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Conversational Topics
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| gravolan | Дата: Четвер, 11.08.2016, 09:44 | Повідомлення # 1 |
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| gravolan | Дата: Четвер, 11.08.2016, 09:45 | Повідомлення # 2 |
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| The Myth of Generation N
1. For decades, social scientists and technologists have alternatively predicted the emergence of “computer kids” or a “net generation”– children, teenagers, and young adults who have been immersed in digital technology and the digital way of thinking since their birth.
2. This new generation, the thinking goes, would be everything that their parents weren’t when it comes to technology:
3. They will be so adept at using computers that calling them “computer literate” would be an insult
4. People who spend years working with computers learn how to use them; people who lack that experience don't
5. The difference between these people and today’s teens is that, for many teens today, learning to use a computer is no longer optional.
6. Students who went to a less technological school system are expected to pick up the skill on their own.
7. Experts in human-computer interaction say that the real difference between teenagers and their elders is teens’ willingness to experiment with computers
8. The teens just deal with computers as they are forced to deal with any other aspects in their lives.
9. These strategies, once learned and internalized, are incredibly effective for working with today’s computer technology.
10. When you are surrounded by people who all share the same technological skills, it’s easy to forget that there are others who don't.
11. And that’s the danger in believing that time will give us a population that’s completely computer literate
12. Certainly, more kids today are growing up wired – but millions of them are not.
12. Meanwhile we are rebuilding our society in ways that make things increasingly difficult for people who are not online.
13. As a society, we need to come to terms with the fact that a substantial number of people, young and old alike, will never go online.
14. We need to figure out how we will avoid making life unbearable for them.
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| gravolan | Дата: Четвер, 11.08.2016, 09:48 | Повідомлення # 3 |
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| MY HOME
I would like to tell you a few words about my home. To begin with, I want to tell you that I live in Kolomyia. It is one of the ancient cities located on the picturesque banks of the Prut River.
Our family lives in a new flat in one of the largest newly built residential areas. We moved into our flat seven years ago. It is a three-room flat on the fifth floor of an eight storey building. It consists of a living-room, a study, a bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom, two closets and a lavatory.
There are two balconies in our flat: the first one is in the living room, and the second — in the bedroom. Our flat has all modern conveniences: autonomous heating, running cold and hot water, electricity, telephone and gas. Besides, there is a lift and a garbage disposal in our building. The layout is very good, I must admit. The rooms are light, though not very large. In my opinion, it's quite a modern-looking flat. The windows face the park in front of the building and the view is really wonderful.
Our living-room is quite a big room of about 19 square meters. It is the largest room in our flat. My parents don't like much furniture in the house, so in the living-room there are two comfortable armchairs and a sofa, a coffee-table and a nice thick carpet on the floor.
Opposite the window there is a wall unit, but it doesn't take much space in the room. Of course there is a colour TV set and a stereo in the living-room. A nice chandelier is hanging from the ceiling and there is a standard lamp to the left of the sofa. During the day, the light comes in through the window, but at night when it gets dark, we switch on the light and draw the curtains across the windows. We like to receive our guests in this room.
Now I would like to describe our study. At first it was my daddy's room, but as I grew older, it became mine. To tell you the truth I am very happy to have a room for myself, that's why I always try to keep it tidy and cosy. There is a sofa, a writing table, a bookcase, a wardrobe in my room. On the wall there are some shelves full of Ukrainian books. The dressing-table is next to the sofa. In the chest of drawers I keep clean linen and handkerchiefs and in the wardrobe I keep my clothes, which I hang on coat-hangers. I have two water-colours on the wall above the sofa.
We like our flat very much. It is important that our house is rather close to the bus stop and we can easily get to any place we like.
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| gravolan | Дата: Неділя, 14.08.2016, 11:46 | Повідомлення # 4 |
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Living in a small town and living in a large city both present benefits of their location. However, I personally like to live in a small town more. There are certain aspects and qualities that one just cannot possess when living in a large city. In contrast, there are certain benefits to living in a large city. Therefore, it is impossible to choose a place of perfection. One simply has to give up certain qualities to achieve the others. Convenience is the most beneficial factor to living in a large city. Large cities are usually more industrial and advanced. All utilities can be found in a large city with the least effort and time. For instance, when living a large city, if one desires to buy a computer, he or she simply has to go to a nearby shopping center and chooses the one he or she is interested in. In a small town, it is more probable that he or she has to travel a much farther distance. Therefore, living in a large city definitely has its own benefits.
