Топик: Топики для сдачи экзаменов по английскому языку /english/

The judicial branch is made up of Federal District Courts, 11 Federal Courts and the Supreme Court. Federal judges are appointed by the President for life. Federal courts decide cases involving federal law, conflicts between citizens of different states. The Supreme court may rule the law to be unconstitutional.

Now about the elections. The President is chosen in nation-wide elections every 4 years together with the Vice-President.

Constitution. Constitution has been amended 26 times. The Bill of Rights guarantee individual liberties: freedom of speech, religion and so on. Later amendments abolish slavery, grant the vote to women and allow citizens to vote at age 18.

The Russian Federation

The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. It occupies about one-seventh of the earth's surface. It covers the eastern part of Europe and the northern part of Asia. Its total area is about 17 million square kilometres. The country is washed by 12 seas of 3 oceans: the Pacific, the Arctic and the Atlantic. In the south Russia borders on China, Mongolia, Korea, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Azerbaijan. In the west it borders on Norway, Finland, the Baltic States, Belorussia, the Ukraine. It also has a sea-borders with the USA.

There is hardly a country in the world where such a variety of scenery and vegetation can be found. We have steppes in the south, plains and forests in the midland, tundra and taiga in the north, highlands and deserts in the east.

There are two great plains in Russia: the Great Russian Plain and the West Siberian Lowland. There are several mountains chains on the territory of the country: the Urals, the Caucasus, the Altai and others. The largest mountain chain, the Urals, separates Europe from Asia.

There are over two million rivers in Russia. Europe's biggest river, the Volga, flows into the Caspian Sea. The main Siberian rivers- the Ob, the Yenisei and the Lena- flow from the south to the north. The Amur in the Far East flows into the Pacific Ocean.

Russia is reach in beautiful lakes. The world's deepest lake is Lake Baikal. It is much smaller than the Baltic Sea, but there is much more water in it than in the Baltic Sea. The water in the lake is so clear that if you look down you can count the stones on the bottom.

Russia has one-sixth of the world's forests. They are concentrated in the European north of the country, in Syberia and in the Far East.

On the vast territory of the country there are various types of climate, from arctic in the north to subtropical in the south. In the middle of the country the climate is temperate and continental.

Russia is very reach in oil, iron ore, natural gas, copper, nickel and other mineral resources.

Russia is a parliamentary republic. The Head of State is the President. The legislative powers are exercised by the Duma.

The capital of Russia is Moscow. It is its largest political, scientific, cultural and industrial centre. It's one of the oldest Russian cities.

At present, the political and economic situation in the country is rather complicated. There are a lot of problems in the national economy of the Russian Federation. The industrial production is decreasing. The prices are constantly rising, the rate of inflation is very high. People are losing their jobs because many factories and plants are going bankrupt.

But in spite of the problems Russia is facing at present, there are a lot of opportunities for this country to become one of the leading countries in the world. I'm sure that we, the younger generation, can do very much to make Russia as strong and powerful as it used to be.

Sport in our life

Millions of people all over the world are fond of sports and games. Sport helps people to stay in good shape, helps to support health and prevents from illness. Sport makes them more organised and better disciplined in their daily activities.

We've always paid great attention to sport in our schools, colleges and universities. You can hardly find a school without a gym or a sports ground. Every city and town has a few stadiums or swimming pools where local competitions are usually held.

There are different sporting societies and clubs in Russia. Many of them take part in different international tournaments and are known all over the world. A great number of world records have been set by Russian sportsmen. Our sportsmen also win a lot of gold, silver and bronze medals in the Olympic Games.

Television and advertisement.

Many people have forgotten what the world was like before TV. But today it has become an integral part of our lives. No medium can compare with TV as a means of information, entertainment & education. TV now plays such an important role in so many people's lives that it is essential for us to try to decide whether it is bad or good.

On the first place TV is not only a convenient source of entertainment, but also a comparatively cheap one. For a family of 4, for example, it is more convenient as well as cheaper to sit comfortably at home than to go out. They don't have to pay for expensive tickets. All they have to do is to turn on TV and they can see films, political discussions and the latest exciting football matches. Some people say that this is fust where the danger lies. The TV viewers need do nothing: they make no choices, they're completely passive & don't even use their legs.

TV, people often say, informs about current events and the latest developments in science and politics. A lot of good films, music programs have appeared recently on TV. Yet here again there is a danger. We get to like watching TV so much that it begins to dominate our lives. A friend of mine told me that when his TVset broke he & his family suddenly found that they had much more time to do things.

The most important thing which is really criticising is poor quality of the programs and its harmful effect on children. For example the film " Natural Born Killers" teaches children to kill and there was one accident in France when a group of teenagers kill their parents.

There are many arguments for and against TV. I think we must understand that TV in itself is neither good nor bad. TV is as good or as bad as we make it.

Washington

I am going to tell you about Washington. Washington, the capital of the United States is situated on the Potomac River in the District of Columbia. The district is a piece of land which does not belong to any one state but to all the states. The district is named in honour of Columbus, the discoverer of America.

Washington was founded in 1791 for the purpose of serving as the capital of the United States of America. George Washington chose the place located midway to keep at close touch as possible between the states. Washington is quite new as it didn't exist for two hundred years. The population of the city is nearly million people. It is not a very large city, but it is very important as the capital of the USA. There is a law in Washington against building structures higher than the Capitol; therefore it presents a different appearance from New York with its skyscrapers.