Text 1. A letter from Steve

I. Read the letter and do the task following it.

Hello, Alex,

Thanks for your last letter. I hope you received the texts about physical evidence, fingerprints, and the nature of investigation. It seems as if a lot of time has passed since the summer examination period was over. Yet, it was only a month and a half ago!

Well, my holidays were a combination of work and rest. I lived with an Italian family in Naples and my duty was to teach 2 school-age children conversational English. At the same time, I was learning spoken Italian from them.

We spent a lot of time together, swimming in the sea, sunbathing, playing with a ball and moving a lot. We also went to museums, to the Zoo, watched cartoons, sang children’s songs and read easy-reading stories. By the end, my pupils’ knowledge of English had greatly improved, and so also my Italian speaking skills. There were no problems with behaviour, the children were lovable and the parents were nice to deal with.

Now I am in my second year at the University, and I want to improve my knowledge of Russian, so let’s communicate in Russian, too, if you have nothing against it, of course.

I know that you are studying the history of law this term and that you need some material on the most important facts and events. I am sending you some short texts which I borrowed from my previous year’s notes and manuals.

I hope you had a good time, too.

All the best,

Steve.

II. Find in the text of the letter equivalents to the following.

1. кажется, что

2. всё же

3. разговорный английский язык

4. загорать

5. смотреть мультфильмы

6. к концу

7. разговорные навыки

8. учебное пособие

9. быть приятным в общении

10. учиться на втором курсе

Text 2. The Need for Law

I. Read and translate the text.

People need laws, because they can't live according to the law of the jungle. Without laws, criminals could terrorise the whole society by robbing and murdering innocent people.

So, laws protect people from robbers and murderers. They also help the citizens to solve their conflicts without violence.

People regulate the life of society by laws. But laws are not perfect. So, legislators in all countries are making new and better laws, which, nevertheless, get imperfect with the time. But imperfect laws are better than no laws at all.