Say whether you agree or disagree with these statements. Give your reasoning. Use the introductory phrases from the previous Units.

1. St. Petersburg has never been the capital of Russia.

2. St. Petersburg is the largest city of the Russian Federation.

3. St. Petersburg is one of the largest industrial, educational and cultural centers of Russia.

4. Novosibirsk is quite an old city.

5. Novosibirsk is situated on the Volga River.

6. The Ob Storage Lake was formed by Novosibirsk atomic power station.

7. The battle fought in Volgograd continued for seven months.

8. Many heavy industries of Volgograd were built before the Great Patriotic War.

Which parts of the Text correspond to the following headings? Put them in a logical order.

1.The location of Volgograd.

2. St. Petersburg is a large educational and cultural centre.

3. Volgograd is an industrial city.

4. The location of St. Petersburg.

5. History’s greatest battle of World War II.

6. The climate of St. Petersburg.

7. Novosibirsk is a scientific centre.

8. The location of Novosibirsk.

Read Text 3B again. Give a brief outline of the information each paragraph contains. Use the expressions given below.

The Text (the paragraph) deals with … ; it is stated that … ; it is also mentioned … ; it concludes by saying that … .

TEXT 3C

Siberia

1. Siberia is extremely rich. 75 per cent of coal deposits in this country, up to 80 per cent of its hydropower resources and 80 per cent of its timber reserves, the biggest deposits of non-ferrous and precious metals, huge resources of iron ore, building materials, etc. are concentrated here. The difficulty is to find easy and cheap ways of extracting coal, ores and other minerals. This can be done by the common effort of big scientific establishments. Oil was first discovered in Western Siberia in 1960. Extraction began in 1964. In 1971, Siberian oil workers obtained approximately 45 million tons, and in 1972, the yield exceeded 60 million tons. A major oil-producing centre has been set up in a short period under very difficult natural and climatic conditions.

2. Siberia, which used to be a place of exile in tsarist times, now has scores of modern cities. There are a lot of educational establishments, research institutes, modern plants and factories there. These modern plants and factories, whether already in operation or still under construction express the gigantic scale of everything in Siberia. All the technology is based firmly on the latest achievements of science.

3. The rivers of Russian Siberia are an impressive symbol of its inexhaustible strength and might. The Angara alone has a greater power-engineering potential than all the power stations in France, Italy, Sweden, Belgium, Holland and Spain put together. The Bratsk Hydro-Power Station is one of the biggest in the world.

4. Siberia is not only a highly-industrialized region. It is a major granary. The climate in some regions of Siberia is very warm and humid and never affected by severe drought. Good harvests are usual. Lake Baikal in Siberia is a huge depository of fresh water. Siberia is a major economic area in the country.

Read Text 3C and answer the following questions.

1. What are the main industrial resources in Siberia?

2. When did oil extraction begin?

3. What expresses the enormous scale of everything in Siberia?

4. What is an impressive symbol of the inexhaustible strength and might of Siberia?

5. What is the Angara river famous for?

6. What is the climate of Siberia?

7. What is a huge depository of fresh water?

8. Have you ever been to Siberia? If yes, what can you add to the information given in the Text?

13. Consider the following statements.

1. Siberia is extremely rich.

Do you agree? What is really meant?

2. Siberia is a highly industrialized region.

Can you give your reasons? Why? Do you agree to that?

3. Siberia is a major granary.

How do you understand it? Do you agree?

Discuss pros and cons of the fact that the mining of deposits is going on very fast in Siberia nowadays. Use the helpful expressions for supporters and the opponents given in Task 14 of Unit 1.

Find and reproduce the key sentence in each paragraph expressing the main idea.

Retell the Text according to the plan made up.

Make up a story about the Russian Federation based on the information given in the above Texts.

SPEAKING

DIALOGUE 1

On the Isle of Kizhi

Guide: This church is an excellent example of Russian wooden architecture. It was built at the turn of the seventeenth century and is made of wood. It was built with an axe alone, no other tools were used by the craftsman, and the wooden parts were joined without any nails.

Tourists: Fantastic! Unbelievable! Incredible!

Tourist A: It’s the most beautiful wooden church I’ve ever seen! Who was it designed by?

Guide: It was designed and built by one and the same man. There’s a legend about him. Would you like to listen to it?

Tourists: Yes, yes, of course!

Guide: Well, the legend says that after finishing his work he looked at the church and thought: “I’ll never be able to build anything better than this, even if it takes me a lifetime!” So he threw his axe into the lake and left the island for good!