Countries and cities
Countries and cities
RUSSIAN
FEDERATION (RUSSIA)
Russia is one of the largest countries in the
world. It occupies about one-seventh part of dry land. It is situated in Europe
and Asia. Its total area is over 17 million square kilometres. The country is
washed by seas and oceans. There are different types of climate on the
territory of the country. It is very cold in the North even in summer. The
central part of the country has mild climate: winters are cold, springs and
autumns are warm or cool, summers are hot and warm. In the South the
temperature usually is above zero all year round, even in winter. Summer is
really hot, the climate is very favourable. The climate of Siberia is
continental: summers are hot and dry, winters are very cold.
Some parts of our country are covered
with mountains and hills.
There are many rivers in Russia, the
longest rivers are the Volga in Europe and the Yenisei and the Ob in Asia. The
deepest lakes are the Baikal and the Ladoga. The water of the lake Baikal is
the purest in the world.
The Russian Federation is very rich
in mineral resources, such as oil, natural gas, coal, iron. gold and others.
Russia borders on many countries.
Among them are Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Poland, China, Mongolia, Korea.
Moscow is the capital of our country.
It was founded in 1147. It is a nice city. There are many places of interest in
Moscow. You can see many museums, art galleries, theatres and monuments in our
capital. People of our country are proud of the Moscow Kremlin. There are also
many big beautiful cities in Russia.
The population of Russia is about 150
million people. 83 per cent of the population are Russians. 70 per cent of the
population live in cities.
MOSCOW
(Tex-1)
Moscow is
the capital of Russia. It is one of the biggest and most beautiful cities in
the world. Moscow is a modem centre now. The population of the city is about 9
million people. Moscow is a political centre, where the government of our
country works.
Moscow was founded in 1147 by Yuri
Dolgoruky. The total area of Moscow is about nine hundred square kilometres.
We say that Moscow is a port of five
seas, as the Moscow-Volga Canal links Moscow with the Baltic, White, Caspian
and Black seas and the Sea of Azov.
Moscow is an industrial centre too.
There are many factories and plants in it. One of the best known plants is
Likhachev Automobile plant, which produces many lorries.
Moscow is a cultural centre. One can
see the Kremlin and Red Square in the city. There are a lot of theatres,
museums, libraries and cinemas in Moscow. The Bolshoi Theatre is one of the
famous theatres all over the world.
If you are fond of painting you can
go to the Tretyakov Art Gallery or to the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum and see a
lot of interesting portraits and landscapes there. We say the Tretyakov Art
Gallery is a treasure-house of Russian art.
Young people like to visit the
Central Military Museum. There are many tanks, guns and war documents there.
There are many fine buildings, wide
streets, green parks, large squares and monuments in Moscow.
It is necessary to mention such
famous monuments as monuments to the great Russian writer Alexander Pushkin and
to the first Russian printer Ivan Fedorov. Visiting the capital a lot of foreigners
from all over the worid come to see these monuments.
One of the highest buildings in
Moscow is the State Moscow University. It was founded in 1755 by the great
scientist Mikhail Lomonosov.
Transport». Moscow is a very big city
and its transport must be comfortable and fast.
One can see a lot of cars, buses,
trolley-buses, trams in the streets of our city. The Moscow metro began its
work on the 15th of May, 1935. There were 13 stations at that time. Now it has
151 stations. Our metro is a beautiful and convenient one.
There are nine railway stations in
Moscow and some airports around the city.
There are many stadiums in Moscow.
The Central Stadium is in Luzhniki. Many competitions and football matches
are held there.
The Olympic village was built for the
22nd Olympic Games in Moscow in 1980. It is a big complex for sport games.
MOSCOW
(Text-2)
Moscow is the capital of our country.
Moscow was founded in 1147 by Prince Yuri Dolgorukyi. Now Moscow has become the
largest political, economic and administrative centre of the country. It is one
of the world's cultural, scientific and art centres.
Moscow is situated on both sides of
the Moskva river. The heart of Moscow is Red Square and the Kremlin. The
highest towers of the Kremlin are crowned with ruby stars. The main and tallest
of the Kremlin towers is the Spasskaya tower. People all over the country
listen to the Kremlin Chimes on the Spasskaya Tower. The Bell Towers of Ivan
the Great built in the 15th century have twenty-two large bells and over thirty
small ones. Thousands of tourists admire the majestic beauty of the red-brick
walls and towers of the Kremlin, the fantastic beauty of St.Basil's Cathedral,
a masterpiece of ancient Russian architecture. In front of the Cathedral
there's a monument to Minin and Pozharsky. The cathedrals, palaces and
buildings of the Kremlin are remarkable museums containing unique collections
of rare things.
