Exercise 7 Read the text more carefully and match the names of the paragraphs with the paragraphs of the text.

a. Capital city

b. Russia and its talented people

c. Location

d. State system

e. Climate and Nature

1. _______________

Russia is one of the largest countries in the world. It occupies about one-seventh part of dry land. Its total area is over 17 million square kilometers. The vast territory of Russia lies in the eastern part of Europe and the northern part of Asia. Russia is washed by twelve seas and three oceans: the Arctic, the Atlantic and the Pacific. The seas are the White Sea, the Barents Sea, the Okhotsk Sea, the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea and others. Russia borders on a lot of countries, for example Mongolia and China in the south-east, Finland and Norway in the north-west. The current population of Russia is about 147 million people.

 

2. _______________

Due to the large territory the climate and nature are of various types in Russia. The climate of Siberia is continental with very cold winters and hot and dry summers. The climate in the central part of Russia is rather mild. In the south of Russia the climate is subtropical.

The land of Russia varies very much from forests to deserts, from high mountains to deep valleys. The main mountain chains are the Urals, the Caucasus and the Altai. The Caucasus is a range of mountains which extend from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea. The highest mountain of the Caucasus in the Russian Federation and in whole Europe is Mount Elbrus. The Urals extend from the Arctic Ocean to the steppes. This mountain chain divides the European and Asian parts of Russia. The Urals are famous for their valuable minerals. The Russian Federation is rich in natural and mineral resources. It has deposits of oil, gas, coal, iron, gold and many others. Russia has one-sixth of the world forests.

There are a lot of great rivers and deep lakes on the territory of Russia. The longest rivers are the Volga in Europe and the Ob, the Yenisei and the Lena in Asia. The largest lakes are Ladoga and Baikal. Baikal is known to be the deepest lake in the world and its water is the purest on earth.

 

3. _______________

The emblem of Russia is known to be a double-headed eagle. The symbol of Russia is a three-coloured flag. It has three horizontal stripes: white, blue, red. White represents peace, blue represents loyalty, and red stands for courage and generosity.

Russia is a presidential republic with the President to be the head of the state. He is elected directly by the people. In fact he controls all the three branches of power and is involved in the work of the legislative and executive branches. The Federal Assembly or the Parliament represents the legislative branch of power. It is made up of two houses to make laws: the Federation Council and the State Duma. The Federal Government represents the executive branch of power. The President appoints its head, the Chairman of the Government. The judicial branch of power consists of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and lower Courts.

 

4. _______________

The capital of the Russian Federation is Moscow, with the population of about 10 million people. The city is situated on the Moskva River and was founded in 1147. It is one of the biggest and most beautiful cities in the world. Moscow is not only the official capital of Russia, it’s also considered to be a political, cultural, educational, industrial, scientific and transport center of the country. That’s why the largest and most important theatres, museums, galleries, universities, institutes, libraries and cinemas are all situated in Moscow as well as fine buildings, wide streets, green parks, large squares, churches and monuments. In Moscow there are about 190 metro stations, 9 railway stations and some airports around the city. The Metro system, which reflects the city street patterns, is known for the elaborate architecture of its stations.

 

5. _______________

Today Russia is one of the most powerful and influential countries in the world. The main cities of Russia are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnoyarsk, Ufa, Perm, Sochi, Rostov-on-Don, Vladivostok and others. Many villages in Russia are famous for their specific crafts: painted boxes in Palekh, wooden tableware in Khokhloma, and toys in Dymkovo.

Russia gave the world such famous writers and poets as Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Gogol, Lermontov, Pushkin. Such composers as Chaikovsky, Rakhmaninov, Glinka and Borodin are admired in the world.

Russian people are very proud of their country because it has a glorious history, rich culture and great power in the world.

Exercise 8 Complete the sentences to the text.

1. Russia occupies about ……….

2. Russia is washed by ………. seas and ………. oceans.

3. Due to ………. the climate and nature are of various types in Russia.

4. The land of Russia varies very much from ………..

5. The highest mountain of the Caucasus in Russia and in whole Europe is ……….

6. The Urals divide ………. of Russia.

7. The Russian Federation is rich in ………..

8. Baikal is ……… in the world and its water is ……… on earth.

9. The emblem of Russia is ……….

10. The Russian President is involved in the work of ……….

11. ………. represents the legislative branch of power.

12. The Federal Government represents ………. of power.

13. The judicial branch of power consists of ……….

14. The population of Moscow is about ………..

15. The Metro system is known for ………..

16. Today Russia is one of ………. in the world.

17. Russia has a ………. history, ………. culture and ………. power in the world.

 

Language Focus: Articles

Exercise 8 Put the words and phrases into the correct column. What is the rule?

 

a/an	the	no article

 

Tolstoy, Yenisei, Caucasus, Moscow, world, Russia, President, music, Europe, Elbrus, first, deepest, it’s … presidential republic, Government, Kremlin, Siberia, Pacific Ocean, she is … engineer, Black Sea, piece of cheese, Baikal, Russia, USA, Russian Federation, apple, to play … guitar, to play … chess, to go to … work, money, north, Red Square.