Read and memorize the active vocabulary to the text “The Russian Federation”.

1. Surface – поверхность

2. total area – общая площадь

3. constituent part – составная часть

4. superpower – супердержава

5. Soviet Union – Советский Союз

6. nuclear weapons – ядерное оружие

7. to border on – граничить с

8. variety – разнообразие

9. vegetation – растительность

10. to flow into – впадать

11. legislative power – законодательная власть

 

· READING

Read the text and underline or mark the main ideas of this text.

The Russian Federation

The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world. It occupies about one-seventh of the earth's surface. It covers the eastern part of Europe and the northern part of Asia. Its total area is about 17 million square kilometers.

Russia established worldwide power and influence from the times of the Russian Empire to being the largest and leading constituent of the Soviet Union, the world's first constitutionally socialist state and a recognized superpower, that played a decisive role in the allied victory in World War II. The Soviet era saw some of the greatest technology achievements of the nation, such as the world's first human spaceflight. The Russian Federation was founded following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, but is recognized as the continuing legal personality of the Soviet state. Russia has the world's 12th largest economy by nominal GDP or the seventh largest by purchasing power parity, with the fifth largest nominal military budget. It is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the world's largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. Russia is a great power and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, a member of the G8, G20, the Council of Europe, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Eurasian Economic Community, the OSCE, and is the leading member of the Commonwealth of Independent States. On March 24, 2014, the original G7 nations voted to, in effect, suspend Russia from the organization in response to the country’s annexation of Crimea, however, it was made clear that the suspension was temporary.

The country is washed by 12 seas of 3 oceans: the Pacific, the Arctic and the Atlantic. In the south Russia borders on China, Mongolia, Korea, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Azerbaijan. In the west it borders on Norway, Finland, the Baltic States, Byelorussia and Ukraine. It also has a sea-border with the USA.

There is hardly a country in the world where such a variety of scenery and vegetation can be found. We have steppes in the south, plains and forests in the midland, tundra and taiga in the north, highlands and deserts in the east.

There are two great plains in Russia: the Great Russian Plain and the West Siberian Lowland. There are several mountain chains on the territory of the country: the Urals, the Caucasus, the Altai and others. The largest mountain chain, the Urals, separates Europe from Asia.

There are over two million rivers in Russia. Europe's biggest river, the Volga, flows into the Caspian Sea. The main Siberian rivers — the Ob, the Yenisei and the Lena — flow from the south to the north. The Amur in the Far East flows into Pacific Ocean.

Russia is rich in beautiful lakes. The world's deepest lake (1600 meters) is Lake Baikal. It is much smaller than the Baltic Sea, but there is much more water in it than in the Baltic Sea. The water in the lake is so clear that if you look down you can count the stones on the bottom.

Russia has one-sixth of the world's forests. They are concentrated in the European north of the country, in Siberia and in the Far East.

On the vast territory of the country there are various types of climate, from arctic in the north to subtropical in the south. In the middle of the country the climate is temperate and continental.

Russia is very rich in oil, coal, iron ore, natural gas, copper, nickel and other mineral resources.

Russia is a parliamentary republic. The Head of the State is the President. The legislative powers are exercised by the Duma.

The capital of Russia is Moscow. It is its largest political, scientific, cultural and industrial centre. It is one of the oldest Russian cities.

At present, the political and economic situation in the country is rather complicated. But in spite of the problems Russia is facing at present, it is one of the leading countries in the world.

 

· SPEAKING

 

4. Answer these questions:

1) What is the total area of the Russian Federation? 2) What is the population of the country? 3) What countries does the Russian Federation border on? 4) Give a sketch on a landscape of the Russian Federation? 5) When was the dissolution of the Soviet Union? 6) What is the largest river of the Russian Federation? 6) What is the largest fresh water body of the Russian federation? 7) Why Russia is called superpower?

Match the words in the text with the definitions below.

GDP, the Soviet Union, G8, the Duma, Siberia, the constitution.

a) It is a governmental forum of leading advanced economies in the world.

b) Gross domestic product.

c) The lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia. Its members are referred to as deputies.

d) A set of fundamental principles according to which a state or other organization is governed.

f) The state on the Eurasian continent that existed between 1922 and 1991.

g) This territory stretches southwards from the Arctic Ocean to the hills of north-central Kazakhstan and to the national borders of Mongolia and China.

Prepare a report about the political structure of the Russian Federation (not less then 50 words). Use additional sources of information.

Make up the plan of the text and retell it according to the plan (not less then 100 words).

· TRANSLATING

Translate the text “The Great Patriotic War” into Russian.

