1. Venus is one of the hottest planets in the Solar system. The temperature on its surface is 482 degrees. This unfriendly place looks much the same as the Earth 4 billion years ago. Both planets were formed from the same gas cloud, but Venus lost most of its water and atmosphere. This happened because the planet turns very slowly. As a result, now it has no magnetic field to protect it from the Sun's winds. The planet has turned into a lifeless desert. Most space modules that were sent to Venus, could not work on the planet more than two hours. The acidic clouds and high pressure quickly made them absolutely useless.

2. Snowdon is the highest mountain in Wales. It is located in a national park. It stands at 1085 metres above sea level, and it is often described as the busiest mountain in Great Britain. Snowdon is very popular with tourists. If you are strong and brave enough to get to the top, you can enjoy wonderful views from there. On a clear day, you can see as far as Ireland! During the summer months there is a café at the top. There, tourists can get a welcome cup of tea, or soup if the weather is cold. If you feel too tired to walk back, you can always take the train down the mountain. The mountain railway was built in 1896. It is safe, and there have never been any accidents on this route.

3. Most people enjoy watching the night sky. And the brightest object in the sky is the Moon. Every night the Moon rises in the East and sets in the West. It takes about 27 days to go around the Earth, and it’s an interesting fact that we always see the same side of the Moon. The Moon is the closest object to the Earth. It would take us only 13 hours to get to the Moon by rocket. If we were able to travel at the speed of light, it would take a bit less than two seconds. There is a very thin atmosphere on the Moon. Life is not possible there. In spite of this, the Moon can be used as a base for space exploration and even for space tourism. Some space companies say that they will be able to take tourists to the Moon as soon as in 2020.

4. The Arctic Ocean is the smallest ocean of the world. It covers the northern polar region of the Earth. The Arctic region is a very cold place. The lowest recorded temperature there is minus 68 degrees. In spite of the cold, a lot of animals live on the Arctic ice. The polar bear is one of them. Now, due to global warming, the polar bear is in a serious trouble. The thing is that polar bears hunt seals and they need ice to do this. The bears wait for seals on the ice, hunt them in the water and go back to the shore. If the ice is too thin, it breaks under the bears’ heavy bodies and they may drown. The situation is getting worse and some researchers say the ocean may become ice-free as soon as 2050.

5. It's hard to find a more popular Russian symbol than the traditional Russian doll, or Matryoshka. It is well-known all over the world. The first set of dolls appeared in Moscow in 1890. It consisted of eight dolls. All of them were children: seven girls, one boy, and a baby. In those times, Matryoshkas were not meant as toys for children as their price was very high. Mostly, adults bought them as presents or home decorations. There was a belief that if you put a note with a wish into Matryoshka, it would come true. At the beginning of the 20th century, Russia started to export their national dolls abroad.

6. English is the third most-spoken language in the world after Chinese and Spanish. Over 840 million people speak English as a first or second language. It is an official language of 67 countries. 80 percent of information stored on all computers in the world is in English. The vocabulary of the English language is the biggest in the world. A new word is added into English almost every two hours. The English language is said to be one of the happiest languages in the world. The word happy is used more often than the word sad! That's a good reason to learn this language, isn’t it?

7. The human brain is the most complex and remarkable organ of the body. It controls everything we do – thinking, learning, and even heart rate. Though the brain makes up only 2 percent of the body's weight, it uses around 20 percent of its energy. It works 24 hours a day. Even when a person is sleeping, the brain is working hard to keep other organs functioning. Most people think that our brain is more active during the daytime because it needs to deal with a great amount of information. In fact, that’s not true. The brain is far more active when a person is sleeping! However, scientists don’t yet have any explanation for this fact.

8. Our planet is the only planet in the Solar System where rainbows are possible. They are not visible in big cities, due to pollution and smog. But if you are travelling after rain has fallen in the countryside or walking on the beach, you have a good chance to see a rainbow. The rainbow is a multi-coloured arc which appears in the sky. When you see a rainbow, the sun is always behind you and it is raining in front of you. It is impossible to get to the end of the rainbow and to touch it. When you move, the rainbow moves too. We have always learned that rainbows have 7 colours. However, until the 17th century, people used to think there were only 5 colours in the rainbow.

