The Town of Tver

The town of Tver stands on the Great Russian River Volga. Tver is one of the oldest Russian towns. It is 12 years older than Moscow. Tver was founded in 1135. It played a great role in the early history of our country. In 1755 Tver became the principle town of the Tver province.

The centre of the town was designed by the well-known Russian architects Kasakov and Nikitin. This centre has been preserved to our days. Many beautiful buildings designed by them are examples of Russian architecture. These buildings are the Travel Palace, a number of buildings in Octagonal Square, and on the bank of the Volga (Stepan Rasin Embankment).

Many famous Russian poets and writers, A.S. Pushkin among them came to Tver many times. Some of them lived here: I.A. Krylov, M.Y. Saltykov-Shchedrin.

Monuments to all these people were erected in our town. On the left bank of the Volga River we can also see the monument to the Tver merchant Afanasy Nikitin who was the first to visit India. In the second part of the 19th century Tver became a large industrial town. Here appeared large textile mills and a railway carriage building plant.

Now Tver is a big industrial centre. It's population is about 500 000. There are many large enterprises of engineering, metal working, textile, chemical, polygraphical and other branches of industry: a printing and publishing combine which turns out text-books and magazines, a larger combine of children books, an artificial fibre combine and an artificial leather combine.

Many new modem houses were built in the former «outskirts».

Now it is also a big cultural centre of our country. Its Drama Theatre, Philarmonic Society, Children's Theatre were built after the war. It has many cinemas, clubs, palaces of culture, a television centre and many libraries. The Gorky Regional Library founded one hundred years ago is housed in a new building now. It has over 600,000 books.

There are many educational establishments in our town. Among them are: State University, Technic University, State Medical Academy, Agriculture Academy and others.

The country around Tver is very picturesque. The town of Tver grows and becomes more beautiful from year to year.

I. Ответьте на следующие вопросы:

1) Where does the town of Tver stand?

2) When and by whom was Tver founded?

3) Is Tver older than Moscow?

4) When did Tver become the principle town of Tver Province?

5) By whom was the centre of the city designed?

6) What buildings were built by their designs?

7) Where are these buildings situated?

8) What famous people lived and worked in Tver?

9) In what way were they immortalized?

10) Is Tver a large industrial centre now?

11) What large Tver enterprises do you know?

12) What is the largest library in Tver?

13) How many higher schools are there in Tver?

14) Why is our town so attractive for tourists?

II. Образуйте от следующих глаголов существительные с суффиксом -er, переведите:

to design, to found, to play, to build, to reconstruct, to visit,

to research, to print.

III. Прочитайте следующие слова, обращая внимание на ударение:

Tver Province, architect, architecture, Octagonal Square, Embankment, monument, large textile mills, railway carriage building plant, enterprise, printing and publishing combine, artificial fibre and leather combine, Drama Theatre, Philarmonic Society, many stadiums, picturesque, to surround, tourist.

IV. Переведите на английский язык следующие предложения:

1) Тверь - один из старейших русских городов.

2) Он расположен на Волге.

3) Город Тверь на 12 лет старше Москвы.

4) В Твери много современных предприятий.

5) В городе живет 500 тысяч человек.

6) Тверь растет и становится краше с каждым годом.

7) Полиграфический комбинат выпускает сотни учебников и журналов.

8) Памятник Афанасию Никитину находится на берегу Волги.

9) Библиотека имени Горького - одна из старейших в городе.

V. Поставьте вместо точек указанные под чертой глаголы в пассивном залоге.

1) Tver... in the 12th century.

2) The centre of the town ... by Kasakov and Nikitin.

3) This centre ... to our days.

4) A monument to Krylov ... in our town.

5) Many new buildings ... in the former «outskirts».

6) The Gorky Library ... in a big building.

7) The town ... by forests.

to design, to surround, to found, to preserve, to house, to build,

to erect.

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