Which is better – a supermarket or a corner shop?

                      ( a for-and-against essay)

 

   Usually we buy something everyday. There are many different kinds of shops in a modern city. As a rule we go to a supermarket or a corner shop to buy food and the most necessary goods. Each of them has both advantages and disadvantages.

           In big cities people try to go to a supermarket once a week, normally at weekends. Supermarkets can usually provide their customers with everything they need, from clothes and electrical items to matches and salt. They are usually large, often covering several floors and conveniently located to attract as many customers as possible.  Besides, as supermarkets can buy stock cheaply in bulk they can offer more competitive prices.

  On the other hand, when we return home from work we often find out that there is no bread in the bread bin or sugar in the sugar pot. In this case we hurry to our corner shop. Corner shops are generally small, stocking a very limited range of goods, such as basic food products and some household items. The owner of the corner shop, as a rule, knows his/her customers, so the service is usually fast and friendly, sometimes you can even have a nice chat or share some problems with a shop owner, which can be psychologically rewarding for  the busy and stressed city dwellers.

All things considered, I think that cities need both supermarkets and corner shops, depending on what you need to buy.

Slepko Margarita, 11^th grade, 2013

 

 

 

A letter to a pen-friend, describing your city 

Dear Peter,

It was great to hear from you! I’m sorry I haven’t written so long, I’ve been really busy all those days. It is a real pleasure for me to hear that you can come to my place for the holiday! I do hope you will like my city and its people.

Chernihiv is one of the most beautiful and picturesque cities in Ukraine. it’s situated on the right bank of the river Desna. Do you know, by the way, that the word "Desna” meant "Right” in Ancient Slavonic?

The city is as ancient as Kyiv and, of course, its outstanding attractions are worth seeing. This is especially true for its historical part, the Rampart or the Val, as we call it.it is situated at the very entrance to the city. There is an old shady park there, snow-white churches and cathedrals always attract a lot of tourists. St Catherine’s  Cathedral is considered to be the visiting card of Chernihiv. You can also see there 12 old cannons which were presented to the city by Russian emperor Peter the First.

Besides, Chernihiv is a cultural center. There are some theatres there and a Philharmonic Society, so if you like, we can go to some performance.

If you are fond of sports we can go to one of the gyms or fitness centers, or go swimming to a modern and up-to-date swimming pool.

In the evening we will be able to go to one of the night clubs to listen to music and dance or to the bowling club.

I forget to mention that the city has an extremely convenient lay out and quite an efficient system of community transport. You can easily get from one end of the city to another in half an hour.

As you see, you will have a lot to do and see and will never be bored in my beautiful hometown.

Write me as soon as you book tickets for I can meet you.

Looking forward to our meeting.

Take care, Vova

Moskalenko Vladimir, 8^th grade, 2013

 

 

 

 

Age shouldn’t tell you if you are adult or a teenager. Is it how you act that is important?

( an opinion essay)

Graham Green once wrote: "There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and let the future in”. it is exactly that moment when you have to greet your adult life. In my mind, getting to some age does not definitely mean you can start your adult life, because only experience, knowledge of life and getting some skills make you a mature grown-up person. I am sure that it is more important how you act than how you look like.

Firstly, to be a really adult person you should always control your thoughts, feelings and, what is more important, actions. Lady Life can prepare different unpredictable surprises especially for you which can be sometimes very unpleasant. In any case you must never lose your temper and fight until the end. To be a mature person everyone has to be responsible for everything they do. You must always remember about the moral aspect of any subject or problem. Thus the first aspect of being a grown-up is a full recognition of the great responsibility, which is an integral part of an adult life.

Secondly, to be a grown-up person you should be financially independent and have enough money to satisfy at least the most essential of your needs. However nowadays it is not a rare thing when grown-up children continue to live under one roof with their parents and, what is more, on their parents’ money. I think that financial independence is one of the bricks which build the necessary foundation of your independent adult life.

