Пособие по обучению практике устной и письменной речи (начальный этап) на английском языке Под ред. О. В. Серкиной
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2.28. a) Read the text about Belgorod. Pick up the key words to describe eachaspect covered in the passage below, e.g. climate, name, etc.b) Summarize the text in 7-9 sentences and present them to class. c) Are you happy living in your city/ village? Explain why. elgorod Belgorod is the capital of Belgorod Province. It is situated in the southern part of Central Russia, on the right bank of the Seversky Donets River. It’s about 695 km by road of Moscow. The population of the city is about 350 thousand. The climate is moderate continental, with the average temperatures in January – 8.5° C, and in July + 20° C. Annual total rainfall in the region is about 450 mm. It’s less than in such cities as Glasgow, Manchester, Milan and Rome but more than in Madrid and Athens. The name of the city is believed to be associated with chalk cliffs, which are in abundance in the region: in Russian “bel” means “white” and “gorod” – “city”. The precise date of the foundation of the city of Belgorod is still unknown, though scientists are sure that its history goes back as far as antiquity. Some years ago local historians proved that Belgorod had first come into existence in about 993 AD. It was ruined a short time afterwards, and re-built in the 16th century. One thing is certain and that is that Belgorod was first mentioned in the chronicles in 1237. A well known Russian historian, N.M. Karamsin, said that Belgorod had begun as a fortress stronghold in the 1590s, for protecting Russia’s southern frontier from the Crimean Tatars. So Belgorod played a very important role in the life of the Russian Empire for almost two centuries. Once it became even the center of the “gubernia” (province), where such cities as Bryansk, Kursk, Oryol and Kharkov belonged to. All in all the gubernia comprised 30 towns. Positioned on the river and at the junction of several roads, Belgorod eventually became the area’s prime economic and cultural center. Throughout the 17-19 centuries it rapidly grew and developed. Lots of stone buildings appeared in its streets – the first schools, monasteries and convents, stone mansions of the rich. At that time Belgorod sold cattle, corn, lard, leather, honey, fruit, wax, and various manufactured goods. But in 1941-1945 Belgorod as all the Soviet regions suffered greatly from fascist invasion. In July-August 1943 there was one of the most severe battles of the war – the tank battle on the Prochorovskoe Field, which turned out to be the breaking point of the World War II. About 1,200 tanks from the both sides took part in the bloody fight. When it was over, the fertile Russian chernozem ground (=black earth) was soaked with blood and covered all over with dead bodies and warped materiel [mә,tiәri'el]. The Prochorovskaya battle effected in the liberation of Belgorod and Oryol on August 5, 1943. In honour of it Moscow saluted for the first time during the World War II. After that victory, the Soviet Army got “the second breath” and started pushing the enemy out of the country. Since that time each year the day of the 5th August is celebrated as the Day of the City, the Day of Liberation. There are usually different festive activities on that day, ending with a traditional fireworks display.  Today Belgorod is a busy and beautiful city. Unfortunately there are not many notable buildings, because the city was almost totally destroyed during the war. It has a wide range of industries there: building materials, engineering, telecommunication equipment, machinery, iron-ore extraction, food-processing, textile and other light industries. As for agriculture, the region produces grain and sugar beet, different vegetables and fruit, there’s also dairy farming. Pig production occurs in most areas. Besides Belgorod province is broadly self-sufficient in poultry meat and eggs. And don’t forget that our region is situated on the famous black earth, which the Germans tried to transport to Germany during the War. As for educational centers there’re four main of them: State University, Technological University, Consumer Cooperative University and Agricultural Academy. So Belgorod supports one of the finest scientific research communities in Russia. Belgorod has many twin cities in different countries: Opole in Poland, Herne in Germany and Wakefield in the UK. In spite of tough times the Belgorodians believe in the future and hope that their city will survive all the difficulties. In 2007, Belgorod was awarded a title of the City of Military Glory (equivalent of the Soviet Hero City) in commemoration of the victorious tank battle in 1943. A 2.29. Would you like to live in a megapolis? Why? Read the text and fill in the chart after it. t present almost the majority of the people in the United States live in a few major urbanized regions, or megapolises, each extending for hundreds of miles and some containing over 50 million people. The growth of these extended urbanized stretches formed by the coalescing of metropolitan areas has been one of the most significant demographic developments of the second half of the 20th century. Megapolis has evolved from a series of ever-enlarging urban forms whose growth correlated with changing economic, technological, and cultural conditions and the rapidly increasing living in urban areas. This unprecedented and uncontrolled increase in the magnitude of the urban areas has created problems of great