when the time for the next elections came, it was clear that the most important question would be slavery. there were four candidates, but a northerner called abraham lincoln won the election. in his inaugural address lincoln warned the southerners that they shouldn't destroy the union of the states, but they didn't listen. in february 1861 eleven southern states formed their own union, which was called the confederacy, but abraham lincoln wouldn't let them split up the country. and so the civil war began. the north (their army was called the union army) was actually more powerful than the south: as you remember, they had more men, and their factories produced weapons and supplied the northern army with everything it needed. but the confederacy had one big advantage: they didn't have to invade the north, they just had to protect their own land and homes. at that time a lot of people thought that it would be possible. so at first, the confederacy had more luck; their men were better trained and fought with more spirit. just as in the revolutionary war, americans from the south were once again fighting for their independence. the union soldiers were getting tired. after they lost some important battles, the anti-slavery idea wasn't enough to inspire them any more. the southerners felt that just one more big victory would be enough to win the war.
1. Hello, my name is (Имя). Today I want to tell you about my family.
2. My family is not very big. It consists of 3 members — my mother, my father and me.
3. At first I will tell you about my mother. My mother’s name is Elena. She is 27 years old. She has got brown hair and brown eyes. She is slim. She is very kind and always ready to help me. Her profession is a teacher. She likes her work very much.
4. Now I’ll tell you about my father. His name is Alexander. He is 27, too. He is very tall. His eyes and his hair are brown. He is an electrical engineer. I think, he can fix everything!
5. My parents are very funny and energetic people. When everybody is at home, we like to talk about everything. We play different games together. We also like to walk in the street. When we have time, we drive to parks, or such interesting places like big supermarkets, cafes, the centre of the city.
6. I’ve also got grandparents, but they don’t live with us. We visit them very often.
7. My family is great, I love all of them very much.