As an example I would like to tell you about my neighbour. She is only 15, although I think that she is an adult person already. She gets a monthly grant for special achievements at the musical college, that gives her an opportunity to be more or less financially independent. She also has clear and realistic plans for the future, having set the priorities and working persistently on their implementation. I guess she has great chances for the brilliant future.

All things considered I should say that to call yourself an adult person you must always be responsible for your actions, have clear understanding of what you want from your life and how to achieve the goals. Believe, dream, will and put it in the hands of God.

Irine Dasuk, the 9th grade, 2012

Age shouldn’t tell you if you are adult or a teenager. Is it how you act that is important? ( an opinion essay)

How many times have you been astonished by someone revealing his age? It is no longer an obstacle for the underage to buy alcohol or cigarettes just because they really look like adults, while some in their mid thirty’s can feel a bit awkward when a shop-assistant demands their AD for those purchases.  So, appearance is deceptive, as a famous proverb says. I am inclined to think that the only thing which can define your maturity is your behavior.

Since olden times people have been creating certain age frames, based on some social demands and common sense, as for the marriage age, giving birth to a child, for work and other socially important things. Those have been commonly accepted rules that community follow. Now they are reflected in the laws of the states. However, can they be applied to all the members without exception? Definitely not. Every individual becomes mature at his/her own age. For some maturity can come much later than 18 or 21, and for  others earlier. So it could be evidently wrong for a society to try to forbid people to act or behave according to their inner feeling of how mature they are.

I think that being an adult means to behave and act like an adult person in any socially important situation. It means, first of all, your financial and economic independence, your ability and readiness to take responsibility for your life and the life the other people who depend on you.

If you can’t earn your own living, how can you claim your maturity?

Besides, an adult, mature person considers all the consequences of his/her behavior and try not to act spontaneously. He/she is able to plan his/her future and to work hard to make this plan come true.

However, there must be some rules and regulations as for the age frames for all the members of the society, that allow or forbid them certain socially important acts and deeds. Without those laws a society takes a risk of finding itself in a real chaos.

Taking everything in consideration, I would like to say that only a person’s ability to act maturely should tell if he/she an adult or a teenager. Paraphrasing a famous saying "Beauty is as beauty does” we can make a conclusion "An adult is as an adult does”

                                                                                                                                                     Kyrylo Beskorovayny, 11^th grade,

The person I admire most of all (a description of a person)

School life is a big part of the young people’s life all around the world. Do you agree with the statement?

(an opinion essay)

 Can you imagine our modern society without schools, colleges, institutes and other educational establishments? I think it is impossible. Schools have become an integral part of our world and for nearly ten years children spend  most part of their life at school. So I can definitely say that school life is certainly a big part of the young people's world. First of all, school is considered to be a temple of knowledge. Even nowadays in the age of high technologies and the Internet, students go to school not only to get information, but to learn to use it, to apply the knowledge in different situations, to work systematically not only on their own, but in groups and teams.
         Secondly, a school is a place of socialization. Here children get their first skills of communication with their peers, learn to share their opinions, to express their thoughts, to make presentations – in a word, they gain skills of cooperation that are absolutely vital in modern society.
   Moreover, the school gives you as much life experience as you can get nowhere, but there. Very often it becomes a real second life, where you consider your teacher to be your second mother and the classmates to be the members of your family.It especially concerns the children who have problems at home – for them the school sometimes becomes the only place where they can feel safe and sound.

However, according to the recent surveys, about 30% of Ukrainian children and teenagers don’t attend school – some of them just because they think that school is a dull, out-of-date place, others due to the problems with teachers or the meer pressure. Whatever the reason be, the main message is that each third child appears outside the state system of compulsory education. This fact can’t but make us worry about the situation in the field of modern education.
          All things considered I can say that nowadays school is a universal place where modern children spend the most important part of their life. It is not just a building, where you get skills and knowledge, but also a great source of communication, socialization and gaining necessary life experience. I think that we, students, should always remember this and be grateful to our school for everything it teaches us. 