In a small town, there are some values that are more important and more difficult to achieve. Such values include the enjoyment of nature, the warmth and comfort of humanity, and the inner strength of enlightenment. In crowded and busy cities, nature is almost completely neglected and eliminated. Technology, industries, and tall buildings eliminate the beauty of nature to introduce the advancements of humanity. However, the qualities that nature gives us should be appreciated and enjoyed. Those who realize the importance of these qualities should live in rural or suburban areas. Another significant value that small cities have is the warmth and comfort of humanity. Living in large cities, surrounded by technology, businesses, and busy work, we often forget the importance of those around us. We forget to appreciate those who support us. We do not realize the significance they play in our lives. In addition, because there are so many people in large cities, it is often difficult to cooperate as a community. These can be done in a small town where everyone is surrounded by those who love and support him or her. People cooperate and share happy and sad moments as they sustain their lives.
Perhaps the most important factor that living in a small town allows us to achieve is inner realization of spiritual strength. In large cities, we are often occupied by work and the external world. So many times, we lose our real selves in the world full of deceptions. We never have time to try and reach our inner selves and strengthen our spiritual qualities. We do not have time to stop and silently reflect back and revisit our moral standards and our actions of the past. We often neglect the improvements of our spirits. In a small city, spare time allows us to achieve such task and improve ourselves spiritually. Therefore, despite some of the disadvantages that living is a small town might yield, I prefer to live in a small town to achieve the qualities that I do not have a chance to reach in large cities.
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| gravolan | Дата: Неділя, 14.08.2016, 11:48 | Повідомлення # 5 |
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The influence of media is growing stronger and stronger as time passes. Because of this, the competition among producers and advertisers gets tougher as they try to come up with new ways to catch people's attention through their newspapers, magazines, movies, shows, and commercials. If you have noticed, the speed at which news travels around the world has become faster with the development of technology. Media indeed can influence people in different ways but the pressing question is this: how does the media influence the way people behave?
Watching movies and programs on the television as we relax takes us away into this different realm [relm]-that is, there are parts in our being that feels we are the ones in the movie and sometimes we even feel what they are feeling as we get caught in the emotional excitement. The effect of media does not stop when the movie or program ends. And this effect might just be the cause of changes in people's behavior.
With action films, children tend to emulate the movie hero, engaging him to violent acts thinking that it is acceptable because his hero became successful in the end. With cartoon programs, not everything is good-natured. There are those that show hidden acts of violence and deceitful acts against others. In return, children tend to copy the characters and think that deceiving other people is a way to confront their problems. They learn to transfer these ill behaviors to friends.
There are some television shows and movies that attempt to create an atmosphere to change the view of people towards social issues such as racial discrimination.
There had been instances in the past that teens commit suicide imitating her favorite actress. There was also a case where somebody set a subway ticket booth on fire just like the way he saw it in his favorite film. These are just some examples of the disturbing influence of media on people's behavior.
An explanation to these sinful acts is that these people could not distinguish fantasy from reality. They get caught up in the realm of what they had been watching and the images and scenes stayed fixed in their minds.
So how should we protect ourselves from media influence?
Use your creative mind to view all media with a discriminating eye!
All media images and messages are constructions. They are not reflections of reality. Advertisements and other media messages have been carefully crafted with the intent to send a very specific message.
For instance, advertisements are created to do one thing: convince you to buy or support a specific product or service.
Remember that you are only seeing what the advertisers want you to see. To convince you to buy a specific product or service, advertisers will often construct an emotional experience that looks like reality. Just because they think their approach will work with people like you doesn't mean it has to work with you as an individual.
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| gravolan | Дата: Неділя, 14.08.2016, 11:49 | Повідомлення # 6 |
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| Healthy Lifestyle
Generally, the life of modern man is endangered by many factors. One is the increasing pollution of the environment by industry and transport; another one is sedentary lifestyle of people living in cities and towns, that is, the majority of the population of the planet. The third one is the quality of food we eat and water we drink which results in a lot of diseases. The fourth one is that living in big cities leads to epidemics, and even pandemics of many catchy illnesses. Unhealthy life results in the fact that many people are overweight.
The only possible way of preserving your health is, therefore, healthy way of life which includes keeping fit, balanced meals, and giving up unhealthy habits like smoking, drinking alcohol, and, of course, drugs.
Here are healthy lifestyle tips one can incorporate into his daily life to promote his health and well-being.
Daily exercise is one of the most important healthy lifestyle tips. Exercise on a daily basis for at least 30 minutes per day. Brisk walk, aerobics, or just any kind of bodily movement can do wonders for your health.
You should sleep 6 to 8 hours per day. This will help your body to replenish itself and gives your body time to rebuild its cells. Lack of sleep make you feel tired and affect your eating habits. Adequate sleep is essential for your overall health and well-being.
Eat a well-balanced diet. Increase your intake of fruits and vegetables. Avoid foods that are processed and reduce your intake of foods that are high in fat, sodium and sugar.
Have a positive outlook. People who are positive tend to have better health and success in life then those who are negative thinkers.
