The First of September

The first of September is the first day of school. It is a happy day for all schoolchildren and their parents. It is especially a great holiday for those boys and girls who are beginning to go to school.

Let’s go out and see what people are doing in the streets this morning. There are a lot of schoolchildren in the streets. They are going to school. Boys and girls are carrying schoolbags, many of them have flowers in their hands. Senior pupils are going to school by themselves, but small children are going with their parents at their side.

There are pupils in the schoolyard. They are not playing games this morning. They are speaking about the summer holidays, about their new teachers and what is new at school. Music is playing and soon a meeting begins. The pupils, their parents and other people who are present listen to the director’s speech. Then a small girl with flowers is ringing the bell. The pupils are going to their classrooms and school year is beginning.

Games of the XXXI Olympiad

Summer Olympics  officially known as the Games of the XXXI Olympiad and commonly known as Rio 2016, is a major international multi-sport event in the tradition of the Olympic Games as governed by the International Olympic Committee, being held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Opening rounds in certain events began on 3 August 2016 — two days before the opening ceremony — and the Games is formally running from 5 August to 21 August 2016.

More than 11,000 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees (NOCs), including first time entrants Kosovo and South Sudan, are taking part.With 306 sets of medals, the games features 28 Olympic sports, including   golf, which were added by the International Olympic Committee in 2009. These sporting events are taking place at 33 venues in the host city as well as at five venues in the cities of São Paulo (Brazil's largest city), Belo Horizonte, Salvador, Brasília (Brazil's capital), and Manaus.

These are the first Summer Olympic Games under the IOC presidency of Thomas Bach. The host city of Rio de Janeiro was announced at the 121st IOC Session held in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 2 October 2009. Rio became the first South American city to host the Summer Olympics. These are the first games to be held in a Portuguese-speaking country, the first to be held entirely during the winter (the 2000 games began on 15 September but continued past the spring equinox), the first since1968 to be held in Latin America, and the first since2000 (and third overall) to be held in the Southern Hemisphere.

Good luck to our Ukrainian sportsmen!