London Bridge

Big Ben

Big Ben - the famous Clock Tower in the Houses of Parliament, the symbol of London. You can also see a double-decker in the first picture - the famous red bus.

So beautiful

This photo has nothing to do with English language or even Great Britain - it is simply so beautiful!
Neuschwanstein Castle: by Luiz Pires

Click on the photo for the bigger size!

Linkin Park - Numb

Hobbies

We have got hobbies, freetime activities that we do when we want to have fun, have a good time or simply relax.
There are indoor and outdoor hobbies.

We do indoor hobbies inside our flat/home. My favourite indoor hobbies are
- reading books and magazines
- listening to music
- drawing
- painting
- playing the guitar
- learning languages
- watching TV or films on DVD
- playing computer games
- playing cards or board games
- browsing on the internet
- chatting on the internet or using MSN
- collecting postcards
- writing poems and stories
But people also like
- doing creative things like making jewellery
- collecting napkins, stamps, anything
- playing chess
- playing a musical instrument

We do outdoor hobbies outside our home.  My favourite outdoor hobbies are
- doing sports like running, cycling, ice-skating, swimming
- taking trips
- going shopping
- going to a restaurant
- going to concerts
- going to the cinema
- going to the theatre
- taking photos of the nature or of people
- walking
- travelling
But people also like
- going to a pub or a disco
- fishing
- going to museums to see exhibitions

My hobbies are reading books, watching TV, listening to my favourite bands and singers, drawing and learning languages. I like playing basketball and skating, (I play basketball every weekend, and I go skating in winter) and I like going out with my friends, to the cinema, to a restaurant or to the disco. When I was a child, I collected postcards and leaves.

My daily routine

- What time do you get up on weekdays?
On weekdays I always get up at half past six.
- What do you do after getting up?
I go to the bathroom to have a quick shower, or I simply wash my face, I get dressed, comb my hair and make my bed.
- What time do you have breakfast?
I have breakfast at quarter to seven.
- What do you have for breakfast?
I prepare a sandwich or a bowl of muesli, and I drink a cup of tea or orange juice.
- What do you do after breakfast?
Before leaving home I clean my teeth and I do my make-up.
- How do you go to school/work?
I go to school/work by bus and a little on foot.
- How long does it take you to get to work/school?
It takes me twenty minutes to get to work/school.
- What time do you start work?
I start work at eight o'clock.
- What time do you finish work?
I finish work at four o'clock.
- Have you got any breaks?
I have got a lunch break.
- When and what time do you have lunch?
I have lunch between noon and one o'clock. Sometimes I have lunch at home, but more often I eat in a small restaurant with my friends.
- What do you have for lunch?
I have some soup, then a second course, some pasta or some meat with potatoes or rice, and sometimes I eat some dessert too. I always drink tea or Coke.
- What do you do after finishing work?
After work, I do the shopping and I go home.
- When do you go to school?
I go to school twice a week, on Tuesdays and on Thursdays - these days I finish work at half past two, because my first lesson starts at three p.m.
- What time do you have dinner?
I have dinner at half past eight or at eight o'clock, after watching the news on TV.
- What do you do after dinner?
After dinner I have a bath or a shower, I make my bed and I get undressed. I often read a book, listen to music or watch a film in bed.
- What time do you go to bed?
I go to bed at eleven o'clock.
- What time do you get up at the weekend?
At the weekend I get up later, as I have more time to rest and sleep. I get up at seven or eight o'clock. I usually study in the morning and late afternoon: I learn my lessons and I do my homework. Then I do some housework in the flat: tidy up all the rooms, hoover the carpets, dust the furniture, water the flowers, do the washing up, wash some dirty clothes.
In the evening I go out with my friends. We go to the cinema or to the theatre, or we simply have a great time in a restaurant or in a pub. Sometimes I watch a night film at home on TV, then I go to bed after midnight.
- What time do you go to bed at the weekend?
I go to bed around midnight after watching a film. But on Sundays I try to go to bed a little earlier as I have to get up early on Monday morning.