In fact, Moscow is famous all over
the world for its museums and galleries. Among them most well-known is the
Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts which houses a wonderful collection of world
painting and sculpture and the Tretyakov Picture gallery with its mastespieces
of Russian pictorial art. In Moscow there are a lot of exhibition halls,
palaces of culture, libraries and theatres. Among the world famous Bolshoi
Theatre, Taganka Theatre, The Kremlin Theatre and others are numerous studioes
and amateur theatres which have gained popularity among the spectators. Many
tourists enjoy the magnificent building of the University which is situated on
the Lenin Hills. The Moscow Metro is not only a comfortable, rapid and economic
means of travelling but also one of the tourists' attractions. It's rightly
considered to be the most beautiful in the world.
THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT
BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND
(Text-1)
The United Kingdom is situated in the
northwest coast of Europe between the Atlantic Ocean on the north and
north-west and the North Sea on the east.
The U.K. includes Great Britain and
Northern Ireland.
Great Britain, the largest island in
Europe, contains England, Scotland and Wales.
The United Kingdom has an area of
94,249 square miles. The capital of the country is London. English is the
official language.
The population of the U.K. is nearly
60 million people. The population lives mostly in towns and cities and their
suburbs. Four out of every five people live in towns. Over 46 million people
live in England. Over 3 million - in Wales. A little over 5 million - in
Scotland. About 1,5 million in Northern Ireland. London's population is over 7
million people. The British nation consists of the English, the Scots, the
Welsh and the Irish. There are many people of all colours and races in the
United Kingdom.
The climate of Great Britain is mild.
It is not too hot in summer or too cold in winter. It often rains in England.
Rain falls in summer and in winter, in autumn and in spring. Snow falls only in
the North and West of the country. The surface of England and Ireland is flat,
but Scotland and Wales are mountainous. Many parts of the country have
beautiful villages. There are many rivers in Great Britain. The main river is
the Thames. Many ships and barges go up and down the river. The longest
river is Severn. It is 350 kilometres long.
There are many universities,
colleges, libraries, museums and theatres in the country. The most famous universities
are Cambridge University, Oxford University, Glasgow University.
The U.K. is a parliamentary monarchy.
The British Parliament consists of two Houses: the House of Lords and the House
of Commons. The Prime Minister is the head of the government. The main
political parties of Great Britain are the Labour Party, the Liberal Party, the
Conservative Party. The Communist Party of Great Britain was founded in 1920.
It is a party of the working people.
The United Kingdom has few mineral
resources. Coal and oil are the most important of them. The United Kingdom is
one of the world's most industrialized countries. The main industrial centres
are Sheffield, Birmingham and Manchester. The largest cities of the
country are London, Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester. Glasgow, Belfast,
Dublin.
Agriculture takes an important sector
in economy of the country. The British people grow wheat, fruit, vegetables,
oats.
THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT
BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND
(Text-2)
The United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland is situated on two large islands and about 5 thousand
small islands, called the British Isles, to the North-West of Europe.
The larger island is Great Britain
which consists of three раrt.
England, Scotland, and Wales, and the
smaller is Ireland. Southern Ireland now called Eire or the Irish Republic, is
independent of the United Kingdom. The British Isles cover an area of about 95
000 square miles. Great Britain is separated from the continent by the English
Channel, the narrower part of it is called the Strait of Dover.
The country is washed by the Atlantic
Ocean, the North Sea, the Irish Sea. The shallow waters of the North and the
Irish Seas provide good f ishing grounds. Fishing therefore is very important.
Mountains are an important featyre of
the geography of the country. There are mountain chains in Scotland, Wales and
North-West England, but they are not very high. North-West England is also
famous for its beautiful lakes.
The rivers of Great Britain are not
very long but usually deep and never freeze in winter. The longest and deepest
rivers are the Severn and Mersey, the Thames on which stands the capital of
Great Britain - London.
Lying in the middle latitudes and
surrounded by waters Britain has a mild and temperate climate. The climate of
the British Isles is generally classified as cool, temperate, though in the
Highlands of Scotland it is severe. The best season for the English people is
spring when everything is in full bloom, there is much sunshine and it is
rather warm. Autumn and winter are famous for their fogs and rains. In big
industrial cities fog turns into "smog" (smoke + fog). It is a very
unpleasant time. The usual temperature in winter very seldom falls below 3-5
degrees Centigrade. The weather in Great Britain is very changeable, there may
be all kinds of weather within orte day, that is why practically every talk the
English people begin with comments on the weather.
