Mark Twain , the American humorist , was a man of many skills. He was once a steam boat pilot on his beloved Mississippi River. Later he became a newspaper reporter , editor, and a writer.His best and most popular works are " Tom  Sawyer" and "Huckleberry  Finn", set on the Mississippi River.

Everyone told funny stories about Twain's humorous encounters . He was a great lover of books and one story is connected with this love of his. One day he was in the library of a wealthy friend , a neighbour was a collector of books , and he was very selfish with his books. He had many rare books in his library , and he cared  more about books than he did for his friends . One day Twain saw a rare book which interested him, and he asked the wealthy man:

"Sir , I'd like to read this book . May I borrow it for a while?"

The selfish friend answered ," You may borrow it, of course, but don't take it away. You can read it in my library."

MarkTwain didn't like the answer but said nothing.

One day some time later , The wealthy neighbour came and asked Twain , "May I borrow your lown mower ? Mine is broken."

Twain answered without hesitating , "Certainly, but you'll have to use it in my garden."

          A friend of mine , is a lawer , had never used a  computer in his life.But when he decided  to work  from home , he realised that he would  need  to get the one.He was being  quite worried  about it because he had no idea about how to use them . I'm sure he would have been satisfied with a one very basic machine: but he decided  that , if if he was going to have  a home office , he should have "a good computer . So as, he telephoned to order one, and they sold him  the most poerful computer they had.

After a few days past, he had a super- machine  which he hadn't a clue what to do with that. But two months later , he has become the Great interest enthusiast I know. He now uses  words like" log in " and" and" IP address"  like he's been using them  all his life. He does everything" on line": pays for the bills, orders  books and stationery,contacts his family in America and reads the news on BBC. The intenet has become  part of his life.

       We must take an action.

The importance of the environment as a common good that provides livelihood to all mankind and hence the need for collective responsibility by all to safeguard.We are all 

owners,users and protectors of the environment and therefore we must embrace interventions and actions that have positive impact to the environment.

                       World Environment Day Anthem

                         Our  cosmic oasis cosmic blue pearl

                          The most beautiful planet in the universe

                          All  the continents and the oceans of the world

                           united we stand as flora and fauna

                           united we stand as species of one earth

                           black,brown,white different colours

                           we are humans , the earth is our home

                           Our cosmic oasis cosmic blue pearl

                           the most beautiful planet in the universe

                           all the people and the nations of the world

                            all for one and one for all

                            united we unfurl the blue marble flag

                           black,brown, white different colours

                              we are humans, the earth is our home

CAN YOU FIND DEFINITIONS TO THE WORDS?

oasis, universe,flora and fauna ,cosmic , unfurl

• animal extinction
• polluted  air
• lumbering
• fires in the forests
• greenhouse effect 

What are we going to do  about these probems?

  When my kids were young the swallows  built a nest up on the wall of the balcony. Each year used to  come and give birth to their babies, feed them and then were setting off the  nearby marshes to find mosquitoes and other insects.

After two or three years I don't remember exactly another family of swallows built another nest next to the old one.

We were so happy to see them every year coming and leaving  for warm places again.

Someday I noticed a hole in the second nest and I realised that another bird wanted to destroy the nest. The following years the swallows stopped coming and I thought to myself that they won't come back again.

Yesterday while I was in the balcony with some friends taking a look at some spring plants I heard the cries of their babies and I felt so well.It was something unexpected but true.

They are so lovely animals when they come in spring time and also when they leave in autumn to find warmer places to live.

   There are still people who believe that love can be obtained

or can be confined through compulsion.We are thrown in a  hole  of "must", until we feel  obliged  to love then on their  conditions.-or else we will lose them.These people who claim that they love us we load us with fear and guiltinesses so that we submit to their pressures.

They succeed to their goal  very often.They cut our wings they close us in a cage and share love with us according to their needs and their caprices.Someone said that the bird does not sing in a cage.Humans can't live in a cage ,too.

We are born free and we are destined to love without  compulsions and limitations.Every other way is imitation  if not distortion of love.Nobody has ever managed to detach someone  else's love by force ,and will never succeed it.

