Near my apartment there are some lakes. I sit down with my girlfriend and look the birds, clouds, and people around us.

Agree with Michael Benjamin. Also, in English, we would hardly ever say "by/beside a desk" just because of the context - describing an object as "beside a desk" would rarely be relevant. It would normally be beside a specific desk, and we would say, "beside the desk."

I prefer to take a taxi; I don't like public transport because it is so hectic, and takes so long.

Hi, you asked for my reply - Phil has definitely nailed it.

yes, correct. I'm waiting on the outcome ...

But they (are clearing) the dead trees away, aren't they? I saw some men on the way here. Of course, but they do that every year. lt's the normal procedure. We need more trees now, but they (are not planting) any new trees to replace those that died. are clearing: the sentence has a "tag question" - "aren't they" - so it must be consistent with the "aren't they" bit. are not planting: consistent with the previous sentence.

You could simplify the sentence as: Perkin's jokes were surprisingly __________ by the strict rules of his time. His jokes would have been considered less __________ if he had lived in a different time (a time that was less likely to _______) Now you can probably think, it should be: surprisingly unaffected by the rules (the rules did not control him) jokes would have been considered less rude/vulgar/naughty a time that was less likely to ***get shocked by rude jokes*** Quite a hard question!

You can do language exchange for free - find someone who is learning your language and agree to chat on skype or something.