The Summer Garden, the Winter Palace, the Hermitage, the monument to Peter I, the Russian Museum are the city's remarkable architectural sights.

Soon after Petersburg appeared, it turned into the main center of Russian science and culture. Outstanding scholars like M.V. Lomonosov, D.I. Mendeleyev, I.P. Pavlov and many others engaged themselves in activities of the Academy of Sciences and the University. A.S. Pushkin, M.Y. Lermontov, N.A. Nekrasov glorified the city in many of their works.

There are many memorial places in the city that relate to life and creative work of the great Russian writers N.V. Gogol, T.M. Dostoevsky, the composers M.I. Glinka, P.I. Chaikovskiy, M.P. Musorgskiy. N.A. Rimskiy - Korsakov, the painters K.P. Bryullov, I.Y. Repin, I.N. Kramskoy, V.I. Surikov, etc.

St.Petersburg today is a centre of science and culture, well-developed industries including shipbuilding, a large international port on the Baltic Sea.

St.Petersburg is famous for its suburbs. Petrodvorets (Peterhof), Pushkin (Tsarskoe Selo), Pavlovsk, Lomonosov are museums of history and art. Russian and foreign tourists visit St-Petersburg suburbs to see outstanding pieces of Russian art.

Magnificent architectural ensembles, sculptures, a unique water-duck system for numerous fountains, fine examples of park-landscape art make one solemnly proud of the generations of Russian people who have managed to create, in rotten swamp, such great masterpieces of human genius.

Anyone who visits St-Petersburg will always be tempted to come back.

Questions:

1. When was the city of Petersburg founded?

2. Petersburg is one of the world's most beautiful cities, isn't it?

3. What is St. Petersburg famous for?

4. Is St Petersburg a centre of science and culture?

Вариант №2

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 kilometres. The country is washed by 12 seas of 3 oceans: the Pacific, the Arctic and the Atlantic. Russia borders on many countries.

So great variety of scenery and vegetation can be found here. 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.

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.

Russia is rich in beautiful lakes. The world's deepest lake (1,600 metres) is Lake Baikal

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, natural gas, copper, nickel and other mineral resources.

Moscow is the capital of Russia, its political, economic, commercial and cultural centre. It was founded 8 centuries ago by Prince Yuri Dolgoruky. Now Moscow is one of the largest cities in Europe. Its total area is about nine hundred square kilometres. The population of the city is over 8 million.

Moscow is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The heart of Moscow is Red Square. There are a lot of beautiful palaces, old mansions, museums, theatres, cathedrals, churches and monuments in Moscow.

According to the Constitution, which was adopted by national referendum on 12 December 1991, Russia is a federation. The President is the head of state and the Prime Minister is the head of government. The Russian Federation is fundamentally structured as a representative democracy.

The federal government is composed of three branches: Legislative, Executive and Judiciary.

Legislative: The Federal Assembly is made up of the State Duma and the Federation Council. It adopts federal law, declares war, approves treaties, and has power of impeachment, by which it can remove the President.

Executive: The president is the commander-in-chief of the military, can veto legislative bills before they become law, and appoints the Cabinet and other officers, who administer and enforce federal laws and policies.

Judiciary: The Constitutional Court, Supreme Court, Supreme Court of Arbitration and lower federal courts, whose judges are appointed by the Federation Council on the recommendation of the president, interpret laws and can overturn laws they deem unconstitutional.

Leading political parties in Russia include United Russia, the Communist Party, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, and Fair Russia.

Notes:

to occupy – занимать

surface – поверхность

total area – общая площадь

to wash – омывать

to border – граничить с

variety – разнообразие, множество

scenery – пейзаж, ландшафт

vast territory – обширная территория

head of state – глава государства

Legislative – законодательная