Match the highlighted words or word combinations in the text with their definitions.

1. an instance of invading a country or region with an armed force;

2. an extended urban area, typically consisting of several towns merging with the suburbs of a central city;

3. gross domestic product (the total value of goods and services produced in a year);

4. action of providing or being provided with amusement or enjoyment;

5. it is full of people;

6. the activity of visiting places of interest in a particular location;

7. an extremely good painting, novel, film, or other work of art;

8. a quantity of precious metals, gems, or other valuable objects;

9. the possession of a large amount of money, property, or other valuable things;

10. a sudden occurrence of something unwelcome, such as war or disease.

Exercise2.

Put the letters in order to complete the phrases.

1. ____________ is a gallery or dome with acoustic properties such that a faint sound may be heard round its entire circumference. (hgnwispire allgrey);

2. _______________an inner London borough which contains the Houses of Parliament and many government offices. (cyit of stweminrste);

3. In July 2007 London had an official _______________of 7,556,900 within the boundaries of Greater London. (pnuolpatio).

4. London is the seat of the ________________ of the United Kingdom, which is located around the Palace of Westminster. (gromvtenen).

5. Yeomen warders in the Tower of London are called ______________. (teh beesatfere).

Exercise3.

Match the questions (1-6) with the right answers (a-f).

Exercise4.

Give a one-minute talk on the situations:

· The World Heritage Sites in London I would like to visit: the Tower of London; Kew Gardens; Westminster Abbey and St. Margaret's Church; Greenwich; Buckingham Palace; the London Eye; Piccadilly Circus; St Paul's Cathedral; Tower Bridge, and Trafalgar Square.

· You are a journalist. You are carrying out a survey to find out what your partners know about cultural institutions including: the British Museum, National Gallery, and British Library. Ask as many questions as possible.

· You are a young reporter from a local newspaper. You are writing about London. You need some detailed information about: Wimbledon and London’s Chinatown. Ask as many questions as possible.

Answer the following questions:

1. How old is London?

2. Is London the most visited city in the world? Why?

3. Which London airport is the world's busiest airport by number of international passengers?

4. What is the ancient core of London?

5. What is Big Ben? How often does Big Ben strike?

6. How old is the Tower of London?

7. What do you know about « the Chamber of Horrors»?

8. What is the official residence of the British Queen?

9. Which is the poorest part of London, East End or West End?

10. Do you know anything about Guy Fawkes’ Night? What holiday do the British celebrate on the 5^th of November?

11. Where are the British kings crowned?

12. Where does the Changing of the Guard take place?

13. What is a double- decker bus?

14. What city does the Greenwich meridian run through? Is Britain the centre of the world for the British?

15. Where is the Poets’ Corner situated?

Unit 6

You will read & translate a text about Arkhangelsk. Before you read, discuss in pairs the following.

1. What is Arkhangelsk famous for? 2. Is Arkhangelsk full of history? Prove it. 3. Where is Arkhangelsk located? 4. How do you understand the term «cod-eaters»? 5. Have you ever been to Solovetski Islands? 6. Do you know the origin of the Arkhangelsk streets’ names?

Arkhangelsk

To begin with I’d like to say a few words about history of Arkhangelsk. In 1584, Ivan IV ordered the founding of New Kholmogory (which would later be renamed after the nearby Archangel Michael Monastery).

In 16 century, establishing of trade between Russia and West European states, as we all know, gave rise to development of Arkhangelsk. Local inhabitants, called Pomors, were the first to explore trade routes to Northern Siberia as far as the trans-Urals city of Mangazeya and beyond. In 1693, Peter I ordered the creation of a state shipyard in Arkhangelsk.

Arkhangelsk Region (oblast) is a federal subject of Russian Federation, part of North-West Federal District. The administrative center and capital city is Arkhangelsk. The region includes large Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya islands. It embraces a vast area of 589,900 sq. km. In terms of territory the Arkhangelsk Region is one of the largest in Russia. Arkhangelsk Region shares land borders with the Komi Republic, Karelian Republic, Kirov Region, Vologda Region, and Tyumen Region. Arkhangelsk oblast has the population of about 1,300,000 (2010).

Administratively, the Arkhangelsk Region comprises 19 districts, 7 towns, 24 urban and 179 rural areas. It also incorporates the Nenets Autonomous Area, and the Solovetski Archipelago. Solovetski Islands located in the White Sea are a World Heritage Site now. The historical centers of Arkhangelsk oblast of Russia are Kargopol, Kholmogory and Solvychegodsk. There are a number of Russian Orthodox monasteries, including the Antoniev Siysky Monastery there. Together with the Vologda and Murmansk Regions, the Komi and Karelian Republics, the Arkhangelsk Region makes up the area known as Northern European Russia which occupies the territory of 1.48 million square km. (8.8% of the whole territory of the Russian Federation). 6 million people live here.

Severodvinsk city located in Arkhangelsk oblast is one of the Russian Navy bases (mostly nuclear submarines). Russian spaceport Plesetsk is situated in Arkhangelsk oblast.

The seas of the Arctic Ocean, rich in biological resources, wash the Region in the North. Four major rivers (Severnaya Dvina, the Pechora, the Onega and the Mezen), all flow into these seas. Broad and deep, Severnaya Dvina creates favorable conditions for navigation and is the main water route. It is the largest river of the European Russian North, though it is not the longest one. The length of Severnaya Dvina is 744 km, while that of the Pechora is 1,809 km.

Seas, rivers, lakes, tundra and taiga are inhabited by various kinds of fish (cod, plaice, herring, salmon, etc.), birds (hazel-hen, wood-grouse, ptarmigan) and animals (seal, deer, elk, polar fox, hare, wolf, bear, etc). Fish, game and sea animals are priceless natural wealth that brought the first settlers to the Northern land centuries ago.

The Arkhangelsk Region is rich not only in natural but in mineral resources too. Commercial deposits of natural gas and oilfields have been discovered in the Nenets tundra, coal-fields, and massive reserves of peat. Arkhangelsk diamonds are better in quality than Australian and equal to South-African ones. There are numerous deposits of building materials, big reserves of gypsum, semi­precious stones, manganese, various abrasives, ceramic raw materials, and minerals.

Over many years Arkhangelsk has accumulated a unique experience of fruitful cooperation with Russian and foreign partners form the Barents Region, European Union, and the USA. Coastal location of the Arkhangelsk region has made it closer to the industrially developed countries. Arkhangelsk has always been international and Russia’s first «window to Europe». Before the Revolution hundreds of foreigners lived there. Consulates-general of six European countries functionated in Arkhangelsk. I think it is to be noted that the capital of the Pomor Land opened Honorary Consulate of Kingdom of Norway in 2010. This is the first Norwegian Honorary Consulate in Russia.

Archangelsk is home to various educational institutions: First of all the Northern Arctic Federal University named after M.V. Lomonosov (founded in 2011) is to be mentioned. NArFU mission is to be a centre to train high qualified specialists for Arkhangelsk and Murmansk Regions, Nenets Autonomous Area and other regions bordering on RF continental Arctic shelf. The shelf has long been a priority for the Russian oil and gas industry. The Shtokman gas condensate field development project is of strategic importance for Russia. The field will become a resource base for supplies of the Russian gas, both pipe gas and LNG, to the Atlantic markets.

I love Arkhangelsk which is full of history. But I think the air is not so clean. It’s quite polluted and I really do miss the fresh country air.

Topical vocabulary

Exercise1.