Reading without preparation

in. There are different reasons why people drained swamplands. Some were drained to fight diseases caused by insects that lived in them. Because swamps were considered unpleasant places in which to live and harmful to health, many people thought that unless they were drained the land was worthless.
Other swamps were drained to make new land. As the population grew and more land was needed, people drained swamps or filled them to make room for more farms and factories, more roads and airports.
Few people thought that it might be harmful to get rid of swamps. As swamps disappeared, other things happened. There were both more floods and more droughts than before. There were also more fires, for swamps had acted as firebreaks. Hunters noticed that there was less wild game. Wild life that once lived in the swamps was dying out, because it had no place to live.

berries, bears start feeding. They eat and eat. All through the spring and summer their feeding goes on. The bears build themselves up. They store food and fats that they will need in the fall when they start their long sleep.
As days grow shorter, and the temperature begins to fall, bears hunt for a sleeping place. It may be a shallow cave, or a deep crack between rocks. Some bears end up sleeping in hollow logs. Logs seem to be bears’ favourite places. Bears seem to choose small spaces. They can keep warmer in a cave that’s just large enough to hold them than in a larger cave. They often line their sleeping place with leaves and dried grass.
All through their winter naps, bears will not eat. Often they will sleep for 7 months, moving only now and then.

of your choice, something unique to your taste and talent. A hobby can improve our well-being; it can give more meaning to our life.
Just as physical exercise is important for the body, relaxation of the mind is also essential. In fact, studies reveal that people who cultivate themselves through such activities are less likely to suffer from anxieties, depression and other negative feelings.
A hobby is the easiest way to restore your balance whenever you are over-worked or stressed. Since it is an activity of your choosing, it will always give you pleasure and help you to relax.
Even if you indulge in your hobby for a short period of time, you still can feel the difference in your energy level and spirit. When you have a hobby, you will always find time for it.

all tied to each other and impacted bу things like physical sensations and memories. Feelings and emotions are very similar, but they are not exactly the same. Feelings are often immediate and transient things. We feel before we think. Sometimes the feeling remains, sometimes it doesn't. You can feel emotions, and you can also feel sensations. You feel cold or hot; you feel uncomfortable or nervous.
On the other hand, а feeling can bе а complex mix of emotions. The way you feel about your Uncle Tom, for instance. You may feel love, but you may also feel anger, resentment or embarrassment, or а combination of them. Feelings are intensely personal and are always near the surface of our consciousness. Emotions can Ье described as intensely felt feelings. They are very tied to our thoughts, but often battle against them.

berries, bears start feeding. They eat and eat. All through the spring and summer their feeding goes on. The bears build themselves up. They store food and fats that they will need in the fall when they start their long sleep.
As days grow shorter, and the temperature begins to fall, bears hunt for a sleeping place. It may be a shallow cave, or a deep crack between rocks. Some bears end up sleeping in hollow logs. Logs seem to be bears’ favourite places. Bears seem to choose small spaces. They can keep warmer in a cave that’s just large enough to hold them than in a larger cave. They often line their sleeping place with leaves and dried grass.
All through their winter naps, bears will not eat. Often they will sleep for 7 months, moving only now and then.

their way home and show people where they had been. The maps showed the shape of the land, distances between places and special features such as caves and old trees. Nowadays, maps show the towns and villages, and the roads, railways, rivers and mountains. Symbols are used to show all the different things on a map and there is a key to explain what the symbols stand for.
Over the centuries, people explored most of the Earth and put together the map of the world we use today. Maps of the world or large areas are often either “political” or “physical”. The political map shows territorial borders. The purpose of the physical map is to show features of geography such as mountains, soil type or land use including roads, railroads and buildings. 

women play sports both for pleasure and for challenge. Every sport involves physical skill. Every sport has a set of rules that the players of the sport follow. In some sports one person competes against other individuals. Examples of these sports include boxing, tennis and so on. In many games one team competes against the other team.
People can go in for winter and summer sports. Summer sports are typical for warmer countries. Those who live in regions that experience cold winters have long enjoyed ice skating, skiing, and sledding. These activities have grown immensely in popularity over the years. Today thousands of resorts cater to the winter tourist trade, and millions of people each year take winter sports vacations.

no wonder they are looking forward to enjoying their holidays to the full. Once package holidays were popular and every tourist was dreaming to see traditional sights like the Pyramids. Now people have been there and have done that and they want more. An underwater hotel or a safari in the wild or white water rafting or whale watching – that’s what modern travel agencies offer people.
You can spend a night in the ice hotel or watch birds in Scottish mountains. You can travel and volunteer helping poor people in Africa. You can even become a space tourist if you can afford it. Many people prefer to go off the beaten track on their holidays and one can’t blame them for that. What kind of holiday are you dreaming about?

into space. It’s now possible and international teams of scientists are working in the space to explore the Earth and the universe. Why do people need space? Lots of our modern technology, like TV or mobile connection, works with the help of thousands of satellites orbiting our planet and that is possible thanks to the space programme.
People will probably be able soon to get mineral resources on other planets and we are also dreaming of building houses on the moon. We may even meet other civilizations if there are any and share our experiences and achievements to help one another. The list of opportunities is endless and so is the universe so we may only await millions of mysteries the outer space holds for us

is too hectic for us to have some time to devote to do something like that. Still, most people find some time in their packed schedules to read, paint, embroider, knit or sew, look after fish or do some carving. It is so because most people need some time for themselves and hobbies help us relax and forget about stresses of the world around.
People also feel the need to do something creative – there’s so much routine in our everyday life. For some people hobbies become such an important part of their life that they leave their regular jobs to turn their much-loved hobby into their new occupation and make money out of it. Anyway, hobbies help people to do what brings them fun and pleasure and that’s their greatest meaning and importance.

Lots of people, both young and old, do different kinds of sport – winter or summer sports, competitive or non-competitive sports, team or individual sports. Still, even more people enjoy watching sports on TV. If you think about it, you will definitely see how much money is invested into sports advertising now, how expensive the tickets to sports competitions are, how high sportsmen’s fees are.
Is it fair to waste so much money into just showing sport to people? On the other hand, winning doesn’t matter so much for sportsmen now it’s getting the money prize that’s much more important than fame or medals. It makes sportsmen use drugs or do other unfair things. The very essence of sport is lost in such a way.