Britain is a state with a highly
developed industry. It is one of the most poweerful capitalist countries in
Europe. Great Britain is also one of the largest exporters of manufactured
goods. At the same time it imports metal, oil, grain, meat, fruit, tea and
other raw materials and foodstuffs.
The largest cities and most important
industrial centres of Great Britain are London, Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool,
Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Edinburgh.
London, the capital, is one of the
most important industrial centres. Lots of things such as clothes, foodstuffs,
cars, aircrafts, instruments, medical equipment are produced in and around
London. It is also the biggest port.
Birmingham is the centre of the
production of machines, lorries, TV sets, radios, computers, steel industry,
heavy engineering.
Manchester in the North-West of
England is the centre of the cotton textile industry, one of the Britain's most
important producers of computers and electronic equipment, chemicals.
Ship-building is an important
industry in the United Kingdom. The main ship-building centres are London,
Glasgow in Scotland, Belfast in Northern Ireland and some others.
Oxford and Cambridge are not big
industrial centres but they are famous all over the world as educational
centres. The oldest and most famous universities of Great Britain are situated
there. The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge date from the 12th and 13th
centuries and the Scottish Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh from 15th
-16th centuries.
Oxford is international because
people from all over the world come to study there. Physics, chemistry,
medicine, literature, biology, geography, agriculture are studied there.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland is a par-liamentary monarchy. Legislative power belongs to
the Queen (formally) and the Parliament, which consists of the House of Commons
and House of Lords. Officially the Head of the State is the Queen (from 1952
-Elizabeth II). But the actual power belongs to the parliament and the ruling
party. The powers of the Queen are limited by the constitution.
There are three main parties on the
political scene of the United Kingdom. The Conservative Party, founded in 1867
is the party supported traditionally by the rich: the monopolists and
landowners. This party serves the interests of big business. The supporters of
the Liberal Party are small traders and middle class people.
The Labour Party was founded in 1906.
It mostly consists of workers, but its activity and political tactics show that
it is a bourgeous party.
The Communist Party of Great Britain
was founded in 1920 as a fusion of the British Socialist Party. The Party fully
represents the interests of the working class.
LONDON
(Text-1)
London is
the capital of Great Britain. It is a very old city. It is two thousand years
old. London is not only the capital of the country, it is also a huge port.
London is situated upon both banks of
the Thames. There are 17 bridges above the river.
The population of London is about 9
million people. London has three parts: the City of London, the West End, the
East End.
The City of London is the oldest part
of London. You can see narrow streets and pavements there. There are many
offices, firms and banks in this part of London. The City of London is the
financial centre of the United Kingdom.
The West End is the centre of London.
There are many places of interest in the West End. They are: the Houses of
Parliament with Big Ben. It is interesting that the clock "Big Ben"
came into service in 1859. Big Ben is the biggest clock bell in Britain. It
weighs 13,5 tons.
The other interesting place is
Westminster Abbey, which was founded in 1050. It is situated in the centre of
London. Many great Englishmen were buried in the Abbey: Newton, Darvin and others.
The official London residence of the
Queen is Buckingham Palace. It was built in the 18th century.
There are many nice squares in
London. Trafalgar Square is one of them and it is in the centre of the West
End. One can see a statue of Lord Nelson in the middle of this square.
There are many museums, libraries and
galleries in London. The Tate Gallery is one of the well-known galleries in
London. Henry Tate was a sugar manufacturer. He was fond of paintings and
collected many pictures.
The British Museum is a very
interesting place in London. It was founded in 1753. The library of this museum
has a lot of books.
The East End of London is the
district for the working people. There are many factories, workshops, docks
there.
There are many cars and buses in
London. There is a tube (an underground) in London too. It is a nice one.
One can say that the City is the
money of London, the West End is the goods of London, the East End is the hands
of London.
LONDON
(Text-2)
London is the capital of Great
Britain. The population of London is over 8 million people. It is one of the
largest cities of the world and the largest city of the United Kingdom. London
is situated on the river Thames about forty miles from the mouth and is divided
into two parts by the river: north and south. Fourteen bridges over the river
carry heavy traffic from one side to the other.
The history of London goes back to
Roman times. Due to favourable geographical position a small town soon became
an important trade centre. Actually, London can be divided into several parts.
First there is the City of London. It is the financial and business centre of
Great Britain. Only a few thousand people live there, but in the day-time it is
full of people: as about half of million people come to work there. The biggest
Banks and offices are concentrated in the City. The East End, lying eastwards
from' the City is very large, poor and crowded. The working class of London is
concentrated there. It is a district of docks, factories, poor little houses
and narrow streets. This district of London suffered greatly during World War
II but carried on its work.