complexity. The first major urban surge coincided with the industrial revolution around the middle of the last century. The urban pattern that evolved was the industrial city with its smoking factories in and around the central core of the city and with the workers living in crowded conditions within walking distance of the factory. The major industrial cities were usually located along waterways; the cities were small in area but relatively dense in population. As industry grew and internal transportation improved with the introduction of horse-drawn omnibuses, and later cable cars and electric street cars, workers could live farther away from their factories — thus cities increased in both area and population. A second stage of urban development came with the establishment of railroad commuter service in the latter part of the 19th century. It now became possible for people to build homes in the rural area outside congested industrial cities and still be able to commute readily to their places of employment in the central city. The advent of the automobile at first only broadened the urban pattern established by the railroads. But as the automobile- and good high ways became ubiquitous, the surge to the suburbs was greatly increased. Urban sprawl spread in area and increased in complexity. The result has been the creation of sizable metropolitan areas comprised of the central city and its suburban area. In recent decades in the more urbanized parts of the United States, the tentacles of the rapidly growing suburban fringe of one metropolitan area have often merged with the also rapidly growing suburban fringe of one or more other metropolitan areas resulting in an almost solid urban sprawl stretching for many dozens or even hundreds of miles. This phenomenon of inter-metropolitan coalescence is developing at an accelerated rate and has become the most recent and largest type of urban form, the megapolis, and one which is becoming increasingly important economically, socially and politically.
a 2.30. a) Study the typical problems of large cities at present. Are any of these problems to be found in your town or a town you know well? Could you suggest any solution to these problems? b) Is life in town more dangerous than life in the country? Read the list of advantages and disadvantages to living in towns or in the countryside. Do you agree with these opinions? Discuss your answers with a partner and then with class. )
b) People who prefer the countryside to big towns, often say this: Towns: The countryside: are noisy is quiet and peaceful are dirty and polluted is clean are stressful is calm and relaxing are crowded (=full of people) has lots of open space are dangerous is safe People who prefer big towns to the countryside have a different point of view: In towns: In the countryside: there are plenty of things to do there’s nothing to do it’s exciting it’s boring there’s a wide range of shops there are only a few shops there’s a lot of night-life, e.g. bars, there’s no night-life cinemas, discos H 2.31. a) Read the dialogue and say what problems of a big city are discussed in it. b) Practice reading the following dialogue with a partner. elen: Well, I don’t really think it’s particularly dangerous. Not any more than any other city. You have to be sensible, take the normal precautions. I mean I wouldn’t walk down the street and stare at somebody and I certainly wouldn’t walk home alone, and I wouldn’t go down unlit alleys at night, and obviously there are certain areas that you just know you wouldn’t go into, but I think on the whole it’s not a particularly dangerous city. Robert: I think I agree, but, actually there have been a couple of stories in the papers recently about this spate of muggings that’s been going on. Helen: I’ve read about it. They say things are changing and things are getting worse in the city. I did have a friend, actually, she was on the underground, and her wallet was snatched from her just as the train was coming into the station, and of course they got off straight away and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. Robert: Well, I sympathise with her. I mean I’ve seen that happen too, and you’ve just got to watch it in a place like that, or like the street market. You’ve got to be really careful there because there is a big crowd and a lot of pickpockets and they can steal something and run away. Helen: But I don’t think it’s really dangerous. They’re not violent people, you just have to be sensitive and keep your eyes open. Robert: Well, I don’t know. They said that a lot of thieves were carrying knives, which means if you resist, then you could get badly hurt, so that really makes you think, doesn’t it? Helen: I said it wasn’t violent, maybe it is. I heard about a group of tourists the other day who were mugged. By the way what do you do if you see something like that? You don’t really know what’s going on and you don’t really want to get involved in case you get hurt. Robert: Yes, I think it’s stupid to try and be a hero. I mean you could get very badly hurt and all they want is just money. I mean I know that is a terrible thing to say, but it’s just money. It’s not worth losing your life for. H  elen: I suppose so. Apparently, these guys had knife and they cut one of the women’s handbags from her shoulder. I think she thought they were going to stab her husband, actually.Robert: Did you hear if anybody was hurt at all? Helen: No, no one was hurt. Apparently, the woman had her passport stolen, and her travellers cheques taken, but the