Only love sets us free and gives us the capability to live without fear and without the need to comply with the wishes and goals of others.

The compulsion exhausts people. Love  gives us the strength to move on consciously and decisively to more freedom.

" Everybody loves Laurie"

What a cute and beautiful girl she is

She always smiles and helps people

She often keeps her promises to her loving friend

They promised to be together forever

No matter what happens in their lives

In difficult and happy moments

Her lover is handsome and strong

They make the perfect couple

May they will be always together

A.C+M.A.

Jack loves Annie

B.H.+M.R.

C.G+E.A

KISSES  HUGS  I LOVE YOU

   Once upon a time there was a little girl called Starlight.She was a beautiful girl with all smiles. Every night she was looking at the stars and wished to be among them and explore the miracles she imagined that there will be there in space.

 One cloudy night there were no stars up in the sky and Starlight was extremely sad. She started to cry filled with wonder.

_ Where are my stars? she whispered.

_What shall I do without my stars tonight?

Suddenly a warm light came into her room and embraced her. She felt happy and gay again.

After a while she looked at the sky and saw that the clouds had disappeared and the stars were there again.

She was so happy that she started singing her favourite song.

 I'm singing for my stars

I'm singing for my precious stars

When I'm gazing at them

I feel like a princess in my spaceland

    It's a story taken from Ancient  Greece.

Anaxagoras ,the Greek plilosopher , married a woman who was very ugly.He married her because she was very rich and she had a large dowry.

One day he went for a walk with his wife. He saw a friend and introduced  his new wife  to him.

His friend asked in surprise:"Is she really your wife?"

"Yes , of course ," answered Anaxagoras.

The man said , "But she's cross-eyed,"

"I know ," answered Anaxagoras.

"And one leg shorter than the other , "his friend said.

"I  know, "  the philosopher said.

"And look at her face . She has no hair on it."

"I know , " was the answer.

"She must eat a lot. She's very fat."

"I know that ,too." poor Anaxagoras said."But you can speak louder , my friend , because she doesn't hear well either. She's nearly deaf."

The eyes of Anaxagoras's wife were crossed. She was crosseyed.Now , What do we call a man:

1. Who has one leg?

2. Who has one arm?

3. Who has bowed legs?(i.e. curving outwards at the knees)?

4.Who cannot see distant things clearly?

5. Who cannot see at all?

6.Who has no hair (or not much hair on the sculp?

7. Who cannot speak?

8.Who cannot hear at all?

9. Who cannot walk normally because of an injury or defect?

10. Who uses the left hand more easily than the right?

From the words below choose the right one to answer the above questions and then use the new words in sentences of your own.

lame,blind,left-handed,one-legged,stone deaf,one armed,dumb,bandy -legged,bald,short-sighted

      Once upon a time there was a weird monster. Every day was very hungry. Even when he had satisfied its hunger after some time it was hungry again.

It was arrogant and greedy.It thought it was the strongest monster in the whole world. Everything tiny and weak it was swallowed at once.

When it came pleased to sleep it was not easy for it to rest.It opened and closed  its eyes and moved its body and tail anxiously.

Some other times was waking up and walking around the house  to  get tired and then go back to sleep.

Many times was yawning and sighing   but in vain ,nothing could be done.After some struggle with itself it was sleeping deeply.

When it was waking up was hungry again. It was mean and demanding.When the things it wished did not happen it spitting flames out of its mouthand its eyes were red.

The flames  were burning everything around them.Humans and animals were becoming dust!Insects and flowers were disappearing!Birds were falling down from the sky and sea animals were running to hide in their caves.

This was in a way its routine day until one day  looked itself into the river . It thought it was perfect and handsome and  by its reflexion  started to be worried about its  appearance.

So one day a tear started to drop from its one eye and then from the other. It was really sad and did not know what to do.

His tears dropped on the Earth and became a small river.In this small river frogs and otters found a shelter.It had made something good to the world at last.

   A young man once boarded a crowded train. He searched  and searched  to find an empty seat and finally found one beside an old man. As the  young man started toward the empty seat , the old man placed his bag on the seat because he wanted to be more comfortable.

