Read Text 3B and answer the following questions.

1.What cities of the Russian Federation are mentioned in the Text?

2. When was St. Petersburg founded?

3. What is St. Petersburg famous for?

4. Where is Novosibirsk situated?

5. What is the most interesting feature of Novosibirsk?

6. What is the population of Novosibirsk?

7. What river is Volgograd situated on?

8. What battle was fought in Volgograd during the Great Patriotic War?

9. When did industrial development of Volgograd begin?

10. Have you ever been to St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk or Volgograd? If yes, what are your impressions?

Explain the meaning of the following words and expressions and reproduce the context in which they are used.

To lie on, due to, a cultural center, including, Hermitage, former, a branch, a pinewood, a hydropower station, a river bank, a magnificent view, encirclement, destruction, a turning point, to turn smth. into, a busy street.

Say whether you agree or disagree with these statements. Give your reasoning. Use the introductory phrases from the previous Units.

1. St. Petersburg has never been the capital of Russia.

2. St. Petersburg is the largest city of the Russian Federation.

3. St. Petersburg is one of the largest industrial, educational and cultural centers of Russia.

4. Novosibirsk is quite an old city.

5. Novosibirsk is situated on the Volga River.

6. The Ob Storage Lake was formed by Novosibirsk atomic power station.

7. The battle fought in Volgograd continued for seven months.

8. Many heavy industries of Volgograd were built before the Great Patriotic War.

10. Which parts of the Text correspond to the following headings? Put them in a logical order.

1.The location of Volgograd.

2. St. Petersburg is a large educational and cultural centre.

3. Volgograd is an industrial city.

4. The location of St. Petersburg.

5. History’s greatest battle of World War II.

6. The climate of St. Petersburg.

7. Novosibirsk is a scientific centre.

8. The location of Novosibirsk.

Read Text 3B again. Give a brief outline of the information each paragraph contains. Use the expressions given below.

The Text (the paragraph) deals with …; it is stated that …; it is also mentioned …; it concludes by saying that ….

TEXT 3C

Siberia

1. Siberia is extremely rich. 75 per cent of coal deposits in this country, up to 80 per cent of its hydropower resources and 80 per cent of its timber reserves, the biggest deposits of non-ferrous and precious metals, huge resources of iron ore, building materials, etc. are concentrated here. The difficulty is to find easy and cheap ways of extracting coal, ores and other minerals. This can be done by the common effort of big scientific establishments. Oil was first discovered in Western Siberia in 1960. Extraction began in 1964. In 1971, Siberian oil workers obtained approximately 45 million tons, and in 1972, the yield exceeded 60 million tons. A major oil-producing centre has been set up in a short period under very difficult natural and climatic conditions.

2. Siberia, which used to be a place of exile in tsarist times, now has scores of modern cities. There are a lot of educational establishments, research institutes, modern plants and factories there. These modern plants and factories, whether already in operation or still under construction express the gigantic scale of everything in Siberia. All the technology is based firmly on the latest achievements of science.

3. The rivers of Russian Siberia are an impressive symbol of its inexhaustible strength and might. The Angara alone has a greater power-engineering potential than all the power stations in France, Italy, Sweden, Belgium, Holland and Spain put together. The Bratsk Hydro-Power Station is one of the biggest in the world.

4. Siberia is not only a highly-industrialized region. It is a major granary. The climate in some regions of Siberia is very warm and humid and never affected by severe drought. Good harvests are usual. Lake Baikal in Siberia is a huge depository of fresh water. Siberia is a major economic area in the country.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14