sad thing was that they had only just arrived and they didn’t want to leave all their stuff in the hotel. They thought it was safer to keep it with them. Robert: Well, that’s the problem with tourists, though, isn’t it? They are easy targets. They stand out in a crowd, thieves know they’re probably carrying money and documents around and they don’t speak the language, and they’re vulnerable, aren’t they? Helen: Well ... Robert: I mean it happens to locals as well. There is a friend of mine who was jumped at from behind, you know, and they got her bag and they ran away. She tried to run after them, but the thieves were too quickly obviously. Helen: Was she hurt at all? Robert: No, no, but she was really angry. Helen: Of course. Robert: She didn’t lose anything really valuable, she didn’t report it to the police in the end actually. Helen: I think she should have done that. I think it’s quite important when something like that happens because it might be mild at the moment but they could get worse. I think the police need to know if a crime’s happened actually. Robert: I mean, there should be more police around anyway, shouldn’t there? There should be more police on the streets at night. Helen: I think you are right. Robert: You can be on main streets and there’s nobody around, just a police car driving up and down every now and again. Helen: You would feel better protected, I think. R c) Discuss the following questions in class. obert: And it would put the muggers and the thieves off, wouldn’t it? 1. Do Robert and Helen think they live in a particularly dangerous city? 2. What precautions do they suggest you should take when walking home at night? 3. In what places do they suggest you should take special care with your bag and wallet? Why? 4. There seems to have been an increase in crime in the city recently. What sort of crime? 5. Have Robert and Helen been victims of crime themselves? What about their friends? 6. What exactly happened to the group of tourists mentioned in the dialogue? 7. What do they think the police could do to improve the situation? 8. Do you have any idea of what city might be discussed in the dialogue above? 1 2.32. Work in small groups. Discuss one of these sets of questions and present the results to the class. . Is your home town/village a dangerous place to live in? Do you need to take precautions when you go out at night? Would you go out alone after ten o’clock? If you were a member of the opposite sex, do you think your answers would be the same? 2. Do you take extra precautions when you travel? Why/Why not? Are cities more dangerous if you’re a tourist? Why/Why not? 3. Which of the following safety measures are used in your town: police patrols at night, close-circuit TV (CCTV) cameras in public places, security guards on public transport, street lighting at night? What other measures can be taken to make our cities safer? a 2.33. a) Read the text and pick up the main facts about the history of London and Moscow. Are there any similar facts in their histories? b) Draw a “timeline” for both capitals. c) In which capital city would you most like to spend a weekend? Explain your choice. ) London  London was built as a city in the same way as Paris or New York. It began life as a Roman fortification Londinium at a place where it was possible to cross the River Thames soon after the Roman invasion in AD 43. A wall was built around the town for defense, but during the long period of peace which followed the Norman Conquest in 1066, people went on to build the city outside the walls. This building continued over the years, especially to the west of the city to link with the originally separate Westminster. In 1665, there was a terrible plague in London, so many people left the city and escaped to the villages in the surrounding countryside. In 1666, the Great Fire of London ended the plague, but it also destroyed much of the city. Although people returned to live in the rebuilt city after the plague and the Great Fire, there were never again so many Londoners living in the city centre. But throughout the 19th century London (or rather Greater London, its metropolitan area) was the largest city in the world in population. These days not many people live in the city centre, but London has spread further outwards into the country, including surrounding villages. Today the metropolis of Greater London covers some 610 square miles (1,580 sq. km.), and suburbs of London stretch even beyond this area. Some people even commute over 100 miles (over 150 km.) every day to work in London, while living far away from the city in the country or in other towns. The gradual growth of the city helps to explain the fact that London does not have just one centre, it has a number of centres, each with a distinct character. The financial and business centre is called the City. Originally, it was a site where merchants and traders worked and lived quite autonomously from the authorities. The “square mile” (the name of the originally walled city of London) is home to the country‘s main financial institutions, the territory of the stereotypical English “city gent”. During the daytime, nearly a million pople work there, but less that 8,000 people actually live there. Parliament and the Royal Court were located in Westminster, another ‘city’ outside London’s walls. Now Westminster is the government centre. The West End, a shopping and entertainment centre, is known for its many theatres, cinemas and expensive shops. The East End is known as the poorer residential area of central