The young man stood and waited , but no one came. Now he began to think that the old man was not telling the truth . The young man thought  , "Perhaps he wants two seats for himself so he can have more room. Some people are like that. They  make others stand up so thay can be more comfortable . I must do something."

Just then the train started to leave the station .The young man saw no one coming to take the seat so he decided to speak.

"Your friend has apparently missed the train .What about his bag ? Perhaps his money is in it!"

With that the young man quickly picked up the bag , tossed it out of the window , and took the seat.

General questions

1. Does the story take place on a train or in a station?

2. Was the story about a young man and an old woman?

3. Who was not telling the truth?

4. Did anyone miss the train?

Specific questions

1. Was the train empty or crowded?

2.Did the young man  find  an empty seat ?

3. Did the old man's friend come?

4. Why  did the old man want two seats?

5. Was the young man comfortable?

         We cannot live only with love , even if it is strong for us.

 While I was growing in my big family , we were living all the time under the limit of poverty. The food was not  often enough,the house was made to have space only for the half of us and our clothes were almost  always  cast- off garments. Despite all these  not only we survived but we improved in our lives. I knew of course that there were many people who had more things than us but the security which had its source in love compensated me to a great extend.

We had each other. We never felt alone .We had the sense of humour and the cooking alchemies of my mother . I will never  learn how she managed to prepare so great meals  with so humble and very little ingredients. We had the warmth and the gardening abilities of my father. I will never know how he managed to produce so many vegetables from such a small piece of land it will remain a mystery for me.

Love was there to help us to overcome our difficulties.And the most important of all , we all obtained a deep sense of what is really basic in life and what it isn't.

  Today there are  more lonely people than ever before. It is perhaps  ironic considering  the problems of ............., but  it is no less  true. On top of all the usual  causes  of lonliness - shyness ,low  self -esteem ,and so on - you now  have to include the high rate of divorce, which creates thousands of new lonely people each year................ people move around more  now than  ever before.And every time people move house , they risk lonliness because they may not know anyone at the new ..........., and they might not know how  to go about meeting people.

Well, not to worry  because today we've got a few ..............Some are for the' lonely hearts' who are looking ........... for a partner. Others are for those who simply want a few friends. Finally , we've got one for those of you who may be seriously depressed and desperate for ............

You can fill in the blanks choosing   from  the following words.

• location
• overpopulation
• attention
• suggestions
• specifically
• furthermore

    Read  the text , and then write questions for the answers .

Example:two   How many children have Joe and  Pam got?

In a small  village in North Yorkshire , there's a big old farmhouse where three families live together : Alice and George and their three children , Joe and Pam and their two children,and Sue and her baby daughter.The adults divide up the work between them. George does the cooking , Joe and Sue do most of the housework , Pam looks after the shopping and does the repairs, and Alice takes care of the garden.Alice, George and Sue go out to work; Joe works at home designining computer systems , and Pam, who is a painter , looks after the baby during the day. Two of the children go to school in the village , but the three oldest ones go by bus to the secondary school in the nearest town , ten miles away.

The three families get on well , and enjoy their way of life. There are a few difficulties , of course. Their biggest worry at the moment is money- one of the cars needs replacing , and the roof needs some expensive repairs.But this isn't too serious- the bank has agreed to a loan , which they expect to be able to  pay back  in three years. And they all say they would  much rather go on living in their old farmhouse than move to a luxury flat in a big city.

1 In  North Yourkshire.

2. In a big old farmhouse.

3. Three.

4. Sue has.

5.The cooking.

6. the housework.

7. The garden .

8. At home.

9. Computer systems.

10 She's a painter.

11.Two of them.

12. By bus.

13. In the nearest town.

14. Ten miles.

 One  day in ancient Egypt ,a farmer walked through his fields near the banks of the River Nile.The Nile valley was a very fertile place. The rich land surrounding the river provided food for the Egyptian kingdom. The farmer looked at his fields and those of his neighbours. Crops blew in the breeze and there was a smell of blooming plants in the air. Then the farmer saw something moving on the ground. "What is this ?" he wondered .

