Л.С. Пасынков Россия - независимое государство (английский язык)

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Методические указания предназначены для студентов I курса всех специальностей.

Цель данного пособия — помочь студентам овладеть умением читать тексты информационно-познавательного характера о России, говорить и писать на темы страноведческого характера на английском языке, а также расширить их активный и пассивный словарный запас.

Пособие состоит из четырех частей (PART I,II,III,IV), включающих наиболее интересные и актуальные материалы о жизни России, ее истории, государственном устройстве, особенностях географического положения и экономического развития, культуре и искусстве, а также о Кузбассе — кузнице России.

В разработке использованы следующие источники:

1. Andrew Little John and Diana Hicks. Cambridge English for schools. Cambridge University Press. 1996.

2.Drofa Russia. Texts for reading and discussion. M., 1997.

3.John and Lis Soars. Headway Oxford University Press. 1986.

4.J. F. D. E. de Freitas. Survival English. M.: Высш. школа, 1982.

5.Klementieva T. B. Reader. M., 1997.

6.Moscow Lyceum. Topics. M., 1994.

7.Sergeev Y. A portrait of the Kuzbass Region Siberian Business, 1992.

8.Scalkin L. V. Conversational English. M.: Международные отношения, 1980.

9.Vasilieva L. V. English conversational topics. М., 1997.

10.Zanina E. L. 95 oral themes in English. Iris Rolf. М., 1997.

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CONTENTS

PART I

1. The Russian Federation

2.The State Organization System of the Russian Federation

3.The Geographic Position and Physical features

4.Climate in the Russian Federation

5.From the History of Russian Economy

PART II

1. Education in the Russian Federation

2. Culture and Science

Text A: Russian Painters

Text B: Our Greats

3.Sports in the Russian Federation

4.Russian Customs and Traditions

PART III

1. Kuzbass

Text A: Industry

Text B: Nature

PART IV

COMPREHENSIVE READING

1. Moscow

2.St. Petersburg

3.Pushkin

4.Ivan the Terrible

5.Hobby Clubs in Russia

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PART I

THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

In area, the Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. Its total area is about 17 million square kilometres. It occupies most of Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. Russia stretches from the Baltic Sea in the West to the Pacific Ocean in the East and from the Arctic Ocean in the North to the Black Sea and the Caucasus, the Altai, and the Sayan mountains, and the Amur and the Ussuri rivers in the South. It is bordered by Norway and Finland in the north-west, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus and the Ukraine in the West, Georgia and Azerbaijan in the south-west, and Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China along the southern border. The federation comprises 21 republics.

The land of Russia varies from thick forests to barren deserts, from high peaked mountains to deep valleys. Russian Federation is located on two plains, the Great Russian Plain and the West Siberian Lowland. The longest mountain chains are the Urals, separating Europe from Asia, the Caucasus, the Altai. Russia's most important rivers are the Volga, Europe's biggest river, flowing into the Caspian Sea, the main Siberian rivers (the Ob, the Yenisei and the Lena), and the Amur in the Far East, flowing into the Pacific Ocean. The total number of rivers in Russia is over two million. The world's deepest lake – Lake Baikal, with the depth of 1600 metres, is situated in Russia, too.

The climate in Russia varies from arctic in the North to continental in the central part of the country and subtropical in the South.

The current population of Russia is about 50 million people; 82% of the population are Russians.

Russia is a highly-industrialized-agrarian republic. Its vast mineral resources include oil and natural gas, coal, iron, zinc, lead, nickel, aluminium, gold and other non-ferrous metals. Russia has the world's largest oil and natural gas resources. Three-quarters of the republic's mineral wealth is concentrated in Siberia and the Far East.

Approximately 10 million people are engaged in agriculture and they produce half of the region's grain, meat, milk and other dairy products. The largest granaries are located in the North Caucasus and the Volga and the Amur regions.

The capital of the Russian Federation is Moscow, with the population of about 10 million people.

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2.Vocabulary.

a)Dictionary work: look up in the dictionary the meaning of the following words and word combinations; be careful with their pronunciation:

vast mineral resources oil and natural gas mineral wealth non-ferrous metal

coal, zinc, iron, lead, nickel, aluminium, gold

b)There are some verbs in English which have certain use with prepositions, they are called “phrasal verbs” : e.g. to stretch from … to, to be bordered by … etc. Find “phrasal verbs” in the text. Give their Russian equivalents; consult the dictionary, if necessary.