London, the home of the Cockney (rhyming slang, e.g. ‘money’ in the Cockney is “bees and honey’). The East End markets are famous throughout the world. b) Moscow First tribes appeared on the territory of the future Moscow in the Neolithic epoch. The oldest settlements, dated as three thousand years before our era, were discovered within the area of the present-day city. In the second half of the first millennium of our era, Slavic tribes occupied the areas near Moscow; these were "vjatichi", who are regarded as a kernel of the future Moscow population. The reference to Moscow, as to a town, is registered in the old manuscript of 1147. In 1156, Prince Yury Dolgoruky erected timber walls and a moat around Moscow. He is frequently regarded as the founder of Moscow, and his monument is among the most honored in Moscow. Moscow gave its name to the land, which was called Muscovy. Tatar-Mongolian invasion in 1237-38 resulted in great destruction of Moscow. However, the city recovered rather rapidly and became the capital of the independent Moscow principality in the second half of the 13th century. During the 14th and the first half of the 15th centuries Moscow was a relatively large city with big industrial and trade population. At the end of the 15th century, under the principality of Ivan III, Moscow became the capital of Russia. The Kremlin built of stone at the beginning of the 15th century is a benchmark of that epoch. Moscow was attacked by the Polish and Lithuanian army in the 17th century and was conquered by them. After salesman Minin and Prince Pozharsky organizing people's militia to protect the motherland, Moscow was liberated in 1612. Recently we have started celebrating the day of Moscow liberation, November 4, as an official holiday.wtkjv Starting with the reign of Peter the First (the Great), arts and science in Moscow, and in Russia in whole, progressed strongly. In 1703 the first printed newspaper (“Vedomosti”) appeared and in 1755 Moscow University was established. Moscow ceased to be Russia's capital in 1703, after founding St. Petersburg by Peter the Great on the Baltic coast. When Napoleon invaded in 1812, he said: "If I capture Kiev, I'll catch Russia by its feet, if I capture St. Petersburg, I'll catch it by its head, and if I capture Moscow, I'll destroy its heart". But the Muscovites burned the city and evacuated as Napoleon's forces were approaching. Napoleon's army, plagued by hunger, cold, and poor supply lines was forced to retreat soon. A  fter the reconstruction of that period Moscow got its present-day look, as well as a new way of living. At the turn of the 19th century Moscow was a feudal town, whereas after the 1812 reconstruction it acquired new features of a bourgeois city. By the end of the 19th century, it had become the second industrial centre in Russia (after Saint-Petersburg, the then capital).The XIX century is known to have been a "golden age" for Russian arts and science, and Moscow was a birthplace for many famous artists, writers, composers and scientists, as well as outstanding politicians. Revolutionary activities in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century resulted in October Revolution of 1917. The new government headed by V. Lenin, fearing possible foreign invasion, moved the capital back from Petersburg-Petrograd to Moscow on March 5, 1918. The social structure of Moscow started to change in the 20s of the XX century because peasants began leaving their villages in search of jobs and a “new life”. Hence, Moscow architecture changed: the proportion of apartment blocks inhabited by workers increased drastically, the city sprawled outside, and a lot of churches were destroyed or transformed into “Palaces of Culture” (convention centers), clubs or warehouses. During the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945), the Soviet State Committee of Defense and the General Staff of the Red Army were located in Moscow. Many factories were evacuated, together with much of the government, and from October 20, 1941 the city was declared to be under siege. Its remaining inhabitants built and manned antitank defenses, while the city was bombarded from the air. Despite the siege and the bombings, the metro construction continued in Moscow throughout the war, and by the end of the war several new metro lines were opened. In November 1941, the German Army Group “Centre” was stopped at the outskirts of the city and then driven off in the course of the Battle of Moscow. On May 8, 1965 in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the victory in World War II Moscow was awarded a title of the Hero City. In 1991, Moscow was the scene of a coup [ku:] attempt by the government members opposed to the reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev, President of the USSR. When the USSR was dissolved later that year, Moscow continued to be the capital of the Russian Federation. Since then, the emergence of a market economy in Moscow has produced an explosion of Western-style retailing, services, architecture, and lifestyles. 