1) They reflect the history of the country and its cultural and religious traditions. 2) Americans celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December. 3) The 1st of January is not so widely celebrated in the United States as we do it in Russia. 4) The most important holiday in America is the 4th of July, The Independence Day. 5) The 4th of July is the day-off and people don't go to work. Other holidays when people don't go to work are: Martin Luther King's day on the 20th of January, Labour Day on the 7th of September and Thanksgiving on the last Friday of November. 6) It is a big white stone on the shore in Plymouth in Massachusetts, that the pilgrims landed on. It is called «The Plymouth Rock». 7) Halloween is children's most favourite holiday.
There are two types of schools in Russia- STATE schools and PRIVATE schools. State schools provide FREE education. Parents have to pay for their children's education if they want to ATTEND a private school. Only 1% of schools in Russia are PRIVATE. Education in Russia is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 15. COMPULSORY education takes 9 years, it includes 4 years of PRIMARY school and 5 years of SECONDARY school. At PRIMARY school pupils learn reading, writing, arithmetic, art and sport. At SECONDARY school the number of subjects grows. Besides schools of general education in Russia there are LYCEUMS and GYMNASIUMS. At the end of the 9-year course pupils take a final EXAM.(a number of ex-ms)Pre-school education is OPTIONAL. It is provided by KINDERGARTENS and NURSERY CLASSES in schools.
