Culture

The cultural life of Kharkiv is meaningful and attractive. There are 49 cultural centres and institutions, among them 6 museums, Philharmonic Society, the hall of organ and chamber music, a circus, a planetarium, 30 stadiums and sports complexes, a city art gallery in Kharkiv. The city’s young people can spend leisure time either in more than 50 disco clubs and other pleasure places. Numerous sport buildings such as stadiums, swimming pools, and sports halls offer good possibilities for practicing sport and taking part in sport events. There are many cult edifices in the city.

The city retains its theatrical traditions. There are 6 theatres in the city now. The Kharkiv Opera and Ballet House named after M. Lysenko is one of the oldest academic theatres in Ukraine. There are more than 80 libraries in the city. Among them there is the principal one - the State Scientific Library named after Korolenko.

The main and the most remarkable streets and avenues of the city are Sumska Street and Pushkinska Street, Lenin Avenue, Moskovsky Avenue and Poltavsky Shlyakh. One can enjoy classical architecture looking at the impressive buildings designed by the famous architect O. Beketov. The largest square in Europe is Liberty (Svobody) Square. An outstanding feature of Kharkiv as an industrial giant is that among other similar cities it is one of the greenest. The green ranges of its parks and gardens, alleys and park areas are spread over 12,628 hectares.

Kharkiv is a city which is open to the world. You can meet ex-Kharkivites anywhere on the globe. And quite likely they became successful in their new environment. Kharkiv became the sister city of Cincinnati, Nuremberg, Bologna, Poznan and many other cities in different countries.

Exercise 9. Think it over and tell your neighbor what new facts about Kharkiv you have learnt from the text.

Exercise 10. Answer the questions and arrange them into a story about Kharkiv.

1. When was Kharkiv founded?

2. What is the geographical position of Kharkiv?

3. What was the aim of its foundation?

4. What are the advantages of Kharkiv's location?

5. What place does our city occupy among other Ukrainian towns and cities?

6. Which industries play the leading role?

7. What investigations made by our scientists are known all over the world?

8. What cultural traditions does the city retain?

9) What are the main and the most remarkable streets and avenues of the city?

10) Do you know any famous architects who lived in Kharkiv?

11) Which part of Kharkiv are you interested in most of all and why?

Exercise 11. Decide whether the following statements are true or false using the expressions given below and then correct the false statements:

• I agree with you.

• That is quite right.

• That is true.

• I can’t agree with you.

• You are wrong.

• Are you sure that’s right?

1. Kharkiv is situated in the north-eastern part of Ukraine.

2. Kharkiv is the biggest city of Ukraine.

3. The city was founded in 1765.

4. The first seaport in Kharkiv was built in 1869.

5. Nowadays Kharkiv occupies the sixth position in Ukraine in terms of its industrial output.

6. Kharkiv is one of the largest centres of science and education in Ukraine.

7. The main and the most remarkable street of the city is Sumska Street.

8. Kharkiv as an industrial giant is not a green city.

Exercise 12. In each line choose one word that doesn’t belong to the group and explain why you think so.

1. Village, department, country, town, city.

2. Region, province, capital, cross-road, metropolis.

1. Power engineering, electronic industry, cathedral, agricultural engineering, airspace industry.

3. Solid-state physics, cryobiology, handicraft, cryomedicine, genetics.

4. Church, cathedral, monument, memorial, plant.

Exercise 13. Translate the sentences into English:

1. Харків розташований в південно-східній частині України.

2. Харків займає шосте місце в країні щодо промислового виробництва.

3. Транспортні підприємства міста відповідають транспортним вимогам народного господарства та населення.

4. У Харкові є міжнародний аеропорт і великий залізничний вузол міжнародного значення.

5. Дослідження харківських вчених у різних галузях науки відомі всьому світу.

6. Молодь міста може проводити свій вільний час в численних місцях відпочинку.

7. Харків зберігає свої театральні традиції.

8. Кожен може насолоджуватись вражаючими будівлями, які були спроектовані видатним архітектором Бекетовим.

9. Видатною рисою промислового Харкова є його численні зелені сади, парки та сквери.