He bent down and looked closely at the thin creature . It was as long as his hand  and had no legs. He picked it up , and it moved around just  like a  snake . It had no eyes or face.

'Disgusting !' said the farmer. He threw the creature on the ground and crushed it with his foot.It was dead,but another was coming out of the ground right next to it! The farmer got down on his hands and knees and examined the ground. He saw several more of the small creatures. 'How many are there?"They seem to live under my farm!'

The farmer walked over his land. He stepped on all the worms that he saw. His neighbours saw him stomping around. "What are you doing?"they asked."These tiny creatures are all over my land!'he answered."They could be bad for the crops . You should check your farms , too.'

Sure enough , the other farmers also found many worms crawling on their land. Worried , they squashed the worms,too. Day after day , they stepped on  any worms that they saw.Eventually , they stopped finding the worms and they all felt much better.

Word spread about the worms. All over the valley , farmers killed any worms that they found. This continued for years , and the farmers were glad to be rid of the worms. However , soon they began to worry about something else. Their crops were mysteriously dying. At first ,it was just few plants .

As time went by, though,more and more crops died.Soon there was not enough food to feed the people.They began to panic.'Why is this happening?' they wondered.

Eventually , the news reached Cleopatra. As ruler of Egypt ,she was very concerned about the crops."My people must eat!" she thought .'What could be the cause of this terrible luck we're having?"

Cleopatra decided to try to find out what was happening. She called her advisors and started visiting farms. First ,they went to a farm where the crops were still growing. 'Your crops are doing well," said Cleopatra.'What is your secret?"

The farmer picked up a worm from the ground and showed it to Cleopatra . "I think these creatures help." he explained.

"Disgusting !" said the queen.

'Yes , they are quite strange. But I leave them alone,' said the farmer,"and my crops grow! All of my neighbours kill the creatures, and their crops are withering away.'

Cleopatra listened carefully. Then she and her advisors visited the other farms in the area . Some of them had healthy crops and some had empty fields . At one farm ,she saw the farmer stepping on a worm. She also saw that the farmer's land was empty. She stopped  the farmer .'Do you always kill your worms?" she asked.

"Yes,always." he replied . "These creatures do not belong on my land."

Cleopatra visited other dying farms. She asked all the farmers the same question and got the the same answer:"Yes , " Cleopatra finally understood.'That first farmer was right," she said to her advisors . "The farms with worms are all very fertile. The farms without worms have dying crops."

"But my queen." one advisor said. "Why is killing the worms bad for crops?"

"The gods are punishing the farmers who kill the worms!"Cleopatra said."Making the gods angry is a terrible mistake. If the farmers continue killing the worms, there will be no more food!" We must  put a stop to this killing!"

So Cleopatra made a new law . "No citizen of Egypt shall kill another worm ever again," ordered the queen. "Worms are very important and we must respect them. Any person who kills a worm will be punished !"

It took  some time, but the worms eventually returned to all the farmers' fields. The crops began to grow strong and healthy again, and there was enough food for the whole kingdom. The Nile  Valley was fertile once more ,thanks to the tiny worm.

Can you express your opinion about the story?

Can you find the adjectives in the text?

. Mr and Mrs Wormwood were two such parents. They had a son called Michael and a daughter called Matilda, and the parents looked upon Matilda in particular as nothing more than a scab. A scab is something you have to put up with until the time comes when you can pick it off and flick it away. Mr and Mrs Wormwood looked forward enormously to the time when they could pick their little daughter off and flick her away, preferably into the next country or even further than that. It's a funny thing about mothers and fathers. Even when their own child is the most disgusting little blister you could ever imagine, they still think that he or she is wonderful.

Some parents go further. They become so blinded by adoration they manage to convince themselves their child has qualities of genius.

Well, there is nothing very wrong with all this. It's the way of the world. It s only when the parents begin telling us about the brilliance of their own revolting offspring, that we start shouting, 'Bring us a basin! We're going to be sick!'

