Практический курс разговорного английского языка

Ex. 11. Read and translate the dialogue.

Two first-year students of KSAEL were asked to prepare an excursion tour around Khabarovsk for the participants of the annual regional English competition. Now they are checking their knowledge and making up the plan of the future excursion.

Sergey:               Now we are in the centre of the historical part of the city – Komsomolskaya square. The first street Alexeevskaya, now  Shevchenko, crosses this square. At first, the square was called Sobornaya because of the Cathedral of Holy Virgin (1886) designed by the architect Ber.

Sveta:               Monetary means for construction of the cathedral had been collected by the whole population. A thousand silver rubles were donated by the Empress Maria Fyodorovna.

Sergey:               In 1923 the Catherdal was closed and the square got the name Red Square. Finally, the Cathedral was closed in 1930.

Sveta:               Now to the right of us we can see a new cathedral, erected in 2002 to remember the original one. In the centre of the square there is monument to the heroes of the Civil war of 1918-1922, erected in 1956. I must say the Civil war was the most tragic time in the history of Khabarovsk. It made a great harm to the town and its population decreased from 54 to 30 thousand people. The decisive battle took place in Volochaevka, February, 1922. The People's Revolutionary Army of the Far Eastern Republic commanded by Vassiliy Konstantinovich Blukher, the military minister of the FER, defeated the allied army of Japanese interventionalists and white guardsmen.

Sergey:              Turning back to earlier history of the square I can't help mentioning the Triumph Arch, which stood to the left of the Cathedral, in front of the modern building of the Amur Shipping Company. The wooden-carved arch was built especially for a visit by Cesarevitch Nikolay in May 1891. In front of it on the left there was the Amur Treasury, now the business-centre "Parus".

Sveta:              Behind the cathedral there is the building of ODORA, but few people know that it was the residence of governor-general, built in 1884. It was designed by the military engineer Mooro. During its life-time the building has been completely rebuilt.

Sergey:              Going down Schevchenko street, on the right there is museum of the Far Eastern Military Okrug. Originally, it was built as the State Bank in 1908. It has housed the Museum since 1982 and preserved its original appearance.

Sveta:              Opposite the Museum there is a big beautiful building housing the Far Eastern Art Museum and the Concert Hall. Originally, it was the officer's club (Ofitserskoye sobraniye) built in the end of 1880-s and designed by Mooro. In 1890 A.P. Chekhov stayed here during his traveling to Sakhalin.

Sergey:              Speaking about the Far Eastern Art Museum, I should mention that this building has housed in since 1990.

Sveta:              Further down street we can see the State Museum of the Far East. The Museum and the Public Library situated near, were opened in 1894 on the initiative of the Russian Geographic Society, the Priamursky Branch. The building of the Museum was designed by Alexandrov and was under construction from 1896 to 1900. In 1903 the Museum got the name of the Grodekovskiy Museum in honour of Governor–General Nikolay Ivanovich Grodecov (1898-1902), who was the first chairman of the Priamursky Geographic Society, he contributed much effort and donated personal monetary means for creation of the Museum.

Sergey:              Public Library named after Nikolay II began from an Invalids' House, a reading hall was added in 1899. In 1894 there were 400 volumes in the library, in 1897 – 45.000. It is known that Nikolay II gave it more than 400 books from his personal library. Near the Museum we can see a monument to Muravyov-Amurskiy, erected in May, 1992. It is the exact copy of the original monument designed by the academician Opekushin (the author of the Pushkin monument in Moskow). It was opened in May, 1891 in the presence of Cesarevitch Nikolay.

Sveta:              Not far from this place there is the second stone church-the Innokentyevskaya Church. It was erected in 1898 to replace the wooden one that had been built in 1868. The red brick building was designed by engineers Mooro and Bykov. And the third stone church was the Alexeevskaya Church, situated on Artilleriyskaya mountain. The wooden Alexeevskaya chapel was built in 1903 and the construction of the stone church began in 1907. It was opened in 1914. The Church was named after Alexiy, the protector of the Priamursky Cossack army. In 1932 the church was closed and soon destroyed.

Sergey:              But now on Glory Square there is the largest and the most beautiful cathedral of the city – Spaso-Preobrazhenskiy Cathedral. It was finally built in 2004. The height of the Cathedral is 91 m. It can be seen from different geographic points of Khabarovsk.