Iryna Dasuk, 8th grade, 2010

 

How can we save rare animal species from extinction (solution to the problem)

   Have you ever seen the dodo? Maybe no one in the world has seen this bird, because the last dodo was killed in the 1680s by a HUMAN. How can we protect the other animal species from dying out? There is a number of possible solutions which could save them from extinction.

   First of all, it would be a good idea to set up more national parks and reserves, where rare animals could live in safety. In such places we should ban hunting and fishing, because there are a lot of poachers, who hunt rare animals for their fur and skin illegally. 

    Secondly, another useful suggestion would be to start more captive breeding programmes in zoos, because sometimes the last of the endangered species dies in captivity. The example is the last Tasmanian Tiger, who died in the Hobart Zoo in 1936.

   Finally, we, people have to cut pollution and destruction of animals` natural habitats, such as forests and rivers. Nowadays people cut down forests for building, factories and plants pollute the water in rivers and lakes. Then animals have not got any place to live in.

   Do we want to survive??? Let’s help animals to survive first. Otherwise, humanity can appear on the first place in the long list of the World’s Red Book…   

Iryna Dasuk, 8th grade, 2010

Children shouldn’t believe in magic creatures  (a for/against essay)

   Do you believe in magical creatures? You can find a lot of information about them in old legends and myths of any country. However we forgot that when we were little children we also used to believe in such magical creatures as Father Frost or Santa Claus, Snow-Maiden, fairies and withes.

  When I was a child I also used to believe in Father Frost. I was looking forward a New Year Day, the happiest day of a year. The best moments of my childhood closely connected with my memories of New Year. Magical creatures are like imaginary friend, with whom we can share problems. Often the magical heroes of fairy tails teach children how to be kind, hardworking and generous. I think that in fact these creatures are their fist role-models.

   However some people think it is wrong that children believe in magical creatures. Such people tell kids that they are unreal and it is useless to think about them as real creatures. They say that fairy tails and magic creatures take children from reality making them helpless, idealistic and immature. When children become adults they still continue to wait for a fairy godmother, who solve all their problems.

   One famous person said: ”Everything you can imagine is real”. In my opinion magical creatures develop our imagination and show the qualities that people have to posses. We need to believe in something magical, good and fair.

Alina Shumnaya, 9th grade,2010

 

Some people say it is important to have many friends, while others would argue that it is better to have a small group of friends

(a for/against essay)

   Have you ever counted how many friends surround you? For us it is very hard to imagine our life without friends at all. No matter how many friends you have the most important thing is how many of them you can trust completely.

On the one hand, it is really good to have some best friends with whom you go thought the whole life and not to be betrayed. You can feel excellent in a small group of nearest friends discussing and solving any problems together. Moreover it is much easier to take care and to help that person who you know really well. 

   On the other hand some people think that it is important to have many friends. It can be more interesting to spend time together as each of us has different interests and thoughts on the same subject. As a result many people enjoy big groups of friends.

   All in all, in my opinion it is better to have a small group of best friends rather then to have many friends who you can’t completely understand. You should remember that a real and true friendship must be sincere. It doesn’t matter how many friends you have, but does matter whether you can trust them or not.

Alina Shumnaya, 9th grade,2010

 Nowadays some people say that children shouldn’t believe in magic creatures – it distracts them from reality. Express your opinion.

     Picture this: you are a little child who is already in bed. Mom opens your favourite book and starts reading. You close your eyes and imagine all these magic characters of the tale your mother has just read and fall in a dream… Nearly all of us keep some memories like these in our hearts. It is so natural for  children to believe in magic, unbelievable, mysterious creatures that inhabit all the fairy-tales and fantasy stories. In my opinion it is not only insensible, but cruel to deprive children of their beliefs in magic, because it is a natural and necessary part of childhood.

