Exercise 1. Study the following words and word combinations.
1. frontier - граница
2. settlement - поселение, поселок
3. prince - князь
4. to grow into a wealthy city - превратиться в
процветающий город
5. under Ivan the Terrible - при Иване Грозном
6. to transfer the capital to - перенести столицу в
7. to remain - оставаться
8. target - мишень
9. to destroy - разрушать
10. the present day - современный
11. the seat of the government - местонахождение правительства
12. a major city - крупный город
13. engineering - машиностроение
14. cathedral - собор
15. church - церковь
16. monastery - монастырь
17. unique - уникальный
18. to be represented - быть представленным
19. to cease - прекращать
20. fortress - крепость
21. chime - бой часов
22. masterpiece - шедевр
23. magnificent - великолепный
24. to hold receptions - устраивать приемы
25. in honour of foreign ambassadors - в честь иностранных послов
26. the Tsar Cannon - царь Пушка
27. the Tsar Bell - царь Колокол
28. Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed - собор Василия Блаженного
29. Cathedral of Christ of Saviour - собор Христа Спасителя
30. shopping center - торговый центр
31. to display - выставлять
32. relics - реликвии
33. millennium - тысячелетие
34. B.C. (before Christ) - до нашей эры
Exercise 2. Read and translate the text.
MOSCOW.
Moscow is the capital of Russia, its administrative, economic, political and educational centre with the population of about 10 million people. Its total area is about 1000 square kilometres. The city was founded by Prince Yuri Dolgoruky in 1147. At that time it was a small frontier settlement. By the 15-th century Moscow had grown into a wealthy city. In the 16-th century under Ivan the Terrible, Moscow became the capital of the state of Muscovy. In the 18-th century Peter the Great transferred the capital to St. Petersburg, but Moscow remained the heart of Russia. That is why it became the main target of Napoleon’s attack in 1812. During the war of 1812 three quarters of the city were destroyed by fire but by the middle of the 19-th century Moscow was completely rebuilt. The present-day Moscow is the seat of the government of the Russian Federation. President of Russia lives and works here; governmental offices are located here, too.
Moscow is a major industrial city. Its leading industries are engineering, chemical and light industries.
There are a lot of beautiful palaces, old mansions, cathedrals, churches, monasteries and monuments in Moscow.
Moscow is known for its many historical buildings, museums and art galleries as well as for the famous Bolshoi, Maly and Art theatres. There are more than 100 museums in Moscow. The largest museums are the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts and the State Tretyakov Gallery. The Tretyakov Gallery houses a unique collection of Russian painters. Almost all famous Russian painters are represented there. The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts displays cultural and artistic relics of various times and nations, from the 4-th millennium B.C. up to the present. Other unique museums in Moscow include the All-Russian Museum of Folk Arts, the Andrey Rublev Museum of Early Russian Art, Alexey Bakhrushin Theater Museum, Mikhail Glinka Museum of Musical Culture and many others.
Moscow has a large concentration of educational institutions, and its centers of higher education draw students from throughout Russia. Moscow Sate University (1755) is the leading educational institution. The city’s many specialized educational institutions include the MoscowTimiryazev Academy of Agriculture and the Moscow P.I. Tchaikovsky State Conservatoire.
The oldest part of Moscow is the Kremlin. This is the main tourist attraction in Moscow. The Kremlin stands at the heart of the city. The word “Kremlin” means “fortress” and the Moscow Kremlin used to be a fortress. Twenty towers of the Kremlin wall were constructed at the end of the 17-th century. By that time Moscow had already ceased to be a fortress. The towers were built for decoration and had no military
significance. Five of towers were gates. If the Kremlin is a symbol of Russia, then the Spasskaya Tower is the symbol of the Kremlin. It was built in 1491 and got its name from the icon of the Spas. The star-topped tower is 71 metres high. It is notable for its clock, whose melodious chimes are well-known to all those who listen to Moscow radio. At the first sight the clock does not seem very large but this impression is an illusion. Its diametre is 6 metres 12 cm and the figures are 72 cm high. The melody is produced by ten bells, the smallest of which weighs 320 kg and the largest – 2,160 kg.
Granovitaya Palata is a masterpiece inside the Kremlin wall. Moscow tsars held magnificent receptions in honour of foreign ambassadors there. The Tsar Cannon and the Tsar Bell attract crowds of tourists too.
Outside the Kremlin Wall there is the famous Red Square. Tourists can look at the magnificent Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed, the Lenin Mausoleum and the monument to K.Minin and D.Pozharsky.
Moscow is growing day after day and is becoming more and more beautiful. Some old buildings are being repaired, a lot of new buildings appear in different districts of Moscow. Among the new sights that have appeared recently are the Monument in Poklonnaya Gora and the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in the centre of Moscow.