Supplementary materials to Module 3 cities

TEXT A

NOVOSIBIRSK

1. Read the text and answer the questions a) What are the most important facts about Novosibirsk? b) What does Novosibirsk pride itself on?

2. Look up the underlined words and phrases in the dictionary. Make up sentences with them.

 

Novosibirsk is a city that prides itself on size: it is the third-largest city in Russia (the biggest city east of the Urals), has the biggest railway station along the trans-Siberian route, the biggest library in Siberia, and the biggest opera/ballet theater in all of Russia - even bigger than Moscow's Bolshoy. The red-brick Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky, while not the biggest, is considered one of the finest existing examples of pure Russian Orthodox architecture.

In 1943, the Academy of Sciences opened up its Siberian branch in Novosibirsk, which marked the beginning of the city's transformation into the educational hub of Siberian Russia. While many research institutes are located within Novosibirsk itself, still many more are clustered in Academgorodok, a small city founded in the 1950s by the Academy, 30 km south of Novosibirsk.

At its height, Academgorodok was home to 65,000 scientists and their families, and was a priviliged area to live in, with well-stocked stores and dachas for the academic elite. Gorbachev's perestroika was initially conceived here, by economists who then moved to Moscow to author the economic revolution. In recent years, Academgorodok has fallen on hard times thanks to slashes in government funding, and many of the younger researchers who once populated the town have left.

Altitude	600ft. 200 m
Time Zone	GMT +8 hours
Temperature of January	–16° C
Temperature of July	+20° C
Precipitation	13 inches 35cm

Info
Population	1,400,000
Founded
Longitude	82° 55' E
Latitude	55° 02'N

 

TEXT B

 

Vocabulary

rank – занимать rather – довольно facilities – возможности establishment –учреждение stock exchange – биржа settlement – поселок ship yard – верфь weaving factory – ткацкая фабрика knitted-goods factory - трикотажная фабрика

staff – состав pride – гордость cathedral – собор orthodox – православный exhibit – экспонат marvel – чудо exposure – разоблачение embossment – чеканка embroidery - вышивка carving – резьба

total(v) – насчитывать finding – находка jewelry–драгоценности comprehend – распознать cut – обработанный rough – необработанный enable – давать возможность multitude – многочисленный sundry – всякий разный endangered species - редкиe, вымирающие виды

5. Read the text about Novosibirsk. Look for events which influenced the decision to turn the town into the capital of Siberia, the third largest city in Russia.

NOVOSIBIRSK

I Novosibirsk was founded in 1893. In 1993 we celebrated its 100-year anniversary. For a relatively short period of time, Novosibirsk turned from a tiny settlement into a district town and grew into a large industrial, scientific, cultural and educational center, the capital of Siberia. Its foundation dated back to the construction of the railway laid through Siberia to the Pacific Ocean. In 1893, 2000 workers were hired to build the Trans-Siberian railway and the bridge connecting the right and the left banks of the Ob river. So, a small temporary settlement for the workers engaged in the railway bridge construction appeared opposite Krivoshchokovo village. Garin-Mikhailovsky, a well-known writer and an engineer, was considered to be a founder of the city. He marked the narrowest place for the bridge. In 1897, the bridge was constructed and most workers left the temporary settlement, which had to be liquidated. But in 1897 local authorities took the decision to preserve the settlement, which was called Novonikolayevsk. In December 1903 the settlement got the status of a town, and in 1917 it was a commercial center with trade banks and its own stock exchange.

II in 1926 Novonikolayevsk was renamed into Novosibirsk, which became a center of Siberian region (oblast). In the 1930s a machine building plant, a knitted-goods factory, a shoe factory, a weaving factory, soap works, a ship yard, a river port, a new railway station and a cinema factory were built. That time electric power station was constructed on the left bank of the Ob river. In the 1930s eight institutes and ten special technical schools were started.

III The Great Patriotic war changed dramatically the life and the economic structure of the city. Those times Novosibirsk was compared with Chicago for the sharp growth of the population from 1940 to 1956. More than 50 plants, R&D institutions with the equipment and specialists were evacuated to Novosibirsk. New residents arrived in the city from rural areas to work at military plants and to reconstruct the capital of Siberia. In the result, the population doubled and totaled 730.000 from 1940 to 1956.

In the 1960s, Novosibirsk Electrotechnical Institute (NETI), Novosibirsk Institute of Geodesy and Cartography were built; Teachers’ Training, Medical and Agricultural institutes were expanded.

IV The history of Tolmachevo Airport began on 12^th of July 1957, when Tu-104 jet made the first passenger flight to Moscow. In 1963 the first largest airport in Siberia called Tolmachovo was put into operation to receive passenger jets arriving from different parts of the country. Today the airport became an independent enterprise with the status of an international airport. It is one of the fourth biggest and well-equipped airports in Russia.