The West End makes a great contrast
to the working district of London. It is full of richest hotels, largest
super-markets, best cinemas and concert-halls. There are a lot of beatifull
houses and gardens. Only well-to-do people can live there.
Another important district of London
is Westminster, where most of Government buildings are situated. Westminster
Palace is the seat of the British Parliament. The Towers of the Houses of
Parliament stand high; above the city. On the highest tower there is the
largest clock in the country which is known to the whole world as Big Ben. One
can hear Big Ben strike every quarter of an hour.
Not far away is Westminster Abbey
with its Poet's Corner. Many English outstanding statesmen, painters, poets
were buried there. Among them Geoffrey Chaucer, the first English national
poet, world famous scientists I.Newton and Ch.Darwin, Tennison and others.
There in London one can find places
with the names of W.Shakespeare, who lived and worked there for more than
twenty years, Karl Marx, who was buried in Highgate cemetery.
Every year many tourists come to
London to see the places of interest. They make sightseeing tours of the City,
visit the Trafalgar Square, the British Museum, the National Gallery. They also
visit the most ancient historic monument dating back to Roman times: the Tower
of London, which had been a fortress, a prison and a royal palace. Now it is
one of the most interesting museums.
NEW ZELAND
New Zealand is an independent state.
It has a total area of 269,000 square kilometres. It is (situated to south-east
of Australia. Nearly 3,5 million people live in the country. The capital of New
Zealand is Wellington. (It has been the capital since 1865). The official
language is English. The climate of New Zealand is moist. New Zealand is
rich in minerals. There are some main industries in the country, for example,
iron and steel industry. The country has gas and petroleum. There are many
mountains in New Zealand. The highest is Mount Cook (12349 feet). There are
many rivers in the country. The chief rivers are the Waikato and the Wairu. You
can see many lakes in it. You have heard about the native animals in the
country. One of them is the kiwi. This interesting bird lives in the wet parts
of the thick bushes. In the day time the bird does not go out It comes out only
at night to find food. Kiwis can not fly. Many years ago kiwis were hunted for
food. Now the government does not permit the hunting of kiwis. The kiwi is now
the symbol of the New Zealand people. Small children are often called kiwis.
New Zealand is a self-governing
state. The Parliament consists of one House only, the House of Representatives.
The Prime Minister is the head of the government
There are some political parties in
New Zealand. They are: the Labour Party, the National Party, the Party of
Socialist Unity and others.
New Zealand has heavy industry. There
are many plants in the country. Paper and rubber industries are developed too.
New Zealand exports apples and honey.
There are some big cities such as
Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Nelson. Auckland, Dunedin,
Wellington are the main ports of the country.
The capital of the country is
Wellington. It is a financial centre too. The city was founded in 1840.
There are some educational and
cultural institutions in Wellington. They are the University of New Zealand,
Victoria University College and others. Victoria University was established in
1897.
New Zealand is a very interesting and
beautiful country.
THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA
The USA is one of the largest
countries in the world. It is situated in the central part of the North
American continent. The area of the USA is over nine million square kilometres.
It is washed by the Pacific Ocean and by the Atlantic Ocean.
The population of the United States
is nearly 250 million people, most of the people live in towns. People 'of
different nationalities live in the USA.
There are a lot of rich people in the
USA. But the life of most coloured people is very difficult Some Americans live
in poverty, many people can't get work.
The official language of the country
is English.
The capital of the country is
Washington. It was named in honour of the first President,. George Washington.
As the USA is a large country, the climate is different in different regions of
the country, for example, the Pacific coast is a region of mild winters and
warm, dry summers, but the eastern continental region is watered with rainfall
The region around the Great Lakes has changeable weather. There are many mountains
in the USA. For example, the highest peak of the Cordilliers in the USA is
4,418 metres.
The main river of the country is the
Mississippi. But there are many other great rivers in the USA: the Colorado in
the south and the Columbia in the north-west. There are five Great Lakes
between the USA and Canada.
The USA produces more than 52% of the
world's corn, wheat, cotton, tobacco.
There are many big cities in the
country. They are Washington, (the capital of the country), New York (the city
of social contrasts, financial and business centre of the capitalist world),
Boston (there are three universities in it), Chicago (one of the biggest
industrial cities in the USA), San Francisco, Los Angeles, Philadelphia,
Detroit (one of the biggest centres of the automobile industry), Hollywood (the
centre of the US film business).
The USA has an Academy of Sciences.
There are many scientific institutions, museums, libraries, theatres and other
interesting places in the country.