1.Grammar review.

1) Do you remember how to make comparative and superlative adjectives? Look at the examples:

old – older – oldest

happy – happier – happiest

interesting – more interesting – most interesting

Look through the text and find the examples of the adjectives used in different degrees of comparison.

2) What do you remember about the use of the articles in English? Divide into two groups:

Task for group A: look through the text and find the examples of the use of the Definite article with the names of oceans, seas, rivers and the parts of the world. Explain their use.

Task for group B: look through the text and find the examples of the absense of the article with the names of places: continents, countries, states, regions, cities, towns, mountains. Explain their use.

Compare and discuss your answers.

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1. Check yourself.

Read the text once again. Make all necessary vocabulary notes. Consult the text only in the case of great necessity, while translating the sentences.

1. Россия – самая большая страна в мире с общей площадью 17 млн. км2, расположена в Восточной Европе и северной части Азии.

2.Россия протянулась от Балтийского моря до Тихого океана и от Северного Ледовитого океана до Черного моря.

3.С ней граничит Норвегия, Финляндия, Монголия и бывшие (former) республики СССР.

4.Волга, крупнейшая река Россия, впадает в Каспийское море.

5.Среди крупнейших горных цепей России – Урал, отделяющий Европу от Азии.

6.Россия – страна с высокоразвитой промышленностью и сельским хозяйством, с богатейшими запасами полезных ископаемых.

7.Три четверти запасов полезных ископаемых республики сконцентрировано в Сибири, в том числе нефть, природный газ, уголь, золото и др. цветные металлы.

8.Население, занятое в сельском хозяйстве, производит зерно, мясо и молочные продукты.

9.Россия – президентская республика; законодательная власть в стране принадлежит Федеральному Собранию.

THE STATE ORGANIZATION SYSTEM

OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

The Russian Federation, or the Russian Federative Republic, is set up by the Constitution of 1993.

Under the Constitution Russia is a presidential republic. The federal government consists of three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. Each of them is checked and balanced by the President.

The legislative power is vested in the Federal Assembly. It consists of two chambers. The Upper Chamber is the Council of Federation; the Lower Chamber is the State Duma.

Each chamber is headed by the Speaker. Legislature may be initiated in either of the two Chambers. But to become a law a bill must be approved by both Chambers and signed by the President. The President may veto the bill.

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The President is commander-in-chief of the armed forces, he makes treaties, enforces laws, appoints ministers to be approved by the Federal Assembly.

The executive power belongs to the Government, which is headed by the Prime Minister. The first action of the Prime Minister on appointment is to form the Cabinet.

The judicial branch is represented by the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and the regional courts.

The members of the Federal Assembly are elected by popular vote for a four-year period.

Today the state symbol of Russia is a three-coloured banner. It has three horizontal stripes: white, blue and red. The white stripe symbolizes the earth, the blue one stands for the sky, and the red one symbolizes liberty. It was the first state symbol that replaced the former symbols in 1991. The hymn of Russia is «The Patriotic Song» by M.Glinka. A new national emblem is a two-headed eagle. It is the most ancient symbol of Russia. It originates from the heraldic emblem of the Ruricovitches. All these symbols are official. They have been approved by the Federal Assembly.

1. Practise the reading of the following words and phrases. Look at their Russian equivalents and try to remember them.

1. Pre-reading task.

What do you know about the State System of the Russian Federation? Read the questions and mark with “V“ symbol those you can answer; and “X” symbol those you think you can answer but you are not sure of; and ”?” symbol those you don’t know how to answer.

1. What does the federal government consist of?

2.What part does the President play in the government?

3.What is the legislative power vested in?

4.How does a bill become a law?

5.What are the functions of the President?

6.What are the executive and the judicial branches represented by?

7.What are the official symbols of Russia?

3. Reading task.

Read the text and check yourself. Make the necessary notes.

4. Grammar review. / Vocabulary work.

Read the following phrasal verbs. Divide them into two groups. Explain the difference between them. Find the sentences where they are used and

5. Pair work.

Read the text again. Close it. Look at the scheme and tell your neighbour about the State System of the Russian Federation.

6. Check yourself.

Translate into English. Consult the text only in the case of great neces-

sity:

1. Правительство Российской Федераций состоит из законодательной, исполнительной и судебной властей, подконтрольных Президенту.