Linkin Park - Leave Out All The Rest

Hoobastank - So close, so far

Hoobastank - The Reason

I and my family

I come from a big family.
My father, John is fifty-five years old and he works as a bus driver for Borsod Volán. He is a slim, tall man with short blond hair and dark blue eyes. He has got a moustache but he hasn't got a beard.
My mother, Anna is fifty years old and she is a shop assistant in a supermarket. She is also tall and slim, but her hair is long, wavy and black, her eyes are brown and she wears glasses. She dyes her hair every month.
I have got three sisters and a brother.
Two of my sisters are married and they live with their own families.
Kate is twenty-eight years old, she works as a secretary for a big company. She is tall and a little plump, her hair is short, curly and blond, her eyes are blue. She has got three sons and her husband, Mike is a lawyer. They live in a lovely house with a garden in the outskirts.
Nicky is twenty-six years old, she is a doctor in a small private hospital. She is medium-height and thin, she has got shoulder-length red curly hair and green eyes. Sometimes she wears glasses, but more often she wears contact lenses. She has got a son and a daughter, and her husband, Adam works in a factory. She is his second wife.
My youngest sister, Kelly is single though she has a boyfriend. She is sixteen years old. She is tall and slim, her long hair is straight and blond, her eyes and dark brown. She would like to be a vet (veterinary surgeon) and she wants to live on a farm after leaving grammar school.
My little brother, Tom is only six years old. He is short and thin, he has got short blond hair and light blue eyes. He is really cute and clever, he already speaks two languages.
All my grandparents are alive.
My mother's parents live in the same city like me, they are retired and they don't work anymore. They live in a small house with a garden. They also had a son, John. He was my uncle but he died three years ago in a car accident. He was divorced and since then I haven't seen my aunt and my nephews.
My father is an only child. His parents live at the other end of the country. They are retired and they live in a block of flats with three dogs.
I get on well with my parents and with my sisters and my brother. We often go camping together or have some programmes together, but we also have our private hobbies and fun.
Of course sometimes, when someone is angry or upset, we can have a little quarrel. Sometimes I am annoyed by something or someone, and I tend to make a fight with everyone but after a while I calm down and I discuss it with the people I fought with and everything is all right again.

30 Seconds to Mars: Kings and Queens

30 Seconds to Mars: From yesterday

Relationships

Do you think a prenuptial agreement should be signed between a man and woman?

In my opinion, a prenuptial agreement ruins the romance of a marriage. It shows that the groom and the bride don’t trust each other and think about what if something goes wrong. I think marriage is sacred. It’s when two people agree to live together in good and bad no matter what will happen.

What is your opinion about pre-arranged marriages?

Pre-arranged marriages are very popular in some other cultures, for example in India. It’s when the parents of the couple agree on the marriage of their children. I don’t think that I would be able to live with someone who is not chosen by me. I believe it’s very important to get to know and cohabit with the person you want to establish a family with. The period of courtship before one gets married is vital. That is the time when you get familiar with your girl or boyfriend. You have time to decide whether she/he is the person you can imagine your whole life with. In a pre-arranged marriage, you have no chance to decide about it and it can also happen that a very young girl is given to an elderly man, which would probably not happen under normal circumstances.

Is cohabiting before marriage important?

I firmly believe that people should not get married without living together for at least a year. This is the only way you can get familiar with your spouse’s habits, let them be good or bad. It can be quite shocking to realise after the honeymoon that your husband snores and his feet smell, or your wife cannot even prepare the most basic dish for you. I think that cohabitation reduces the risks of a bad marriage and this way the number of divorces will also decrease.

What can be the pros and cons of getting married at an early age?

I believe that getting married early is not very fashionable nowadays. Young people want to go on to higher education instead of starting a family. They think that they should enjoy life until they can and it is enough to find a future husband or wife at the age of 30.

The advantage of an early marriage is that the generation gap between the parents and the children would be not so large.

