• Translate into English:

1. Земля Кокшетау - одна из животных местностей страны.

2. С давних времён область была колыбелью многих поэтов, композиторов, певцов и писателей.

3. Правительство и местная администрация используют разные программы для восстановления сельскохозяйственного сектора экономики.

Petropavlovsk

Older and architecturally more diverse than many places in Kazakhstan, Petropavlovsk is the country’s most northerly city, 475 km north of Astana, and just 60 km from the Russian border. It is Kazakhstan’s busiest freight terminal and an important rail junction at the crossing of the north-south line with the branch of the Trans-Siberian railway. It is also stands on the highway linking the Russian city of Kurgan (270 km west) and Omsk (260 km east).

With a large Russian population, Petropavlovsk is as much a part of Siberia as of Kazakhstan. Several 19th-century brick buildings in the city centre, testaments to early attempts by the tsars to subjugate the Kazakh, remain, as does a handsome Russian Orthodox church near the Ishim river. Climatically it is certainly Siberian, with harsh winters and mild summers.

Vocabulary:

diverse – разнообразный

junction –узел, узловая станция

freight – груз

testament – завещание

subjugate – покорять

harsh - суровый

• Answer the questions:

1. Where is Petropavlovsk situated?

2. It is 475 km. north of Astana, isn’t it?

3. Is the city an important rail junction?

4. What kind of town is Petropavlovsk climatically?

5. What can you see in the centre of the town?

Kyzylorda

On the Syr-Darya river, 280 km northwest of Turkistan, Kyzylorda (meaning Red Capital) was the capital of Soviet Kazakhstan from 1925 to 1927, but was dumped in favour of cooler Almaty when the Turksib railway reached there. The only evidence you will see of this former glory is the ornate train station, the rest of the city being depressingly bleak.

Like Taraz, Shymkent and Turkistan, it was part of 19th century Kokand Khanate frontier defense, the first of these to fall to Russia in 1853. Today it is the capital of Kyzylorda Oblast, which has the highest Kazakh population number in the country.

If you do need to stop there, the ‘Kyzylorda’ hotel is the closest to the train station and charges 25 dollars for basic rooms. ‘Rosali’ café opposite the city’s central square is a good spot for lunch, serving excellent laghman noodles. The airport is 17 km south of the city and there are six flights a week to/from Almaty.

витиеватый, богато украшенный

depressingly bleak –удручающе унылый

Khanate – ханство

frontier – граница

basic rooms – обычные комнаты

• Сhoose the best sentence ending which is true to the text:

1. Kyzylorda means:

a) Red Capital b) lovely capital c) Turkistan capital

2. Almaty in 1927 was …

a) very beautiful b) depressingly bleak c) neither bleak nor beautiful

3. ‘Rosali’ café will be a good spot for …

a) excellent laghman noodles b) tasty beshbarmack c) tea and coffee

4. The airport has … flights a week to or from Almaty.

a) six b) two c) seven

5. Kyzylorda was a part of …

a) Kokand Khanate b) Taraz Khanate c) Russian State

• Make a short advertisement about Kyzylorda.