My friend

I

Friendship is one of the greatest things in the world. Nobody knows how to define it in a proper way. I think that friendship is the highest spiritual achievement of men. I believe that a person can be happy if he or she has a true friend.

I have a lot of good friends but my close friend is Jane. She is going to enter the Law Department this year. Jane is a very interesting person. I enjoy spending my free time with her. She is bright, well educated, kind-hearted, and cheerful. Jane is the only person with whom I can share my problems, ideas, and thoughts. She understands me very well, and she always tells me the truth. Jane's hobby is cooking and reading.

My parents consider her to be a very polite girl with charming manners and a sense of humour. Every Sunday we go to the cinema, to the theatre or to the park if the weather is fine. We understand each other perfectly well. I am happy to have such a friend as Jane. Unfortunately in our contemporary society people often forget how to save someone's faith in kindness. We should not forget that tolerance is the essence of friendship.

II

My talk is about friends and friendship. I have several good friends among my schoolmates. I think that the main reason for this friendship is that we have a great deal of common interests. I am sure that friends have some joint ground for discussion. They don't have to have similar tastes but they should understand each other.

I believe that it is necessary to distinguish such notions as "being on friendly terms" and "being friends". When some people are on friendly terms, it means that they have a lot of things to discuss, they meet frequently, and they will help each other, if they can. As for being friends, it is obvious that people, who are friends, should understand each other, but the peculiarity of such friendship is their mutual trust. They can be absolutely different characters, they can meet rather seldom (there are some people who live in different cities and don't visit each other for years, though they are real friends) but they can completely rely on each other. It is always a great luck to have such real friends, and I hope I can say that I have them.

III

I have a lot friends. But my best friend is Nick. We made friends many years ago when we went to one and the same school. Nick is 18 years old. He is a university student. He is going to become a research worker.

Nick is a fine fellow. He is good-looking, tall and handsome. His hair is fair, his eyes are blue. He is always well dressed. He is strong and he is very popular among his mates. Nick knows a lot of interesting things. He sings well and likes to joke.

We always meet at the week-ends. We discuss books, listen to the music or visit our friends.

Nick is never down-hearted. He is always full of life and energy. He is always ready to help people when they are in need.

Nick has good manners. He is modest and sincere. He is very attentive. I am happy to have such a friend as Nick because he is a true one.

IV

I have a friend. Her name is Helen. She is fifteen. Helen is a nice girl. Helen has two brothers. They are fine chaps. Nick is a student and Mark is a clerk in a big office. Mark is always very busy. He comes home very late.

I often go to see Helen. Helen is fond of music. She plays the piano very well. She is going to become a musician. We often go to the conservatoire and enjoy the live music.

Her favourite writer is Charles Dickens. 'Oliver Twist' is her favourite novel by Dickens.

Together with Helen we go to the museums and art galleries. She likes Russian painters most of all.