Novosibirsk is the biggest river port in Siberia and the third largest city of Russia with the population about 1.6 million. It’s situated on the banks of the Ob river, which divides the city into 2 parts stretching along the Trans-Siberian railway and the river. Novosibirsk consists of ten administrative districts.

Novosibirsk underground was built in 1986 and aimed to solve transportation problems.

V The 1960s were marked by the great contribution into science, research and development. That time Akademgorodok - the first town of science was built on the shore of the man-made Obskoye sea (reservoir). The scientific and education complex of Novosibirsk Region ranks the third in the Russian Federation. In 1963 ten R&D institutions were set up and first living blocks were built. At the end of the 1970s the Academy of Agricultural Sciences was founded and the construction of a new agricultural center (Koltsovo) was started. At the end of 1980s the third R&D medical center was built.

Akademgorodok is an educational center. Though Novosibirsk State University (NSU) is rather small (only about 5000 students), it gives students as good facilities for study and research as anywhere else in the world. An exceptional students-to-professor ratio (4 and 1) justifies the high qualification of young researchers that graduate from our university. During the last forty years NSU has trained around 28000 researchers, teaching staff for higher education establishments and specialists for business.

VI Novosibirsk is a cultural center of Siberia with its Fine Arts gallery, 10 drama theatres, 6 musical theatres and concert halls, Opera and Ballet House, Puppet theatre. The pride of citizens of Novosibirsk is the biggest in Russia Opera and Ballet House, which has won international recognition. This theatre is a symbol of Novosibirsk; it was opened on 12th of May in 1945 when Glinka’s opera Ivan Susanin was staged and performed. During the war, the exhibits from world-famous museums of Moscow (the Tretyakovskaya Gallery), Leningrad (Hermitage), Novgorod, Sevastopol and other Soviet cities were kept and saved here. The theatre is famous for its unique architecture and two permanent ballet and opera companies. There are several acting Orthodox cathedrals, a Catholic cathedral, a Moslem mosque. The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral was built in 1897 (one of the first stone-buildings of the city), but in 1937 it was closed. In 1988 it was decided to give the Cathedral back to the Russian Orthodox church, and in 1992 it was fully reconstructed. A tiny St. Nikola's chapel with three golden domes was erected on the place symbolizing the center of Russia on Krasny Prospekt, which is the main longest street running through the center of the city.

Novosibirsks is one of the most attractive cities with its magnificent buildings and straight, broad streets.

TEXT C

Museums of Novosibirsk

Novosibirsk is also proud of its Fine Arts Gallery, which is the biggest in Siberia. There are icons, works of Russian and foreign painters in its expositions. A collection of Nikolay Roerich's pictures occupies the central place in art collection of the gallery.

The Museum of Local Law presents the history and ethnography of Siberia. Some of the expositions are: A Thousand Year Panorama of Siberia, The Native People of Siberia, The Region at the End of XIX Century/ Mode of Life, The History of Novonikolayevsk Beginning, A Fashion in XIX century, Development of Siberia in XVI–XIX centuries and During the Soviet Period, the Siberian Flora and Fauna.

For over 10 years in Akademgorodok there exists a somewhat unique Museum of the Sun. It is the only museum in the world where, thanks to the efforts of its founder and director Mr. Valery Lipenkov, they have collected various images of the Sun – embossments, embroideries, carvings from various materials, etc. – totaling over 350 pieces of art. Each image has its unique character and, most certainly, history. The basis of the museum was a private collection of images of the Sun and Sun gods of the ancient civilizations, made in wood.

The Museum of Stone is located at the International Exhibition Centre – the Siberian Fair. Main activities of the museum are tours of regular and scientific-educational type. In the past years the stones used in jewelry and decoration have become so diversified that an ordinary person fails to comprehend them all. Visiting the museum of Stone can help you to find your own stone. Minerals on display – both cut and rough, decorative and natural stones, rare exhibits from the pits from all over Siberia and the Far East - provide an exceptional view. Every person can see the displays and get to know the wonderful world of stones.

Zoological Garden is situated in a beautiful forested park. The Novosibirsk Zoo keeps 4000 animals of 399 species. More than 120 species are entered into the Red Book. A zoological team participates in 32 international programs on preservation and reproduction of endangered species. The Novosibirsk Zoo has contact with more than 100 Zoos in the world and is a member of the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums. It is the only Zoo entered into the International Directors Union. Among all the world's Zoos, only the Novosibirsk Zoo possesses the unique argali and Putoransky ram.

 

Grammar Focus