The Great Patriotic War

The siege of Leningrad

The outbreak of the Second World War found the Soviet Union unprepared for the conflict ahead. Having signed a non-aggression pact with Germany in 1939, Hitler’s invasion of June 1941 caught the USSR by surprise. By the end of the year, the Germans had seized most of the Soviet Union’s western territory and surrounded Leningrad.

Leningrad’s horrific siege was one of the most lethal in world history. It lasted for 900 days, from September 1941 to January 1944. The city’s civilian population of almost three million refused to surrender, even though they were completely surrounded. By the first winter of the siege there was no heating, no water supply, almost no electricity and very little food. Somehow, the city survived, its heroic resistance summed up in the motto: “Troy fell, Rome fell, Leningrad did not fall”.

Defending the capital

Meanwhile the Germans advanced as far as Moscow, reaching the outskirts by early December 1941. Hundreds of young recruits were preparing to defend the capital. But none could imagine that before going to battle they would march on Red Square in front of Joseph Stalin and top Communist Party officials. Stalin held a military parade on Red Square on November 7 to mark the anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. The troops left Red Square to head straight to the frontline. The parade had a tremendous impact on morale in Moscow and throughout the Soviet Union. The capital never surrendered.

The siege of Stalingrad

Stalingrad (now Volgograd) was a major industrial centre on the Volga. Control over it opened the way to the vital Caucasus oil fields. The city’s very name drove Hitler’s obsession with it. Stalin’s order to the troops was: “Not One Step Back”. The horror of Stalingrad lasted for 199 days, costing an estimated 1.5 million lives from both sides. One building that the Germans failed to take was the so-called “Pavlov’s House”. In September 1942, a Soviet platoon led by Yakov Pavlov turned an apartment block in the city centre into an impenetrable fortress.

The cost of victory

… in May… 1945… Berlin finally fell.

The famous photo of two Soviet soldiers unfurling a red flag over the Reichstag became an iconic image of World War II. It was a symbol of the USSR’s triumph… the victory that came at a colossal cost.

The number of Soviet deaths was at first grossly distorted – the figure Stalin gave in 1946 was seven million. The USSR’s losses are now estimated at about 26.6 million. In the USSR the end of the war was considered to be May 9, 1945. The date has become a national holiday – Victory Day – and is commemorated in a grand military parade on Red Square.

 

· GRAMMAR FOCUS

Plural form of nouns

Существительные в английском языке, как и в русском, могут стоять в форме единственного или множественного числа.

Единственное число (singular) обозначает один предмет:

cup, gun, bubble

Множественное число (plural) обозначает два и более предмета:

three cups, two guns, thousands of bubbles

Образование множественного числа английских существительных

Английское существительное можно поставить во множественное число, прибавив к нему окончание -s. Оно читается как [ z ] после гласных и звонких согласных:

shoe – shoe s
hen – hen s

или как [ s ] после глухих согласных:

bat – bat s

Если существительное оканчивается на свистящий или шипящий звук, то есть на буквы s, ss, x, sh, ch, то для него форма множественного числа образуется при помощи окончания -es [ iz ]:

bass – bass es
match – match es
leash – leash es
box – box es

Если существительное оканчивается на букву -y, перед которой стоит согласная, то во множественном числе -y меняется на i и к слову прибавляется окончание -es:

lobb y – lobb ies
sk y – sk ies

Исключения: имена собственные (the two Germanys, the Gatsbys) и составные существительные (stand-bys).

Если перед буквой -y стоит гласная, то множественное число образуется по общему правилу при помощи окончания -s, а буква y остается без изменений:

bay – bay s
day – day s
way – way s

К существительным заканчивающимся на -o прибавляется окончание

-es:

potat o – potato es
tomat o – tomato es
her o – hero es

Исключения: bamboos, kangaroos, radios, studios, zoos, Eskimos, kilos, photos, pianos, concertos, solos, tangos, tobaccos.

Если же существительное оканчивается на буквы -f или -fe, то во множественном числе они меняются на -v- и прибавляется окончание -es:

thie f –thie ves
wol f – wol ves
hal f – hal ves
wi fe – wi ves

Исключения: proofs, chiefs, safes, cliffs, gulfs, reefs

Исключения при образовании множественного числа английских существительных

Некоторые существительные по историческим причинам имеют свои собственные способы построения множественного числа:

man – men
woman – women
tooth –teeth
foot – feet
goose – geese
mouse – mice
louse – lice
child – children
ox – oxen
brother – brethren (собратья, братия)

Для некоторых слов форма единственного числа совпадает с формой множественного:

sheep – sheep
swine – swine
deer – deer
grouse – grouse
series – series
species – species
corps – corps