Fill in the blanks with the articles, a, an, the, where necessary: At… secondary school … pupils are taught … different subjects, such as … mathematics, … history, … foreign languages etc. After … finishing …11th form of … secondary school, … lycee or gymnasium … one can continue … education. … higher educational institutions offer … 5-year programme for … students in … variety of … fields, such as … law, … medicine, … business etc.

Ihave many favorite hobbies. i love to read, i like to ride a bike, and i love the story. but my main hobby is drawing. i started drawing when i was little. mother and father very often gave me pens in a variety of colors, colored pencils and a beautiful white paper for drawing. i like to portray on a clean sheet something beautiful, plants, animals, sometimes people. so often i've done cards for mom and dad.   however, first my pictures were not the best. something was awry, something that did not happen. but i always continued to draw. now, i think i can draw very well. my works hang on the walls in my room. i often send your creations to competitions of children's drawings and often receive diplomas and prizes.  moreover, i go to art school. i like it very much. in art school there is an atmosphere of skill and creativity. we draw still lifes, sometimes people. in the summer we go to picnic and draw nature, flowers, forest, trees, houses.   now my drawings are pretty good. but someday i want to learn to draw like the great russian painters i. shishkin, i. aivazovsky, k. bryullov and! i'm sure i'll be able to draw even better if i tried.

There is no place like home.

I live in Astrakhan. My town is old and very beautiful. It was founded in 1558 on the bank of the Volga river. The Kremlin is the heart of Astrakhan. There are many historical places in my town. They are St. Vladimir’s cathedral, the Kustodiev`s art gallery, the Khlebnikov`s museum and others.

Besides, Astrakhan is a cultural centre. You can visit the Picture gallery, the Puppet theatre, the Drama theatre here. My favourite place is the Modern musical theatre. It’s a very big and fantastic building near the bridge. My mother and I like to go there every Saturday.

Astrakhan is anagricultural region. Our tomatoes, watermelons, sturgeon, black caviar are famous all over the world. Also a unique flower lotus grows here. It is a symbol of my town. This rare flower is a really charming plant!

My town is very green, because there are a lot of nice parks and squares in it. For example, my family likes to go for a walk along landing stage in the centre of Astrakhan. There is a wonderful musical fountain in the middle of it. As for me, I often take a walk near Swan Lake during summertime. Graceful swans swim in this place. They are so beautiful! In winter we often skate there.

I like my town!