Industry: Music Piracy Jumps (Newspaper «English», March, 2002, р.1, column “News in Brief”)
1. The number of pirated music CDs grew by nearly 50 percent worldwide last year to a record 950 million unit. Pirated recordings, including CDs and cassettes, totaled nearly 2 billion in 2001, up just slightly from a year earlier, said the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).
2. While the United States music industry worries most about lost sales from individuals downloading songs from the Internet, there is a bigger threat globally from unauthorized copying of CDs and cassettes. These illegal CDs and cassettes now account for two out of every five units sold worldwide with piracy levels rising as high as 90 percent in countries like China.
3. Sales of pirated materials around the world amounted to $4.3 billion, up from $4.2 billion in 2000. The dollar value increase was marginal because of sharply falling prices for pirated CDs. Technology for recordable CDs, which are known as CD-Rs, has lowered the barriers to entry for pirates by marking duplicating equipment cheaper and more portable. CD-Rs accounted for nearly one-quarter of pirated sales last year, up from 9 percent the year earlier. Most pirates operate sophisticated, international networks that take advantage of lax copyright protection laws in countries such as Indonesia and Paraguay to manufacture and distribute their products, said Jay Berman, IFPI chairman and chief executive. As former hotbeds such as Bulgaria and Ukraine crack down, pirates simply pack up and move to countries like Russia that have scant protections for copyright holders.
4. Certain countries should regulate CD-manufacturing plants to limit abuses, said Neil Turkewitz, a vice president with the Recording Industry Association of America, a U.S. trade group.
By Thomas Sherwood
V. Ответьте письменно на вопросы на странице №9 (кроме вопросов №9-12).
VI. Выпишите из каждого абзаца по одному предложению, которое более точно описывает его основную мысль.
VII. Преобразуйте выписанные предложения в назывные и составьте из них план текста, например:
Growing number of pirated recordings.
VIII. Сгруппируйте пункты своего плана в одно-два развернутых предложения, выполнив необходимые лексико-грамматические изменения (получившиеся в результате этого преобразования предложения будут являться пунктом 3 вашей аннотации).
IX. Прочитайте следующую аннотацию данной статьи на русском языке и определите, какие пункты в ней не освещены.
Статья была опубликована в газете «Английский язык». Автор статьи Томас Шервуд.
В статье представлены данные о возросшем количестве пиратских записей в Соединенных Штатах. Кроме того, автор затрагивает проблему отсутствия законов, регулирующих производство и нелегальную продажу компакт-дисков.
X. Дополните аннотацию на русском языке. Переведите полученную аннотацию на английский язык. Следуйте примеру (см. приложение на стр. 27).
ТЕКСТЫ ДЛЯ АННОТИРОВАНИЯ И РЕФЕРИРОВАНИЯ
The Kremlin
(Newspaper “English“, 13/2002, p.11)
Today when we look at the map of the Moscow metro it is difficult to imagine that several centuries ago the citizens of the capital could not imagine such a huge territory as the city occupies today. The main area was situated on a high hill, the actual place of the Kremlin. The first document that mentions Moscow dates back to the 12th century (1147). However we shouldn’t forget that at that time the town was already very well developed and could provide all the necessities for the two princes’ armies that came to Moscow for a feast. The celebration was luxurious and lasted several days. From these facts it is possible to conclude that the capital is older that it is usually believed to be.
The red walls of the Moscow Kremlin that all Russians are so proud of appeared only during the reign of Ivan III. What was the fortress like before? Not so majestic as it is today, of course: simple wooden walls that protected a small territory inside them. So why did the area of the Kremlin constantly grow? Little by little people were building houses around the fortress. Even despite the fact they were not surrounded by the walls, citizens felt more secure near the fortress than somewhere in the depths of the forest. Thus the possibility to fight together against enemies, plus economic reasons, pushed people to live close to the Kremlin.
Wooden walls were good to protect the population; but there was a very dangerous enemy – fire. During many centuries Muscovites lived in a constant fight against this element that offers life but at the same time can take it away in just a few minutes.
In 1336 a new prince – Dmitriy Donskoy – ordered a fortress built from white bricks. Its remains exist still today: if we look carefully at the base of the actual Kremlin we will see that it is not red but white. Since that time Moscow was nicknamed “white brick” and the name remained even to the 15th century when white walls were replaced by red ones.
Today there are 20 towers in the Kremlin and there is an interesting story connected with one of them – the Spasskaya (Savior) Tower. Once Moscow doctors had to face the same disease of many patients. It was a terrible headache, whose origins remained unclear until someone suddenly realized that all these problems appeared because of the Savior Tower! It was the entrance to the Kremlin and there was an icon over it.
