ABOUT MYSELF. My name is Natalia. My surname is Govorova. I am 15. I was born in 1982 in Chelyabinsk. I live in a small town of Usinsk in the Komi Republic. My address is Flat 116, 19, Pionerskaya Street. My phone number is 41-5-81. I am a pupil. I go to school Numbers 1. I am a good pupil. I do well in all subjects. They say, that I am a hardworking person. To tell the truth, all school subjects come easy for me but sometimes. I have to sit much, for example, to do lessons in Physics or Chemistry, to write a composition or to learn a poem by heart. But my favourite subject is English. I spend much time on it reading books, doing tests etc. May be, English and learning it will be a part of my future carreer. I like reading. I think comics and detective stories are much easier to read but I prefer to read novels - historical or up-to-date. I like music. My musical tastes are different, but it depends on my mood. But I think every apple is good in its season. I play the piano and the guitar, not seriously, but for my soul. Sometimes I like to listen to the Russian classical music. My favourite composers are Chaikovsky and Mozart. I don't like rock music, but I like "Queen" and "Beatles". Also I like Russian folk songs. I have not much time to watch IV but sometimes I spend an hour or two watching an interesting film or a news programme. In the evening I often read newspapers (our local ones) or magazines. I like fresh air and exercise. I'm sorry I have not much time for doing sports. But some aerobics in the morning, a swimming-pool twice a week, a ski-walk on a frosty day are of great help. Sports is fun. I have a wide circle of interests. I'm very sociable, so I get a way with people. I have many friends, most of them are my class-mates. We spend much time together, going out to the cinema or to the disco party, speaking about lessons and music, discussing our problems. But most of all I like my family. We all are great friends and deeply attached to each other. You see, it's me - a person with his good and not good characteristics, liking this and hating that. But it's interesting for me to live, to open new things. BOOKS IN MY LIFE A book is one of the greatest wonders of world. Why are so many people fond of reading? The world of books is full of wonders. Together with the characters of books you can find yourself in different and countries, have a lot of adventures. The book is a faithful friend. They form our values and characters. We try to look like the characters of your favourite books: to be brave, honest, not to be silly and greedy, to be real friends. We enjoyed the beauty and wisdom of fairy-tales and fables when we were babies and Granny read them. They taught us to be kind, clever, hardworking, to understand other people and help them. They teach us to understand the beauty of nature, take care of it, to love our homeland. Books have been with us since childhood. Who hasn't read "Alice in the wonderland", "Mowgli"? Who hasn't travelled with Marry Poppins to her imaginary world? Who hasn't imagined himself to be Robinson Crusoe on the deserted island? I have read a lot of interesting books, but my favourite book is "The adventures of Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain. This well-known book is popular with the children all over the world. The main character of the book is Tom Sawyer, who lived in a small town on the Mississippi River. He was a boy with a wild imagination. He and his friends often dreamed of different adventures. Tom was naughty, kind and brave. Besides he was noble. I like this boy because he teaches us to be true friends. If you are not fond of reading, take a book to your liking or borrow it from the library and read it. Books are worth reading. Readly, they are our good friends. KEEPIHG FIT AND DOING SPORTS . I you want to feel fit you'd better go in for one kind of sport or another. I should admit that everyone must do all he can to be healthy. Good health is better than the best medicine. "You have a sound mind in a sound body" as the old Latin saying goes. The English proverb "Sickness in the body brings sickness to the mind" expresses a similar idea but from different point of view. All kinds of physical exercises are very useful to make our bodies strong and to keep ourselves fit and healthy. To tell the truth I don't do sports regularly and it is not an essential part of my daily life. In the morning I do some exercises just to awake. Then some aerobics for myself. It puts me into the fine moods. In summer I go swimming as there is a beautiful river with pure water where my Granny lives. In winter, it's rather long at our place, I should say, I prefer skiing (There is nothing like the sight of a winter forest - a real fairy-tale). I like to ride the bike and tobogganing in winter. Mum says that I'm to old to do it, why not after all? I shouldn't call myself a sports fan. Of course , I like to watch sports competitions on TV . Fortunately , they show different ones - football , basketball . I like tennis tournaments very much . I think , it's a very intelligent kind of sport for clever thinking people . Also I admire skiing championships , biathlon , swimming . But what I like most is basketball . The best games are viewed on TV. I came to know that modern basketball appeared in 1891 in the USA. The originator, John Naismith was a coach at the college. He invented the baskets and the rules of the game. Since then basketball has be become very popular and is spread all over the world. It is the sport of strong tall men, the sport of giants. Doing sports a man become strong, healthy and gay. He begins to take care of his health. "Good health is better than wealth", you know. It's true, I should say. In our school we have a nice gym. Sports and games are popular among pupils. A lot of children train at special sport schools. LEARNING FOREIGN LANGUAGE. The great German poet Goethe once said: "He who know no foreign language does not know his own one. ............