Meditation can help reduce stress, because it helps quiet your mind. Even if you just meditate 15 minutes per day, the result will amaze you.
Find things to laugh about on a daily basis. Laughter releases endorphins, boost your immune system, increases blood flow and relaxes your body.
Forgive yourself and others. Bearing grudges is bad for your health and well-being.
Do not worry. Worry will not help you solve your problem and it is not good for your health. Worry is the main causes of many physical ailments that send people to hospitals. Remember that most of the things that you worry about will probably never happen anyway.
Expect to be healthy and do not expect to be sick.
Accept yourself, your capability and your shortcomings.
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| gravolan | Дата: Неділя, 14.08.2016, 11:50 | Повідомлення # 7 |
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Groundhog Day is a 1993 American fantasy comedy film.
On February 1, man-hating TV meteorologist Phil Connors, news producer Rita Hanson, and cameraman Larry of some fictional television station travel to a small town of Punxsutawney to cover the annual Groundhog Day festivities. The following morning, Phil, who does not like the assignment or Punxsutawney, gives his report on the festivities. He then gets his team on the road back to Pittsburgh, but a blizzard shuts down all travel. The team is forced to return to Punxsutawney and stay another night.
Phil wakes up to find that he is reliving February 2. The day plays out exactly as it did before, with no one but Phil aware of the time loop. At first he is confused, but, when the phenomenon continues, he decides to take advantage of the situation with no fear of long-term consequences: he learns secrets from the town's folks, seduces women, steals money, gets drunk, drives recklessly, and gets thrown in jail. However, his attempts to get closer to Rita, to whom he has become attracted, repeatedly fail.
Phil becomes depressed and tries to end the time loop.
Eventually, Phil starts to improve himself. He begins to use his vast knowledge of the day's events to help as many people around town as possible, and uses the time to learn, among other things, how to play the piano, to sculpt ice, and speak French.
Finally, Phil is able to befriend almost everyone he meets during the day, using his experiences to save lives, to help townspeople, and ultimately to impress Rita. He crafts a report on the Groundhog Day celebration so eloquent that all the other stations turn their microphones to him. Phil makes a snow sculpture of Rita's face and they kiss. He wakes the next morning and finds the time loop is broken; it is now February 3 and Rita is still with him. They walk outside and Phil proposes that they move to Punxsutawney together.
The film is regarded as a contemporary classic. One critic says that, like many viewers, he had initially underestimated the film's many virtues and only came to truly appreciate it through repeated viewings.
In 2000, readers of "Total Film" magazine voted it the seventh greatest comedy film of all time.
The phrase "Groundhog Day" has entered common use as a reference to an unpleasant situation that continually repeats, or seems to.
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| gravolan | Дата: Неділя, 14.08.2016, 11:51 | Повідомлення # 8 |
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Twenty years ago not many people travelled overseas for their holidays. The majority of people stayed to have holidays in their country. Today the situation is different and the world seems much smaller.
It is possible to book a holiday to a seaside resort on the other side of the world. Staying at home, you can book it through the Internet or by phone. The plane takes you straight there and within some hours of leaving your country, you can be on a tropical beach, breathing a super clean air and swimming in crystal warm water of tropical sea.
We can travel by car, by train or plane, if we have got a long distance tour. Some young people prefer walking or hitch-hike travelling, when you travel, paying nearly nothing. You get new friends, lots of fun and have no idea where you will be tomorrow. It has great advantages for the tourists, who want to get the most out of exploring the world and give more back to the people and places visited. If you like mountains, you could climb any mountains around the globe and there is only one restriction. It is money. If you like travelling, you have got to have some money, because it is not a cheap hobby indeed. The economy of some countries is mainly based on tourism industry. Modern tourism has become a highly developed industry, because any human being is curious and inquisitive, we like leisure, visit other places. That is why tourism prospers.
People travel from the very beginning of their civilization. Thousands years ago all people were nomads and collectors. They roamed all their lives looking for food and better life. This way human beings populated the whole planet Earth. So, travelling and visiting other places are the part of our consciousness. That is why tourism and travelling are so popular.
Nowadays tourism has become a highly developed business. There are trains, cars and air jet liners, buses, ships that provide us with comfortable and secure travelling.
If we travel for pleasure, by all means one would like to enjoy picturesque places they are passing through, one would like seeing the places of interest, enjoying the sightseeing of the cities, towns and countries.
Nowadays people travel not only for pleasure but also on business. People have to go to other countries for taking part in different negotiations, for signing some very important documents, for participating in different exhibitions, in order to exhibit the goods of own firm or company. Travelling on business helps people to get more information about achievements of other companies, which will help making own business more successful.
There are a lot of means of travelling: travelling by ship, by plane, by car, walking. It depends on a person to decide which means of travelling one would prefer.
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