13. Answer the questions.

1. What image of history of the Urals do you have?

2. Where is the oldest place in the Urals?

3. Can you name the place from which the history of the Urals began?

4. Name some of the most important events of the Urals history.

5. What mineral resources were discovered in the Urals?

6. Where were the first metallurgical plants in the Urals constructed?

7. When and where was the first steam locomotive made?

14. Find the English equivalents in text 3C.

Племя, каторжные работы, пушнина, купец, разрабатывать, таможня, железо, медь, драгоценные камни, поделочные камни / самоцветы, ремесленник, уникальный, развитие / возделывание, заселение, оплот, двойной, город-крепость, инспектор/наблюдатель, оценка, вырубка леса, машиностроение / технология машиностроения, паровоз, чугун, решетка, кухонная утварь, плита, приспосабливать / направлять.

15. Say if these statements are true or false.

1. By the end of the 15th century the Urals became part of the Russian state.

2. V. Tatishchev played the most important role in the colonization of the Urals.

3. The first mineral resource found in the Urals was iron ore.

4. The construction of metallurgical plants in the Urals began in the 20th century.

5. Kasli is famous for works of art made from cast iron.

16. Say if you agree or disagree with these statements. Support your opinion with information from the text.

1. The Urals is not very old.

2. People of different nationalities live in the Urals.

3. Tatishchev was a highly educated person and a prominent scientist.

4. Different mineral resources can be found in the Urals.

5. The Urals is a highly developed industrial region.

17. Find some more information about the history of the Urals and identify the greatest names that have remained in the history of Russia forever. Write an essay ‘The important events of the Urals history’ (120–150 words).

18. Make a list of 3–5 questions you think a foreigner would ask your group mate about the history of the Urals.

19. Read text 3D and translate it.

Text 3d. Cities, sights and people

T urinsk, Verkhoturye, Nevyansk, Irbit are the towns with a rich historical past. The first Urals town Verkhoturye is known as the father of all Ural towns. Today only an ancient citadel, the former seat of voivode, several churches, the remarkable monuments of Russian architecture have been left from those distant times. Verkhoturye appeared on the Tura River in 1558. It was founded as a military strategic point on the new, shorter and more convenient way from European Russia to Siberia. At present Verkhoturye is a real museum with unique relics of ancient architecture, which are masterpieces of folk arts. A lot of tourists regularly come there.

T he second oldest town also on the Tura River is Turinsk, founded in 1600. In the 18–19th centuries Turinsk was made a place of exile for political and state criminals. The Decembrists such as Stepan Semyonov, Nicolai Basargin, Vasily Ivanov, Ivan Annenkov, Ivan Pushchin, Yevgeny Obolensky and others were exiled there in the thirties and forties of 19th century. At present there are some industrial enterprises in the town.

N evyansk and Irbit are the towns with a rich historical past. The town Nevyansk, situated on the river Neiva, is a typical Urals town taking its roots from the metallurgical plant presented to Nikita Demidov by Peter I in 1702. Now it is an industrial and agricultural centre. It is famous for its ‘Falling’ tower, unique of its kind. It can be seen from any street of the town. The tower is a creation of Nevyansk masters, but unfortunately their names did not remain in historical records. It is really a masterpiece of architecture. Severouralsk is often called ‘Venice of the North’ because of the channels that pierce the town. Krasnoturyinsk has been built to the plans and designs of St Petersburg.

Irbit was famous for its bustling and colourful fairs, which stood second to the Nizhny Novgorod fairs in the volume of commodities turnover. Great fur auctions were held at the junction of Europe and Asia.

One of the oldest towns of the Urals is Nizhny Tagil. Its foundation dates 1722−1725, when the first cast iron heat was obtained at the Demidov plant. The town can boast of such talented inventors as the Cherepanovs brothers, Stepan Kasopasov and others.

Now N. Tagil is the centre of mining and metallurgical industry. During the years of Great Patriotic War the industry of the town made great contribution to the victory producing arms and munitions, for example, famous tanks. At present it has many other industries besides metallurgy and mining. N. Tagil has been always famous for its handicrafts. Lacquered trays made by N. Tagil masters are in great demand up to now. As to its population it is the second city in the region.

