The history of the parthenon
As the centre of the ancient Greek world, Greece naturally has the highest concentration of ancient Greek temples you’ll see anywhere. The Parthenon in Athens is the most famous surviving building of Ancient Greece and one of the most famous buildings in the world.
The Parthenon has stood atop the Acropolis of Athens for nearly 2,500 years and was built to give thanks to Athena, the city’s patron goddess, for the salvation of Athens and Greece in the Persian Wars. The building was officially called the Temple of Athena the Virgin; “Parthenon” comes from the Greek world parthenos, “virgin”. Throughout its long life, the Parthenon has functioned most importantly as a Greek temple, but has also been a treasury, a fortress, a church, and mosque. Today, it is one of the most recognizable icons and popular tourist attractions in the world.
Replacing an older temple destroyed by the Persians, The Parthenon was constructed at the initiative of Pericles, the leading Athenian politician of the 5th century BC. It was built under the general supervision of the sculptor Phidias, who also had charge of the sculptural decoration. The architects were Iktinos and Kallikrates. The purpose of building was to house a 40-foot-high statue of Athena Parthenos. Construction began in 447 BC and the building was substantially completed by 438 BC, but work on the decorations continued until at least 433 BC. Some of the financiak accounts for the Parthenon survived, and show that the largest single expense was transporting the stone from Mount Pantelicus, about 16km from Athens.
The Parthenon served as the most important temple of ancient Greek religion foe nearly a thousand years.
The temple was still intact* in the 4th century AD, but by that time Athens was no more than a provincial city of the Roman Empire with a glorious past. Sometime in the 5th century the great statue of Athena was looted** by one of the Emperors, and taken to Constantinople , where it was later destroyed, possibly during the sack of the city during the Fourth Crusade in 1204.
Shortly after this the Parthenon was converted to a Christian church dedicated to Virgin Mary. This inevitably led to the removal and dispersal of some of the sculptures. Those that depicted pagan gods were probably removed deliberately, and may have been destroyed. In 1456 Athens fell to the Ottomans, and the Parthenon was converted again into a mosque***. Contrary to subsequent mythology, the Ottomans were generally respectful of ancient monuments in their territories.
In 1687 the Parthenon suffered its greatest blow when the Venetians attacked Athens, and the Ottomans fortified the Acropolis and used the Parthenon as a powder magazine. On September 25 a Venetian shell exploded the magazine and the building was partly destroyed. The sculptures suffered heavily. Many fell to the ground and their pieces were later made souvenirs. Today suffered sculptures are in the British Museum, in the Louvre in Paris and in Copenhagen. After this the building fell into disuse.
*- intact – неповреждённый, целый
** -loot – грабить, уносить как добычу
*** -mosque – мечеть
Ex. I. Find the wrong statements and correct them.
1. The most famous temple of ancient Greece, the Parthenon, hasn’t survived until nowadays.
2. The Parthenon has also been a church, a mosque, a treasury and a fortress.
3. Transportation of stone for construction was easiest thing.
4. The Ottomans tried to destroy the Parthenon.
5. The Parthenon served as a mosque in the 15th century and later became a Christian church.
6. In the 17th century the Parthenon was severely destroyed because of the explosion.
Ex. II. Issues to be discussed.
1. Name soma famous ancient structures which survived till nowadays and say what you know about them.
2. What can you say about present-day architecture in Moscow and other cities? It’s advantages and disadvantages.
Ex. III. Translate the text in written .
THE UNUSUAL PROJECT
“People, bridges, buildings, rivers, valleys, even entire coastlines and islands, have all been wrapped up by the Bulgarian artist, Christo, his French wife, Jean-Claude, and their team of helpers.” Stephen Treasure reports.
One of their most spectacular projects was called Surrounded Islands. Eleven islands on the coast near Miami were surrounded by over 6 thousands square meter of pink plastic! Another project was wrapping up the German Parliament building which couldn’t have been done before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Many people thought that permission wouldn’t be given thought the project should never have been allowed. However, when the wrapping of the Reichstag in golden fabric gad finally been completed, the glowing building received international acclaim, and Christo loved being appreciated.