Sveta:              Let's turn back to the Muravyov-Amurskiy street. It is rich in historical buildings. The most beautiful is the building of the Far Eastern State Scientific-Research Library, built in 1901-1902. It was the Trade House of Plusnin. The family of the brothers Plushins was one of the richest family in Khabarovsk. They were the famous philanthropists and state figures of the town. Opposite the Library we can see a building of the chemist's store, built in 1902. It was the Trade House of Khlebnikovykh. The brothers Khlebnikovy produced wine and spirit-producing plant was placed in the basement of this building.

Sergey:              Next to the Library there were trade houses of different Khabarovsk merchants. The building of the hotel "Rus" with jewelry, clock repair, Barber' shop was erected in 1912 by a Japanese subject Takeuchi – a famous photographer in Khabarovsk. Next to it there is the building of the Kunst and Albers Trade Company erected in 1906. It was designed by German architect Junghendel in style of European grocery stores. A state of Mercury – the God of Trade – still crowns the roof of the building.

Sveta:              Opposite the Central Provision Shop there is the building of the former hotel "Esplanad" erected in 1912 (the right part of "Dalniy Vostok"). That time it was the modern hotel with running water, electricity and heating. It belonged to the Estonian Henrikh Lykht. The list of historical buildings is very long with the buildings of "Sovkino" ("Grand Ilusion", the first cinema, 1910) Central Department store (1914), "Amur-Optik" (Railway Trade School, the first in Siberia and the Far East, 1899) Children's Art Centre (the Town Duma, 1909) among them.

Sergey:              I must mention one more historical building which is not placed in the Muravyov-Amurskiy street. The building of the Headquarters of the Far Earstern Military Okrug. It was built in early 1900-s and housed the Military District staff and Military School named after Muravyov-Amurskiy. It is situated in the street of Seryshev, the commander of the Eastern front during the Civil war, the military attaché in Japan.

Sveta:              I think, Sergey, we have already checked our knowledge on historical places of Khabarovsk and we are ready for guiding the excursion.

UNIT IV.

AROUND THE WORLD.

PART I. ENGLISH- SPEAKING COUNTRIES.

THE USA.

Vocabulary:

strip of marshes [                                          ] – полоса болот

tableland [                 ] – плоскогорье

pine [              ] – сосна

fir [              ] – ель

laurel [                           ] – лавр

lynx [                  ] – рысь

glutton [              ] – обжора

marten [              ] – куница

chipmunk [                  ] – бурундук

rattle-snake [                            ] – гремучая змея

pole-cats [                            ] – хорьки

badger [              ] – барсук

gophers [                            ] – колумбийские суслики

humming-birds [                                          ] – жужжащие птицы

rodents [              ] – грызуны

armadillo [                            ] – броненосец

Ex. 1. Read and translate the texts.

A.

A period of exploration

No one knows exactly how people first came to Northern America. However, many scientists believe that America’s first settlers were hunters who came from Siberia. These hunters followed big animals over a land bridge into what is now Alaska. There is a narrow strait between the Bering Sea and the Chukchi Sea, which is called the Bering Strait. During the Ice Age this strait probably became very shallow. In some places it dried up completely and formed a land bridge from Asia to North America.

The scientists think that people of Asia found this land bridge between 15,000 and 40,000 years ago and moved to the unexplored continent of North America. So the first settlers were Asians which are called now Indians, as natives of America. This name was given to them by Christopher Columbus, the great explorer and first discoverer of American continent.

Christopher Columbus was born in Italy and grew up near the sea. In childhood he read the stories of Marco Polo's journey to China, where the rich of this land was described.  But the route to East by land was long and dangerous. Columbus dreamt to find a quick rout to the East saling west. The way to his dream was long. He asked many European sovereigns for help and only Spain governors Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand agreed to aid him in carrying out his plans. In 1492 after a voyage of ten weeks he stepped ashore holding the Spanish flag.

Columbus thought he had reached a group of islands near the coasts of China and Indies. That’s why he called the people he saw Indians.

Columbus made three more voyages to the New World, but when adventures reached the land of their hope and found no silk, no spices, no precious stones, no gold they had been looking for, they reproached the Admiral. The Court of Spain, also, finding no return for their expenses of fitting out these expeditions, censured him. His enemies increased, and his last days were spent in disappointment and neglect. Heart-broken, he died in 1506 ignorant of the greatness of his own discovery. Eighteen years later Ferdinand Magellan proved that Columbus had been right. Ships could, indeed, reach the East by sailing west. He miscalculated the route.