W e cannot but mention the town of Alapaevsk, which was also founded on the base of a metallurgical plant in 1781. The old plant had been rebuilt and transferred to the production of titanium iron and bimetal that goes for the manufacture of stainless kitchen utensils. Alapaevsk is also the home of the first water turbine built in Russia by Ignaty Sofronov, a self-taught master in 1837. Today Alapaevsk is a town with divers economy. Besides metallurgy there are such industries as machine building, woodcutting and others. There are some educational establishments in the town, among them a musical school named after P. I. Chaikovsky, which situated in the house where the great composer spent part of his childhood.

The history of Nizhnaya & Verkhnaya Salda is inseparable from the history of development of metallurgy.

There are only a few towns out of the more than forty Ural towns. All of them have common and their own unique features and all of them are connected with the capital of the Middle Urals Yekaterinburg.

Founded at the beginning of the 18th century Yekaterinburg was developed around a small metallurgical plant. The plant was constructed under the supervision of V. Tatischev, a mining engineer who was sent to the Urals by Peter I. It was put into operation on the 7th of November, 1723, and this date is considered to be the birthday of the city. At present it is an administrative, industrial, scientific and cultural centre of this vast region.

The middle Urals can be referred to as an industrial region through, there are some agricultural areas with the centres in Verkhoturye and Krasnoufimsk.

But the main treasure of the area is its people. It is their labour, talent and pioneering work that have made everything we see the Urals today. Many famous and world-known people were born here. Among them there are politicians, musicians, actors, scientists, writers, artists and others. The names of Pavel Bazhov, Alexander Popov, Boris Yeltsyn, Ernst Neizvestny, the Demidovs, Georgiy Zhukov, Dmitriy Mamin-Sibiryak, Vladislav Krapivin, Stepan Schipachev, A. P. Karpinsky a scientist, an outstanding representative of Russian geological school, N. K. Chupin a historian and many others are known all over the world.

The region has a pronounced urban character. Only 15 per cent of its population live in the countryside, the rest live in towns. The density of population in the north-east hardly reaches one person per square kilometre, while in the habitable south it exceeds 100 persons per square kilometre. The national constitution of the Urals is very miscellaneous: besides the Russians there are the Tartars, the Udmurts, the Bashkirs and the Komi-Perms.

The Urals has left its trace in the history of Russia as the land of metalworkers and craftsmen. This land had played an important role in the history of establishing of the Russian State in the times of Peter I, in defending our Motherland and the world's civilisation from Hitler’s hordes. Today the region continues its march forward in step with the present day. But scientific and technical progress brings about worsening of ecological situation especially unless a proper care is taken of environmental protection. Our task at present is to do our best to protect the nature of this unique and beautiful land and to preserve it for future generations.

20. Discuss the following questions with your partner.

1. What cities and towns did you visit?

2. What cities are interesting to see? Why?

21. Find the Russian equivalents in text 3D.

An ancient citadel, the former seat of voivode, a military strategic point, unique relics of ancient architecture, masterpieces of folk arts, a place of exile, the Decembrists, bustling and colourful fairs, in the volume of commodities turnover, fur auctions, handicrafts, lacquered trays, stainless kitchen utensils, density of population, miscellaneous.

22. Find the English equivalents in text 3D.

Жестокий/свирепый, ссылка, наоборот, суматоха/суета, ярмарка, товар, оборот, стык/соединение, цитадель/крепость, пронзать/протыкать, колыбель, дамба/плотина, монетный двор.

23. Tell briefly about the history of famous Ural cities and towns. What world-known people of the Urals do you know? Where were they born?

24. Collect news stories about current events in the Urals. They could be about cities, sights, people, personalities, etc. Use newspapers, magazines, the Internet, TV and radio programmes. Make notes of the events you are going to present. Present the collected information in a short talk.

25. Read text 3E and translate it.