School teachers suffer a good deal from having to listen to this sort of twaddle from proud parents, but they usually get their own back when the time comes to write the end-of-term reports. If I were a teacher I would cook up some real scorchers for the children of doting parents. 'Your son Maximilian,' I would write, 'is a total wash-out. I hope you have a family business you can push him into when he leaves school because he sure as heck won't get a job anywhere else.' Or if I were feeling lyrical that day, I might write, 'It is a curious truth that grasshoppers have their hearing-organs in the sides of the abdomen. Your daughter Vanessa, judging by what she's learnt this term, has no hearing-organs at all.'

I might even delve deeper into natural history and say, 'The periodical cicada spends six years as a grub underground, and no more than six days as a free creature of sunlight and air. Your son Wilfred has spent six years as a grub in this school and we are still waiting for him to emerge from the chrysalis.' A particularly poisonous little girl might sting me into saying, 'Fiona has the same glacial beauty as an iceberg, but unlike the iceberg she has absolutely nothing below the surface.' I think I might enjoy writing end-of-term reports for the stinkers in my class. But enough of that. We have to get on.

Occasionally one comes across parents who take the opposite line, who show no interest at all in their children, and these of course are far worse than the doting

It is bad enough when parents treat ordinary children as though they were scabs and bunions, but it becomes somehow a lot worse when the child in question is extra-ordinary, and by that I mean sensitive and brilliant. Matilda was both of these things, but above all she was brilliant. Her mind was so nimble and she was so quick to learn that her ability should have been obvious even to the most half-witted of parents. But Mr and Mrs Wormwood were both so gormless and so wrapped up in their own silly little lives that they failed to notice anything unusual about their daughters. To tell the truth, I doubt they would have noticed had she crawled into the house with a broken leg.

Matilda's brother Michael was a perfectly normal boy, but the sister, as I said, was something to make your eyes pop. By the age of one and a half her speech was perfect and she knew as many words as most grown-ups. The parents, instead of applauding her, called her a noisy chatterbox and told her sharply that small girls should be seen and not heard.

By the time she was three, Matilda had taught herself to read by studying newspapers and magazines that lay around the house. At the age of four, she could read fast and well and she naturally began hankering after books. The only book in the whole of this enlightened household was something called Easy Cooking belonging to her mother, and when she had read this from cover to cover and had learnt all the recipes by heart, she decided she wanted something more interesting.

Happy reading!

     Connect  the  places in column  1  with the things  in  column  2.

       bowl                                  flowers

       envelope                              purse

       station                                sugar

        kitchen drawer                    books

        wardrobe                           knife

        shelf                                 car

         pencil case                       water

        tube                                train

        can                                 money

        garden                             letter

        purse                              crisps

        handbag                          eraser

        jar                                  toothpaste

        packet                            clothes

        jug                                 cola

        garage                           jam   

    Who  are you with?

     I am with  those  who  have  no  home  and try  to find a shelter. Those  who have no money and no job  .I  follow  all the weak  and helpless people  who try  hard  and nobody notices that.I  can understand those who long  for love  and they're not loved .I  symppathise  with  the ugly  and fat persons who  are on the fringe of society. I would like to be friends with  deaf,blind and mentally retarted. I am curious to live  their routine  and feel  their concerns  and hopes.I   want to shake hands with sick people who will  die  sooner or later.They want to live every moment in their life as it was the last one.I want to  come close to those who have been cheated and  been told lies .

            God bless them   all!

     Talking  to people

Starting  a conversation

Johannes had come had come to England to improve  his English. He had studied  the language for five years in his own country and he could understand  a  written text  well. What he needed above all  was practice in conversation.

He enrolled  at a school for foreign students and the school found him  a home with an English family. The family were pleasant and friendly and he was delighted to discover that there was a  pretty daughter , only a year ago or so younger than himself . That first  night , as he lay in bed , he was filled with optimism.

A few days later , however , when his class teacher , Mr Price, asked him how he was getting on , he had to confess that he felt disappointed."By Sunday , ' said Johannes , I'll   have been here for two  weeks , but  I've had little conversation practice."

Aren't you living with an English family? asked Mr Price.

Yes , I am, replied  Johannes , " but they're always busy."

"Aren't there any younger people in the family?"

"Yes , there's a daughter of 17, but she leaves home at eight o' clock in the morning and she spends every evening  with her friends."