The Kremlin has always been the heart of Moscow. At first its walls surrounded the whole town; today the capital is so big that it would be difficult to put its huge population in the area of the fortress. However the Kremlin still plays an important role not only in the life of Moscow but also in Russia’s as well. It is the government seat and the location of numerous historical monuments.
Cathedral Square, formed by three cathedrals (Assumption Cathedral, Annunciation Cathedral and Archangel Cathedral), developed in the 15th century. It was the place of coronation festivities and religious processions.
In the 15th century Moscow became the major Russian town and it was necessary to replace the old, dilapidated Kremlin walls and to build new ones to receive foreign guests.
1472 was the year of the beginning of the Assumption Cathedral’s erection. Before than there had been a cathedral built in the 14th century on the same site. The construction of the new building lasted two years and the Cathedral’s walls were almost finished when suddenly the northern wall collapsed.
There were several versions of the catastrophe cause. According to one of them, an earthquake destroyed the Cathedral. The second one notes the fact of the bad state of the inside of the building and finally the third variant tells us about careless builders that prepared the lime poorly. However there was another serious reason. We shouldn’t forget that during the Tatar Yoke, the Russian masters lost their skills. When Ivan III wanted some masters from Pskov to build the Cathedral, they refused, as the task was too difficult for them. That is why the prince fixed upon an Italian architect – Aristotle Fioravanti – who was noted for his buildings in Italy.
To destroy the walls of the ancient cathedral, the architect used methods unknown in Russia and the lime made by him was extremely solid.
In 1479 the construction of Assumption Cathedral was finished. At that time, when light was the symbol of truth, the cathedral was the lightest temple in the country. In the domes you can see icons of God, archangels, and forefathers; the columns are decorated with figures of Christian martyrs; the western wall by tradition represents the Last Judgment. (For those who leave the Cathedral, not to forget that it is waiting for everyone and for everybody to be righteous men.)
Earlier there were gold and silver objects, manuscripts and clothes for the divine cervices in the Cathedral. All of them are currently displayed in the Armory Museum.
However there is a work of art set out in Assumption Cathedral – Ivan the Terrible’s throne in the form of the marquee with scenes representing episodes from legends about the tsar’s ambassadors. The throne was used during coronations and divine services that took place in the Cathedral.
By Alevtina Kozina
The Aral Sea
(Newspaper “English“, 20/2002, p.7)
Since the beginning of its existing, the human being has been developing. It has never stopped, and it never will. During the last couple of centuries it has been developing very aggressively, and it has reached tremendous achievements in all fields. Unfortunately mankind has achieved tremendous success in polluting its environment also. Nowadays, nature is missing many of its inhabitants – those who are supposed to be under the protection of humans as young brothers and sisters. Pollution was the reason for their extinction. Finally, the humanity started paying more attention to what surrounds it. It started thinking about the future, its future generations, and the inheritance to these generations. People have started asking themselves more often questions like, “What will we have left to other children after us?” Currently, humanity has plenty of global environmental problems that it has to care of now. Tomorrow will be too late. Some of these global environmental are global warming, deforestation, freshwater contamination, destruction of ozone layer of the earth, pollution of space orbit of the earth by parts of used equipment. Desiccation of the Aral Sea is one of the items on the list.
The Aral Sea, which is also considered to be a lake or Inland Sea in Central Asia, is located in southwestern Kazakstan and northwestern Uzbekistan, near the Caspian Sea. The Aral has no outlet. The Aral Sea is still listed as the fourth lake in the world. But it has been shrinking for decades, and the statistics might change.
Nowadays, two major problems have risen before the governments of Uzbekistan and Kazakstan; the desiccation and as a result of this threat of the complete disappearance of the sea, and the danger of the broad extension of anthrax bacteria that was stored by the Soviet Army on Vozrozdenia Island.
In comparison with the size of the sea in the 1960’s, the Sea has declined in size by 76 percent. The initial reason for the Aral’s decline is the fact that Soviet planners diverted water from Aral’s two big feeding rivers (Amu Darya and Syr Darya) into cotton fields in the territory of Uzbekistan. Because of this irrigation, the sea is now seventy miles away from its former bank (in some places even more). Ninety percent of the Syr Darya’s water is diverted into canals and reservoirs. Millions of people in Central Asia rely on the rivers for a livelihood. Uzbekistan, for instance, generates 28 percent of its hard currency from cotton irrigated with river water.
Planning the irrigation system, the Soviet planners were only after high rates of cotton harvests. Unwise use of water has led to the current state of the Aral Sea. The salt content of the Sea’s water increased by about threefold, adversely affecting plant and animal life and causing the fishing industry to decline.