The USA is a highly developed
industrial country. The USA is rich in mineral resources, such as aluminium,
salt, zinc, copper, cement and others. The country is rich in coal, natural
gas, gold and silver too. It holds the first place in the capitalist world for
the production of coal, iron, oil, natural gas.
Such industries as machine-building,
shipbuilding are highly developed in the country.
American agriculture produces a lot
of food products: grain, fruit, vegetables. The USA is the greatest capitalist
country in the world. The USA is a federal republic, consisting of fifty
states.
Each of these states has its own
government. Congress is the American parliament which consists of two Chambers.
The president is the head of the
state and the government He is elected for four years. There are two main
political parties in the USA. They are the Democratic Party (was organized in
the 1820s) and the Republican Party (was organized in the 1850s). The Communist
party of the USA was founded in Chicago in 1919. The youth movement is an
important factor in the political life of the USA.
WASHINGTON
Washington is the capital of the
United States of America. The city is on the left bank of the Potomac River.
The city was named after the first President George Washington. The
population of the city is nearly three million people. There are many beautiful
parks and gardens in Washington. It is interesting to see the famous cherry
trees. These trees are the gift from Japan in 1912. There are many libraries,
museums, art galleries in the city, for example, you can see The National
Gallery of Art. It was opened in 1941. It has a lot of art collections by the
great masters from the 14th to the 19th centuries. It is one of the finest
picture galleries in America. The NASA Museum is devoted to the US Achievements
in the exploration of Space.
The Capitol is the centre of the
city. The Capitol was built according to the ^lans of William Thomton. He was
an amateur architect. It was made of stone and marble and contains 540 rooms.
It is situated on Capitol Hill. Capitol Hill is the highest place in the city.
Topping the dome is the 19th foot bronze statue of Freedom. There is a law that
forbids to build houses higher than the Capitol. The Capitol is the seat of
Congress.
Congress consists of two Chambers:
The Senate and the House of Representatives. From the Capitol to the White
House runs Pennsylvania Avenue used for all processions and parades. The White
House is the place where the President of the USA lives and works. It is the
official residence of the USA presidents.
This house was first occupied in
1800. George Washington (1732-1799) died in 1799 and he did not live in that
House. John Adams was the first President who lived in that House.
The White House has 132 rooms.
The Metrorail system is an up-to-date
one in Washington. If you want to go by metro, you have to find the letter
"M". The fare in metro is connected with the time of a day and the
distance of your travelling.
There are a lot of interesting places
in Washington. It is difficult to find a park or a square without a monument or
a memorial. The Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument are the most -famous
and nice ones.
The Lincoln memorial was dedicated on
Memorial Day - May 30, 1922. It was built in the style of a classic Greek temple.
It has 36 columns. Each column represents the state in the Union at the time of
Lincoln's death. But the dominant feature of the building is the realistic
figure of Lincoln.
The Washington Monument is one of the city's most
impressive sights. It is situated in Potonic Park. It was erected to the memory
of the first President of the USA in 1888. It is called "The Pencil",
because it is one of the tallest stone constructions in the world and the
tallest stone structure in the USA. This monument is over 555 feet high. There
is The Pentagon in Washington. It is a building and it was built between
1941-1943. Now it is the US military centre. A lot of people work there.
Washington is a city almost without
industry.
PHILADELPHIA
One of the main cities of the United
States of America is Philadelphia. It is situated in the east of the USA.
Now Washington is the capital of the
USA, but Philadelphia was the first capital of the United States of America
from 1790 till 1800. Many people consider that Philadelphia is an important
political centre of the USA, because the USA constitution was the first written
constitution in the world adopted in this city in 1787 and the Declaration of
Independence was proclaimed in 1776.
Philadelphia is a seaport and a
shipping centre of the country too. It is an important manufacturing centre.
Some branches of industry are developed in the city.
There are many places of interest in
Philadelphia, for example, the Independence National Historical Park. You can
see many monuments in it. If you want to leam the history of America you have
to leam something about the Liberty Bell. Now the Liberty Bell is a symbol of
freedom. The sound of this Bell told the people about the first public reading
of the Declaration of Independence. It was in July, 1776.
Philadelphia is one of the cultural
centres of the country. The Parkway is the cultural centre of Philadelphia. You
can see the Philadelphia Museum of Art (great art museum of the world), College
of Art, Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Fine Arts there.
There are many hotels, theatres,
shops and museums in Philadelphia.
There is the Pennsylvania University
in Philadelphia. This University has an interesting and big library.
Philadelphia is a beautiful city with
many skyscrapers in it.
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