2.34. a) Read the following citations and comment on each. Which ones do you like best? Which ones do you dislike? Why? b) Think how the village can be defined. Share your ideas with class. Citations about the city: 1. [A City is] a world of men for me. (Robert Browning) 2. [A city is] torture. (Lord Byron) 3. [Cities are places] where works of men are clustered close around, and works of God are hardly to be found. (Adapted from William Cowper) 4. [A city is a place which will] force growth and make men talkative and entertaining, but … artificial. (Ralph Waldo Emerson) 5. [A city is] the first requisite to happiness. (Euripides) 6. [A city is] any place where men have built a jail, a bagnio, gallows, a morgue, a church, a hospital, a saloon, and laid out a cemetery – hence, a center of life. (Elbert Hubbard) 7. [A city is] a prison for speculative minds. (Franz Mehring) 8. [A city] has always been the fireplace of civilization, whence light and heat radiated out into the dark. (Theodor Parker) 9. Any city […] is […] divided into two, one the city of the poor, the other of the rich; these are at war with one another. (Plato) 10. [A city is] a stone forest. (John B. Priestly) 11. [A city is a place where] there is no room to die. (Felix Riesenberg) 12. [A city is] a great solitude. (Latin proverb) 13.[A city is] the sink of the human race. (Jean-Jacques Rousseau) WRITING 1 2.35. Write the meaning of the underlined expressions in your own words. Use a dictionary if you cannot work out the meaning from the context. . There were three separate accidents in the city centre during the rush hour, and soon there was a total gridlock. It took about two hours to clear the roads. 2. I’ve spent six hours behind the wheel today, and now all I want to do is rest. I never want to see another motorway. 3. The police car made me pull over as they wanted to check my lights. 4. I had a minor bump yesterday. It wasn’t serious, but one of my lights got smashed. 5. My car conked out on the motorway and I had to ring for assistance. It cost me £50. 6. He’s a bit of a back-seat driver, so don’t be surprised if he criticises your driving. 2.36. Some road signs are international. Study the descriptions of their meaning and then write similar descriptions for the signs below.    
      2.38. Describe a visit to a city which has made the strongest impression on you. The questions below will help you. Give as many details as possible. Make use of the expressions below. 2.37. Many people in Britain do not like living in the city centre, so they commute to work from the suburbs and the surrounding countryside. What are advantages and disadvantages of this way of life? Is it common for Russia? Write a 250-word essay on the topic. in the Victorian/Georgian/Classical/ Baroque/French/Gothic style, the main … area of the town, within the walking distance of, be built on the site, style, cater for, tend to be, to overlook, whether or not it merits, be well worth a visit/visiting, to mount an exhibition, those who enjoy, a working market/museum/ steam railway/model, to appreciate the charm 1. When did you first visit the city? Have you visited it more than once? If yes, when was the last time you went there? 2. What was your overall impression of the place? Is there any one particular image that stuck to your memory? How would you describe the general atmosphere of the city? 3. Why did you go there? On holiday? On Business? To study? Was it your own decision or did your family send or take you there? 4. How long did you stay there? Where did you stay? What were the people like? What was the weather like? 5. How did you spend your time there? Doing the usual touristy things? Did you just hang around and watch the world go by or did you rush through the city trying to see as many sightseeing as possible? 6. Would you like to visit it again? Have you made any plans to go back there? Would you recommend it to your friends? 2.40. Design a tourist guide (a fact file) about your own town or another town you know well. Be sure to describe the major aspects there: history in short, present state, population, sights, industry, transport, hotels and booking accommodation, etc. 2.39. Plan a sightseeing trip around London for one day where you will visit no more than four places and have a picnic lunch in a park. Start your trip at Oxford Circus Station at 9 a.m. Make a note of each place you will visit; the underground line you will take and the station where you will get out. Finish your day at a hamburger restaurant in Covent Garden. 2.41. Imagine that it is the year 3000. The Mayor has asked you to design the perfect city. First, draw a layout of the city. Then, write an outline for the assignment. Finally, describe the city, considering the name, the number of people living there, buildings, industry, recreation, etc. Л 2.42. Render the text in English. ондонские автобусы Красные двухэтажные автобусы - один из символов Лондона, хотя с декабря 2005 г. всего лишь несколько экземпляров можно видеть на туристических маршрутах. Они провезут вас через весь город, пока вы будете любоваться достопримечательностями столицы Великобритании. Основная же часть двухэтажных автобусов уже списана. Большинство лондонских автобусов до сих пор красные, хотя некоторые уже выкрашены и в другие цвета. Автобусы, обслуживающие London Buses network можно отличить по такой табличке спереди машины:  В Большом Лондоне (Greater London) расположено более 18 тысяч автобусных остановок на 700 маршрутах. На остановках вам не придется ждать автобуса более 5 минут. Автобусные остановки в Лондоне 2 типов - обязательные (compulsory) и по требованию (on-request). На обязательных остановках автобусы останавливаются всегда, если в них есть свободные места.
Для того чтобы автобус остановился на остановке по требованию, вы должны проголосовать: четко вытянуть руку, причем заранее, чтобы автобус мог спокойно остановиться. В ночное время все остановки работают в режиме "по требованию". |
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