THE EARTH AND ITS IMAGINARY LINES
Lines of latitude or parallels are horizontal lines dividing the
Earth's surface. The line of latitude in the centre of the sphere
is called the Equator. The Equator divides the globe into two
hemispheres. Anything above the Equator is in the northern
hemisphere and anything below is in the southern hemisphere.
Coordinates specify a north-south position on the Earth's
surface, ranging from 0 degrees on the equator to 90 degrees
at the poles. The North Pole is at 90 degrees north, and the
South Pole is at 90 degrees south.
The Tropic of Cancer and The Tropic of Capricorn are two other
important parallels. The Tropic of Cancer is above the Equator
at 23.5 degrees north and the Tropic of Capricorn is below
the Equator at 23.5 degrees south. These two lines of latitude
mark the northern and southern limits of what is known as the
tropics.
Lines of longitude or meridians are the vertical lines dividing
the Earth's surface. The line of longitude passing through the
Royal Observatory at Greenwich, near London, is the Prime
Meridian. It's the international zero-longitude reference line.
Places to the east of the Prime Meridian are in the eastern
hemisphere, and places to the west are in the western
hemisphere перевод​

I think that a family is a very important thing for everybody. A family is the people that always love you, support you and help you. For me it is impossible to live without my family. My family is not large. I have got a mother, a father and a brother Dima. There are four of us in the family. We also have grandparents and a lot of relatives.

First of I’d like to say a few words about my parents. My mother is a good-looking woman with blond hair. She is forty-two but she looks much younger. She is a teacher of Russian. She works in a school. She likes her job very much. My mother keeps the house and takes care of my father and us. She is very good at cooking. She always cooks very delicious meals. Our mother is very kind, but sometimes he is strict to us. She always checks if our homework is done. Mother takes care of our free time, so that we are not able to waste our time.

My father is a lawyer. He is forty-five. He is a professional. My father does his work very well and gets good money. He is also handy with many things. He can fix almost everything. He also likes making models of planes. My parents have been married for 20 years already. They have much in common, but they have different views on music, books, and films. For example my father likes thrillers and my mother likes adventure films and fantasy. My father is fond of football and chess. My mother likes playing ping pong. My parents work a lot.

My younger brother, Dima, is a student of the same school. He wants to become a lawyer, like our father. Besides he is playing table tennis like our mother. He studies well. On the one hand, Dima loves constructing and can become an aircraft designer, on the other hand he is very good at languages and can become an interpreter. My grandmother and my grandfather are pensioners. They live not far from us. Sometimes our granny helps us to run the house. She is fond of knitting. My grandfather is a military man and he reads a lot! The library that we have at our flat is the tenth part of all the books that granddad has at his place.

As for me, I’d like to become a computer programmer. I have always loved computer science. I can make some computer programmes and I also can play the guitar very well. I like different kinds of music, but mostly I prefer rock.

We all get on with each other very well. Every one in our family is rather busy, but we are always very happy if we have a possibility to spend some time together. My family means a lot to me.

Jack London became my favourite writer from his first books I'd read. First of all I got interested in Jack London as a personality. His life story struck me not less than his works. What a man! He was strong and talented. He lived a life of adventures and hardships, so he knew what he was writing about. In his novel Martin Iden he describes his biography. What a hard life he lived!

   Jack London was born in San Francisco in 1876. From his childhood he suffered greatly. He changed a lot of jobs: selling out newspapers, working at the factory. He hated that kind of job, which exhausted people and made them suffer physically and morally.

   Young Jack had no opportunity to go to school, so he studied privately reading much at night.