Amerigo Vespucci, a native of Florence and a navigator, in 1499 skirted the coast of that is now Venezuela and northeastern South America. In 1504 it was constituted the first printed account of the mainland of New Land. Up to that time Europe, Asia and Africa were known as three parts of the world and Amerigo Vespucci proved the existence of the fourth part. A few years later it was suggested that the fourth part should be called America after Amerigo Vespucci.

B.

Geography of the USA

The United States territory consists of three separate parts, different in size, natural features, level   of development and population:

1)     the main part, the United States proper. It borders on Canada in the north and on Mexico in the south. It is washed by the Pacific Ocean in the west, the Atlantic Ocean in the east and the Gulf of Mexico in the south-east;

2)     Alaska, which occupies the north-western part of the continent of North America, including a lot of islands;

3)     Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. 

The USA is mostly situated in the temperate and subtropical zones. Alaska lies in the subarctic and arctic zones. The southern parts of Florida and Hawaii are situated in the tropical zone.

The coastline length of the USA proper is 22,860 km. The Atlantic coast is mostly lowland and greatly indented. The Pacific coast is mountainous, in the northern part cut by numerous fiords.

About half the United States’ territory is covered by plateaus and mountains. The  eastern part of the country is occupied by the Appalachian Mountains. In the central part there are two Plains – the Great Plain and the Central Plain. The Mexican Lowland stretches along the Gulf coast and fringed by a strip of marshes. The western part of the country is made up of high mountain ranges, tablelands and plateaus of the Cordillera system.

As the United States of America occupies a large territory, it is natural that a great diversity of climatic conditions can be observed in different parts of the country. 

The northern part of the Pacific coast enjoys a moderate climate of temperate zones with a cool summer and a rather warm winter without a permanent snow cover and abundant rainfall on the western slopes of the Cascade Mountains.

The southern part of the Pacific coast (California) has a Mediterranean climate: a hot, cloudless and dry summer and a cool and rainy winter.

The climate on the Atlantic coast is continental-marine with cool summers and rather warm winters with a permanent snow cover in mountainous regions.

The longest river of the USA is the Mississippi with its tributary Missouri in the west and Ohio River in the east. Other important rivers of the country are the Hudson River, the Columbia River and the Colorado River.

World-famous is the region of the Great Lakes, situated in the north-east of the United States bordering Canada. It’s a system of five lakes – Lake Superior, L. Michigan, L. Huron, L. Erie and L. Ontario – joined together by natural channels. The Niagara Falls, great rapids situated on the short Niagara River joining Lakes Erie and Ontario, are famous all over the world and attract lots of tourists.

Thanks to the great diversity of climatic conditions the nature of the United States is rich in its diversity too. In the north-east of the country and in the region of the Great Lakes there are mixed forests of pine, fir, silver-fir, lime and ash. Further south they are replaced by broad-leaf forests of oak, maple, tulip-tree and plane-tree; still further south there appear magnolia, laurel, and other evergreen plants. In the Great Basin there are deserts and semi-deserts. The vegetation in the Cordillera is represented by coniferous forests. In California one can across sequoia, or red-wood, a tree that attracts many tourists because it reaches up to 100 meters high and lives for many hundreds of years. 

The mixed forests zone is the home of the brown bear, lynx, glutton and marten. In the forests of the Appalachians there is Virginia deer, red lynx, chipmunk, mole, different kinds of bats. The Southeast is represented by alligator, turtle, peccary, opossum, coyote, rattle-snake and many kinds of pole-cats, badgers and gophers. Of birds there is flamingo, pelican, humming-birds. The semi-desert and desert zones are inhabited by different rodents and reptiles. On the Cordillera there is Rocky Mountain goat, Rocky Mountain sheep, grizzly bear, and further south – jaguar and armadillo.

Ex. 2. Answer the questions.

1.      Who were the first settlers of North America? How did they move there?

2.      Who was the first explorer of the American continent?

3.      Did he plan to find new world there?

4.      Who agreed to invest in his exploration?

5.      Why did Christopher Columbus call people he had found in new lands Indians?

6.      Did adventures find the rich of their hope?

7.      Why was Columbus reproached and censured?

8.      Was he aware of the greatness of his discovery?

9.      Whom was a new continent called after?

10. How many parts are there in the USA? Where are they situated?

11. Describe the climate of the USA? How does it vary in different parts?

12. What can you say about the landscape of the country?

13. What is the USA flora and fauna represented by?

Ex. 3. Make up a project. You work at the tour agency and you have to attract tourists in the USA. Make a colorful and informative poster or a booklet to advertise your tour. Work out the route. Find some additional information about the USA.