The disappearance of the sea as a part of the ecosystem is just one problem that is followed by hundreds of subsequent problems. One of them has already risen: the drying of the sea has left behind three million hectares of desiccated seabed, covered with accumulated salts which the wind carries away and deposits over thousands of square kilometers of arable land turning it into dead one. One can see white ridges amid the soil in the field. Salty dust from the dried out land causes discomfort and respiratory problems. Wind brings more than a hundred tons of salty dust per square mile every year. As a result, trees do not bear fruit any more.
The Aral Sea’s desiccation has an influence on everything that is around it. The climate in the region has changed significantly; the winters are colder, summers are even hotter.
The sea was not only the water supply for the population, but it was the source of their income. A large part of the population was involved in fishing and resort industry. Now, the sea is far away, these businesses are not available any more, and that leads to deterioration of the financial situation in the area.
In city of Muynak, the three hundred-vessel fleet once employed a thousand fishers. It is now a collection of rusting hulls half-buried amid the dunes on the edge of the town. Yet the sixty-year old canning factory still clatters, although its seven hundred workers handle fish brought by lorry from the lakes around Tashkent, one thousand miles away.
The sea has turned from a rich fishing ground to a prairie of poisonous dust. Desiccation has a great influence on the population’s health; the change in environment has significantly increased rates of birth defects, infant mortality, respiratory diseases, cancers, malnutrition, etc. Another side effect imposed on the population is a dramatically increased rate of tuberculosis in the area.
One of the causes of health deterioration is that the Aral Sea contains a lot of pesticides, which sank to the bottom of the sea. As the lake dried up, this layer of pesticide became exposed to the wind, which blows it away on the other lands.
The partial solution for the problem is to build a dam to keep water from flowing into the larger, southern portion. Plans call for the structure’s base to be 150 yards wide. If money is found for the construction, the water level of the northern sea will rise to the same level it was in 1960’s. It is a rare ray of hope for the population of this region. Calculations by the Kazak Academy of Science in Almaty suggest the entire sea will disappear by 2010 without the dam.
The second threat to the Aral Sea and its inhabitants is anthrax bacteria stored since 1988 by the Soviet Army on one of the islands of the sea. Now, the sea is drying out and this island can become a part of land. This fact carries the threat that anthrax bacteria can be exposed to atmosphere one day, and it will become a very serious danger to both countries. At this time both governments in cooperation with the USA are undertaking actions in order to prevent the possible catastrophe.
Over the last two centuries many of the Earth’s inhabitants became extinct as a result of environmental pollution. It is time to stop it; otherwise the next extinct inhabitant might turn out to be humanity itself.
Statue of Liberty Dedicated
(Newspaper “English“, 40/2000, p.14)
Since its dedication on October 28, 1886, the magnificent Statue of Liberty, which stands in New York Harbor, has welcomed millions of immigrants, foreign visitors, and citizens returning to the United States from abroad. The idea for such a statue originated in France during the early 1870s. Having just adopted a republican form of government, the French people wanted to pay special tribute to the United States, the first modern republic, on the occasion of its 100th anniversary in 1876. The gift chosen to symbolize the lasting friendship between the two countries was Frederic Auguste Bartholdi’s statue “Liberty Enlightening the World”. In 1875 the newly organized Franco-American Union began to solicit contributions to finance the statue’s construction, and by the time of its completion in 1884 the French people had donated the entire cost of $250,000.
Bartholdi himself selected the 12-acre Bedloe’s Island (renamed Liberty Island in 1960) as the permanent site for its statue, and the United States Congress agreed to its being used for this purpose. To provide a suitable base for the 225-ton figure, Americans subscribed $350,000. This money financed the building of a concrete and granite pedestal, and in 1886 the Statue of Liberty was placed upon this structure to begin its symbolic vigil in New York Harbor.
Approximately 800,000 persons visit Liberty Island each year. Boats leave Manhattan’s Battery Park for the island frequently during the day, and those who make the 1.6-meter trip to inspect the statue at close range are well rewarded for their efforts. The main point of interest is the hollow interior of the statue. An elevator takes sightseers to the top of the pedestal, but from there those who wish to venture higher, up to the statue itself, must walk. A climb of 168 steps leads to the statue’s head, where there is an observation platform. On a clear day, this platform affords a magnificent view of the harbor and the New York skyline. The right arm and the torch are no longer open to the public.
A bronze plaque was affixed to the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty in 1903. On this tablet is engraved the famous excerpt from “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus:
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me;
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
In 1937 the statue, which with its pedestal is 305 feet high, was declared a national monument, and since that time the National Park Service has administered the site. In 1964 the Park Service began construction on the American Museum of Immigration at the base of the statue. Opened in 1972, the museum contains an exhibit hall where dioramas, paintings, and other materials depict the contributions of the various national and ethnic groups to American history.
By Glen Black
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