However, most early marriages ends in divorce. In most cases, these people are not mature enough to bring up children and to provide them with the necessary financial background. It is very difficult to make ends meet  without the support of the whole family.

What do you know of polygamy and polyandry?

In order to make judgements about polygamy and polyandry, we have to have a clear picture about what the two words derive from. Polygamy is a form of marriage in which a man has more than one wife at the same time. It has been widely practised at various times in many societies throughout the world, and it is still common in Muslim countries and in some parts of Africa where it is legal under Islamic law. In the United States it is also common in some Mormon communities in Utah. Although laws prohibit polygamy, thousands of people practise it. It can have several advantages and disadvantages. As far as the husband is concerned, polygamy is an attractive form of marriage for several reasons: it means greate economic contributions from the wives to the household income; it provides increased sexual availability and companionship; and it attracts greater social status and prestige to be able to afford to look after more than one wife. Polygamy may also prove attractive to women because it provides a role for women in societies in which there is no accepted social role ascribed to unmarried women; and it means shared child-rearing and domestic labour.

Can you imagine having more spouses?

I don’t think I could live with more than one spouse at the same time. However, a lot of people have partners or mistresses who they cheat on their spouse with. Unfortunately, adultery is a very common issue in our world. People might think that it is normal as they see it on television all the time. Being faithful does not mean too much for young people. All they want is sexual satisfaction and not a normal relationship.

What is the ideal age to start a family?

I don’t think that there is an  ideal age to start a family. It depends on the person, his/her maturity and way of thinking. Nowadays, as more and more people go to university, an ideal period can be after graduating from higher education. There are, however, plenty of issues to consider when founding a family: Are you ready for a serious relationship or do you want to enjoy life a little more? Most people would say that enjoying life a bit is a good choice. They believe that having a child is a burden on them. Also, whether you are ready to support a family or not is the most important question to answer. If you don’t have a good, well-paid job, it is almost impossible for one person to earn the money for the whole family. Another issue is the age difference between the husband and the wife. Today it is a trend among young women to choose a man who has already achieved something in life. They need someone they can rely on, someone who would be faithful and a caring husband.

What was the situation a hundred years ago?

Even in the middle of the twentieth century, most people got married right after high school. Young couples struggled together to make end meet and to bring up their children. It was considered abnormal if a girl who was over 20 was still single. Women wanted to avoid remaining spinsters (hajadon) and they thought it was a shame if no one choose them. Another important factor was the social status of the young. It was obvious that two people from different levels of society do not match each other. It was quite rare for people with different backgrounds to get married. If it happened, there were usually family feuds, young men were sometimes disinherited by their fathers if they dared to marry someone inferior to their ranks.


Source: http://erettsegizz.com/erettsegi/angol/

Hungary

Geography:

This country is situated in the centre of the continent Europe. It is Europe’s eastern part. This is the Carpathian Basin. Visitors already found a Hungarian State one thousand years ago.

Its capital is Budapest.
This is a small country.

The country occupies a territory of about 93 000 square kilometres. Longest distance from north to south is 268 km. Longest distance from east to west is526 km.
It shares borders to the north with the Slovak Republic, to the north-east with Ukraine, to the east with Romania, to the south with Croatia and Serbia and to the west with Austria and Slovenia.
Our country can be divided into three large regions: Transdanubia, the Great Plain and the Northern Mountains.
There are several ranges of hills, chiefly in the north and west.
The Great Plain stretches east from the Danube to the hills of the Carpathian Mountains.
As much as 50 % of the country’s territory is flat: the Great Hungarian Plain occupies the entire eastern part of the country and the small Plain lies along the north-west border.
The two important rivers, the Danube and the Tisza cut across the country from north to south.
The region between the Danube and the Tisza rivers is flat. The region is called Transdanubia west of the Danube.
Lake Balaton is the largest of inland water in Central Europe.
A range of medium height mountains stretches across the country. West of the Danube, the Transdanubian Range is about 500 metres high, divided Keszthely hills, the Bakony, Vértes, Gerecse, Pilis and Visegrád mountains.
East of the Danube the Northern Mountain Range rises to heights of 500-1000 meters, divided into the Börzsöny, Cserhát, Mátra, Bükk and Zemplén Mountains.
The highest point is Kékes in the Mátra Mountains.
The Hungarian “Puszta” is a favourite tourist destination where the characteristic animals and ethnographic traditions can be seen in the Hortobágy National Park, and in the Kiskunság National Park, when the horse shows are held.