Two or three new projects are currently being developed by Christo and his team. One of them is on Colorado on the USA where the Arkansas River will be covered by 10 kilometers of luminous, translucent fabric, The fabric is going to be suspended above the river so that the work of art can be seen from both above and below. Thousands of people will be needed to complete this feat of engineering, Christo manages to do all this without being given any money – his project are financed completely by the sale of his drawings through galleries and over the Internet. Christo’s works of art are dismantled after only 2 or 3 weeks, but hundreds of visitors manage to see them. When the Reichstag was being displayed it attracted huge numbers of visitors from around the world. However his work still tends to be criticized:”What’s the point of it all? It takes so long.” Christo replies that their work is a kind of architecture. They use space, light and texture to make beautiful things.
UNIT IV
MANAGEMENT
| Key word: to manage, management, market, to employ, efficiency, to avoid, to ensure, to acquire, economic agencies, to give one’s best, to get by, subordinate, profit, to charge, supply and demand, commodities, to hire, to compete, competition, trade and investment, better off, to consume, output, surplus, asking price, cost price, reasonable price, cut price, a relative price, integrity, expenditures, buyers and sellers, idleness |
Ex.1. Translate the following international words and combinations:
industrial management, modern methods, national economy, public and private, practical and complex problems, manufacture is planned in detail, automatic machines function, incompetence or bad manners.
Ex.2. Translate the following paying attention to the suffixes:
to manage, manager, management, managerial
to employ, employee, employment, employer
to supervise, supervisor, supervision, supervisory
efficient, efficiently, efficiency
Part I.
THE ROLE OF MANAGEMENT
[Ever since the Industrial Revolution brought workers from small shops into large factories, supervision has been required]. Only during the last hundred years, however, has industrial management grown into a highly organized set of modern methods for achieving efficiency. [Thus, management is a new institution in human history, and it has already become vitally important for the success of all kinds of businesses and of national economies].
Efficiency means getting results with the least possible waste of time, effort, and money. Therefore, efficiency is the aim of all management, both public and private. [In private business, efficiency can be measured by profit, the surplus of income over expenditures].
The manager’s job, then, is to get people to do things efficiently. The top manager chooses other managers, and trains them, plans their operations, and checks the results. All managers have practical and complex problems, but they utilize methods based on a growing body of knowledge. Shop managers carry out time and motion studies to improve workers’ efficiency, and foremen give on-the-job training to workers. Industrial managers employ specialists to keep machines working properly and to ensure the supply of spare parts. [The flow of work is supervised to avoid any unplanned idleness of workers prequipment]. Each step in manufacture is planned in detail, and the cost of each step is carefully calculated. Supervisors consult experts regularly in order to master new techniques. Personnel managers have learned to obtain greater efficiency from workers by providing rest periods and by improving morale through better heating, lighting, safety devices, cafeterias, and recreation facilities - even when these have not been demanded by labor unions. The use of modern electronic devices has led to increasing automation in which many automatic machines function without any need for human labor.
Ex. I. Find the equivalents:
| supervision | без использования труда человека |
| to achieve efficiency | течение работы |
| getting results with the least possible waste of time | улучшить эффективность |
| the surplus of income over expenditures | главный управляющий |
| the top manager | доход над расходами |
| to improve efficiency | достигая результаты с наименьшей тратой времени |
| the flow of work | достичь эффективности |
| without any need for human labor | надзор |
Ex. II. Join suitable parts; prove your choice.
Each step in manufacture is planned in detail...
a) ... the cost of each step is carefully calculated;
b) ... but the cost of each step isn't calculated;
c) ... the cost of each step is badly calculated.
Ex. III. Translate the following:
modern methods for achieving efficiency, vitally important for the success of all kinds of businesses and of national economies, the surplus of income over expenditures, shop managers, recreation facilities, motion studies.
Ex. IV. Translate the sentences in the brackets.
Additional text A