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Actually, here in the UK, the government is considering proposals to permanently put the clocks forward by one hour all year round, and by an extra hour in summer. It is argued that this would reduce the number of accidents as there would be more daylight during waking hours. Personally speaking, I love our long summer evenings here in the UK. In late June and early July it stays light until 10.30 pm or even later if you are in the North of England. So an extra hour of light in the evenings would be fine by me!

Today I'd like to look at your use of English articles, Olga.
Articles in English are the words 'a', 'an' and 'the', that are used in front of nouns. Sometimes, we don't use an article at all (we call this 'zero article'). The rules about articles are very complex, Olga, and even very advanced users of English tend to slip up now and again. But I'm pleased to say that you have used articles very well in this blog!

Here are some examples of your most excellent use of articles (and I've given the rule for each use in brackets after each example).

Novonikolayevsk began reconstruction in 1921 [...] And got its new name, Novosibirsk, in 1926. (We don't use articles with names of towns, villages and cities.)

The fast growth of the city... (Olga is talking about things she has already mentioned and which are known to the reader.)

...prompted the construction of a hydroelectric power station... ('the construction' is a specific event; there are many hydro-electric power stations and this - 'a hydroelectric power station' is just one of them, mentioned here for the first time.)

...causing the creation of a giant water reservoir [...] The reservoir is 160 km long... (The first time you mention something, use 'a'. The second time, use 'the'.)

...known as the Ob sea. (We use 'the' with the names of seas and rivers)

...it was the youngest city in the world... (always use 'the' with superlatives; there is only one world)

And here are a couple of examples that aren't quite right:

Novonikolayevsk began reconstruction in 1921 because of the Lenin's New Economic Policy. (We don't usually use articles with names)

In 1979 we started to build underground. (if 'underground' refers to a transport system, you need to use an article.)

...before 1920 left side of the city as regards to Ob river and right side of the city were in different time zone... (You are using the adjectives 'left' and 'right' to refer to specific areas of the city, which can't be confused with any other areas. Plus, we always use articles with the names of rivers).

Here are the corrected versions of these extracts from your blog:

Novonikolayevsk began reconstruction in 1921 because of Lenin's New Economic Policy.

In 1979 we started to build an underground. OR In 1979 we started to build the underground.

...before 1920 the left side of the city as regards to the Ob river and the right side of the city were in different time zone...

Articles homework
So here is some homework for you Olga and everyone: Look at the paragraph I've written about my home town, Newcastle, and decide what to write in each of the numbered spaces: 'a', 'an', 'the' or 'zero article'.

I'll give you the answers next time!

My home town, (1) ______ Newcastle, is in (2) ______ north-east of England. It is (3) ______ small city with a population of around 270,000 people. There are several bridges that cross (4) ______ River Tyne, on which (5) ______ city is built, joining (6) ______ Newcastle on (7) ______ north side of (8) ______ river with (9) ______ Gateshead, the city to (10) ______ south. (11) ______ newest of these bridges is (12) ______ Millennium bridge, a footbridge which was opened in (13) ______ year 2000 and is also known as ''The blinking eye''. Here is (14) ______ picture of (15) ______ bridge - I hope you like it!

For more information on articles, have a look at our series Learn it.

And you will find a lot of information about articles in our Ask about English area too.

Similes homework
For people who did the homework I gave you on my 'Winter cabbage' blog post - well done! You worked out that I used a face like a tomato to describe the redness of the skin on people's faces when they have spent too much time in the sun; and I used a big grey blanket to describe the London winter sky.

I really enjoyed the similes you posted! In particular I liked:

like a huge light yellow cheese - Evandro from Brazil is talking about the moon
like an Adam's child - Tufan is describing a well-behaved child
as pale as a sheet - from Tereza in the Czech Republic, talking about her pale skin
like a drop in the ocean - Marcel is talking about unimportant things
as good as gold - Abdisamad from Somalia has a well-behaved nephew!
you smell like a fish - Naheed teases her sister with this expression...

Thanks everybody for doing your homework and also for your kind comments about Grammar Challenge!! :-))

See you next time!
Catherine

Useful vocabulary

infrastructure - systems and services that a city needs, for example, transport, waste disposal, hospitals, power supply, clean water supply
curious - weird and interesting
fancy - imagine
slip up - make a mistake
footbridge - a bridge that is only usable for people who are walking. Cars and other vehicles can not cross a footbridge.