Population:
It has quite a small population, just 10 million, and the country is small too.
63 % of the population live in towns.
It has more ethnic groups: Hungarian, Roma, German, Serb, Slovak and Romanian.
The official language of Hungary is Hungarian, but quite a few other languages are spoken. These are German and the Slavonic languages.

Climate:
The climate is temperate continental. The coldest month is the January, and the warmest month is the August. The winters are cold and cloudy, and the summers are warm and hot.

Government:
This country name is Republic of Hungary.
The government type is parliamentary democracy.

History:
This small country is one of the great survivors of history: states and empires emerged, expanded or disintegrated and disappeared around it.

Cuisine:
The traditional Hungarian dishes abound in piquant flavours and aromas. Dishes are flavourful, spicy and other rather heavy. People with a sensitive stomach should be careful. Flavours of Hungarian dishes are bared on centuries old traditions in spicing and preparation methods.

Famous:
It is famous for embroidery of Matyó, red pepper, Hortobágy and its cuisine etc.
Hungary has a lively cultural life. There are a lot of popular cultural events. A lot of tourists go to us to see the open-air summer festivals. This festivals are held in different towns, such as Szeged, Sopron and Szentendre.


Source: http://erettsegizz.com/erettsegi/angol/

Roles in the family

Is the mother’s place in the home?

No, I don’t think so. If woman were involved only in domestic affairs, would mean their leading separate lives from their husbands. But when they too have a job, they have more to share with their husbands in other ways and can expect help from them in the home and with the children. You can’t deprive a woman of her right to earn her own living, find pleasure in her work and keep in touch with real life.

Should housewives be paid in the same way as other people are?

There is no way you could pay a housewife now. She is doing about 10 jobs. Families should have a woman  in for some hours every day to do the housework.

How many jobs are women responsible for?

If a woman goes out to work, she is responsible for at least three jobs. Some women hold high positions  and are good mothers and housewives at the same time.

Can a woman fulfil the duty of a wife, a mother and a career woman?

It all depends on the husband’s attitude. If he shares the responsibility of bringing up a child and caring for the family with his wife, which should ideally happen in every family, women will be less exhausted and more efficient both at work and at home.

Who wears the trousers in your family?

My mother does as my parents are divorced so decisions are always made by her.

What jobs are typically the husband’s responsibility?

Men are usually good at decorating the flat and repairing household devices. A handyman can fix a dripping tap, replace a burnt-out light bulb, stick on wallpaper, repair a leaking waterpipe.

Who can stay at home on child care leave?

According to an act passed some years ago, it is either the mother or the father who can stay at home with the new-born baby. In practise, however, it is still the mother who goes on maternity leave for one, two or sometimes three years.

Is it worth staying at home until the child is three years old?

Yes. Definitely. The first few years of a child’s life are crucially important. This is the time creating contact between parent and child. There can’t be anything more important for a mother than attending to a child during the first few years of its life.


Source: http://erettsegizz.com/erettsegi/angol/

Topics for GCSE

 

A teljes anyag PDF-formátumban [letöltés]

Az anyag tételenként:

1. About myself
2. Family
3. Daily routine
4. Ideal wife/husband
5. Holidays
6. Clothing
7. Shopping
8. Services
9. Home
10. Entertainment
11. Weather and seasons
12. School
13. Healthy way of life
14. Food and meals
15. Restaurants
16. At the doctor
17. Hobby
18. Sports
19. Public transport
20. Travelling

