1)Yes, there are. Now I would like to tell you about customs and traditions in our family. We have several of them. First of all I’d like to tell about New Year. Every year we try to celebrate New Year in our grandparents’ house. Each of us prepares a little present for other members of the family. Usually we put them under the Christmas tree.

The next tradition is that we travel together every summer. Every year we choose a place for our trip. We like it because we can be together for several weeks and also we can make beautiful photos of each other. There are a lot of other traditions in our family, but they are not so interesting and important for us.

2)Yes, there are. We have some family traditions. We celebrate the birthdays of each member of the family, we also celebrate Easter, Christmas and New Year. All my relatives gather together at one big table. It’s also our family tradition to spend summer holidays in the country or go somewhere to the seaside, go fishing and cycling.

Ask your British friend how they celebrate Christmas in their family.

Do you give presents at Christmas? Have you got a big and close family? Who decorates Christmas tree in your family?  Do you decorate the house before Christmas? Do you prefer to celebrate Christmas with family or with friends? What special dishes do you cook for Christmas? Are there any special Christmas traditions in your family? You prepare gifts for all members of the family, don’t you?                                                   

4 .Advise a British teenager on how to choose gifts for his/her Belarusian friends.

Giving gifts is a great way to show your friends that you care, but sometimes it can be difficult to find the perfect present. 1)Start generating ideas. Get out a piece of paper and start writing out ideas for your gift. Think about what your friend likes in terms of hobbies and interests. 2) Pick a gift that relates to their personality.3) Give them something they actually want. 4) Remember the person’s preferences. Think about things that they like or talk about, whether it’s music, movies, art or sports. Think about any skills, talents or hobbies they may have. Try to remember anything they've mentioned wanting in the past weeks, or anything they've had their eye on.

5. We can’t believe all the stereotypes about different nationalities. What do you think about it?

Stereotypes are mostly connected with appearance, language, food, habits and character. Many stereotype are wrong, but some are true. You can believe or not believe.

                                                 Билет №15

Вопрос №3. Speaking

1. Tell me about some outstanding people who changed our world.

There are a lot of famous people among Belarusians: writers and poets, politicians and cosmonauts, artists and sportsmen. They are historic figures and our contemporaries. First of all I would like to mention the names of outstanding Belarusian enlighteners Francisk Skoryna and St. Euphrosinya of Polotsk. Francisk Scoryna was the 1^st translator and publisher of the Bible in the Belarusian language and editor of 23 books in Belarusian.

Tadeush Kostiushko’s name is among the names of the world famous fighters for freedom. Then we can speak about our outstanding writers Yakub Kolas, Yanka Kupala, Maksim Bogdanovich, Vladimir Korotkevich and Vasil Bykov. We can also be proud of world-famouse artists Mark Shagal and Kazimir Malevitch. The world-famous physicist and the Nobel Prize winner in Science is Zhores Alferov. We still use his scientific innovations in our everyday life: in mobile phones, CDs, traffic lights, price tag’s decoders and even lasers.

The names of Olga Korbut, Alexander Medved, Daryia Domracheva, Viktoria Azarenka, Alexander Hleb and Maxim Mirny gave our country the opportunity to boast about good achievements in sport. But the most prominent person in Belarus is certainly Boris Kit – a great mathematician, physicist, chemist and educator, doctor of philosophy in mathematics and in the History of Science, a citizen of the world.

2. Do you know anyone who is a Nobel prize winner?

Yes, I do. Svetlana Alexievich is a Nobel prize winner in literature. She got this prize in 2015. She was awarded Nobel Prize for her book “War’s Unwomanly Face”. This touching novel is made up of monologues of many women in the war who tell about the facts and aspects that have never been described before. Barack H. Obama became a winner in 2009 for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. Zhores I. Alferov got the prize in 2000 in physics for developing semiconductor heterostructures used in high-speed- and opto-electronics.

3. What questions will you ask that person?

What qualities does a person need to become a Nobel prize winner? How much did you research your subject? What would you advise a person who wants to become a winner?

4. My son wants to become a successful businessman in the future. What advice will you give him?

I can give you some aspects how to become a successful businessman in the future: 1- set goals, 2- find the right idea, 3- research the idea, 4- design a sales and marketing plan.