CANADA.

Vocabulary:

edible plants [                            ] – съедобные растения

prominent trait [                                          ] – выдающаяся особенность

tribe [                                          ] – племя

capable [                                          ] – способный

warrior [                                          ] – воин

The Renaissance [                                                        ] – возрождение

install [                            ] – устанавливать

merchant [                                          ] – торговец

scarcely [                                          ] – едва, только

Ex. 1. Read the text and point out the most important facts. Ask questions about the text.

History of Canada

Canada is a very young nation. It celebrated its 148th anniversary in 2005. The nation was formed only 138 years before this date when four British colonies (Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia united to create the Dominion of Canada).

The native people of Canada lived on this land for at least 10.000 years. They lived by hunting, trading and gathering edible plants and herbs.

Canada's original inhabitants are Indians. Some historians believe that the word "Indian" originated from the Spanish word "In Dios" which means "children of God". Others believe that the name was given to the native people by Christopher Columbus who mistakenly believed that he had come to the coast of Asia West Indies gave the people he found there the name "Indians". There are several tribes of Canadian Indians.

There is a lot that the Indians could teach the white men. One of the most prominent traits of their society was the love for land. They believed that land belong to everybody. No individual was allowed to live at the expense of others. Indian chiefs lived like other members of the tribe and during the war the most capable man was appointed the chief worrier. Canadian Indians were very sensitive to animals. Animals gave them food; they were their friends, spirits of their ancestors and the inspiration for their art.

The first Europeans arrived on American shores were Vikings. They founded a colony in Vineland. Nobody in Europe, including Vikings themselves realized that they discovered a new continent. At that time there was no need to own new lands. There was still enough land in Europe.

The situation changed by the beginning of the 16th century. The Renaissance brought new scientific knowledge. A magnetic compass was developed and the astrolabes were installed on the ships to find their position by looking at the stars. The designs of the sails on the ships were improved and the ships could go much further from the shores.

Wealth in Europe at that time was calculated by the amount of land the person possessed. This wealth was concentrated in the hands of limited number of landowners.

British King Henry VII supported commerce. So he granted Bristol merchants a trade monopoly in a new land, which could be discovered. Bristol merchants hired John Cabot an Italian, to lead the expedition. Cabot’s goal was to find a new rout to Japan. John Cabot reached Canada in 1497 and sailed back to Bristol. Historians believe that he was the first to discover Canadian coast.  Henry VII was very pleased with the result of the expedition and discovering of a “new found land”.

Then the French King, Francis I, hired an experienced pilot Jacques Cartier, to search a new rout to the Pacific in 1534. Cartier erected a cross at the tip of the present province of Quebec and claimed the land for France. He was there in summer and the land seemed to be perfect for settlement. Later the French King ordered a larger expedition which spent two miserable winters in Canada and returned home to France in 1543. Canada’s climate was too severe for the French. So the results of the last expedition discouraged others from going to Canada for half a century.

Later between 1604 and 1607 an experienced geographer named Samuel Champlain established a permanent colony on the Bay of Fundy and named it Port Royal. It was the first European settlement in North America and just               2 years older than the first English settlement in Virginia. Champlain, who was considered to be the founder of New France, and thus, Canada, spent a lot of time making maps from the descriptions given by Indians.

People living in this new land had many problems: Indian wars, the lack of funds, severe winters and diseases. So after many years of hard labour in 1628 only 65 colonists lived on the trading post of Quebec.

England in the 17th century did not possess the entire island. While the English were fishing mainly in the eastern coast of Newfoundland, the French were fishing along the northern and southern shores. The first French settlers came to Newfoundland in 1663 and their fishing post in Placenta was a strong naval base.

During the 17th century and the first part of the 18th century France and England were constantly fighting in Canada. The great European powers realized that the future wealth of their empires lay in the vast scarcely populated lands of the American continent. As a result of the French and Indian wars (1754 – 1763) most of the French forts including Quebec and Montreal fell to the British. The Treaty of Paris in 1763 ended French control of Canada. According to the Royal Proclamation New France was renamed the Province of Quebec. The French were allowed to keep their language and institutions. France lost its battle with England over North Canada.