
that to understand the
world and its laws is
impossible.
But
the
professors
didn’t
understand the ideas of
the artist, they decided,
that people shouldn’t see
this
picture.
True
evaluation of «Philosophy» was the gold medal, which the picture won in the
same year at the Paris World’s Exhibition.
In 1911 Klimt’s painting «The life and death» won a prize at World’s Exhibition in
Rome.
By the end of life, in 1917 Klimt won full and official recognition, becoming the
honorary professor of Vienna and Munich Academies of Fine Art.
On February 6,1918 Gustav Klimt died in Vienna of pneumonia.
Daria Kravchenko, 11B
My Favourite Actor
Dmitriy Nagiev is my favourite actor.
He was born on the 4 th of April in 1967 in
Leningrad. He lived in the family of
teachers and factory workers. I can`t say his
childhood was very happy. When Dmitriy
was 10, his father went away. Dima and his
small brother Zhenya stayed with mum. He
dreamt to be famous and rich. After school
Nagiev
became
a
student
of
electrotechnology institute, after that he
was taken to the army.
In 1991 Dmitriy Nagiev finished his studies
in Leningrad`s institute of theatre, music
and cinematography. He did his first steps
in career in the «Vremya» theatre in SaintPetersburg, then he worked for « Radio Modern». Dmitriy also was a deejay in
different clubs. In 1997 Nagiev got his first important role in Aleksandr
Nevzorov`s film «Chistilishe». Success in career came, when he started work
on TV. There were a lot of talk-shows, TV-serials and films with Nagiev. For
example, «Be careful, modern», «Be careful,
modern-2», «Be careful, Zadov».
He
worked on shows «Dom-1» and «Mama v
zakone». In 2008 his career was poor,
because the producers finished the serial
«Kamenskaya». You could often see him in
jury of KVN. Nagiev was an actor in serial
«Kitchen» in 2012. He also works on
projects «Big races», «Voice», «Voice.
Children». Dmitriy took part in serial «Two
fathers and two sons». He became very
popular after role in serial «Fizruk». He is proud of his award-he is a media
person of the year. There isn`t a lot of information about his private life, but I
know, that he dated with Alisa Sher and he has son Kirill, who was born in
1989. Kirill Nagiev is an actor, too. I like Dmitriy Nagiev, because he has a
sense of humour, his heroes are handsome men, he is a cool actor and he
dances well. He is a very bright and different actor, because he can play heroes
and villains.
Yeugenia Anokhina, 7A