My school

I attend Ferenc Kölcsey Grammar School and I am at my fourth year so i am going to take my school-leaving examinations this May and June.
My school is a big, red brick building which is situated beside a small church, near a busy street, facing the Heroes' Square. Near the school, there is another school, a secondary grammar school and opposite that school, there is a post office.
School starts in the beginning of September and it finishes in the middle of June.
We have three big holidays: autumn, winter and spring holidays - besides the national holidays. And of course a summer holiday, but it is from the end of June to the end of August when there is no school.
I go to school in the afternoon on Tuesdays and Thursdays - twice a week.
Every day I have six or seven lessons.
The first lesson starts at 3 p.m. and the last lesson finishes at 8 p.m. The lessons lasts for 40 minutes and the breaks last for 5 minutes.
If I have got only six lessons, I leave school at twenty-five past seven.
After each lesson we have got a short, five-minute long break, when we leave the classroom, we can smoke on the schoolyard or have a glass of coffee or capucchino. We can have a chat on the corridor or just relax in the classroom and prepare for the next lesson.
There are a lot of subjects: Hungarian grammar and literature, History, Social Studies, German, English, Mathematics (Maths), Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography, Arts and Computer Science.
My favourite subjects are Literature, English, German, History and Arts, because they are interesting and easy for me. I dislike Maths and Physics, they are boring and difficult for me. I am not interested in them at all.
Here I started learning German and I have been learning English for five years. I like learning languages and I would like to study Russian and Spanish later.
I like going to school although sometimes we have a lot of homework and we have to study a lot, but the atmosphere of the class is great. We always help each other and we have a lot of fun. I made some good friends here.
I usually study at the weekend when I have more free time, but I have to do my homework on the previous nights before school.
After finishing grammar school, I would like to continue my studies at a college or university.

About myself

My name is Anna.
My first name is Anna and my surname is Bradfield.
I am 27 years old.
I was born on 11th February 1974 in London - so my birthday is 11th February.
I am married.
My husband's name is James Bradfield. He is an architect and he works for a big company.
He is handsome, not too muscular but in a perfect shape, he is funny, clever, helpful, but sometimes a little bit impatient.
He can cook very well and he is awesome at all kinds of ball games.
James and I have three children, two twin-sons, Sean and Richard, and a daughter Gina.
The twins are 5 years old, Gina is only 8 months old.
We live in a flat on one of the several housing estates outside the city. Our address is Flat 2, Floor 5th, 17 Angel Road, London.
Besides studying, I work as a shop assistant in a supermarket. I sell bakery products and sometimes I have to work at the cashier too. I have been working here for almost three years. Before that I was working in another shop but it had to be closed.
I am 1,70 m tall and I weigh about 55 kilograms.
After the children's birth I put on some weight but fortunately I managed to lose it within a year.
My hair is long, straight and I usually dye it black every month. The original colour of my hair is dark blond. Sometimes I go to the hairdresser's to have it dyed, sometimes I do it myself.
My eyes are light blue and I don't wear glasses.
I usually wear make-up.
I prefer being alone with a good book to going to parties. I am keen on reading novels, travel guides and magazines, I also like painting, gardening and listening to music. I love pop, rock and some dance music, I have several favourite bands and singers, but I don't like rap music at all. My favourite bands are Linkin Park and Hoobastank, and my favourite singer is Kylie Minogue.
I love watching films, and sometimes I watch TV, but I don't really like it. I watch only films and my favourite soap operas like Friends, and some news. I have a lot of favourite films, my favourite actor is Wesley Snipes and my favourite actress is Angelina Jolie.
I love taking trips with my family and my friends.
We have got lots of pets at home. We have a dog, a small collie, his name is Lassie. We also have two Siamese cats, Puffy and Patty, a black bunny, a blue parrot and five angelfish. We haven't got a hamster although my children are fond of them and they are always trying to persuade me to buy one for them.

Greetings!

Üdvözlet a honlapomon!
Itt mindenki megtalálhatja az angol érettségi szóbeli tételsorának kidolgozott tételeit - amint elkészülnek ;)