9. The mobile phone has become an important part of our everyday life. We can’t imagine our lives without it now. Thanks to the mobile phone we can keep in contact with our relatives and friends at any time. We use them to text and to send emails, to share photos and videos. We can use the Internet and listen to music and do lots of other things. However, according to surveys, mobile phone users mostly spend their time on games and social networking. Around 80 percent of the world’s population has a mobile phone. The mobile phone industry is the fastest growing industry in the world. From 1983 to 2016, worldwide mobile phone subscriptions grew to over 7 billion.


10. The rainforest can be described as a thick and very tall jungle. The term rain comes from the great quantity of water that these forests get throughout the year. The rainforests are the world's greatest natural resources. They are called the lungs of our planet. Half of all the kinds of plants and animals that exist on the planet live in the rainforests. Unfortunately, the area with rainforests is being reduced due to global warming. 100 years ago, the rainforests covered 14 per cent of the earth’s surface. Now, it is only 6 per cent. Scientists say that if the process continues at this rate, the rainforests will have disappeared in 40 years.

11. Bicycles or bikes are an important means of transportation in many parts of the world. The first bicycles turned up in Europe in the first half of the19th century but the word ‘bicycle’ only appeared later, in 1868. There are more bicycles in the world than cars. About 100 million bicycles are produced worldwide each year. A lot of people have realized that cycling is an easy way to get around and a great way to cut down on pollution. More and more cities have special places where people can borrow a bike and ride around the city. Over the past few years, a bicycle infrastructure has been created in Moscow. Cycling in the centre of Moscow in summer is one of the most pleasant and quickest ways of seeing the city.

12. Great Britain is home to the world’s oldest school. The King’s School was established in 1567 and it is still open. It has a long history. Many famous people have been educated at this old school. Nowadays The King’s School is an independent secondary school for boys and girls from 13 to 18. More than 800 pupils study at the school. Though The King’s School is located in old buildings, it has up-to-date technical equipment and provides a full modern education. The King’s School is also famous for its festival of music, drama and arts. It is held during the last week of the summer term and attracts a lot of people from different parts of the country.

13. Nowadays people can’t imagine their kitchen without a refrigerator. The first refrigerators appeared at the end of the 18th century. They looked different: they were just iceboxes. The refrigerators of the past were just wooden boxes, sometimes lined inside with metal. People put ice into the box and then placed the food inside to keep it cool. The refrigerator, similar to the one that we have now, was produced by General Electric in 1911, in France. It was very expensive. In those days, with the same money you could buy two cars. Today, in developed countries almost every family has enough money to buy a refrigerator for their kitchen. It’s hard to imagine how difficult and uncomfortable our lives would be without a refrigerator.

14. Do you know why it is hot in the summer and cold in the winter? Most people believe that it is because the Earth is closer to the Sun in the summer and farther from it in the winter. But it is not like this at all! In fact, the distance between the Earth and the Sun is largest in July and smallest in January! Scientists suggest that the reason for different summer and winter temperatures is the angle of the Sun’s rays. In the summer, the rays reach the Earth almost at a right angle. Due to this, the rays are not spread out and a smaller area of the planet's surface gets the energy. In the winter, the angle changes and the Sun’s rays are spread out over a larger area. Besides this, the long nights and short days do not give enough time for the land to warm up.

15. Without the energy from the Sun, the Earth would have no life at all. Nowadays everyone knows that the Sun is a star. Like all stars, the Sun is a great burning ball of gases. To us, it seems large and red. The other stars look white or light blue because they are much farther from us than the Sun. In the past, many people believed that the Earth was the centre of the universe. They thought that the Sun and the stars went round it. Only in 1543, a great Polish scientist published a book in which he tried to prove a different point of view. According to him, the Earth and the other planets moved round the Sun. Those people who supported the scientist were often imprisoned and even killed.