'Well , said Mr  Price , you'll just have to learn to get into conversation with strangers."

"But how? ' asked  Johannes , "and where ?"

'You travel on buses , don't you?"suggested Mr Price.

'Yes ," said Johannes doubtfully.

'Don't sit in an empty seat , sit beside somebody . You can often have marvellous conversation on buses.'

'It's difficult to know what to talk about ," said Johannes. "That is a problem,"agreed Mr Price.'You can always start with the weather ,but that won't keep you going for long . You've got to read the papers ,watch television ,find out what English people are talking about. Then after you've talked about the weather , you can ask a question."

'How do you mean?"Johannes looked puzzled.

Well, let's imagine you read a story in the paper about a murder case or a political election. You could say: " I wonder  if they'll find  Barrett  guilty ?" or "Do you think Jordan will win?"- something like that. People like being asked their opinion about things . Or you can try talking about a programme you saw on television.'Did  you see that play on television last night? Good wasn't  it ?' English people won't usually start a conversation, but often they're quite happy to chat ,provided you start talking to them.'

Johannes nodded' I see what you mean, he said  thoughtfully.

'One more thing, " Mr Price continued, "older people are nearly always easier wrapped up in their own lives. But the other ones can't resist talking about the good old days . When they were young , the sun was always shining, everybody was always good-humoured . There wasn't so much money , but everyone enjoyed themselves. Perhaps it's the same in your country. 

Johannes smiled ."I  think old people are the same all over the world, he said.

  Peter  and Elizabeth

Pter and Elizabeth hadn't been married for long. They had both been  working very hard, so Peter thought it would be a good idea to give Elizabeth a little surprise.

He noticed an advertisement for cheap sunshine holidays in Spain.Without telling Elizabeth what he was planning to do, he booked  seats on a flight leaving midnight on the next Thursday evening .Then he went home , looking  very cheerful.

"Darling, he said , "you 'd better tell your boss you want a couple of extra days " holiday".

"Oh she said , "are we going away ?

Proudly he laid the air tickets on the table.

'Spain, ' she said  ' isn't that going to be terribly expensive ?

'It's all taken care of ,' he said.

As soon as they got home  from work  on Thursaday , they packed their suitcases , tidie up the flat , had a meal , and set out for Catwick Airport . They heard on the radio  that some flights had been delayed .

It was very cold . Snow  was falling  and the visibility  was bad. Peter  and Elizabeth sat in the lounge  at Catwick  all night witing for the news. Then they  were given breakfast and told to climb aboard a coach .

'We are going to Luton  Airport ,' they were told .' Weather conditions  are better there. '

It took nearly three hours to reach Luton , but , by the time they got there , all flights  had been cancelled  ,so the company  sent them to a hotel. They spent the night at Luton Airport ,hoping that the weather would change , but it didn't . Then came reports that conditions were improving in the north of England.

About six o'clock they were bundled into coaches  and set off  for Manchester . They arrived there sometime after midnight. By now everyone was getting cross  and miserable. Around tea time on Sunday the visibility began to improve ,then suddenly more snow began to fall.

'Let's go home,'whispered Elizabeth. They collected  their luggage , left the airport and caught a train back  to London.They arrived  home just before  midnight.

Elizabeth  lay in bed , looking up at the ceiling  . 

My goodness ,' she said sleepily, it's nice to be home.'  

 How  do you feel about this couple?

Have you ever experienced a similar situation.

     There  are  all   kinds  of  artists.Most   of  all  we  shall   honour and admire the   artists  of  the  life itself  which   use their own  tools  to  express  the inexpressible. Without  brush , paint life  with bright colours . Without  chisel  sculpture  the magic of existence. Without scale  compose  music for  all. Without  choreography  they   dance the dance  of  life.

When  we  are  born ,we're  given to each of us  some tools  to create a life  full of  beauty. The same tools can be used for the perpetuation of ugliness and  destruction. The hope is that, some moments in our life we will   realise that we can decide  to express  beauty.The tangible work of art fade  and are perished  by the time ,they can be considered even out of date. But  one life  with  love  stays  for ever.