Reading. Ex. 28.Read the text and get the main ideas of it

Ex. 28. Read the text and get the main ideas of it.

Moscow is a real megapolis: more than 40 km from North to South, more than 30 km from East to West. Including the suburbs, it has more than 10 million inhabitants, which makes it the fifth largest city in the world. Besides, every day there are more than one million visitors in Moscow, and certainly a big part of them are tourists. Those who get to the Russian capital on business – or en route – try to linger here for one or two days to have a look at the city.

There are 5 airports, 9 railway stations and 2 river boat ports in Moscow. The length of the underground lines exceeds 250 kilometers to more than 160 metro stations, new ones are continuously added. The palace-halls of the metro stations, which are among the most beautiful in the world, were built about fifty years ago: the first line was opened in 1935. "Mayakovskaya" and "Komsomol'skaya" are considered the best of them.

The architecture silhouette of the city is quite recognizable due to the seven high-rise buildings constructed in the late 40s and early 50s by a direct command of Stalin. The most famous of them is the University of Moscow building on the Vorobyovy Hills. The other "tall ones" are occupied by the Foreign Affairs Ministry, some hotels, offices, or simply dwellings. The pompous Moscow sky-scrapers with their steeples and sculptures have been raising contradictory appraisals since they were built out. Now Moscow without them is just as unimaginable as Paris without the Eiffel Tower.

Among the scores of Mosco w theatres, the most famous is the Bolshoi (Grand). Introduction to the Russian classical ballet is a must of any tour programme. The Moscow circuses are also popular with foreign guests; there are two ones in the city, both of them performing permanently.

The bridges across the Moskva and Yauza rivers are adornments of the city, especially in the evening when they are illuminated in a showy way – the longest of them (2 km) is the Metro-bridge in Luzhniki and the smallest one across the Yauza is only 20 meters long. The elegant single-arch Krymsky Bridge is perhaps the most beautiful bridge in Moscow. Bridges are constantly built or reconstructed in the city: sometimes they are even moved up- or down-stream by means of barges.

At the highest point of Moscow – Vorobyovy Gory (the Vorobyovy Hills) – there is a viewing area from which you can see the panorama of the Moskva river bend and the Big Arena of Luzhniki Stadium where the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games were held in 1980.

There are more than 60 museums in the capital; the most popular of which are the Kremlin, the Pushkin Museum of Arts with its unique collection of impressionist and modernist paintings, and the Tretyakov Gallery.

There used to be nearly five hundred Orthodox churches in Moscow. Now about 150 are functional and another 100 are in the process of renovating. The most impressive are St Basil's Cathedral in Red Square, the rebuilt Christ the Savior Cathedral, and the complex of Novodevichy (New Maidens) Convent.

Since the early '90s, when Mikhail Gorbachev started «Perestroika» in Russia, Moscow has been sweepingly transforming into a modern European capital. A construction boom is in full swing. Hundreds of buildings are being reconstructed or renovated; new trade, recreation and business centers are being built, as well as bridges and traffic are going to interchange. Recently, the gigantic tunneling machine that worked under the English Channel has been brought to Moscow. It will make several traffic tunnels up to 3 kilometers long.

In Moscow itself and around it there are many very interesting estates – Kolomenskoe, Arkhangelskoe, Kuskovo, Ostankino – more than worth visiting. And from Moscow starts a most interesting tour around small ancient Russian towns – the Golden Ring.

Ex. 29. Read another text about the capital and compare with the fist one.

This city is very popular with foreign guests visiting our country. Moscow is the capital of Russia. It is believed that the city is more than eight and half centuries old. The first record of it in the cronicles dated in the year 1147, and its history starts with a legend about how the nee Yury Dolgoruky («Long-armed»), who considered the founder of the city, invited his neighbour – a Prince as well – to a council; and in honor of the event «there was a powerful center» in Moscow. A monument to Yury Dolgoruky stands in one of the central squares opposite the Moscow city hall. Many centuries ago the city was built on seven hills. It is rather difficult to discern them with the only exception of Borovitsky Hill where one of the twenty Kremlin towers stands. The Kremlin (translated from Greek the word means «a steep hill») and Red Square are definitely the main Moscow sights, simbols of the whole of Russia. The intricate towers and walls of the new Kremlin were built to a design of Italian architects. The Russian Government is in the Kremlin, so tourists are only allowed to the part of its territory where the cathedrals are located, the oldest Russian Museum of the Armoury Chamber, and the Diamond Fund with its unique collection of precious stones and jewelry. In the Kremlin, close to the 81-meter tall Tower of Ivan the Great – once the highest building in Russia – the Tsar-Bell is on the way, the largest bell in the world. Its weight is 12 tons and height 6.14 meters. It has never rung: soon after being founded it broke during a fire in 1737. A huge chunk which off lies next to it now. Not far from the bell there is the 40-ton Tsar Cannon – was a masterpiece of the 16th century foundry – also has never been used for its purpose too.

Ex. 30. Mind the features in both texts which are characteristic for tourist guides:

a) popular active words

b) forms

c) grammar (verb tenses) and structure (sentences)

d) structure of the texts

Ex. 31. Find the words in the texts, which mean the following

Ex. 32. Find the English equivalents from both texts to the following Russian sentences.

1. Строительный бум в полном разгаре.

2. Те, кто приезжает в Москву по делам, - или по пути – пытаются задержаться здесь на один два дня, чтобы взглянуть на город.

3. Туристам разрешается посещать только ту часть территории, где расположены соборы, самый старый музей в России - Оружейная Палата и Алмазный Фонд с его уникальной коллекцией драгоценных камней и украшений.

4. Полагают, что город насчитывает более восьми с половиной веков.

5. Недавно гигантская землеройная машина, которая работала под Ла Маншем, была доставлена в Москву.

6. Знакомство с Русским балетом является обязательным пунктом любой туристической программы.

7. Другие «высотки» заняты Министерством иностранных дел, рядом гостиниц и учреждений и просто жилыми домами.

8. Станции-дворцы, которые считаются самыми красивыми в мире, были построены около пятидесяти лет назад.

9. Помпезные высотные здания Москвы с их шпилями и скульптурами вызывали противоречивую оценку с того времени, когда они были построены.

10. Сотни зданий перестраиваются и обновляются, новые торговые, оздоровительные и деловые центры строятся, мосты и транспорт будут также изменены.

Ex.33. Read the text and explain the meaning of the highlighted words.

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