     First of all, childhood is ewitently the best and at the same time the hardest period of life. It is full of our first experiences – both bad and good. It is the time of great expectations and great worries. It is the start of our life way. And if it is true that great beginning makes great ending, happy childhood can be a good start of a happy life. And what does it mean - a happy childhood? Personally for me it is a period of life, full of magic and miracles. Our first steps on the life road always mean our first faults, failures and disappointments. So far children need great support, backing, encouragement, somebody or something to believe in. Normally parents play the parts of their children’s first role models. However in some cases especially when children face the traumatic situation, which is beyond their parents’ control, they desperately need to believe in a mighty, powerful creature that can safe the situation. They want to be sure that the good always wins a victory over the evil.

    Besides all these fairies, good magicians and other imaginary creatures develop children’s imagination, help them to determine their position in society, give them first notion of good and bad. We can hardly find a person who will be against teaching the children morality, social behavior – and the easiest way of doing it is with the fairytales and their integral heroes, magic creatures.

     On the other hand, the hectic rhythm of modern life, especially in big cities, makes some people escape from the cruel reality with all its duties and obligations into the world of fantasy, where you can be as mighty as you wish. Modern psychology has got a special term for those people – "kidults” – a combination of the words "kid’ and "adult”. This terms describe the people who refuse to accept the real world as it is and prefer to live in their own universe, either virtual as the Internet or imaginary as fantasy books, films and comics.

     All things considered, each parent should decide by himself/herself whether their children will believe in magic creatures or not. 

Personally I will always be grateful to my parents for the sweetest memories of my childhood, full of elfs, fairies, magicians and breathtaking waiting for Santa Claus on New Year’s eve.

Iryna Dasuk, 8th grade, 2010

Some people say that it is important to have many friends, while others would argue that it is better to have a small group of friends

(a discursive (for/against) essay)

 Friendship is the basis of any other valuable and important socialization, let it be love, family relationship or business links, while being broken it can lead to offence, misunderstanding and even hatred. It can start by chance or by want and always brings lots of happiness, excitement and joy. But does the quality of friendship depend on quantity of friends a person have?
 Psychologists divide people according to their psychological type into two categories: extraverts( or dog-people) and introverts(or cat-people). Extraverts are very friendly, communicative, outgoing, they easily make friends and, as a rule, have a lot of them. On the contrary, introverts are absorbed into their out inner world, they feel quite comfortable in loneliness and prefer to have a really small group of friends.
 The main advantage of having many friends is gaining a great life experience: the more people share their thoughts and feelings with you, the more knowledge of life you get. With the help of these relationships you can find new, fresh and unexpected solutions to your own problems.On the other hand many friends demand much time to spend on connecting links. Although invention of different kinds of sources of 
 communication, such as the Internet, Skype and mobile phones makes it easier to keep in touch, it is very hard to build really strong and valuable relationship just chatting on the phone couple of minutes in a day.
 Another advantage of a big company of friends is that in the case of emergency you can any minute easily find somebody who is ready to share your joy or sorrow or just lent you some money you need. Let us remember the famous Russian proverb: " Don’t have a hundred roubles, but a hundred friends”. Having many friends you will never call your life dull or boring.
 However, people never feel more lonelier than in big companies. Let us take celebrities, for example: each of them have so many friends, that it is hard to imagine and at the same time they complain on lacking true understanding, friendship, love. If you have a few friends you can easily grant your attention to all of them. Such relationships produce the feeling of real intimacy, closeness and safety.
  Personally I have a lot of friends. I love all of them, love making new friends, love everything, connecting with friendship as it is. And I think we should always remember: friends are not just puppets in our hands, they are real people with their own feelings, thoughts and lives. Summing up I would like to say that it doesn’t really matter whether you have a big company of friends or just a small group of them. The things that do matter are your attitude to your friends, your desire to make their life really fuller and happier with your friendship.

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